Entries by Proceedings

Small Steps over Time: Energizing Students by Infusing Innovative Practices into Universities within a Transitional Country

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Judy S. Richardson, Language Center, South Eastern European University, Macedonia, and Virginia Commonwealth University, USA Abstract Innovation energizes instruction, transcending a lecture-only and often boring approach to learning. But when students and professors are entrenched in a professor-centered system, how can change be accomplished? This paper explains, via examples and stories, practices university students have […]

Margins for Flexibility and Zones of Evolution in Transition: Exploring Students’ Conceptions and Experiences of HE Learning

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Christine Smith, Quality Enhancement: University Campus Suffolk, UK Abstract This paper reports on a study of first year students’ conceptions and experiences of higher education (hereafter HE) and student engagement, linked to the transition from the secondary to the post-secondary learning environment. Facets of student engagement provide a thematic frame for analysis: active learning; academic […]

Gamification for Enhancing Student Motivation: Research Reflections

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Richard Taylor, Higher Colleges of Technology, United Arab Emirates Abstract Gamification is the application of game elements (such as rewards, rapid feedback cycles, and competition elements) to a non-game context in order to motivate users and engage them in activities that they would otherwise find boring. It is exactly this aspect of gamification that has […]

The Role of SoTL in Classroom Innovation

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Anne Tierney, School of Education, University of Durham, UK Abstract The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) is being promoted as an activity for teaching-focused academics in the UK. However, support for SoTL is not a priority for most institutions, and formal provision for such support may not extend beyond the postgraduate certificate in higher […]

The Power of Self-reflection – Travelling the Hero’s Journey

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Julie Willans,* Academic Learning Services Unit, CQUniversity, Australia Abstract A simple, self-reflective tool that has been used very effectively for well over a decade in a regional Australian pre-university preparatory program (STEPS) is the use of the metaphor of the Hero’s Journey (Vogler, 2007). STEPS teachers use this collaborative tool during term time to assist […]

El Método de Casos: Hacia un Apredizaje Mejor

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Resumen
El método de casos resulta uno de los más eficaces para el aprendizaje activo, porque involucre a los estudiantes en el proceso inquisitivo, que es la actividad clave del aprendizaje. También lo es de la investigación científica, así que los métodos inquisitivos que emplean los profesores en sus trabajos de investigación pueden ser finalmente casi los mismos que los métodos empleados en la enseñanza. Pero, el hacerlo bien resulta muchas veces difícil. Y desafortunadamente, cuando se hace mal, este método puede conducer a resultados peores que los de la pedagogía tradicional. Por eso, cuando se habla de innovación se necesita tratar no sólo sus métodos, sino prepararse para utilizarlos también. Por muy útil e indispensable que sea la innovación pedagógica, su práctica requiera esfuerzos y un largo aprendizaje por parte de los profesores. Incluso para muchos, será necesario aprender otra vez a enseñar.

Reflection on Action: A Scholarly Activity to Ensure Quality in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: The Case of Universidad de La Serena

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Abstract:
Improving professional development in higher education is of vital importance, especially when seen in the context of (a) the increase in the number of students entering the university system in Chile who are insufficiently prepared for their studies, and (b) the increase in the number of higher education faculty hired to teach for the first time. The present study aims at summarizing the experience of the Teaching Center at the Universidad de La Serena in providing faculty with institutional
support to reflect on their teaching, i.e., to undertake a scholarly examination of the teaching-learning process in higher education.

Strategies for Applying Active Learning

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Abstract
Cooperative learning (aprendizaje cooperativo or AC in Spanish) is one of the strategies for active learning. Successful implementation requires the teacher to master its five components; to design a learning-teaching experience; and to nurture the class environment. In this regard, we offer a summary of experience gathered during the training of professors and student assistants, where the AC was assumed to be the guiding axis along which the class activities were designed and put into practice, and where the study of the pedagogical practice was considered essential for improving the curriculum.

Estrategias para la Aplicación de Aprendizaje Activo

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Resumen
El aprendizaje cooperativo (AC) es una de las estrategias de aprendizaje activo y para implementarlo, es necesario que el docente tenga una comprensión acabada de sus cinco componentes, que diseñe la experiencia de aprendizaje enseñanza y que propicie el ambiente de clase. Al respecto, se ofrece un resumen de la experiencia recogida en la formación de docentes y ayudantes universitarios en donde el AC se ha asumido como eje a partir del cual se diseñan e implementan las actividades de aula y en donde la investigación sobre la propia práctica pedagógica se considera esencial para la mejora del currículum.

Teaching Project: “A Students’ Travel Guide to the History of the Island of Rhodes“

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Abstract

This paper follows a teaching project realized during spring term 2007 from its conception to the final realization. The class “Rhodes – Platform of Cultural Encounters in the Eastern Mediterranean” was combined with a one week excursion to Rhodes and co-organized with Birgit Gufler from the Department of Ancient History. Since students often only tolerate paper presentations as a necessary task we tried to challenge them by (1) letting them elaborate our sightseeing program for the excursion together with us and by (2) asking them to elaborate their papers in the form of a “travel guide” that was then published on the department homepage.