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Patterns as an Analysis Framework to Document and Foster Excellent E-Learning Designs

Patterns as an Analysis Framework to Document and Foster Excellent E-Learning Designs

Christian Kohls
Copyright: © 2011 |Pages: 22
ISBN13: 9781609601447|ISBN10: 1609601440|EISBN13: 9781609601461
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60960-144-7.ch002
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MLA

Kohls, Christian. "Patterns as an Analysis Framework to Document and Foster Excellent E-Learning Designs." Investigations of E-Learning Patterns: Context Factors, Problems and Solutions, edited by Christian Kohls and Joachim Wedekind, IGI Global, 2011, pp. 19-40. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-60960-144-7.ch002

APA

Kohls, C. (2011). Patterns as an Analysis Framework to Document and Foster Excellent E-Learning Designs. In C. Kohls & J. Wedekind (Eds.), Investigations of E-Learning Patterns: Context Factors, Problems and Solutions (pp. 19-40). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-60960-144-7.ch002

Chicago

Kohls, Christian. "Patterns as an Analysis Framework to Document and Foster Excellent E-Learning Designs." In Investigations of E-Learning Patterns: Context Factors, Problems and Solutions, edited by Christian Kohls and Joachim Wedekind, 19-40. Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2011. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-60960-144-7.ch002

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Abstract

Patterns capture whole forms of good design. The question is, what makes a part whole and how can we analyze complex situations into self-contained patterns that can be re-used in new scenarios? In order to give an answer, this chapter first investigates the unfolding of structures into patterns. The gestalt principle that the sum is more than its parts is a ubiquitous concept in pattern theory. In this chapter, the importance of wholeness and organized structures is outlined. It is argued that the instances of a design pattern belong to a form category where the members share a characteristic structure with emergent gestalt qualities, rather than an abstract set of features. The symmetry of pattern instances needs to be described in a specific way that does not reduce the million ways in which a pattern can occur to an abstract representation. In order to be generative, a pattern description must describe the design space. Design patterns describe the variation, as well as the creation of forms, their constraints, and limits. Yet, patterns go beyond the mere description of forms. They also discuss the meaning of forms by interpreting them as solutions to problems. Different levels of problem types, their relation to forces, and multiple views on solutions will be discussed. The chapter will give an answer to why there are so many different description formats and show that they are all about capturing and analyzing whole forms.

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