Open Access Journals at Aalborg University
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Designing activities and tools to support university students' creative and collaborative exploration of physical computing
Get PDFToday’s digital world requires students to gain skills in collaborative problem solving and digital literacy. One approach is to teach people how to design computational artefacts that require both electronics and programming. Physical computing platforms offer an endless amount of possible opportunities for people to design and develop technological artefacts. However, many times students are overwhelmed when trying to learn both software and hardware simultaneously. The students struggle to be innovative and creative in their projects. Also, they focus on mastering the tool and following instructions for existing projects rather than being able to creatively explore the tool and understand the process of designing and developing new artefacts. For that reason, we aimed to answer the question: What type of tools and activities can be developed to support university students creative exploration of physical computing? Programming and electronics are fundamental design disciplines in today's digital world, and therefore they should be taught through design activities rather than limiting education to textbook readings and laboratory exercises.
We introduce our process of designing activities combined with a supportive tool to ease these challenges. The activities and tools were developed iteratively in three phases with a series of workshops with 126 students and teachers. The tool consists of a set of paper cards that provide necessary details (hints) about the electronics and software and help provide structure for the students to conceptualise how their artefact interacts. We additionally, introduced a learning Jigsaw pattern (orchestration script) for the later intervention that enabled individual students in the groups to focus on design, hardware, or software. For evaluation, we used the Creativity Support Index (CSI), which is a psychometric survey designed to assess the support of the creative process. The instrument investigates collaboration, efforts worth the result, exploration, immersion, enjoyment, and expressiveness. The results between the phases showed improvement with the use of the refined versions of the cards and orchestration of the learning activity. This study has demonstrated that design activities can provide a more accessible approach for the introduction of physical computing to students from various majors. Moreover, learning physical computing through design activities allows the learner to develop computational and design thinking skills for collaboratively solving problems
No Size Fits All: Design Considerations for Networked Professional Development in Higher Education
Get PDFThis paper develops a framework for design considerations that can be used to analyse or design networked professional development (NPD) in higher education (HE) contexts. The model was developed after reflecting on three professional development (PD) courses, each with facilitators who are academic developers across the African continent. Using a collaborative autoethnographic methodology (Bali, Crawford, Jessen, Signorelli, Zamora, 2015), the three authors reflect on design considerations for different forms of blended and online PD courses, based on their experiences of designing and/or facilitating these interventions and with PD more broadly. We argue that design considerations, such as context, have become more complex and that understanding the dynamics between them are important. We suggest that course designs can be positioned along a range of dimensions, namely: open/closed, structured/unstructured, facilitated/unfacilitated, certified/uncertified, with/without date commitments, homogenous versus autonomous learning path, content vs process centric, serious vs playful and individual vs collaborative. Our design considerations framework is not meant to judge courses or provide a formula for how best to design them, but rather to highlight how courses can be understood on each of the dimensions we identify, and how design decisions place a course in particular positions along the spectrum, depending on context. We noted some relationships among dimensions and links to learning theories. We also identified various tensions that arise in the design of NPD, such as between academic developers' pedagogical advocacy vs. usefulness, the need to maintain volunteerism without exploitation of affective labour, and the struggle to create spaces for agency within institutional rules
Scaling engagement in MOOCs 4D: Redress for Bloom's 2- sigma challenge
Get PDFThis short paper and presentation reviews a design implementation for scaled inquiry-based learning. A MOOC design resting on the community of inquiry (CoI) theoretical framework and the historical work of Bloom and Wahlberg was tested in a large, open, online course. Over multiple implementations, results indicate higher engagement and completion rates beyond what normally occurs in MOOCs. These results may be attributed to enhanced opportunities for engagement. Beyond a test of MOOC design, this design is in reference to the needs of education broadly. The iron triangle of education requires the adequate combination of cost-effectiveness or affordability, accessibility, and quality. Difficult to offer in combination, this is particularly challenging when learning opportunities are scaled to networks of learners. As one example of networked learning, this MOOC design offers suggestions for high engagement in technology-enabled learning for large groups of learners
Utilizing Semantic Segmentation to Analyse Google Street View Imagery for Health-Oriented Urban Planning: A Case Study of the Green View Index in Copenhagen Municipality
Get PDFEfter udbruddet af Coronavirus (COVID-19-pandemien) har de offentlige sundhedsmæssige fordele ved bynære grønne områder tiltrukket sig øget opmærksomhed. Inden for eksponeringsvidenskab er synlighed blevet betragtet som en grundlæggende kategori til vurdering af eksponering af grønne områder, men evalueringer i Danmark behandler det sjældent. Denne undersøgelse bruger Københavns Kommune som casestudie til at udforske Green View Index (GVI) ved at analysere Google Street View-billeder (GSV) ved hjælp af semantisk segmentering. Hovedresultaterne omfatter: (1) et GVI-gennemsnit på 15,05 % inden for Københavns Kommune, rangerende under gennemsnittet af seks andre europæiske byer, og (2) et kort, der viser den rumlige fordeling af GVI i undersøgelsesområdet. Derudover overvejes potentialet og mulighederne ved at bruge street view-billeder i fremtidige sundhedsundersøgelser i byer.After the onset of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the public health benefits of urban green space (UGS) have attracted increased attention. In exposure science, visibility has been considered a fundamental category for assessing green space exposure, yet evaluations in Denmark rarely address it. This study uses Copenhagen Municipality as a case study to explore the Green View Index (GVI) by analyzing Google Street View (GSV) images using semantic segmentation. The main findings include: (1) a GVI mean of 15.05% within Copenhagen Municipality, ranking below the average of six other European cities, and (2) a map showing the spatial distribution of GVI in the study area. Additionally, this paper considers the potential and possibilities of using street view imagery in future urban health studies
What Makes Me Stay Here? An Action Research Approach to Organisational Change
Get PDFThis article takes a qualitative approach to understanding the meaning of the good life in a situated organisational context, addressing the possibility of staying at work as a good enough place, even though it is facing critical events (turnover, mass resignations, and mergers and acquisitions). The paper presents a case study of a tax and legal firm that was formed in 2020 from the merger of two accounting firms and that is having difficulties attracting and retaining experienced talent. The article aims to explore a concrete organisational case in which people are grappling with the decision to remain with the firm (legacy and persistence) or leave in search of new professional opportunities (innovation and change). Epistemological and methodological implications are highlighted, focusing on the research object as a heterotopic text in which various languages, voices and practices are diffractionally assembled Deleuze and Guattari 1987), interweaving various discourses and practices (Cunliffe and Locke 2020)
A Personal Introduction to Rethinking Problem-based Learning for the Digital Age (Savin-Baden and Fraser, 2024)
Get PDFThis reflection provides an introduction to, and reflection on, the new text Rethinking Problem-based Learning for the Digital Age (Savin-Baden and Fraser, 2024). It begins by telling the story and rationale for the creation of the book and then provides an overview of the text of the whole. The next section discusses the purpose of the book, and the final section analyses the importance of the notion of the postdigital for PBLonline. It argues that the postdigital as a concept and an approach is important in PBLonline because it prompts a rethinking of learning and the impact of neoliberalism of the university worldwide
Generating social capital between people management and dynamic change
Get PDFThis articlepresents an action-research experience as an emblematic expression of new ways of generating value and organizational processes. The subject is related to the management of pre-schools, in which civil society takes responsibility for micro-processes that guarantee the generation of collective value for the community and the maintenance of a connective tissue through which narratives, stories, and experiences take root. Stories become relationships, networks of trust and collaboration with widespread availability that translates civic consciousness into actions, initiatives, and projects.The article’s contribution illustrates the challenges faced and the organizational processes activated with the different stakeholders involved in the system of activities considered, through a situated and conversational research-action approach (Shotter 2007), according to a dialogic research-action perspective (Shotter 2010). The results highlight the elements of social capital generated, as well as the critical issues that emerged in the work within the socio-organizational and community contexts
Digitalization effects on women entrepreneurship and Sustaiability: A Systematic Literature Review
Get PDFDespite societal impediments that frame entrepreneurship as predominantly male, the digital revolution is enabling women to surmount these obstacles and engage more comprehensively. Social media, the Internet of Things, and various digital tools furnish women entrepreneurs with essential resources to broaden their networks, acquire knowledge, and optimize operations. These technological advancements foster a more dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystem, with women's distinct perspectives fueling innovation. Additionally, women entrepreneurs are at the forefront of sustainability efforts. Guided by an "ethic of care," they emphasize environmental stewardship, leading to the adoption of eco-friendly practices and green innovations. Their attention to social issues promotes community development and gender equality. Economically, women entrepreneurs stimulate growth, create jobs, and alleviate poverty, thereby fortifying the economic framework. Digitalization presents a dual challenge for sustainability. While these tools offer significant potential, their responsible use is vital to mitigate environmental impacts such as e-waste. In summary, this paper underscores the beneficial impact of digital technology on women's entrepreneurship and its capacity to foster a more sustainable future.This study used a rigorous methodology that integrates a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis to examine the impact of sanctions on firm performance. The initial steps involved comprehensive keyword identification and database selection, focusing on the Scopus database for its broad coverage of indexed journals. Using a targeted search strategy combining specific keywords and inclusion criteria, 97 relevant articles were initially identified. Each selected article was thoroughly reviewed for relevance, and as a result, 32 articles met the inclusion criteria. Data extracted from these articles included authors' details, publication profiles, citation criteria, and key findings, which were combined to provide insight into the intersection of digitization and women's entrepreneurship in the context of sustainability. This article aims to explore the interplay between women’s entrepreneurship and sustainability pillars, further examining how the deployment of digital technologies influences this relationship
Stieglerian Infraculture: Possibility and being in a contributory economy
Get PDFThis workshop models and explains Stiegler’s proposal that the entropic limits of the Anthropocene be overturned through developing a “contributory economy.” The contributory economy develops the value of new possibilities for individuals, expectances, and expressions of the art of living. The workshop models a contributory economy through its dialogical relational space, use of time, anticipation of profit, collective participatory experience, play on knowledge, interpretation of the technological, and emphasis on care
Machine (network) learning in K-12 classrooms: Exploring the state of the actual with Actor-Network-Theory
Get PDFIn times when machine learning (ML) and other artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are expanding the role and definition of network learning in schools, this short paper reports from a practice-centred research project that explores how K-12 teachers affect and are affected by educational technologies with AI. Accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, data-driven and decision-making systems with ML are already entering various educational policy and practice realms, often underpinned by promises of automation and personalization. A growing number of research, drawing from the theoretical orientations and empirical approaches from Science & Technology Studies is increasingly unpacking such promises as well as addressing controversies directly related to the constitutions of ML AI in education. Still, little research explores the adoption of data-driven AI technologies in classrooms from a socio-material, networked learning stance. This short paper introduces such work (in progress) drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Sweden. Guided by the ontological and methodological approaches of Actor-Network-Theory (ANT), the study focuses on the interactions in K-12 classrooms between commercial ML technologies and teachers. Methodologically this means engaging with both human and non-human actors through ethnographic approaches striving for very specific descriptions of interactions within the actor-network and its enacted realities. Preliminary findings from the first of two envisaged case studies in which a ML-based teaching aid in mathematics was tried out in 22 classrooms indicate how compensatory and contradictory actions and accounts emerge within the network of heterogeneous actors. Human actors seem to compensate for the algorithmic actions of the specific educational technology with ML. This is however not a fait accompli but a continuous and unsettled process in the making between humans and the (non-human) technology. Preliminary results also suggest how controversies of ML algorithms in teaching aids, such as their lack of transparency and algorithmic “governance” play out in authentic learning contexts. In conclusion, the paper argues that theoretical and methodological principles of ANT grant for non-deterministic narrative of the heterogeneous nature of educational practice and have the potential to open the black-box of machine learning in the emerging networked learning settings of K-12 classrooms