Four different computer-based media combinations - Text-only, Text + Diagrams, Spoken Text + Diagrams, and Text + Video material - have been created to instruct participants how to carry out the practical task of removing and installing both a video card and a CPU chip in a computer system. The four presentations are based upon identical teaching material. Tests were constructed to measure the amount of knowledge gained both in the theoretical and in the practical parts of the experiment. An interactive facility was provided which allowed participants to move forwards and backwards in the material so that the effects of interactivity (or lack of it) could be investigated in relation to the media combinations used. In addition, student learning style was measured and the effects of the four presentations on students with different learning styles were investigated. A practical domain was chosen because most previous work has mainly been on theoretical domains (such as statistics) or on animated examples of simple systems (such as braking systems). Two experiments have been designed and carried out. The first experiment was a pilot study which used 24 participants. Its results were used to improve the design of the second experiment by improving the material presented and the knowledge tests and adjusting the complexity of the questions used in the test. The second experiment was a more extensive one in which 80 participants took part. These results showed that text-only material was not as effective in delivering the teaching material to the participants compared with the other presentations. However, when interactivity was introduced, the text-only participants were able to improve their performance considerably by moving extensively between scenes. The addition of video material did not improve the learning performance in the completion of the practical tasks, in comparison with the other media combinations and this may have been due to a redundancy effect. Finally, learning style (regarding the sensing/intuitive learners) did result in significant learning performance differences, but these were not due to the media combinations used. An examination of performance of sensing and intuitive learners over the theoretical and practical aspects of the test suggested that the difference may be due to intuitors' preference for theoretical material and sensors' preference for practical material. Further research work is proposed to investigate further the effects observed.

This research focused on the importance of user context in designing learning and support in an online learning environment since the increase of the use of online learning environment had produced several problems and perceptions among students. Therefore, user support system is a significant element in designing an online learning system. The study involved the processes of designing, developing, implementing, and evaluating the online learning environment and a corresponding support system for a digital graphics domain, based on a user-centred construction. In addition, the focus was on supporting the students in dealing with learning problems and technical difficulties during the online learning session. The research consisted of three stages. The first stage involved the process of gathering information regarding the user needs and their points of view toward the designs of the online learning system. Most recent models on web development only focus on tools development and learning theories without emphasising on the learner's points of view and user centred approach. Therefore, in this study, a user-centred design was used to involve the learners in the design process. In doing so, the SUNA (Scenario User Needs Analysis) and Activity Theory frameworks were used in identifying learner needs in their particular context and implementing them into the system. The second stage of the study provided the framework to support the iterative process of designing and evaluating the user's needs. The online learning system was duly developed, based on the outcomes of the iterative design process. Two cycles of iterative process were implemented in order to validate the user needs and to test the system functionality. Finally, the modification process was made and the final system was produced. The third stage involved the implementation and evaluation of the system through online distance learning students in Malaysia. The aim was to investigate what the students had learnt from the system, how the students learnt using the system, how they made use of the tools for learning and the contribution of the system and support to their learning outcomes. The Activity Theory framework was used to analyse the interaction between the learners and their learning environment. The outcomes of the analysis were presented as case studies to determine the interaction of the students with their surrounding artefacts such as tools, community, rules and division of labour. The results of the study indicated that the system was effectively design in catering different learners' perspectives in the online learning environment. This finding is interesting, as it highlighted the system capability in fulfilling the learners' needs within their context. The case studies revealed that every student had different learning strategies and patterns of usage of the tools, when exploring the system. The meaningful interaction of the students in the case studies revealed that the system successfully helped the learners to understand the basic concept of digital graphics. The findings of the research also suggested that the learners have achieved their learning objectives by integrating their knowledge into the course assignments. It also suggested that the system and the support system had contributed to their learning by providing the students with various scaffolding facilities. The major contributions of this research are: a) the design provides effective learner support in an online environment b) the design provides evidence that it fulfils the learner's needs in the context of learning digital graphics.

Researchers acknowledge the difficulty faced by children in understanding new concepts. Explaining new concepts to children requires supporting their reasoning based on concrete objects and ideas. Human tutors normally use some dialogue to introduce new concepts and tailor the explanations to the prior knowledge of the children. There is a lack of interactive pedagogical agents that guide children's reasoning and adapt explanation to their cognitive state. The design of such agents can be based on learning theories that explain how children understand new concepts, as well as on studies of how human teachers support children's conceptual understanding. The goal of this research is to develop a computational framework to inform the design of a pedagogical agent capable of engaging in a dialogue that supports children's conceptual understanding, the thesis proposes an approach for Schema Activation and Interpersonal Communications (SAIC) to support cognitive tasks that occur when a child is learning new concepts through one-to-one interaction with a computer agent. The approach is based on schema theory that explains how meaning-making occurs and stresses the importance of prior knowledge, and on the results of an experimental study that identifies strategies human teachers use to support schema-based cognitive tasks. A novel architecture of a pedagogical agent whose behaviour is based on schema activation and modification is described. The architecture addresses three important issues: describing the process of activation and modification of relevant prior knowledge to be used in introducing new concepts; defining the reasoning and decision making of the agent to promote schema-based cognitive tasks; and providing adaptive explanations tailored to the child's relevant prior knowledge. The schematic knowledge of the SAIC agent is represented as frames, the dialogue is planned as a sequence of dialogue games, and the interaction language is implemented with linguistic templates extracted from a study with teachers. The applicability of the SAIC approach is demonstrated in a multimedia educational system 'Going to the Moon', as an integrated as an integrated component in a reading session. An experimental study with the multimedia system has validated the SAIC design approach and has examined the usefulness of the agent in supporting children's conceptual understanding in terms of improving their schematic knowledge. The thesis makes original contributions to the fields of Artificial Intelligence in Education by defining reasoning and decision making based on the principles of schema theory, and by designing a schema-based pedagogical agent to support children's conceptual understanding; Education by demonstrating the application of learning theories to inform the design of intelligent tutoring systems; and Knowledge-based systems by demonstrating the feasibility of frames as the representation formalism in Intelligent Tutoring Systems, and by proposing some original mechanism for using frames to design pedagogical agents.

The increasing penetration of digital technologies in society. involves substantial changes in literacy practices that need not be marginalised as "digital literacy". The Subject of this research is the 'investigation of emerging changes in ‘literacy' in a digitally mediated, world, viewed. From the, perspective of the individual's, understandings, of the changes taking place. To explore the extent. to which understandings are common the research worked with diverse' populations. Three groups of different age ranges (school age, professional adults and retired people) and cultural contexts (Mexico, Spain, and the UK) were interviewed. The data set was analysed according to three perspectives: participants' understandings of how their practices have changed; critical understandings of their practices including the contexts in which they take place; and understandings of their own identity as "literate” individuals. The research approach was qualitative drawing on semi-structured interviews and iterative- analysis of the data. 'While some of the findings confirm tendencies already observed in the literature, others, such as a sense of non-alignment with cultures of transparency, the lack of perception of the self as creator of artefacts, or tensions between convenience and critical positions) provoke reflection and contribute to a fuller understanding of the nature of literacy in a digital world. The key implications of the report's findings for educational' policy and pedagogical practice include the idea that literacy cannot be viewed as a static set of skills. the fact that the evidence presented here. suggests, that there is no clear demarcation between “digital literacy" and "literacy" and the idea that pedagogical practice should take into account the degree of integration of technologies into learners lives. The report identifies a need for educational policy, and pedagogical practice to focus on the development" of 'meta-literacy', or understandings of what literacy and literacies involve.

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Forum Theatre technique established by Augusto Boal, a well-known Brazilian dramatist, is a kind of social therapy where people are not just watching the play but are also encouraged to participate in the play and give ideas and solutions to the problems. This study focuses on the Forum Theater as a medium or tool for the Malay adolescents to discuss their social problems creatively and critically. The study discusses the historical background of Theatre of the Oppressed (TO), as well as its components such as Image Theatre, Forum Theatre, Invisible Theatre, the Rainbow of Desire and Legislative Theatre. Forum Theatre has been successfully performed in European countries under the guise of 'Power Play', 'Therapy Play', 'Theatre of Revolution' and 'Theatre for Social Change'. Theatre of the Oppressed, especially the Forum Theatre, is generally unknown in Malaysian society and the approach needs to be introduced and explained in some detail. By having a comprehensive description of the Theatre of the Oppressed, the Malaysian reader will be able to understand the technique and approach in a deeper sense. As the research is about the implementation of Forum approach with adolescents, studies also concentrated on several theories of adolescent ii behavior and development from several perspectives and fields. The world of adolescents is confusing and complex and differs between countries. This study allows a better understanding on the complexity of Malay adolescence. The study focuses in general on the dilemma of the Malay traditional system of culture and norms that has been developed for centuries which has affected the adolescents' way of life. The study criticizes some of the customs (adat) that have caused Malays, and especially adQlescents, to be incompetent and silent. Several opinions from various sources were quoted to support the ideas. The application of the original Forum approach in Malaysia is complicated because there is lack of written references available in the country. To implement the approach in Malaysia some modification and adjustment were made by adapting several other therapeutic approaches such as Psychodrama and Playback Theatre. To verify the effectiveness of the adapted approach, workshops with the troubled adolescents in the two rehabilitation centres known as Tunas Bakti Schools (STB) were conducted. The data gathered in the workshops were analyzed to determine the reception of the approach by the society and especially by the adolescents. Results from these two workshops were studied and analyzed and a new adapted approach appropriate for the Malaysian context has been constructed. The outcome will provide a model for Malaysians interested in applying the technique in future.

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This thesis is concerned with how the coveted user-engagement of digital games can be usefully harnessed for educational goals. Educational software has traditionally used gaming elements as a separate reward for completing learning content. The early "edutainment" sector became synonymous with this cursory "chocolate-covered broccoli" approach (Bruckman, 1999): tagging games on to learning content in order to make it more palatable. However, such methods have often proved ineffective (Kerawalla & Crook, 2005; Trushell, Burrell, & Maitland, 2001) and have been criticised for combining the worst elements of both games and education (Papert, 1998) as well as for following extrinsically motivating design models (Lepper, 1985; Parker & Lepper, 1992). This thesis provides a theoretical and empirical exploration of game designs that follow a more integrated approach. Five studies are described which detail the development and evaluation of a new theory for creating intrinsic integration based on integrating learning content with the game mechanics of a game. This includes the development of Zombie Division: a game that teaches mathematics to children through swordplay with skeletal opponents. Two experimental studies examine the motivational differences between integrated and non-integrated versions of Zombie Division by measuring time-on-task. Two more examine the educational effectiveness of integrated and non-integrated versions by measuring learning gains for a fixed amount of time-on-task. Statistically significant results are found which suggest that the integrated version is motivationally and educationally more effective than the extrinsic equivalent. Full results and implications are discussed.

This research set out to discover why some Higher Education (HE) students adapted very quickly to online environments and showed excellent learning behaviours and outcomes, while others found many barriers to the same activity. Given the rapid spread of virtual learning environments (VLEs) in HE Institutions, HE teachers need clear ideas about how to prepare and support learners in these environments. If individual differences among students could be identified, which affected “readiness” for learning online, then this information could be used to develop appropriate support and prevent such differences working to disadvantage groups of students. The project explored the perspectives of a group of HE teachers who could speak from experience as 'early adopters' of VLEs for pedagogic purposes, in order to discuss the 'readiness' of students for learning in an online context. Research questions focussed on how teachers could manage transition and integration of online technologies within HE, and how they could identify variations in students' approaches to the technologies and mediate the less successful ones. A grounded analysis method was applied to transcripts of interviews with HE teachers with experience and enthusiasm for integrating online and face-to-face teaching and learning. The 'constant comparative' method was used to fragment the data and develop categories of ideas in relation to the research questions. The findings confirmed differences between traditional and online teaching and learning, affecting the approach of both teacher and student, but gave no support to the concept of 'readiness'. Conclusions focussed on the process of preparing students for learning with online technologies. Further outcomes related to the changing teacher's role and the impact of teachers' beliefs on the design and integration of online technologies. Detailed suggestions were produced for appropriate learner induction to enable a more positive engagement with online technologies. The potential plasticity of the online learning space is shown to offer opportunities for supporting diverse learning approaches.