Becoming a tutor: student scaffolding in a game-based classroom

Student interaction in school contexts is a topic that has been researched from many different perspectives. However, the role of students as tutors scaffolding other peers is not normally addressed, since studies are usually focused on the teacher. Moreover, considering the many technologies that can support students’ work nowadays, studies describing specific practices are still needed in order to understand the many possibilities and constraints that can emerge from the use of these tools in the field of education. This exploratory case study aims to extend research on scaffolding between students, presenting data from an ethnographic study where a commercial video game was introduced as part of the curricular activities. Analytically, the scaffolding metaphor is the departing point to describe in detail how the scaffolding process took place, focusing on its purposes and on the role of students as tutors. Our findings reveal how students offered mostly procedural scaffoldings, performing tutor functions such as highlighting relevant features, reducing levels of freedom or controlling the frustration. Results highlight that students can perform scaffolds, and this should be considered as part of the classroom design, making this process visible. Moreover, specific features of the video game enhanced these interactions, which should also be considered when designing game learning environments in the future.     

The student experience of undergraduate students: towards a conceptual framework

While the term ‘student experience’ is used widely in universities, it is remarkably under-developed as a construct in the academic literature. This paper addresses this gap by proposing a conceptual framework for the student experience of undergraduate students. The approach taken is to identify the key influences that shape the student experience from the perspective of students. It does this by addressing two questions: firstly, what are the key influences that shape the student experience? Secondly, how do these influences shape the student experience? To do this the paper draws from a wide range of studies that provide substantial theoretical and empirical evidence as to how students experience university. Drawing from Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model of human development, it identifies seven key sets of influences or microsystems that shape the undergraduate student experience. Then the paper considers how these influences shape students’ experiences drawing from the concepts of engagement and alienation. The paper concludes by proposing a broadly defined model for the student experience where learning and development take place as a result of meaningful interactions between the student and the key microsystems. The implications of this model for universities and for further study are also discussed.     

高校女大学生健美操美育目标构建的理论思考

本文根据高校女大学生的身心特点,对当前高校女大学生健美操美育目标构建的可能性、意义、功能、框架进行理论探索和思考。提出了高校女大学生健美操美育目标构建的设想,阐述高校女大学生健美操美育目标构建的重要性及意义。     

Linking teaching and research in an undergraduate course and exploring student learning experiences

ABSTRACT

In this case study, we first describe how teaching and research are linked in a master’s course on tissue engineering. A central component of the course is an authentic research project that the students carry out in smaller groups and in collaboration with faculty. We then explore how the students experience learning in this kind of discovery-oriented environment. Data were collected through a survey, reflective writing, and interviews. Using a general inductive approach for qualitative analysis, we identified three themes related to the students’ learning experiences: learning to navigate the field, learning to do real research, and learning to work with others. Overall, the students strongly valued learning in a discovery-oriented environment and three aspects of the course contributed to much of its success: taking a holistic approach to linking teaching and research, engaging students in the whole inquiry process, and situating authentic problems in an authentic physical and social context.     

Enhancing student learning of research methods through the use of undergraduate teaching assistants

By using a quasi-experimental design, in this study, we test the effect of undergraduate teaching assistants on student learning. Data were collected from 170 students enrolled in four sections of a quantitative research methods course, two sections without undergraduate teaching assistants and two sections with undergraduate teaching assistants, over two semesters. Results indicate that having undergraduate teaching assistants in the classroom can result in higher student performance. Students in the sections with undergraduate teaching assistants earned higher grades, were more likely to pass the course with a C or higher and performed better on half of the student learning outcomes than students in the sections without an undergraduate teaching assistant. Based on the overwhelmingly positive results on student learning, we would recommend the active use of undergraduate teaching assistants in the classroom, but especially for courses that students find challenging.     

Web-based training on learning organization for electrical undergraduate students in Thailand

The purpose of this research was to utilize web-based training （WBT） to enhance students＇ knowledge of learning organization （LO） in a context of electrical technology education in Thailand. The sample chosen for this study included 19 fourth year undergraduate students. The WBT was based on the five disciplines according to Senge （1991） as well as the seven habits of highly effective people （Covey, 1989）. The tools for pre- and post- testing were LO model evaluation and knowledge of LO. The reliability of the instruments was 0.9274 and 0.9905 respectively. The data were analyzed by using mean （M） and standard deviation （SD）, t-test and Pearson product-moment correlation. When pre- and post- tests mean scores of the LO model evaluation and the knowledge of LO were compared, the mean scores of post-test training were greater than the mean scores of pre-test training. Moreover, there was a significant relationship between pre- and post- tests of LO model evaluation and the knowledge of LO. Thus, it can be concluded that the model of WBT can enhance students＇ knowledge of LO in this context.     

A longitudinal assessment of college student engagement in good practices in undergraduate education

The purpose of this study was to determinewhether student engagement in three goodeducational practices (cooperation with peers,active learning, faculty-student interaction)increased between 1983 and 1997 in response tothe calls to improve the quality ofundergraduate education in the United States.The data source was 73,050 students whocompleted the College Student ExperiencesQuestionnaire. The results from multipleregression and effect size analyses showed thatthe frequency of involvement in these goodpractices did not change over time. Variationin the scores of the three indicators acrossyears and types of institution(doctoral-granting universities, comprehensiveuniversities, liberal arts colleges) wasminimal indicating a stable pattern with onlyrandom fluctuations during this 15 yearperiod.     

浅谈实习对新建本科院校大学生就业的影响

近年来,大学生的就业形势异常严峻,2013年699万的高校毕业生涌向社会,加上往年未就业的大学生,庞大的高校毕业生给本来就不太乐观的大学生就业形势造成了巨大冲击。而实习是大学生踏入社会之前的最后一课,也是大学生提高就业能力的一次很好尝试,将会对大学生以后的就业产生非常重要的响。     

Enhancing student engagement in student experience surveys: a mixed methods study

Background

Measuring the student experience is becoming increasingly important in higher education in the UK. Student experience surveys are used as indicators of quality and form the basis of rankings of higher education institutions. They are also used by them as tools to assist their quality enhancement initiatives. However, these surveys frequently suffer from low response rates, which can reduce the reliability and usefulness of their data. The UK Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) is a relatively new survey and suffers from a low response rate. As this survey is new, little is known about why students do not respond to it.

Purpose

This study aimed to explore the reasons why postgraduate students do not respond to the PTES.

Sample

Three hundred and fifty-five postgraduate taught students from four health faculties in one UK higher education institution completed an online survey. Of these, seven participated in one of two focus groups.

Design and methods

The online survey was completed both by students who completed the PTES in 2011 and those who did not. This provided us with cross-sectional data to compare both groups’ knowledge of PTES and their reasons for completing or not completing it. We used multivariate regression analysis to explore which variables were associated with response to PTES. We led two focus groups to explore the themes that emerged from the survey in more depth. This data was analysed by two researchers using thematic analysis.

Results

The cross-sectional data found that students who were not clear about the purpose of PTES were less likely to respond, independent of other potential predictor variables. Focus group data indicated that if postgraduate students felt a stronger connection to the university community they may be more likely to respond to PTES.

Conclusions

This study suggests that higher education institutions may wish to review their strategies for advertising student experience surveys to focus more on their purpose rather than their impact.     

从逻辑到实践:当代大学生入党信仰教育的维度建构与效度生成

随着党执政能力的不断提高与高校招生规模的不断扩大,大学生党员人数剧增,信仰教育成为高校党建工作的重要议题。基于"七一讲话"精神与科学发展观意蕴对大学生入党信仰教育进行从逻辑到实践的路径探究,在信仰教育的维度建构中帮助大学生树立科学信仰,在实践中探寻有效的现实操作增强信仰教育的实效性。     

Validity of student self-reported ratings of learning

This study examined the relationship between individual student self-reported ratings of progress on relevant learning objectives and performance on exams administered during a college course. Across three sections of the same course taught by a single instructor, 188 students rated themselves at the end of the course on two objectives identified by the instructor as either essential or important. They also rated themselves on 10 other objectives the instructor identified as having minor or no importance. Self-ratings on course-relevant objectives correlated significantly and positively with four out of five exams and the course total, whereas ratings on irrelevant objectives did not. Students who rated their progress as either exceptional or substantial generally performed better on course examinations than those who rated their progress as moderate or less. These findings support the validity of student self-reported ratings of learning.     

The motivations to study and expectations of studying of undergraduate students in business and management

The purpose of this article is to examine the relationship between motivations to learn and expectations of learning and to see if there are any differences across student groups based on their choice of degree programme and level of study. Six scales were used from Pintrich et al.’s Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, of which two were adapted for this study, to measure motivations to learn and expectations of learning amongst undergraduate students. Across different levels of study and programmes, 564 responses were collected. The study suggests that there is a correlation between the degree of importance and interest that students attach to their studies, their beliefs about how well they will do and their overall levels of motivation to learn. These relationships vary across different student groups. The study also found that the degree of anxiety about assessment experienced by students was independent of their motivations and expectations and did not differ significantly between any student groups.     

The influence of student gender on the assessment of undergraduate student work

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of perceived student gender on the feedback given to undergraduate student work. Participants (n = 12) were lecturers in higher education and were required to mark two undergraduate student essays. The first student essay that all participants marked was the control essay. Participants were informed that the control essay was written by Samuel Jones (a male student). Participants then marked the target essay. Although participants marked the same essay, half of the participants (n = 6) were informed that the student essay was written by Natasha Brown (a female student), while the remaining participants were informed that it was written by James Smith (a male student). In-text and end-of-text feedback were qualitatively analysed on six dimensions: academic style of writing; criticality; structure, fluency and cohesion; sources used; understanding/knowledge of the subject; and other. Analysis of feedback for both the control and target essay revealed no discernible differences in the number of comments (strengths of the essay, areas for improvement) made and the content and presentation of these comments between the two groups. Pedagogical implications pertaining to the potential impact of anonymous marking on feedback processes are discussed.     

Effects of active learning classrooms on student learning: a two-year empirical investigation on student perceptions and academic performance

Recent studies on active learning classrooms (ACLs) have demonstrated their positive influence on student learning. However, most of the research evidence is derived from a few subject-specific courses or limited student enrolment. Empirical studies on this topic involving large student populations are rare. The present work involved a large-scale two-year study that examined the effects of ACL on student perceptions of their learning experience and the relationship with academic performance in a General Education programme. An institutional survey was used to gather more than 35,000 units of student perception data from all 306 courses in the programme. Our empirical findings show that students thought courses that adopted an ACL as the key learning environment were significantly better designed and more encouraging of student creativity and innovation than courses which used regular classrooms; thus, student perceptions were improved. We are also the first to report that this positive effect on creativity and innovation is statistically unaffected by academic performance, with high, middle and low achievers all benefiting from the use of the facility. The results suggest that ACLs are better environments for nurturing innovation for all students, regardless of their academic ability.     

The practices of student network as cooperative learning in Ethiopia

ABSTRACT

Student network is a teaching strategy introduced as cooperative learning to all educational levels above the upper primary schools (grade 5 and above) in Ethiopia. The study was, therefore, aimed at investigating to what extent the student network in Ethiopia is actually practiced in line with the principles of cooperative learning. Consequently, data collected from 156 secondary and 315 upper primary school teachers revealed that the student network is rarely practiced in line with the principles of cooperative learning. And this was found with statistically significant differences between the upper primary and secondary schools. The upper primary schools seem better in practicing the student network in line with the principles of cooperative learning than the secondary school. Accordingly, the study concluded that, albeit the student network remained a canon strategy to improve students’ learning in Ethiopia and its practices are supposedly recommended to be in line the principles of cooperative learning, challenges related to parents, students, school administration and teachers seem to cripple its smooth practice in line with the cooperative learning principles.     

A qualitative evaluation of perceptions of the role of competition in the success and distress of law students

This qualitative study investigated the role of competition in the success and distress of law students. Participants from an Australian law faculty attended one of four focus groups (undergraduate, postgraduate, academic staff and administrative staff). They discussed their perceptions of competition, the competitive behaviours in law students, the purpose of competitive behaviour and its psychological and learning consequences and the contributing and discouraging factors of competition in law students. Competition was perceived by staff and students to be widespread and included antisocial and manipulative behaviours. The goal of competition was seen to be the best and obtain the best job upon graduation. Competition had a significant impact on the well-being of students, and implications for the structure of law programmes are discussed.     

The relationship between student engagement with online content and achievement in a blended learning anatomy course

Blended learning has become increasingly common in higher education. Recent findings suggest that blended learning achieves better student outcomes than traditional face‐to‐face teaching in gross anatomy courses. While face‐to‐face content is perceived as important to learning there is less evidence for the significance of online content in improving student outcomes. Students enrolled in a second‐year anatomy course from the physiotherapy (PT), exercise physiology (EP), and exercise science (ES) programs across two campuses were included (n = 500). A structural equation model was used to evaluate the relationship of prior student ability (represented by grade in prerequisite anatomy course) and final course grade and whether the relationship was mediated by program, campus or engagement with the online elements of the learning management system (LMS; proportion of documents and video segments viewed and number of interactions with discussion forums). PT students obtained higher grades and were more likely to engage with online course materials than EP and ES students. Prerequisite grade made a direct contribution to course final grade (P < 0.001) but was also mediated by engagement with LMS videos and discussion forums (P < 0.001). Student learning outcomes in a blended anatomy course can be predicted the by level of engagement with online content. Anat Sci Educ 11: 471–477. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.     

Resilience at University: the development and testing of a new measure

While measures of resilience have been applied in university settings, progress has been hindered by the lack of a consistent measure of resilience. Additionally, results from these measures cannot be easily translated into practical curriculum-based initiatives which support resilience development. Resilience is linked to student mental health and well-being, as well as academic engagement and achievement. This positions resilience as a key skill for students. A survey was administered to 410 Australian undergraduate students. The survey consisted of an adapted version of the Resilience at Work (RAW) scale, the Subjective Happiness Scale and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale. Data were subject to principal component analysis and scale reliability analysis. Results yielded a six-factor structure which closely replicated the seven-factor structure of the RAW scale. The research contributes to the development of a reliable and valid instrument of resilience for use in university. The new Resilience at University (RAU) scale shows promise as a valid and reliable measure of student resilience. Development and validation of the RAU scale is in its early stages and further research is required to explore the psychometric properties of the scale to ascertain whether it can be usefully applied in a university setting.     

家庭教育与成才

通过分析近几年家庭教育的几种误区 ,探讨如何更好地发挥家庭教育在青少年成长中的作用 ,如何树立正确的成才观和人才观 ,以科学的教育方式和方法把孩子培养成为高素质的建设人才。     

Formula student as part of a mechanical engineering curriculum

Formula Student (FS) is a multi-university student design competition managed by the UK Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Students are required to demonstrate and prove their creativity and engineering skills through the design, manufacture and financing of a small formula style race car. This paper seeks to explore the educational value that derives from the FS activity through a series of semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders. Through the analysis of the interview data, it was found that the FS activity supported development of student skills and competencies in the following areas: use of engineering knowledge to support the application of existing and emerging technology; application of theoretical and practical knowledge to the solution of engineering problems; development of technical and commercial management skills; development of effective interpersonal skills, including communication skills; and demonstration of personal commitment to professional development. In addition, a number of areas for implementing ‘good practise’ have been identified. The information herein supports educators in their responsibility to help meet the needs of the engineering industry for high quality graduates.