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2015: ASCILITE 2015 Conference Proceedings: Globally connected, digitally enabled

 

 

 

 

The proceedings of the 2015 ASCILITE Conference: Globally connected, digitally enabled

T. Reiners, B.R. von Konsky, D. Gibson, V. Chang, L. Irving, & K. Clarke (Eds.)

Globally connected, digitally enabled. Proceedings ASCILITE 2015 Perth

Curtin University, Perth, Australia

November 29 - December 2, 2015

ASCILITE2015 Conference Website https://2015conference.ascilite.org/

Published: 27 November 2015

ASCILITE Conference - Concise Papers

  • Exploring my university students’ online learning activities in Wikis

    Choon Lang Gwendoline Quek, Cong Liu

    Students’ responses in an online learning environment serve as a powerful means to communicate feedback to instructors’ instructional design and facilitation of student learning. This study tapped on the metadata in wikis (supported by Google Sites) as online classroom data to investigate 72 university students’ online learning activities performed for their module weekly. The students were engaged most frequently in commenting and editing, but least frequently in updating and recovering files. Trends of students’ responses towards online learning over four semesters provided an insight for instructors to reflect on the appropriateness of their design and types of learning activities for their students.

    Read article: Exploring my university students’ online learning activities in Wikis

  • Learning to swim in an ocean of student data

    Carol Russel

    Like other Australian universities, Western Sydney University collects a large amount of data on student learning experiences, including their use of technologies. For busy discipline academics the task of mining and analysing all the data, to create meaningful evidence that informs teaching practice, can seem overwhelming. Graphs of responses to multiple choice questions are relatively straightforward to generate and share. But text comments in response to open-ended questions, although potentially very revealing, are often not used systematically. The University is making both quantitative and qualitative student survey responses available in a format that teaching staff can access directly through an institutional data dashboard. There has been some progress and there are some challenges. During 2015 we have been aiming to encourage teaching staff not just to dip their toes in the water but to take the plunge and use both quantitative and qualitative data actively and with purpose.

    Read article: Learning to swim in an ocean of student data

  • Benchmarking for technology enhanced learning: Longer term benefits

    Michael Sankey

    It is one thing to undertake Benchmarking in the areas of technology enhanced learning (TEL) as a one-off activity, but it is quite another to build this form of activity into your strategy for future and long-term growth at an institution. This paper reports on a follow up study conducted in 2015 with 22 of the 24 institutions who first participated in major inter-institutional benchmarking activity in June 2014, using the ACODE Benchmarks. The study was conducted eight months after the initial activity to understand how the institutions that had participated in the initial activity had used this to build their capacity for future growth. It will provide evidence of the longer-term value of this type of activity and will conclude with a series of recommendations on how an institution may apply this methodology to enhance its capacity to deal with the rapidly changing TEL space.

    Read article: Benchmarking for technology enhanced learning: Longer term benefits

  • Building a framework for improved workplace assessment practice and better outcomes through online platforms

    Mark Schier, Louise Dunn

    This paper discusses the development of an online platform used to build upon an existing system for assessing student workplace learning. It includes the background and rationale for the project, an overview of a rubric developed for the purpose of improving the understanding of the assessment criteria for all stakeholders. Our aim was to improve the pedagogical approach to student workplace learning in order to enhance learning outcomes for students as well as providing benefits to the university and workplace supervisors. To do this, we created a streamlined approach to assessment within the LMS at our university (Blackboard) enabling students to upload and submit their WIL portfolios. A more consistent process for academic supervisors to grade and provide timely feedback to the students, greater clarity in assessment requirements for students and workplace supervisors appears to have has been well achieved.

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  • Promoting Critical Thinking in a Large Class through Outcomes-Based Approach by Means of an Audience Response System

    Teck Keong Seow, Swee Kit Alan Soong

    One of the first considerations that comes to bear in the design of a new course will inevitably be the learning outcomes. Some of the learning outcomes are specifically related to the subject matter while others may be more broad-based goals like the honing of critical thinking skills. The General Biology course that is offered at the National University of Singapore (NUS) is one such course in which the promotion of critical thinking skills is incrementally weaved into the various learning activities and assessment components of the course. The large enrolment of the course also necessitates taking into consideration the affordances of technology in the outcomes-based design of the course. This paper aims to share how the General Biology course, using the topic of fermentation as an example, could be designed using outcomes-based approach, with learning activities supported by an audience response system, in order to promote critical thinking in a large class setting. As this is a work-in-progress project, some preliminary findings from the feedback of the students of the course are presented here.

    Read article: Promoting Critical Thinking in a Large Class through Outcomes-Based Approach by Means of an Audience Response System

  • Digital andragogy: A 21st century approach to tertiary education

    Rachel Sheffield, Susan Ellen Blackley

    This paper revisits the term “andragogy” (adult education) and develops new ways of working in tertiary education based upon an analysis of the skills and dispositions of 21st century learners through the lens of adult education, and the affordances of readily accessible digital technologies. These ways of working constitute what we term “digital andragogy”. In order to engage and retain students and revitalise tertiary education, lecturers need to take account of the profiles of their learners and seek to create learning spaces that best suit their needs and wants. We posit that tertiary learners should be encouraged and supported to transition from pedagogical practices experienced in their school years to tertiary education contexts for learning that are grounded in digital andragogy. Described in this paper is a proof-of-concept project that is currently being undertaken with 88 undergraduate students in a Bachelor of Education Primary course.

    Read article: Digital andragogy: A 21st century approach to tertiary education

  • Blended Learning Adoption Monitoring

    Simon Douglas Smith

    A debate exists regarding blended learning definitions; current research relies heavily on concepts developed in online and distance education contexts. A recent review of blended learning studies reveals that colleges and universities do not readily keep records of who teaches blended courses, and faculty are not fully cognizant of whether they are teaching in blended learning format (Skrypnyk et al, 2015). Driven by needs such as improved course delivery and student retention, tertiary institutions are strategically increasing their blended learning offerings, yet there exists no widely accepted reporting mechanism to monitor blended learning adoption. This paper introduces a practical method for monitoring blended learning adoption at an institution, and recommends an approach towards semi-automating the process.

    Read article: Blended Learning Adoption Monitoring

  • The value of digital critical reflection to global citizenship and global health

    Lee Stoner

    This paper will contend that digital critical reflection can play a key role in tackling contemporary global health concerns. More specifically, institutes of higher education can utilize study abroad to foster global citizenship, which in turn may empower students to become civically engaged and potentially drive social change. However, global citizenship, as an educational outcome, is optimally facilitated when educational experiences are married with appropriate pedagogy, including the shaping of subsequent understandings and actions with critical reflection. This paper will discuss a pre-existing global health study abroad course, and outline: (1) why critical reflection is an essential step to fostering global citizenship, and (2) how digital story telling is being utilized to enrich the critical reflection process.

    Read article: The value of digital critical reflection to global citizenship and global health

  • Authentic context as a foundation for gamification and game-based learning

    Hanna Teräs, Marko Teräs, Jarmo Viteli

    Engage learners, the results of these endeavours are varied and there is still limited understanding of the success factors and design principles of pedagogically meaningful gamified and game-based learning Gamified and game-based learning are becoming increasingly widespread in formal education. While the primary motivation for employing gamification and game-based learning tends to be the attempt to motivate and. This paper suggests that understanding the role of an authentic context is a useful starting point for a meaningful gamified learning design. Drawing from human-computer interaction and educational research in situated and authentic learning it proposes the first steps for a roadmap towards a deeper understanding of the phenomena of gamification and game-based learning, venturing beyond the “fun factor”.

    Read article: Authentic context as a foundation for gamification and game-based learning

  • A gamified eLearning approach to teaching food regulation

    Danielle Teychenne

    Knowledge of food regulation in Australia and New Zealand is fundamental for higher education nutrition students. Despite its importance, students are often disengaged with the learning content as it involves legislation, regulatory bodies, complex application procedures, food safety testing and political debates that often dismiss scientific fact. At a university in Victoria, students were taught this content in a passive, 2-hour, face-to-face lecture. This lecture did not provide any active learning opportunities for the students to apply their newfound knowledge. This paper describes a proposed pilot project to address learner disengagement through a gamified eLearning tool, The Story of Hemp. This digitally immersive teaching approach aims to reengage students with a real world context for their learning, leaving them with a greater sense of identity and significance as budding nutritionists.

    Read article: A gamified eLearning approach to teaching food regulation

  • Pre-service teachers’ reflections on their participation in 1:1 laptop programs

    Rebecca Maria Walker, Susan Ellen Blackley

    A number of government and non-government schools have implemented a one-laptopper-student (1:1) policy. Whilst there was initial interest in the implementation of these programs, little has been done to track the uptake of digital learning technologies afforded by access to the laptops. This study examined tertiary students’ reflections on their experiences with 1:1 laptop programs after graduating from secondary school and at the commencement of their Bachelor of Education course. It is an extension of a previous study conducted by the researchers (authors, 2015) that presented findings about teachers’ use of laptops in 1:1 laptop program schools. The objectives of this second-phase research were to: 1) Capture recollections of the students’ experience of 1:1 laptop programs, 2) Categorise these recollections into positive and negative experiences, 3) Investigate the impact of 1:1 laptop programs on students’ perceptions of teaching with ICTs and their personal learning at University.

    Read article: Pre-service teachers’ reflections on their participation in 1:1 laptop programs

  • Mind the Gap: Exploring knowledge decay in online sequential mathematics courses

    Brian Webby, Diana Quinn, Amie Albrecht, Kevin White

    Open access, digitally-enabled learning can provide freedom and choice for new learners - not only in how and what they study, but when. With this freedom comes risk. One potential risk lies in the timing of enrolment in courses, particularly where fundamental knowledge is built across a year and where extended gaps between sequential courses might cause knowledge decay. Mathematics may be susceptible here. Our concerns were allayed; an examination of data suggested that new students preferentially minimise gaps and found no significant evidence for knowledge decay over periods of up to 12 months. Nevertheless, to support student learning in open online learning environments, it could be important to provide resources for student self-assessment of knowledge deficiencies, and the facility to refresh and regain understanding.

    Read article: Mind the Gap: Exploring knowledge decay in online sequential mathematics courses

  • Clearing the Fog: A Learning Analytics Code of Practice

    Simon Welsh, Stewart McKinney

    Learning Analytics is an area of practice that impacts the legal and ethical obligations of educational institutions. New legislative regimes, growing concern about online privacy, and the affordances of the data being collected mean Learning Analytics could represent a risk to universities to the same extent that it represents an opportunity. These risks augur the need for institutions to develop formal practice and/or policy frameworks around Learning Analytics to define supported practice, actively manage risks and begin to build trust and ethical practice through transparency. There is a danger for Australian universities that the development of such “checks and balances” are not keeping pace with the technological advancements in this field. This paper outlines how one university is seeking to provide a frame for lawful and ethical practice of Learning Analytics through a Code of Practice.

    Read article: Clearing the Fog: A Learning Analytics Code of Practice

Showing 66–78 of 124 articles