Vol. 17 No. 1 (2020)
Published:
1 January 2020
Articles
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Peer-pairing sessional staff in a large first year Science unit as a form of supportive academic development
This study evaluated how the pairing of sessional teaching staff in a large first-year undergraduate science subject provided context-specific professional development for sessional teaching staff. We used a likert-scale questionnaire to
This study evaluated how the pairing of sessional teaching staff in a large first-year undergraduate science subject provided context-specific professional development for sessional teaching staff. We used a likert-scale questionnaire to ask sessional staff to rate how effectively peer-pairing in the classroom contributed to a range of teaching skills and capacities. Irrespective of the level of teaching experience, all sessional teaching staff rated the pairings as very beneficial to extremely beneficial for support with subject content. Lesser-experienced peers also found the pairings to be very beneficial to extremely beneficial for developing classroom management and student interaction techniques. This evaluation of peer-pairing in a large first-year science subject demonstrates the strategy can be an effective means of providing teaching development opportunities for sessional teaching staff, and facilitates particular teacher-student interactions to engage students in discipline-based discourse about their learning and their transition to university life
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Facebook in tertiary education: The impact of social media in e-Learning
The present study provides insights on the impact of using Facebook in e-learning higher education postgraduate programs. More specifically, the study (1) presents the status quo of Facebook in higher education, (2) explores the nature of
The present study provides insights on the impact of using Facebook in e-learning higher education postgraduate programs. More specifically, the study (1) presents the status quo of Facebook in higher education, (2) explores the nature of Facebook in e-learning, and (3) investigates the effects of Facebook on learning community, focusing on their viewpoints. The findings reveal that the majority of the students think favorably of Facebook groups as they conveniently supplement Learning Management Systems (LMS). The survey also indicates that there was an interactive learning element to the use of Facebook that made it more appealing than their university’s Course Management System (CMS) to use during the course.
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Shared learning objectives in interdisciplinary projects: Game design in a Sino-Scandinavian context
The learning goals of project-based courses are typically specific for each involved discipline. Game development is deeply interdisciplinary and some of its core principles are shared across disciplines, from art to programming. This
The learning goals of project-based courses are typically specific for each involved discipline. Game development is deeply interdisciplinary and some of its core principles are shared across disciplines, from art to programming. This article presents a project-based approach where students majoring in arts and students majoring in technology share learning objectives. The course has been developed in a Sino-Scandinavian collaboration. Experiences from well-established Scandinavian game development programmes have been transferred to a Chinese university context. This article presents an explorative mixed method evaluation of this course. The research design had two phases with an initial qualitative analysis resulting in a set of observations that were tested in the second, quantitative phase. A total of 34 students from a range of disciplines participated in a two week course. The quantitative analysis shows that art (n=13) and technology (n=14) students' reported very similar experiences and similar insights into core learning objectives. This study shows that deeply interdisciplinary project-based courses, with shared learning objectives can successfully be conducted even in a context with no prior experience of such approaches.
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Enhancing the learning performance of passive learners in a Financial Management class using Problem-Based Learning
This study aims to implement a problem-based learning method and investigate how this method enhances students’ learning performance, specifically in self-regulated learning and higher-order thinking skills for a Financial Management
This study aims to implement a problem-based learning method and investigate how this method enhances students’ learning performance, specifically in self-regulated learning and higher-order thinking skills for a Financial Management class, involving highly passive learners. The study adopted mixed methods, quasi-experimentally, by comparing a problem-based learning method with a conventional method, i.e. lecture-based learning. The results indicate that, alongside obtaining positive acceptance from the class, problem-based learning outperforms the conventional method by enhancing both students’ self-regulated learning and their higher-order thinking skills, although it lagged behind in maintaining students’ lower-order thinking skills. Future research into problem-based learning implementation in a similar learning context to this study should incorporate some adjustments, such as a more efficient curriculum design and a lower level of problem-based learning to ensure as many participants as possible, including slow learners, benefit optimally from learning through problem-based learning methods.
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The contribution of argumentation and critical thinking skills on students’ concept understanding in different learning models
We investigated the correlation between argumentation and critical thinking skills simultaneously on students’ understanding of basic biology concepts in classes taught by Argument-Driven Inquiry (ADI) and conventional learning models
We investigated the correlation between argumentation and critical thinking skills simultaneously on students’ understanding of basic biology concepts in classes taught by Argument-Driven Inquiry (ADI) and conventional learning models. This study involved 180 pre-service science teachers (18-19 years old) who undertook the basic biology course in the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, University of Lampung. Argumentation skills were measured using the Argumentation Skill Test and critical thinking skills were measured using the Critical Thinking Test, whereas understanding of basic biology concepts was measured using the Concept Understanding Test. Hierarchical multiple regressions revealed prospective effects of argumentation and critical thinking skills to support students’ understanding of basic biology concepts. In addition, the strong correlation between predictors simultaneous to the criteria found in ADI compared to conventional learning models. The lecturers should consider the empowerment of argumentation and critical thinking skills of students through the application of appropriate learning models.
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What do Master’s students’ structured reflections say about the learning processes involved in commencing a research project?
This study aims to unpack the reflective learning processes involved in developing a Masters’ research project proposal as part of a multidisciplinary Research Design course. Using inductive analysis, we explored students’ reflective blogs
This study aims to unpack the reflective learning processes involved in developing a Masters’ research project proposal as part of a multidisciplinary Research Design course. Using inductive analysis, we explored students’ reflective blogs written over a period of a semester and defined the reflections according to an adaptation of Hatton and Smith’s (1995) framework. Our findings are that the nature of each individual blog topic affected the quality and level of reflection, which in turn is affected by the ‘learning ecology’ (Harvey, Coulson, & McMaugh, 2016 p. 12). More highly scaffolded blogs showed greater evidence of reflective practice. Likewise the nature of the practice (starting research) influenced reflection, since many processes are internal rather than requiring explicit practice to reflect on. In addition, as nascent practitioner researchers, the students are also involved in reflexivity rather than reflection and therefore some topics encouraged this form of reflection more than others did. This study is significant in that it explores reflection in research and practitioner contexts, focuses on early career researchers/practitioners and brings a multidisciplinary perspective.
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Investigating students’ experiences of Students as Partners (SaP) for basic need fulfilment: A self-determination theory perspective
There is sufficient evidence that suggests Student as Partners’ (SaP) practices promote student motivation, engagement, and learning outcomes. This study attempts to understand the underlying mechanism of SaP and its potential to provide
There is sufficient evidence that suggests Student as Partners’ (SaP) practices promote student motivation, engagement, and learning outcomes. This study attempts to understand the underlying mechanism of SaP and its potential to provide the motivational foundation for the students who engage in it and produce quality outcomes. We employ the self-determination theory’s (SDT) framework to explain how the processes of partnership lead to students’ psychological need satisfaction (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) in order to develop and maintain motivation. The data for this proposition was utilised from the two case studies (Author et al 2018; Author et al., 2017) that were conducted in partnership with students. The three constructs, autonomy, competence, and relatedness served as the framework that guided the data analysis. The findings establish that the social contextual factors posited by SDT for students’ need satisfaction fittingly resonate with the principles and practices of SaP. Implications for SaP practitioners are discussed on how SaP can motivate students and sustain engagement