BOOK REVIEW


BOOK REVIEW Teaching as a design science: Building pedagogical patterns for learning and technology. Diana Laurillard, 2012. Taylor & Francis/Routledge, New York. ISBN: 978-0-415-80387-8 (paper). *Lorraine Mary Carter* VOL. 27, No. 1 Diana Laurillard’s Teaching as a design science: Building pedagogical patterns for learning and technology (2012) is a conscientious and highly informed exploration of a twenty-first century teaching conundrum: our coming to terms with the idea that teaching in higher education has assumed new trappings due largely to what some call disruptive technologies. Based on this evolution, Laurillard challenges her readers to think about teaching as a design science which, like the practice of architecture and other design sciences, requires the use of creative and evidence-based ways to improve what we do in the role of teacher. While most readers will be convinced by Laurillard—the credibility of her work is well acknowledged—a larger problem remains: our institutions and systems do not, generally, support this conceptualization of teaching. Thus, those who embrace teaching as design muddle through and their discoveries and experiences often remain unnoted. However, by representing and communicating their ideas as meaningfully structured pedagogical patterns, teachers could develop this vital professional knowledge. Inciting teachers to find their individual and collective voices and to share their knowledge of teaching as design is Laurillard’s call to her readers. Early in her book, Laurillard tells the reader that “the arrival of digital technology over the past three decades… has been a shock to the educational system” (p. 2). This recognition of the jarring and transformational impact of technology on contemporary teaching is Laurillard’s starting point. It is not enough for teachers to simply get over the shock; teachers must assume a position of strength by doing two things: understanding the role and purpose of education in the twenty-first century and choosing not to succumb to the fancy and inventiveness of other fields. In order to cultivate this position of strength, according to Laurillard, we need to learn about learning as a formal experience. While informal learning has assumed a place of increasing importance in our lives over the last few decades, formal learning is what teachers, for the most part, facilitate. In addition, understanding the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of teachers and students as well as what each group brings to the process is pivotal to this strength building exercise. Laurillard also emphasizes—and rightfully so—the power of motivation in the educational experience. Laurillard’s Conversational Model, first developed as a means of challenging the use of new technologies in learning (Laurillard, 2002), is presented at about mid-point in the book. According to Laurillard, the model describes “what it takes to create an effective learning design” which “can also act as a design analysis tool” (p. 100). While some readers will embrace Laurillard’s model and see its relevance in assisting teachers in representing, testing, and sharing their teaching designs, others may be put off by the model’s complexity and/ or wonder about the possibility of self-promotion by Laurillard. This latter criticism derives from the author’s reference to other models but her neglect in discussing them in relation to the Conversational Model. A particular strength, for this reviewer’s taste, is Laurillard’s observation that teachers and others in the educational field should be beyond the point of continuing to separate digital and other technologies in practice. Implicit, of course, in this statement is that some educators do not. For those who do, though, Laurillard’s point of view is refreshing. She also emphasizes careful use of language; for instance, her preference is to talk about design for learning rather than instructional design. The former puts emphasis on the outcome of the design process while the latter is grounded in one kind of teaching and learning, one that has lost some favour over the last twenty years. In the second half of her book, Laurillard visits the research evidence on ways of learning that readers will be familiar with: learning through acquisition, inquiry, discussion, practice, and collaboration. In her discussions, each approach to learning is considered in relation to the notion of pedagogical pattern and the capacity of digital technologies to support learning. In order to discuss a pedagogical pattern, there needs to be clear articulation of the design criteria, the properties of the teaching and learning activities, and the capabilities of all digital and conventional technologies used in the experience. In her final chapter, Laurillard returns to where she began, to the viewpoint that teaching is a design science through which teachers help not only with understanding of the world but with improving it. This perspective lifts teaching out of the context of being a kind of craft where each teacher does his or her best but largely without the support of an ongoing community of practice. It is this kind of culture that Laurillard challenges the reader to change. Moreover, she points out that, in unprecedented fashion, the digital technologies require us to think about teaching as a design science and that the vast ambitions of national and international organizations to enable learning around the world dictate that we have no choice but to approach education as a design enterprise. There are significant strengths in Laurillard’s book including its emphasis on teaching as a profession with capacity to better the world and her indisputable knowledge of the literature in relation to teaching and digital technologies. Some readers, however, may be troubled by the centrality of Laurillard’s own Conversational Model to the book; language that can be inaccessible given its theoretical and even jargon-like nature; and exclusion of understandings of teaching as an intensely personal craft. Still, Laurillard’s emphasis on thinking about teaching, pedagogy and design, the place and purpose of digital technologies, and the need for a culture of sharing and support at this staggeringly exciting time in education make this book well worth the investment of time by readers. Lorraine Carter is the Director of the Centre for Flexible Teaching and Learning at Nipissing University in North Bay, ON. E-mail: lorrainec@nipissingu.ca

Teaching as a design science: Building pedagogical patterns for learning and technology.

Diana Laurillard, 2012. Taylor & Francis/Routledge, New York. ISBN: 978-0-415-80387-8 (paper).

Lorraine Mary Carter

VOL. 27, No. 1

Diana Laurillard’s Teaching as a design science: Building pedagogical patterns for learning and technology (2012) is a conscientious and highly informed exploration of a twenty-first century teaching conundrum: our coming to terms with the idea that teaching in higher education has assumed new trappings due largely to what some call disruptive technologies. Based on this evolution, Laurillard challenges her readers to think about teaching as a design science which, like the practice of architecture and other design sciences, requires the use of creative and evidence-based ways to improve what we do in the role of teacher. While most readers will be convinced by Laurillard—the credibility of her work is well acknowledged—a larger problem remains: our institutions and systems do not, generally, support this conceptualization of teaching. Thus, those who embrace teaching as design muddle through and their discoveries and experiences often remain unnoted. However, by representing and communicating their ideas as meaningfully structured pedagogical patterns, teachers could develop this vital professional knowledge. Inciting teachers to find their individual and collective voices and to share their knowledge of teaching as design is Laurillard’s call to her readers.

Early in her book, Laurillard tells the reader that “the arrival of digital technology over the past three decades… has been a shock to the educational system” (p. 2). This recognition of the jarring and transformational impact of technology on contemporary teaching is Laurillard’s starting point. It is not enough for teachers to simply get over the shock; teachers must assume a position of strength by doing two things: understanding the role and purpose of education in the twenty-first century and choosing not to succumb to the fancy and inventiveness of other fields.

In order to cultivate this position of strength, according to Laurillard, we need to learn about learning as a formal experience. While informal learning has assumed a place of increasing importance in our lives over the last few decades, formal learning is what teachers, for the most part, facilitate. In addition, understanding the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of teachers and students as well as what each group brings to the process is pivotal to this strength building exercise. Laurillard also emphasizes—and rightfully so—the power of motivation in the educational experience.

Laurillard’s Conversational Model, first developed as a means of challenging the use of new technologies in learning (Laurillard, 2002), is presented at about mid-point in the book. According to Laurillard, the model describes “what it takes to create an effective learning design” which “can also act as a design analysis tool” (p. 100). While some readers will embrace Laurillard’s model and see its relevance in assisting teachers in representing, testing, and sharing their teaching designs, others may be put off by the model’s complexity and/ or wonder about the possibility of self-promotion by Laurillard. This latter criticism derives from the author’s reference to other models but her neglect in discussing them in relation to the Conversational Model.

A particular strength, for this reviewer’s taste, is Laurillard’s observation that teachers and others in the educational field should be beyond the point of continuing to separate digital and other technologies in practice. Implicit, of course, in this statement is that some educators do not. For those who do, though, Laurillard’s point of view is refreshing. She also emphasizes careful use of language; for instance, her preference is to talk about design for learning rather than instructional design. The former puts emphasis on the outcome of the design process while the latter is grounded in one kind of teaching and learning, one that has lost some favour over the last twenty years.

In the second half of her book, Laurillard visits the research evidence on ways of learning that readers will be familiar with: learning through acquisition, inquiry, discussion, practice, and collaboration. In her discussions, each approach to learning is considered in relation to the notion of pedagogical pattern and the capacity of digital technologies to support learning. In order to discuss a pedagogical pattern, there needs to be clear articulation of the design criteria, the properties of the teaching and learning activities, and the capabilities of all digital and conventional technologies used in the experience. In her final chapter, Laurillard returns to where she began, to the viewpoint that teaching is a design science through which teachers help not only with understanding of the world but with improving it. This perspective lifts teaching out of the context of being a kind of craft where each teacher does his or her best but largely without the support of an ongoing community of practice. It is this kind of culture that Laurillard challenges the reader to change. Moreover, she points out that, in unprecedented fashion, the digital technologies require us to think about teaching as a design science and that the vast ambitions of national and international organizations to enable learning around the world dictate that we have no choice but to approach education as a design enterprise.

There are significant strengths in Laurillard’s book including its emphasis on teaching as a profession with capacity to better the world and her indisputable knowledge of the literature in relation to teaching and digital technologies. Some readers, however, may be troubled by the centrality of Laurillard’s own Conversational Model to the book; language that can be inaccessible given its theoretical and even jargon-like nature; and exclusion of understandings of teaching as an intensely personal craft. Still, Laurillard’s emphasis on thinking about teaching, pedagogy and design, the place and purpose of digital technologies, and the need for a culture of sharing and support at this staggeringly exciting time in education make this book well worth the investment of time by readers.

Lorraine Carter is the Director of the Centre for Flexible Teaching and Learning at Nipissing University in North Bay, ON. E-mail: lorrainec@nipissingu.ca