Complete thesis - Murdoch University

while comprehension and application are addressed in terms of problems to solve and translationof verbal to visual form. Higher order learning is demonstrated through a requirementto evaluate alternate strategies, identify assumptions, explain data and excerpts of specifications,draw conclusions and provide abstractions from components presented.The portfolio (worth 15%) provided a mechanism for students to provide additional informationon their learning. Completion of mandatory components ensured a pass mark – however,students were encouraged to extend their reading in the discipline, complete additional exercisesand extend the mindmapping they were required to undertake.6.2.2 What actually happenedA virtue of Action Research is its responsiveness (Dick et al, 2000). At the macro level, itenables refinement of the ‘idea’ that drives the research through the various cycles that makeup the study. At a micro level, it facilitates ‘tweaking’ of the planned intervention to caterfor the changing environment and study context as they occur. In a classroom this is animportant feature.This cycle of the research project acknowledges the place of both types of responsiveness.Although the major interpretation of the data collected occurred post-hoc, the nature of thelearning environment implied that fine-grained adjustments were made as necessary. Thissection describes what was planned and what happened in the classroom in a reasonablyfactual way. The next section provides more explicit analysis and interpretation.What was plannedThis learning environment was based on a Cognitive Apprenticeship model (Collins et al,1989). In Cognitive Apprenticeship settings, learning is considered a process of active knowledgeconstruction that is dependent on the activity, discourse, and social negotiations thatare embedded within a particular community of practice (Brown et al, 1989). The teachermodels effective practices within authentic, professionally relevant contexts. The students inENG260 are presented with tasks they would undertake as practicing professionals, requiringproficiency with notations and tools, but also an appreciation of the context in which thesemust be applied. This requires an understanding of the underlying conceptual frameworksused in the domain. Because these skills are all new to them, the students are closely coachedby the teacher, both individually and in their groups later in the semester, to apply a processfor modelling each task as they reason about the issues being raised. Whenever thestudents reach an impasse, and are unable to continue or complete the task independently255