Forum Getting Started: Re: What do people use for authoring sequences?

By: James Dalziel

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Yes, I think the idea of educational patterns / sequence templates has lots to recommend it. I also think we have some challenges with our language here, as we may mean different things when we use the words "pattern", "template", and "activity sequence".

Here are two different takes on these issues:

(1) I recently co-authored a paper with Patrick McAndrew and Peter Goodyear on this topic called "Patterns, designs and activities: unifying descriptions of learning structures". You can find a pre-print version at
http://kn.open.ac.uk/public/getfile.cfm?documentfileid=6000

This paper touches many issues in this field, and includes a comparison of patterns, (IMS LD) designs and (LAMS) activity sequences. One of the main things I learned from working on this paper was just how different a traditional Alexandrian pattern is to a LAMS sequence - a pattern (in this context) does not implement everything ready to be used, rather it should provide advice and direction, but still make demands on the teacher for a "creative leap" in applying the principles of the pattern to creating something that can be used in his/her local context.

In the case of a typical LAMS sequence, it is ready for the teacher to implement immediately with no further work other than "starting" it with a chosen class. Of course, a LAMS sequence like this can also be adapted to suit special local needs, or changed significantly to create a new sequence, but its most striking feature is that it is ready to use without first requiring a "creative step". I suspect in the future we will see both positive outcomes (eg, ease of sharing good practice) and negative outcomes (eg, teachers just running a sequence without really thinking about its benefits in their local context) from this feature.

Further, I think we can build something between these two - a generic activity sequence where the activity flow is finalised but the "content" of each activity needs to be edited to apply it to a specific topic - see below.

(2) I've just uploaded a new sequence to the Public area - called "Template - What is [insert topic]" - see http://www.lamscommunity.org/lamscentral/sequence?seq%5fid=16699

I created this sequence by making a generic version of an existing topic specific sequence - "What is Psychology?" - see http://www.lamscommunity.org/lamscentral/sequence?seq%5fid=10489

But I didn't simply delete the word "Psychology" and related psychology information. I've also added advice on how to edit the sequence to create a good set of learning activities for reflecting on preconceptions about new subject areas. This advice is contained in both the sequence itself and in an accompanying advice file - see http://www.lamscommunity.org/lamscentral/files/TemplateAdvice_Whatis%5Binsert_topic%5D.doc?file%5frev%5fid=16701

I'm looking forward to feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of this new kind of LAMS "Template" sequence (you can post comments at the bottom of http://www.lamscommunity.org/lamscentral/sequence?seq%5fid=16699). On the one hand, the Template may be used much more widely than "What is Psychology?" because it can be applied to many different topic areas (and the resulting adaptations could be shared via the sequence repository). On the other hand, it requires teachers to edit it first and adapt it to their chosen topic - so unlike "What is Psychology?", it requires work on the part of authors prior to use.

I'm hoping that both kinds of LAMS sequences (Templates and "traditional" prepared topic sequences) will be useful, but I wouldn't be surprised if there is a decade of research ahead in teasing out all the pedagogical implications of each approach.

Posted by James Dalziel