Influence of problem-based learning games on effective computer programming learning in higher education

Educational technology research and development - Gaming is a part of today’s society, especially for younger generations. Therefore, game-based approaches are unsurprisingly used for...     

Student learning and perceptions of the academic environment

This paper examines the effects of the organisation of curricula, teaching, and assessment on student learning and looks at the different demands which different academic environments make on their students. After a brief review of research into learning contexts in higher education, data from a course perceptions questionnaire are presented. The principal dimensions which students themselves use to characterise academic environments are identified. The perceptions of students in six departments at one British university are compared; it is concluded that students in different subject areas see themselves to be studying in markedly different environments. The results also suggest students' evaluations of the teaching and the courses in each department. Data from the course perceptions questionnaire are supported and amplified by a preliminary analysis of results from semi-structured interviews of students in the six departments. The most important factor to emerge from the item analysis — the degree to which students feel that their teachers provide a facilitant atmosphere for learning — is confirmed. Students' perceptions of their departments and their teachers are shown to exert important influences on their approaches to learning. It is also suggested that a student's perception of a particular learning task influences the level at which he tackles it.     

Generation Psy: Student characteristics and academic achievement in a three-year problem-based learning bachelor program

This study investigated the simultaneous impact of demographic, personality, intelligence, and (prior) study performance factors on students' academic achievement in a three-year academic problem-based psychology program. Information regarding students' gender, age, nationality, pre-university education, high school grades, Big Five personality traits, intelligence (i.e., numerical, verbal, spatial), observed learning activities, and self-study time was collected among almost 1800 students enrolled in this psychology bachelor program at Erasmus University Rotterdam between 2003 and 2009. Academic achievement was measured by students' yearly number of acquired credit points, a course test, and a knowledge progress test. Multiple regression analyses showed that observed learning activities, first- and second-year performance, high school grades, conscientiousness, and verbal ability were most strongly and consistently related to academic achievement in the bachelor. Other student factors also contributed to academic achievement, but their influence was less prominent and mainly restricted to the first year. These results suggest that (prior) educational achievements and observable learning activities are most important for academic success in a problem-based learning bachelor program.     

Student perceptions of learning environment: disciplinary program versus general education classrooms

Tertiary Education and Management - The purpose of this study was to examine student perceptions of the learning environment in their program major and general education classrooms. The...     

Student failure: Disintegrated patterns of study strategies and perceptions of the learning environment

Data describing students' study orientations, in relation to their evaluations of courses and their preferences for different kinds of learning environment, are reanalysed in the light of recent suggestions that failing students perceive their learning context in atypical ways. Factor analysis and unfolding analysis demonstrate that failing students show inter-relationships between study orientations and preferences for learning environments which point to a disintegration of the coherent patterns previously reported in the full achievement range. The implications of such a disintegration of coherent patterns of perceptions are discussed in the light of case studies of individual students.     

Peer teaching and higher level cognitive learning outcomes in problem-based learning

Law education at the University of Limburg (Maastricht, The Netherlands) features small-group tutorials alternating with periods of independent study. Every group of 10 students was tutored by a staff member or an undergraduate student from the third or fourth year. Students guided by a staff member scored significantly higher on a test designed to measure higher order cognitive skills than students guided by a student tutor. Student tutors were rated no differently from staff tutors with respect to the way they stimulated learning processes, directed the discussion content and monitored the discussion process. It seems that in a quantitative way, staff tutors and student tutors behave more or less the same. Qualitatively, however, there may be differences in their behavior which the tutor functioning questionnaire is unable to tap. Interventions of staff tutors may be more to the point than those of student tutors due to the fact that they are experts in their fields.     

Engaging distance and on-campus students in problem-based learning

The University of Southern Queensland in Australia offers multiple entry pathways to a suite of integrated programs delivered to on-campus and distance-education students. The programs cover 2–5 years in nine majors. A specially designed strand of four integrated courses using problem-based learning (PBL) was incorporated into programs and replaced some traditionally taught (lecture) content-based courses. The first offer of the new foundation course took place in 2002. It has since been recognised through a number of national and international awards. For the initial offer, delivering a PBL course to distance engineering students working in virtual teams had never been done before in the world. It is currently delivered to approximately 400 students annually. Student feedback indicates that the course successfully inculcates attributes such as teamwork, communication and the ability to solve technical problems. All these attributes have been identified as being desirable by professional and industry bodies around the world.     

Influence of problem familiarity on learning in a problem-based course

The results of an experimental study investigating the influence of problem familiarity on learning in a problem-based psychology course are presented. Participants worked with either a familiar or an unfamiliar version of the same problem. The following measurements were taken (1) a measure of problem quality as perceived by students, (2) number of explanations of the problem put forward by the students while discussing it, (3) quality of learning issues derived from the discussion, (4) amount of time spent on self-study, and (5) the amount of knowledge acquired as indicated by a test. The results demonstrate that participants in the familiar problem condition perceived the problem to be of higher quality than the participants in the unfamiliar problem condition. No significant differences in learning were found. The findings do suggest, however, that problems may be improved by making them more relevant to the everyday experience of students.     

Effects of elicited reflections combined with tutor or peer feedback on self-regulated learning and learning outcomes

This study investigated the effects of students' reflections, combined with suggestive feedback, on the development of self-regulated learning and learning outcomes. Suggestive feedback alerts students that further reflection is advisable, without being very directive. Forty-nine students participated in a regular web-based distance education course on work psychology. In two experimental conditions students were prompted to reflect on their learning process, and received feedback on their reflections, either from peer students or a tutor. These conditions were compared to a control condition in which students studied the regular course without reflection and feedback. In line with the hypothesis, results showed that reflection combined with feedback positively affected students' self-regulated learning. In addition, students in the condition with tutor feedback outperformed students in both other conditions on learning outcomes.     

Student perceptions of the cell biology laboratory learning environment in four undergraduate science courses in Spain

Cell biology is an academic discipline that organises and coordinates the learning of the structure, function and molecular composition of cells in some undergraduate biomedical programs. Besides course content and teaching methodologies, the laboratory environment is considered a key element in the teaching of and learning of cell biology. The aim of this study was to determine students’ opinions about the quality of the teaching and learning environment in cell biology laboratory practice. For this study, we used a short form of the Science Laboratory Environment Inventory (SLEI), which we adapted and translated into Spanish. The questionnaire, administered to students enrolled in four undergraduate programs, consisted of 24 questions divided into four scales: integration of content, clarity of laboratory rules, cohesion between students and teachers, and quality of laboratory infrastructures and materials. The results suggested that (1) students positively assessed the learning environment provided for cell biology practice, (2) the short Spanish form of the SLEI was a valid, reliable instrument for evaluating student satisfaction, laboratory activities, the degree of cooperation between students and teachers, and theoretical and practical organisation of content and (3) the questionnaire detected differential perceptions of the learning environment based on gender and the program studied.     

基于问题式学习模式在人才培养中的应用

基于问题式学习(Problem-based learning,PBL)的教学模式是一种以问题为核心,以培养学生创新性思维为主要目标的全新教学模式.通过对所检索的国内外知名学术数据库发表的PBL论文分析结果表明,PBL教学模式的应用已经由医学扩展到许多应用性学科.PBL教学模式在我国高等教育中发展迅速,正由课程体系改革向人才培养模式的改革方向发展.     

Student and faculty perceptions of teaching effectiveness

Omnibus measures of teaching effectiveness can be viewed as weighted combinations of more narrowly defined traits describing the teaching process. Our study was designed to determine whether students and faculty weight such traits differently in forming their respective perceptions of effective teaching.Students and faculty within the School of Business and Economics at CSUN were surveyed regarding their assessment of ideal teaching effectiveness in courses where the predominant mode of presentation is lecture. Ten traits depicting various aspects of teaching were selected and each respondent was asked to distribute 100 points across the 10 according to their view of each trait's relative importance in determining effectiveness. The results indicate that there are, indeed, significant differences in student and faculty assessments.Regression analysis of individual trait weighting on demographic variables such as age, sex, field of specialization, etc., produced generally low, insignificant coefficients of determination for both students and faculty. This observed invariance of the respective perceptions of each group across differing combinations of demographic characteristics provides evidence that students and faculty adopt fundamentally different criteria in evaluating teaching effectiveness.     

论会计硕士双导师制校外导师的若干问题

会计硕士双导师制下校外导师的作用不容忽视,他在一定程度上决定着MPAcc教育的成败。因此,必须明确校外导师的职责与任务,加强校内、校外导师之间的协调与配合,做好校外导师的选任、培养、考核与汰换工作。更为重要的是避免出现"校外导师成为花瓶、MPAcc教育与学术型研究生教育同质化"的情况,若如此则违背了设立会计硕士的初衷。     

Student perceptions of continuous summative assessment

This paper reports the effect of continuous summative assessment on the behaviour and learning environment of students. Assessing the performance of students is considered to be the most important thing a teacher can do for their students and it can have a profound effect on their learning. Continuous summative assessment was introduced as a form of assessment on a module within an undergraduate degree at a UK university. Student perceptions of the process were sought via a questionnaire and interviews. The paper describes the effect the assessment had on student motivation, their approach to learning and the change to their learning environment. The conclusion reached is that while continuous summative assessment may be time‐consuming to administer, the rewards of an enhanced learning environment for students outweigh the additional burden on staff. The results should be of interest to those academics who are concerned with assessment and its impact on behaviour.     

Unraveling the process and meaning of problem-based learning experiences

This paper investigates the process and meaning of problem-based learning (PBL) that students may experience. The Project Cycle Management method was taught and utilised as an instrument of PBL at a Japanese women’s college over a period of 5 years. The study closely examined what and how students learned in PBL from the perspectives of cognitive, social, and internal aspects. Despite the relative ignorance about the internal aspect of learners in previous research, the results of the study revealed that the internal aspect is inseparably linked with the other two aspects, and the three of them simultaneously undergo their own changes in the PBL process. That is, meaningful learning experiences seem to be no less importantly affected by the feelings or internal aspect of learners than by cognitive and social counterparts. Then, beyond knowledge building and skill acquirement, PBL may have contributed to broadening learners’ perspectives and promoting their personal development. In this regard, PBL can be defined anew, from an angle different from that of previous research, as learning that can generate rich and varied emotions in learners concurrently as they face problems, enable them to acquire subject matter knowledge and relational skills through dialogue, and eventually guide them to the threshold of personal transformation.