The facilitation of complex thinking using an Instructional Web Design Model (IWDM)

Abstract

The traditional methods for facilitating complex thinking in the Information Technology (IT) learning area, fail to concentrate on an appropriate integration of various modes of learning within the stages of the technological process. The nature of facilitating complex thinking during Information System Design (ISD) is not clearly described in literature. The aim of this paper is to explore the facilitation of complex thinking through the Instructional Web Design Model (IWDM). This paper provides a description of the IWDM, highlighting its criteria, assumptions, the purpose, the structure and planning for the implementation. The IWDM is based on the implementation of the Instructional Web Design Programme (IWDP) and corresponding findings in terms of learners’ and the teacher’s experience of the IWDP. The IWDM offers learners a constructivist vision of multi-method learning in the ISD environment, enlarging and strengthening the insight into the design process and a climate for enhancing intellectual processes and skills.

This research was embedded in a qualitative, action-research approach where interviewing, focus group interviewing, observation and document sources were used to gather data. Although the IWDM is based on a case study (located in the computer laboratory at RAU) reflecting conditions in the project-based classroom, the model can be applied to similar project-based classrooms specifically within the ISD context.