Accepted teaching and learning practices have undergone major changes during the past two
decades. They have been underpinned by shifts in psychological and pedagogical theory, the
most recent of which fit broadly under the heading of constructivism. During this time, there
have also been significant changes in the development of Computer Assisted Learning (CAL)
resources. These changes have tended to be driven by technological developments, such as
the availability of desktop computers with multimedia capabilities, and more recently the
increasing prominence of the Internet, rather than developments in teaching and learning
theory.
The aim of this research is to analyse the implications of a constructivist view of teaching and
learning for the development of CAL resources. Specifically, the research attempts to describe
the nature of constructivist CAL resources, before proposing a model for the development of
such resources. The capabilities of existing tools for the development of constructivist CAL
resources are also analysed.
In looking at the nature of constructivist CAL resources, developments in pedagogical theory
that have lead to the constructivist position are reviewed, along with constructivist theories of
teaching practice. This body of theory is then synthesised into ten principles of constructivist
teaching and learning.
The implications of a constructivist view of teaching and learning for CAL resources are then
examined. A range of constructivist CAL approaches are identified, and a classification
scheme for constructivist CAL is proposed. This scheme involves the classification of a CAL
approach according to the learner activities it facilitates, the input techniques used and the
processing and output techniques used.
The process of developing CAL resources is then addressed. The selection of CAL
approaches that are likely to assist with the achievement of specific categories of learning
outcome is recognised as being central to this process. Matrices relating categories of learning
outcome to categories of learner activity and categories of learner activity to categories of
input, processing and output technique are proposed. A model for developing CAL resources,
that makes use of these matrices is proposed. In developing this model, instructional design
models and software development models are reviewed.
Finally, support provided by existing authoring tools, for the development of constructivist
CAL resources using the proposed model is examined. Six of the most popular authoring
tools, including tools designed primarily for CD-ROM based resource development and tools
designed primarily for Web-based development are reviewed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/218872 |
| Date | January 1999 |
| Creators | Dalgarno, Barney, n/a |
| Publisher | University of Canberra. Computing |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | ), Copyright Barney Dalgarno |
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