JISC

This 'implementing and evaluating learning design tools' project is exploring the use of LAMS (the Learning Activity Management System) for inquiry-based learning (IBL) in higher education.  The project is based at the University of Sheffield and is being led by CILASS, the Centre for Inquiry-based Learning in the Arts and Social Sciences, in partnership with the University’s Learning Development and Media Unit (LDMU).  CILASS is a Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL), funded by HEFCE. Final report (PDF)

IBL is a form of active learning in which open-ended, student-directed inquiry or research drives the learning experience. It includes both relatively structured forms of learning activity – e.g. based on problem-solving and case scenarios – and less structured forms based on small- or large-scale investigations and projects.  It is regarded as a key pedagogy in strengthening the links between teaching and research in HE, a theme currently receiving significant interest at the level of national policy.  CILASS plays a key role at institutional level in promoting IBL, within the arts and social sciences and beyond to all disciplines in the University.

Given the activity-orientation of IBL pedagogy, CILASS has a strong interest in exploring the extent to which LAMS could add value to the practice of designing for IBL, especially when used in conjunction with WebCT Vista (the University of Sheffield’s institutional VLE) and other tools available in the learning environment. 

CILASS also has a strong interest in the sharing and reuse of IBL expertise.  We are therefore investigating the value of LAMS-based learning designs as sharable and reusable resources for the IBL community at institutional level and more broadly within and beyond the CETL context.

Aims and Objectives

The project aims to implement and evaluate LAMS, a tool that supports design for learning and the sharing and reuse of learning designs, in a real-life case study context of development and innovation in ‘blended’ and fully online forms of IBL in HE specifically within arts and social sciences disciplines.  The over-arching question to be addressed by the project is: does a tool such as LAMS offer ‘added value’ to the process and impact of designing for IBL and to the dissemination of IBL pedagogy? The project intends to achieve the following key objectives:

• To facilitate and support 25 implementations of LAMs for IBL within social sciences and arts disciplines;
• To assess the effectiveness and impact of LAMS in the context of these implementations, in relation to: acceptability to practitioners (academic staff, educational developers and others); learner outcomes; effectiveness for the organisation; capacity-building across the organisation;
• To disseminate the research and evaluation findings of the project widely to internal (University of Sheffield) and external stakeholder audiences, using a variety of formats to meet different stakeholder needs (learning designs, case studies, conference presentations, journal papers, report to JISC etc.);

Project Methodology

The project is applying the University of Sheffield’s institution-wide methodology for evaluation of learning and teaching development initiatives, which is also used by CILASS.  This is an essentially qualitative, impact-focused approach that combines Theories of Change (ToC) evaluation methodology with an EPO (Enabling, Process, Outcomes) approach to performance indicators.  It is being used to explore the connections between the expectations and assumptions that inform learning design decisions using LAMS, and their outcomes.  Data analysis will be inductive, adopting a grounded theory approach. The broad framework for the project is as follows:

• An early LAMS demonstration and stakeholder focus group discussion for representatives of all relevant groups.  Monitoring/evaluation of support, organisational and technical issues begins and continues throughout the project.
• A total of 25 participants recruited in 3 ‘waves’.  Recruitment will in the first instance be from within the active CILASS IBL development community, and then from the wider community that CILASS serves.
• Participants (academic staff) attend a LAMS training workshop.  This is followed by pre-implementation interviews with each participant or participant group to: a) explore existing practice as regards pedagogical design and the pedagogical beliefs, values and purposes that underpin approaches and tools used.; b) establish a ToC and EPO performance indicators for their project. This indicates the ways in which they envisage piloting LAMS in their teaching and what they want to achieve with its use.  Questionnaires are used to gather standardised baseline contextual information. Support is offered for subsequent learning design activity if desired.  Design-in-action logs are kept, by means of facilitated reflective review.
• At implementation, student induction plus support for, and observation of, LAMS implementations are carried out.  Design-in-action logs by academic and support staff are completed.
• Follow-up questionnaires are administered to all students, supplemented by 3 focus group sessions (1 per implementation ‘wave’) to explore impact on learning experience.  Interviews with academic staff explore design outcomes and the relationship with objectives, in relation to the established ToC and EPO indicators.  Analysis of the learning designs identifies key features and patterns in use of LAMS for IBL.
• 3rd wave participants attend a re-use workshop following initial LAMS training, to enable exploration of learning designs created by 1st and 2nd wave participants with a view to reuse for their own implementations if desired.  Two further sharing and reuse workshops are held, targeting both internal and external participants during which LAMS learning designs will be user-evaluated from the point of view of sharability and reusability. Broader IBL learning design reuse issues and requirements are explored through focus group discussion at these workshops.

Deliverables

• Implementation and evaluation of LAMS in a specific, real-life ‘case study’ context of pedagogical development and innovation for IBL in HE;
• A portfolio of 25 LAMS-based IBL learning designs.
• 20 in-depth case studies, where appropriate, also produced in distilled form, using JISC’s “Effective Practice with e-Learning” case study templates.
• A final report on the impact of using LAMS on designing for IBL in the case study context, including: a) recommendations for effective embedding and use of LAMS for IBL, as regards implications for: academic practice; educational development and support; technical support; institutional policy and strategy; development of learning design systems and standards; b) a conceptual framework for sharing and reuse of (LAMS and other) IBL designs within a community of practice context.
• A dissemination workshop held at CILASS, University of Sheffield.
• 2 conference presentations and 1 paper submitted to a peer-reviewed journal.

Stakeholders

University of Sheffield:  students, teaching staff, staff involved in: educational strategy, educational development, learning technology, ICT services, information services, etc. HE and FE sector: JISC (incl. other Design for Learning projects), HEA, cognate CETLs, other institutions, LAMS community, e-learning researchers.

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