Beyond PBL: Using New Spaces and Learning Design to Improve Student Outcomes

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Nicole Mitchell, Educational Designer & Lecturer in Marketing; Phillip Ebbs,* Department of Paramedicine; Samantha Burbidge, Department of Paramedicine, Charles Sturt University, Australia

Abstract

Many universities seek to deliver an authentic learning experience for students by utilizing a Problem Based Learning (PBL) model. Over three years, we redesigned a paramedic pharmacology subject using PBL concepts and, in doing so, found we had journeyed beyond established PBL models. The new approach uses several different student experiences and learning spaces to implement PBL, including collaborative, research, simulation, online and off-campus spaces. Initial data also suggest high levels of student satisfaction. The “multi-space” approach to PBL subject would be suitable for further rigorous evaluation of the educational design and outcomes.

Keywords: paramedic, problem-based learning (PBL), experiential learning, pharmacology

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Communal Learning in a Virtual Village

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Jiokapeci Qalo-Qiolevu* and Rasarine Rafai, Oceania Centre for Arts, Culture, and Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific, Laucala Campus, Suva, Fiji

Abstract

This paper will discuss the collaborative teaching and learning methods used in our UU204 “Pacific Worlds” Course at the University of the South Pacific (USP)— a generic undergraduate course offered online at the 200 level. The course draws on a discussion forum called talanoa, as well as matai assessment. The latter draws on Pacific arts such as singing, dancing, painting and poetry, which students can utilize to depict a contemporary issue affecting their community, nation or the Pacific region. Under previous modes of learning, through face-to-face and print, the students were still separated by the vast Pacific Ocean. Now, however, this distance has been bridged by the “virtual village” of online learning.

Keywords: discussion, online learning, Pacific culture, talanoa, matai, assessment

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The Metaphorical Canoe: Navigating and Sharing Sacred Spaces

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Rosarine Rafai* and Jiokapeci Qalo-Qiolevu, Oceania Centre for Arts, Culture, and Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific, Laucala Campus, Suva, Fiji

Abstract

This paper will discuss the concept of the classroom as a metaphorical canoe, being a medium for cooperative teaching and learning in different spaces used in the UU204 “Pacific Worlds” Course—a generic undergraduate course at the University of the South Pacific (USP) in the online mode. In “Pacific Worlds” the canoe metaphor places the emphasis on the “journey rather than on the product or destination” and has been used to encourage co-operative learning and enhance a collaborative culture among the teachers and students. The paper will further look at past and present student experiences and comments on the course to ascertain how such a construct immerses, influences, and empower student learning.

Keywords: co-operative learning, Vygotsky, Pacific culture, decolonization, MOODLE

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Designing a Blended Teaching Environment in Higher Education: A Case Study in Statistics

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Azizur Rahman,* School of Computing and Mathematics, Charles Sturt University, Australia

Abstract

ThThis study focuses on a challenging area in designing the blended teaching strategies for enhancing student learning of a statistics subject at the university. Findings reveal that to design an effective blended and flexible learning (BFL) environment, educators need to understand learners’ attributes in detail, use appropriate pedagogical methods and teaching strategies, integrate different learning theories with technological and content knowledge, and align learning outcomes with teaching or learning activities and assessments. It also demonstrates a more holistic and state-of-the-art approach of BFL design in meeting the university’s goals towards offering BFL-based online education to the local and global students.

Keywords: blended and flexible learning, statistics, information technologies, online learning, Vygotsky

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