LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
The published studies and theories discussed throughout this chapter extend beyond the secondary sources employed to support the analysis of the data extracted from the empirical side of this study. The chapter endeavours to provide an insight into the depth and breadth of the research pertaining to the factors that need to be considered when designing e-learning environments to engage elderly learners. The review addresses the following topics in the order as listed:
- Pervasive stereotypical perceptions of the elderly
- Design & usability issues in relation to elderly computer users
- Age-related changes, learning and Web environments
- Age & reminiscence, psychosocial theories, learning and Web environments
- Age & sense of control, learning and Web environments
- Learning perspectives
- Theories of engagement and motivation
- Approaches to design, the iterative design process and principles of good design
- Thematic analysis
2.2. Perceptions of the elderly
Society undervalues the older citizen. Moreover, older people have internalised this pervasive misconception and, as a result, believe they are too old to participate in digital environments. Further, the elderly associate innovative technology with youth (Williamson, Bow & Wale, 1997). Perceptions of the elderly are influenced by society’s attitude to old age and this negatively impacts on an elderly person’s self esteem (Hess, 2006; Graham Stokes, 1992). Perceptions exist that an elderly person’s contribution in life is insignificant, but elderly people desire to make a contribution and in some way feel valued. Society’s attitudes toward elderly citizens run contrary to this desire (Graham Stokes, 1992).
2.3. The Older Adult: Technology Design & Usability
Scialfa & Fernie (2006) claim that although technological development is instinctive in civilization, elderly people commonly lag behind younger members of society in terms of digital products produced for the general population. They argue that the young today will probably feel relatively at ease with the genre of technologies currently in general usage, for example, mobile phones. However, this may not be the case with emerging technologies as the younger generations age. Given the ongoing development of technology, this lag effect is to be expected. Scott (1999) argues that e-learner product developers do not appear to be concerned about the incapacity of the elderly to manipulate dexterously the tiny mobile telephones or their inability to make out images or icons. Visual impairment precludes a large percentage of elderly from reading screen texts or due to physical or psychological handicaps from manipulating the keyboards. Fisk et al. (2004) reports that elderly learners have some difficulties with input and output devices because their effective use depend on the psychomotor abilities of the user, which are affected by age-related changes. While Scott, (1999) argues that software developers need to be aware of the technophobic stereotypes applied to the older citizen and to consider the importance of the older consumer.
Research carried out by Sayago & Blat (2007) found that elderly people were three times faster in basic search than in either advanced search or directory. They state that older computer users have difficulties with precision and therefore, manoeuvring with input devices can prove problematic. Consequently, difficulties using the mouse, which are the most typical computer input device across the general population, challenge the manual adroitness and spatial capacities of elderly individuals (Sayago & Blatt, 2007). Ageing is reported to be related to difficulty in processing complex stimuli (Plude & Hoyer, 1985). Shortfalls in memory due to ageing are more prominent when the elderly are presented with new information in an unknown cognitive realm (Welford, 1980). In relation to computer-based work, strategies can avail of specific types of menu structures, which reduce the user’s need to memorise information (Sharit & Czaja, 1994). A study undertaken by Psychology and Cognitive Sciences found that as we age our capacity to remember verbal and spatial information reduces (Levin, et al, 2000).
A mix of information visualizations can be produced that reduce effort required to draw logical conclusions on a given area of knowledge. In so doing, they can enlarge or augment cognition, permitting users to recognize and perform activities that would otherwise be inaccessible. Graphical User Interfaces are also able to ease memory load considerably by employing representations that provide users with wizards and dial boxes which guide the user as he interacts in a digital environment (Interaction Design: beyond human-computer interaction, 2007). Interface design within e-learning spaces ought to be a central and integral focus of the whole e-learning product. Moreover, design of interfaces should not only be dictated by the way in which people learn, but also by the objectives of the learner and the way in which those objectives can be effectively achieved (Guralnick, 2006),
There is significant evidence that indicates that perception of the usefulness of a new technology is what primarily underpins a person's attitude towards its adoption in the workplace. Therefore, it is imperative when deciding on usage to recognize differences between younger and older adults in how they rate the usefulness of a technology (Davis, 1989; Davis et al., 1989; Mathieson, 1991; Taylor & Todd, 1995a). According to Grahame et al (2004) during a search of Web pages, reaction time, eye movements and errors were measured to establish how the performance of searchers differed in relation to changes in link sizes, the number of links, location of links and also in relation to the amount of clutter on pages. The results indicate that links located on the left side of the page were more easily found. The study also found that in comparison with younger participants, older adults were more hindered in their searches by an increase in links and clutter (Grahame et al, 2004).
Meyer & Poon (1997) found that elderly people are not as familiar with computers and are less efficient at comprehending computer based texts than when reading hard copy texts. The study found that younger readers were more efficient than the elderly readers when reading computer based text. However, in regard to time spent reading, the elderly readers recalled more information from the hard copy texts than did their younger counterparts. Grahame et al. (2004) found that elderly computer users have difficulty using data fields and key words when searching via the internet. Elderly people also find it difficult to navigate when websites have a lot of links and are badly designed and structured and when elements are placed in parts of the page that are inconsistent with their expectations.
Kattenstroth et al, (2010) and Birren & Schaie, (2006) report that aging is linked to declining cognitive and physiological capacities. Effective Web-based interactivity design caters for the cognitive capacities as well as for physical abilities without compromising its other objectives. And although technology changes significantly throughout generations, the innate capabilities of people do not (Nielsen & Loranger, 1993).
2.4. Age-related changes, learning and Web environments
Aging is linked with a progressive deterioration in cognitive and physiological capacities. Changes to the anatomy of eye and to the anatomy of the ear may occur with age and as a result impact on an elderly person’s sight and hearing. These changes are not remote from our mental capacities. Kattenstroth et al, (2010) and Compton, Shroyer & Niemeyer (2004) report that development of our sensory perceptions is essential for interpreting the physical context in which we function Compton, Shroyer & Niemeyer 2004). Visual signals and images perceived by the eye require cognitive processing to provide an understanding of their context and meaning (Schneider & Pichora-Fuller, 2000; Scialfa, 2002). Impairments in speech due to age were observed; for example, via empty pauses and switching pronouns erroneously while in conversation (Obler, 1980; Ulatowska, et al, 1985). These impairments could be indicative of an age-related decline in the capacity to locate and select vocabulary (Obler, 1980; Ulatowska et al., 1985). Aging impacts on our capacity to accurately retrieve phonological information and, due to this, the older adult may just about remember phonological information, but not quite have the means to articulate the information as it was initially stored (Burke & Laver, 1990; Burke, MacKay, Worthley, & Wade, 1991; Birren & Schaie, 2006).
Learning requires that the learner engages in considerable cognitive processing throughout learning. However, the cognitive processing capacity of the learner is limited. Consequently, instructional designers need to be aware of a learners’ cognitive sensitivity to overload within a multimedia Web environment. This implies that designers need to be aware of the cognitive capacity of learners. When cognitive processing exceeds capacity, this results in cognitive overload (Sweller, 1994; Clark, 1999; van Merriënboer, 1997). The executive functions occupy an important supervisory role in controlling a person’s cognitive performance. Executive functions control other elementary abilities such as attention, memory and motor skills (see Ruff & Rothbart, 1996; Baddeley & Della Sala, 1996; Bakos, et al., 2008). Various executive functions do not completely develop until the teenage years. Executive functions include the capacity to start and stop action, to direct and alter behaviour as required, and they are needed for coping with novel situations. A number of executive functions seem to weaken in the latter years of a person’s life ( Bakos et al., 2008).
Intelligence tests reveal age-related decline in processing speed. In tests with short time frames for completion, elderly individuals will generally do worse than their younger counterparts. Remarkably, when tasks are not restricted by time, the elderly individual will frequently perform as well as their younger counterparts. As cognitive functions go through age related changes, so too does psychomotor functioning, and as a consequence, overall coordinative effectiveness declines and motor movements slow (Reid Lyon & Knasegor, 1995).
The capacity to retain in ones mind an image which has been physically removed from sight appears to diminish as we age (Cerella, Poon & Williams, 1980). Within Web environments people often find things they have been interacting with on some level, by where it is positioned as opposed to what it is named. There is an inclination to employ spatial memory to locate items on a Web page. People have a tendency to organise elements into groupings and, as a result, any rearrangement of navigational or interactive elements may cause cognitive overload to spatial memory. The indication for designers is to employ consistency across designs (Tidwell, 2011).
Complex activities which introduce a lot of new information within short time frames and require a lot of mental manipulation can become increasingly difficult was we get older. The elderly person can find it difficult to retrieve words and facts (Reid Lyon & Knasegor, 1995). Furthermore, it has been argued that the average person does not have the capacity to hold more than seven “chunks” of information in short-term memory. This would indicate that if a learner is required to process simultaneously more than seven pieces of information, the working memory becomes overloaded. This suggests that the designs of learning objects that make large demands on a learner’s working memory create extraneous load (Millar 1956; Sweller, 1994).
Studies by May, Hasher & Kane, (1999) report that elderly adults have a tendency to be diverted by irrelevant stimuli when endeavouring to complete a task. The cause of this tendency derives from age related weakening of working memory. Furthermore, older adults are more inclined to remain interacting on some level with irrelevant stimuli for longer than their younger counterparts, who will rapidly refrain from further interaction with the stimuli. As a consequence, elderly learners may be slow at completing a given task and this may result in mistakes. Furthermore, superfluous cognitive load can encumber successful learning and cause attention to split. The split-attention effect (see Sweller, 1994) may be caused when different parts of the learning material is provided by separate modes and when the different parts cannot be understood without reference to each of the other parts. This may occur when visual, textual and or audio elements present different parts of the learning content on the same Web page. The cognitive load viewpoint sees unpleasant disorder as a cause of augmented superfluous cognitive load (Sweller, 1994). Moreover, Sweller (1994) argues that the reduction in the complexity of the learning matter may not actually prove effective to learning outcome. In reality, learning may be inherently complex and this complexity may contribute to germane cognitive load. Conversely, extraneous cognitive load is created directly by design of materials employed for instruction. Therefore, the aim of an instructional designer is to minimise extraneous cognitive load and provide germane cognitive load. A study carried out by (Feinberg & Murphy, 2000) found that the design of Web-based learning environments can benefit from applying cognitive load principals. Additional information should only be included with the instruction if it does not produce cognitive load and the split attention effect. Working memory can be overloaded; therefore, any learning environment that overlooks cognitive load may interfere with the learning processes and thereby, impede the acquisition of new knowledge or new skills (Feinberg & Murphy 2000). Mayer’s Spatial Contiguity Principle (2005) indicates that effective learning is achieved through presenting all related text, images and any other related elements in close proximity to one another.
Computer based instructional design might also cater for the strengths of the elderly learner. For example, intelligence has two core components. These are known as “fluid" and "crystallized" intelligence (McArdle et al., 2002; Park et al., 2003; Schaie, 2002). Fluid intelligence enables a person to process information and hence, it is connected to cognition. Fluid intelligence provides the ability to think and reason. It relates to the speed with which visual, verbal and auditory information can be analysed, and it is also connected to both attention and memory capacity. Crystallized intelligence relates to the information a person has amassed over years. The possibility of fluid intelligence declining with age is greater than with crystallized intelligence. Moreover, crystallized intelligence may actually continue to improve throughout life and elderly people may even have capacity to up skill (Birren & Schaie, 2006).
In relation to learning from a reader Meyer & Pollard (2006) report that diverse studies have drawn mixed conclusions for age effect in memory and the comprehension of discourse. They report that age related shortfalls in memory and comprehension of discourse have been found in some studies (e.g. Dixon et al., 1984; Hartley et al., 1994; Stine, 1990; Zelinski & Burnight, 1997), while other studies have not found these age related deficits (e.g., Meyer & Poon, 2001; Stine-Morrow et al., 2001; Stine-Morrow et al., 2004). Meyer & Rice (1983: 1989) claim the reason the different conclusions were drawn from the various studies may be attributable to the “complexity of the interaction among text, task, reader, and strategy variables involved in reading” (Meyer & Pollard, 2006 p. 233). Personal variations in cognitive functions along with crystallized capacities, reading abilities and an individual’s knowledge may account for the variability in learning within and across groups (e.g. Johnson eta al., 1997; Hartley, et al., 1994; Hultsch, Hertzog, & Dixon, 1990; Rice & Meyer, 1986). Overall elderly learners who are effective and habitual readers will carry on being successful readers, while those with shortfalls in reading abilities have the capability to develop their skills through tutoring and exercising those skills ( Meyer & Pollard, 2006).
Psychological wellbeing relies on individuals’ feelings of confidence in their ability to successfully perform. The extent of autonomy and control a person believes himself or herself to possess impacts on his or her physical and psychological health (Rodin, Timko, & Harris, 1985). Studies have shown that participants who had feelings of powerlessness over events in their lives, described themselves having more physical stress related symptoms than those participants who perceived themselves to be more in control of life events (Mathews, Scheier, Brunson & Carducci, 1980; Peterson and Stunkard 1989). Traditional learning provision requires effective cognitive processes; the learner-controlled multimedia environment can challenge a learner’s cognitive skills even further.
Tidwell, (2011) suggests that designers have to decide the extent of autonomy to provide users with. Assessment of the extent of autonomy to concede to the user can range from wizards that take the user through procedures - in such settings the only control provided to the user is via the clicking of the next, cancel and back buttons - to an interface design that provides almost total control to the user whereby the user can choose from numerous options and navigational paths and the interface exposes a huge number of features in one place (Tidwell, 2011).
The development of cognitive abilities within Web environments relies on the choices the learner makes in regard to the path they follow within a website. If the most efficient and effective progression path is selected by a learner, this can augment learning. However, the effectiveness of learning may be diminished within Web environments that grant absolute control to the learner and which do not provide any guidance to the learner in relation to learning aims and direction (Kozma, 1991). Keller’s (1983) ARCS Motivation Model suggests that learners must be confident for effective learning to occur. Confidence levels are impacted by the extent to which a learner feels in control and likewise, the learner’s locus of control impacts on level of confidence (Keller, 1987; 1983).
2.6. Age & Reminiscence, learning and Web environments
A website needs to have the capacity to link with the user’s actual world. This can be done by the inclusion of symbols of identity, ideas and vocabulary and turn of phrase. In this way, the Web-based learning environment processes a sense of familiarity for the learner (Neilsen, 1994). Emotions are an important component of learning and assist in producing creative thinking (O'Regan, 2003). Neilson’s (1994) recommendations have the capacity to embrace the act of reminiscence. Reminiscence involves looking back over one’s life and recalling some place or event in one’s past life (see Havighurst & Glasser, 1972; Bornat, 1994). Reminiscing engages an individual in a review of his or her life. Even though every age group reminisces from time to time, it has specific importance for an elderly person. Havighurst identified six major stages in a human being’s normal life span. These stages range from infancy to later maturity i.e. 60 years plus. The later maturity stage involves adjustments to changes in biological, economical and social aspects of being elderly. It also requires adjustment to a loss of a spouse and it is a stage when the individual identifies strongly with his or her age group (see Havighurst & Glasser, 1972). The elderly person may remember the things she or he has done or accomplished in life and attempt to conciliate past disappointment and conflict (Erikson, 2008).
According to Erikson (2008), personality development progresses through eight stages. Connected to each of these stages is a psychosocial crisis that the individual must overcome to successfully complete his or her personality development. Failure to triumph over the crisis of a stage inhibits the personality to further develop. The final stage relates to adults aged 60 years plus. Erikson (1982) advocates that the crisis embodied by this final stage is integrity versus despair. On the one hand, the individual develops feelings of satisfaction and integrity if she or he perceives that her or his life has been successful. On the other hand, the individual develops a sense of despair if she or he perceives his or her life in a negative light. See Table 2.1.
Table 2.1.
Sourced from: Sugarman, (1986 p.85)
Research illustrates that elderly people recall comparatively more memories from their teenage and young adulthood stages of their lives (Rubin, Rahhal, & Poon, 1998; Conway, et al, 2005). This period is known as the ‘reminiscence bump’ Generally, people are inclined to recall positive memories from their past lives and this is especially the case in relation to the reminiscence bump period. Assink & Schroots (2002) referred to in Birren & Schroots (2006) found that as we age, both our future and past perspectives change. On the one hand, younger adults remember more negative memories, while on the other hand, older adults tend to remember more positive memories. However, elderly adults tend to see their futures in a more negative light than do younger adults (de Vries & Watt, 1996). Studies indicate that men tend to recall events related to work, while women are inclined to remember more family and health related events (Birren & Schroots, 2006). Reminiscence is a dynamic process (Baum & Stewart, 1990; deViries & Watt, 1996). The self surfaces from the person’s interpretations of past events and this permeates the narrative of a person’s lifetime and the belief in the narration influences the decisions a person makes (Birren & Schroots, 2006).
Hassenzahl’s (2003) model of user experience suggests that an artefact’s potential to ignite the memories of users is an important hedonic quality. Hassenzahl explains that the hedonic qualities are connected a user’s psychological welfare. In line with the user experience model, an artefact may represent past times, relationships or sentiment that have significance for the person (see Hassenzahl, 2003). An artefact’s uniqueness and the challenges it offers contributes to its ‘hedonic’ value, and this provides a stimulus to the user which enables him or her to build on knowledge, develop skills and evolve (Hassenzahl, 2004).
By way of complex experiences and understanding we gain knowledge. Within contexts we can form new and diverse connections and associations with the experience. Context, establishes the diversity and reach of the experiences we can draw upon. The deeper our understanding of the subject, the greater our capacity to fuse the context into new knowledge by engaging with the knowledge on emotional, psychological and physical levels. (Cleveland, 1983). Efforts to explain learning shifted from the inherently limited behaviourists’ accounts to theories that focussed on cognition. While behaviourism has the capacity to explain the role exterior stimulus plays in dictating learner behaviour (Skinner, 1938), its explanatory power is limited in that it cannot explain how we internalise new knowledge and the internal processes required to reapply it and also to affect external behaviour. Behaviourism has the capacity to explain how a person learns through trial and error (see O’Grady, 2002). However, motor movements are directed by mental functions. The executive function must provide the instructions to effect external motor movements. Therefore, cognitivism has more reach in relation to explaining how we learn and why we behave as we do. It is capable of explaining how we interpret and internalise new information and memorise it and subsequently apply to new situations (see Solso, 1995). The emergence of the social cognitive learning theory puts the cognitive learning theory in a social context and thereby, highlights how environmental and cultural aspects impact of learning (Vygotsky, 1978).
To meet the instructional design challenges, designers need to recognize the value of the different perspectives, and know where to apply them in relation to different contexts. An enduring belief within the realms of instructional design espouses that different instructional conditions are necessary to achieve different objectives (Gagne, 1965; Reigeluth & Curtis, 1987). From a contructivist’s view point of learning, learners work towards a goal. This goal acts as a stimulus for learners to devise or select a way to achieve this goal. This is a central tenet of the constructivist’s explanation of learning whereby, the problem determines the way learning is organised in order to solve the problem (Dewey, 1938; Savery & Duffy, 1995). Implicit in this perspective is the reliance on the multifaceted interchange among learners’ knowledge, prior experiences, the background and the type of problem. This perspective views learning within a collaborative space, where learners are provided with the opportunity to incorporate relevant contributions from each other in order to construct new understandings within diverse problem led situations (Ertmer & Newby, 1993). Constructivists see learning as problem led and thus, the success of learning can depend on the problem. Consequently, a problem should ask the learners to put together a prediction and test that prediction. This problem should be both challenging and within the means of group effort to solve it. In order to sustain the efforts of the learners involved, the problem should be of interest and relevant to them in some way. This view point sees the learning context entrenched in authenticity and relevancy (Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989).
The objectivist’s stance does not believe that the existence of knowledge and truth lies within a person’s mind (Runes, 1962). Learning is viewed in relation to the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of constructivists’ learning approaches (Dick, 1992). Knowledge is imparted to learners in relation to the real world and the learners’ views and thinking are expected to incorporate the existing world’s structures and perspectives. Thus, objectivism sees learning as the assimilation of bounded knowledge and skills (Jonassen, 1991). Objectivists view learning in terms of learners gaining and amassing a limited number and type of skills and facts. Unlike the objectivists’ perspective, the constructivists’ perspective has the power to provide for more autonomy and therefore, is more congruent with the andragogic perspective popularised by Knowles, (1973). The andragogic model assumes that adult learners can delve into their rich resources of experience and that the learning content and objectives need to have some relevance to their own lives (Knowles, 1973).
Vygotsky’s (1978) socio-cultural psychology theory considers learning engagement as a social enterprise, undertaken by the learner, for or because of other people and groups. The drive to learn something new, the available resources, the objectives and the methods required to achieve objectives are available within the sphere of a community or culture. Therefore, within diverse cultures, the motivation to engage in learning is intertwined with the value other people, groups, communities place on the learning outcome (Vygotsky, 1978). Vygotsky’s theory can be linked to the literature discussed earlier in relation to society and the elderly person’s relationship with technology.
There has been increasing consciousness of the significance of learner engagement (e.g. Newman, 1992; Steinberg, Brown, & Dornbusch, 1996). Engagement comes about when a person arrives at a distinct degree of absorption at which point she or he experiences a sense of absolute involvement in an activity (Gregory, 2008). In terms of Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development, learning should present a problem that challenges the learner’s current understanding, but it should be within reach of their understanding (Hung, Tan & Koh, 2006). Learner engagement is impacted by a number of elements, which include the learner’s perception of control over the learning experience and outcome (Deci, Nezlek, & Sheinman, 1981; Newman, Wehledge, & Lamborn, 1992). Grannis (1978) and Stodolsky (1988) report that students are more likely to be engaged in student centred settings where the pupil is in control, as opposed to more pedagogic settings in which the teacher has control. Learner engagement may be influenced by the subject matter and by the instructional design. Therefore, genuine meaningful intellectual work that involves inquiry into real problems is more likely to engage the learner (Newman, Wehledge, & Lamborn, 1992). In this regard, engaging elderly learners might be linked to psychosocial theory and reminiscence (see Erikson, 1982).
Flow can be described as a state of profound concentration and involvement in an activity that is innately gratifying. For example, flow states may occur for an artist during the episodes when s/he is absorbed in his/her work of art (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). When a person experiences flow while doing an activity, she or he perceives it be enjoyable, captivating, and intrinsically worthwhile (Nakamura & Csikszentmihalyi, 2002). Flow states allow individuals to perform to their best ability (DeCharms, 1968; Deci, 1975). Esteemed scholars and exceedingly imaginative artists have created their greatest work through flow states (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990).
Flow theory is premised on a link between the challenges and the ability of the individual to successfully rise to those challenges. The state of flow is understood to arise when there is a balance between an individual’s skills and the challenges he faces. Given the ambiguous nature of this, it is therefore not easy to predefine and to determine how to sustain it. Mismatches of skill set with level of challenge can lead to apathy, anxiety or relaxation depending on the ratio of skill to challenge (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). Figure 2.1. Illustrates the relationship between challenges and skills in regard to a ‘flow’ experience.
Figure 2.1 A.M. Csikszentmilhalyi (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
Providing suitable challenges and presenting prospects to develop skills through immediately accessible feedback, and providing the learner with ways to build upon existing knowledge and skills would increase the probability of sustaining learner engagement. Individuals strive to replicate the experiences of flow states due to the intrinsic returns it provides to a person. Consequently, the flow theory can explain the process of selective growth. Individuals continually endeavour to acquire the relevant skill to enable him or her to embark on new challenges (Nakamura & Csikszentmihalyi, 2002). In educational contexts, deep absorption in activities has been shown to promote optimal experiences. Intellectually difficult activities can also be both enjoyable and satisfying, and consequently, learners involved in such activities can experience flow states. These states may induce feelings of intellectual accomplishment and fulfilment. Interestingly, the individual may only become aware of these feelings subsequent to completion of an activity. This is due to the level of concentration on a task and this precludes any conscious awareness of the deep level of engagement the individual experiences while involved with an activity (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990).
Stimulation and sustaining learner motivation is a challenging task. Even more difficult is discovering ways to accurately measure learner motivation. One approach to addressing this challenge was promoted by the ARCS Model of Motivation (Keller, 1983). The ARCS model facilitates analysis of the motivational qualities of learners. Therefore, it enables effective assistance to the design of motivational strategies. The ARCS model is based on a synthesis of motivational concepts and characteristics into the four categories as follows: attention (A), relevance (R), confidence (C), and satisfaction (S). These four categories represent sets of conditions that are necessary for a person to be fully motivated, and each of these four categories has component parts, or subcategories that represent specific aspects of motivation (see Table 2.2 which lists the strategies that Keller's model might indicate to aid motivation in learners)
Table 2.2
The initial objective of a learning activity is to grab the learner’s attention. This might be achieved through a sound or an image. The idea behind this is to draw the learners’ attention to the learning objectives and thereby, stimulate his or her curiosity to find out more. Variety within activities or from one activity to another may enable attention to be sustained (Keller, 1983). However, once curiosity has been ignited, the learner may lose motivation if the content is not relevant to them on personal, academic or perhaps professional levels. This suggests that there is a link between the learning and the learner’s other important objectives (Keller, 1983).
Locus of control impacts on a learner’s confidence. Learners sometimes experience feelings of insecurities and lack self confidence. This is often due to the learner’s lack of understanding as to what the learning objectives are and how to go about achieving them. By clearly presenting goals, and strategies to achieve them, this will increase the learner’s confidence. If a learner perceives external activities as main drivers of success, as opposed to personal effort, then this may increase or reduce confidence depending of the circumstances (Keller, 1983).
Nevertheless, to sustain a learner’s motivation throughout a course of study, it is necessary for the learner to feel satisfied. Satisfaction may be catered for through the provision of substantive and emblematic recognition of successes. This could be applied to an online environment via a post activity quiz or test and positive symbols can provide feedback of immediate successes. Moving up levels may also provide feelings of satisfaction (Keller, 1983).
Website design and evaluations present many challenges. However, theory can afford useful preliminary ideas for design (Czerwinski and Larson, 1998). The current approaches to user interface design are, on the one hand, too pragmatic and are not supported by underlying theory, or on the other hand, they are weighed down by theory to the extent that they hinder the design process. In addressing approaches to the design of foreign language instruction, an approach that incorporates the perceptions of theory with practical techniques of software engineering would enable design of learning environments to focus on both the learning objectives in terms of skills and competencies and the cognitive processes essential to obtaining these objectives (Plass, 1998).
Results drawn from a study by Dye, Green, & Bavelier (2009) indicate that video games may have the capacity to improve the reaction times of elderly people while, at the same time, not compromising accuracy. However, the study by Dye, Green, & Bavelier (2009) focused on visual, fast tasks and therefore, could not determine the affect on cognitively demanding tasks (Dye, Green, & Bavelier, 2009). Good design principles, indicate that digital learning domains should always enable the learner to understand exactly at what point she or he is at in the course and also allow the learners to clearly see where they are in relation to other areas within the actual website. This can be done by providing consistency across the navigational system and by providing noticeable and consistent terminology at every point throughout progression of the course (Neilsen, 1994). Desmet & Hekkert, (2007) suggest that designs which assist the smooth achievement of objectives evoke emotions in relation to fulfilment and contentment, while designs which encumber achievement of objectives elicit emotions around discontentment and displeasure.
Wallace and Anderson (1993) make a distinction among four different types of approaches to the design of the user interface: craft approach, enhanced software engineering approach, technologist approach, cognitive approach. In the craft approach, the user interface design is directed by the expertise of the instructional designer and thereby, judgements are subjective (see Dayton, 1991; Laurel, 1990; Norman, 1987; Rubinstein & Hersh, 1984; Wroblewski, 1991). Issues in connection to the design of the user interface are often ignored in the development of e-learning environments. The approaches employed by designers in relation to interface design are frequently founded on the personal intuition and expertise of the designer than on theory. Although this can result in user friendly products, it also precludes any predefined systematic method to evaluations of these environments. The criteria on which evaluations are taken should relate to the particular domain. Supporters of the craft approach consider the user interface design as a craft. Therefore, the principals of good design are not relevant. This view would hold that each user interface is incomparable and therefore, a global methodology would not apply (Wallace and Anderson, 1993).
The enhanced software engineering approach incorporates human factors, such as user characteristics and task analysis, into traditional structured software engineering models exemplified by the waterfall model or the Jackson model (see Shneiderman, 1993; Sutcliffe, 1988;1989; Waterworth,1992; Winograd, 1992). The key emphasis of this practical approach is on ease of use and on providing the users with designs that will enable them to reach their objectives in the most efficient and effective way possible (Shneiderman, 1993; Wallace and Anderson 1993).
The cognitive approach applies problem solving techniques and theories of information processing to the design of user interfaces (Barnard, 1991; Card, Moran, & Newell, 1983; Gardiner & Christie,1991; Kieras & Polson, 1985; Landauer, 1991). This approach is regarded as an effort to measure cognitive load. In relation to interface design, the cognitive approach is considered to be the most theoretical. Overall, the cognitive approach appears to incorporate an understanding of the processes required in reaching objectives in relation to both the activity itself and the users (Plass, J.L., 1998; Wallace and Anderson 1993).
The technologist approach emphasises the value of rapid prototyping in identifying usability and instructional objectives. This approach advocates the key role the user plays within iterative strategies of user interface design (Wallace & Anderson, 1993).
According to Lawrence & Tavakol (2007), badly designed websites, deficient in focus and decisive design can be time wasting, of little use and even damaging. Lawrence & Tavakol (2007) published a set of guiding principles and recommendations for the benefit of designers (see Table 2.3).
Table 2.3
Sourced from: Lawrence & Tavakol (2007, p.8)
One methodology that could contribute to providing engaging e-learning environments is the employment of a participatory iterative process (Eberts, 1994). The iterative process is a cyclic process of developing a prototype or can be used for the further development of online learning courses. The iterative process involves testing, analysing, and redesigning or fine tuning a product, a process or more specifically a Web-based course (Neilsen, 1993; Brinck, Gergle & Wood, 2002). Neilsen, (1993) advises that iterative development of user interfaces entails a balanced refinement of the design dictated by evaluation of tests involving users (Nielson, 1993). Employing an iterative methodology does not mean that elements of the interface design are replaced with new alternatives. When a choice of any number of interface alternatives is present, comparative testing can be undertaken to evaluate which is the most usable alternative.” (Neilsen, 1993). Subsequent to the testing phase, the Web-based course could be modified in line with identified usability issues or instructional design issues. It might be thought that this process is very costly and multifarious whereby, a lot of users are needed for tests. This train of thought would suggest that this type of process should be set aside for the exceptional Web design assignments when it might be considered permissible to allocate a large budget and an investment of valuable time. However, this does not have to be the case. Complex usability trials can unnecessarily consume resources. A small number of testers can produce the most valuable results. Moreover, a small number of testers will allow more tests to be run (Nielsen & Landauer, 1993). Employing such a process could enable a course to be incrementally adapted to the requirements and preferences of the target learners and thereby, improve the quality of learning and provide a user friendly learning environment. What is more, the iterative design allows samples of the target users to participate in the iterations and this ensures that the designs are adapted to the specific needs of the group of users (Nielsen & Landauer, 1993).
Analysis of qualitative data is typically founded on an interpretative thinking. “Thematic analysis is a process for encoding qualitative information.” (Boyatzis 1998, p.4). At the core of the process of analysis is the examination of important and representational content contained within the gathered data. The examination of the dataset normally entails writing notes and memos and identifying themes. The search for a theme typically entails coding, which is the identification of important content, naming the content as an instant of meaning, and identifying the meaning and its significance. It further involves looking out for patterns across the entire dataset in regard to that significance and in this way; a theme is identified (Boyatzis, 1998; Braun & Clarke, 2006). Thematic analysis is:
- "A way of seeing
- A way of making sense out of seemingly unrelated material
- A way of analyzing qualitative information
- A way of systematically observing a person, an interaction, a group, a situation, an organization, or a culture." (Boyatzis,1998 p.45).
Themes or patterns within data may be identified either inductively or deductively (Boyatzis, 1998; Hayes 1997; Braun & Clarke, 2006). An inductive strategy involves the identification of themes from the data gathered through empirical research (Patten, 1990). The inductive approach draws data from interviews, observations, and focus groups etcetera. The themes identified might have little to do with the questions asked in an interview or indeed with a specific question; and the analysis is not directed by the researcher’s own interests. Therefore, when analysing data using an inductive approach, codes are derived from the data and this means that the researcher does not try to match data to a pre-existing code or try to match the data to his or her preconceptions. Therefore thematic analysis conducted using an inductive approach is in effect data-driven (Braun & Clarke, 2006).
An identified theme embodies something significant derived from data and forms part of a pattern in terms of meaning of response across the dataset. Preferably themes can be connected to data across the dataset, but the number of instances of a response is not indicative of its significance. Moreover, the significance of theme is not inevitably reliant on quantity, but rather on the importance of the theme in relation to the research objectives. Thematic analysis can be used is to “provide a detailed and nuanced account of one particular theme, or group of themes, within the data.” (Braun & Clarke, 2006 p.83).
The researcher needs to determine prior to the study whether the identification of themes are to be analysed at semantic level or explicit level or at a latent or interpretative level (Boyatzis, 1998; Braun & Clarke, 2006). The semantic approach involves identifying themes from the ‘face value’ of the data and thereby, it is explicitly connected to the surface of content. This means the researcher is not looking for relationships that go deeper or wider than the actual utterances, movements and reports of the participants of a study. At this level analysis moves from description of semantic content in organised patterns to summaries from which the importance of the patterns and their wider meanings are interpreted by the research (Braun & Clarke, 2006; Patton, 1990).
Thematic analysis at a latent level extends further than the actual semantic content of the data and identifies or studies causal relationships and their meanings, suppositions and abstractions. The semantic content is examined in relation to the ideologies that gave shape to it or informed it. The latent approach requires interpretive evaluations of data in the identification of themes and does not just use the surface content and the analysis is not just description, but it is already theorised (see Boyatzis, 1998; Braun & Clarke, 2006). A researcher needs to have strong perceptual capacities and have good analytical abilities which may be developed with practice. The researcher needs to have the innate cognitive complexity which allows him or her to perceive various causes and multiple variables over the period of study and she or he must also possess the ability to conceptualise various relationships (Boyatzis, 1998; Strasuss and Corbin, 1990). “Conducting qualitative research involves emotional, value-laden, and theoretical preconceptions, preferences and worldviews.” In some studies emphathy and social objectivity are important researcher competencies, which are needed to recognise and identifiy patterns in the dataset. Thematic analysis was employed in the present study for its advantages as put forward in Braun & Clarke (2006) - see Table 2.4.
Significant questions need to be answered about the relationship between elderly learners and e-learning environments. In the expectation that the technology industry will, in time, come to value participation by elderly learners in e-learning environments, it is important in the meanwhile that research endeavours to identify the most important factors that need to be considered when designing e-learning environments to engage elderly learners. There is not a lot of strong evidence in literature that research has put sufficient effort into discovering the capacity of Web environments to engage elderly learners. Overall, this literature review has provided an insight into the characteristics of an elderly e-learner in terms of intellectual, cognitive, emotional, psychological and physical characteristics.
There are pervasive views within society that do not consider the latter years of a person’s life as a time to embark on growth or as a time for achievement (Graham Stokes, 1992). Although technological development is inherent in the evolvement of society, elderly people typically do not avail of ‘off the shelf’ digital products to the extent that younger people do (Scialfa & Fernie, 2006). Scott (1999) argues that e-learner product developers do not demonstrate much concern for the specific challenges older adults face in manipulating tiny digital gadgets, mobile phones and tiny icons on their interfaces. Age-related decline in visual and auditory capacities preclude the majority of elderly people from deciphering digitally provided texts or from interacting effectively with Web activities owing to shortfalls in psychomotor capacities and a decline manual dexterity (Scott, 1999). Swindell and Grimbeek 2002 argue that e-learning product designers need to ensure e-learning environments are developed to cater for the specific needs of elderly learners.
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