Learn to use and use to learn: Technology in virtual collaboration experience

This study examined how global learning teams utilized technology in a virtual collaboration to solve complex problems. The study offers an in-depth explanation of why and how the learning teams used technology to support computer-mediated communication. A model of technology application at different stages of virtual collaborative process is proposed. The model can be used to maximize potential of global teams and facilitate further integration of virtual collaboration into university curricula. Time difference and lack of nonverbal cues were identified as challenges the global teams faced. The benefits of virtual collaboration were the opportunities to: learn how to use technology in a meaningful way; practice using technology to solve problems; and broaden one's perspective by communicating with people from different cultures.     

Evaluating university-industry collaboration: the European Foundation of Quality Management excellence model-based evaluation of university-industry collaboration

Tertiary Education and Management - The growth in university-industry collaboration has resulted in an increasing demand for methods to evaluate it. This paper presents one way to evaluate an...     

Learning design to support student-AI collaboration: perspectives of leading teachers for AI in education

Education and Information Technologies - Preparing students to collaborate with AI remains a challenging goal. As AI technologies are new to K-12 schools, there is a lack of studies that inform how...     

Collaboration in the Assessment Process: An initial evaluation of collaboration on an undergraduate business and management course

It is often claimed that collaborative approaches to assessment improve student performance and help students to develop key transferable skills. There are, however, considerable difficulties associated with the introduction and management of such approaches. This article utilises the author's experience of introducing collaborative assessment on an undergraduate business and management course. The article focuses on the role of values, and how both student and lecturer values can have a significant influence on their attitude to such forms of assessment. The paper concludes by suggesting that we should attempt to obtain a more in-depth understanding of student and staff values, and try to address these when introducing collaborative assessment. It also suggests that an incremental approach might be adopted in order to foster commitment, help create a culture of co-operation, and facilitate an action research approach that enables those involved to learn from their experience.     

An evaluation of European learning objects in use

Most studies on reusable digital learning materials, learning objects (LOs), relate to their use in universities. Few empirical studies exist to explore the impact of LOs on pedagogy, especially in schools. This paper provides evidence from an evaluation of the use of LOs in schools. The evidence is from a European Union‐funded project, Context eLearning with Broadband Technologies (CELEBRATE), involving 500 schools in six countries across Europe, in a pilot to examine the impact of LOs on pedagogy. It brought together producers and users to try out technically and pedagogically sound ways of producing, making available through a portal, and using LOs. This paper reports data from both quantitative and qualitative studies conducted during 2004, including: online surveys (of all the teachers involved), routine data from the portal and semi‐structured interviews in 40 schools in all six countries.     

《送行》中的“物化”现象分析

在散文《送行》中,马克斯·比尔博姆以诙谐、优雅的文笔描绘了日常生活中一件稀松平常的小事,睿智地呈现了社会生活中的荒唐怪诞。爱面子的虚荣心催生了“情感”与金钱的交易,也物化了真实关好的人际关系。对“物化”现象的分析有助于我们理解作品中强烈的社会批判意识,从而规避物化时代的负面影响。     

Re-conceptualising sustainable widening participation: evaluation,collaboration and evolution

This article discusses the future of university-based programmes aimed at enabling the access and successful participation of students from traditionally under-represented backgrounds in higher education. It builds a case for adopting three strategies in ensuring the sustainability of widening access and participation work: (1) embedding broad-ranging and reflexive evaluation practices; (2) developing partnerships with industry partners; and (3) evolving the conceptual and strategic framework of widening participation. The article's reflections are contextualised within the framework of current higher education policy and practice in Australia, and its arguments are advanced from a close reflection on a mentorship programme aimed at media students from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds at Macquarie University.     

An interactive learning environment (ILE) to study statistics: Effects of prior knowledge on the use of embedded support devices

The present contribution focuses on an interactive learning environment for the delivery of distance education learning materials. The use of such an interactive learning environment is foreseen in a distance education context in which students explore and study (part) of the learning materials by means of a personal computer. Research with interactive learning environments is transposed to the development of a course delivery environment, called ILCE, that also supports the development of a course model and learning materials. A learning environment as used in the present study allows students to access the course materials in a more flexible way. The printed self-study materials often do not correspond with the specific needs of a student, are only weakly related to his or her prior knowledge, or do not take account of differences in learning style. Although the printed course materials include text-embedded support devices (e.g., examples, exercises, illustrations), it is questioned whether the available devices provide enough support for each individual student. Therefore, it is argued that an interactive learning environment — in which a student is actively engaged in selecting learning materials (basic content and embedded support devices) — may provide a valuable tool in order to meet the individual needs of the student. Prototypes of an interactive learning environment were tested in two experimental settings. It appeared that all students were actively engaged in selecting the required support devices. However, the results showed that students with a high prior knowledge state manifested a higher amount of interactive use of support devices than their peers with a low prior knowledge state. The latter was especially found for support devices that either reinforce the acquisition process or provide a tool to test one’s mastery level.     

Video material as a support to developing effective collaboration between teachers and teaching assistants

At a time of rapid development in the role of teaching assistants and of corresponding increase in their numbers, studies of how TAs and teachers collaborate are particularly welcome. In this article, Sue Pearson, Gary Chambers and Ken Hall explore the potential of video recordings as a tool in joint professional development.     

Developing a smart classroom infrastructure to support real-time student collaboration and inquiry: a 4-year design study

Instructional Science - K-12 classroom settings are not yet incorporating emerging technologies such as ubiquitous computing, augmented reality, nor even touch surfaces, despite the significant...     

An evaluation of the use of continuous assessment in the teaching of physiology

The level of understanding achieved by a class of 160 1st-year medical students was assessed from their answers to exam questions related to a series of physiology lectures in which students were taught for conceptual understanding. Questionnaire data showed that about 90% of the class perceived the subject matter to be relevant.Information collected by interview from a sample of 30 students indicated that frequent summative assessment exerted a profound negative influence over their learning. Students adopted a surface reproductive approach aimed at passing the exams rather than at understanding the subject matter. Lectures failed to affect the way that students represented, structured and selected their knowledge, which remained encapsulated in the textbook context and was non-functional.Assessments comprised a high proportion of multiple-choice questions and emphasized low-level skills resulting in the establishment of a hidden curriculum. Furthermore, the curriculum failed to provide appropriate opportunities for students to consolidate and internalize information presented in lectures. The students had inadequate abstract reasoning and integration skills and so were unable to ignore the hidden curriculum.In the absence of high-level conceptual development students cannot apply theory to practice. It is argued that the early introduction of clinical experiences (in year-2) cannot promote effective integration between theory and practice and the development of an holistic attitude and heuristic thinking, when students lack prerequisite basic reasoning skills and do not know how to learn meaningfully.