Advances in learning theory and instructional development : implications for physiology teaching

• Published: 2012
• Subjects: Outcomes-based education; Physiology study and teaching
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/5016

D.Tech. === South Africa, as a developing country, is in search of an approach to education that could overhaul the problems associated with the historical education system. Outcomes-based education was introduced in South Africa on the assumption that it would lead to an increase in the quality of education by improving the standard of teaching and learning performance and by providing a curriculum that is more relevant to learners‘ needs. A focus of this research project is to empower physiology lecturers with the relevant teaching, learning and assessment skills needed to implement outcomes-based education within a constructivist framework. This research study describes the development of learning interventions for physiology that exploits the congruencies between constructivist perspectives on learning and the individual attributes of students as defined by learning styles and instructional design principles. This development research project was conducted in four phases: an extensive literature review in which teaching, learning and assessment models and theories were integrated into Curry‘s 'Onion model‘; the design of questionnaires, based on the literature reviewed, to compile a profile of the students registered for physiology at the University of Johannesburg; a pilot study; implementation of the questionnaires; and analysis of the data. Concurrent with this the different teaching, learning and assessment interventions, as identified in the literature, were implemented and evaluated continuously. A questionnaire was designed and implemented to determine student‘s views on these different interventions. Observations were also captured in a teaching diary and during semi-structured interviews with students. The literature review revealed that although there is a vast amount of information available on teaching, learning and assessment most of the models, theories and strategies described do not address the presence of more than one style at a time. This study makes a contribution to the field of instructional design for physiology with the development and application of the proposed model for 'Whole brain learning‘, as well as the proposed model for designing learning interventions entitled 'The 3‘D‘s of designing learning interventions‘.