A study of engaging high-school students as multimedia designers in a cognitive apprenticeship-style learning environment

摘要

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. This paper reports on a year-long study of investigating how a cognitive apprenticeship-based learner-as-multimedia-designer environment 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 self-confidence. They acquired better understanding of several important design skills. The results indicated that working with a client and designing for 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 designing such a learning environment.