I had an idea for scaffolding learning of technical 'content' that leverages some of the advantages of online learning platforms (such as Moodle).
Basically, I am thinking that each time a student reads some written information it automatically updates (replaces) the information (next time they read this topic's information) to a higher level of complexity/detail/etc.
Does anyone have any research evidence of something similar being more effective (than student-written notes of this content, for example) that they can point me to?
For more practical context I'm an amateur 'dev' looking to develop content, centred around 'computational science'. I'm happy to dive into Moodle's source-code to achieve this.
Scaffolding content: increasing complexity/detail of this information each user's visit
by Nick Howlett -
Number of replies: 4
In reply to Nick Howlett
Re: Scaffolding content: increasing complexity/detail of this information each user's visit
by Mary Cooch -
Hello Nick. I understand what you are getting at but I don't think it's a good idea to automatically update (replace) the information to a higher level of complexity - what if they didn't understand it the first time? What if they want to go back later and read it again? What if they had to stop reading it half way through?
I suppose you could *add* some extra text at a higher level of complexity under the original text if you wanted to - but then you might end up with very long amounts of information, rather than smaller 'chunks' people apparently prefer now. Also - Moodle's standard Restrict access and Activity completion features already allow teachers to release other materials based on completion of previous ones, as you will know. So a student could read some text, manually mark it complete when they feel they have digested it, and then it will open up automatically the information at a higher level of complexity. I think that's a more acceptable way of doing it.
BUT.. I am neither a researcher nor a developer, so let's see what others think😉
In reply to Mary Cooch
Re: Scaffolding content: increasing complexity/detail of this information each user's visit
by Joost Elshoff -
I agree with Mary on this. Even on really interactive learning platforms teaching programming such as Codeacademy, students get the opportunity to scroll back to the beginning of their course, to see what they missed or want to review. And that's for good reasons: review, repeat, retry are crucial learning processes you'd want to facilitate when designing your learning materials.
Recommendation from my side would be to do the following:
1 course with all materials for a described level (maybe beginner level 0 to level 11, intermediate level 11 to level 20, advanced level 21 to level 30, expert level 31 to level ...)
Use the course sections to contain all materials and activities for a specific level, restricting access and hiding to subsequent levels based on completion of previous levels linearly
Allow 'free browsing' mode for students to go through the materials in a more open world kind of approach.
Somehow that sounds quite a bit like the old 'Learn Moodle MOOCs' were set up, but for me that's quite a good or best practice for skills learning courses in my opinion.
Recommendation from my side would be to do the following:
1 course with all materials for a described level (maybe beginner level 0 to level 11, intermediate level 11 to level 20, advanced level 21 to level 30, expert level 31 to level ...)
Use the course sections to contain all materials and activities for a specific level, restricting access and hiding to subsequent levels based on completion of previous levels linearly
Allow 'free browsing' mode for students to go through the materials in a more open world kind of approach.
Somehow that sounds quite a bit like the old 'Learn Moodle MOOCs' were set up, but for me that's quite a good or best practice for skills learning courses in my opinion.
In reply to Joost Elshoff
Re: Scaffolding content: increasing complexity/detail of this information each user's visit
by Nick Howlett -
Thanks folks, for your thoughts! I think I'll take your thoughts as somewhat representative, although I intend to run 'user testing' (i.e. 'pilot study') my course with a small group so hopefully we'll also pickup and clarify these 'requirements' (for more effective learning, that is).
It still feels to me like we're not fully utilising the web (i.e. just 'port' your teaching from usual modality of in-person to online, without considering it's platform for computation). But I just came across Moodle's Lessons [*], which I think might be more inline with my idea, along with your suggested Moodle features. I reckon I need to explore more before making any further judgements. Thanks again.
It still feels to me like we're not fully utilising the web (i.e. just 'port' your teaching from usual modality of in-person to online, without considering it's platform for computation). But I just came across Moodle's Lessons [*], which I think might be more inline with my idea, along with your suggested Moodle features. I reckon I need to explore more before making any further judgements. Thanks again.
In reply to Nick Howlett
Re: Scaffolding content: increasing complexity/detail of this information each user's visit
by Gregor McNish -
You could also explore Moodle's wiki, glossary,and stealth activities with activity names auto linking filter on) -- all allow you to have text in a context which can link to extra resources, so you can have explanations at one level, but with the things that go deeper linking to deeper/more detailed treatment, which can in turn link to still deeper treatments. Yay hypertext.