This study has been undertaken against the background of a higher education environment that
is changing, especially under the influence of the knowledge economy, the influx of adult
learners and the impact of technology. Among other things, technology has led to the
development of different modes of delivery in teaching and learning. This study set out to
develop a framework for learning design in three different modes of delivery (face-to-face,
modular and online) in an adult learning programme.
The literature review focused on answering three subsidiary questions, namely (i) identifying
the influence of the changing higher education environment on learning and the design of
learning; (ii) identifying the most prominent perspectives on effective teaching and learning in
different modes of delivery on the design of learning; and (iii) identifying the characteristics
that adult learners bring to the learning environment that need special consideration in
effective learning design.
The literature review provided guidelines for learning design for effective teaching and learning
in different modes of delivery using the community of inquiry of Garrison et al. (2000) as an
organising mechanism. Furthermore, guidelines for learning design for effective teaching and
learning for adults were also identified using the Four Lens Framework of Kiely et al. (2004) as
an organising framework. These guiding principles formed the directives that were used to
measure the compliance of an adult learning programme (the Bachelor of Management
Leadership programme at the University of the Free State).
The empirical investigation focused on the compliance of the adult learning programme
together with identifying the shortcomings of the current learning design and enhancing the
current learning design of the programme. A triangulation mixed methods design was used.
Through the use of a questionnaire survey, data was collected from students enrolled in the
different modes of delivery. The analysis and interpretation of the data led to the identification
of some shortcomings in the programme. The main criticism against the current learning design of the BML programme was the differences in the alignment between the various modes of
delivery. In order to address this shortcoming a blended learning design is proposed that could
be implemented on a programme as well as a module level. On the programme level the
blended learning design introduces an online learning component for the face-to-face and
modular modes of delivery and face-to-face contact sessions for the online mode of delivery.
The learning design on a module level introduces a process where students can developed as
self-directed learners and is based on the work of Huang and Zhou (2006) and Knowles et al.
(2005). The proposed framework was evaluated by a panel involved in the programme to
provide feedback on the feasibility of the learning design and to provide suggestions to further
refine the framework.
The significance of the study lies in the development of a framework for learning design using
directives in teaching and learning and in the design of learning for adults that are applicable in
the changing higher education environment. The study has incorporated the newest trends that
address contemporary higher education. The framework is not only based on sound theoretical
principles (as discussed in the literature review) but provides a practical framework that could
be used by the management and the lecturers of the programme. The study could be applicable
to other adult learning programmes due to the generic nature of the directives for different
modes of delivery.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufs/oai:etd.uovs.ac.za:etd-03112010-093632 |
| Date | 11 March 2010 |
| Creators | Massyn, Liezel |
| Contributors | Dr JH van Schoor, Prof AC Wilkinson |
| Publisher | University of the Free State |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en-uk |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.uovs.ac.za//theses/available/etd-03112010-093632/restricted/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University Free State or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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