Complete thesis - Murdoch University

Applying concepts of learning from the theory and models of constructivist learning describedin this chapter highlights aspects of knowledge construction that are pertinent to the RequirementsEngineering process: Bransford et al (2000) found that to become competent in some‘area of inquiry’, students must have a solid foundation of factual knowledge; an understandingof facts and ideas via a conceptual framework, and organisation of the knowledge in waysthat facilitate future application.As well as through problem-solving experience, this may be based on correspondence with thelearner’s intuitive model of the phenomenon - and all that implies about previous experience,belief systems etc. A richer framework is also based on a facility with multiple representations- translation between different models facilitates the understanding of concepts, whilst themodels themselves support differing insights, reasoning and problem-solving within a socialand cultural context, where certain activities are seen as authentic.This suggests learning models exist which target the needs of the discipline and address thegaps in formal education identified by practitioners. However, providing such an environmentis a challenge to the RE educationalist, given the dominance in practice of existingeducational frameworks. Therefore a solution may be proposed through the development ofa new framework for RE education. This framework should:• be based on constructivist theory (as more suitable for learning in domains involvingill-structured problems (Spiro et al, 1991)) with a focus on strategic knowledge, whichenhances knowledge construction and transfer. These strategies include strategies foridentifying and meeting sub-goals, procedural steps as well as metacognitive strategiesfor directing, monitoring and evaluating learning• be placed within a situated experiential learning environment where authentic context isexploited. Learning beyond the initial stages may best be achieved through situationalcase studies with rich contextual information (Dreyfus and Dreyfus, 1986). Focussingon the solution of authentic problems as a context for learning provides students withentry to the community of practice to which they will belong• provide the student with a learning environment which emphasises modelling practiceand making tacit knowledge explicit.However, the cost of such an approach is a heavier learning toll, as a ‘critical mass’ is requiredto be useful and the potential that usefulness may occur only in the long term.The rest of this thesis described the development and implementation of learning environmentsthat attempt to apply this framework.175