Faculty of Arts and Design
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Item Effective integration of ICT in blended learning programmes : a morphogenetic approach(IJLHE, 2014) Pratt, Deirdre DeniseCurrently criteria for evaluating mixed-mode courses do not go much beyond the paradigmatic level, which poses problems if the evaluator’s preferred paradigm of knowledge construction is not congruent with the course designer’s. A critical realist approach is suggested, using Margaret Archer’s morphogenetic approach to social structure in order to provide a deep-theory explanation for effective integration of ICT in blended learning, moreover, one which does not favour any particular pedagogical epistemology. This is because critical realism provides a meta-theory for exploring causality at the ontological level, and accepts the existence of diverse epistemological positions in its ontology, rather than prescribing educational belief and value systems. The proposed framework will be illustrated by applying it to three best-practice mixed mode courses designed for undergraduate lecturing, staff induction and research capacity building respectively. It is hoped that this application of a deep-theory explanation will not only identify for practitioners the elements which are likely to result in effective mixed mode course design, but will also explain why this is so. This study is part of an ongoing project being carried out at a university of technology, and is intended to contribute to a theory of hypermedia communication based on social functioning.Item A realist approach to writing: developing a theoretical model of written composition to inform a computer mediated learning application(2007) Pratt, Deirdre DeniseAn in-depth investigation into the nature of composing was carried out to provide the theoretical basis for a computer mediated learning application, an interactive writing tutor computer program which might be customised by users to fit different educational contexts. The investigation was carried out within a critical realist perspective, from which viewpoint composing can be seen to have an external reality in common with other social phenomena. The intended outcome was to arrive at a description of writing which more closely approximated the reality so as to design more effective learning interactions, in particular, the writing tutor program itselfItem From social algorithm to pedagogical application: some implications for educational software(2006) Pratt, Deirdre DeniseEducational software geared to literacy development is too often based on what computer programs can do rather than on any deep-level consideration of the social process involved or how social processes are learned. As social psychology suggests that young people learn social behaviour by means of social algorithms, it is suggested that designers of educational software should consider identifying the algorithm involved as a basis for effective program design. Apart from resulting in versatile courseware, following this process means that the program structure itself can be made to reinforce the algorithm to be learned. This innovative educational design process is demonstrated by showing how a writing tutor program was designed around a composing algorithm underpinned by a deep structure of communicative functions. The resulting application could then be used flexibly in a variety of different educational contexts because the commonalities and variables in composing had been established.Item Modelling writing as the basis for a writing tutor computer program.(2005) Pratt, Deirdre DeniseTo provide the basis for a writing tutor program which could be used in a variety of contexts, a modelling process was followed which produced both a practical and a theoretical model of writing. While the practical model provided learner writers with metacognitive strategies to carry out composing processes, the theoretical model underpinning it consisted of a system of communicative functions necessary for effective communication. Having been validated empirically, the practical model formed the basis for a writing tutor program, which was produced in the form of a help menu designed around the five stages of composing shown in the model. The program can be loaded onto the learner writer’s home computer and consulted while the writer is composing on computer, and was designed to allow for input by both teacher and student, which means that it can be customised to suit different educational contexts and purposes.Item Modelling social algorithms as design templates for educational software(2006) Pratt, Deirdre DeniseEducation involves a process of initiating learners into complex socio-cultural processes which may vary from culture to culture and even between institutions within the same culture, making it difficult to design versatile courseware which has some relevance for the social process to be mastered by learners. Moreover, social elements often operate intra- as well as extra-systemically in social processes, which makes it difficult for the courseware designer to differentiate between the commonalities and variables in learning processes. Yet in spite of the complexity of human social behaviour, psychologists have identified social algorithms which apply to various key domains, and which prepare young people for effective social functioning in a variety of life situations. It is the contention of this paper, based on doctoral research on modelling composition, that it is possible to identify social algorithms which underpin human learning, and which might form the basis for effective courseware, given that such programs would require customisable options so as to cater for the extra-systemic elements applying in various socio-cultural contexts. One of the means whereby social algorithms can be identified is provided by Franck’s modelling process, which uses the principle of reverse engineering. The modelling process is described in some detail, as is the central concept of the social mechanism (i.e. algorithm) with specific reference to the development of educational software in the form of a process-based writing tutor program.Item An analysis of the design features of three mixed-mode courses in a master’s degree programme(2005) Pratt, Deirdre DeniseThis paper suggests that a system of communicative functions can be used to provide a framework for analysing course design, and illustrates this with reference to three mixed-mode courses intended for use in a master’s programme in Computer Assisted Language Teaching (CALT). The design principle is based on an architecture of functions necessary for effective communication, namely, the contextual, ideational, interactive social and reflexive functions. Because the principle is descriptive rather than prescriptive, and is thought to identify a deep structure of human functioning common to all social interaction, it provides a template for analyse of course design which can be applied within different educational paradigms. The template offers the course designer moving into a new milieu or medium the opportunity to gain a fresh perspective on the process of instructional design. Issues such as the educational context, course content, learning interactions, academic requirements and assessment can be now viewed in terms of how these contribute to knowledge construction, rather than whether the outcome per se is desirable: the latter issue is already addressed comprehensively in current instructional design paradigmsItem Mechanism and software design: the use of a stochastic social-process algorithm in the design of a writing tutor program.(2005) Pratt, Deirdre DeniseOne of the chief difficulties in designing effective courseware for improving writing proficiency is that composing, like other forms of human communication, is a complex social process with little or no agreement as to its precise nature or structure. Designing a versatile writing tutor program which will mimic the functions performed by a human tutor requires a systematic investigation into the complex processes involved in composing, in particular its commonalities and variables, and the ways in which it is shaped to the various contexts in which it occurs. This paper suggests that in order to translate complex social processes effectively into educational software design, it is first advisable to discover the social mechanisms which effect the process. In the case of written composition, a complex modelling procedure was followed which used a process of reverse engineering to arrive at a system of essential communicative functions. The architecture of functions thus revealed validated a practical model of composing, which in turn could be seen to constitute a stochastic algorithm for composing. The algorithm was used as the basis for the design of a writing tutor program, which took the form of a help menu based around the five stages of composing depicted in the algorithm. The program has still to be tested out by learner writers working in various educational contexts.Item The role of the social mechanism in social transformation: a critical realist approach to blended learning.(2006) Pratt, Deirdre Denise; Gutteridge, Robert GeoffreyThis paper deals with ongoing curriculum development in mixed mode, focusing in particular on student response to blended learning at a multicultural University of Technology. This is currently the subject of a masters research project investigating the possible ways in which learner access and response to blended learning might be affected by socio-cultural elements. The research investigates the impact of socio-cultural factors on blended learning in the development of academic literacy in a tertiary vocational context, and, it is hoped, will identify some of the factors which contribute positively or negatively towards blended learning in multicultural settings. The research orientation is critical realism, which is highly compatible with the scaffolded constructivist learning approach used in the Department of English & Communication’s Comm. Skills Online course, but has additional ontological dimensions which are helpful in pointing the way to social transformation. A key concept in critical realist research is that of the social mechanism, which can be seen as having two aspects, formal and practical: Franck’s modelling process represents these as theoretical and empirical models respectively. A tentative empirical model of blended learning based on a theoretical model of course design is discussed: socio-cultural factors impacting on both affect and access issues in blended learning can be represented as input into the system inherent in the social mechanism. The merits and disadvantages of the video protocol analysis as a possible research tool for capturing data on student response to blended learning are also discussed, and the paper concludes with the implications of this type of modelling for social transformation.Item Blended learning as a response to change in a merged technikon: an account of three modes of delivery in a web-based Communication Skills semester course designed for Engineering students at DIT(2003) Pratt, Deirdre DeniseThe degree to which people are facing revolutionary technological changes in the near future is matched only by the degree of inertia evinced by educational institutions, particularly tertiary institutions. Even when such institutions undergo sweeping changes, as in the case of the recent merger between Technikon Natal and ML Sultan Technikon, the reaction of most academic departments is to make desperate attempts to adjust and consolidate, and to think with nostalgia of “the good old days” rather than to introduce innovations. Yet as Taylor (2001) points out, an institution’s survival in the face of imminent widespread technological change depends not only on changing the way it does things, but on changing the things it does, and a common factor in innovation is often the introduction of new learning technology systems (Kenny, 2002). The “Fourth Generation” learning model described by Taylor is already a reality for educators, involving interactive multimedia online, Internet-based access to World Wide Web resources, and computer-mediated communication. While Taylor is writing in the context of distance education, the “flexible learning model” described is just as appropriate for blended learning, i.e., a mixture of face-to-face and computer-mediated instruction (also referred to as “mixed mode”). Moreover, when a merged “super-technikon” such as the Durban Institute of Technology swells its student numbers to over 20,000 and sprawls over a number of campuses, some of the techniques used for distance education might well apply. However, as Glor (1997) points out, effective innovation is “not just a question of coming up with ideas, but also of developing and realising them successfully”, and the transition “from strategic vision to university wide teaching change is ... a complex and largely uncharted one” (Lines, 2000). The Fourth Generation model of instructional delivery is in fact well within the capabilities of a growing number of the DIT staff who have completed the Pioneers Induction Programme to web-based learning (Peté et al, 2002), initiated in 2000, and are going from strength to strength with the current Pioneers 2003 group. This paper looks at an initiative by one of the Pioneers 2002 group (the author) to introduce a Communication Skills course in blended learning mode, mainly in the interests of enhanced delivery, but also in an attempt to find creative solutions to problems such as larger classes and diminishing resources. It will show that, while the assumptions about enhanced delivery were justified, in one case the initiative was all but sabotaged by the unfortunate convergence of multiple “merger glitches”, which individually could have been relatively easily overcome, but collectively posed a serious threat not just to academic quality but to course continuance.Item The making of CourseMaker, a web-based shell program which can be set up by the teacher to run online courses(2003) Pratt, Deirdre DeniseCourseMaker is an HTML shell program which was developed by the presenter as part of a Ph.D. research project on CAI/written composition, but which can be used for a variety of other instructional purposes. CourseMaker contains many of the elements of the traditional classroom translated into the electronic medium, and can be set up by teachers to run a variety of courses in either academic or non-formal subjects, along with any instructions, lesson materials or notes they may wish to include. It has features such as lesson links and pop-up boxes which make it possible to layer and cross-link teaching materials and resources either on CourseMaker itself or the Internet. CourseMaker also provides for input by students, who can continue with a course at any stage or level, and can choose which course or lesson to access as needed. Setting up courses on CourseMaker does not require knowledge of computer programming: courses can be set up by the teacher to suit different academic contexts, purposes and student target groups. CourseMaker is not a commercial product but research output which is thought to have educational potential when used either as or in conjunction with a web-based learning programme.