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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Beyond PBL: Using New Spaces and Learning Design to Improve Student Outcomes
/in #engagement, #learning, #pedagogical-philosophy, #students, #teaching, 2018 ProceedingsNicole 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
/in #eLearning, #learning, #students, #teaching, 2018 ProceedingsJiokapeci 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
/in #learning, #teaching, 2018 ProceedingsRosarine 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
/in #learning, #teaching, 2018 ProceedingsAzizur 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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How Faculty Student Partnerships Can Minimize Student Attrition and Enhance Research/Instruction
/in #certification, #evaluations, #learning, #teaching, #teamwork, 2015 ProceedingsClifford E. Tyler, School of Education, National University, USA
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-faculty partnerships, student retention, university accreditation
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Portable Hands-On Experiments in Geotechnical Education
/in #active-learning, #engagement, #learning, #teaching, 2015 ProceedingsWolfgang Fellin, Barbara Schneider-Muntau*, Getraud Medicus, Division of Geotechnical and Tunnel Engineering, Institute of Infrastructure, Department of Engineering Science, University of Innsbruck, Austria
An earlier version of this paper was awarded the IUT Poster Prize for 2015
Abstract
This article focuses on portable, hands-on experiments in geotechnical engineering that serve as an entry point into the tutorials in Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering at the University of Innsbruck. Ten small portable geotechnical experiments were developed to demonstrate geo-mechanical relations during class in a clear and comprehensible way. To determine the degree of student acceptance and possible learning benefits, the experiments were evaluated with a questionnaire. This evaluation showed that experiments in geo-mechanical engineering were well received and are appropriate visualization tools. The experiments were highly appreciated by the students, who reported that they helped to make the course material more comprehensible and clear.
Keywords: student engagement, STEM education, active learning
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How University Teachers Perceive Incentives and Obstacles in Modernizing Their Teaching
/in #engagement, #evaluations, #excellence, #incentives, #learning, #teaching, 2015 ProceedingsBarica Marentič Požarnik,* Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Abstract
What obstacles impede introducing necessary innovations in teaching in higher education? What can be done to overcome them? These basic questions were analyzed on the basis of opinions gathered from five groups of participants from different disciplines that attended a course on improving university teaching at the University of Ljubljana in 2013-2014. Those findings cannot be generalized, as participants represented a specially motivated group of teachers (they volunteered to attend the course). Nevertheless, they can give us some valuable insights into forces that shape university teachers’ everyday teaching practice.
Keywords: pedagogical excellence, faculty incentives, student evaluations
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Students’ Engagement in the Quality Assurance Procedures in Slovenian Higher Education
/in #engagement, #learning, #pedagogical-philosophy, #students, #teaching, #teamwork, 2015 ProceedingsKatarina 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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Computer Ethics: Its Necessity and Its Integration into the Curriculum
/in #assessment, #eLearning, #engagement, #faculty-development, #learning, #students, #teaching, 2015 ProceedingsMarion Ben-Jacob,* Department of Mathematics and Computer Sciences, Mercy College, USA
Abstract
Technological advances of this millennium have enabled enhanced learning experiences for students. Technology has and continues to be integrated into the educational environment from many perspectives and to different degrees. However, to facilitate the appropriate use of the power of technology in student learning, we need to integrate the study of computer ethics into the curriculum. This paper addresses the importance of computer ethics and discusses methodology and pedagogy that support student engagement, student-faculty teamwork, student assessment of the quality of the instruction, and the learning of this essential subject.
Keywords: student engagement, assessment, instructional technology, academic integrity
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A Critical Consideration of, and Research Agenda for, the Approach of “Students as Partners”
/in #engagement, #learning, #students, #teaching, 2015 ProceedingsColin Bryson,* Ruth Furlonger, and Fae Rinaldo-Langridge, Combined Honours Centre, Newcastle University, United Kingdom
Abstract
This paper that critically reviews the case for faculty-student partnership. We propose that fostering deeper engagement in students is the pre-requisite for transformational learning. The approach of students as partners may develop, and catalyse, such strong engagement. Thus far, what research there is on partnership has focused on a model of partnership in which a small number of students work with individual staff (Model A). This model has benefits but also defects. We propose a second model of partnership (Model B) where the intention is to involve all students in partnership. This offers a more inclusive approach to partnership through working with students in the curriculum itself. We consider and problematize the issues raised by both models of partnership and offer a research agenda.
Keywords: faculty-student partnership, student engagement
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