A Study of Engaging High-School Students as Multimedia Designers in a Cognitive Apprenticeship-Style Learning Environment

Computers in Human Behavior,
Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 387-415, 1998
(0 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved
Printed in Great Britain
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Min Liu

Department of Curriculum and Instruction University of Texas
Abstract
Educational theory and research have indicated vast potentials of engaging learners as designers. Yet we have much to learn about how to design such a learning environment effectively. Thispaper reports on a year-long study of investigating how a cognitive apprenticeship-based learner-as-multimediadesigner environmen t could enhance high-school students'motivation and learning of design knowledge. The study showed that, after participating in such an environment, students became intrinsically more motivated and had more seifconfidence. They acquired better understanding of several important design skills. The results indicated that working with a client and désigningfor a real audience helped to bring about bigger changes in the students' motivation and design knowledge. The study also highlighted the challenges and factors important for désigning such a learning environment. (0 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Keywords
learners as designers, multimedia design, high-school students, cognitive apprenticeship

Requests for reprints should be addressed to Min Liu, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Texas-Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA. E-mail: MLiu@mail.utexas.edu


Patrick Mendelsohn