1. A Framework for Supporting Students in their Individual Studies LTI Presentation 9 th March 2009 Andrew Pyper (a.r.pyper)

2. Overview Work going back 3-4 years, post UKEU. Narrative(s) tasks and resources Background ◦ Oliver and colleagues- critical elements to support description of learning designs ◦ Mason, Weller and Pegler- narrative provided for learning objects We needed something somewhat different- independent work supported by a strong narrative.

3. Visualisation of a Learning Session

4. Narratives Integrative Affective Provide rationale Support students in making connections between concepts What the tutor thinks of a given topic Supports reflective practice: reflection of tutor on why they think what they think

5. Tasks Tasks come in six main types: Reading Research Exercise Practice Reflection Discussion They are tasks at design time and activities when engaged in by learners.

6. Resources Diverse range: looking at possibility of mapping to tasks- existing taxonomies (e.g. Interaction, media type) Model for categorising learning content How do students use resources in this context?

7. Diverse Range Some methods of production

8. Model for categorising learning content

9. Dimensions and Properties

10. Some Work With Students Designing a learning environment that separates disposable and durable learning content. ◦ Discussion forum that is:  Of limited duration (locked after a specified period of time)  Temporary (deleted after specified period of time)  Anonymous  Summarised by students

11. Results 51Deletion 28Summary 67Duration 115Anonymity Number of Negative Comments Number of Positive Comments Forum Features

12. Some Comments “A lot of time and effort must have gone into the contributions made to each discussion therefore I vote to keep the discussion but close it off from further postings once it has expired” “I do plan on reading all the messages on the thread again and saving what I think is useful” “I think it is nice to keep the discussion archived, for future reference” “It is the student's choice if they choose to browse thru a long list of postings…”

13. Follow up- Focus Group Showed similar attitudes i.e. they did not like it either. Used the discussion forum as a learning resource indistinct from other types of learning resource ◦ They saw the actual discussion forum posts as the durable learning content, not the summaries.

14. Some Comments We asked about the functionality they would look for in a discussion ◦ Search function to “find stuff” to support their academic studies ◦ Timeout- one participant took time creating their posts on the forum and got timed out. ◦ There might be “something useful” in a thread and students might want to go back to it a “couple of months later” ◦ Many inactive threads can cause confusion- but they should still only be archived and not deleted.

15. Discussion Point Students seem to be using discussion forums as a durable publishing medium. Is this an issue? Ramifications for other technologies?