Evaluating Peer Review in an Introductory Instructional Design Course

A peer review process, in which students reviewed other students' projects in a graduate introductory instructional design course, was evaluated. Peer review was experienced by these students as a learning activity about the process of instructional design (ID). The role of traditional ID models in representing ID as overly procedural‐ized was mitigated, and the value, inter‐personal processes, and affective aspects of formative evaluation were recognized. The effectiveness of peer review was influenced by the culture of the course in which it was embedded and by the structure of the process itself. Peer review is proposed as an authentic and efficient means to introduce graduate students to the strategic knowledge needed to apply ID skills. Recommendations are made to increase the effectiveness of peer review.     

Dialogue as philosophical inquiry in the teaching of tolerance and sympathy

Classroom conversations designed to foster mutual understanding encourage students to listen in a way that is receptive, open, and self-eclipsing. Such an emphasis on tolerance makes these conversations vulnerable to relativism and cynicism. I argue that dialogical philosophical inquiry diminishes such threats, as it fosters mutual appreciation of community and individuality. I offer three reasons for this in the context of a graduate-level course for teachers on dialogical philosophical inquiry. First, the inquiry into shared concepts creates a sense of commonality that transcends differences: all humans seek wisdom irrespective of its form. Second, dialogical philosophical inquiry prompts students to discover the inherent limitations of their perspectives, and to internalize the perspective of the other as a constant in their own thinking. Third, students are given an opportunity to practice relations with others that are informed by the first two points. In dialogical philosophical inquiry students reflect on their thinking together in an effort to improve it. The philosophers referred to in this article include Martin Buber, Nicholas Burbules, Jim Garrison and Leonard Waks.

The dimensions of research in undergraduate learning

Most Australian Universities offer a selection of research-intensive pathways at the graduate level, which provides opportunities for independent inquiry and intellectual autonomy. Undergraduate students, however, are somewhat short-changed in their experience in research. They are exposed to a variety of areas and disciplines, which forms a general cluster of knowledge, but students graduate without obtaining the skills associated with research and inquiry. Digital communication networks and the ways in which information is disseminated in modern society play an important role in the way people live and learn. At the same time, younger generations are emerging with greater skills in digital literacy, which bears an impact on how knowledge is produced and information is shared. This prompts to question, are undergraduate students acquiring the generic attributes that will help them to cope with the complexities of an information-driven society? The following article is based on the premise that undergraduate students need to be empowered to construct their own knowledge as potential producers rather than mere consumers of knowledge. It provides a synthesis of cross-disciplinary perspectives and educational debates that support the argument for, and benefits of, providing research-enriched learning for undergraduate students. This article adopts a framework for the dimensions of research in undergraduate learning. The different models presented in this article aim to illustrate the various ways that research can be integrated with teaching to benefit learning.     

生物医学工程专业学位研究生案例教学方法研究——以检测诊断类智能医疗产品综合开发案例为例

为了提高生物医学工程专业学位研究生的综合应用知识分析问题和解决问题的能力,培养学生在医疗器械产品研发中的全局观,本文基于一种检测诊断类智能医疗产品的开发,以问题为驱动,探讨了一种旨在激发和培养学生获取新知识、提升科研创新能力和解决问题的综合能力为目的的案例建设及其在该专业学位研究生培养过程中的教学方法.     

Lifescaping action research pedagogy

ABSTRACT

This article is a collaboration involving a professor and three graduate students. Together, they explore lifescaping action research pedagogy guided by the participatory inquiry process. Since the lesson taught is not the lesson learned, the first author presents a perspective about teaching PIP followed by the graduate students’ collective responses enacting what they learned in three different school settings.     

Student Learning Through Participation in Inquiry Activities: Two Case Studies in Teacher and Computer Engineering Education

The two case studies reported in this article contribute to a better understanding of how inquiry tasks and activities are employed as resourceful means for learning in higher professional education. An observation-based approach was used to explore characteristics of and challenges in students’ participation in collaborative inquiry activities in two first-year introductory courses in teacher and computer engineering education. The findings highlight that the students’ activities varied with regard to focus and structure and were shaped by the types of inquiry tasks, i.e. case analysis and project-based work, by how the inquiry process was guided and supported and the way the domain-specific knowledge resources and practices were introduced. An exploratory strategy and rather confined use of resources characterised the teacher education students’ inquiry, while collaborative programming, a trial-and-error approach and extensive use of external resources that of the engineering education students’. For the teacher students, the main challenge was to construct meaning of conceptual knowledge and to integrate different forms of knowledge as a lens for analysing practice. The computer engineering students experienced challenges with unpacking the underlying principles and knowledge black-boxed in the widely available resources. The article suggests that future research and curriculum designs should depart from a more refined understanding of inquiry as a learning means, by connecting inquiry activities to the specific knowledge domains, the type of tasks most suited to explore each of this domains and the challenges that may arise for students.     

Student-Directed Assessment of Knowledge Building Using Electronic Portfolios

Despite emphasis and progress in developing collaborative inquiry in computer-supported collaborative learning research, little attention has been given to examining how collective learning can be assessed in computer-supported collaborative learning classrooms, and how students can have agency in assessing their own collaborative process. We propose that assessments should capture both individual and collective aspects of learning and be designed in ways that foster collaboration. We describe the design of student-directed electronic portfolio assessments to characterize and “scaffold” collaborative inquiry using Knowledge Forum?. Our design involved asking students to identify exemplary notes in the computer discourse depicting knowledge building episodes using four knowledge building principles as criteria. We report three studies that examined the designs and roles of knowledge building portfolios with graduate and Grade 12 students in Hong Kong and Canada. The findings suggest that knowledge building portfolios help to characterize collective knowledge advances and foster domain understanding. We discuss lessons learned regarding how knowledge building may be fostered and provide principles for designing assessments that can be used to evaluate and foster deep inquiry in asynchronous online discussion environments.     

Reflections as near‐peer facilitators of an inquiry project for undergraduate anatomy: Successes and challenges from a term of trial‐and‐error

Near‐peer facilitators (senior students serving as facilitators to their more junior peers) bring a unique student‐based perspective to teaching. With fewer years of teaching experience however, students who become involved in a facilitator role typically develop related skills quickly through a process of trial‐and‐error within the classroom. The aim of this paper is to report on the authors' own experiences and reflections as student near‐peer facilitators for an inquiry‐based project in an undergraduate anatomy course. Three areas of the facilitator experience are explored: (1) offering adequate guidance as facilitators of inquiry, (2) motivating students to engage in the inquiry process, and (3) fostering creativity in learning. A practical framework for providing guidance to students is discussed which offers facilitators a scaffold for asking questions and assisting students through the inquiry process. Considerations for stimulating intrinsic motivations toward inquiry learning are made, paying attention to ways in which facilitators might influence feelings of motivation towards learning. Also, the role of creativity in inquiry learning is explored by highlighting the actions facilitators can take to foster a creative learning environment. Finally, recommendations are made for the development of formalized training programs that aid near‐peer facilitators in the acquisition of facilitation skills before entering into a process of trial‐and‐error within the classroom. Anat Sci Educ. 7: 64–70. © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.     

Storytelling as a Strategy for Understanding Concepts of Electricity and Electromagnetism

In our research, we investigated whether students will develop inquiry skills, such as hypothesis exploration and formulation and interpretation, and metacognitive skills, such as comprehension of new knowledge, as a result of a storytelling strategy employed during teaching. We also investigated whether students will utilize the skills and knowledge acquired in the learning process to explain everyday-life phenomena or applications of science. In order to achieve the above objectives, we carried out a bibliographical research, in which we established the certainty that modern thought is integrated in dialogical and narrative forms and that the conceptual approach, which places emphasis on the purely cognitive dimension of the process of knowledge and ignores inspiration or imagination, is ineffective. These conclusions necessitated our turning to other approaches for teaching and learning. We chose storytelling on account of its ability to cultivate the imagination and inspiration and to make science learning attractive to students. To confirm our findings, we conducted research on the effectiveness of storytelling in teaching science in five sixth-grade, primary-school classes. The findings of this research are described in our paper and seem to be encouraging.     

Can Inquiry and Reflection be Contagious? Science Teachers, Students, and Action Research

This study reports the transformations of 3 science teachers who conducted action research projects following a model, unique to our graduate program, which follows the theoretical tenets of adult and transformative learning theory. Teachers video their teaching, engage in weekly peer group collaborative reflection sessions, collaborate with students, and consult with other sources to identify goals for improving their teaching practices, develop action plans, and analyze the results of their actions. As a result of this process, all 3 teachers changed their pedagogical approach from a teacher centered textbook driven approach to a student centered inquiry based approach. Implications of using this model as a powerful means of professional development for science teachers are explored.     

Learning with collaborative inquiry: a science learning environment for secondary students

When inquiry-based learning is designed for a collaborative context, the interactions that arise in the learning environment can become fairly complex. While the learning effectiveness of such learning environments has been reported in the literature, there have been fewer studies on the students’ learning processes. To address this, the article presents a study of science learning in a computer-supported learning environment called Collaborative Science Inquiry (CSI), which integrates guided inquiry principles for activity design, employs modelling and visualisation tools for promoting conceptual understanding and incorporates key computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) elements for enabling students’ collaboration. With the aim of understanding the process of students’ conceptual changes supported by the CSI learning environment as used in a secondary school, data on students’ test achievements, responses to learning tasks and peer discussions in collaboration were collected, analysed and discussed. The results of the qualitative and quantitative data analysis indicated that guided inquiry coupled with CSCL elements facilitated by the CSI system can engage students in inquiry activities and promote their conceptual understanding in a progressive way.     

International graduate students' difficulties: graduate classes as a community of practices

This study explores the factors that cause international graduate students to struggle and these students' ways of dealing with such problems in light of sociocultural theory, which views learning as a social and cultural act. The findings show that graduate classes function as communities of practices in which classmates and professors mutually engage with each other, share a repertoire and engage in joint enterprises. The practices were not always transparent to international students, which became a source of difficulty and often led them to feel excluded. Peripheral participation comprised a significant part of some students' learning process and identity formation, but it allowed them to participate in course-related activities as fully as they felt comfortable doing. This study suggests a need for more sensitive and dialogical efforts by educators in higher education to provide better learning environments for international learners.     

Active Learning and Teaching through Digital Technology and Live Performance: ‘Choreographic Thinking’ as Art Practice in the Tertiary Sector

This article is an interdisciplinary reflective response to an intensive studio learning and teaching experience involving artists, academics and postgraduate students. The authors of this article teach, research and practise in coding, digital design, dance, and virtual and live performance. As lecturers and students we reflect upon and propose future approaches to art practice in tertiary education informed by live performance, performance capture and studio‐based responses to digital and virtual platforms. We reflect on an innovative contribution to the field of research–teaching nexus as informed by digital and virtual data capture identifying the key element of immediacy in live performance and choreographic improvisation with systems. We reflect on practice‐based inquiry via the Choreographic Coding Lab (CCL) model – a dialogical negotiation between capture technology and interdisciplinary artists in industry and academia. How can we encourage potential studio inquiry as an adapted model in tertiary learning and teaching? Our interdisciplinary voices, presented as authors’ reflections, provide suggestions for future studio‐based, active learning contexts.     

Realising graduate attributes in the research degree: the role of peer support groups

This paper discusses the role of peer support groups (PSGs) in realising graduate attributes in the research degree. The literature indicates that top-down embedding of graduate attributes has met with only limited success. By taking a bottom-up approach, this paper shows that PSGs offer an opportunity to improve the graduate attribute outcomes of universities. This paper presents the experiences of research students in three PSGs in New Zealand, Australia and Malaysia, and the results of an exploratory opinion survey that required past and present PSG members to share their learning experiences about the development of graduate attributes. The participants favoured five attributes: communication, critical thinking, self-motivation, research organisation and teamwork. Viewing the development of graduate attributes through the lens of the students adds to our understanding of how PSGs help them to develop graduate attributes and contribute to university efforts to instil these attributes by taking into account experiential learning.     

Teach Me and I May Remember,Involve Me and I Learn: Four Approaches to Peer Mentoring in Sport Psychology

ABSTRACT

Many students experience difficulties during their graduate education. Scholars have proposed mentoring as one potential strategy to support them. While often assumed to be the sole responsibility of faculty, graduate students are also in a position to provide meaningful mentorship to their peers. Thus, the purpose of the current article is to focus on the relationship between peer mentor and mentee and provide those interested in becoming peer mentors during their graduate training with a guide to deliberately structure their interactions and relationships with mentees. More specifically, the approaches of four former peer mentors are presented. These are all grounded in theory and have been labeled: (a) autonomy-supportive mentoring, (b) mentoring with resonance, (c) community-based mentoring, and (d) self-concept-based mentoring.     

美国大学的顶点课程初探

顶点课程是美国高校为高年级学生,特别是为临近毕业的学生开设的一种综合性课程,具有使学生反思和整合所学知识技能,以及帮助学生成功过渡到职业生涯的功能。本文探讨了美国大学顶点课程的内涵、类型、功能,介绍了顶点课程的设计、实施和评价,试图为我国高校提高大学生的综合素质提供一种实践的途径。     

The relationships between social participatory roles and cognitive engagement levels in online discussions

Understanding the relationship between social interaction patterns and cognitive engagement levels has critical implications on collaborative learning theory, pedagogy, and technology. This study used a multi-method approach to examine the relationship between students' social participatory roles and cognitive engagement levels within asynchronous online discussions. Results showed that students' social participatory role was a critical indicator of cognitive engagement level. Socially active students made more cognitive contributions to knowledge inquiry and knowledge construction. But there were exceptions: after taking leadership roles (i.e., discussion designers and facilitators), some students moved from peripheral participation to active participation. Second, there was a progressive development process: individual students' deep-level knowledge inquiry could trigger peer interaction, which could further advance group knowledge construction. Third, students had a tendency to keeping social-cognitive engagement patterns throughout discussions. Based on the result, this study proposed implications for collaborative learning theory, pedagogy support, and tool development.     

Teachers as researchers: Classroom inquiry initiatives at undergraduate and graduate levels in early childhood education

Abstract

This article discusses the importance of including a teacher‐as‐researcher strand in college courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels. It describes four competency areas that contribute to the ability to engage in classroom inquiry including frequent and quality clinical experiences, practicing data collection methods of authentic assessment, opportunities to learn reflective practices, and experience using the inquiry cycle. Two undergraduate courses in early childhood education and a masters degree program in teaching & learning provide illustrations for embedding the teacher‐as‐researcher strand into the teacher education program. The article discusses the potential for classroom inquiry to stimulate renewal in university and public school settings. © 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.     

Peer mentoring among doctoral students of science and engineering in Taiwan

This study describes the peer mentoring experience from doctoral student mentors?? point of view. Twelve science and engineering doctoral students participated in this phenomenology study. The findings suggest doctoral peer mentors served instrumental, psychosocial, buffering, and liaison roles; they passed on their social, professional, and academic knowledge to their mentees and tried to assist them in adapting to the culture of the lab and academia. The study identified a variety of factors that influenced their attitudes and behaviors as peer mentors and concluded this system would be beneficial to the learning and development of both individual students and lab teams. The aims of this study were threefold: first, to identify the importance and necessity of peer mentoring systems as part of the experience of working in labs in graduate school; second, to ascertain which interactions and factors in the peer mentoring relationship benefitted both peer mentors and peer mentees; and third, to explore what might constitute best practices in the peer mentoring relationship.