Leif Martin Hokstad

Stuck at the Threshold

This study also revealed that a substantial number of the students did not have the stamina to complete the entire learning activity, even though all these criteria were reported to be present. 90 students participated at the first assignment (out of a total of seven assignments). The initial questions in the assignments were quite easy and then the degree of difficulty increased. When facing obstacles mastering the materials many students dropped out of the learning activity and this was especially clear from the third assignment.

Transformative Learning in Architectural Education

In this chapter, we will present TRANSark, an ongoing project on the development of architecture and the education on architecture at NTNU, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. We will present a two-fold challenge to the profession and its education. On the one hand, the trade itself is challenged by changes in economic realities, changed demands and needs from the public, users and authorities. On the other hand, the schools of architecture report difficulties in developing and maintaining meaningful learning trajectories where the learners manage the transition from pupil to student, from novice to “expert”. Putting more emphasis on what the learner experience actually is, the student voices, seems to be a necessity.

Creating a Repository of Community Memory in a 3D Virtual World: Experiences and Challenges

In this paper, we focus on creation of 3D content in learning communities, exemplified with a Virtual Gallery and Virtual Research Arena projects in the virtual campus of our university in Second Life. Based on our experiences, we discuss the possibilities and challenges of creating a repository of community memory in 3D virtual worlds.

Collaborative Virtual Environments for Reflective Community Building at Work: the Case of TARGET

In this article, we present initial results of designing a community, outlined in the TARGET framework. The main aim of the TARGET project is to research, analyze, and develop a new genre of technology-enhanced learning environment—a reflective learning community integrated at the workplace that supports rapid access to competence development of individuals, namely, knowledge workers within the domains of project management and sustainable manufacturing. The open question was: To what extent can 3D collaborative virtual environments (CVEs) facilitate reflective dialogue in communities to support lifelong workplace learning? One possible answer is given in this case. The empirical study is held as a part of the TARGET International Summer School, which acted as a forum for the presentation of innovative approaches, developments, and outcomes of research projects. The results of the study were analyzed to complement the TARGET community, seeding methodology as well as to provide implications for the use of 3D CVEs for community building. In addition, TARGET illustrates how learning and working might be well integrated.

Instructional System Development: Contributions to Automating Instructional Design Planning

In this chapter, the authors define the planning phase of instructional design and examine methods for its automation. Reviews of several of the papers from the NATO Advanced Study Institute in Grimstad, Norway, are also presented. The reviewed papers focus on the issue of automating the planning phase; they include: Automated Instructional Design via Instructional Transactions by Cline and Merrill (Chap. 13); Instructional System Development: The Fourth Generation by Tennyson (Chap. 3); Integrating Systems Thinking and Instructional Science by Gonzalez and Davidsen (Chap. 14); Facilitating Discovery Learning in Computer-based Simulation Environments by Vavik (Chap. 16); and, Psychological Processes of Planning in Instructional Design Teams: Some Implications for Automating Instructional Design by Latzina and Schott (Chap. 6).