Technology Supported Computer Science Education

FROM CONTENT TO CONTEXT IN TECHNOLOGY SUPPORTED

COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION

Antonio Dias de Figueiredo Departament of Informatics Engineering

UNIVERSITY OF COIMBRA

University of Coimbra September, 7-8, 2006

changing vision about learning changing methods

HIGHER EDUCATION



Bologna Process

LEARNING OUTCOMES

changing vision about learning for the profession changing vision about accreditation

ENGINEERING EDUCATION



LEARNING OUTCOMES

Traditional methods were based on what the lecturer covered: on the content the lecturer delivered

What is important is what the students learn, not how much the lecturer covers

Donald Bligh, 1972

What is important is what the students learn

To learn is not just only to acquire knowledge and understanding, but also

to build skills, values and attitudes.

These cannot be learned by telling-and-testing

statements of what the students should know, understand or be able

to do as a result of the course

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

They are expressed as competences: dynamic combinations of knowledge, understanding,

skills, values, and attitudes

HIGHER EDUCATION

The Dublin Descriptors • knowledge and understanding

• applying knowledge and understanding • making judgements

• communications skills • learning skills

LEARNING OUTCOMES

ENGINEERING EDUCATION

• knowledge and understanding • engineering analysis

• engineering design • investigation

• engineering practice

EUR-ACE: OUTCOMES OF ACCREDITED ENGINEERING DEGREE PROGRAMMES

• transferable skills

TWO VISIONS OF LEARNING

Vision of CONTENT 1.

Vision of CONTEXT 2.

mechanistic “transfer” or “delivery”

of content

constructivist “construction” of knowledge by the learners (individually or in groups) in stimulating contexts






1. Contextual learning 2. Theories supporting contextual learning

3. Learning contexts design 4. Contextual assessment

5. Contextual platforms

6. Conclusions




6. Conclusions

CONTEXTUAL LEARNING

case studies

debates

directed dialogues

panel discussions

problem solving

projects

question posing

role playing

simulations

small group discussions

socratic dialogues story telling

story listening

action learning

incidental learning

project based learning

learning by doing

situated learning

learning by reflection

learning by teaching

learning from mistakes

CONTEXTUAL LEARNING 1 computer supported cooperative learning

CONTEXTUAL LEARNING

ARTICULATE THIS MULTITUDE OF DISTINCT CONCEPTS, THEORIES AND PRACTICES INTO A

SINGLE, COHERENT AND OPERATIONAL WORLDVIEW:

CONTEXTUAL LEARNING 1

LEARNING CONTEXTS DESIGN




6. Conclusions

•  PHILOSOPHICAL PRAGMATISM

THEORIES SUPPORTING CONTEXTUAL LEARNING 2 (Dewey, Pepper)

•  CONSTRUCTIVISM, SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM (Piaget, Vygotsky)

•  THEORIES OF THE COMMUNTIES OF PRACTICE (Lave, Wenger)

•  SOCIAL AND CULTURAL THEORIES OF LEARNING (Forman, Cole)

•  ACTIVITY THEORY (Engeström, Chaiklin & Lave, Nardi)

•  ACTOR NETWORK THEORY (Latour, Callon, Law)

•  PATTERN THEORY (Alexander)

•  CRITICAL SOCIAL THEORIES OF LEARNING (Freire, Mezirow)




6. Conclusions

LEARNING CONTEXTS DESIGN 3

adaptation

creation

evaluation

generalization

diagnostic consolidation

Roque & Figueiredo (2005) Context Engineering for Learning: A Socio-Technical Approach, in Figueiredo, A.D. and Afonso, A.P. (eds.) Managing Learning in Virtual Settings: the Role of Context, Idea Book Inc., 2006

model of context

innovation

model of mediator

MODEL FOR CONTEXT ENGINEERING

•  content

•  assessment strategy

•  teaching strategy •  subject descriptors

•  level descriptors •  learning outcomes

LEARNING CONTEXTS DESIGN 3 LOCUS OF CONTROL

teacher control

self-organiztion of learner

or of learning community

moderation

helpdesk

CONTROL

LEARNING CONTEXTS DESIGN 3 COLLABORATION: SUSTAINABILITY, CYCLES, RYTHMS

Principles of sustainability e.g. value proposition

Cycles of collaboration:

Rhythms regular events, special events, dates, limits, debates, visibility.




6. Conclusions

CONTEXTUAL ASSESSMENT 4 LEARNING OUTCOMES should be formulated so that they can be assessed and grading criteria established and stated.

ASSESSMENT should drive curriculum planning – not vice-versa.

ASSESSMENT must be able to answer questions such as:

•  What knowledge and understanding have been acquired? •  What skills and values have been developed or enhanced?

•  What attitudes have been changed?

CONTEXTUAL ASSESSMENT 4 LEARNING

PORTFOLIO

PROJECT

ESSAY

PRESENTATION

Collection of the assignments produced by a student, in a given course, to demonstrate success in satisfying the learning objectives. It must include the personal reflections of the student about her own progress.

Activity that has a clear purpose, a beginning and and end, and is aimed at producing a visible result.

Extended written text enabling learners to display their command of learning objectives while cultivating higher order thinking skills (scientific or technical papers, user manuals, research essays, short essays, brochures).

Public demonstration, before an audience, of the knowledge and competencies gained the learner (slide presentations, poster presentations, focused debates).

CONTEXTUAL ASSESSMENT 4 CONTEXTUAL ASSESSMENT is also called AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT because it engages the learners in tasks and procedures where knowledge and competencies are exercised in real-world, complex, situations – not in artificial and de-contextualized tasks.

LEARNING PORTFOLIOS are often used, with good results, in connection with LEARNING CONTRACTS [Knowles].

One of the most valuable mechanisms in CONTEXTUAL ASSESSMENT is BLIND PEER-ASSESSMENT

CONTEXTUAL ASSESSMENT 4 RUBRICS are versatile

contextual assessment and grading tools

They can be used to assess and grade as

little as individual skills, and as much as full projects and

programs

They can be used by: - teachers

- peers - self

© California State University, Long Beach

simplified example "




6. Conclusions

LMS

LCMS

LXMS

Learning Management Systems. Software platforms that organize and provide access to online learning services for students, teachers, and administrators. They usually include access control, provision of learning content, communication tools, and organization of user groups.

Learning Content Management Systems. Software platforms for the management of contents (“learning objects”) by authors, instructors, and learners.

Learning CONTEXT Management Systems. Software platforms for the organization and management of learning contexts (namely social networking and collaboration within communities).

CONTEXTUAL PLATFORMS 5

PUBLICLY AVAILABLE SOFTWARE


pioneering example of a (sill quite crude) contextual learning platform.

manages sequences of activities, rather than isolated activities.

PROTOTYPES


SOME DESIRABLE ATTRUBUTES OF CONTEXTUAL LEARNING PLATFORMS

management of blind peer-assessment

rubric generation and management

portfolio management

easy management of blind peer-assessment for all kinds of assignments.

generation of rubrics and easy rubric grading mechanisms for all kinds of assignments.

easy management, instructor feedback, peer cross-annotation, and grading of learning portfolios


SOME DESIRABLE ATTRUBUTES OF CONTEXTUAL LEARNING PLATFORMS

(continued)

networking and social filtering

sociographic and sociometric analysis systems

mechanisms for minimalist social visibility

mechanisms for serendipity generation

contextual access to, and management of, shared information repositories characterized by organic and unpredictable growth (http://del.icio.us)

systems to track the relationships of collaboration and affection between the members of teams and communities so as to permit early corrective action.

mechanisms offering to each participant in a collective learning process some visibility about the progress of the others (ex.: social trasnlucence).

mechanisms facilitating the discovery of useful information whose existence we ignore by searching information whose existence we know (serendipity engines).





6. Conclusions

CONCLUSIONS 6 •  Higher Education is moving from CONTENTS TO CONTEXTS

•  A solid body of theory exists to support this change

•  The various existing forms of CONTEXTUAL LEARNING can be put together into organic, coherent, and operational frameworks

•  LEARNING CONTEXTS can be designed, so that CONTENT makes sense within CONTEXT

•  Gigantic challenges exist in improving CONTEXTUAL ASSESSMENT

•  We are witnessing the pre-history of CONTEXTUAL PLATFORMS






THE END