The use of technology-supported teaching and learning in higher education has moved from a position of peripheral interest a few years ago to become a fundamental ingredient in the experience of many if not most students today. A major part of that change has been wrought by the widespread introduction and use of ‘virtual learning environments’ (VLEs). A defining characteristic of VLEs is that they combine a variety of tools and resources into a single integrated system. To use a VLE is not just to employ a single intervention but to change the very fabric of the students’ experience of study and the university. Despite this, much of the literature on VLEs has concentrated on producing typologies by listing and comparing system functions, describing small scale and short duration applications or providing speculative theories and predictions. Little attention has so far been paid to analysing what effects a VLE’s use has on the participants and the context of use, particularly across a large group of users and over a substantial period of time. This work presents the evaluation of a VLE developed and used to support undergraduate medical education at the University of Edinburgh since 1999. This system is called ‘EEMeC’ and was developed specifically within and in support of its context of use. EEMeC provides a large number of features and functions to many different kinds of user, it has evolved continuously since it was introduced and it has had a significant impact on teaching and learning in the undergraduate medical degree programme (MBChB). In such circumstances evaluation methodologies that depend on controls and single variables are nether applicable or practical. In order to approach the task of evaluating such a complex entity a multi-modal evaluation framework has been developed based on taking a series of metaphor-informed perspectives derived from the organisational theories of Gareth Morgan(Morgan 1997). The framework takes seven approaches to evaluation of EEMeC covering a range of quantitative and qualitative methodologies. These are combined in a dialectical analysis of EEMeC from these different evaluation perspectives. This work provides a detailed and multi-faceted account of a VLE-in-use and the ways in which it interacts with its user community in its context of use. Furthermore, the method of taking different metaphor-based evaluation perspectives of a complex problem space is presented as a viable approach for studying and evaluating similar learning support systems. The evaluation framework that has been developed would be particularly useful to those practitioners who have a pressing and practical need for meaningful evaluation techniques to inform and shape how complex systems such as VLEs are deployed and used. As such, this work can provide insights not just into EEMeC, but into the way VLEs are changing the environments and contexts in which they are used across the tertiary sector as a whole.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-27T13:45:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MARIA APARECIDA CANDINE DE BRITO.pdf: 1530470 bytes, checksum: 151403b5373cfcfcfa9d0b6b5e546191 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-08-10 / This study aimed to analyze the process of pedagogical mediation in semipresencial subject matters taken in virtual learning environments (VLE) in Pedagogy courses. It had two primary goals: characterizing the pedagogical mediation in semipresencial subject matters taken in VLE in Pedagogy courses; identifying the didactic mediation practices employed by the teachers teachers in VLE, and relating them to the basis of Cultural Historical Theory. As for the concept of mediation, this study was based on Vygotsky and other scholars Cultural Historical Theory. For pedagogical mediation through the use of digital technologies in education our references were: Toschi, Freitas, Durán and Peixoto. We aimed to clarify the following issues: How does the pedagogical-didactic mediation take place in semipresencial subject matters taken in VLE? What teaching practices characterize pedagogical mediation practices in semipresencial subject matters taken via VLE offered by the Pedagogy course? What relationships can be identified between the mediation concept based on the Cultural Historical Theory and the mediation practices employed by the teachers in the VLE pedagogical process? This qualitative study was carried out in two higher education institutions in Goiânia assessing five teachers conducting semipresencial subject matters in the Pedagogy courses. Data was gathered through questionnaires, interviews, VLE peerwatching, as well as the analysis of both pedagogical process and lesson plans. We compared both field research data and review of literature on pedagogical mediation in distance education and in VLE in light of the Cultural Historical theory. Data analysis pointed towards three types of mediation practices which we labeled as: practices related to the course dynamics and the use of VLE tools; communication and pedagogical-didactic practices. These were not isolated practices. Rather, they related back to specific aspects of each mediation process developed. We concluded that the teacher must be aware of how and when to make the pedagogical interventions with the aid of technology. This depends on how such mediation is planned, organized and carried out in the students knowledge acquisition process so as to meet the pedagogical agenda. It is crucial that the teachers practices are grounded in an educational theory that allows for the mediation of the students knowledge acquisition process. To do so, it is necessary to implement technology-based teacher training projects so that they can reassess their practice, and improve it in light of learning theories which guide the pedagogical mediation of semipresencial VLE- taught subject matters. / A pesquisa teve como objetivo principal analisar o processo de mediação pedagógica em disciplinas semipresenciais nos ambientes virtuais de aprendizagem (AVA) dos cursos de Pedagogia. Apresentou os seguintes objetivos: Caracterizar mediação pedagógica nos AVA em disciplinas semipresenciais dos cursos de Pedagogia; identificar as ações de mediação didática dos professores dos professores nos AVA e relacioná-las com os fundamentos da Teoria Histórico-Cultural. Quanto ao conceito de mediação a pesquisa fundamentou-se na Teoria Histórico-Cultural, de Vygotsky e alguns teóricos. Quanto à mediação pedagógica com uso das tecnologias digitais na educação as referencias foram: Toschi, Freitas, Durán, Peixoto Buscou-se esclarecer as seguintes questões: Como ocorre a mediação didático-pedagógica nos AVA das disciplinas semipresenciais? Que ações docentes caracterizam as práticas de mediação pedagógica nos AVA das disciplinas semipresenciais oferecidas pelo curso de Pedagogia? Que relações podem ser identificadas entre o conceito de mediação fundamentado na Teoria Histórico-Cultural e as ações de mediação dos professores no processo pedagógico nos AVA? A pesquisa de abordagem qualitativa, foi realizada em duas instituições de educação superior de Goiânia, tendo como sujeitos cinco docentes que atuam em disciplinas semipresenciais nos cursos de Pedagogia. Os dados foram coletados por meio de questionários, entrevistas, observação das aulas nos AVA, análise de projeto pedagógico do curso e dos planos de ensino. Foi realizado o cotejamento entre os dados da pesquisa de campo e a revisão de literatura sobre mediação pedagógica na EaD e nos AVA, com base no referencial da Teoria Histórico-Cultural. A análise dos dados apontou para três tipos de ações de mediação que denominamos: ações quanto ao funcionamento do curso e uso-operação das ferramentas do AVA; ações de comunicação e ações pedagógico-didáticas. Essas ações não ocorreram isoladas, mas relacionadas aos aspectos específicos de cada processo de mediação desenvolvido. Concluímos que o docente precisa saber como e quando fazer as intervenções pedagógicas com uso das tecnologias, o que depende da maneira como ele planeja, organiza e conduz a mediação do processo de conhecimento pelo aluno para que cumpra com a sua finalidade pedagógica. É necessário que o professor seja orientado por uma teoria de ensino que o instrumentalize em sua prática pedagógica de modo a que ele possa mediar o processo de construção do conhecimento do aluno. Para tanto, é necessário implementar projetos de formação de professores com tecnologia para que eles possam rever a prática, entendê-la e aprimorá-la à luz de teorias de aprendizagem que venham nortear a mediação pedagógica nos AVA das disciplinas semipresenciais.