The lived experience: delivering a foundation degree in health and social care

The aim of this paper is to discuss the risks and challenges associated with the ‘lived experience’ of delivering a foundation degree in health and social care in Kent, UK, in order to enter the debate on successful responses to Government initiatives for expanding intermediate education provision in higher education institutes (HEIs). Before this can be undertaken, it is necessary to provide an overview of the drivers, both locally and nationally, for developing foundation degrees (FDs). This paper presents a case study based on the lived experience of delivering an FD in one HEI in the southeast of England, which may have relevance to a wider field within work‐based learning provision.     

Facilitating online reflective learning for health and social care professionals

Drawing upon survey data and relevant literature, this paper compares the Radio and Television University System (RTVUS) in China, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), and the Open University of Hong Kong (OUHK) in respect of academic courses offered, course delivery mode, student characteristics, funding, and staffing. Similarities and differences are discussed, and the impact of socio-cultural factors in shaping distance education systems in different societies is examined.     

Investigating the experiences of foundation degree students progressing to an honours degree: an integrated approach

Progression from a foundation degree to an honours degree has become an increasingly popular pathway through higher education. The route creates dual institution scenarios in which students can progress from a further education institution to a higher education institution. This paper reports on research into the academic and social integration of progression students into a higher education institution to complete their honours degree. It highlights the ways in which progression students face many first year issues whilst completing the final stage of their higher education studies and possible ways of addressing these issues. The evidence presented here suggests an explicit need to recognise not only the academic and social issues of progression, but also how these relate to the wider physical and cultural changes experienced. It also suggests that these issues are often overlooked by research which focuses almost exclusively on variables affecting the retention and attrition of traditional first year students.     

End-of-life care experiences among Korean social workers in elderly long-term care facilities

ABSTRACT

This qualitative study explored the experiences of social workers in elderly long-term care facilities in Korea during their end-of-life (EOL) care. The study utilized in-depth, face-to-face interviews with 15 social workers in elderly care facilities located in three metropolitan areas in South Korea. The themes of the EOL experiences were (a) the tough and tiring life of primary caretakers; (b) elders’ resentment toward and longing for their adult children; (c) inefficient filial piety care; (d) supporting family caretakers; and (e) feelings of grief and exhaustion. Social workers lack any protocol and educational guidelines for EOL care. This study suggests that educational efforts should be made to equip social workers to deal with EOL care. It also suggests that healing programs and/or self-support should be provided for social workers’ grief and exhaustion.     

The foundation of a joint electrical engineering degree scheme within Europe

In the last decade, the field of Electrical Engineering has been at the forefront in the development of joint industrial projects within Western Europe. This trend, together with the ever increasing number of cooperative ventures between European countries and other countries lying outside Europe, has led to a demand for engineers who are equipped to pursue a career in an international context. It would appear, therefore, that the training of engineers should both anticipate and reflect these developments. Not only should their education be of the highest intellectual and scientific standard; it should also aim to develop students' skills in foreign languages, and an ability to work with people of different nationalities in cultural environments other than their own.     

The scholarship of teaching and learning from a social justice perspective

We argue that there is a reciprocal relationship between all scholarly activities, most importantly between teaching, learning, research and professional learning. The article builds on the work of others who call for a social justice approach to inform the SoTL. It focuses on the implications for professional learning, as an aspect of the SoTL which has been neglected. The tripartite account of participatory parity as advanced by Nancy Fraser is shown to be a valuable frame to describe instances of social justice, as well as the kind of institutional arrangements that should be instituted to support participatory parity. Alongside this, the notion of a ‘pedagogy of discomfort’ is shown to be an effective, but challenging means to advance awareness of justice and injustice amongst academics. The article draws on examples from three action based research projects run by the authors.     

Teacher learning about online learning: experiences of a situated approach

This study explores how teachers experience an online course designed to provide a situated approach to developing understanding of online learning. It describes how the course designer aimed to exploit the potentials of online tasks and interactions in relation to a rationale for situated teacher development, and then explores evidence of how teachers engaged with these processes. A picture of teacher engagement with the course mechanisms emerges from the teachers' own reflections on their experience. Findings suggest that online learning provided for situated opportunities for reflection in and on action. However, the ways in which teachers engaged with and experienced the course were varied, these being accounted for by individual characteristics such as cultural background, by teacher understandings of themselves as learners and online participants, and by individual responses to specific course attributes. The research contributes to understandings of teacher learning in online courses.

Cette étude a exploré comment les enseignants expérimentent sur un cours en ligne conçu pour fournir une approche de situ, destinée à développer leur connaissance d'apprentissage en ligne. Elle décrit comment le concepteur du cours a visé à exploiter les potentiels de l'apprentissage en ligne et des interactions médiatisées par ordinateur par rapport à un raisonnement pour le développement de situ de l'enseignant. Puis elle explore l'évidence de la façon dont les enseignants sont engagés dans ces processus. Une image de l'engagement de l'enseignant avec les mécanismes du cours émerge des propres réflexions des participants sur leur expérience. Les résultats suggèrent que l'apprentissage en ligne a fourni des occasions de situ pour la réflexion dans et sur l'action. Cependant, les manières avec lesquelles les participants se sont engagés avec l'expérience étaient variées, celles‐ci expliquées par différentes caractéristiques telles que le fond culturel, les vues des enseignants eux‐mêmes en tant qu'étudiants et participants en ligne et par leurs réactions différentes aux attributs spécifiques du cours. Cette recherche contribue à notre compréhension de l'apprentissage des enseignants dans des cours en ligne.

Este estudio examina las experiencias de los profesores que tomaron un curso en‐línea diseñado para proporcionar un enfoque situado en el desarrollo de la comprensión del aprendizaje en‐línea. Este estudio describe cómo el diseñador del curso buscaba explotar el potencial de las tareas e interacción en‐línea de acuerdo con los principios del enfoque situado para el desarrollo de profesores. También se examina cómo los profesores hicieron parte de estos procesos. Se puede vislumbrar la vinculación de los profesores con los mecanismos del curso a través de reflexiones de su experiencia. Los resultados sugieren que el aprendizaje en‐línea brindó oportunidades situadas para la reflexión durante y sobre la acción. Sin embargo, la forma como los profesores experimentaron e hicieron parte del curso fue variada, debido a características individuales tales como el entorno cultural, interpretaciones personales de los profesores en el rol de estudiantes y participantes en‐línea, y por las respuestas individuales a características específicas del curso. Este estudio contribuye al entendimiento del desarrollo de profesores a través de los cursos en‐línea.

In dieser Studie wurde untersucht, wie Lehrer einen Onlinekurs wahrnehmen, dessen Ziel es ist durch einen learning‐by‐doing Ansatz ein Verständnis für Onlinelernen zu entwickeln. Es wird einerseits beschrieben, wie der Entwickler versuchte die Möglichkeiten von Onlineaufgaben und ‐interaktion im Hinblick auf eine Grundlage für situierte Lehrerfortbildung auszunutzen, und andererseits wie Lehrer mit diesen Prozessen umgingen. Ein Überblick über das Lehrerengagement für die Mechanismen des Kurses erwächst aus den Überlegungen und Erfahrungen der Lehrer selbst. Die Ergebnisse lassen den Schluss zu, dass Onlinelernen situative Möglichkeiten der Reflexion während und nach den Handlungen ermöglicht. Jedoch waren die Art und Weise, in der die Lehrer mit dem Kurs umgingen und ihn erfuhren, unterschiedlich; dies ist auf individuelle Merkmale, wie kultureller Hintergrund, Selbstverständnis der Lehrer als Lernende und Onlineteilnehmer, sowie auf individuelle Reaktionen auf spezifische Kursattribute zurück zu führen. Diese Untersuchung trägt zum Verständnis des Lernens von Lehrern in Onlinekursen bei.     

The social construction of learning disabilities

Underpinning the technical gaze that dominates learning disabilities theory and practice is the assumption that learning disabilities are a pathology that resides in the heads of individual students, with the corollary that remedial efforts also focus on what goes on in the heads of students classified as learning disabled. This article begins with a critique of the ideology of individualism that situates individual success and failure in the heads of individuals as a means of introducing an alternative perspective--social constructivism--that locates learning and learning problems in the context of human relations and activity. Extended examples are used to illustrate how the performative aspects of learning disabilities emerge in the context of human relationships. The primary argument developed here is that one cannot be learning disabled on one's own. It takes a complex system of interactions performed in just the right way, at the right time, on the stage we call school to make a learning disability. The article concludes with a brief consideration of the instructional implications of a social constructivist stance.     

Experiential learning experiences in an online 3D virtual environment for mental health interviewing and diagnosis role-playing: a comparison of perceived learning across learning activities

Educational technology research and development - Role-playing simulations can provide students with experiential learning opportunities to develop strong interviewing and diagnosis skills, and...     

Students' experiences of learning in a research environment

Research into the research–teaching ‘nexus’ has undergone significant changes in focus and methodology. From an initial quantitative concern with correlating measurements of research productivity and teaching effectiveness, the empirical emphasis has shifted in favour of exploring the experiences of participants (academics and students). This paper reports the findings of interviews carried out in a New Zealand university with 34 students studying across a range of levels in physics, geography and English. In particular, it focuses on students’ understandings of the purpose of a university education and on students’ experiences of research—how ‘visible’ it is for them, where it is located and who engages in it. Analysis reveals that students’ relationship with research varies across the disciplines in both a spatial and temporal dimension according to the ways in which knowledge is conceived of and explored. Accordingly, some students have an early sense of proximity to and/or participation in a research community, while for others, research remains, through their undergraduate years, a remote phenomenon.     

The role of HE in professional development: some reflections on a foundation degree for teaching assistants

Rapid change in higher education (HE) has lead to a reappraisal and debate about the role and ‘mission’ of the university and the university teacher. In the diversification of the HE sector, it is possible to see a shift away from the ‘advancement of knowledge’ as the primary purpose of the HE sector as a whole. This article focuses on a particular dimension of this change referred to as the ‘vocationalisation’ of HE and evident in the growing role of work-based learning (WBL) in the academy. In particular, foundation degrees provide a context for examining the role of WBL and the university in professional development. Analysis of interviews with 19 students on, or progressing from a foundation degree for teaching assistants reveals how they construct their learning and the relationship between work-based and academic learning. The author concludes that notions of ‘equivalence’ between work-based and academic learning are flawed and fail to recognise HE's distinctive contribution to professional learning, and argues for recognition of the distinctive contributions that both WBL and ‘academic’ learning make to professional development.     

The longitudinal influences of computer-intensive learning experiences on at-risk elementary students

This evaluation study examined the school achievement and adjustment by at-risk students one year following their participation as fifth and sixth graders in computer-intensive classrooms using the Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT) program. Comparisons between the former ACOT subjects and a matched control group who had attended the same elementary school were made on attitudes toward school, teacher evaluations, grades, computer skills, and standardized test scores. Results showed some advantages for the ACOT students in the seventh grade, but on most measures they were indistinguishable from the control group. Specifically, both groups appeared to remain at risk based on their poor performance and relatively poor adjustment. A key factor in interpreting outcomes for the ACOT group was the limited availability of computers in the seventh grade, which thus restricted their opportunities to apply or transfer the skills they had learned. This research was supported by a grant from Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow, Apple Computer, Inc.     

The social perception of learning disabled and non‐learning disabled children

This study was undertaken to determine if there were differences in the social perception of learning disabled and non‐learning disabled youngsters, whether social perception was related to sex and if interaction by sex and learning disability status was involved. Fifty‐seven elementary school children aged 9 to 11 years were given four measures of social perception. Results showed that learning disabled children differed significantly (p .01) from their non‐learning disabled peers on each of the four measures. Neither sex nor group by sex interaction was significant. Assessment and intervention aimed at improving social perceptual skills should be incorporated into educational programming for those learning disabled children who exhibit deficiencies in this area of functioning.     

浅析社区文化因素对人群健康的影响

通过对化教育水平、道德规范、生活方式等社区化因素对人群健康影响的分析，说明化素养的高低与人的健康状况有着直接的关系。