Technical Skills Online: From Instructivism to Constructivism
It is very interesting in the twenty first century (21st) to discover how enormously teaching and learning process has been affected by technology in a manner that so many Universities and schools now offer online courses in almost all fields of human endeavour. We have courses in areas that are theoretically based and those that are fully practical in nature. For instance engineering courses demand on the learner practical activities that involve the use of their hands and hence pose daunting challenges on offering these courses online unlike courses in social sciences and humanities that do not demand on manual dexterity skills from the learner. Courses that demand ‘how-to-do’ techniques, which include courses in the fields of healthcare pose grave challenges on course design, ICT facilities and e-tutoring. For this reason most popular online courses are in the field of social sciences.
Course Delivery
Approaches of Universities in online course delivery vary from 100% online to ‘mixed mode’ approach (Bjorke, S.A 2003) where course activities are divided between online activities and the remainder conducted in a physical classroom. In this case the school determines the share that goes for online and that which is earmarked for on-campus activities (a mark down on flexibility). For on-campus delivery, students would need to be physically present to attend classes and perform tasks as designed in course schedule. Again for online courses to be successfully delivered Universities sometime provide working space (portal) on their website for learners to do course work while some use already existing Learning Management System (LMS). In both cases the success of course delivery counts on the efficiency of the resource person (teacher or e-tutor). A Learning Management System (LMS) is a virtual classroom where learners perform activities and be supervised. If the University decides to offer courses via virtual classroom then e-tutor will need to develop proficiency in development of interpersonal relationship, good ICT skills and a good understanding of Internet environment among other things.
Manpower Development.
It is worthy of note to mention the insufficiency of professional e-tutors in this relatively ‘new’ area of course delivery which demand well-trained professionals that will meet the challenges of the ‘new’ terrain of teaching and learning. Just as mentioned above e-learning is new so also is training of e-tutors is not common in our schools and Universities. Those who act in place of teachers in traditional learning are called e-tutors in an online environment. Professional skills will need to be developed to play these new roles but what we unfortunately have today is a professor who feels he has taught his course for decades and just seeks the services of a computer specialist/programmer to arrange his course contents on the University website and that is all. It is not just to place course materials on the Internet that make good online courses but adequate training has to be acquired for the traditional teacher to perform efficiently in virtual classroom (Salmon, G 2006). The popular age long mode of learning (traditional learning) is where the teachers and the students are physically present for exchanges of information (both theoretical and practical) but today it is becoming unattractive as the roles of a teacher is changing from transmitter of knowledge to a guardian. The teacher passes knowledge to the learner who is generally regarded as ‘empty’. E-Tutor is otherwise called: Facilitator, e-moderator or online lecturer or tutor as the school nomenclature may suggest. He differs in that he conducts teaching and learning activities via electronic media which could be offline or online and either by constructivist or instructivist approach. However, regardless of these differing roles the essential thing is the fulfillment of set educational and course objectives. Apart from course delivery approaches as mentioned earlier there are also pedagogical approaches that Universities make decision about in ensuring that course works are done without jeopardising the educational objectives as both constructivist and instructivist e-tutor have access to Internet technology and can equally use these facilities within the scope of these pedagogical approaches.
The training of e-tutors and online course designers is therefore fast becoming a major issue in our technology driven society. The United Nations University branch named Global Virtual University (UNU/GVU) falls among few Universities that offer academic training course to educators around the world that wish to play theses new roles. The online tutor course is a joint academic training between UNU/GVU and Agder University College/ Stord/Haugesund University College Norway (www.hia.no; www.hsh.no; www.gvu.unu.edu). These collaborating Universities have been training e-tutors for some years bringing to bear their various expertises in research, staff and infrastructural strength on the design of course facilities and curriculum for skillful delivery. Such collaborative efforts lend credence to quality assurance and cross border recognition of awards. As important as training of e-tutor is there is yet a universally accepted curriculum. The UNU/GVU training however touches sufficiently on wider areas that will make an e-tutor perform these roles by applying the following pedagogical approaches.
Pedagogical Approaches.
The traditional mode of teaching and learning as compared with distance education has been in practice from ages and that probably is why there is resistance and skepticism on e-learning. Expectedly, humans hardly want to adapt to a change. The traditional mode is categorized under Instructivism which is a concept that describes the relationship between the learner and the teacher in learning process where course design is based on the premise that knowledge is acquired when there is a passage of information, knowledge etc from the teacher to the learner. The responsibilities of knowledge transfer lie in the teacher and hence he is viewed as guru and custodian of knowledge. No longer is a teacher should be seen as such in the present globalised world as knowledge is no longer restricted in a library, a University but rather it is for everyone that care to use it. The learner now has equal access to knowledge and information even sometime ahead of his teacher. The Internet technology, which makes this possible, should rather be called the custodian of knowledge. This paradigm shift now provides possibilities for knowledge construction based on processing of available information rather than to acquire knowledge from an ‘objective’ source. Constructivism as a departure from Instructivism is when the learner ability is ignited in knowledge construction based on available resources in his environment. Do we now say the teacher is no longer needed in our midst? No, his roles only have to change from transmitter of knowledge to a guardian in the education enterprise. When knowledge is constructed in collaborative activities then it is referred to as socio-constructivism.
Lecture Method: Teaching method by traditionalist is mostly by lecture method where teachers are specialist orators who are rated according to their ability to fluently deliver lectures not on the quality of lecture and the impact on learner and until the ‘judgment’ day when the learner will face a test. They teach the way they were taught, even sometime the several decades old notes are what are given to learner of the 21st century. You will not expect a change too quickly but gradually as new methods are being tested. It is true other teaching approaches like problem-based learning have been combined with lecture method but in all, learner will still have to work within the limit of the curriculum and what the lecturer gave as most lecturers assess student based on their abilities to give back what he was given. The initiative of the learner is not only compromised but also mitigated.
Literature Review on Pedagogical Approaches
However we have well documented in the literatures the following pedagogical approaches:
Instructivist Pedagogy
Constructivist Pedagogy
Socio-Constructivist Pedagogy and
The ‘mixed’ mode.
Looking at the listed pedagogical approaches and their impact on learning theories one will not hesitate to begin to question if an average teacher will need to know them before he could play his roles as a tutor. Clear understanding of them however helps to guide a tutor to perform his task in a manner that will guide course objectives and delivery.
Instructivist approach demand that the teacher be in charge of curriculum design, and instructional planning.
“The teacher has the control of teaching method and content, and the communication is mainly from the teacher to the students with some possibilities for a two-way dialogue… The role of the teacher has been to act as a “channel”, transmitting the “objective, correct” knowledge to the students. Emphasis has often been on finding, pointing out and correcting faults on the students’ papers, perhaps with a rather heavy focus on the negative side” (Bjørke, 2003).
In constructivist classroom however the teacher is also a learner, he does not assume he knows it all but rather regards the learner an active participants in the education process and encourages the freedom to make choices on what to learn without limit in scope.
Constructivist e-tutor does not ‘teach’ the student but guides him on what he has to learn. Learning is therefore a dynamic process where learners interact with resources and environment in order develop skills and acquire knowledge.
“Focus is on learning rather than on teaching. Typical features for constructivist teaching are that teachers encourage and accept student autonomy and initiative, students may in collaboration drive lessons, suggest shifts in instructional strategies and to some extent change content. Students are asked to elaborate on their understanding of concepts before teachers give “the correct” understanding, if at all” (Bjørke, 2003).
Socio-constructivist sees learning in a social context where a community of learner emerges with collaborative participation on the course contents.
Although wikipedia an online dictionary may not be generally regarded as very accurate source for definition of words and concepts but its account on socio-constructivism is clear and informative in this dissertation:
“Social constructivism argues that the optimal learning environment is one where a dynamic interaction between instructors, learners and tasks provides an opportunity for learners to create their own truth due to the interaction with others. Social constructivism thus emphasizes the importance of culture and context in understanding what is happening in society and constructing knowledge based on this understanding (Derry 1999; McMahon 1997)”.
Mixed Mode Approach
The mixed mode approach on the other hand is for those who are not comfortable with the modes explained above. For that reason there is blend of the two where the students will attend face-to-face session and some of the course content will be delivered via a learning management system (LMS) or through other learning software..
However,the flexibilities (Anywhere, Anytime, At learner pace), and the cost efficiency among other things promote e-learning as suitable option for lifelong learning which enhances possibilities for delivery of update courses to professionals at various parts of the world. It is knowledge at the right time. The emphasis therefore is not on movement of people but knowledge.
Teachers abound in our societies playing different roles in formal and informal settings. Instructivism is associated most frequently with traditional mode of course delivery while constructivism is often associated with online teaching but course design make the distinction on the most suitable option in a circumstance as any of the approaches are practicable in any of the learning environments. A friend said sometimes ago that ‘there are teachers and there are teachers’. His understanding was that there are some teachers that worth their onions and there are some who may not live up to expectations. He was referring to teachers in the traditional learning otherwise referred to as on-campus, objectivist, face-to-face, Instructivist learning where a teacher’s performance is judged by the fluency of his verbalization, number of contact hours but not always on the quality of his delivery. Under this circumstance the teacher is believed to have the knowledge while the learner (student) may know little or nothing.
From Instructivist to Constructivist Pedagogy
Talking of acquiring practical skills through the Internet media, my colleagues in the dental laboratory often query the possibilities of this idea. My question in one of our discussions is how did we learn practical procedures in traditional Instructivist classroom?
Of course we learnt practical skills by watching our instructors, carryout a procedure. There was no time they held our hands to get us perform a practical task. A student watches his teacher performs a task and subsequently get supervised to gradually perform the same task until he masters it. Practical skill is what a surgeon requires to undertake a surgical operation just as we have with laboratory and engineering procedures. A look at this website (www.elu.sgul.ac.uk/cso/poll/vote.php?) reveals lots of video learning materials in medical, paramedical fields for use by any interested professional. This clearly demonstrates the level of development in using and acquiring practical skills through Internet media without any need for learner to be physically present in a classroom when the event took place.
So regardless of the profession under consideration, with the use of ICT tools like web camera, streaming video etc a student can learn a skill successfully and be supervised and evaluated without notable compromise on standard. If a learner could be watched carry out a practical assignment on the web cast, the doubts about who performed a task is reduced if not eliminated and if a practical learning event is recorded, the learner could watch it over and over again gaining advantage over those who watched such an event live and once without a second chance, a second chance cannot always be the same without some variations.
Constructivist provides tools for learner to maneuver and manipulate until understanding is fully established on a given task. Where a course is presented adopting constructivist pedagogy, learner interest in acquiring practical skills could be supported by the tutor by the provision of tools like streaming video of recorded learning events where the learner is left to search, study and discover on his own the more facts about what is to be learnt. It generally accepted that when learner engages in activities a high order thinking (HOT) might be generated from such challenging learning event that will afford the learner opportunities to say ‘I have learnt’ rather than ‘I was taught’ (Bjorke, S.A, 2003).
CHALLENGES
The e-learning market is growing rapidly; software for course delivery are changing on a daily basis and educators are often uncertain on which is the best or that which will deliver the best characteristics in a given situation. Some universities prefer to design their own LMS that will suit their course schedules and plans. This therefore poses daunting task in variations of course content and management, credit system, evaluation and hence staff and student mobility between universities.
Cross border recognition for awards for courses offered online do not encourage learners to readily enroll on online courses. As advantageous as intercultural benefits of online education are the reservation among some educators on quality assurance is still an important issue.
The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) is an initiative in this direction. As part of that initiative is the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). The education ministers of participating countries agreed that a unified credit system would promote staff and student mobility and credit recognition across borders. Building on Bologna conference the recent 2007 meeting in London agreed thus:
“We reaffirm our commitment to increasing the compatibility and comparability of our higher education systems, whilst at the same time respecting their diversity. We recognise the important influence higher education institutions (HEIs) exert on developing our societies, based on their traditions as centres of learning, research, creativity and knowledge transfer as well as their key role in defining and transmitting the values on which our societies are built”.
Collaboration in e-learning will go a long way in meeting challenges in distance education. The world is a social system where one depends on the other and as such the interdependence creates competition, a condition that promotes deep thought and innovation. As learners work together in a community there is joint benefit just as collaborating institutions will merge in curriculum design, credit allocation to courses, course delivery etc; a situation that may likely lend credence to recognition and quality assurance across borders. No longer is a University expected to pride itself as the best in a field as open courseware initiatives particularly that of UNU have made knowledge a common thing declining interest in the attitude of higher institutions in guarding jealously material and skills developed from researches. Institution that fails to collaborate will soon be out-of-date and what they discovered obsolete as new inventions are coming by the day.
This is one reason that lauds the EHEA initiative.
Although technology is growing rapidly but developing countries are not moving at the same rate both in pedagogy, Internet connectivity, acceptance and implementation of this growth. Any country, university or individual that fails to keep up with trend of technology may find he suddenly become obsolete. For success in this area to spread technology has to move away from the present level in developing countries. Online education, taking advantages of satellite services in Internet technology may go far such that expertise and advancement in advanced countries may be accessible even in the remote regions on the globe.
Course Design
A course design under constructivist approach will vary significantly from instructivist approach. As enunciated earlier tutor play different roles under any of these approaches and so does the course vary in design and delivery. As earlier mentioned when the roles of a teacher do not involve the passage of information, where he has to only guide learners to perform courses activities with freedom for learners to suggest course content, time required and even scope if necessary the constructivist approach will be suitable but it will be different if course scope, contents, time required etc are already set and specified as it is in instructivist approach. In designing course materials much flexibility is required for a learner under constructivist than an instructivist.
Below is a sample course guide for the two situations under consideration:
Let us consider a course: ‘Dental Model Fabrication’ for constructivist approach. This will require a study guide that will be a major instrument for learning. The study guide will contain all that learner will need to basically do among other things.
It will consist of the following:
Outline of major topics or learning objectives on the course which can be grouped into modules
A breakdown of these topics into subtopics/titles called ‘TASK’
A further breakdown of ‘TASK’ into ‘ACTIVITIES’. These are learnable units that are assigned a suggested time frame within which all the required activities are carried out. The time frame is according to European Credit Transfer System (ECTS).
Resources: These are weblink, minilecture, course CD, recommended books etc. Minilecture is an introductory and summary work on topics, which are so made to elicit deep thoughts, and sometime argument and so promote intelligibility, critical engagement of discussion and faculties and participation.
Reflection items are for metacognition.
Study calendar is a document that paced work as scheduled in the minilecture. It is to provide cut off dates.
APPENDIX I
Course: Dental Model Fabrication:
Units:
Impression care
Pouring impression
Separating model from impression
Learning objectives: Learner will be able to:
Pour model material to obtain a cast from an impression of oral cavity
Recognize a good impression of oral features
Understand, identify and be able to manipulate model materials and the water powder ratio suitable for model fabrication)
Reflect on the importance of model fabrication to functional characteristics of a good dental restoration.
Content: Model fabrication, impression technique and care, model material, water/powder ratio, separating model from impression material.
Course structure: This course will apply socio-constructivist approach as course delivery option and hence all course activities will take place in a virtual classroom applying a Learning Management System (LMS). The suggested LMS is Fronter (www.fronter.com), Moodle, and Firstclass etc. There shall be Asynchronous and Synchronous text based discussion with tutor support, and paced study calendar and study guide and minilecture among other resources to facilitate course participation and understanding of technique.
On successful completion learner will earn one (1) credit on European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS).
Course duration: Two to five days (2-5).
Term: Part time
Evaluation: Activities in the virtual classroom will form 50% of total assessment (formative) while 50% will be by online examination (summative).
Formative assessment will include peer, self, and e-portfolio assessment on the LMS.
Study guide
Overview
Tasks Activities Resources Estimated ‘ECTS hours’ Task 1: Learn about impression care. Activity 1: Discuss minilecture and impression care method
Activity 2: Summarise discussion Minilecture, study guide course CD and www (3)
(2) Task 2: Learn about pouring impression Activity 1: Discussion step-by-step method in casting impression.
Activity 2: Individual work: Produce a detailed account of impression casting technique.
”
video presentation (6)
(2)
Task 3: Learn about separating model from impression and tray, and material.
Activity 1: Group work: Discuss approaches to separating model from impression.
Activity 2: Summarise discussion
Reflection
As above (4)
(2)
(1) 20 Note: The notional student work hours (ECTS hours) in parenthesis are estimates.
Task 1: Learn about impression care.
Activity 1: Discuss and find what impression materials and impression are, laboratory hand tools and what they are made with. What model materials are suitable and what roles they play in obtaining a true reproduction of oral features.
Activity 2: The cohort decides who makes a summary document of the discussion and places this in group folder.
Task 2: Learn about pouring impression.
Activity 1: Watch video presentation on how to cast an impression. Discuss step-by-step method of impression casting.
Activity 2: Individual work: Arrange a synchronous discussion where you will perform the technique in a dental laboratory under a webcam and produce a summary of the technique and place document/video presentation in personal folder.
Task 3: Learn about separating model from impression and tray, and material.
Activity 1: Group work: Divide yourselves into groups and each group discusses an approach to model separation from tray and impression material.
Activity 2: Group representative produces a summary of discussion and places document in group folder.
Reflection:
What in the course you did not understand?
What is difficult?
What did you learn?
What do wish you could change in this course and why?
Is the time estimate realistic?
MINILECTURE
Impression taking is a common procedure in a dental clinic where replacement of oral member is diagnosed which requires the replacement of oral tissues or/and teeth. The dental operator (dentist or clinical dental technologist/technician) takes measurement of the oral cavity (impression taking) of the patient and examine it for appropriateness and accuracies. A well made impression will show the negative reproduction of the oral features made by using impression material like sodium alginate. Impression materials possess biocompatibility properties with the oral tissues and exhibit characteristics that allow the reproduction of oral details without loss of dimension. The dental trays and material are various both in material they are made of and sizes desirable which are dictated by the case at hand. The tray carries the impression of the mouth, inspected for accuracy and rinsed under running water in order to get rid of food debris, blood stain, thick saliva etc that may come with it from the clinic. A plaster bowl and Spatular are the tools used in mixing the dental stone with water to obtain a thick mix which is desirable in obtaining a dense cast/model. The mix is gradually poured into the indentation produced by the teeth and other tissues of the mouth while the tray is firmly held on a vibrator. A vibrator will enhance the flow of the dental stone mix into the required area, until the impression is filled to the periphery of the impression.
It is allowed to set (harden) before the model is separated from both the tray and the impression material.
Precaution: Care is taken when removing the model to forestall any standing teeth breaking. A good model should not have pimples, blow holes etc on it.
STUDY CALENDAR
Date Activity May 2 Course start up 3 Post task 1 activity 2 4 Post task 2 activity 2 5 Post task 3 activity 2 and reflection 6 Online examination (50%)
APPENDIX II
For Instructivist study guide let us consider a course: Construction of Objective Test.
Instructivist e-tutor specifies course contents, decide on scope of study, evaluation and assessment etc of a course and do not share with the learner any of these responsibilities as we have in constructivist approach. It is from-me-to-you format. In designing a course for this mode of delivery the format will be in line with the concept on Instructivism.
‘Construction of Objective Test’
Study Units:
Test construction basics
Test format
Construction technique.
Learning objective: Learner will be able to:
define what objective question are and make distinction between it and essay questions
reflect on the characteristic of objective test
construct objective questions.
Content: Construction, test, format, objective question.
Task Activity Estimated ‘ECTS hours’ Task: 1 Read course materials provided (14) Task: 2 Practice questions, do the exercises, visit the web links, read set books etc.
Reflection (6)
(1) 21
Test construction: Evaluation and measurement was in the past the entire roles of the teacher but as researches reveal the learner now play some roles by assessment of course mates in class work and other learning activities. Under instructivist this role is minimal and subject at the end to the final decision of the teacher. The underlining techniques in test construction demand that course objectives be fully covered according to Bloom taxonomy of educational objectives. The wording of a test item should therefore reflect the trait and changes that are expected of the learner.
Test format: There are two formats that will be considered. They are namely essay test and objective test
Essay test and objective
Essay test contain long sentences that demand that the learner gives a record or account of technique, description etc of a concept or situation etc.
Objective questions on the other hand consist of short sentences with optional responses in which only one will be correct. Learner is required to make his choice.
The objective question could be:
Multiple questions
Matching question
Completion question
True or false question
The following criteria are generally important in constructing objective questions.
Ask clear unambiguous question
Item should not present irrelevant information or an opinion
The language should be at learner level
Use correct, meaningful sentences
Do not give questions that reveal the answer.
Practice questions:
What is test construction?
Explain what test formats are
Prepare five questions in your subject area.
Reference:
Socal constructionism: Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Constructivism_%28Learning_Theory%29: Accessed 06/09/07.
Salmon, G (2006) Developing E-moderating in Higher and Furhther Education: Open University Business School, London.
Bjørke, S.A. (2003) The process of design and development of an e-learning course. Towards the European Higher Education Area: responding to challenges in a globalised world.Available:http://www.cicic.ca/en/page.aspx?sortcode=2.15.15.16
Blakeslee, R.W; Renner, R.P; Shiu, A (1980): Dental Technology Theory and
Practice; C.V., Mosby Company. ISBN 0-8016-0695.
Boucher, C.O. (1947); Dental Prosthetics Manual, C.V. Mosby Company.
Morrow, R.M; Rudd, K.D; Eissmann, H.F; (1980): Dental Laboratory Procedures (Vol. 1-3): ISBN 0-8016-3513-6 (Vol.1); ISBN 0-8016-3517-9 (Vol.2); ISBN 0-8016-3516-0 (Vol. 3).
University of Lagos, Nigeria. ojolubodun@yahoo.com
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