Guenter Hilmer - Phd Thesis - Glamorgan Dspace - University of ...

2.4 Pedagogical elements and approaches 2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.4 Pedagogical elements and approaches
Pedagogical elements are an attempt to define structures or units of educational
material. For example, this could be a lesson, an assignment, a multiple choice
question, a quiz, a discussion group or a case study. These units should be format
independent.
Once the author of the e-learning content starts the creation of educational ma-
terial, the pedagogical approaches he wants to use need to be evaluated. Simple
pedagogical approaches are easier to create, but are not as flexible and reusable
as more complex approaches. On the other side, the complex approaches, e.g.
complex and highly adaptable learning systems, are more difficult to implement
and take more time until they can be used.
Therefore, the author has to decide on the ideal pedagogical approach that will
allow a compromise between the two sides.
It is possible to use various pedagogical approaches for e-learning which include
the following aspects.
2.4.1 Instructional design
The arrangement of media and learning content for the most effective knowledge
transfer is called instructional design [63]. This arrangement is generally based
on a determination of the current knowledge of the learner, the specification of
the goal of the learning process and the creation of the necessary steps to make
the learning process possible. Ideally, the process is based on tested teaching and
learning strategies. Furthermore, the learning process can be student-only based,
teacher driven or group based.
As a field, instructional design is historically and traditionally rooted in the fields
of cognitive and behavioural psychology.
In 1955 Benjamin Bloom published a taxonomy [64] broadly accepted in the field
that specifies three domains of learning:
• Cognitive skills (what we know or think)
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