A Constructivist Approach to Web Course Design: A Review of the Literature

摘要

There is little controversy that Computer - Aided instruction (CAI) is ubiquitous. The impact on education has been unparalleled. Libraries of information are now available in a variety of formats. Educators are grasping for methods to harness the data and use it effectively. This is incredible, but at the same time, overwhelming. Additionally, courses in higher education can now be offered online virtually anywhere. Because of these issues, educators are searching for "design methodologies." Numerous authors have described how to use this new technology (Peters & Sikorski, 1997; Carlton, Ryan, & Siktbert, 1998). Two recent studies have provided strong empirical support that compares student outcomes in traditional and web-based courses (Leasure, Davis, & Thievon, 2000; Liao, 1998). All of these articles establish the role that computers are playing in the educational process, but often do not analyze the stratagem employed in course pedagogical development. The purpose of this review will be to appraise design methodologies that have been validated in the literature for use in CAI, especially those that produce higher levels of learning in web-based instruction.