Investigating design and technology students' participation and learning in a technology mediated learning environment

Abstract

This study investigates how 15 Design & Technology (D&T) students (aged 15 years) participated in three stages of the design process in a technology mediated environment. The three stages are named Situation, Ideation and Development. The learning process is mediated by Knowledge Forum (KF), an asynchronous online discussion tool. The students' online messages and participation were analysed qualitatively and quantitatively using a self developed coding scheme. Findings showed that discussions among students were not evident in the Situation stage but were evident in the Ideation and Development stages. Participation levels from one of the three groups of students in the three design stages were very different from the other two groups. Generally, a relatively high level of in depth information processing as compared to surface level of information processing was observed in the three design stages.