Using empirical data to clarify the meaning of various prescriptions for designing a web‐based course

Abstract

Design prescriptions to create web-based courses and sites that are dynamic, easy-to-use, interactive and data-driven, emerge from a "how to do it" approach. Unfortunately, the theory behind these methods, prescriptions, procedures or tools, is rarely provided and the important terms, such as "easy-to-use", to which these prescriptions refer are not defined. The empirical results reported here bring lighting on the meaning of several design prescriptions that contain qualitative attributes. This paper aims at clarifying the meaning of several web-based course design prescriptions found in the literature in the context of two music web-based courses. Two examples are presented and the results of the students' assessment regarding several design prescriptions are given. First, what we learned while producing the first release of the web part of an undergraduate music course entitled Teaching and Music Technology is presented. Then, what else we learned when the second release was assessed by students is detailed. The next part concerns what we used while developing the undergraduate music course French-Canadian folk which gives access to several music files and scores. Again the results of the students' assessment are presented. The list of the various technologies that must be highly mastered to produce such musical content is given. Keywords Web-based course design, music education, learning styles, students' assessment. VOL 1 NO 4 NOVEMBER 2004 5 The content must be presented clearly.* 9% * students' suggestion (91%): add visual synthesis of information 6 The learning material must provide the basis to judge truth and validity of information. 41% 7 The instructional objectives must be clearly stated* 96% * students' suggestion (96%): avoid the book-like format 8 The purpose of the courseware and the instructional activities, tasks, exercises, etc. needed to complete the learning tasks must be made explicit. 96% 9 The practice activities provided in the courseware must actively involve the learner.* 2% * students suggestion: add activities that will allow to get materials that could be used on the workplace 10 The courseware must use a: 57% clear, N.A. concise and N.A. unbiased language. N.A. 11 The graphical information must be presented clearly. 75% 12 The sound information must be presented clearly. N.A.