employing patterns for web-based person-centered leraning - concept and first experiencies
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Employing Patterns for Web-Based, Person-Centered Learning:
Concept and First Experiences
Michael Derntl, Renate Motschnig-PitrikDepartment of Computer Science and Business Informatics
University of Vienna
Austria
[email protected], [email protected]
Abstract:Current learning theories tend to exploit the potentials of web-based technologies tosupport the learners in constructing pragmatic and persistent knowledge. To reduce the effortof introducing Person-Centered e-Learning in courses, we investigate the use of patterns toallow for the reuse of successful and effective e-Learning practices. Drawing on recent
developments in the pattern movement, this paper introduces a family of related patterns,shows their application in a PhD students seminar, discusses our first experiences, and points
to areas of further research.
Introduction
Learning theories are constantly subject to change. Today, it has been widely recognized that pure transfer of
information (e.g., through lecturing) does not by itself imply the construction of knowledge on the side of the
information recipient, i.e. the learner. Current advanced theories of learning take advantage of the widespread
potential of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to support learners in constructing knowledge
(Schank 1997; Salmon 2000; McConnell 2000, 2002). The enrichment of learning processes by means of ICT
and new media is one important aspect of e-Learning. However, the use of ICT per se rarely leads to deeper
learning processes and to time saving. Instead, research has to be done to investigate how to change the quality
of the time spent with students in order to induce deeper learning processes. We observe that if pure transfer of
information is deferred to the Internet, additional time resources are set free. These can be used in face-to-face
sessions to spend more effort on facilitating those aspects of the learning process that lead to construction of
practical and persistent knowledge in the learner (Motschnig-Pitrik 2001, 2002). This is the main hypothesis
underlying Person-Centered e-Learning, which aims to effectively enrich the Person-Centered Approach to
teaching and learning (Rogers 1983) by elements of e-Learning.
Our experience (Motschnig-Pitrik 2001) has shown that introducing Person-Centered e-Learning is more
demanding with respect to time and provision of resources than conventional teaching. Thus we started to
capture and to reuse successful and effective Person-Centered e-Learning scenarios (Derntl & Motschnig-Pitrik
2003). For this enterprise we have adapted the pattern approach, which was initially developed by Alexander
(1977) in the field of architecture to capture what he considered as the timeless way of building (Alexander
1979). A pattern abstractly describes the core of the solution to a problem that is frequently recurring within a
specific context. In this way a pattern allows for the reuse of well-proven practices.
In using patterns to enable the reuse of Person-Centered e-Learning practices, a particularly interesting aspectarises regarding the role of web-based e-Learning platforms, because the abstract models of patterns can be
mapped to collections of interactive web pages. In this way, they directly support the organizational workflows
of courses and thus free the facilitator from several routine activities like disseminating material, keeping track
of timely submission of documents, and other resource-consuming tasks.
This paper outlines the main principles of employing the pattern approach to Person-Centered e-Learning and
presents first experiences in applying a family of patterns in a PhD students literature seminar at the University
of Vienna. It is organized as follows: In the first part we outline the didactic basics and central hypotheses of
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Person-Centered e-Learning. Subsequently, after introducing the pattern approach in general, the specific
approach to capturing and utilizing patterns of learning scenarios in a literature seminar is presented. Finally,
we reflect on our experiences, draw conclusions, and give an outlook on further research.
Person-Centered e-Learning The Didactic Baseline
Todays steadily growing complexity and intertwining of data, processes, and knowledge by far outreaches an
individuals capacity of knowing. Thus individual, intellectual knowledge needs to be supplemented by social
skills and general problem-solving capabilities. Rapidly increasing amounts of information and improved,
inexpensive world-wide connectedness make a whole-person approach to learning including interpersonal
values, communication skills, and internal flexibility more essential than ever before. It are precisely these
properties and attitudes that Carl Rogers, Americas most influential psychologist of the previous century, sees
as the targets of personal development (Rogers 1961). Rogers and his colleagues researched and specified the
conditions under which human beings tend to move towards flexibility, acceptance of self and others, self-
confidence, integrity, creativity and capabilities to deal with the problems of life more effectively. These
necessary and sufficient conditions, which have to be held or lived by the facilitator, and reciprocally be
perceived by the students, are characterized as follows (Rogers 1983, p. 121-126):
Realness in the facilitator means that he or she must be real in the relationship with the student, be theperson he/she is and not use any masks or facades in communicating with the students.
Acceptance or respect towards student implies that the facilitator accepts and respects the wholepersonality of the student and feels basic trust in his or her constructive tendency, his/her striving for
solutions in his/her own way.
Empathic understandingmeans that the facilitator actively listens to the students with the ultimate goal todeeply understand their questions, motivations, intentions, and the meanings of their communication as
well as solutions.
Extensive empirical research has been conducted to prove the benefits of the Person-Centered Approach to
teaching and learning in educational environments (Aspy 1972; Rogers 1983; Rogers & Freiberg 1994) and in
organizations (Ryback 1998). Person-Centered e-Learning predominantly draws upon Rogerss and his
colleagues findings, yet strengthens these by evidence from a cognitive neuroscience point of view
(Motschnig-Pitrik & Nykl 2002), and from the perspective of social learning (Wenger 1998; McConnell 2002).
While the benefits of "pure" person-centered learning have been proved in numerous studies and are thoroughlydocumented in the literature (Rogers 1983; Baxter & Gray 2001; Gamboa et al. 2001), its combination with
elements of e-Learning is a novel asset (Motschnig-Pitrik 2001, 2002; Motschnig-Pitrik & Holzinger 2002;
Motschnig-Pitrik & Derntl 2002). Briefly, the enhancement is such that major parts of the transfer of cognitive
information conventionally the instructors task are allocated to the computer. This leaves more room for
social interaction, knowledge construction, and personal exchange in person-to-person meetings such that they
can be used to anchor knowledge to existing experiences of the learners, to the exchange of learners viewpoints
and materials, to discuss expert meanings, to apply knowledge to authentic problems, and other ways of
facilitating learning. In this way learners will be more active personally and will be able to experience working
and learning in teams that construct knowledge.
In a nutshell, Person-Centered e-Learning is driven by the belief that learning is most effective if it
encompasses personal, social, and intellectual aspects according to the three levels of learning (Motschnig &
Mallich 2002) and makes situated use of ICT taking the role of a most versatile tool.
The Pattern Approach Capturing Successful Practices
One of the most apposite and influential definitions of a pattern was coined by architect Christopher Alexander
(1979), as it conveys all central aspects of a pattern: Each pattern describes a problem which occurs over and
over again in our environment and then describes the core of the solution to that problem, in such a way that
you can use this solution a million times over without ever doing it the same way twice (p. x). In brief, the
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focal point of the pattern approach is the striving for capturing proven solutions to frequently recurring
problems. As problems rarely occur isolated from each other in reality, pattern authors usually supply
combinations of patterns addressing whole problem domains or problem categories. Regarding the format of a
pattern itself, there are different approaches: while some authors prefer prose style (e.g., Alexander et al. 1977;
Fowler 1998), the majority provide structured description templates comprising named sections (e.g., Gamma et
al. 1995; Buschmann et al. 1996; Schmidt et al. 2000; Tidwell 2002).
Pattern combination concepts, depending on the method of their categorization and composition, can be
summarized as follows:
Pattern catalogs as more or less loosely interrelated complementary patterns, e.g., in the field of object-oriented software design (Gamma et al. 1993, 1995)
Pattern systems as layered and categorized collections of patterns (Buschmann et al. 1996), e.g., indistributed systems design (Schmidt et al. 2000)
Pattern languages as computationally complete pattern systems, e.g., in the field of architecture(Alexander et al. 1977)
Pattern handbooks as well-documented summaries of relevant concepts in a domain (Anderson 1993;Riehle & Zllighoven 1996)
Patterns for Person-Centered e-Learning
Our preliminary pattern repository is layered and organized into categories and different levels of detail. It
borrows significantly from Alexanders pattern language approach but as well includes aspects from the three
remaining categories given above. Currently, we have modelled more than a dozen parameterized patterns that
we have derived from our teaching activities. We have also initiated a virtual community with the primary
purpose to support the exchange of ideas and experiences among practitioners of the Person-Centered Approach
(see http://elearn.pri.univie.ac.at/pca).
Just like Alexander employed patterns to deal with the construction of towns and buildings using architectural
design and arrangement techniques, the pattern approach to Person-Centered e-Learning as presented in this
paper employs patterns for courses and course modules being composed of smaller elements such as electronic
content, knowledge construction in groups, team exercises, discussion, feedback, evaluation, and other
techniques supporting person-centered learning. This unveils yet another analogy to Alexanders patterns:
Person-Centered e-Learning patterns1aregenerative(Alexander 1979; Appleton 2000), as they tell how to build
a super-ordinate whole by combining and connecting smaller elements.
The patterns this paper presents are hierarchically organized, each of them depending on a number of related
patterns. This method of decomposition into different layers supports the reusability of widely and frequently
used scenarios, such as publishing a piece of information. The Unified Modeling Language (UML) (OMG
2001) is employed for modeling dynamic aspects of a pattern, structural relations, as well as relationships
between patterns. Dynamic behavior is modeled using UML activity diagrams, while static structures and other
diagrams showing related entities are modeled using UML static structure diagrams (aka. class diagrams).
The choice of the UML as the target modeling language is supported by a number of arguments: its
standardization, its world-wide acceptance, and its extensibility through stereotyping mechanisms (OMG 2001).
As prevalent in most pattern approaches, a structured form is used to specify the patterns. At the moment there
are 10 sections in each pattern. These sections are given in Table 1 along with the respective description.
Section Description
Pattern Name Meaningful descriptor for the pattern, capable of succinctly conveying its essence.
Intent Short statement which situation or scenario the pattern addresses.
Motivation When appropriate, shows motivation of the pattern, e.g. deficiencies of the traditional scenario.
Scenario Depending on the intent of the pattern, this section describes the desired, or otherwise
1Hereafter referred to as PCeL patterns, for the sake of brevity.
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recurring scenario that characterizes the pattern.
Sequence Shows sequences of activities in the scenario, modeled as UML activity diagrams.
Structure Shows the associations and relations between entities involved in the scenario as a UML static
structure diagram.
Web Template When appropriate, shows how the patterns processes can be supported by web-based learning
platforms, in the form of prototypical user interfaces and interactions.
Classification As the core of the pattern has already been specified, this section embeds the pattern into the
network of related patterns.
Parameters This section shows the patterns values with respect to various parameters, such as number of
participants, level of expertise needed, target skills, time for preparation and provision of
resources, level of certainty about the usefulness of the pattern, and others.
Examples This final section shows examples of successfully putting the pattern into practice
Table 1: Sections of PCeL patterns.
A family of patterns applied in a PhD students literature seminar at the University of Vienna is depicted by
Figure 1, whereas the dotted arrows show interdependencies between the patterns. These patterns have emerged
from successful experiences and practices made in courses in previous terms at the Department of Computer
Science and Business Informatics at the University of Vienna.
Figure 1: Literature Seminar and related patterns.
As a detailed specification of all patterns depicted in Figure 1 would by far go beyond the scope of this paper,
the following Table 2 presents just the intent section of each pattern.
Pattern Intent
Alternating Phases Show that online phases alternate with presence phases.
Feedback Describe how the facilitator can collect valuable feedback from the participants.
Literature Seminar Offer a seminar where participants experience collaborative learning through discussion,
presentations, and interaction on the learning platform. Contrary to traditional seminars,
participants get to personally know each other, as well as their different fields of interest.
Meeting Abstractly outline the characteristics of a face-to-face meeting and its main phases.
Peer-Evaluation Present ways to incorporate peer-evaluation techniques in the grading phase.
Publish Disclosure of an item or a piece of information to a certain target person or target group.
Table 2: Intent sections excerpted from the patterns.
To give the reader a glimpse on what a pattern looks like, Figure 2 shows the main activity diagram from the
sequence section of the Literature Seminar pattern. This diagram shows two types of activities:
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Ordinary activities, called action states in the UML specification (OMG 2001, Chapter 3, p. 159). Compound activities, called subactivity states in the UML specification (OMG 2001, Chapter 3, p. 160).
Graphically, these contain a small icon in the lower right corner (e.g. Preliminary Phases). Such a
compound activity usually comprises a whole lower-level pattern by linking to a subdiagram that models
the underlying sequence of activities. Each compound activity has an attached note which generally
outlines what it comprises. The use of this mechanism ensures that each patterns activity diagrams remain
clearly arranged, and do not get overloaded.
Figure 2: The Literature Seminar patterns main sequence of activities2.
Applying the Patterns First Experiences
In the previous semester, the Literature Seminar pattern as given in Figure 2, along with its dependent patterns,
has been applied in a PhD students seminar in computer science at the University of Vienna. The authentic flow
2Experienced UML practicioners might notice two things: First, areas of responsibilities in the activity diagram in Figure 2are not modeled using swimlanes. Instead, when needed the responsible role appears in the respective activitys titlefollowed by a colon. Second, decisions are modeled as questions, with the possible answers on the outgoing transitions.
Usually, decisions are captionless and the outgoing transitions carry guard conditions in square brackets. These two areadditional measures to keep the diagrams clear, and understandable even for UML novices.
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of activities in the seminar as related to the activities in the patterns is given in Table 3, whereas only additional
information which is not identifiable from the activity diagram in Figure 2 is presented.
Pattern Activities Authentic Activities
This compound activity references an instance of the Alternate Phases pattern, which
shows that presence phases follow online phases (see Table 2). The only deviation
from conventional courses is that the thematic focus of the seminar wascollaboratively determined and assigned by the facilitator and the participants.
During and after the preliminary meeting, the participants unanimously agreed that the
innovative seminar style be employed.
Each participant was instructed to publish three documents as first deliverables on the
platform: His or her aims in the seminar, the topic of his/her PhD thesis, and the topic
of his/her seminar report. Before the next meeting they had to read each others
documents to be well-prepared for discussion. In the meeting, each participant orally
presented his or her thematic focus, and embedded that focus in the seminars thematic
context. During the discussions, many questions and issues arose. Each of the
participants was requested to adopt an issue and publish respective information on the
platform.
While the instructor fixed the deadlines for the documents to be published on the
platform before Presentation Phases begin, the participants, in addition to writing
their seminar report, had to host discussion forums on the platform, each addressing a
major issue of the seminar that is related to the topic of the respective participants
PhD thesis. E.g., one participants PhD thesis is on action research; the forum he has to
host is entitled, How can action research techniques be used in e-learning research?.
In this phase, the participants have elaborated reports and discussion contributions. All
deadlines were published on the platform and per electronic mail.
The facilitator has offered the participants to host additional meetings, if they felt the
need and desire to do so. In fact, there have been no additional meetings.
Contrary to traditional settings, there were short presentations of about fifteen minutes
followed by long discussions. Each participants PhD mentor has been invited to join
the presentation meeting. The majority of reactions on this mode were positive.
These have been the final phases of the seminar. The participants were offered a way
to provide their reactions and feedback online in a separate discussion forum. Four out
of five reactions were positive.
Table 3: Pattern activities and respective authentic seminar activities.
Some of the key experienceswith PCeL patterns made so far can be summarized as follows:
Introducing the Alternate Phases pattern brought real transparency in the flow of a courses activities.Even if the activities can be arranged other ways, it seems clear now that online phases must be
followed by presence phases for discussions and to deepen online experiences. Often, tight schedules
prevent the final feedback meeting from taking place, which leaves an unpleasant gap in the wholefeedback process, which itself accounts for large parts of the improvement of patterns.
Writing down the patterns from successful experiences introduces a shared vocabulary on the one hand,and supports better understanding and targeted arrangement of the learning processes taking place in
courses on the other hand.
The web template sections in the patterns help to greatly reduce the effort required to prepare andmaintain the folder structures, document sections, and provided resources on the learning platform.
Thereby the annoying task of rearranging folders and documents on the platform because of inappropriate
initial structuring rarely occurs.
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Despite initial overhead, the pattern approach now yields significant organizational benefits, e.g., becausedocuments and locations can be explicitly linked to patterns activities. Thus, when applying and adapting
the patterns in different courses, dependent processes and documents can be easily identified and adapted
accordingly.
Through the presented concept of organizing the patterns by modeling at different levels of detail andgranularity, they become easily applicable on the one hand, and adaptable as needed on the other hand.
Online feedback at the end of the seminar was very encouraging. The innovative course style appealed tofour out of five participants. One of the negative reactions concerned the short presentations, which were
explicitly sought in the presentation meetings:
I think that short presentations cover only the surface of the subjects and this has rendered the
subsequent discussions a bit difficult for me. On the other hand, the participants were more active and
fresh after brief presentations. But to be honest, I have retained more from the longer presentations
However, feedback was predominantly positive, as exemplified by the following reaction:
I liked using the learning platform very much, because I had the opportunity to gain deeper insight
into the topics elaborated by the other participants. The idea to have short presentations and long
discussions turned out to be very effective: Because of the exchange of viewpoints in the discussions
following the presentations everyone could get more into the other topics, contrary to the one-way
communication predominant at long presentation sessions
Conclusions and Further Work
In this paper we have illustrated in which ways patterns can be used to capture successful learning practices. We
have argued that modeling the processes and artifacts of teaching and learning in patterns allows one to reuse
proven didactic principles and thus saves time for course design. This benefit is further strengthened in the case
that the patterns are implemented the form of customizable, parameterized web pages that significantly reduce
the effort spent on organizational issues.
The psychological and didactic baseline we chose to follow is most strongly influenced by Carl Rogers Person-
Centered Approach. This is because we believe that in our society the interpersonal values and social skills
fostered by this approach are most apt to make optimal use of intellectual knowledge. Thus our use of ICT and
in particular web-based patterns is targeted on two major issues: The first concerns the support of a thoughtful
combination of computer-mediated communication and content-provision with face-to face meetings. The
second focuses on reducing the effort spent on administrative and organizational issues in order to gain time fordeep individual and cooperative learning and personal growth.
Further research follows multiple threads. One of them addresses the capturing and implementation of further
patterns as well as the organization and implementation of the pattern repository. In this respect we experiment
with various eLearning platforms and are in the process formulating the requirements the pattern approach
poses on the design of e-Learning platforms. We also investigate ways of evaluating and assessing the effects of
Person-Centered e-Learning courses as well as individual scenarios as parts of these courses. Finally, we are
aware of the vital importance of appropriate staff-development strategies as a key factor for the success of
Person-Centered e-Learning.
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Acknowledgements
We sincerely thank our colleagues at tomcom GmbH, in particular Dietmar Treichel and Thomas Zeleny, for
providing us with their e-Learning and knowledge management platform dayta. We also thank Jrgen
Mangler for being a constructive and encouraging web master.