Let's get beyond community and practice: the many meanings of learning by participating

This article is an attempt to tease out what is so often termed learning through participation. Drawing on the analysis undertaken by the Learning Outcomes Thematic Group, the use of the participation metaphor in TLRP projects is discussed. The conclusion arrived at is that its use appears mainly to focus on behaviour and engagement in practices. After looking at the cognitive potential to be found in both cultural psychology and in the work that has its origins in interactionism and developmental psychology, the article cautions against simply seeing participation as another way of looking at behaviour and how it is shaped by context. It calls for a recognition of the cognitive elements in socio-cultural and activity theory frameworks and their capacity to explain how we learn new practices. It argues that a focus on coming to know or sense making requires a discursive shift that allows a rethinking of what is meant by acquisition. The implications of these frameworks for assessment are also touched upon.     

Grasping the TLRP nettle: preliminary analysis and some enduring issues surrounding the improvement of learning outcomes

The ESRC Teaching and Learning Research Programme is the largest ever programme of educational research in the UK. This article reports the purposes, processes, outcomes and issues arising from cross-programme thematic work on the conceptualization of, and research into, ‘enhancing learning outcomes’ which is a key aim of the programme. Early documentation from thirty projects is analysed, especially in relation to a classification of learning outcomes, dominant metaphors of learning, sector differences and evidence of outcomes. Discussion focuses upon persistent issues concerning the assessment of the broad range of outcomes, what leads to them, and how knowledge of these links might be established.     

Organizational learning with a pragmatic slant

A pragmatic theory of learning is introduced as a possible way of creating organizational learning and learning organizations. This learning theory rests upon what may be termed the inquiry metaphor. Two other metaphors of learning—the knowledge acquisition and the participation metaphor—are introduced as they are mirrored in the literature and in organizational development in practice. It is argued that the important element of organizational learning and learning organizations is the creation of an experimental arena for learning in which employees are able to engage in inquiry into workplace problems and, by doing so, develop their experiences with work and workplaces.     

Transforming traditional models of initial teacher education through a mandatory experiential learning programme

This paper reports on the impact of a compulsory credit-bearing experiential learning (EL) block embedded into an initial teacher education (ITE) programme in Hong Kong. Student teachers engage in extended participation with community-based projects, aimed at enhancing their understanding of real-world environments, expanding their capacity to integrate theory and practice, and broadening their global outlook. The projects include community placements in Hong Kong, as well as regional learning opportunities. Qualitative data from a hundred participants reveal important outcomes in terms of pedagogical development, students’ understanding of diverse others and enhanced reflective practices. The paper attends to global changes in education.     

Professional development for design-based learning in engineering education: a case study

Design-based learning (DBL) is an educational approach in which students gather and apply theoretical knowledge to solve design problems. In this study, we examined how critical DBL dimensions (project characteristics, design elements, the teacher's role, assessment, and social context) are applied by teachers in the redesign of DBL projects. We conducted an intervention for the professional development of the DBL teachers in the Mechanical Engineering and the Electrical Engineering departments. We used the Experiential Learning Cycle as an educational model for the professionalisation programme. The findings show that the programme encouraged teachers to apply the DBL theoretical framework. However, there are some limitations with regard to specific project characteristics. Further research into supporting teachers to develop open-ended and multidisciplinary activities in the projects that support learning is recommended.     

Assessment guiding learning: developing graduate qualities in an experiential learning programme

As industry demands increase for a new type of graduate, there is more pressure than ever before for higher education (HE) to respond by cultivating and developing students who are prepared for these workplace challenges. This paper explores an innovative experiential learning programme built on the principles of work-related learning that develops students to attain graduate qualities for competitiveness in the business sector. The role and importance of assessment as a core influence for learning is recognised and embedded into the programme, as well as the prevalence of meeting the needs of its stakeholders. Issues concerning assessing work-oriented learning are explored as well as what assessment methods might be most appropriate for enhancing and evaluating learning in this context. Feedback from stakeholders on the structure of the programme and its assessment are discussed as well as the question of how to maintain work-related programmes in HE. If such programmes continue to focus assessment and design around student learning, students will not only have the opportunity to apply their knowledge in a practical context, they will also be maximising their personal learning outcomes with the added advantage of being better equipped to compete in an increasingly competitive marketplace.     

Pedagogical Perspectives and Practices Reflected in Metaphors of Learning and Digital Learning of ICT Leaders

This study examines the meaning attributed to the contribution of technology to pedagogical practices from the perspective of school ICT leaders. While previous studies use metaphors for bottom-up exploration, this study employs an innovative combination of bottom-up and top-down metaphor analysis based on two frameworks: (a) metaphors of general learning (Paavola, Lipponen, & Hakkarainen, 2004)—acquisition, participation, and knowledge creation, and (b) metaphors of digital learning (Shamir-Inbal & Blau, 2016)—toolbox, active player, creative mind, shared desktop, and inter-connected world. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 ICT leaders, including eight elementary school ICT coordinators and five regional ICT coordinators. All three metaphors of general learning and five digital learning metaphors were found in perspectives and pedagogical practices reported by the interviewees. However, the prevalence of each metaphor and the intersections of general and digital learning metaphors were quite different. The analysis based on metaphors shed light on the perspectives of ICT leaders regarding the meaning and nature of learning processes and on pedagogical practices in their schools.     

Hunting and gathering: new imperatives in mapping and collecting student learning data to assure quality outcomes

Assurance of learning (AOL) is a quality enhancement and quality assurance process used in higher education. It involves a process of determining programme learning outcomes and standards, and systematically gathering evidence to measure students' performance on these. The systematic assessment of whole-of-programme outcomes provides a basis for curriculum development and management, continuous improvement, and accreditation. To better understand how AOL processes operate, a national study of university practices across one discipline area, business and management, was undertaken. To solicit data on AOL practice, interviews were undertaken with a sample of business school representatives (n?=?25). Two key processes emerged: (1) mapping of graduate attributes and (2) collection of assurance data. External drivers such as professional accreditation and government legislation were the primary reasons for undertaking AOL outcomes but intrinsic motivators in relation to continuous improvement were also evident. The facilitation of academic commitment was achieved through an embedded approach to AOL by the majority of universities in the study. A sustainable and inclusive process of AOL was seen to support wider stakeholder engagement in the development of higher education learning outcomes.     

Quantitative skills as a graduate learning outcome: exploring students’ evaluative expertise

In the biosciences, quantitative skills are an essential graduate learning outcome. Efforts to evidence student attainment at the whole of degree programme level are rare and making sense of such data is complex. We draw on assessment theories from Sadler (evaluative expertise) and Boud (sustainable assessment) to interpret final-year bioscience students’ responses to an assessment task comprised of quantitative reasoning questions across 10 mathematical and statistical topics. The question guiding the study was: do final year science students graduate knowing the quantitative skills that they have, and knowing the quantitative skills that they do not have? Confidence indicators for the 10 topics gathered students’ perceptions of their quantitative skills. Students were assigned to one of four categories: high performance-high confidence; low performance-low confidence; high performance-low confidence; or low performance-high confidence – with those in the first two categories demonstrating evaluative expertise. Results showed the majority of students effectively evaluated their quantitative skills as low performance-low confidence. We argue that the application of evaluative expertise to make sense of this graduate learning outcome can further the debate on how assuring graduate learning outcomes can enhance student learning.     

论“习得”和“学得”在语言学习中的共同作用

自从克拉申提出语言学习（language learning）和语言习得（language acquisition）这对概念并加以区分以来，学术界一直在探讨两者的不同点，并试图通过比较，找出其中适合本民族、本国度学习第二语言的途径。本文认为：任何一门语言的学习和掌握都是“习得”和“学得”两者共同作用的结果；语言学习有两个层次，部分可以习得，而另一部分必须通过学习才能获得，母语的学习过程也是如此。语言学习过程中两个层次的观点对外语学习具有指导意义。     

思想道德修养与法律基础课“知行统一”成绩评定方式探析

成绩评定是思想道德修养与法律基础课程改革重要内容。＂知行统一＂成绩评定方式主要包括＂知＂与＂行＂两个方面。它的特点是理论考核与实践考核相结合、知识考核与能力考核相结合、终结性考核和形成性考核相结合、任课教师考核与其他人员考核相结合;具有反馈和促进功能以及导向功能,能够激发学生学习的自觉性,增强学生的主体意识、竞争意识和参与意识,促进学生把课内学习与课外学习、知识的学习与行为修养、理论知识的学习与能力的提高有机结合起来。     

Integrative assessment: reframing assessment practice for current and future learning

The requirement to provide timely formative tasks that are designed to facilitate student learning and autonomy has provoked a wider examination of the role of assessment in higher education and encouraged further investigation of the alignment of learning, teaching and assessment in curriculum design frameworks. Many current authors have proposed that the primary purpose of assessment is to enhance current and future learning and that current practice tends to overemphasise the importance of assessment for progression and certification purposes. This paper proposes that a clearer distinction be made between assessment tasks designed to facilitate and test current learning through the use of formative and summative assessments, and those tasks primarily designed to enhance future learning, which could be better termed integrative assessments. This distinction would allow students and teachers to have greater clarity around the proposed outcomes and reward mechanisms associated with assessment tasks and feedback. This paper proposes that teachers should strive to incorporate four different types of assessment tasks throughout a programme of study, namely diagnostic, formative, integrative and summative tasks, and that the outcomes and reward mechanisms for different assessment types be explained more clearly to students.     

The online learning environment—A new model using social constructivism and the concept of ‘Ba’ as a theoretical framework

Organisations that provide education are businesses and, as such, are not immune from the impact that the Internet has had in recent years, both on the way organisations conduct their business and as a business supporting technology. Indeed, the use of the Internet as a facilitating mechanism for educational course delivery has been growing steadily over the last 5–8 years and, although there are some significant issues that have arisen in that time in relation to the quality of learning that can be achieved, there is no doubt that it will continue to be developed as an educational tool. The real issue for educators is, therefore, not whether the Internet will be used in course delivery, or if it is a useful tool, but rather how can a teacher make best use of it to enhance learning? This article documents a study that has analysed five years of student reflections on the scaffolding mechanisms used to promote and encourage learning in five Internet-based courses at the University of Queensland run between 2001 and 2005. The courses involved include three Internet-delivered Masters coursework courses and two Internet-delivered undergraduate courses in three different discipline areas. The outcomes of the study are: (1) a Report Card documenting student evaluations of the scaffolding mechanisms used; (2) a What, Why, How, Where framework of scaffolding mechanisms that are best suited to enabling deep learning through the online environment, and (3) a proposed new model of knowledge acquisition in online learning environments entitled ESCIE, which is based on Nonaka’s SECI and Ba models of knowledge creation.     

Action learning and the creative industries: the efficacy of an action learning set in building collaboration between a university and creative industries

In the UK, the creative sector has been identified as a key strand in the economic recovery strategy. Composed of mostly micro and small enterprises often grouping together for particular commissions and projects, there is a tendency to operate primarily through a series of networks made up of peers. This paper presents the outcomes of a ‘peer-to-peer business programme’, or action learning set, involving 10 participants from the creative sector over a period of 6 months. The programme was based on a ‘Six-Squared’ model where participants would address their own needs alongside participating in, and developing further understanding of, action learning sets in order to establish sets with others. Assessment of outcomes indicated that the programme allowed participants to develop new skills with peers, network and strengthen relationships and collaborate in a university programme. The paper concludes by suggesting that, within the context of a growing and vibrant creative industries sector and increasing pressures on universities to engage with the business community, it is essential to develop flexible, peer-led and innovative models of collaboration.     

学习理论的发展与学习创新

自古以来,关于知识的来源及其获取的方法,一直存在着经验论与唯理论之争,这些争论后来成为20世纪学习理论两大流派——行为主义和认知主义的哲学基础。建构主义是学习理论从行为主义发展到认知主义以后的进一步发展,它为当今时代学习创新提供了许多有益的启示:在学习目标上,变知识传输为知识建构;在学习方式上,倡导自主、探究、合作学习和情境学习;与此相适应,在教学上,也要从知识传授向全面促进学生的学习转变。     

Action learning: how learning transfers from entrepreneurs to small firms

This paper presents research with small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) owners who have participated in a leadership development programme. The primary focus of this paper is on learning transfer and factors affecting it, arguing that entrepreneurs must engage in ‘action’ in order to ‘learn’ and that under certain conditions they may transfer learning to their firm. This paper draws on data from 19 focus groups undertaken from 2010 to 2012, involving 51 participants in the LEAD Wales programme. It considers the literatures exploring learning transfer and develops a conceptual framework, outlining four areas of focus for entrepreneurial learning. Utilising thematic analysis, it describes and evaluates what (actual facts and information) and how (techniques, styles of learning) participants transfer and what actions they take to improve the business and develop their people. This paper illustrates the complex mechanisms involved in this process and concludes that action learning is a method of facilitating entrepreneurial learning which is able to help address some of the problems of engagement, relevance and value that have been highlighted previously. This paper concludes that the efficacy of an entrepreneurial learning intervention in SMEs may depend on the effectiveness of learning transfer.     

Participation in asynchronous online discussion forums does improve student learning of gross anatomy

Asynchronous online discussion forums are common in blended learning models and are popular with students. A previous report has suggested that participation in these forums may assist student learning in a gross anatomy subject but it was unclear as to whether more academically able students post more often or whether participation led to improved learning outcomes. This study used a path model to analyze the contribution of forum participation, previous academic ability, and student campus of enrolment to final marks in a multicampus gross anatomy course for physiotherapy students. The course has a substantial online learning management system (LMS) that incorporates asynchronous forums as a learning tool, particularly to answer learning objectives. Students were encouraged to post new threads and answer queries in threads started by others. The forums were moderated weekly by staff. Discussion forums were the most used feature of the LMS site with 31,920 hits. Forty‐eight percent of the students posted at least once with 186 threads initiated by students and a total of 608 posts. The total number of posts made a significant direct contribution to final mark (P = 0.008) as did previous academic ability (P = 0.002). Although campus did not contribute to final mark, there was a trend for students at the campus where the course coordinator was situated to post more often than those at the other campus (P = 0.073). These results indicate that asynchronous online discussion forums can be an effective tool for improving student learning outcomes as evidenced by final marks in gross anatomy teaching. Anat Sci Educ. 7: 71–76. © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.     

Ysgolion Cymraeg

The pace of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) development necessitates radical and rapid change for education. Given the English prevalence for an economically determinist orientation for educational outcomes, it seems pertinent to ask how learning in relation to ICT is to be conceptualised. Accepting the view that education needs to both transform and be transforming, simple input-output methods by which professionals might judge the veracity of learning–teaching moments need to be challenged. Considering new technologies, it could be said that proponents of input-output rhetoric suggest that the acquisition of technologically oriented skills and behaviours is an educational end in itself. In contrast, others adopt the position that technological advances are important for what they have to offer as means to transform the learner. This paper considers this dualism and proposes that new technologies offer exciting ways to understand and repopulate professional discourse on learning and teaching.     

Inter-Life: a novel,three-dimensional,virtual learning environment for life transition skills learning

This paper presents the findings from one of the first empirical research studies which has investigated the impact of Inter-Life; a novel three-dimensional immersive virtual learning environment, on learning and development of social and educational life transition skills in a group of looked after and accommodated children. Drawing on social constructivism in which meaningful learning is related to context and situated in practice, we report on a series of Inter-Life workshops that enabled young people to work together and through the processes of participation in authentic learning activities contributed to the development of life transition skills such as self-confidence, empathy, negotiation and mediation skills, teamwork and active problem-solving skills. The novel affordances of the Inter-Life virtual world which contributed to the development of the learning community included the ability to personalise learner engagement and activities from the outset along with ‘co-presence’ and ‘immersion’ and the flexibility provided by the innovative, technology-enhanced Inter-Life platform. This study presents some empirical evidence to demonstrate the efficacy of new models of learning that are mediated by innovative malleable technologies that can be shaped by the learner in a participatory manner.