Background

Theories

Background & References

The theoretical background behind the constructive alignment framework and related learning science used in the course design.

Constructive alignment

Constructive alignment is a teaching approach developed by John Biggs, which emphasizes that the design of the learning activities, assessment tasks, and learning outcomes should be aligned in a way that supports the achievement of the desired learning outcomes. The aim is to create a coherent and effective learning experience for the learners.

According to constructive alignment, intended learning outcomes should be defined in terms of what the learner will be able to do as a result of their learning, rather than just what they will know. The assessment tasks should be designed to test the achievement of these learning outcomes, and the learning activities should be designed to support the learners in achieving these outcomes.

The constructive alignment approach is intended to ensure that the learning activities and assessments are directly linked to the desired learning outcomes, providing learners with clear expectations and a clear sense of progress. It also encourages the use of active learning techniques that promote higher-order thinking skills and deeper understanding. Ultimately, constructive alignment is designed to help teachers create effective learning experiences that are focused on achieving the desired learning outcomes.

Biggs, J. B. (1996). Enhancing teaching through constructive alignment. Higher Education, 32(3), 347–364
SOLO-Taxonomy

The SOLO (Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes) Taxonomy is a framework for understanding intended learning outcomes created by John Biggs and Kevin Collis. It describes five levels of understanding or cognitive complexity that a learner may achieve when acquiring knowledge in a particular subject area.

The five levels are:

  1. Prestructural: the learner lacks understanding of the topic and cannot answer questions about it.
  2. Unistructural: the learner has one relevant idea or concept about the topic.
  3. Multistructural: the learner has several relevant ideas or concepts about the topic.
  4. Relational: the learner can see connections between ideas or concepts and can relate them to other concepts and ideas in the same subject area.
  5. Extended abstract: the learner can apply the ideas or concepts to new and unfamiliar situations and can create new ideas or concepts related to the subject area.
Biggs, J. B. & Collis, K. F. (1982). Evaluating the Quality of Learning: The SOLO Taxonomy. Academic Press.
Five ways to increase the effectiveness of instructional video

Dynamic drawing principle: People learn better from a video lecture that shows the instructor drawing graphics while lecturing than from an already drawn graphic (p. 841).

Gaze guidance principle: People learn better from a video lecture when the onscreen instructor shifts gaze between the audience and the board rather than looking at only at the board or only the audience (p. 843).

Generative activity principle: People learn better from a video lecture or demonstration when they are asked to engage in generative learning activities during learning (p. 845).

Perspective principle: People learn better from narrated video of a manual demonstration when it is filmed from a first-person perspective rather than a third-person perspective (p. 846).

Subtitle principle: People learn better from a video documentary in their second language when the words are printed (or printed and spoken) rather than spoken (p. 847).

Seductive details principle: People do not necessarily learn better when interesting but extraneous video is added to a multimedia lesson (p. 849).

Mayer, R. E., Fiorella, L., & Stull, A. (2020). Five ways to increase the effectiveness of instructional video. Educational Technology Research and Development, 68(3), 837–852.
The 7 Cs of Learning Design
  • Create: Create learning materials for your learners. Also, let your learners create something through which they learn.
  • Communicate: Communicate with your learners. For example, use a forum to let your learners be in contact with you.
  • Collaborate: Enable your learners to collaborate with each other. For example, have them in cohorts. Take a look at cohort-based-courses.
  • Consider: Your learners should know how much progress they have made. With a learning diary they are able to reflect on their learning. Another possibility is quizzes to test their knowledge.

The other Cs describe the process of Conceptualize, Combine, and Consolidate.

Conole, G. (2015). Designing effective MOOCs. Educational Media International, 52(4), 239–252.
12 Principles for Reducing Extraneous Processing in Multimedia Learning
  1. Coherence Principle: People learn better when extraneous words, pictures and sounds are excluded rather than included.
  2. Signaling Principle: People learn better when cues that highlight the organization of the essential material are added.
  3. Redundancy Principle: People learn better from graphics and narration than from graphics, narration and on-screen text.
  4. Spatial Contiguity Principle: People learn better when corresponding words and pictures are presented near rather than far from each other on the page or screen.
  5. Temporal Contiguity Principle: People learn better when corresponding words and pictures are presented simultaneously rather than successively.
  6. Segmenting Principle: People learn better from a multimedia lesson is presented in learner-controlled segments rather than as continuous unit.
  7. Pre-training Principle: People learn better from a multimedia lesson when students know names and behaviors of system components.
  8. Modality Principle: People learn better when words are presented as narration rather than as on-screen text.
  9. Multimedia Principle: People learn better from words and pictures than from words alone.
  10. Personalization Principle: People learn better from multimedia lessons when words are in conversational style rather than formal style.
  11. Voice Principle: People learn better when the narration in multimedia lessons is spoken in a friendly human voice rather than a machine voice.
  12. Image Principle: People do not necessarily learn better from a multimedia lesson when the speaker's image is added to the screen.
Mayer, R. E., & Fiorella, L. (2014). 12 principles for reducing extraneous processing in multimedia learning: Coherence, signaling, redundancy, spatial contiguity, and temporal contiguity principles. The Cambridge handbook of multimedia learning, 279.
SOI-Model
  • Selecting: Help your learners to be able to select the most relevant aspects (texts, audio).
    • Highlight text
    • Use ILOs
    • Provide summaries
    • Do not include irrelevant information (Seductive detail principle)
  • Organize: Help your learners to organize the incoming information.
    • Structure your texts, audios, videos from the learner perspective
    • Present your materials understandably
  • Integrate: Help your learners to integrate the processed information into prior knowledge.
    • Provide worked-out examples, narration for videos, elaborative questions
Mayer, R. E. (1999). Designing instruction for constructivist learning. Instructional-design theories and models: A new paradigm of instructional theory, 2, 141-159.
Embodied cognition

From Kiefer and Trumpp (2012):

"Knowing the fundamental mechanisms underlying human cognition helps educational practitioners and policy makers as well as learners to design learning environments that optimally fit to the functioning of the mind. Embodied cognition theory highlights the relevance of sensory–motor interactions with our environment during learning resulting in more endurable and – perhaps most important – in richer knowledge."

Kiefer, M. & Trumpp, N. M. (2012). Embodied cognition. Educational Research Review.
Formative and summative feedback
  • Formative feedback or formative assessment: Provide information to learners about their progress during learning and what they need to improve. Can be provided by teachers, other learners, or learners themselves.
  • Summative feedback or summative assessment: Inform learners how well they have learned what they were supposed to have learned after the learning is complete. This outcome is final and learners might be afraid of it as their futures hinge on it.

Effective feedback

Learners need to have a baseline knowledge of where they are and where they are supposed to be heading. Feedback during learning is considered the most powerful enhancement to learning, and it can be judged by how well it provides information to learners as they learn.

Seven principles of good feedback practice
  1. Facilitates the development of self-assessment (reflection) in learning.
  2. Encourages teacher and peer dialogue around learning.
  3. Helps clarify what good performance is (goals, criteria, standards expected).
  4. Provides opportunities to close the gap between current and desired performance.
  5. Delivers high quality information to students about their learning.
  6. Encourages positive motivational beliefs and self-esteem.
  7. Provides information to teachers that can be used to help shape the teaching.
Juwah, C., Macfarlane-Dick, D., Matthew, B., Nicol, D., Ross, D., & Smith, B. (2004). Enhancing student learning through effective formative feedback. The Higher Education Academy, 140, 1-40.
Assessment is most effective when…
  • …assessment is used to engage students in learning that is productive
  • …feedback is used to actively improve student learning
  • …students and teachers become responsible partners in learning and assessment
  • …students are inducted into the assessment practices and cultures of higher education
  • …assessment for learning is placed at the centre of subject and program design
  • …assessment for learning is a focus for staff and institutional development
  • …assessment provides inclusive and trustworthy representation of student achievement
Boud, D. & Associates. (2010). Assessment 2020: Seven propositions for Assessment reform in higher education. Australian Learning and Teaching Council.