As universities transition from instructor-driven to student-centered learning environments, the institutional learning structure is being redesigned to emphasize active learning. Instructional technologies, employing active learning models, have been a critical component in the redesign. The active learning model suggests that the student engages in various activities, and uses various strategies, to gather information and achieve understanding. Technology-driven learning environments therefore often instill activities that direct the student's learning. Use of on-line technologies, such as the Internet, is one method for creating active learning activities that direct the student's learning. This experiment explores how active learning activities, specifically how a student engages in research by accessing on-line information, affects their understanding of the material. The experiment is a 2 (Task Complexity) x 2 (Data Resource) design testing a student's (N=194) ability to synthesize information as they traversed through a specified set of resources. The findings indicate that students who access topic-specific resources engage in more research activities than students who access broad-topic resources. Furthermore, the findings indicate that students who access topic-specific resources will synthesize the relevant material into a more clear and concise response than students who access broad-topic resources. Suggestions and further research are posited to further understand how instructors can engage use of on-line resources, specifically the Internet, and instructional technologies, such as Distance Learning, to facilitate student learning.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/193628 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Keers, Fred |
| Contributors | Weisband, Suzanne P., Weisband, Suzanne P., Meader, David, Bernardi, Daniel |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Electronic Dissertation |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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