WEB AUTHORING COURSE
A Field Study Report
Submitted as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for
MASTER OF ARTS DEGREE IN EDUCATION
With Concentration in Instructional Technologies
by
BRENDAN MICHAEL CREANE
San Francisco, California
April 30, 2003
CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL
I certify that I have supervised the field study, “Web Authoring Course” by Brendan Creane, and
that in my opinion it meets the criteria for approving a culminating study submitted in partial
fulfillment of requirements for the Master of Arts Degree at San Francisco State University.
Dr. Eugene Michaels
Dr. Peggy Benton
Approved by COE Graduate Committee
ABSTRACT
WEB AUTHORING COURSE
Brendan Michael Creane
San Francisco State University
The purpose of this project was to develop a semester-long web-authoring course for high school students. The
course was a web-enhanced lecture led by an instructor in a computer lab setting. The web site accompanying the
curriculum provided daily lessons, online resources, three long-term project assignments, and student portfolios.
The design and development of the web-authoring course involved a detailed learner analysis, creating an outline of
curriculum using a variety of sources, and the design and implementation of a class web site. The curriculum
benefited from expert review before delivery as well as an on-going refinement based on student assessment. The
effectiveness of the course was evaluated through rubric-based assessments of student portfolios. The result of the
evaluation indicated that this course was an effective tool for helping students learn basic principals of web design
and authoring.
I certify that the Abstract is a correct representation of the content of this thesis.
________________________________ ______________
Chair, Thesis Committee Date
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ............................................................................................................ 1
BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................................................ 1
PURPOSE ..................................................................................................................................................... 1
SIGNIFICANCE ............................................................................................................................................. 2
DESIGN RATIONALE ................................................................................................................................ 2
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................... 2
LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................................................. 3
NEEDS ASSESSMENT ................................................................................................................................... 4
CONTENT ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................................... 5
LEARNER ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................................... 6
GOALS ........................................................................................................................................................ 7
MEDIA SELECTION...................................................................................................................................... 8
DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT ............................................................................................................... 8
USABILITY REVIEW............................................................................................................................... 17
INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................... 17
EXPERT REVIEW ....................................................................................................................................... 17
ON-GOING STUDENT ASSESSMENT AND FEEDBACK ................................................................................. 18
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ......................................................................................................... 19
SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................................ 19
CONCLUSIONS .......................................................................................................................................... 20
BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................................... 22
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Background Information
Background
In the fall of 2001, I accepted a curriculum design position with the non-profit program
“TechFutures.” The goal was to create and deliver a four-semester program preparing high
school juniors for a career in information technologies upon graduation from high school. I was
given two months to design the curriculum for the first semester and set up the lab.
The director of TechFutures initially modeled the curriculum after a post-high school two-year
associate degree. The arc of the curriculum would follow that of the associate degree: web
design, database design, and network design. However, after interviewing several prospective
students, I realized the curriculum would need to begin at a much earlier stage: basic computer
skills. The challenge was to create a program that supported the beginning students while still
challenging students with programming skills.
The outcome of my involvement with TechFutures was three-fold:
Develop a semester-long web design curriculum
Deliver the web design curriculum to the first cohort of 24 high school juniors
Create a model of instructional design and delivery for the next generation of instructors.
Purpose
My primary goal in accepting the position with TechFutures was to combine my passion for
teaching with my training in information technologies. I made the career switch from computer
programmer to elementary school teacher in 1996 and I was looking for a way to reintegrate my
interest in web design and programming into a career in curriculum design and delivery.
TechFutures was an ideal vehicle for this goal because I would serve in the dual role of designer
and instructor within the domain of information technologies.
I was also passionate about the diverse student population; TechFutures recruited students with
demonstrated economic need and then provided substantial support in order to retain them
throughout the two-year program. TechFutures provided summer school job placement
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assistance, resume-writing classes, field trips to potential employers, after-school snacks, and
transportation vouchers. In short, any support that was demonstrated to be effective was
provided.
Significance
An intended impact of the project was for students to experience success during the first
semester. Success in this context meant:
Students acquired essential web design and programming skills
A high retention rate of students
Formation of a learning community that supported students throughout the remainder of
the program
Thus, the intention was for students to leave the first semester confident of their abilities,
motivated to succeed, and committed to the TechFutures program.
Another goal of the project was to provide a prototype for future curriculum designers at
TechFutures. Because the next generation of instructors would be best-of-field professionals
without any necessary background in curriculum design or instruction, the first semester was
critical to provide a design and delivery methodology they could adopt for their own class.
Design Rationale
Introduction
The instructional model that the director of TechFutures was most familiar with was a teacher-
centered, behaviorist-influenced pedagogy. Students passively receive information from a
didactic lecture delivered with visual aids. Students then develop competency with small,
context-free exercises, and finally demonstrate competency through quizzes.
In curriculum design, I am strongly influenced by constructivist and cognitivist models of
learning. I believe student motivation is a primary determinant of success. Students must be
supported in acquiring the skills they need to master the curriculum, but they also need a
meaningful and interesting context in which to practice these skills.
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I designed the curriculum to address the concerns of the director and to leverage my experience
creating discovery-based, collaborative learning environments. In broad strokes, this meant a
curriculum that combined behaviorist models of instruction with constructivist-inspired projects.
This hybrid curriculum had the following behaviorist features:
Brief (20 minute) didactic lectures with visual aids
Exercises for individual students that developed competency in the daily curriculum
goals
Quizzes that demonstrated competency and helped direct the pace of curriculum delivery
The following features of the curriculum were constructivist-inspired:
Three long-term projects that were inherently interesting to students
Groupwork that leveraged the variety of strengths of individual students
Exercises that fostered community learning (e.g. peer tutoring)
“Discovery” time for students to explore the capabilities of the tools they were given. The
discoveries were then leveraged into the long-term projects, and shared across
cooperative learning groups through peer tutoring as well as student-lead demonstrations.
Literature Review
I used Elizabeth Castro’s HTML for the World Wide Web both during the curriculum design
phase as well as a student textbook. The book is essentially a reference for HTML coding and
other skills necessary for creating web pages. The skills are tersely described and minimal
examples are provided. The strength of the book lies in its brevity: concepts are described with a
programmer’s economy of words. The examples illustrate just enough of a particular concept to
serve as a basis for further exploration and discovery.
Rosenfeld and Morville’s Information Architecture for the World Wide Web provides an
approach for organizing web site content and criteria for designing navigation systems. Their
approach to design begins with identifying content and function requirements, proceeds through
mock-ups, and ends with usability studies. The section on designing navigation systems
identifies common web design errors, approaches for providing useful information to web page
visitors, web site searching, and more.
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John Naughton’s A Brief History of the Future offers a fascinating historical examination of the
precursors to the modern Internet. He begins with radio communication, proceeds through the
beginnings of computer networks, and tracks the evolution of computer hardware and software.
His approach is personal and engaging.
Needs Assessment
The primary goal of the TechFutures program was to prepare students for immediate
employment in the information technologies field upon completion of the two-year program. The
intent was to deliver competent entry-level employees to a variety of employers. Our
investigation focused on the following questions:
What types of jobs are available to well-trained high school graduates in the information
technology field?
What skills are necessary in order to succeed in these positions?
What gaps exist between the typical high school junior and our intended graduate?
The TechFutures job recruitment specialist identified potential employers through word of
mouth, Internet research, and subject matter experts located by the director of TechFutures. She
identified several types of potential employers:
Companies that provide technology support to small and medium-sized businesses. These
companies “outsource” services to companies without their own information technology
department. Services include: computer backups, relocating offices (moving computers,
phones, etc.), upgrading software, installing applications, and routine computer
maintenance and repair.
Small and medium-sized enterprises that need a variety of web publishing, database, and
networking specialists.
Hardware manufacturers who train technicians to install and service their line of
equipment.
The job recruitment specialist conducted a series of interviews with representatives from the pool
of potential employers with the goal of broadly specifying the skills they favored in an entry-
level employee. The results of her interviews indicated that potential employers were looking for
people with the following skills:
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Basic web design and publishing – ability to create a graphic identity, follow appropriate
human interface methodology, use advanced design tools
Basic database design – ability to create databases given a broadly defined needs
statement, and deliver database services through the Internet
Strong background in networking design and implementation that prepares employees to
be easily trained in specific network technology (e.g. Cisco trains new recruits to
program their routers and firewall systems)
Ability to perform routine computer software and hardware maintenance tasks
Content Analysis
The curriculum was sequenced such that each module built upon previous modules. The
curriculum progressed as follows:
Computer Literacy
Web Design and Publishing
Database Design and Programming
Network Theory and Implementation
The goals of the first semester were limited to the first two curriculum goals based on the
sequential nature of the tasks: database design and programming clearly builds upon the basic
HTML programming skills acquired in Web Design. Network theory was perceived as more
abstract and thus suited to the second year of instruction. The following figure illustrates the
sequence of complexity:
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The next step was to identify specific skills for computer literacy and web design. Computer
literacy skills were identified with the assistance of one of the potential employers. This
employer provided a brief (5 page) manual for students that included assessments and lesson
plans. The remainder of this document addresses the curriculum for the web design and
publishing unit.
Learner Analysis
The process of becoming familiar with my prospective students was critical because I didn’t
know what they knew about web design and I had limited experience with high school
curriculum design. My goals would be to accurately gauge the following features of the student
population:
What was their level of technology literacy?
What web design skills existed?
What was intrinsically and extrinsically motivating?
Did students possess the affective skills necessary for cooperative learning groups?
What external and internal barriers existed to achieving success within the program?
I conducted informal interviews with approximately thirty-six prospective students during the
recruitment period of the first TechFutures cohort. These interviews took place under the aegis of
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assessing the suitability for entry into the program; however my agenda was broader: what would
be the approach of my curriculum design?
The results of my interviews were varied:
Technology literacy ranged from basic word processing to moderately advanced
programming skills (including HTML, JavaScript, and beginning object-oriented
programming in Java).
The web design skills ranged from nonexistent to entry-level competence, including the
ability to code raw HTML, create basic web graphics, and perform website maintenance.
Students were extrinsically motivated by peer approval and the perceived value of the
curriculum to their career “marketability.” In short, students wanted recognition and
success. Intrinsic motivation included the joy of discovery, friendship, and personal
expression.
Some of the skills considered essential for successful groupwork include the abilities to
listen to other students, mediate disagreements, and articulate viewpoints. Some students
would clearly excel in the realm of collaborative learning because they were articulate,
responsive, and communicative. Other students would benefit from explicit instruction
and opportunities to practice collaborative skills (e.g. role-playing and other experiential
exercises).
The primary internal barrier to success was a profound lack of confidence. At least half
the prospective students felt unworthy of participating in the TechFutures program and
believed they would under-perform. Extrinsic barriers varied widely, and included from
insufficient time to devote to another demanding class, limited access to food and
transportation, and lack of parental support.
Goals
The fundamental goal of the first semester of TechFutures was to provide students with the skills
necessary to be employed as web designers. Broadly, the skills needed to succeed in this role
were:
The ability to communicate with clients and perform a basic needs analysis
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The ability to design web sites (identify audience, collect and organize information,
define site interface)
The ability to design and create web graphics using a vector-based graphic tool such as
Fireworks
The ability to use a web authoring tool (e.g. Dreamweaver)
Some advanced skills including limited raw HTML coding, and site maintenance
Specific web authoring skills were based upon Elizabeth Castro’s HTML for the World Wide
Web, and served as the core set of skills that drove curriculum design:
Introductory HTML – tags, images, website publishing
Web page formatting – text, layout, links, lists, tables
Web images – introduction to Fireworks
Advanced topics – creating animated graphics, introduction to JavaScript, cgi forms, style
sheet usage
Media Selection
Because one of the goals was to promote confidence and independence, I created a repository for
all course content. This repository contained lessons, assessments, and student portfolios. By
using this repository, students would be able to review material at their own pace rather than
marching lock step to the pace of the instructor.
There were two options: create a bound study guide, or create a class web site. Because I needed
to create numerous examples of web programming for instructional purposes, the choice was
clear: deliver the class as a web-enhanced lecture.
Design and Development
The design and development of this instructional unit began with a needs assessment to identify
the gaps between incoming students’ abilities and the intended outcomes for students. I used
Elizabeth Castro’s HTML for the World Wide Web as a content guide, sequencing and
partitioning curriculum into one-lesson chunks. I chose to skip or combine some lessons from
HTML for the World Wide Web when possible. The criterion was, “Can students create
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compelling web designs without this information?” In addition to the daily lessons, I created
three assignments, which increased in complexity over the semester. The purpose was to provide
real-world activities that provided students with the opportunity to practice new skills. The
design of these assignments was based two factors:
The complexity of the assignment was limited to the skills students had already been
exposed to during content instruction (e.g. the first assignment only utilized basic HTML
formatting, links, and simple images).
One of the goals of the course was for students to work in teams. As the semester
progressed, the teams grew in size from one for the first assignment to as many as five for
the third assignment. Thus the projects grew in scope over the semester.
Once I had a draft of the curriculum sequence and scope, I began to design and code the web
site. The following goals drove the development of the web site:
Demonstrate excellent design principles, for example, the site must be easy to read and
navigate, and provide minimal distractions from the curriculum content
Incorporate flexible information organization allowing for changes in material
The web site was organized into the following categories:
Introduction - class orientation
Lessons – thirty-two lessons, one for each day we met (the first semester was shortened
by the recruitment process). Each lesson included an overview, examples, a reading
assignment, and exercises
Assignments - details of the three assignments
Resources - a collection of helpful links
Portfolios - links to student-created web sites
Using Dreamweaver’s “Template” feature to make fundamental changes to the structure of the
web site was simple. This facilitated organizational changes that benefited instruction. For
example, in the first version of the site, there was an additional section named “assessments”
which was subsequently deleted. In its place, I added an “assessment” section to each lesson. The
design modification was based on the need to know immediately after each lesson whether
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students had mastered the material, as opposed to waiting a week or two to gather that
information.
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The next figure contains a screen shot of the “introduction” section.
Figure 1. Screen shot of introduction section
color-based location text-based location minimal distractions
indicator indicator from content
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The “lessons” section contained a matrix of the 32 lessons covered throughout the semester.
There are four columns:
Lesson number – a link to the actual lesson content
Lesson description – a brief description of the lesson content
Reading assignment – the reading assignment from Elizabeth Castro’s from HTML for
the World Wide Web
Assignment – a description of the current assignment along with an indication of the due
date. In addition, this column contains a link to the detailed assignment description.
The following figure is a screen shot of the “lessons” section:
Figure 2. Screen shot of lesson matrix
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Table 1. Complete listing of the lesson matrix:
Lesson Reading Assignment
01 TechFutures introduction, basic Win2000
on relationship between browser, internet,
and web servers.
02 Details on HTML tags and attributes. Pages 13 - 21 Create a web page
Compare relative and absolute URLs. Introduction using text editor and
several HTML tags
03 Brief introduction to Fireworks. Outcome is Pages 23-27 and attributes.
a “name” banner. HTML Building Blocks
04 How to structure and manage website Pages 31-36 Assignment 01
(lecture/activity). Brief introduction to Starting your Web Page, Part I Personal Web
Dreamweaver. Outcome is site template for Page.
assignment 1, and ability to create and edit Over the next 3
HTML in Dreamweaver. weeks, students will
demonstrate their
05 Introduction to design process. Students Pages 37-42 design competency
create and organize the content for Starting your Web Page, Part II by displaying their
assignment 1. web page to the
06 Introduction to using Dreamweaver Text Pages 43 - 52 class.
Formatting properties window Text Formatting
07 Internet History - using PBS - Life on the PBS - Life on the Internet
Internet as a resource, students create
brief reports on sections of the time line.
08 Introduction to Fireworks and web Pages 57 - 76
graphics. Creating Images
09 Students will demonstrate knowledge of Pages 77 - 90
image formats, size trade-offs, managing Using Images
image source files.
Introduction to Dreamweaver’s image
properties window – set properties of
images such as: width & height, border,
link, alternate text
10 Class presentations of Assignment 1 Assignment 1 due.
11 Assignment 2 kickoff. Facilitate Pages 91 - 99 Assignment 2 –
student pairs for assignment 2. Page Layout education / how-to
web page. Students
12 Detailed lesson on how to use Pages 102 - 106 work in pairs to
Dreamweaver’s formatting Page Layout, cont. create sites that
capabilities of text and images. focus on an
13 Detailed instruction on using Pages 107 - 115 educational theme.
Dreamweaver for site management. Links
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14 Brief introduction to using Pages 118 - 123
Dreamweaver’s image/text link Links, cont.
management window.
15 Introduction to Dreamweaver’s Pages 125 - 131
ordered/unordered list editing Lists
window
16 Tables – creating simple tables, Pages 155, 134,
headers, captions, borders, spanning 138 - 140
cells, table height & width, cell color, Tables
table color, aligning contents of
table, mapping out a table. Using
Dreamweaver to create tables.
17 Frames – creating framesets, Pages 157 - 163
controlling frameset layout (adding Frames
columns, rows), intra-frame spacing,
targeting links to a frame, frame
borders
18 Dreamweaver – using the Pages 166 - 174
“properties” window to control frame Frames, cont.
output.
19 Class presentations of Assignment 2 Assignment 2 due.
20 Assignment 3 kickoff. Facilitate student Pages 177 - 189 Assignment 3 –
teams for assignment 3. Forms work with a real
client to design,
21 Forms – CGI script introduction, e-mailing Pages 190 - 199 write the content,
script output to an e-mail address, menus, Forms, cont. code, and test a real
text areas, buttons, submitting and world web site.
resetting the form Dreamweaver – using Maintain the site for
the Form Objects menu items to control the remaining year
form production. of the program.
22 Setting up Style Sheets – anatomy of a 221 - 232 Students may work
style sheet, applying styles locally, creating Setting up Style Sheets in teams of 3 or 4.
an internal and external style sheet, style Students use the
classes. Using Dreamweaver to setup design process
internal and external style sheets. introduced in
assignment 2 and
23 Introduction to formatting text with styles in 233 - 248 also work with client
Dreamweaver. Formatting Text with Styles to assure web site
design quality.
24 Dreamweaver – positioning elements, size 249 - 258
of elemens, padding, and more. Layout with Styles
25 Dreamweaver animations of elements 259 - 266
using timeline feature. Layout with Styles, cont.
26 Graphic animations in Fireworks
27 Computer Hardware -- a hands-on
introduction
28 Introduction to Javascript
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29 Production time for Assignment 3.
30
31
32 Class presentations of assignment 3 Assignment 3 due.
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Each lesson had the following sub-sections:
Introduction – brief description of the lesson goals
Examples – usually a screen shot of the outcome of the lesson
Reading – a reminder of this day’s reading assignment
Lesson – detailed instructional content with screen shots
Review – brief review of the lesson content
Assessment – a multiple choice and written assessment of what students learned during
the lesson
Figure 3. Screen shot of lesson 8
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Usability Review
Introduction
I used two methods to gather information about the effectiveness of the course design:
1. Expert review of the course design from a classroom teacher and the TechFuture’s
Program Director -- this was done both prior to and during delivery of the course.
2. On-going feedback and assessment from students taking the course
Expert Review
Cathie Kosel is an education consultant who was hired to facilitate the creation of the
TechFutures program. She worked as a high school classroom instructor and curriculum designer
for more than 20 years. In her role as expert reviewer, she provided detailed feedback regarding
the scope and sequence of the curriculum and provided invaluable advice regarding classroom
management. Her primary suggestion was to slow down the rate of curriculum delivery. In
response, I reduced the scope of the course by making certain elements of the curriculum
optional enrichment activities (e.g. CGI scripting). As a result, single lessons provided two days
of classroom activities. In addition, Ms. Kosel suggested conducting pre-tests and post-tests to
gather precise information about what students were learning.
Ellen Whittier is the co-founder of the TechFutures program and served as the Program Director.
Ms. Whittier’s observations prior to course delivery were focused on the arc of the program; she
was concerned with how the course would prepare students for employment in a technology-
related career. She suggested more instruction in basic computer skills, specifically the use of the
Windows operating system, and enrichment activities such as visits to potential employers. Ms.
Whittier closely observed students’ level of engagement during instruction, and noticed when
students were bored, confused, or excited. She provided detailed observations at the end of each
lesson and made suggestions regarding the effectiveness of classroom instruction. Based on her
observations, she suggested that didactic lectures be limited in duration to no more than 20
minutes, and that experiential learning be utilized to engage students.
In response to Ms. Whittier’s suggestions, I created an experiential learning event that provided
the kick-off for assignment 3. Students worked in pairs as an entrepreneur and a venture
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capitalist: the entrepreneur had 30 seconds to pitch an idea for a final project to the venture
capitalist. At the end of the time, the venture capitalist provided positive feedback to the
entrepreneur regarding the project as well as the pitch. Students then switched roles and repeated
the exercise. This was done three or four times with new partners. At the end of the event,
students were extremely excited about the third assignment and had already formed collaborative
groups. This exercise succeeded in enhancing student confidence, motivation, and
communication skills.
On-Going Student Assessment and Feedback
Prior to most lessons, I administered a web-based pre-test and post-test that measured what
students learned during the lesson. These assessments helped students focus on the content of the
lesson and created expectations for levels of performance. The results of the assessments varied.
In general, however, they revealed a disparity among students regarding learning of new skills as
a result of teacher-centered lessons. Some students were able to internalize new information and
practice the new skills immediately. Other students required one-on-one tutoring. This disparity
indicated the basic ineffectiveness of teacher-centered didactic lectures for these students. I
responded to the student feedback by delivering curriculum through student-centered activities
rather than didactic lectures. Examples of student-centered activities included: the three
assignments, cooperative learning groups, and peer tutoring.
My method for assessing student performance changed over the semester. In the beginning, I
used multiple-choice questionnaires that were focused on day-to-day curriculum content. This
method of assessing student knowledge was inaccurate: it measured students’ test-taking skills
rather than their knowledge of web authoring. Towards the middle of the semester, I changed my
assessment methodology to student-assessed portfolios. Each student maintained a portfolio of
his or her work. The portfolio contained the three big assignments as well as weekly mini-
assignments. The mini-assignments were brief activities such as “create a GIF animation.”
Students used a common rubric (a scale from 1 to 5) to assign a grade to their own work. In this
manner, students internalized the positive criteria for exemplary web design and publishing.
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Summary and Conclusions
Summary
The course was effective: the final projects produced by the students were superlative. Students
demonstrated the ability to work cooperatively, produce design documents, work with clients,
and create compelling web sites.
The course would benefit from several improvements. The first area of improvement is
minimizing the reliance on didactic lectures. For at least half the students, lectures were only
minimally effective. Students were unable to process lectures even with visual aids. The next
iteration of the course will reduce the duration and complexity of lectures. Students will be able
to access the same information on the web site, through peer tutoring, live demonstrations, and
minimal lectures. By providing multiple paths to the same information, more students will
experience success.
The second area of improvement addresses the wide range of student ability: advanced students
who came into the first semester with programming skills often waited patiently for beginning
students to catch up. In the next iteration of the course, some students, based on pre-assessments,
will be able to opt out of a particular lesson and work on advanced topics such as PHP
programming, dynamic HTML, and JavaScript. By breaking the class into different ability
groups for part of the day’s lesson, students will more likely to experience success that is
commensurate with their ability.
The final area of improvement involves a fundamental redesign of the web site. Currently the
web site is a static document created entirely by the instructor. However, students would benefit
from creating their own content on the web site. Examples of student-created content include:
Useful Internet resources
Tips and hints regarding course content
Asynchronous discussions regarding the assignments
By creating student-ownership of the web site, the site becomes a lively, highly relevant
communication tool.
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Conclusions
Designing a semester-long course was a tremendous challenge for a variety of reasons. One of
the primary challenges was having two clients with different needs and priorities. The first client
was TechFuture’s board of directors. The directors’ priority was to ensure that students were
adequately prepared for future employment. The second client was the cohort of 24 high school
students. Their fundamental priority was to experience success. The conflict centered on how to
accomplish these equally important goals. The directors were most familiar with the traditional
teacher-centered lecture method of instruction. However, my direct observations supported the
notion that the students benefited from alternative methods of instruction, including groupwork,
discovery learning, and meaningful projects. The challenge for me was to articulate the rationale
behind newer methods of teaching and to provide references to research that support those
methods. Although I achieved some degree of success in this area, in the future I will devote
more attention to persuasively articulating the methodology and rationale behind the
constructivist-inspired instructional strategies. In this manner, I will be able to reconcile the
goals of the students and the directors.
Another fundamental challenge was designing curriculum without having conducted an adequate
analysis of the learners. I spent two months brainstorming content without meeting a single
prospective student. This was largely a waste of time that could have been avoided by changing
the timing of the student interviews. The critical point is that without sufficient knowledge of the
learners, the curriculum design process is compromised.
One of the most positive conclusions that emerged from the process of designing and teaching
this course focuses on the power of spontaneity. Some of the most memorable and effective
lessons resulted from abandoning carefully scripted lessons in response to an unarticulated need
in the classroom. The need might be for students to move, talk, or express a common feeling of
confusion, excitement, or boredom. Recognizing and responding to these moments transformed
dry, forgettable lessons into lively, involving events. They were some of the most rewarding
experiences for me while teaching this course.
I am grateful for the opportunity to have worked with the students of the TechFutures program.
In the beginning of the course, many students believed they would not be successful; by the end,
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every student had persevered and experienced some form of success. This success changed many
students’ beliefs about what the future might hold for them. Students imagined greater
possibilities for their future including technology-related careers, and college. Working with the
students revealed the profoundly transformative effect of learning in a collaborative, experiential
community. Learning at its best is not just about mastering content; rather, learning is concerned
with expanding students’ experience of themselves and the possibilities they hold for their future.
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Bibliography
Abbey, Beverly. Instructional and Cognitive Impacts of Web-Based Education. Hershey,
Pennsylvania: Idea Group Publishing, 2000.
Castro, Elizabeth. HTML for the World Wide Web. Berkeley, California: Peachpit Press, 1998.
Naughton, John. Brief History of the Future. New York: The Overlook Press, Peter Mayer
Publishers, Inc., 2000.
Rosenfeld, Louis, and Peter Morville. Information Architecture for the World Wide Web.
Sebastopol, California: O’Reilly & Associates, 1998.
Williams, Robin. The Non-Designer’s Design Book. Berkeley, California: Peachpit Press, 1994.