Learner-Centered Theory and Practice in Distance Education

Cases From Higher Education

Thomas M. Duffy, Jamie R. Kirkley

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2003
• ISBN:
  9781135623920
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Learner-Centered Theory and Practice in Distance Education: Cases From Higher Education brings the voice of the learning sciences to the study and design of distance learning. The contributors examine critical issues in the design of theoretically and pedagogically based distance education programs. Eight distance education programs are described in enough detail to allow readers with different interests to understand the pedagogical approaches and the implications of implementing those approaches. Issues of theory, pedagogy, design, assessment, communities of practice, collaboration, and faculty development are discussed.Each section of the book includes:
*a primary chapter written by an author or authors involved with a distance education program that reflects learner-centered principles;*a formal reaction to the chapter by a specialist from the learning sciences, educational evaluation and policy, administration, or the corporate sector with expertise in issues of distance learning; and *an edited transcript of the authors' discussion of the primary chapter held at a symposium at the Asilomar Conference Center. A final "summing up" section offers two perspectives--from leading scholars outside the fields of instructional design, evaluation, and the learning sciences--on the approaches and thinking reflected in the rest of the book. This book is essential for researchers, as well as all those engaged in delivering, supporting, or administrating distance education programs at the post-secondary level. The descriptions, strategies, and principles will inform the design of continuing education, as well as degree-based education and corporate education and training, and distance education programs for adults.

III
Problem-Centered Learning

6
Learning Theory and Pedagogy Applied in Distance Learning: The Case of Cardean University¹

Thomas M. Duffy and Jamie R. Kirkley
Indiana University

In the past decade, education and training has seen incredible growth in Web-based learning. From corporate training to higher education, many institutions are now providing online courses and modules so learners can gain access to education anytime and anywhere there is an Internet connection. Currently, more than 50,000 university courses are taught online, and more than 1,000 universities are developing and offering these courses (Carnavale, 2000; National Center for Education Statistics, 1999). Corporations are also embracing the Web for instructional delivery. From 1996 to 1998, the proportion of companies using their intranet for training increased from 3.5% to 33.2% (ASTD career center, 2001), and nearly all of the Fortune 100 companies already offer some form of online computer-based training (Herther, 1997).

The surge in Web-based education reflects the institutional goals of meeting the needs of those who cannot come to campus, capturing a larger share of the education market, seeking to survive in the education market, or reducing education and training costs. However, in these distance learning initiatives the focus, for the most part, has been limited to selecting the “right” technology and transferring courses to the Web. An examination of the literature most often yields personal descriptions of the transfer process and the technology used. The one exception to this has been a focus on how to facilitate discussion on the Web (Collison, Elbaum, Haavind,&Tinker, 2000; Salmon, 2000).

The online environment dramatically impacts teaching methods, so simply importing traditional models of instruction and tacking on discussion is not likely to work. Although we do not share the calls of alarm of those who question the quality of Web-based distance education (e.g., AAUP, 2001), we do agree that the distance environment, just like the campus classroom, must be informed by our best understanding of how people learn (see Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000).

The goal of this chapter is to address issues in the real world design and implementation of an online university offering MBA courses. Cardean University is an interesting case study, because it was well financed, was released from many of the constraints of traditional universities, and was committed to educational excellence through the design of courses based on an implementation of constructivist learning theory. But, of course, the world is never so easy. There are real business goals, real world constraints, and the medium of delivery that drive the design and implementation of online learning. In this chapter, we discuss how people learn and our commitment to a constructivist pedagogical stance, how theory is applied through design, and how design and delivery are impacted by real world issues through a case study of Cardean University. The first author served as a vice president and the chief learning officer at Cardean and led the development of the basic course architecture that will be discussed in the chapter. Thus this is a firsthand perspective on the meeting of theory, educational practice, and the business world. Although this provides an up-close and personal view, it is also subject to the biases of the first author’s perspective.

We begin with a discussion of a constructivist perspective on how we learn and, in the examination of five pedagogical implications of that stance on learning, how that theory is applied through design. The theory and pedagogical strategies apply to both distance and classroom-based settings; what differs between these contexts are the tactics for achieving the pedagogical goals. Thus, we examine the specific tactics related to taking the pedagogy to the distance learning environment. We then turn to an examination of Cardean University, first examining the design process and then examining how the theory and pedagogical goals were approached in the design. Throughout this discussion, we will identify nine tensions among the pedagogical, practical, and business demands in the design process that led to struggles in making key design decisions.

HOW WE LEARN

Our understanding of how people learn has grown dramatically over the last 20 years. There was a long tradition of understanding learning as knowledge transmission, a process whereby the student processes information provided to him or her and stores it in a network of information (Gardner, 1985). This perspective leads to a focus on the design of content so that it is easy to process, and hence “learn” (Sweller, 2000). It is reflected in the widespread notion that “moving a course to the Web” is a matter of designing the content for the Web. In many of these cases, there is not even a mention of the learners and what they will do (Janicki & Liegle, 2001).

In a seminal article in the field of education, Resnick (1987) offered an alternative perspective, one focused on the goals and activities of the learner rather than on the presentation of content. She pointed to both the active construction of understanding and to the situated nature of understanding as she contrasted learning out of school to what we do with children in school. School learning tends to be individual work, focused on mastery of the text. The student’s goal is to pass a test that typically involves the ability to recall or recognize information in the text. In contrast, the out-of-school learning—the learning that individuals do as part of their everyday life—reflects a focus on the use of information outside of the learning context, where collaboration is the norm and where information is a resource to be used rather than mastered.

Resnick’s argument that the out-of-school learning reflects the process by which we learn reflects the basic tenets of the two dominant theoretical positions in education today, constructivism and situated cognition.² From these perspectives, there is recognition of the active construction of understanding by the learner and of the situated nature of learning. At the most fundamental level, constructivism and situated cognition offer a view of learning as “sense making”: Learning is a process of making sense of the world and of seeking useful understanding—an understanding that aids in resolving uncertainty. Constructivism is an action-oriented perspective in that understanding is in the doing. As Barab and Duffy (2000) noted:

1. Knowing refers to an activity, not a thing;
2. Knowing is always contextualized, not abstract;
3. Knowing is reciprocally constructed in the Individual–environment interaction, not objectively defined or subjectively created; and
4. Knowing is a functional stance on interaction—not a truth. (p. 32)

The view of learning as “sense making” is not a pedagogical stance on the way we teach people. Nor is it a proposal that this is the way learning occurs sometimes or in some situations. It is a proposal that this is what learning is all about. Regardless of age, whether we are in school or out, whether we are working adults or traditional college students, or whether learning is online or in the classroom, the process of learning is driven by the learner’s goal of making sense of the world and of resolving uncertainty (Brookfield, 1986; Cross, 1992; Knowles, 1984; Piaget, 1932; von Glasersfeld, 1995).

From this perspective, learning resources are just that—resources. Knowledge is not contained in those resources, but rather the knowledge is in the goal-oriented use of those resources in a specific context and for a specific purpose. What is learned is a function of the learner’s goals and is impacted by the constraints and affordances of the particular situation. Certainly, we have all had the experience of going back to a book for a different purpose or in a different context (e.g., as an administrator rather than a researcher) and coming away with new understandings of familiar text. As Brown and Duguid (2000) have noted, nurses and physicians read the same documents as do accountants and financial planners, but because of their goals, they come away with different understandings. (Bransford and Johnson, 1972) have amply demonstrated this impact in an experimental setting where students having memorized the punch lines for jokes for one purpose (not knowing they were punch lines) and did not recognize the relevance of these punch lines when presented with the jokes. Similarly, the same paragraph of text can be understood very differently, depending on the perspective with which one approaches the text (Bransford and Schwartz, 2001; Gick and Holyoak, 1983).

Entwistle, Entwistle, and Tait (1991) have demonstrated the same impact of goals in student learning in university courses. In surveys and interviews with students, they found that regardless of the students’ goals for taking a class, the testing process determined their study strategy and what they learned. In summarizing their data, they noted, “It might be said that students were, to varying degrees, developing understanding which was situated in the perceived requirements of the examination questions rather than in the discipline or profession, thus restricting the likelihood of ready knowledge transfer to the outside world.” (Entwistle, Entwistle, & Tait, 1991, p. 350). Or, as is the common saying to new entrants to the workforce, “You have had your schooling, now it is time to really learn.”

As adults come back to university and as companies send their employees back to school, many adults are seeking understanding that they can apply to their jobs. Indeed, vocational application is one of the three major learner goals expressed by students even 20 years ago (Taylor, 1983). Unfortunately, as Entwistle, Entwistle, and Tait (1991) note, these students will typically encounter a conflict between the demands of the course (e.g., to pass a test) and their goal of being able to use the information outside of school (e.g., use what they have learned at work). But it is not just the vocational linkage that makes this an issue. Certainly, most individuals entering college anticipate that their learning will be usable outside of the classroom context. So what does this mean for the design and implementation of online learning environments?

KEY PEDAGOGICAL GOALS OF A CONSTRUCTIVIST LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

The goal in this section is to discuss five design objectives that we feel are central to the constructivist framework and hence are central in creating inquiry environments. The goals, as outlined in Table 6.1, are to engage and support the student in an inquiry process, which will result in the development of usable knowledge, that is, knowledge that will serve the student outside of the classroom. By inquiry, we mean that the individual is engaged in a domain-relevant issue and is seeking to resolve or gain a richer understanding of that issue. Any assessment process must be in the service of that inquiry. Finally, collaboration can both support the student as learner and provide a mechanism for testing ideas.

These objectives apply whether the learning is at a distance or in the face-to-face classroom. It is when we instantiate these objectives that the learning context becomes critical. Thus, in the discussion that follows, we will discuss each of these goals as they apply in any learning environment, and then we examine how each may be impacted in a distance learning environment.

Engage in Inquiry

Colleges are increasingly attempting to meet the lifelong learning needs of older adults. These students come to a course because the topic and issues have meaning for them, meeting their professional development or general interest needs. They are already engaged in the inquiry and anticipate the course helping their efforts. If the course does not serve their needs, they will leave. Here the task is straightforward: the objectives of the course and the course design are driven by these learner needs. However, in most of our educational environments, there are specified curricular goals, which are typically established by the instructor or the department. There is a professional preparation that is necessary, and thus the courses cannot simply be tailored to the user but must meet these professional or intellectual preparation objectives. However, even with curricular requirements, we can still engage the student in authentic inquiry either by finding the link between the course goals and the student interests or by developing the students’ interests in an inquiry that is consistent with the prespecified goals of the course.

TABLE 6.1

Pedagogical Goals for a Constructivist Learning Environment

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1. Engage the student in inquiry that will lead to the student’s useful understanding of the concepts and skills identified in the course objectives.
2. Provide structure and support to the learners as they engage in goal-oriented inquiry and problem solving.
3. Facilitate interaction, collaboration, and a community-based learning environment.
4. Design an assessment system that is performance oriented, calling for a demonstration of useful understanding.
5. Promote transfer of knowledge to other contexts through reflective activities and diverse experiences.

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Linking to Student Interests

There are several strategies for linking course goals to student interests. Scardamalia and Bereiter (1991) and Bransford and Schwartz (2001) have demonstrated that students often have questions about a subject that are fully consistent with the goals for the course. Simply asking students, before they study, what questions they have about a curriculum topic often yields a list of issues that will meet curricular goals. Capitalizing on those student-generated issues is one strategy for giving ownership while still maintaining the prespecified learning objectives for the course.

Action learning (Revans, 1997) is another strategy for meeting both institutional and individual goals. In the action learning format, institutional goals are sought that are relevant to the individual, and these goals become the drivers of the learning experience. In the corporate environment, this typically involves defining a broad-based problem or issue of future direction that is relevant to a team of employees. Developing strategies for addressing the problem or future then becomes the focus of the course. Service learning and adult functional literacy similarly situate learning in a real world context meaningful to the learner while meeting curricular goals.

Creating Student Interest

It is not always possible to adapt goals to the interests of the learners. In these circumstances, the strategy is to create environments that will create a puzzlement that engages the learner in inquiry activities consistent with the goals of the course. In contrast to the adaptive approach in the previous paragraphs, here the course is designed, but there is a direct effort to engage the learner in an issue that they may not have considered previously. There are many strategies for this: problem-based learning (Barrows, 1992), learning by design (Kolodner, Crismond, Gray, Holbrook, & Puntambekar, 1998), project-based learning (Bloomenfeld, Soloway, Marx, Krajcik, Guzdial, & Palinczor, 1991), case-based learning (Christensen, Hansen, & Moore, 1989), and experiential simulation (Gredler, 1996) environments are some examples. It should be clear that the problem or project is not just a functional one, but may involve creating an intellectual curiosity in some issue, for example, in using the principle of force from physics to understand how roller coasters work or in understanding how drama is created in a film.

Simply confronting the student with an issue is very different from engaging the student in that issue. As Barrows (1992) has argued, it is critical that we “bring the problem home” for the student and help the student establish personal relevance to the problem, issue, or goal. Further, the inquiry will only be sustained if the student has primary responsibility for the process, taking ownership in examining and investigating the issues, as well as proposing a solution. Teachers’ interactions and responses should not focus on content, as this takes away student ownership. Rather, the focus is at the metacognitive level, where they model, scaffold, and support student thinking (Savery & Duffy, 1996; Stepien & Gallagher, 1993).

Application to Distance Learning

A distance learning or computer-mediated environment does not change the issues in creating an inquiry environment; there is always the challenge of engaging and sustaining engagement in an issue. The online environment presents different challenges. For example, the fact that the course is taken from home or the office is likely to make it difficult to sustain engagement in the issue. Also, the current internet technologies limits strategies for engaging the Learner—in particular, the extemporaneous discussions about issues and discussions embedded in the viewing or presentation of a real world context that are often so important in stirring excitement in an issue. Nonetheless, the goals are the same.

Whether in a classroom or at a distance, the designer must identify the problem or issue that, with student engagement, will lead to learning consistent with the course objectives. Given the problem, the instructor or the instructional designer must develop a well designed method for:

• Engaging the learner (e.g., presentation of problem and issues from the real world or linking student interests to curriculum goals)
• Establishing ownership of the problem (e.g., sharing the impact of the problem on the learner and others; bringing the problem home; working on a student-generated problem)
• Developing a commitment to solve the problem (e.g., learners believe they can address the problem with some degree of success).

Facilitating student engagement and ownership can be done through:

• Resources (including multimedia, such as Flash animation, demonstrating the issues)
• Discussion among learners (e.g., debate on pros and cons of the issue)
• Group projects (e.g., collaborative report proposing solutions to the problem presented)

These choices should be guided based on the characteristics of the specific learning environment. For example, in a learning anytime anywhere environment, where there may limited learner interactions, providing some compelling resources may be more appropriate than a group project. However, it must be remembered that the strategy is not the end in itself—the goal is to engage learners in the issue, and this is most likely to occur when the issue is relevant and authentic to their context.

Provide Structure

Once students are engaged in the problem, it is critical that we effectively support their learning process. There are three issues in providing that support:

1. The student must continue to feel ownership of the problem. The presentation of the problem served to engage the student in the problem, and now the goal is to...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Preface
• About the Authors
• I Introduction
• II Community Building
• III Problem-Centered Learning
• IV Innovative Uses of Technology
• V Scaling Up
• VI Alternate Views