2.2 What might this ‘something’ be?

2.2 What might this ‘something’ be? The help which is offered to teachers and designers in the Think Tank workshop involves the use of four decision-making aids. The aids, or referents as I would prefer to call them (because of how they function), are shown in Fig. 3. Figure 3 Four referents that help you […]

2.4 Referent 2: The nth generation of the specified needs

2.4 Referent 2: The nth generation of the specified needs Consider designing a course to teach six-year-olds to tell the time. Let digital watches, cuckoo clocks and every other sort of clock chase each other through your mind . . . . Have you ever had to teach a child to tell the time? If […]

2.5 Referent 3: An appropriate model (an existing design)

2.5 Referent 3: An appropriate model (an existing design) Thinking up a design takes time: before the optimum design is found, a lot of mental effort will be demanded. It can be nice to have something to accelerate the process. This is what referent 3: an appropriate model is for. By using an ‘appropriate model […]

2.6 Referent 4: A response environment organizer

2.6 Referent 4: A response environment organizer Sometimes in thinking up a design, you can have the best didactical intention (referent 1) in mind, your specification or databank (referent 2) filled with the right needs, an existing design (referent 3) sending out interesting signals, and yet you are still waiting — waiting for that ‘click’ […]

2.7 Case study no. 2: Fighting forest fires safely

2.7 Case study no. 2: Fighting forest fires safely On repeated occasions in 1964 on the shuttle flight between La Guardia airport New York and National airport Washington DC, I was struggling with a course design problem. It seemed relatively simple and yet the solution (the choice of a plan, structure and strategy of instruction […]