ICT USE IN CREATING ENVIRONMENT SUPPORTING STUDY PROCESS AT UNIVERSITY LEVEL

Abstract

The paper gives an account of a piece of research on ICT-based designs supporting study process at higher education level.
The research was conducted with the aim to fi nd out how a set of ICT-based elements and arrangements can serve to facilitate the achievement of pedagogical objectives important for an effective study process. The pedagogical objectives were formulated within the framework of Andragogy. Special attention was paid to successful adjustment of a student to the context of higher education, acceptance of the specifi c requirements of the context, awareness of the processes in the groups of students, fi nding means to address members of heterogeneous groups.
The process of adapting to the particular HE context with its requirement, rules, implicit and explicit relations with the teachers and peers might cause diffi culties and impede learning.
The students entering the university-level studies are diverse on several lines, including their previous life and teaching/learning experience, attitudes and expectation.
While a number of approaches are found in pedagogical (andragogical) literature emphasizing the distinctive characteristics of individuals to be targeted and taken into consideration to facilitate incorporation into the study environment, a need is felt for a unifying approach in delivering instruction, embracing a collective perspective.
The groups of students were considered from a structuration perspective developed in social studies by A. Giddens because it helps to look into the processes of adjustment to a new environment in group interaction with the environment, makes clearer than other perspectives how to achieve consistent transformations in attitudes and behavior, suggests possibilities of intervention to facilitate the target transformations in attitudes and conduct. Specifi cally, the notion of “practical conscience” was fed into the design of ICT environment supporting study process.
Current pedagogical ideas on effective teaching/learning approaches are reviewed as to their correspondence and correlation to the considerations employed for creating the ICT-based elements and arrangements supporting teaching/learning. The outcomes of pedagogical treatment the students received was evaluated in terms of affective factors, motivation, self-esteem and other criteria specifi cally developed for the purposes of this research.