Open Access Journals at Aalborg University
Not a member yet
6616 research outputs found
Sort by
AniVision: New Technology-Assisted Approach to Studying Animation History
Get PDFThe digital humanities project AniVision uses machine learning and computer vision to explore a large corpus of animation in ephemeral films produced in Austria, East Germany, and West Germany during the Cold War. Ephemeral films are a diverse group of films produced for specific utilitarian purposes. While there is animation in these films, it has been comparably neglected in animation studies. In recent decades, technological advances have created opportunities to improve this situation. In AniVision, a machine learning-based approach is developed to automatically classify animated material within a large corpus of ephemeral films. A collaboration between animation scholars and computer scientists, the project aims to study a previously understudied corpus and to develop methods suitable for the analysis of other similarly structured corpora. This paper provides an overview of ephemeral film and its relationship to animation, before introducing the AniVision project and presenting some of its results
Simulation-based E-communication as a Reflective Learning Tool for Nursing Students
Get PDFSimulation-based training in e-communication offers nursing students a valuable opportunity to develop critical competencies for contemporary healthcare practice. At the University College of Northern Denmark (UCN), this training incorporates realistic scenarios such as telemedicine consultations and virtual interprofessional collaboration, enabling students to engage in experiential, reflective learning. Grounded in a pedagogical approach emphasizing iterative cycles of action, reflection, and feedback, the training supports the development of effective digital communication strategies. Structured debriefing sessions foster self-assessment, empathy, and professional accountability, deepening students' understanding of their roles in virtual care settings.
This qualitative study explores students’ experiences of e-communication simulation through open-ended survey responses, analysed using Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis. Five overarching themes emerged: (1) navigating digital communication and relationship-building; (2) simulation as a catalyst for experiential learning; (3) technological uncertainty as authentic disturbance; (4) the role of preparation and psychological safety; and (5) role exploration and interprofessional perspective-taking. These themes reflect how the simulations fostered adaptive communication, critical thinking, and collaboration. Moreover, the design effectively operationalized pedagogical principles of learning through challenge and exploration, encouraging students to navigate uncertainty and construct knowledge through interaction.
Findings underscore the value of simulation-based e-communication training in preparing nursing students for the complexities of digital healthcare. By promoting reflection, adaptability, and interprofessional awareness, such training offers a robust framework for cultivating essential competencies in virtual care environments
Triggering Reflection Through Ecotones: The Role of GenAI Vignettes
Get PDFIn the post-digital educational landscape, it is increasingly essential to understand how students develop professional judgements about technology. This study explores how students from Social Education, Health Administration and Coordination, and Digital Concept Development programs reflect on technology-mediated dilemmas using a GenAI vignette. The vignette presented an ethically complex scenario designed to prompt critical reflection. A total of 95 students participated in collaborative writing reflection tasks, and selected students from each program participated in focus group interviews. Drawing on Dewey’s and Rodgers’ theories of reflection, the analysis shows that the students’ responses were shaped by their professional orientation: social education students emphasized relational ethics, health administration students focused on regulation and implementation, and digital design students approached the scenario through usability and innovation. The findings suggest that GenAI vignettes can foster critical reflection on technology’s role in professional practice, supporting the development of ethically aware, reflective professionals. This method shows promise for preparing students to navigate digitally mediated work environments
Applying Reflective Practice-Based Learning (RPL) Principles in Clinical Education
Get PDFThis paper explores how the six fundamental principles of Reflective Practice-Based Learning (RPL) (Horn et al., 2020) can be applied to clinical supervision in health education. Based on an action research project with clinical educators from physiotherapy and occupational therapy programmes, we examine how RPL can strengthen reflective learning processes during clinical placements.
A workshop was designed and facilitated following RPL’s fundamental principles, using practice-based cases and structured dialogues to engage clinical educators in reflection on real-life supervisory challenges. The workshop aimed to foster educators’ capacity to support students' professional development by creating reflective learning environments that integrate theory and practice.
Drawing on a social constructionist approach to knowledge and narrative analysis, we present empirical findings from a reflective team session and analyse the data through the lens of selected RPL fundamental principles. The narrative highlights how educators navigate the balance between dialogue, collaboration, and appropriate disturbance when guiding students from reflection to action.
Findings indicate that applying RPL principles enhances clinical educators' ability to tailor supervision to students’ readiness, particularly when students hesitate to engage in practice. The study contributes to the development of supervision practices that recognise reflection as both a cognitive and practical process, requiring sensitivity, adaptability, and professional judgement
AAU Professional skills Lab (ProLab): Promoting Transversal Skill Development in STEM through Student Self-Selected Interdisciplinary Workshops
Get PDFThe growing demand for well-rounded STEM professionals underscores the importance of developing non- technical professional skills like communication, collaboration, critical thinking, AI literacy, and systems thinking, or transversal skills, alongside technical expertise. Aalborg University (AAU) has long refined methods for fostering such transversal skills within its PBL framework. This paper presents AAU ProLab, a new initiative that replaced program-specific workshops with full-day interdisciplinary workshop events, bringing together students from various programs and semesters across the faculties of Engineering, Natural Science, and IT & Design. The initiative aimed to enhance motivation by allowing students to choose workshops aligned with their interests and connect across disciplines.
The evaluation, based on an online student survey, included three quantitative questions on recommendation, relevance, and achievement of learning objectives, alongside qualitative feedback. Results showed high satisfaction, with students valuing interdisciplinarity, workshop diversity, and freedom of choice. Suggestions for improvement centered on clearer communication, streamlined registration, and strengthening active learning.
Subsequent editions have already addressed these issues through a dedicated Moodle space for information, a simplified registration model, and revised workshop allocation. Most workshops now emphasize interactive, application-oriented learning, supported by feedback from both students and facilitators. ProLab thus represents a promising platform for supporting interdisciplinary learning and transversal skill development. 
AI-Supported Tutoring and Cognitive Learning Styles in an Engineering Mathematics Refresher Course
Get PDFMany second-year engineering students enter advanced mathematics courses with gaps in foundational knowledge, leading to high failure rates and limited progression in engineering studies. Artificial intelligence (AI)-driven tutoring has emerged as a potential intervention to address these gaps by providing structured support and real-time feedback. This study investigates the effectiveness of AI-supported tutoring in a one- week intensive refresher course, with a focus on how cognitive learning styles influence engagement.
Using Neethling Brain Instrument (NBI) cognitive profiling, Google Form surveys, and interaction data from the Mindjoy tutorbot, the analysis revealed that students with structured, analytical preferences (L1) engaged most frequently with the AI tutor, while creative (R1) and relational (R2) students engaged less. Students who made frequent use of the AI tutor reported increased confidence in problem-solving. These findings highlight the need for AI tutoring systems to adapt to diverse cognitive profiles to maximise engagement and learning outcomes. 
Same but not The Same: Describing and Shaping Meaning-making in Engineering Mathematics Problems
Get PDFExisting paradigms for mathematics education emphasise self-regulated learning, modelling competencies, and learning outcomes in all cognitive, psychomotor and affective domains of learning. However, there is a gap in the engineering education literature with regards to meaning making of mathematics concepts as applied to engineering problems. This paper is written as a configurative dialogue between two educators delivering and supporting teaching and learning of mathematics in two different European contexts and one supporting learning in a South African context. In sharing our practices, we realised that although an exhaustive list of frameworks for mathematics education exists, telling them apart in the context of engineering mathematics education can be difficult and often adds little actionable insights. This realisation motivates the title of this paper “Same but not The Same”. We use the semantic plane of Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) to reflect on problem or scenario-based learning of abstract and/or complex mathematics topics such as linear algebra and differential equations through examples of their (engineering) applications. We argue that qualitative descriptions of meaning-making in open-ended, real-life mathematics problems, methods, and tasks are scarce, and that this can create significant challenges for educators to describe, share, and shape their practices. 
First-Year Engineering Students’ Use of Digital Technology for Learning: The Role of Agency
Get PDFThe use of digital technology has become integral for teaching and learning in engineering curricula at universities. However, in South Africa, many students enter their first year of study with limited prior access to and engagement with digital technologies for learning, which presents challenges for them and their educators. This paper is based on a PhD study that explores the student experience, specifically agency, when students use digital technologies for their coursework in first-year engineering. The key question posed in this study is “How do engineering students demonstrate agency when using digital technologies for their coursework?” The study drew on Cultural Historical Activity Theory as a systemic framing for analysing learning as a socially mediated, culturally situated activity, emphasizing the dynamic interactions between its tenets. An ethnographic approach, which entailed observations, focus groups, and individual interviews, was employed to collect data and answer the research question. By mapping the elements within activity systems, the study identifies contradictions such as mismatches between students’ prior digital experiences and institutional expectations that catalyse learning. The findings show variation in agentic engagement and action by students as they developed their ability to use digital technologies for course activities. The study revealed how digital literacy is not merely acquired but co-constructed through participation in culturally and historically embedded practices where students took initiative to improve their digital skills, used adaptation strategies to sustain learning, and redefined the status quo in unfavourable circumstances.