Design and Practice of Presentation Training in Open Situation for University Students

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Aya Inaura,* & Hirotaka Uoi, Department of Digital Games, and Hiroshi Yokoyama, Department of Games & Media, Faculty of Information Science and Arts, Osaka Electro-Communication University, Japan

Abstract

In recent years, some colleges and universities in Japan have put effort into Presentation Training. Such training may concern not only presentations in class, but also competitions, contests, and workshops. At the Osaka Electro-Communication University, we designed a workshop for presentation training and practice that has been offered since 2012. It differs from other universities’ practices in featuring more varied audiences and presenters than customary. We believe that if we can supply presentation training in open situations for students, we can bring their presentation skills to a higher level.

Keywords: presentation training, workshop

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CSU Thinkspace: Using Media Articles within the Blogspace to Enhance Discourse in Accounting Education

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Jahanzeb Khan,* School of Accounting and Finance, & Pamela Roberts, Division of Student Learning, Faculty of Business, Justice, and Behavioural Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Australia

Abstract

This paper examines the potential of blogs to instil professional skills and perspectives that undergraduate accounting students require to become competent professionals in a global economy. Blogs provide a compelling platform for engaging teachers and students in discourse on media articles that examine real world accounting challenges, fallacies, and questionable practices. Blogs are an effective online learning technology that encourages critical thinking, reflection and formative feedback. Making use of CSU Thinkspace as a learning platform in an undergraduate accounting subject, preliminary evidence regarding the effectiveness of blogging for developing professional understandings and higher order thinking skills, is discussed.

Keywords: accounting, blog, professional ethics, distance learning

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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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Students’ Engagement in the Quality Assurance Procedures in Slovenian Higher Education

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Katarina Aškerc,* Center of the Republic of Slovenia for Mobility and European Educational and Training Programs, and Alenka Braček Lalić, Slovenian Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, Slovenia

Abstract

Slovenian higher education (hereafter HE) legislation ensures that students are relatively well integrated in different evaluation procedures as well as in decision- making on the national and on the institutional level. However, the analysis of the Slovenian Quality Assurance Agency’s (SQAA) 2013 report on quality in Slovenian higher education, which contains the evaluation of more than 100 reports, indicated that only one part of the students’ population is directly integrated in the higher education development and quality assurance (QA) procedures prepared by the SQAA experts on a basis of external evaluations, site visits, and initial accreditation procedures of Slovenian study programs and higher education institutions (HEI), and a pilot research conducted among 422 students of Slovenian HEIs.

Keywords: student engagement, institutional governance, pedagogical excellence

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Bridging the Gap between University and Business: The ESAU Project

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Néstor Lázaro,* Coordinator of the ESAU Project, Ana Bilbao-Goyoaga, Department of English and German Philology, Irene Barainca, Department of Financial Economy I, Pedro Gómez, Department of Financial Economy II, Izaskun Larrieta and Lorea Magureri, Department of Business Innovation and Management Assessment, Business School of Bilbao, University of the Basque Country, Spain

Abstract

Practice Firms Applied to University (ESAU) is a groundbreaking learning methodology in university education, with wide international projection and development. The Business School of Bilbao (University of the Basque Country – UPV/EHU) pioneers its implementation in Spain. Students participating in the ESAU project leave the conventional classroom to enter a company created and run by them in an international market. Under the motto “learning by doing, learning by working” this teaching tool rests on two methodological cornerstones: cooperative learning and learning based on problems or projects. Students thus become the main agents of their own learning, involved in the innovation process by facing situations of the real business world and collaborating in methodology design and improvement. We consider these key features that make the methodology bidirectional, dynamic, and customized to the particular needs of the team.

Keywords: business education, student engagement, problem-based learning

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Teaching and Learning Innovation Projects: Promoting Teacher Development and Innovation among Teachers and Students

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Roberto Espejo Leupin and José Mauricio Gónzalez-Suárez, Center for Innovation and Faculty Development, Andrés Bello University, Santiago, Chile

Abstract

In this paper presentation we discuss the experience of the teaching and learning innovation projects grants implemented by the Department of Innovation and Teacher Development (DITD) of the Office of the Vice-Rector of Academic Affairs of the University Andrés Bello, in Chile. These projects are focused on improving the quality of the teaching and learning processes between teachers and students through the implementation of creative ideas and strategies. However, they are also considered as a part of our faculty development system, being a space of teacher-development–in-practice, which brings together creativity, reflection, and research.

Keywords: teaching centers, faculty development, pedagogical philosophy

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