Department of Technical and Engineering Education and Training

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Browsing Department of Technical and Engineering Education and Training by Author "Molwane, Olefile Bethuel"

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    E-Learning Environments in Undergraduate Design and Technology Courses
    (2014) Phuthi, Nduduzo; Molwane, Olefile Bethuel
    When e-learning and other information and communication technologies (ICT’s) became accepted in both distance and face-to-face modes of learning in tertiary education, expectations were high that they would, within a reasonable time frame, yield visible and perhaps irrefutable gains in course delivery strategies and revolutionise both learning content knowledge and access to it. In developing countries it was hoped that there would be benefits in tapping into a knowledge revolution currently dominated by industrialised countries, who are by far the greatest contributors and beneficiaries. The University of Botswana’s (UB) efforts, initiated in 2001, at technological transformation in teaching and learning for meaningful quality processes and outcomes have been evaluated by researchers, reviewers and participants. Comments have been made such as, ‘substantial progress, but many challenges” “very useful teaching support tool for large classes, but there is need to address key background issues” , “students share learning through educational technologies, but appropriate learning environments are required” . It has been evident that although a lot has been done at institutional management level to promote adoption and implementation of e-learning as a rule at UB, the ideal situation has not materialised. Much of the problem seems to emanate from the interaction between key players, such as top management, the teaching staff and students. This paper reports on an on-going qualitative study that was carried out in order to negotiate and establish acceptable quality and effectiveness of e-learning envisaged by both the staff and students in a course that was not online at the time, in preparation of launching the course online in the next cycle. The action learning research study aimed at constructing an environment and a disposition towards e-learning mutually negotiated between students and their lecturers. Data was collected through various student-lecturer and student-student interaction processes such as classroom lecture, internet search, group presentations, tests, assignments, classroom observations, questionnaires, and video script analyses. Preliminary findings indicate that most students are enthusiastic about adopting e-learning if they have been adequately pre-oriented into the method and are consistently guided by caring and competent staff. They also will appreciate quality and effective learning if this is negotiated with someone who can articulate standards of performance.
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    A Quasi-Linear Model Of Design Cognition
    (The Clute Institute, 2010-11) Phuthi, Nduduzo; Kumar, K.L.; Molwane, Olefile Bethuel
    The continuum of human learning has been the subject of research by behaviourists, cognitivists, constructivists and lately by neural scientists among others. The style and order of learning have also been identified, notably by Benjamin Bloom et al (1956) and Gagne and Briggs (1992). Skills-learning has been the subject of attention in competency-based learning strategies. Yet another milestone in the continuum of learning is to be innovative and creative, which enables a learner to conceive and design new objects and concepts. Design cognition is an under-explored faculty of humankind. Human capability to design appears to be a complex phenomenon influenced by several factors, implicitly or explicitly, such as socio-educational background, learning to think innovatively, interaction with innovators and creators, exercising initiative, experimenting with new ideas, creating designs with confidence and finally moving into seeking design patents and making commercial use of design. In this paper the authors develop first a linear model of acquiring design capability and then modify it to a quasi linear model after validation by interaction with a sample of design students and design professionals through analysis and reflection on questionnaire responses with both qualitative and quantitative data. The proposed model promises to be a useful tool for design educators in several overlapping areas of design.
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    The Student Factor in building an e-learning culture: Experiences at the University of Botswana
    (Academic Publishing Limited, 2008-06) Phuthi, Nduduzo; Molwane, Olefile Bethuel
    This paper presents findings of a small study on the prevailing characteristics and preferences of university students that can be linked to their motivation to adopt and sustain e-learning as their key learning strategy. The qualitative case study was carried out through a questionnaire survey, interviews and classroom observations of third year students enrolled in a five-year degree programme in design and technology at the University of Botswana. The university has embarked on a deliberate path of technological transformation through the University of Botswana e-learning initiative (UBel) which has been significantly supported by the institution’s management (Thurab-Nkhosi et al 2005). In this study, students were taken through a variety of learning activities incorporating internet-searches, group work and peer presentations, media-enhanced lectures, and guest lecturing. Through these activities, the students were encouraged to discover and communicate their strengths and preferred learning styles in an attempt to inform their readiness and motivation to embark on full-scale e-learning as desired by UBel. Owing to various reasons, the bottom-up approach to organizational transformation and innovation diffusion is often less explored because of, among others, problems of feasibility and expediency. The largely imported e-learning technology is often assumed transferable and appropriate for all students, regardless of background, orientation and aspirations. While e-learning is indeed suitable for the maturing and independence- seeking university learners who need more guidance than shepherding, few academics appear to understand who their students are, and which of their characteristics can be useful to bring about identified change in the learning and teaching processes. It has been suggested that university students, the most sensitive section of society, are open to ideas and have unsettled minds looking for change, while the universities they attend are centres of revolutionary ideas (Dibaj 2000). There are opportunities to derive from this. For their part, higher education students in Botswana have been, and are being, shaped in the realm and mindset of the prevailing socio-cultural environment around them. Being citizens of a fast economically developing country with a rare ‘inborn’ multi-party democracy described as ‘an oasis of tolerance and non-violence amid civil strife and political chaos’ among its neighbours (Rule 1988), Botswana university students are likely to portray situation-consistent behaviours and attitudes towards learning in general, and e-learning in particular. The findings of this study suggest that the surveyed students were largely expressive but unempowered knowledge and information recipients whose intellectual potential and multiple intelligences (Pritchard 2005) were not being fully exploited. They preferred less challenging learning tasks only because they were used to them, but would otherwise welcome active, interactive and information-rich experiences in their learning, with e-learning as a definite favourite.