Bridge21 – exploring the potential to foster intrinsic student motivation through a team-based,technology-mediated learning model

It is generally accepted that intrinsic student motivation is a critical requirement for effective learning but formal learning in school places a huge reliance on extrinsic motivation to focus the learner. This reliance on extrinsic motivation is driven by the pressure on formal schooling to ‘deliver to the test’. The experience of the use of ICT in formal learning is marked with a naive and largely unfulfilled assumption that it would of itself promote a ‘game-changing’ shift in student motivation. This study investigates the effectiveness of a team-based, technology-mediated model called Bridge21 to encourage intrinsic student motivation. The data for the study come from 425 secondary school students, average age 16 years, who participated in workshops of 3.5 days in duration. The workshops took place in an out-of-school learning environment in one academic year. Bridge21 seeks to provide a vehicle to allow the transfer of control of learning from the teacher to the team and in this way to encourage and promote student autonomy. The principal findings reported in this paper are that participation in the workshops had a direct positive impact on the students’ perceptions around their learning and on their intrinsic motivation to learn.     

Using the inquiry-based learning approach to enhance student innovativeness: a conceptual model

ABSTRACT

Individual innovativeness has become one of the most important employability skills for university graduates. In this paper, we focus on how students could be better prepared to be innovative in the workplace, and we argue that inquiry-based learning (IBL) – a pedagogical approach in which students follow the inquiry-based processes used by scientists to construct knowledge – can be effective for this purpose. Drawing on research which examines the social and cognitive micro-foundations of innovative behavior, we develop a conceptual model that links IBL and student innovativeness, and introduce three teacher-controlled design elements that can influence the strength of this relationship, namely whether an inquiry is open or closed, discovery-focused or information focused and individual or team-based. We argue that an open, discovery-focused and team-based inquiry offers the greatest potential for enhancing students’ skills in innovation. This paper has several implications for higher education research and practice.     

Enacting key skills-based curricula in secondary education: lessons from a technology-mediated,group-based learning initiative

Bridge21 is an innovative approach to learning for secondary education that was originally conceptualised as part of a social outreach intervention in the authors’ third-level institution whereby participants attended workshops at a dedicated learning space on campus focusing on a particular model of technology-mediated group-based learning. This paper analyses the current expansion of the Bridge21 project to mainstream schools against a backdrop of government-led reforms for lower secondary education in Ireland. The key skills central to the proposed reforms aim to make education more relevant to the challenges of twenty-first-century living and, among other goals, to empower students to think critically, communicate effectively and work collaboratively. This paper investigates the viability of the Bridge21 model in facilitating the promotion of a selection of these key skills within the context of two case study schools.     

团队学习的整合系统模型——基于复杂动态系统范式的国外研究成果整合性研究

在复杂动态系统范式的指导下, 我们采用多元科际研究法对国外团队学习的相关理论进行归纳和演绎, 提出了一个团队学习的整合系统模型.研究表明, 有效的团队学习需要团队成员间建立对话性空间, 在这个对话性空间中, "分享"、"协作建构"和"建设性冲突"等传播行为是平衡的.然而, 仅仅发现这一点是不够的.在团队学习中, "交流什么"、"跟谁交流"以及"为什么交流"等问题也是非常关键的.因此, 模型中"团队自反性"、"团队活动"、"边界跨越"、"存储"和"恢复"是团队学习的五个核心过程变量.除此之外, 我们的模型还对团队学习的输入、催化应急状态以及学习结果等因素也进行了整合.     

Personalised context-aware ubiquitous learning system for supporting effective English vocabulary learning

Because learning English is extremely popular in non-native English speaking countries, developing modern assisted-learning schemes that facilitate effective English learning is a critical issue in English-language education. Vocabulary learning is vital within English learning because vocabulary comprises the basic building blocks of English sentences. Therefore, numerous studies have attempted to increase the efficiency and performance of learning English vocabulary. ‘The situational learning approach’ proposed that ‘context’ is an important consideration in the language learning process and can enhance learner learning interest and efficiency. Restated, meaningful vocabulary learning occurs only when the learning process is integrated with social, cultural and life contexts. With the rapid development of context-awareness techniques, the development of context-aware mobile learning systems, which can support learners in learning without constraints of time or place via mobile devices and associate learning activities with real learning environment, enables the conduct of a novel context-aware ubiquitous learning mode to enhance English vocabulary learning. Accordingly, this study proposes a personalised context-aware ubiquitous learning system (PCULS) for learning English vocabulary based on learner location as detected by wireless positioning techniques, learning time, individual English vocabulary abilities and leisure time, enabling learners to adapt their learning content to effectively support English vocabulary learning in a school environment. Experimental results indicated that the accuracy of the employed wireless positioning scheme is over 92%, which is sufficient to help learners detect their locations. Additionally, the PCULS has been successfully implemented on PDA devices in a school environment to support effective situational English vocabulary learning. Experimental result indicates that the learning performance of learners who used personalised English vocabulary learning systems with context awareness (i.e. PCULS) was superior to learners who used personalised English vocabulary learning systems without context awareness.     

Teaching Research to MSW Students: Effectiveness of the Team-based Learning Pedagogy

Social work students often have been labeled as research-reluctant. Consequently, it is important to identify effective teaching strategies. One innovative strategy is team-based learning. The effectiveness of team-based learning has not yet been evaluated with a social work research class. As a result, the current study compared the effectiveness of team-based learning with that of other pedagogies. Findings suggest that team-based learning was not more effective than alternate pedagogies in increasing MSW students' intent to incorporate research into practice. Notably, the team-based learning approach was more effective in increasing research self-efficacy. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

Towards new understandings of learning disability

Abstract

This article highlights inherent difficulties in defining learning disability, particularly in South Africa. It traces the evolution of the category from ‘minimal brain damage’ through to the more current ‘learners with special educational needs’ and ‘learners with barriers to learning.’ Different definitions or attempts to describe the phenomenon ‘learning disability’ are reviewed. An overview of the current international research in the field is provided with particular reference to research that attempts to define learning disability. Much of this research is framed within the medical model, which has as its foundation positivism and empiricism. This results in research which is deficit-focused; in other words the focus is on pathology. A second reductionist model fragments the phenomenon of learning disability into discrete units, each of which is researched. It is suggested that, in re-thinking learning disability, the focus shifts away from the deficit, pathology based, reductionist focus currently held across disciplines.

The problem inherent in including the notion of ‘discrepancy between potential and performance’ in any definition is discussed, with particular reference to the measurement of ‘potential in South Africa's multicultural and multilingual learner population. The article ends with a proposal that there be a shift in focus to a panoptic view of the child: a view that takes in his strengths and talents. In so doing, the country may be better able to serve this growing population.

With the national shift towards inclusive education, there is a renewed focus on learners euphemistically called learners with special educational needs or the more ‘in vogue’ learners with barriers to learning. Yet what we mean when we bandy these terms about, how well we understand these learners, is questionable. The focus of this article is that sub-group of learners that educators and parents think are just not achieving as they should be achieving, despite themselves, that sub-group we identify as having ‘potential’ but not ‘performance’; that sub-group that we just cannot quite explain, we just cannot quite understand; that sub-group for whom support ranges from placement to pills to punishment!

This article critically evaluates the current understanding of the phenomenon of learning disability as it is understood in the South African context. It begins with an overview of the international research, with particular reference to the notion of definition. Thereafter, it makes comments on the term as it is used in South Africa. In conclusion, the article proposes the need for an alternative understanding of this group of learners.     

Enhancing critical thinking using team-based learning

This study examines students’ perceptions of the development of academic and critical thinking skills in college, with a specific focus on team-based learning (TBL), an active learning strategy designed to increase student interaction and engagement. Six hundred and fifty students in five different courses were surveyed at the beginning of the semester about the extent to which they felt the typical college course enhances various academic and critical thinking skills. These responses were compared to their responses after a semester of TBL regarding the extent to which the TBL environment enhanced these same skills. Students expressed significantly greater improvement in critical thinking skills in a TBL environment in comparison to typical courses for most of the skills assessed and greater improvement in all of these skills in comparison to lecture-based courses. These results held for every demographic subgroup examined, including males, females, freshman, sophomores, juniors and seniors, as well as all levels of academic achievement as measured by grade point average.     

Facilitating effective digital game-based learning behaviors and learning performances of students based on a collaborative knowledge construction strategy

Researchers have recognized the potential of educational computer games in improving students’ learning engagement and outcomes; however, facilitating effective learning behaviors during the gaming process remains an important and challenging issue. In this paper, a collaborative knowledge construction strategy was incorporated into an educational computer game to facilitate students’ knowledge sharing and organizing during the game-based learning process. An experiment was conducted to examine the students’ learning behavioral patterns, group efficacy, and problem-solving awareness. The experimental results revealed that the proposed approach improved the students’ learning achievements and awareness of problem-solving. Moreover, from the analysis of the students’ behavior sequences, it was found that, with the collaborative knowledge construction mechanism, the students revealed significantly more aggressive learning behavioral patterns, such as “comparing and observing the learning targets” and “seeking clues and answers” during the gaming process. This implies that integrating the collaborative knowledge construction mechanism into the gaming process has great potential for helping students effectively learn and organize knowledge as well as fostering their awareness of applying the acquired knowledge to dealing with problems.     

Hesitant hopes: How a comprehensive approach to learning impacts on the transition hopes of marginalised young people in an alternative learning programme in regional Australia

Concerns have been raised internationally about whether alternative learning programmes are producing low-skilled labourers for rapidly disappearing twenty-first-century jobs. Researchers claim that learners in alternative programmes are more at risk due to the focus on low-level vocational and basic skill attainment, with a lack of formal academic pathways available to them. This article questions whether and in what ways an alternative learning programme supports young people to achieve successful transitions to sustainable social mobility for informed citizenship through a holistic approach to learning; or if class stratification is being re/enforced through systems’ accountability discourses. Hesitant hopes in alternative learning are explored through an ethnographic study of one alternative learning programme across five sites in regional Australia. Contextually, not-for-profit community agencies provide physical infrastructures as well as youth workers and volunteers, while a publicly funded School of Distance Education provides teacher oversight of the curriculum. Findings suggest that the theme of ‘hesitant hope’ is constructed through the analysis of the discourses of supporting wellbeing, life skill development and academic learning. These discourses facilitate further analysis of the concept of social mobility, suggesting a conceptual starting point for an engaging critique of the differing perspectives on how support could be providing these marginalised young people with a sense of hope for a socially mobile future.     

Moving from opportunism to expediency when introducing action learning into an organisation

During my first year of practice as a new action learning facilitator undertaking an ‘ILM Level 5 Certificate in Action Learning Facilitation’, an innovative Individual Service Fund pilot was launched by ‘Certitude’, the organisation for which I work. The aim of this pilot was to enable people with learning disabilities and mental health needs in London to have more choice and control over their support. By recognising the opportunity that this pilot provided, I was able to design, introduce and facilitate an action learning intervention to develop the confidence of leaders and managers involved in implementing the pilot's project plan and in turn explore my own emerging practice. This paper focuses on my journey from an opportunistic to expedient action learning facilitator; responsible for introducing, planning and establishing a new model of learning and development in Certitude.     

Rethinking reflective practice in professional lifelong learning using learning metaphors

Studies relating to reflection and reflective practice in learning, specifically workplace learning, have gradually emerged from within the professional education literature. Evidence has seen a shift from an individualistic to a more collective approach to reflection, in an attempt to move away from viewing learning as an individual action. Simultaneously attention has been given to socio-cultural theories which view learning as social practice inherent in our everyday lives, including work. This paper aims to engage in the current debate regarding the polarised conceptualisations of reflective practice within the context of professional learning. Drawing on this debate, as well as on learning metaphors, this paper proposes that professionals should engage in collective reflective practice for both individual and organisational development within workplaces; locations which could be seen as increasingly ambiguous and unpredictable throughout individuals’ working lives. Hence, we need to rehabilitate and extend some of the key aspects of the traditional concept of reflective practice to accommodate the changing terrain of professional practice within an individual professional's lifelong learning.     

Successful learning: balancing self-regulation with instructional planning

Many recent studies have stressed the importance of teacher candidates’ (TCs) self-regulated learning (SRL) skills for successful learning. Because of the promising consequences of SRL for academic performance, teacher educators (TEs) are encouraged to increase TCs’ SRL opportunities in educational programs. Because of the difficulty and complexity for TEs to successfully guide TCs towards SRL, the present study contributes to the discussion how to best facilitate TEs in finding a balance between student- and teacher-control. For this purpose, a conceptual model is presented. The model draws upon literature related to the perspective of the learner, the teacher and the learning task. Besides the context of teacher education, the model is beneficial for higher education as well as teaching and teacher professionalization. It will help instructors provide a more balanced approach between teacher- and student-controlled learning, and support students develop essential SRL skills.     

Open educational resources in support of science learning: tools for inquiry and observation

This article focuses on the potential of free tools, particularly inquiry tools for influencing participation in twenty-first-century learning in science, as well as influencing the development of communities around tools. Two examples are presented: one on the development of an open source tool for structured inquiry learning that can bridge the formal/informal spaces for inquiry learning. This is contrasted with an example of the use of free tools and community development for observation of scientific phenomena supported by open educational resources (OER) with a citizen science perspective. The article provides an assessment of how the availability of the resources has a potential for shaping the communities using OER for science learning and a discussion of the means of supporting inquiry.     

团队合作学习在高职英语教学中的应用

为了能将团队合作教学应用于实际英语教学中,高职教师应该了解团队合作教学和传统意义上的小组教学的区别。针对高职学生英语学习中所存在的知识面狭窄、自卑感和缺乏团队意识的问题,这种教学方法能使高职生在合作学习、共享知识中体验学习乐趣、增强自信心和班级凝聚力。最后英语教师也能从重复机械解释工作中得以解脱和增强教学积极性的益处。     

The effect of an MSN agent on learning community and achievement

The use of instant messaging to support e-learning will continue to gain importance because of its speed, effectiveness, and low cost. This study developed an MSN agent to mediate and facilitate students' learning in a Web-based course. The students' acceptance of the MSN agent and its effect on learning community identification and learning achievement were investigated using the technology acceptance model. Results indicated that the MSN agent proved easy to use, and that students recognized its benefits with regard to their learning. In more detail, students perceived that the MSN agent would be beneficial to learning community identification, but this perceived usefulness had less effect on their learning achievement. However, it was found that perceived system usage of the MSN agent was significantly related to learning achievement, which differed from the result of analyzing students' perceived usefulness of the agent. Rather than using a systematic recording log, the perceived system usage of the MSN agent was measured through questionnaires. Interview feedback revealed that effective learning was related to the learners' engagement in the MSN agent and not just from their perceived usefulness of it. Therefore, the MSN agent could have more potential to facilitate students' learning in an online environment if learning activities related to study are designed to promote students' engagement.     

翻转课堂融合TBL应用在儿科临床教学中的探索

儿科临床教学是将儿科理论与实践有效结合的重要阶段,如何做好儿科临床教学工作,使学生能够更好地掌握儿科临床知识是一项艰巨的任务。文章探索翻转课堂融合TBL这种新颖的教学模式应用于儿科临床教学的可行性,从儿科临床教学的特点,翻转课堂融合TBL教学的实施过程,翻转课堂融合TBL教学的优点、存在的问题及解决的建议等方面进行论述,说明翻转课堂融合TBL教学是其他教学模式的补充、完善和优化,值得尝试。     

Everyone already has their community beyond the screen: reconceptualizing online learning and expanding boundaries

A constructivist learning paradigm emphasises authenticity as a required condition for learning. However, the design of an online learning environment is ultimately separate from learners’ real-life environments, it is inevitably challenging to make online learning authentic. In this article, the author aims to propose an alternative way of conceptualizing online learning and its boundaries, based on a double-layered Community of Practice model as a means to facilitate authentically constructivist online learning. The model conceptualizes online learning as interlinked processes of participation and socialization in multiple communities across online- and offline-“layers” of learners’ lives. The model guides online course designers in expanding the perceived boundaries of the course environments they design to include learners’ offline learning contexts. Instead of having an exclusive focus on providing learners with constructivist learning opportunities within a non-authentic course environment, the model suggests helping learners to engage in more personalized social learning activities situated in their everyday lives. The paper presents data from a series of case studies drawn from the author’s work that has examined students’ learning experiences in different kinds of online courses, unpacking and answering the central question of what authentically constructivist online learning looks like in each case. With a more holistic conceptualization of online learning, which recognizes and supports online learners’ simultaneous presence across internal and external communities, instructional designers may be able to facilitate learners’ more authentically constructivist learning experiences.     

Implementing a technology-supported model for cross-organisational learning and knowledge building for teachers

This study proposed using the elaborated learning and knowledge building model (LKB model) derived from Nonaka and Takeuchi’s knowledge management model for supporting cross-organisational teacher development in the temporarily extended organisations composed of universities and schools. It investigated the main LKB model components in the context of teachers’ professional development; the kind of technological barriers to be overcome in order to implement such a model; and what the application scenarios of an LKB model are. Four groups of stakeholders, altogether 10 persons, were interviewed for the study. Data were analysed using a qualitative framework analysis method. The main findings of the study exposed the following difficulties in applying an LKB model for extended organisations for teacher development: teachers’ sense of identity, technical issues and organisational barriers. Several scenarios were proposed for the use of technology to facilitate the LKB model in the teacher development context using the e-portfolio and social learning resources repository.     

Multimodal learning analytics for game-based learning

A distinctive feature of game-based learning environments is their capacity to create learning experiences that are both effective and engaging. Recent advances in sensor-based technologies such as facial expression analysis and gaze tracking have introduced the opportunity to leverage multimodal data streams for learning analytics. Learning analytics informed by multimodal data captured during students’ interactions with game-based learning environments hold significant promise for developing a deeper understanding of game-based learning, designing game-based learning environments to detect maladaptive behaviors and informing adaptive scaffolding to support individualized learning. This paper introduces a multimodal learning analytics approach that incorporates student gameplay, eye tracking and facial expression data to predict student posttest performance and interest after interacting with a game-based learning environment, Crystal Island . We investigated the degree to which separate and combined modalities (ie, gameplay, facial expressions of emotions and eye gaze) captured from students (n = 65) were predictive of student posttest performance and interest after interacting with Crystal Island . Results indicate that when predicting student posttest performance and interest, models utilizing multimodal data either perform equally well or outperform models utilizing unimodal data. We discuss the synergistic effects of combining modalities for predicting both student interest and posttest performance. The findings suggest that multimodal learning analytics can accurately predict students’ posttest performance and interest during game-based learning and hold significant potential for guiding real-time adaptive scaffolding.