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Complete thesis - Murdoch University

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is one mechanism for addressing the preference for global learning exhibited by some of ourstudents. Colours indicate mandatory (cyan), optional and extension material, and individualprogress may be recorded: the nodes can be decorated to indicate ‘in progress’ or ‘completed’.Notes may also be attached to a node by a student, (eg perhaps as a reminder to check somepoint with the lecturer).Figure A.5: The MCQ environment in the Software FactoryWhile the learning environment has as its focus activities/real-world problem solving, online/interactiveactivities cease to be meaningful if the student hits a snag and is unable toprogress from there. Scaffolds are cognitive tools to help students overcome this problem.Examples include exercises; explanations and background information; monitoring tools (tohelp students keep track of their progress); modelling scratchpads (software tools to createand manipulate models); problem hints; process coordinators(which guide the studentsthrough the complete task cycle); and planning tools (Jong, 2006).The purpose of scaffolding is to provide activity-sensitive help mechanisms. The SoftwareFactory provides examples of all these scaffolds, as appropriate, both as purpose-built activity463

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