When Innovative Learning Designs are too Innovative: Creating Relations in Chaosmos
Thomas Kjærgaard, Christian Wahl, University College North, Denmark
Abstract
This article presents a study of what happens when the innovative ideas behind a new learning design may be too innovative. The article analysis an implementation process of a new learning design in Nurse Education. The intention with the new learning design was to move away from a functionalist approach to teaching and it was developed to motivate and encourage the students to engage in more situated and self-regulated learning processes. The investigated course was infamous for low attendance and for unmotivated students. The new leaning design utilised teacher-produced video-clips, role-play and open supervision to qualify the students learning process while they were preparing for the lessons but also during the lessons. The new pedagogical activities were designed to make the learning process more situated and less rigours, thus demanding of the students to develop skills as self-regulated learners who, in turn, would be able to create relations between video content and lesson activities, while forming a chaosmos. The video-clips should also scaffold the academic reading during preparation with video-clips. However, the outcome was not as planned. The students did not recognise the video-clips as a significant part of the preparation for the lessons and therefore they were not prepared for the activities that the teacher had planned for the lessons. The article analyses and interprets the students’ missing relations between content, activities and their roles as learners. The article suggests an iterative, spiralic process to develop schemata and relations to learn in a situated learning environment while forming as chaosmos and developing as self-regulated learners.
If you would like to read the entire contribution, please click here.