1. Course team approaches to task design
This project investigates the design
of online tasks, where tasks are what
learners are required to do in online
environments. It uses students and staff
experiences to try to:
understand the pedagogic rationale•
of staff behind the design of tasks.
find out what aspects of design•
participants felt work well, or not and
why.
identify enablers and barriers to•
design within course teams.
2 Factors influencing design capability of course teams
Team includes
ICT ‘enthusiasts’
Multi-faceted team
(academic,
technical, admin,
student) working
collaboratively
Utilisation of
student voice
Course evaluations
and course centred
research activity
Existing course
specific modules/
exemplars
available
A sense of shared
pedagogic values
and course
ownership
Good
communications,
regular meetings
Team/course
development
opportunities
Staff time crucial. Lack
of time is the biggest
feature hindering team
approaches to course
development
What helps
course
teams with
design?
Method
The research methods
included: semi-structured
interviews and the use of
a qualitative commentary
tool with staff, a focus
group, qualitative
questionnaires and a
meta-learning evaluation
activity with students.
Results
The two diagrams
illustrate the main
findings of the project.
Discussion
The research involved
different courses from
three Universities where
online components were
central to the courses.
What is clear from the
work is that the student’s
own professional
educational context
needs to be central
to the design of tasks.
These contexts can be
shared by participants
to encourage interaction
and collaboration. This
combination allows
benefits of both situated
and socially constructed
learning (see Box 1).
Course team’s experiences
of designing online
components were clearly
influenced very strongly
by time as a resource.
Successful teamwork
requires collaboration;
meaningful collaboration
of all stakeholders
requires time.
Design was more
successful where existing
models of tasks were
available, where there was
a shared course ethos and
there was active course
centred research within
the team (see Box 2).
Teaching and Research Awards 2008
University of London Centre for Distance Education www.cde.london.ac.uk and cde@london.ac.uk
Course team design rationale
The online components aim to provide/encourage/achieve:
Student views
They value design which facilitates:
Student reflection
and criticality
Socially constructed
professional/
academic knowledge
Student
interaction
Student
collaboration
Clear structures,
timelines but
flexibility
A sense of
belonging and
participation
Relevance within
student’s professional
practice
Theory-practice
connections
1 What course teams aim for and what students value
Researcher
Adam Unwin
Institute of Education
a.unwin@ioe.ac.uk