University stakeholders,intergenerational relationships and lifelong learning: a European case study

ABSTRACT

This study describes and analyzes the role of a Senior Programme of the University of Lleida (Catalonia, Spain) aimed at fostering older people’s lifelong learning, active ageing, social participation, and intergenerational relationships. Based on qualitative Action Research and Participant Observation, this article examines the participation of senior students as stakeholders in this Programme and in two European projects, SIforAGE and TOY, developed between 2012 and 2017. The findings reveal the importance of these learning and research activities to promote intergenerational solidarity, the quality of life of older people, and the development and improvement of the Senior Programme itself.     

Understanding the use of online role-play for collaborative argument through teacher experiencing: a case study

As computers and the Internet are increasingly employed in language teaching and learning, preparing teachers for the impending reality of online teaching is of paramount importance. This study investigated 10 in-service teachers participating in an online role-play as part of a digital education methods course to acquire an understanding of the use of online role-play for collaborative argument. The role-play lasted for 3 weeks and underwent three stages: preparation, implementation and reflection. Analyses of data gathered from the questionnaire survey, the class website for role-play, the blogs and the interviews indicate that online role-play was an appropriate way for teaching collaborative argument given that the topics were well-chosen and well-prepared, and that asynchronous role-play was more helpful than the synchronous role-play given the challenge of tracking the development of ideas. Benefits and problems of online role-play through synchronous chat were analysed and solutions were discussed. The research provides a new perspective on how teachers can be educated to integrate technology into their language instruction through their own experience of learning.     

Consensus among stakeholders about success factors and indicators for quality of online and blended learning in adult education: a Delphi study

Quality models for online and blended learning (OBL) have mainly been developed in higher education. The literature indicates that these models are often conceptualised from the providers’ perspective. What is important for the quality of OBL from the students’ perspective has recently received increased attention in the literature. Consensus among stakeholders about students’ quality needs is useful to support dialogue between professionals to strategically adopt OBL and to ensure that the needs of students are met. This study aims to validate a quality instrument for OBL, taking a set of 74 quality indicators and analysing them in terms of seven success factors (credibility, accessibility, transparency, flexibility, interactivity, personalisation, productivity). The Delphi method was selected as most suited. Participants from adult education were asked to indicate on a 7-point Likert scale to what extent the indicators add to OBL quality to meet students’ needs. After four Delphi rounds, the participants agreed on definitions of success factors and 30 indicators. The results are useful for institutions, ministries of education and external quality assessment agencies to assess the quality of OBL and can support institutions to implement improvement actions to ensure that the needs of students are met.     

The impact factor: Measuring student professional growth in an online doctoral program

This article describes the impact of an online Ed.D. in educational technology based on data collected from students at regular intervals during the program. It documents how students who were working professionals applied learning from the program within their practice, enculturated into the educational technology community, and grew professionally. Our findings indicate that an online professional program embedded in practice can have substantial impact on students’ professional growth and professional practice.     

Teachers' voices in program evaluation and improvement: A case study of a TESOL program

In spite of the many ways that schools have changed to accommodate students not yet proficient in English, obstacles still exist that limit students' opportunities to receive adequate instruction. This paper describes the role of evaluation in developing a program to prepare Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). The teachers' voices presented in this paper suggest the importance of considering their contributions in refining and improving teacher preparation programs. Implications for on-going program evaluation and improvement are discussed.     

Evaluation of education projects: the case of the perry preschool program

The paper reviews the educational and evaluation experience with the widely known Perry Preschool Program. Basically, the Perry Program generated short-term IQ gains that evaporated within 2 years, followed by long-term gains in attendance, academic achievement, graduation rates and earnings, and reductions in transfer payments and pregnancies. When subjected to a formal benefit-cost analysis, the program returns about $24,000 per student, with as much as 80% of the benefits going not to participants but to those who benefit from higher participant tax payments, lower transfers and reduced crime. It is at the same time mysterious that a program with such fleeting IQ gains could generate such enormous long-term gains, impressive that preschool programs provide such an attractive human investment opportunity for nonparticipants, and even more impressive that these long-term gains could be identified.     

Measuring cognitive achievement gaps and inequalities: The case of Brazil

This paper introduces a new measure of educational inequalities based on cognitive achievement data, and uses it to examine achievement inequalities in mathematics between groups of students enrolled in basic education in Brazil. The groups of students are defined by their race, sex, socioeconomic status (SES), and region of residence. The Brazilian system of basic education currently produces poor results with respect to both quality and equity. The paper recommends that Brazil should work, concomitantly, to improve the achievement levels of its students and to close the cognitive gaps observed among different groups of students. Placing emphasis on just one of these goals is not an adequate public policy at this time. Proposals for carrying out these reforms can be classified as input or management strategies and are briefly discussed.     

Planning for student involvement in a program of supplemental instruction

Implementing a program of supplemental instruction (SI) in the present climate of transition in South Africa requires attention to involving students in planning and conducting the new program. Involved in this process are political opportunities and constraints. This paper recounts the steps (and missteps) taken in beginning an SI program in high risk courses in two academic departments at Border Technikon: Accounting and Management. It documents the steps taken to enlist support of the Student Representative Council (SRC) in setting policy, selecting tutors, and maintaining the program's funding base. We maintain that a successful SI program must draw upon the energies of tertiary level students, both in roles as learners in the high risk courses and as student leaders at an advanced level. Some students may experience both roles. For this process to be more than an imposition from the outside, the program must be a partnership with faculty and students sharing a stake in the outcomes. Both groups must see that they benefit from the smooth working of the SI system. Our results to date indicate that such a joint ownership is occurring. During 1996, he served as the Director of the Academic Development Centre at Border Technikon, East London, South Africa, under the Educators for Africa Program of the International Foundation of Education and Self-Help.     

中外高校非学历留学生汉语课程研究

文章针对国内外高校的非学历留学生的汉语课程进行了全面调查分析,对各院校在开班类型、课程类型、课程内容、课程性质、课程模式以及课程设置等方面的进行了系统归纳、统计、比较,为国内其它高校的非学历留学生汉语教学提供借鉴、参考,并提出可行性建议。     

大学生在线学习投入对学习绩效的影响研究——以西部某新建师范院校为例

以群体动力学理论为基础,以西部某新建师范院校在校本科生为研究对象,构建了在线学习投入对学习绩效的解释结构模型。研究表明:群体动力学理论的基本假设对开展在线学习行为研究具有一定的适用性和拓展性;大学生参加在线学习的内部动机越强,其情感投入、学习绩效越高;情感投入度越高,其行为投入、认知投入度越高;增强线上交互有助于强化情感投入;增强情感投入有助于强化内部动机对认知投入的影响和线上交互对行为投入的影响;增强认知投入和行为投入,有助于强化情感投入对学习绩效的影响。因此,高校应进一步规范课程引入、强化选课指导、优化学习空间,以增强大学生在线学习的内部动机,提升线上交互质量。     

Efficacy of a mentor academy program: a case study

The purpose of our study was to report the long-term impact or training efficacy of mentor training from the perspective of mentees at a single institution. Twelve mentees representing seven faculty graduates of a mentor training program were interviewed. Data were analyzed using grounded theory. Training resulted in improved goal setting and meeting frequency and increased attentiveness to career development. Results related to communication styles shared expectations, difficult conversations, and promoting scientific independence were mixed. Changes to instructional practices and the implementation of active learning experiences are recommended to enhance the efficacy of the program and to address mentee’s professional developmental needs.     

Developing new teacher inquiry and criticality: The role of online discussions

This work concerns the professional development of UK teachers in their first year of teaching. It is interested in how the online discussions (ODs) these teachers undertook as part of the Master of Teaching contributed to this development process. The teachers worked in online tutor groups made up of teachers from different schools, phases (primary and secondary) and subjects. The data used were their accounts of participating in the ODs written towards the end of this first year of teaching and interviews with a selection of these teachers at a later stage in their career. It appeared that the learning gains of the ODs were enabled and fostered by writing for an audience of peers about their professional practice. These new teachers developed an inquiry‐centred collegiality, reflexivity and a critical engagement with wider and longer‐term educational perspectives. The research establishes that the gains from the ODs were the result of careful pedagogic design at many levels. By foregrounding the situated experiences and interests of the teachers, it allowed a “way in” for them to start to understand the complexities, dilemmas and strategies within their own and others' professional practice.     

Moving across physical and online spaces: a case study in a blended primary classroom

With the introduction of digital tools and online connectivity in primary schools, the shape of teaching and learning is shifting beyond the physical classroom. Drawing on the architecture of productive learning networks framework, we examine the affordances and limitations of an upper primary learning network and focus on how the digital and physical elements involved in set design shape teachers' pedagogical approaches and students' learning processes. The findings suggest that blended spaces support teachers' distributed orchestration of classroom activities across tools and resources while also leveraging students' engagement in reciprocal teaching and collaborative learning.     

The use of clickers in Instrumentation and Control Engineering education: a case study

ABSTRACT

This paper presents results from a small-scale study of third-year Instrumentation and Control Engineering (n?=?37) at the University of Plymouth. The aim of the study was to enhance student learning and increase participation via the use of clickers. Clickers allow for student participation anonymously. The lecture content was modified to embed clicker questions at regular intervals to test knowledge, understanding and cognitive skills. Largely, the students preferred interactive lectures to traditional didactic lectures and using clickers increased student engagement and participation. Interestingly, compared to assessment results from the previous year, the increased level of engagement did seem to lead to an overall improvement in grades of approximately 10% in the subject of Control Engineering. However, in Instrumentation, the average fell by approximately 20%. One possible contributory factor of this drop could be the changed exam format for Instrumentation only. This year, the multiple choice section was removed from the Instrumentation examination paper. Furthermore, an analysis of variance showed that in addition to using clickers in the lectures, attendance plays a key role. Results of this small-scale study show that for a more complex subject like Control, student learning, engagement and attainment can increase by the use of clickers.     

Learning as identity and practice through involvement in online moderation

For teachers working in a standards-based assessment system, professional conversations through organised social moderation meetings are a vital element. This qualitative research investigated the learning that occurred as a result of online moderation discussions. Findings illustrate how participating in social moderation meetings in an online context can support teachers to understand themselves as assessors, and can provide opportunities for teachers to imagine possibilities for their teaching that move beyond the moderation practice.     

New approaches,new vision: capturing teacher experiences in a brave new online world

The paper is an exploration of how a group of tutors involved in a major e‐learning project reacted to developing and teaching in this environment for this first time. All were experienced face‐to‐face teachers but had different levels of experience in using technology. Our aim was to capture their individual views on working in an online environment. The import of this cannot be under‐estimated, as different views on learning influence the role and potential of technology in an e‐learning environment.

As the research is an exploration in understanding the impact that e‐learning can have on the role of the teacher, it seemed appropriate to frame the work in a grounded theory approach and to deal with themes as they emerged. The data for the paper are the product of focus groups, questionnaires and observation. The sample for data collection was the total population of tutors in seven institutions involved in the delivery of the course. The questionnaire captured tutors’ profiles (experience of information technology, e‐moderating, e‐learning, gender, college, module taught), their personal online tutoring style, their opinions on pedagogy and the student learning experience, training and development issues and general reflections on being an online tutor. The initial findings reveal varied reasons for becoming involved with online learning and a wide variety of styles for interacting online with students. All respondents were keen to keep an element of face‐to‐face teaching in their modules and felt it was difficult to gauge depth of learning without ‘normal face‐to‐face interactions at some point’. A number of staff felt that e‐delivery is much more difficult than they envisaged and challenged them in ways that face‐to‐face teaching did not. Materials and approaches that work well in a classroom environment are not always effective online. Tutors faced challenges in both design and delivery.     

Addressing plagiarism in online programmes at a health sciences university: a case study

Plagiarism continues to be a concern for all educational institutions. To build a solid foundation for high academic standards and best practices at a graduate university, aspects of plagiarism were reviewed to develop better management processes for reducing plagiarism. Specifically, the prevalence of plagiarism and software programmes for detecting plagiarism was investigated. From that information, best practices for responding to plagiarism were developed and a process to enhance academic integrity was instituted. The results were impressive, the incidence of plagiarism offences reduced by half in three years, and by 75% among the English as a second-language student population.