Abstract
M.Ed.
The aim of the study is to assess the response of distance education students to constructivist based texts and to recommend criteria for the writing of distance education study guides. The research includes a literature review which discusses constructivist theory, distance education theory and the implications of combining the two in the instructional design of study guides. The theory is then put into practice in the design of three texts, each emphasising a different aspect of constructivism. Data on the participants' responses were collected by means of video tapes, direct observation and audiotaped interviews. The main findings of the research are: the participants had unique learning styles, their weaknesses lay in the metacognitive areas and their strengths in problem solving, and the students appeared to be in a state of transition from a surface learning approach to a deep one. The conclusion to the research suggests criteria which the researcher feels are important to instructional design in distance education. The criteria are based on the need for distance education students to construct meaning for themselves. They include ways of using constructivist skills to develop greater autonomy in the learning process, for example methods and techniques to facilitate metacognitive skills. The criteria suggest that the introduction of distance education students to constructivist learning should be a gradual process These criteria will be instrumental in assisting writers of study guides to facilitate construction of meaning and independent, critical thinking in students.