Using the World Wide Web to support classroom lectures in a psychology course Andrew Thatcher
Discipline of Psychology, University of the Witwatersrand, WITS, 2050, South Africa
[email protected] Information and computing technology is pervasive in tertiary institutions and in the world of work. This short report critically evaluates two website development initiatives for undergraduate psychology modules, developed to support traditional face-to-face psychology lectures. In the first initiative, emphasis was placed on developing supplementary course material and exercises to complement lectures. Students expressed favourable attitudes towards the provision of the supplementary course material and content but less favourable attitudes towards training in how to use the World Wide Web. In the second initiative, emphasis was placed on the interactive qualities of the Web. Students expressed favourable attitudes towards the interactive discussion facilities and the provision of past examination and test papers (and answers). The lessons learned from these initiatives are discussed in relation to access to technology on university campuses in South Africa and in relation to the qualities of the web to facilitate learning. Keywords: blended learning; computer access; internet; online support; World Wide Web
Technology is increasingly being adopted in South African Higher Education Institutions to support the contact teaching role and to meet the growing demands from students (Broekman, Enslin, & Pendlebury, 2002; Mashile & Pretorius, 2003; Nel & Dreyer, 2005). While there is a relatively long history of the evaluation of online psychology courses internationally (Crouch, 1997; Waschull, 2001), there have been few (if any) published evaluations or reflections within the South African psychology community. This short report is a critical appraisal of developing and implementing online support for two cognitionrelated courses in the Discipline of Psychology at the University of the Witwatersrand. The primary mode of teaching delivery at this university is full-time, contact lectures, supported by contact tutorials. Therefore, a blended learning approach (Garrison & Kanuka, 2004) was adopted, where traditional classroom delivery methods are integrated (‘blended’) with other education delivery methods (in this case the World Wide Web). There were three important drivers that underpinned the online support initiatives for © Psychological Society of South Africa. All rights reserved. ISSN 0081-2463
South African Journal of Psychology, 37(2), 2007, pp. 348–353
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these two courses. First, one-on-one contact with students in large classes is not feasible in a climate of rising student numbers. When many of the student queries are essentially the same, this places an unnecessary burden on lecturers to answer individual queries. An asynchronous online medium provides a means of lecturer–student dialogue other than face-to-face consultation and also allows the lecturer to convey content and other relevant course information. Wentzel and Jacobs (2004) argue that it is these interactive qualities of the online medium that provide strategic educational advantages. Second, the online medium is ideal to provide complementary theoretical and informational content, provided that the content is not too ambiguous. Daft and Lengel (1986) warn that ‘richer’ communication media (such as face-to-face communication) have the ability to clarify ambiguity, provide immediate feedback, and allow for multiple cues and language variety that is lacking in ‘poorer’ communication media such as online communication. Third, students enter tertiary education with large variations in skill levels and exposure to communication technologies. While technology-driven education delivery should be sensitive to these differences, students should not leave university without being exposed to information technology (Broekman et al., 2002; Mashile & Pretorius, 2003), as implied in the South African Qualifications Authority’s (SAQA) critical cross-field outcomes that correspond to Spady’s (1994) complex role performing abilities. However, specialised web-based programmes (such as WebCT and Blackboard) will not necessarily prepare students for a non-supported online environment after completing their tertiary-level studies.
THE BLENDED LEARNING INITIATIVES The first initiative was developed over a number of years (until the termination of the course due to curriculum development). The second initiative is still under continuous development. Each of the initiatives is guided by the principles of blended learning in ‘integrating the strengths of synchronous (face-to-face) and asynchronous (text-based internet) learning activities’ (Garrison & Kanuka, 2004, p. 96) bearing the university’s context in mind, and has been underpinned by the three guiding principles.
Initiative 1: Cognitive Ergonomics module website In the first initiative, a website was developed for a course entitled ‘Cognitive Ergonomics’. There were between 90 and 150 students registered for this course (depending on the year). Each year, in the first week of the course, a classroom presentation on ‘how to use the World Wide Web’ was given to students who felt that they lacked the relevant skills. An iterative website development process took place between 2000 and 2004, where new sections were added each successive year. The earlier versions of the website contained only background construct definitions, links to related websites, course outlines, assignment details, a notice-board, and a questions and answers section (based on the common face-to-face and
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email queries). Later versions of the website refined the notice-board to lecture-by-lecture notes and also introduced example questions and model answers to tests and assignments, and posted student assignment marks. The most important development over this period was the slow introduction of content on each of the content areas covered in the course. The content for each area was designed by groups of master’s students as an assignment in an engineering psychology course. The assignment required students to design content along e-learning principles of interactivity and the active engagement of learners with content (Garrison & Anderson, 2003). Each content area was required to have questions for students to answer. Student evaluations (through questionnaires) were undertaken each year to gauge the effectiveness of the website in meeting student needs. In the final evaluation (in 2004), 66 anonymous questionnaire responses were received from students, followed by three focus groups (facilitated by two Faculty Teaching and Learning Advisors) involving 40 students. Students felt that the website made an important and valuable contribution to their learning. Students identified the website as a back-up to lectures, providing additional notes, helpful hints, supplementary material, and an additional contact point outside of the lecturer’s normal consultation times. However, student comments were less positive about the training presentation. Due to varying degrees of prior knowledge and exposure to the World Wide Web, some students found the presentation boring and repetitive while other students felt the pace of the presentation was too fast to gain a proper understanding.
Initiative 2: Cognition module website In the second initiative, a website was developed for a course entitled ‘Cognition’. There were between 400 and 600 students registered for this course (depending on the year). Each year, in the first week of the course, a classroom presentation on ‘how to use the blog’ (more details on the blog are given below) was given to students who felt that they lacked the relevant skills. No corresponding presentation was provided on how to use the World Wide Web, given the negative feedback received from the first initiative, the non-feasibility of electronic classroom training sessions for this number of students, and the relative pervasiveness of the World Wide Web. An ongoing iterative process (2005–2006) has seen the development of a website with course outlines and assignment details, a lectureby-lecture notice-board, a questions and answers section, practice test and examination questions and model answers, and an interactive student discussion board (using a blog: http://witscognition.blogspot.com). For this initiative it was decided to use a blog, since blogging is becoming a popular means for people to post ideas, thoughts, or articles on the World Wide Web and to receive feedback on these postings without having to learn any programming language. A blog is a cross between a website and a discussion forum (if the feedback facility is activated). This would mean that students would get the benefit of learning about an internet service that is increasingly being used. Using a service such as blogger.com (the online service where the blog was hosted) has the advantage of not needing
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to physically maintain the website ‘look and feel’, as well as having a ‘commenting’ facility that operates like a traditional bulletin-board. The absence of any lecture content or class notes was met with a great deal of dissatisfaction from students posting messages on the blog. In defence of the lack of content, it is interesting to note that many international higher education institutions choose to focus on the interactive qualities of the online medium rather than the content aspects (Wentzel & Jacobs, 2004). A formal website evaluation was undertaken in 2006, conducted by two groups of master’s students for an assignment in an engineering psychology course. Questionnaire data were collected from 82 student respondents using the 25-item WebQual (Barnes & Vidgen, 2005) instrument supplemented by three openended questions. Follow-up user evaluation interviews were conducted with nine students. The results of the formal evaluation revealed that students found the question and answer’s section, the notice board, and past test and examination papers to be most useful. Students also expressed positive responses in being able to communicate with the lecturer outside of scheduled consultation times. Problems were experienced by some students in being able to access the website (due to a lack of computer resources) and in a lack of knowledge in how to use the blog (although the blog presentation was poorly attended). No specific comments were made in the WebQual open-ended questions or the interviews about the lack of content.
DISCUSSION The positive implications for using blended learning in face-to-face classrooms are obvious. Lecturers can give the impression that they are available 24 hours a day to deal with student queries (although there may be negative implications if students actually demand 24-hour availability, seven days a week), there is immediacy in the communication of vital course information to a geographically dispersed class, and the online medium is particularly useful in conveying unambiguous content. However, in the experience of the lecturer, there are a number of points of caution that must be raised. Broekman et al. (2002) advocate mediated access to technology (i.e., controlled and facilitated access). At Wits, there are approximately 1 200 networked computers available for more than 24 000 students (one computer per 20 students). Almost half these computers are restricted access (e.g., only for chemical engineering students), meaning the actual accessibility of computers on campus is probably closer to one computer per 40 students. Also, students from more advantaged backgrounds might be more likely to have good access to online facilities off campus. As numerous other authors have found (Broekman et al., 2002; Carr-Chellman & Duchastel, 2000; De Villiers & Cronje, 2005; Issroff & Hazemi, 1998; Warschauer, 1999), the initiatives described here encountered vast differences in background knowledge, experience in using computers and the internet, and access to technology. There are essentially two points of view on the accessibility issue. The cautionary view advises that higher education institutions should be wary about adopting technology too rapidly,
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otherwise ‘the dominance already present may be compounded’ (Broekman et al., 2002, p. 33) resulting in a digital apartheid. Within the cautionary view, students should therefore be allowed to choose a learning medium according to their attitudes and self-efficacy beliefs towards technology. The social inclusion approach argues that online courses might be used to provide functional relevance for information and communication technology use (Mashile & Pretorius, 2003). This approach suggests that students should be forced to use technology in order not to perpetuate the differences. It might be argued that the two initiatives described here provide a hybrid view. Students are ‘forced’ to use the website if they wish to do well in the course and learn (or practice) important information technology skills, but have the choice not to (since sufficient content and practical exercises are covered in class for students to pass). Warschauer (2003) argues that exposure and incentives to use technology should be used together in order to support social inclusion. Finally, text-based communication media are low in social presence and media richness (Daft & Lengel, 1986) and therefore the dissemination of complex, ambiguous, and theoretical information is difficult. This would imply that text-based online dissemination of complex concepts might not be the best learning medium. In part mitigation, Schellens and Valcke (2005) found that academic asynchronous discussions were highly task oriented in comparison to face-to-face discussions. The context of Daft and Lengel’s (1986) media richness theory is certainly outdated (text-only discussion forums) and, as Dennis and Kinney (1998) have shown, not necessarily applicable to more interactive online media. The initiatives described in this short report have been aimed at providing students with exposure to technology and internet facilities that they may encounter in their place of work. Within the blended learning approach (Garrison & Kanuka, 2004), the aim has not been to replace face-to-face lectures with online material, but rather to experiment with alternative modes of delivery and discussion. Not all components of these initiatives have worked or have been received favourably by students. The most consistently useful components, as rated by the students, have been the questions and answers, the day-byday notice board, and access to past examination questions (and answers).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Some material in this short report has been presented at the Wits Teaching and Learning Symposium (2003), at a workshop at the University of Technology Sydney (2006), and at the PsySSA Congress (2006). I would like to acknowledge the contributions of various groups of master’s students in the engineering psychology course from 2000 to 2006 for developing the content and conducting the website evaluation. I am also indebted to the critical comments and suggestions from two Faculty Teaching and Learning Advisors, Moira de Groot and Alison Button, in the development of the websites and in conducting the focus groups.
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