Enhancing ICT learning with Real-life Problems.

Cathal McHugo, Timothy Hall EMRC, University of Limerick [email protected] / [email protected]

Abstract In their junior years at third level ICT students often carry out assignments associated with essential core topics. These assignments have been oversimplified or compartmentalised to match their, as yet, undeveloped skills. As a result, assignments are not engaging and are far removed from the real-world they will encounter later. Problem Based Learning (PBL) is used in other fields to counter this problem.

Working with a second year module in the Department of Electronic & Computer Engineering (ECE), University of Limerick; where core topics are databases and web programming, we decided to revoke the ideal of meaningless assignments and introduce a new and fresh way of teaching for the module. We hybridised the PBL approach of using a real-world problem with the provision of significant scaffolding to guide students towards an achievable solution. Additionally we based student assessment entirely on the natural outcomes of solving the problem, an approach we term Outcome Based Learning Laboratory (OBLL). The real-world problem, introduced to capture student’s attention and imagination, was the representation to the general public of data from the universities weather station.

In this paper we link from PBL to our hybrid OBLL model with information on the initiation and development of our course. We discuss the teaching and learning methodologies employed. The OBLL working environment and student reaction to OBLL are explored. Finally, results and findings highlighting the success and future potential improvements are discussed.

1. Introduction Junior students in third level education often find it difficult to see the relevance of core material introduced in early courses. They have difficulty relating the material taught to real life scenarios and do not see the reasoning behind the teaching of this material. Passive or surface learning in order to pass exams is universal in first and second year courses. Students fail to recognise the continuous learning cycle and knowledge building that is in action. This leads to widespread compartmentalisation of the knowledge students are receiving. These problems have been identified by many studies in higher education. [1]

Higher Education is also undergoing a rigorous reform. In particular universities are expected to cater for changing social demographics in student life while also controlling the costly expansion of teaching staff and equipment. Employers also expect more from graduates in the work place. Along with the core technical skills obtained during a degree’s life cycle, graduates must also acquire team building expertise, communication skills and the ability to critically solve problems and scenarios. Like with any form of engineering, the ability to solve problems and develop accurate solutions is the key to success in an ICT environment. These factors directed us towards the development of this hybrid pedagogy and away from the traditional teaching approach.

In order to counteract these issues at the University of Limerick we developed a new learning strategy that would encourage student interest in learning. In particular we wanted to promote learner centred tasks that would capture the interest of the students. It was envisaged that this approach would generate a sense of excitement and motivate further problem investigation and therefore allow the facilitators to develop stronger learning outcomes. We have shifted student’s early learning of core topics such as digital electronics and dynamic website design from the traditional syllabus based, teacher lead format to a problem-based approach. This approach adopts a hybrid version of small group Problem-Based Learning, collaborative laboratory learning and an online learning repository. Students are presented with a real life problem and must explore the solution domain in a learner centred mode.

In this paper we explore the pedagogical background to our OBLL programme. We discuss the structure of the OBLL programme and student feedback associated with the OBLL programme. Finally we discuss the finding from the first iteration of the course and draw valid conclusions from the workings of OBLL

2. Pedagogical Background The system we chose to develop is based on constructivist pedagogy. Constructivists argue that students learn by doing and by building on previously gained knowledge. New knowledge is assembled in both a horizontal and vertical fashion and is very much a student orientated process. Students use skills and knowledge developed in past and concurrent courses to make progress in the OBLL environment. Often the skills obtained in OBLL will be brought to a higher level in future courses that the students will partake in. By applying a constructivist approach [2] the following points need to be taken into consideration

 Organise learning in realistic and relevant contexts.  Encourage ownership and allow students to manage their own activities.  Learning should be a social experience.  Use multiple modes of representation.  Enable students to determine what they need to learn through questioning and goal setting.  Collaborative activities must become commonplace in the learning process.

By incorporating these points into the system one can clearly see that a constructivist approach validates the OBLL programme that we have put forward and plays a very active role in the structuring and day to day administration of the OBLL programme. 3. OBLL Environment In the OBLL programme a variety of different learning methodologies are utilised to create the desired blended effect. PBL, cognitive apprenticeship, collaborative learning and an online learning repository incorporating course administration are employed Moodle [3] hosts all the online features associated with the OBLL programme. The following sub sections detail how each methodology comes into play in OBLL trials.

3.1. Problem-Based Learning (PBL) PBL [4], [5] is a radical methodology for course structuring when compared to the traditional approach applied under normal circumstances. In PBL students work in groups on authentic, ill-defined, open ended tasks. Students are normally left to their own devices to design and develop a solution to a problem that has no right or wrong answer. The PBL style of education is particularly suited to developing student’s skills in software engineering and programming. It mimics a real life situation and develops skills that employers and industrialists [6] believe are important in the graduate makeup.

After reviewing the PBL procedure and taking junior student considerations into account we felt a pure PBL approach was not appropriate. Junior students learning maturity is not developed enough in first or second year to take full responsibility for their own personal learning. At this level students still need some form of guidance and support. While we felt that the OBLL programme would operate under a PBL banner we believed that some modifications to the teaching and learning structure were necessary. Cognitive apprenticeship principles and some classical supervision from course facilitators were utilised in order to provide students with a sense of direction.

3.2. Cognitive Apprenticeship Cognitive apprenticeship is situated within the social constructivist philosophy and plays a vital role in the development of our OBLL programme. However it must be noted that not every student or in some cases groups availed of the cognitive apprenticeship approach. Some people felt comfortable enough with pure PBL. Cognitive apprenticeship implies that an important part of a student’s development and learning comes from experiencing an expert in action [7]. By experiencing this methodology it is hoped that students will reproduce some of the activities considered good practice provided by the facilitator in their own work. Cognitive apprenticeship is divided into three stages:

 Observation and Model of Expert Performance The student starts the learning process by studying a simplified solution to the problem in question. This is an expertly designed solution provided by the Facilitator.  Applying given knowledge and Facilitator Coaching The student becomes actively engaged in carrying out the task. During this period the facilitator provides advice and coaching in order to help the student along the way. Occasionally at this stage weaker students produce a solution that can in some ways mirror what the facilitator provided in the first stage. Stronger students are more inclined to provide a more extensive solution and in some cases they omit this stage entirely.  Independent Problem Solving and Design At this stage the student has become sufficiently competent to carry out independent problem solving and design without the support of the facilitator. Students design their own tasks as extensions of the problem. This is the true PBL setting.

In order for OBLL to function correctly we felt that including the cognitive apprenticeship approach complemented the PBL methodology that we hoped to achieve. It gave less mature students a starting point as well as providing them with an insight of what was expected from the course.

3.3. Collaborative Learning Collaborative learning is very much a focal part of this project. Pedagogical interaction is one of the core components of the OBLL programme. Collaborative learning is represented in many forms [8] in the OBLL programme, here are some examples:

 One-alone This style is present when students engage with the online learning system.  One-to-one Student and a facilitator engaged in a cognitive apprenticeship setting.  One-to-many Laboratory slots and project demonstrations.  Many-to-many PBL brainstorming sessions, class project discussion.

3.4. Online Learning Repository and Administration System Moodle was taken on board by the OBLL programme to facilitate the interlinking of the various aspects of the project. Moodle provides a variety of services for students and facilitators. Some of the more important services are highlighted in the following points:

 Course Information Moodle provides such information as the course and problem description, pre- requisite requirements, references list and other details such as time and location of the laboratory slots.  Resources Moodle has the ability to carefully catalogue and manage associated learning objects and resources. SCORM packages [9], flash applications, student workshops, handouts supplementary laboratory details or web-links to other relevant websites can all be catered for.  Inquiry and feedback General inquiry and feedback is very important in the OBLL programme. Moodle caters well for this aspect. Communication can take up many forms in Moodle. Forums, messaging services, student choice facilities, surveys and questionnaires are all available for use.  Administration and Assessment Moodle keeps track of all user activity. Detailed log files can be obtained from the system. Log files summarise all student activity and can identify what features students avail of on Moodle. Student grades are also administrated and stored on Moodle. Feedback on assessment and grades can also be provided to students within this system. Moodle helps to take care of all administrative aspects of the OBLL programme. This allows the facilitator to spend more time with students and meet students learning needs.

4. OBLL in Action The course consists of a four-hour weekly slot over a thirteen-week period. This amounts to 52 hours of face-to-face contact between the Facilitator and the students over each semester. Students form small groups at the start of each semester. Each group averages in size of four students. Therefore each team has on average 208 formal group hours to complete the project. Groups are formed on a random basis with students allowed to pick their own partners.

The focus of this course is to create a dynamic website to represent weather data from the ECE department’s weather station. A simplified weather website is deployed for student evaluation purposes at the beginning of the semester. The course expands on student’s primitive knowledge of HTML and Microsoft Access database design. Students are introduced to dynamic scripting in the form of PHP. A MySQL database is deployed to store all the data from the website. In order to keep students focused on their ultimate goal, a finished project by week thirteen, course milestones are introduced. These milestones are positioned around key dates associated with the course. Each milestone acts as a guide for students to gauge their progress within the course. The four milestones applied in this course are:

 Database and Server development Students learn how to set-up MySQL and create their weather database. They also find out how to configure Apache and PHP to display their website. This is done using a freeware package called EasyPHP [10].  Table and graphic displays This is the student’s first attempt at displaying weather data. Data is displayed in simple HTML tables. Students also relate simple weather icons with the data. For example rain clouds when it’s raining.  Site Administration This section was developed to allow admin features to be carried out on the website.  Dynamic weather gauges This was the most difficult milestone. Students were asked to produce dynamic gauges to represent weather data. This was achieved using a combination of Flash, XML and PHP.

5. Discussion In introducing the OBLL programme we changed the teaching method students were accustomed to dealing with. The most apparent change was in the curriculum delivery approach. Students no longer followed a pre-sequenced set of closed learning tasks that built on previous knowledge with the introduction of each new task. In OBLL, curriculum is organised into open ended learning outcomes. Real world scenarios are developed around these outcomes. Each real world scenario is designed to be relevant and interesting to the junior year students. Clearly this has an effect on student reaction to the learning process and learning outcomes developed by students throughout the semester. The following subsections show some of the interesting findings that we have taken from the OBLL programme.

5.1. Reduction in Student Isolation Due to changing social demographics it is now common for a student to work part time while attending third level education as a full time registered student [11]. This can lead to feelings of isolation among junior year students because they spend less time at university and therefore do not know their fellow students compared to classes in the past. The OBLL programme combated this problem by introducing group work. Students emphasised this as one of the best aspects of the course. They met other students and developed meaningful friendships. The rule also applied with the academic staff teaching the course, students got to know facilitators on a more personal level than traditional teaching methods would normally permit. From a facilitators perspective knowing the student on a closer level allowed him/her to gain more information on how the course was progressing and what course aspects students had difficulty with. The collaborative learning environment supported this manner of friendship building.

5.2. Group Work Making groups members equally share their assigned work load was one of the problems students encountered in the early stages of the OBLL programme. Often in the group working environment one finds that some students work harder than others, while some other students made little or no contribution at all. The problem was alleviated by introducing group and individual assignments. Team members in most cases shared identical marks for group assignments. When allocating marks for group assignments poor performance by certain team members was taken into consideration and when justified, lethargic team members had their marks reduced accordingly. Individual assessment scrutinised the group assignment grading process by asking students to carry out similar scaled down versions of the group assignments. From the results of these assessments it soon became clear if “piggybacking” was occurring within the groups. The main rationale for introducing individual assessment was to validate the marks awarded in the group assignment.

5.3. Student Satisfaction Levels Student satisfaction levels are evaluated using surveys and by analysing informal and formal communication between students and facilitators during the semester. Both from a formal and an informal standpoint the majority of students stated that they enjoyed working on the OBLL programme and felt they understood the material more thoroughly by working with this new learning methodology. This was students second occasion [12] to study under the OBLL programme and therefore they were more accustomed to the teaching and learning approach. Even the weaker or less enthusiastic students realised the benefits of the OBLL. Students enjoyed the hands on and practical experience delivered in the laboratory by the OBLL programme

5.4. Online Learning Environment Students were also asked to review the Moodle environment that interlinked the various aspects of the project. The following points were noted:

 The Moodle environment extended the boundaries of learning beyond the laboratory setting that OBLL operates in. It allowed students to access course material from anywhere that had internet access.  Moodle provides a convenient channel for students to participate in collaborative learning. The ability to communicate ideas and questions in ways that cannot take place in the laboratory was cited as a huge advantage. This aided the student learning process.  Moodle supported student brainstorming, exchange of ideas and peer assignment evaluation. Moodle also allowed students to organise and restructure information and assignments, as well as contribute to the course resources section.  One of the main assets of the Moodle environment was the ability to cater for all the administrative requests of both students and facilitators. This gave students and facilitators a lot more time to concentrate on the teaching and learning process.

6. Conclusion In this paper we describe the case study we developed and the insights gained in implementing a successful OBLL programme. Most importantly, the value of this approach lies in the appreciation and satisfaction expressed by the students. Students were highly motivated by the real world scenarios and enjoyed developing software problems that had a real world application. Our commitment to the OBLL programme remains firm.

In conclusion, OBLL provides an excellent opportunity for academics to learn a new and insightful way of delivering and working with course material. OBLL also allows students to develop a range of essential skills that are requested by industry. One of the key points in favour of OBLL is that the course can be delivered in this new and exciting way without discarding the technical content found in a traditional course. If you would like to find out more about the OBLL programme, the authors are contactable via the email addresses given at the top of the paper.

7. References [1] Iqbal, R., Every P., (2005) Scenario based Method for Teaching, Learning and Assessment. SIGITE ’05 – ACM Special Interest Group on Information Technology Education, Newark, New Jersey, USA, October 20th-22nd. [2] Cunningham D., J., Duffy T., M. and Knuth R. (1993). The textbook of the future. In C. McKnight, A. Dillion and J. Richardson (eds.) Hypertext: A Psychological Perspective. Ellis Harwood. [3] Moodle – A free, Open Source Content Management System for Online Learning. http://www.moodle.org/ [4] Boud, D., Feletti, G., (1997) The Challenge of Problem Based Learning. 2nd edition. New York: St Martin’s Press. [5] Savin-Baden, M., (2000) Problem-Based Learning in Higher Education: Untold Stories. Buckingham UK: Open University Press. [6] O’Donoghue, J., McQuade, E., Murphy, E. (2004) PUII COP1 Report: The Competencies for Next Generation Employability. Limerick: PUII Publication Retrieved June 2006 from: http://www.ul.ie/~puii/PUII%20COP1%20Report%20.pdf [7] Astrachan, O., Reed, D., (1995) AAA and CS 1: The Applied Apprenticeship Approach to CS 1. Proceedings of SIGCSE Vol 27, Issue 1, pp 1-5. [8] Paulsen, M., F. (1995) The Online Report on Pedagogical Techniques for Computer- Mediated Communication.

Retrieved June 2006 from: http://www.nettskolen.com/forskning/19/cmcped.html [9] SCORM – Advanced Distributed Learning. Retrieved June 2006 from: http://www.adlnet.gov/index.cfm [10]EasyPHP – Apache, MySQL, PHP, PhpMyAdmin. Retrieved June 2006 from: http://www.easyphp.org/ [11]McInnis, C., Hartley, R. (2002) Managing Study and Work. : The impact of full-time study and paid work on the undergraduate experience in Australian universities Retrieved June 2006 from: http://www.dest.gov.au/sectors/higher_education/publications_resources/profiles/man aging_study_and_work.htm [12] McHugo, C., et al. 2005 A Web Based Learning Environment to Support the teaching of Digital Electronics. IADAT Journal of Advanced Technology on Education. Vol. 2, No.1, pp 181-218.