This thesis investigates the potential for Knowledge Building in large size Pharmacy classrooms. Knowledge Building is the social creation and continual improvement of ideas (Scardamalia & Bereiter, 2003). The pedagogy and technology that underlie it are based on a complex system involving 12 interdependent principles. This research examines principle-based classroom designs, targeting two Knowledge Building principles--epistemic agency and collective responsibility for community knowledge. Successive design changes were implemented to a self-care course for undergraduate Pharmacy students (n = 182), using case study methodology. The goal underlying design changes was to develop a more dynamic classroom environment involving all students and empowering them to take charge of knowledge advancement at high cognitive levels, through assuming greater agency and collective responsibility for their knowledge advances. Design features that were incorporated into class procedures included class panels to discuss cases, student-generated self-assessment examination questions, and online discussion views in a virtual learning community, Knowledge Forum. Surveys, student comments, self-assessments, field notes, online discourse and course exam scores were used to determine effects of principle-based design changes. Results, taken as a whole, indicate that each new design feature contributed to advances with no negative effects uncovered. Raters blind to authorship of student- versus instructor-generated exam questions could not distinguish between them. Analysis of student commentary indicated advances in line with the broad network of Knowledge Building principles, as well as those specifically targeted in design improvements. Advances in performance on exams, surveys, and in student discourse further contributed to the overall picture of positive effects. Design strategies appropriate for large classroom implementation are shown to facilitate a shift from learning as an exclusively individual enterprise, to the creation of a Knowledge Building Community with students assuming levels of responsibility and agency normally assumed by the teacher.

This thesis investigates the potential for Knowledge Building in large size Pharmacy classrooms. Knowledge Building is the social creation and continual improvement of ideas (Scardamalia & Bereiter, 2003). The pedagogy and technology that underlie it are based on a complex system involving 12 interdependent principles. This research examines principle-based classroom designs, targeting two Knowledge Building principles--epistemic agency and collective responsibility for community knowledge. Successive design changes were implemented to a self-care course for undergraduate Pharmacy students (n = 182), using case study methodology. The goal underlying design changes was to develop a more dynamic classroom environment involving all students and empowering them to take charge of knowledge advancement at high cognitive levels, through assuming greater agency and collective responsibility for their knowledge advances. Design features that were incorporated into class procedures included class panels to discuss cases, student-generated self-assessment examination questions, and online discussion views in a virtual learning community, Knowledge Forum. Surveys, student comments, self-assessments, field notes, online discourse and course exam scores were used to determine effects of principle-based design changes. Results, taken as a whole, indicate that each new design feature contributed to advances with no negative effects uncovered. Raters blind to authorship of student- versus instructor-generated exam questions could not distinguish between them. Analysis of student commentary indicated advances in line with the broad network of Knowledge Building principles, as well as those specifically targeted in design improvements. Advances in performance on exams, surveys, and in student discourse further contributed to the overall picture of positive effects. Design strategies appropriate for large classroom implementation are shown to facilitate a shift from learning as an exclusively individual enterprise, to the creation of a Knowledge Building Community with students assuming levels of responsibility and agency normally assumed by the teacher.

Presently all over the world, there is a great concern among teachers, parents, organisations, community leaders and higher education lecturers about the problems that beset teaching and learning particularly in the teaching programmes, for example, for under-qualified teachers studying at a distance. Most distance education (DE) programmes are concerned with education of adults and it seems fairly obvious that the research plans should be informed by the theories and research about learning in higher education institutions. In terms of teacher education, such studies could, inter alia, focus on teacher development, curriculum planning, learner support programmes, communication and evaluation of DE. DE itself refers to a field of education that focuses on teaching methods and technology with the aim of delivering teaching, often on an individual basis, to learners who are not physically present in a traditional educational setting such as a classroom. Distance learning is becoming an increasingly popular way of studying, and most universities now provide courses using this mode of teaching and learning. Today’s learners, though, are demanding high quality, consumer-focused and flexible courses and learning resources, and active learner support. This means that providers of DE need to reconsider key issues about learner support systems, to ensure that this is delivered appropriately and effectively. This study focuses on learner support in DE education for under-qualified teachers. The concept, learner support, can be traced far back to Vygotsky’s concept of the zone of proximal development, which refers to a learners’ optimal developmental potential if assistance that is timely and appropriate is provided by another person (Vygotsky, 1978). The appeal of the concept of the zone of proximal development lies in the fact that it directs attention to the need for maximum support in the learning process, and does so in a way that emphasises that good teaching is necessarily responsive to the state of understanding achieved by particular learners. Learner support systems may include the resources that the learner can access in order to engage in the learning process, for example, libraries or the resources that relate to the mediation of the communication process such as the media or technology. This study acknowledges that there are different kinds of learner support structures, but argues that there are critical or main components of support services which are registration support, learner support services, contact sessions, technological support and feedback strategies. Therefore, this study focuses on the role played by these five learner support structures as used in the programmes of DE under-qualified teachers at The University of South Africa (UNISA). Supported by empirical data, this study seeks to argue that instructional designers and tutors in the programmes of under-qualified teachers studying through DE need to ensure quality learning support as learning environments are increasingly designed according to the principles of resource-based and independent learning. In a sustainable learning environment, support must be designed according to principles that ensure that learners progress from teacher-directed activity to self-regulated activity. The challenge to deliver a high-quality learner support system, and for tutors and administrators to assume a central educational role in developing effective distance learning environments, the need for teaching and research is increasingly emphasised in research literature. Finally, it is hoped that this piece of work will help to promote more discussion and debate about the use of learner support programmes in DE institutions in particular, and in teaching and learning in general. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Didactics)

Presently all over the world, there is a great concern among teachers, parents, organisations, community leaders and higher education lecturers about the problems that beset teaching and learning particularly in the teaching programmes, for example, for under-qualified teachers studying at a distance. Most distance education (DE) programmes are concerned with education of adults and it seems fairly obvious that the research plans should be informed by the theories and research about learning in higher education institutions. In terms of teacher education, such studies could, inter alia, focus on teacher development, curriculum planning, learner support programmes, communication and evaluation of DE. DE itself refers to a field of education that focuses on teaching methods and technology with the aim of delivering teaching, often on an individual basis, to learners who are not physically present in a traditional educational setting such as a classroom. Distance learning is becoming an increasingly popular way of studying, and most universities now provide courses using this mode of teaching and learning. Today’s learners, though, are demanding high quality, consumer-focused and flexible courses and learning resources, and active learner support. This means that providers of DE need to reconsider key issues about learner support systems, to ensure that this is delivered appropriately and effectively. This study focuses on learner support in DE education for under-qualified teachers. The concept, learner support, can be traced far back to Vygotsky’s concept of the zone of proximal development, which refers to a learners’ optimal developmental potential if assistance that is timely and appropriate is provided by another person (Vygotsky, 1978). The appeal of the concept of the zone of proximal development lies in the fact that it directs attention to the need for maximum support in the learning process, and does so in a way that emphasises that good teaching is necessarily responsive to the state of understanding achieved by particular learners. Learner support systems may include the resources that the learner can access in order to engage in the learning process, for example, libraries or the resources that relate to the mediation of the communication process such as the media or technology. This study acknowledges that there are different kinds of learner support structures, but argues that there are critical or main components of support services which are registration support, learner support services, contact sessions, technological support and feedback strategies. Therefore, this study focuses on the role played by these five learner support structures as used in the programmes of DE under-qualified teachers at The University of South Africa (UNISA). Supported by empirical data, this study seeks to argue that instructional designers and tutors in the programmes of under-qualified teachers studying through DE need to ensure quality learning support as learning environments are increasingly designed according to the principles of resource-based and independent learning. In a sustainable learning environment, support must be designed according to principles that ensure that learners progress from teacher-directed activity to self-regulated activity. The challenge to deliver a high-quality learner support system, and for tutors and administrators to assume a central educational role in developing effective distance learning environments, the need for teaching and research is increasingly emphasised in research literature. Finally, it is hoped that this piece of work will help to promote more discussion and debate about the use of learner support programmes in DE institutions in particular, and in teaching and learning in general. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Didactics)