Delivering Health Education via the Web: Design and Formative Evaluation of a Discourse-based Learning Environment

Constructivist learning theory suggests that important components of the learning process are learner interaction and discourse. The nature of health education is such that emphasis is placed on discussion of health attitudes, beliefs, values, and behaviours as a key instructional strategy. It follows then, that health education learning environments designed using constructivist learning principles and employing instructional strategies that allow for learner discourse and interaction should contribute to knowledge construction and attitude change. The rapid development of the World Wide Web and its increasing use for educational purposes provides a unique medium for such a learning environment. This increasing utilisation of the Web, particularly in the tertiary setting, allows instructors to explore ways of taking advantage of the Web’s potential to provide for learning experiences that go beyond that possible in the traditional classroom environment. Enhancements to the tertiary learning experience that can be realised with Web technologies include: (1) direct access to a variety of international resources on a broad range of topics; (2) access to a learning environment that is not limited to scheduled lecture and tutorial hours; (3) opportunities for a variety of learning activities including small group discussion and collaborative projects; and (4) exposure to and a forum for expressing and discussing different beliefs and attitudes. However, while a number of tertiary institutions are now incorporating these enhancements with Web pages and Web-based instruction in subjects, there is limited research that demonstrates the efficacy of the Web as an instructional technology. Furthermore, there is little documented evidence of the efficacy of the communication capabilities of the Web in facilitating knowledge construction and attitude change in the area of health education. This paper describes the development and formative evaluation of a World Wide Web learning environment designed to realise the potential of learner discourse in facilitating knowledge construction and attitude change within an undergraduate health education subject. The theoretical basis for the design of learning activities and a prototype Web environment will be outlined and the methodology, findings and implications of the formative evaluation for the learning activities and interface design will be presented.