Chapter 7

Analysis of the Instructional Design of

An Interactive Multimedia Based Learning Environment for Teaching Cryptography

Modern learning theory and existing paradigms of multimedia based learning environments have contributed to the design of the interactive multimedia based learning environment as an effective and stimulating learning tool. Therefore, I will first lay the groundwork by discussing the three most prominent learning theories: behaviorism, cognitivism and constructivism (section 7.1). I will then investigate their value for the tutorial design and explain why no single discussed learning theory is sufficient for the instructional design. However, I will explain why Dewey’s pragmatic approach lays the proper foundation for the design of the learning environment (section 7.2). Finally, accounting for specific learning conditions such as learning group, learning objectives and learner motivation, I will describe the design of the learning environment (in section 7.3).

7.1 Learning Theories
Learning is essentially making and maintaining connections. Biologically through neural networks. Mentally through concepts, ideas and meanings. Experientially through interaction between the mind and the environment. For thousands of years, learning theories have attempted to reflect such complex processes. The evolution of learning theories has brought us to a more complete understanding of learning. Many theories have been created; only few (i.e. behaviorism, cognitivism and constructivism) have been widely recognized and used in educational settings.

Learning theories are trendy in nature: they have provided adequate models for human learning at a given time and are usually replaced by more modern theories that enhance previous explanations. This cycle will very likely continue until we know which exact biological and cognitive processes are involved in human learning. Each learning theory seems to get us a step closer to this goal. I am mentioning this to caution that no learning theory fully reflects the complexity of the act of learning, however, each learning theory brings light to important aspects involved in learning.

As one of the first modern learning theories, Behaviorism became popular during the 1950's when B.F. Skinner proposed his content centered, behavioral, preprogrammed method of educating American children. I will describe the behaviorist view of learning in section 7.1.1. While the behaviorist view concentrated on investigating the observable behavior of humans and animals resulting from exposure to different stimuli such as reinforcement, punishment and conditioning, the Cognitivist School acknowledged that each learner possesses a brain and mental processes formed the primary object of study. Thus, the Cognitivist school explored the human brain and mental processes as factors that were irrelevant in Behaviorist models. I will describe the Cognitivist School in section 7.1.2. Constructivism is the youngest learning theory. In constructivism, the objective character of behaviorism and cognitivism is replaced by the subjectivity of the learner. The emphasis is placed on the individual that constructs knowledge or mental models through experiences in complex and authentic situations. Learning is viewed as the process of adjusting our mental models to accommodate new experiences. I will describe the constructivist view in section 7.1.3.

7.1.1 Behaviorism
Central to the theory of behaviorism is the study of behaviors that can be observed and measured (Good & Brophy, 1990). The mind is perceived as a "black box" that acts in a deterministic manner: response B will occur given stimulus A. Thus, to provoke a desired behavior, the correct stimulus has to be given. Thorndike’s law of exercise resulted from the observation that the more a stimulus response bond is practiced the stronger it will become. He also found that this bond strengthens even more when positive rewards are involved and weakens when negative responses are involved.

Behaviorist learning is viewed as a conditioned reflex that is acquired through interaction with the outer world. Teaching simply involves practicing the desired stimulus response relationships. The teacher knows what exactly the student has to learn and his efforts focus on how to teach. In his regard, behaviorism provides an authoritarian learning model: obedient student execution without reflection or critical thinking.

Key behaviorist researchers: I. Pavlov, E. Thorndike, J. B.Watson and B.F. Skinner.

Reflection: Behaviorism is concerned with regulation of learner’s behavior and not with cognitive processes inherent to humans. In that, behaviorism does not fully reflect human learning. Applying research on animal behavior (such as Pavlov’s dog experiments) to human behavior has to be limited.

Behaviorist teaching methods seem to work best in creating desired behaviors and physical skills. The learner shall be able to respond instinctively to provided stimuli. For example, World War II pilots were conditioned to react to silhouettes of enemy planes. Such responses were supposed to occur automatically.

A major limitation of behaviorist learning models is the inability to act in novel and unexpected situations that the learner is not trained for.

7.1.2 Cognitivism

Cognitivism followed behaviorism in an attempt to find explanations to the limitations of behaviorism. For example, children do not necessarily behave in a way that was reinforced; they may alter their behavior contrary to the reinforcements or rewards. Cognitivism recognizes that humans can process information mentally and don’t act necessarily in a predictable trained manner. Cognitivism emphasizes the inner cognitive processes occurring between stimulus and response. Although different classifications of cognitivism exist all agree that human thinking involves some information processing abilities. This explains why computers appear to be appropriate models when examining human thinking processes such as learning, memorizing or recalling.

Cognitivist learning does not focus on provoking the correct answer that follows a given stimulus. Rather, students shall learn rules, formulas and terminologies that form cognitive capacities and create inert knowledge. Learners possess transformation and adaptation capacities. Typically, complex problems are subdivided and posed as simplified stand-alone problems to the learner. Students develop problem-solving skills that help solve such predefined problems in their own way.

Key cognitivism researcher:

J. Piaget, E. Tolman, D. Ausubel, J. Bruner, L. Vygotsky.

Reflection: Cognitivism eliminates some of the limitations of behaviorist learning models. Learning also involves human cognitive capacities resulting in a variety of problem solving abilities. Learners apply their set of acquired rules to tackle even novel problems. The teacher-student is not authoritarian anymore, teachers act as advisors. They observe the learning process and possibly assist in solving the posed problem.

While the limitations of behaviorism can be seen in its narrow focus on physical behavior, the limitations of cognitivism are rooted in its overemphasis of mental information processing. Situations that involve instinctive (physical) behavior cannot be explained. Additionally, authentic problems that are complex in nature and embedded in their contextual settings cannot be solved using cognitivist strategies. These are typically acquired in given isolated predigested settings and not in ill-defined complex settings that require a different type of strategies.

7.1.3 Constructivism
As a philosophy of learning, constructivism can be traced at least to the eighteenth century and the work of the Neapolitan philosopher Giambattista Vico, who stated that humans can only clearly understand what they have themselves constructed. The fundamental difference to other learning theories is that constructivism denies the ability to objectively describe reality. Although reality may be objective in nature, we perceive it subjectively with our senses. Neurobiological evidence shows that we not only project reality but also interpret it at the same time (Anderson 1988).

Therefore, constructivists believe that "learners construct their own reality or at least interpret it based upon their perceptions of experiences, so an individual's knowledge is a function of one's prior experiences, mental structures, and beliefs that are used to interpret objects and events… What someone knows is grounded in perception of the physical and social experiences which are comprehended by the mind." (Jonasson, 1991).

Under the constructivist view, learning is seen as an active process in which humans construct knowledge in complex authentic situations. The fundamental basis of learning is discovery or reconstruction of knowledge. Learners will go through stages in which they develop, accept and, later on, reject their ideas. In the classroom, the teacher takes on the role as facilitator. He provides a classroom environment that allows learners to discover relationships and to develop ideas through activities that are of interest to them. Problems shall be situated in realistic settings and connect to learner’s previous experiences and knowledge.

The Assumptions of Constructivism (Merrill 1991)

  • Knowledge is constructed from experience
  • Learning is a personal interpretation of the world
  • Learning is an active process in which meaning is developed on the basis of experience
  • Conceptual growth comes from the negotiation of meaning, the sharing of multiple perspectives and the changing of our internal representations through collaborative learning
  • Learning should be situated in realistic settings; testing should be integrated with the task and not a separate activity

Key Constructivism researchers: L. Vygotsky, J. Bruner, J. Dewey, J. Piaget, S. Papert, E. von Glaserfeld.

Reflection: The creation of knowledge is an individual process that can not be transmitted through a teacher. In that way, constructivism differs fundamentally from behaviorism and cognitivism. The focus is on learning as opposed to teaching; classes are student-centered and not teacher-centered. The teacher’s role shifts to that of a facilitator Since he may not know more than the learner, a solid amount of self confidence is needed. He considers how students learn, considers their beliefs and attitudes, thinks of learning as a process and supports cooperative learning.

7.1.4 Analysis of these Learning Theories
The following overview of these three most popular learning theories shall outline their key foci. Schuhman summarized the three prominent theories as follows:

Figure 1: Behaviorism, Cognitivism and Constructivism – An Overview (Schuhman, 1996)

When considering the key concepts of the three learning theories together with their particular strengths and weaknesses, none of them appears to be appropriate for all educational settings. Depending on specific learning conditions such as the learner, the learning situation and the learning objectives, specific learning theories appear to be more suiting than others. Schwier (1995) states that: We must allow circumstances surrounding the learning situation to help us decide which approach to learning is most appropriate. It is necessary to realize that some learning problems require highly prescriptive solutions, whereas others are more suited to learner control of the environment.

Any of the three learning theories may provide a meaningful and an appropriate model for an underlying learning situation. As long as their strengths and limitations are realized and their uses are newly assessed given the particular learning situation, their flexible combination can be very beneficial. If we want to our students to become self-driven autonomous learners that feel comfortable solving ill-defined problems in complex situations, constructivism should be our preferred learning model. Then, behaviorist and cognitivist models gain their significance by enabling the learner to reach that stage. It would be too farfetched to ask a learner to engage in the self-exploration of an unknown yet complex topic. Learning theories shall be related to educational content and expertise of the learner.

Ertmer and Newby (1993) as described in Mergel (1998) match learning theories with the content to be learned as follows:

A behavioral approach can effectively facilitate mastery of the content of a profession (knowing what). Behavioral tasks requiring a low degree of processing (e.g., basic paired associations, discriminations, rote memorization) seem to be facilitated by strategies most frequently associated with a behavioral outlook (e.g., stimulus-response, contiguity of feedback/reinforcement).

Cognitive strategies are useful in teaching problem-solving strategies where defined facts and rules are applied in unfamiliar situations (knowing how). Cognitive tasks requiring an increased level of processing (e.g., classifications, rule or
procedural executions) are primarily associated with strategies
having a stronger cognitive emphasis (e.g., schematic organization, analogical
reasoning, algorithmic problem solving).

Constructivist strategies are especially suited to dealing with
ill-defined problems through reflection-in-action. Constructive
tasks demanding high levels of processing (e.g., heuristic problem solving,
personal selection and monitoring of cognitive strategies) are frequently easiest learned with strategies advanced by the constructivist perspective (e.g.,
situated learning, cognitive apprenticeships, social negotiation.)

Ertmer and Newby feel that the strategies promoted by different learning theories overlap (the same strategy for a different reason) and that learning theory strategies are concentrated along different points of a continuum depending on the learner’s task knowledge and the level of cognitive processing required.

Ertmer and Newby's suggestion that theoretical strategies can complement the learner's level of task knowledge, allows the designer to make the best use of the strategies provided by the different learning theories. With this approach the designer is able to draw from a large number of strategies to meet a variety of learning situations.

7.2 A Pragmatic Approach

In designing instructional content, we shall not limit ourselves methodologically but rather be in a position that permits us to select the most suiting existing educational principles given the particular learning situation. Thus, we shall act pragmatically in a way that John Dewey proposed more than a century ago. John Dewey (1859-1952) was an American philosopher and educator who rejected authoritarian teaching methods. He was the founder of the “Experimental Laboratory School” and influential in the further development of constructivist learning models. He regarded education in a democracy as a tool to enable the citizen to integrate their culture and talents usefully. To accomplish those objectives, both curricula and pedagogical methods needed radical reform. Although not put forward by him, “learning by doing” within a dynamic social context describes Dewey's educational philosophy, called Pragmatism. Dewey's view of democracy as a primary ethical value permeated his educational theories.

As one of the principal figures in the “Progressive Education Movement” from the 1880s to 1904, Dewey set the tone for educational philosophy as well as concrete school reforms. His reactions to the prevailing theories and practices in education and his corrections made to these philosophies were vital for the development of educational thinking in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Dewey (1897) points out the major shortcoming of US schools in attempting to prepare the learner for later life:

“I believe that much of present education fails because it neglects this fundamental principle of the school as a form of community life. It conceives the school as a place where certain information is to be given, where certain lessons are to be learned, or where certain habits are to be formed. The value of these is conceived as lying largely in the remote future the child must do these things for the sake of something else he is to do; they are mere preparation. As a result they do not become a part of life experience of the child and so are not truly educative.”

Educational pragmatism does not add a new learning theory to the existing ones. It also does not value existing learning theories as good or bad, it rather classifies them as useful or not. As pragmatism (“Pragma”: greek for “Action” or “Practice”.) is guided by practical experience and observation rather than theory it asks “Does it work?" as opposed to "Is it right?"

Educational pragmatism is rooted in the social context the learner finds himself: “True education comes through the stimulation of the child’s power by the demands of the social situations in which he finds himself.” (Dewey 1897). Therefore, learning objectives vary with the particular learner and are thus not absolute. Dewey emphasizes the relational character of objectives, means and consequences in education in his works. In particular, this means, that different children may learn different things in the same educational setting depending on their individual capacities, interests and habits. Dewey (1897) believes that “Education must be conceived as a continuing reconstruction of experience and that the process and the goal of education are one and the same.” The best preparation for life is obtained by providing an environment which places the learner in authentic situations and lets him act on them. “To prepare him for the future life means to give him command of himself; it means so to train him that he will have the full and ready use of all his capacities; that his eye and ear and hand may be tools ready to command, that his judgment may be capable of grasping the conditions under which it has to work, and the executive forces be trained to act economically and efficiently”. (Dewey 1879) Examinations are of use if they test his fitness for social life and detect areas in which he shall be supported.

Pragmatism provides a template for educational settings by placing the learner in the center of all educational activities. Based upon the learner’s capabilities and his social situation, the teacher provides appropriate learning experiences. Such experiences are educational once reflected upon and its diversity help him prepare for life. To provide these experiences, no single learning theory shall solely be used from a pragmatic point of view. Rather, didactic decisions are solely based on the specific learning situation as defined by the learner, the social setting and subject matter. Constructivist, cognitive and behaviorist principles may be used in combination based upon their utility for particular educational experiences.

In particular, this holds true for the design of multimedia based learning environments. Consequently, the selected media are a result of the desired learning situation to be created. Kerres (2002) states that “The situation determines the value of the used media, not the media themselves…Media for themselves are of no value, they obtain their value through their usage by humans in their specific contexts at specific times.