Instructional Material

The theories reviewed here relate to the design of instructional material in the context of an online and oncampus environment. In their introduction to Missing the Meaning, Peacock and Cleghorn (2004) see the objective for those designing instructional texts as matching texts to the preconceptions, expectations and inclinations of learners and teachers. In a close

examination of science texts their first observation is that since the 1980s “there has been an emerging globalisation in the way school texts are commissioned, constructed and marketed” (p. 182). This has resulted in millions of students across the world receiving instruction in English, which for many of them is a second language. Peacock and Cleghorn see a number of implications for those designing instructional material within Constructivist pedagogy. At the conceptual level for example, the objective becomes enriching learning rather than “helping learners re-organise their knowledge and correct misconceptions . . . .” (p. 182). They identify general guidelines for those designing and creating instructional material for a global environment. A summary of their recommendations includes:

1. The cultural difference among learners needs to be acknowledged in the prescribed curriculum, the pedagogy and the perceptions of teachers.

2. The function of text in teaching has to become clarifying teachers’ and learners’ notions of addressing training needs in the development and use of text.

3. Techniques for improving text quality need to be improved to facilitate more effective learning.

4. The potential of electronic media to provide new forms of learner-text interaction needs to be explored.

These are cross referenced with findings in Ally (2004) where the criteria for design of instructional material is categorised according to pedagogical underpinnings. The terminology used provides an enriched basis for comparison with findings from other online oncampus environments. These are considered further in the Chapter 3, Methodology.

Peacock and Cleghorn (2004) present a close examination of the design of instructional material in Teaching the Page. First, their study examines in detail the traditional Teacher- Learner-Text relationship by considering these three dimensions in the pairs set out in Table 2.10 below:

Table 2.10 Selected Components of the Teacher-Learner-Text Relationships Relationships

Peacock and Cleghorn (2004)

Dimensions

Teacher-Learner teachers’ attitudes . . . in culturally diverse settings;

Teacher- Text the role the text is perceived to play . . . Learner- Text. the potential for text to affect conceptual

change in learners

Secondly, Walpole and Smolkin (2004) report on a study conducted under naturalistic as well as experimental conditions. Their report described an attempt “to integrate theoretical perspectives from sociolinguistics, pedagogy and psychology using both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection and analysis as appropriate” (p. 183). The Walpole and Smolkin (2004) study compared examples of traditional texts dividing the instructional material into two categories: ‘considerate’ and ‘inconsiderate’. The features listed that make texts considerate include: “strong introductions; headings and sub-headings and tables outlining the text’s structure” (p. 198). In a considerate text for example, any information that disrupts the global coherence is moved to less important positions in the text and the use of pronouns and conjunctions is carefully monitored to ensure they enhance understanding. The findings from their research showed clear improvements in children’s comprehension for those who read what were deemed considerate texts.

The study of Walpole and Smolkin (2004) places comprehension within the Cognitive pedagogy and following ideas credited to RAND (Rand Reading Study Group, 2002 ) they describe it as the active process of extracting meaning and integrating prior knowledge and text content. In detail this process involves the reader initially linking words into phrases and processing the text to maintain local coherence. The reader then “restructures the basic information hierarchically, drawing on his or her store of prior knowledge” (p. 199). The authors believe this is the actual cognitive process which leads to overall understanding of the text. From their analysis, Walpole and Smolkin (2004) conclude that these skills can be developed in children, when teachers “analyse and mediate between the specific demands of the text and the specific skills of the readers” (p. 199). This again, is reflected in the list of appropriate features for the design of online instructional material found in Ally (2004).

In a third report by Peacock and Cleghorn (2004) the text in a fantasy narrative presented in zig-zag fashion is compared to information presented in straight forward structure. The second format is described as a traditional structure and is characterised as easy to use with straight forward navigation. It is typical of the format found in trade texts. They conclude trade books may be especially effective choices for independent learning because students get

a chance to build and practise these cognitive strategies before they are confronted with less considerate texts.

In a general observation of learning from reading books, Walpole and Smolkin (2004) state that learners’ prior experiences have taught readers to look for large blocks of running text where they know “the meat of meaning is located . . . [and that readers] . . . make little us of adjunct text aids such as titles, preview questions and sometimes even pictures” (p. 207). They also believe that for learning activities relying on visual literacy, the reader must be alerted to titles, questions and images to ensure they are used in the learning process. This concurs with the International Visual Literacy Association’s (IVLA, 1989) early definition of visual literacy as “the learned ability to interpret visual messages accurately and to create such messages, translate visual images into verbal language and vice versa” (p. 223).

Walpole and Smolkin (2004) believe the process of constructing knowledge includes teachers asking questions about the construction of the pages and layout of drawings as well as the construction of meaning from content. As an example, the teacher asking “Why has the author chosen to label illustrations in this way?” would be used to start a metacognitive discussion that would teach students to make purposeful text processing decisions . . .” (p. 208). This is consistent with the notion of learners developing a conscious awareness of their own thinking.

Traditional characteristics associated with ‘considerate’ instructional material are outlined in Barba (2004) and include: text organisation; cohesion; explication; conceptual density; meta discourse; readability; page layout and design; alignment; proximity; repetition and contrast. Describing examples of science web sites as often “packed with inaccurate, poorly organized and uninteresting information” (p. 239), Barba (2004) outlines the processes by which ‘friendly web-pages’ are identified, designed and developed. When additional features appropriate for an online environment are considered, Barba (2004) lists only two: links and navigational devices.

Taken together, the findings of Barba (2004), Walpole and Smolkin (2004) and Peacock and Cleghorn (2004) suggest visual literacy with its notion of considerate or friendly text has many well developed principles the designers of online instructional material need to

consider. Their suggestion that learning includes teaching students to be consciously aware of computer navigational features and links fits well with teaching strategies developed from Gardener’s (1983) multiple intelligences.

The findings from research by Swann (2013) and Alzaghoul (2012) in the field of e-learning were published during the final stages of the analysis processes of this study. Swann’s study examined “learner responses following completion of 393 courses developed by a commercial elearning provider” (p. 61). His research focused on selected online courses which utilized combinations of media (audio, text and images). It aimed to “determine how learner

engagement is influenced by two cognitive learning principles: “John Sweller’s split-attention principle and Richard Mayer’s multiple representation principle” (p. 61). Swann also draws on Baddely’s (2000) research to make comparisons between the various ways in which learning is influenced by text, audio and images. He notes that onscreen text is not

automatically accessed by the learner and concludes, “Conscious effort is required on the part of the learner to read . . . . In short, words go better through the ears and images go better through the eyes” (p. 62).

Alzaghoul (2012) in a small study examined pedagogy as it is applied in the field of e- learning. He draws on Koohang, Riley and Smith (2009) to define e-learning as “the delivery of education including the activities of instruction, teaching, learning and assessment through various electronic media” (p. 27). Alzaghoul argues “that a shift to pedagogy-based courses can be observed within the field of e-learning” (p. 27). He concludes that Behaviourist, Cognitive and Constructivist learning theories are the most commonly known and that knowledge of these and other learning theories is important because it helps others who are developing e-learning to make informed and “easy decision[s]” (p. 30).

The strategy for examining the most up to date theory and practice in these rapidly evolving fields is discussed in the Methodology, Chapter 3 Section 3.6.7.1.