Here’s my review based on the major learning theories of behaviourism, congnitivism and constructivism. I would like to review the learning design of the e-lesson on the waste recylcing website.
I. Review on the Learning Design (Use of the learning approaches in the design)
1. Knowledge objectives
o The website has a clear objective for students about what they will learn by browsing through the website and completing 2 games and a project.
o The objectives indicate a behavioural approach to learning as the objectives do not present elements for students to think about how the learning of waste could be related to real-life context and to their own experiences. As the result the students may not be provide enough motivation for them to learn more.
2. Learning focus
o Learning focus is clear: learning different types of wastes, their impact to the environment and how to solve the waste problem.
o However, it does indicate how students can relate this e-lesson to the overall curriculum of their class. Students may learn separate information about waste, but not being able to elaborate and manipulate all information to construct a better knowledge of the environment as a whole (as promoted by constructivism).
3. Pedagogy (knowledge processes - making knowledge and learning)
a) Eperiencing the known/new
§ The learning design of the information presentation sections on wastes, recycling of wastes and impact on the evironment is based on behaviourism since students take a passive role in responding to environmental stimuli (presentation of the background content of waste).
§ The presentation of information from this website is a very traditional way of teaching similar to teaching from the textbooks. It merely copies and pastes the target information (for students to learn) onto the web pages and does not utilize the vast and interesting resources on the internet for students to learn more interesting things about waste and recycling.
§ The website also does not cater for learners’ diversity, since it does not take into the account for students’ prior experience and knowledge (based on constructivism) when presenting information about waste. Students are regarded as clean slate. Beginners (with no or little prior knowledge) may find the information beneficial for an introduction to this new topic. On the other hand, more advanced students may find the website boring and the information from the website may not trigger the advanced students to continue learning more in-depth information about waste and recycling.
b) Applying appropriately/creativity
§ The website provides some opportunities for students to apply for what they’ve learnt to situations. This is through getting students to complete 2 games. The objective for doing the games as stated by the webpage is to evaluate students’ learning process. Because the 2 games are not accessible, further investigation cannot be done to access how students may apply for what they've learnt to situations.
§ The opportunity for students to transfer their learning to a different context is also in doubt because further examination cannot be done since the 2 games on the website are inaccessible at the moment.
c) Conceptualising by naming/thoeorising
§ A final project for students to share their recycling experience on a blog provides students the opportunity to present what they’ve learnt. Students have to gather information about recycling facilities, activities, campaigns and local projects or exhibitions that promote the ideas of waste recycling.
§ The opportunity for manipulating information learnt by students to create their own mental representation aligns with the cognitivist learning approach. Students are required to construct their own reality or interpret it based upon their perceptions of experiences, so an individual's knowledge is a function of one's prior experiences, mental structures, and beliefs that are used to interpret objects and situations.
§ The final project of posting on a blog assumes students will put information into categories, apply classifying terms and define those terms and also for students to make any generalization using concepts they’ve learnt and connect those terms in concepts or theories. However the project lacks the guidelines to help facilitate students. Students may produce outcomes that do not match with the target learning outcomes.
d) Analysing functionality/critically
§ The website uses a constructivism approach in this aspect and relies on the final project of blogging for students to analyse logical connections, cause and effect and evaluate their own and other people’s perspectives. Students will post their presentation and see each other’s perspectives on the blog.
4. Activities (supporting the knowledge processes)
o There are only 2 games available for students to consolidate what they’ve learnt. Further examination of the inaccessible games is needed to access how students can consolidate the information.
o The final project of blogging creates the learning platform for students to learn in a ‘community of practice’. According to the constructivism, by using the cognitive tool of blog students share their views and prespectives for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact. In addition, students take an active role in learning. They create their own meaning of knowledge through elaborating and interpreting information among themselves. Students are also able to be more flexible in use of preexisting knowledge (through communication with each other on the blog), not merely recalling the prepackaged schemas.
5. Knowledge outcomes (Assessment)
o The outcomes are unpredictable. Because of using the constructivist approach for the final project (posting presentation on blog), there are no definite answers. Also there are no clear guidelines or examples to facilitate students for the project.
o The website is also taking a constructivist approach in assessment. It does not indicate how students would be graded. If students will get marks on just posting their views onto the blog, then assessment is only regarded as the learning process. Thus, the focus is on making connections between facts and fostering new understanding in students and not for marks/grades.
II. Some Possible Improvement on the Learning Design
1. Learners’ motivation for learning
o The use of various multimedia, links to other websites and cognitive tools available on the web (in the information presentation sections) may enhance students’ motivation and interest in learning the materials.
o The selection of content relating to students real-world experience (e.g. real case scenario) may motivate them better. Also providing more examples could enhance students to relate to their own schemas and forming new schemas.
2. More active participation by students.
The website could have adopted more interactive activities for students (based on the cognitivist and constructivist theories):
§ to recall their prior knowledge and experience.
§ to learn new knowledge and experience.
§ to apply their knowledge via doing authentic tasks.
§ to conceptualise and analyse information.
o For examples, include more interactive activities into the presentation of information could help students learn better since the activities may present the input in a more interesting way to help students process the information into their short-term and long-term memory (based on the cognitivist theory). As a result learn better.
o Some interactive presentation activities, such as survey, poll, jigsaw puzzle, story-telling, problem-solving, charting.
3. To cater for learners’ diversity (cater for students with different prior knowledge and cultural background – based by contructivism):
o The website may ask student some questions of their prior learning on the assumption that the answer will not be the same for all.
o Present students with some common everyday experience of recycling waste.
o Have a variety of activities (easy to advance level) for students to choose from.
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