AN EXPERIMENT WITH CONVERSATION THEORY AS A CANDIDATE FOR A META LEARNING THEORY

摘要

This paper argues that educational theories are complex and it is their structural complexity that prevents understanding and easy application to learning design. In order to support e-learning, software tools to aid the understanding and application process are more likely to be successful if there is a formal model for describing educational theories - a computer readable conceptual model which can act as a reference model and provide visual representations of their inherent complex nature. This paper suggests that before it is possible to describe a meta model for learning theories it is necessary to have a more detailed understanding of the nature and form of a meta learning theory. The paper reports on an experiment on using Gordon Pask's Cybernetics based Conversation Theory as a candidate meta learning theory. The paper contributes a UML representation of Conversation Theory and presents experimental comparison data with other theories using the model as the basis for comparison.