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 identified that energize their learning process. These practices are greatly effective but not difficult for professors to implement, if blended into a traditional model. The study, conducted in English Foreign Language methods courses, is mostly qualitative with quantitative aspects. For a country in transition, faced with many new regulations, small steps over time can make a difference in fostering student engagement.
Keywords: active learning, student engagement, teaching writing, ESL students
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Using Structured Reflection to Enhance Student Engagement and Professional Growth
/in #learning, #self-reflection, #students, #teaching, 2015 ProceedingsSlavko Cvetek,* Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Maribor, Slovenia
Abstract
This paper presents the findings of a small-scale study that aimed to identify areas of concern to students, future nurses, during their clinical practice in homes for the elderly. For this purpose, the author used a simplified version of critical incident analysis (Tripp, 1993). The study’s findings confirmed the value of structured reflection as a pedagogical tool in professional nurse education. Some potential areas of concern were identified in students’ reflective writings, such as lack of professionalism by some of the staff, and also maltreatment and neglect of care.
Keywords: medical education, nursing, self-reflection, critical thinking
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Bridging the Gap between University and Business: The ESAU Project
/in #business-education, #engagement, #learning, #pedagogical-philosophy, #problem-based, #students, #teaching, 2015 ProceedingsNéstor 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
/in #faculty-development, #learning, #pedagogical-philosophy, #students, #teaching, 2015 ProceedingsRoberto 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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Small Steps over Time: Energizing Students by Infusing Innovative Practices into Universities within a Transitional Country
/in #active-learning, #engagement, #ESL, #learning, #students, #teaching, #writing, 2015 ProceedingsJudy 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 identified that energize their learning process. These practices are greatly effective but not difficult for professors to implement, if blended into a traditional model. The study, conducted in English Foreign Language methods courses, is mostly qualitative with quantitative aspects. For a country in transition, faced with many new regulations, small steps over time can make a difference in fostering student engagement.
Keywords: active learning, student engagement, teaching writing, ESL students
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Margins for Flexibility and Zones of Evolution in Transition: Exploring Students’ Conceptions and Experiences of HE Learning
/in #active-learning, #engagement, #faculty-development, #learning, #students, #teaching, 2015 ProceedingsChristine 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 challenge; staff–student interactions; enriching educational experiences; supportive learning environments; and work–integrated learning. Two findings are highlighted. The first suggests the need for margins of flexibility in transition: aligned to individual student needs, recognizing the diversity of students’ prior academic and life experiences, and by consequence their capacity for independent learning. The second finding emphasizes zones of evolution in transition, that students see engagement as a professionally–oriented construct, in their “becoming” within the disciplinary field and from the outset of their HE study.
Keywords: student engagement, active learning, faculty-student relations
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Gamification for Enhancing Student Motivation: Research Reflections
/in #assessment, #engagement, #ESL, #gamification, #learning, #teaching, 2015 ProceedingsRichard 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 attracted the attention of educators seeking to design learning experiences that can engage learners and increase their motivation on a cognitive, emotional and social level. My research project aims to evaluate the effectiveness of gamification on higher education students’ engagement, motivation and academic attainment. This is a research project in progress, so in this paper I will describe the rationale for the study, the theoretical framework, the methodology, and the expected outcomes.
Keywords: gamification, assessment, student engagement, ESL instruction
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The Role of SoTL in Classroom Innovation
/in #faculty-development, #learning, #self-reflection, #teaching, 2015 ProceedingsAnne 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 education that is offered for new academic staff. This paper examines the experiences of SoTL of a group of twenty-one Life Sciences academics from a range of UK universities. It explores the role that SoTL has to play in developing classroom innovation in a structured and scholarly manner, and the consequences to both teaching staff and students, if SoTL is not supported as an academic activity throughout the careers of teaching-focused academics.
Keywords: faculty development, scholarship of teaching and learning, self-reflection
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The Power of Self-reflection – Travelling the Hero’s Journey
/in #engagement, #learning_skills, #self-reflection, 2015 ProceedingsJulie 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 students in “normalising” their STEPS journey. In tandem with the enjoyment and satisfaction many will likely experience, students are reassured there may be degrees of apprehension and confusion as they occupy a “not so sure space” (Meyer & Land, 2005, p. 5). However, it is in this space that challenge can result in significant personal transformation.
Keywords: learning skills, student engagement, self-reflection
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El Método de Casos: Hacia un Apredizaje Mejor
/in #learning, #students, #teaching, #writing, 2013 ProceedingsJames Wilkinson, Harvard University, USA
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.
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Reflection on Action: A Scholarly Activity to Ensure Quality in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: The Case of Universidad de La Serena
/in #careers, #certification, #learning, #students, #teaching, 2013 ProceedingsPamela Labra,* Rodrigo Fuentalba Jara, Ana María Vera, Jorge Fernández Labra, José Enrique Novoa, Jorge Pizarro Guerrero, Erika Zuñiga Fuentes, Claudia Toledo Robles, Oscar Robles González, Patricia Cortés Maldonado, Eric Troncoso Riquelme, Hernán Guiñez Guiñez, Luis Cortés Estrada, Moises Villablanca Villanueva, Ana María Villagrán Barrios, & Erico Wulf Betancourt, Universidad de La Serena, Chile
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.
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