Journals (University of Staffordshire)
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Student Transition into Higher Education: Exploring BTEC Sport and Exercise Students Forthcoming Transition to Higher Education Taught within a Further Education Setting
Get PDFAs of March 2017, 241 Further Education (FE) colleges were delivering Higher Education (HE) qualifications, with the majority of students enrolled on courses such as Foundation Degrees (FDs). FDs prove to be a popular choice amongst those entering HE from non-traditional backgrounds. Consequently, it is important that we explore and understand this student demographic. The aim of this research is to explore BTEC Level 3 sport and exercise students’ thoughts, feelings and perceptions on their forthcoming transition to HE, delivered in an FE setting. The findings identified three key themes: differences are expected between the academic levels and students must make changes to meet the perceived demands; progressing to a FD is an anxious process and many barriers exist; students progress onto FDs for a multitude of reasons. A series of recommendations and guidelines have been created, which enable FE organisations to further support and improve the transitional process for HE students, and universities to better understand expectations and the needs of those students that transition to FD courses at partner organisations
Students’ Experiences in Higher Education With Virtual and Augmented Reality: A Qualitative Systematic Review
Get PDFVirtual reality involves 3-D computer graphics that are experienced using a desktop computer or advanced tools including head-mounted displays. Augmented reality is usually experienced on a mobile phone and involves combining real and computer-generated digital information. These platforms have been introduced into higher education settings, however, little is known about their impact on student learning. This meta-synthesis examines the experiences of higher education students with virtual and augmented reality. A thematic synthesis integrating qualitative evidence was undertaken where eight electronic databases were searched. Twenty-three articles met the inclusion criteria (n = 1,334 students) and were examined by two reviewers using a constant comparative approach. Four themes emerged: technological factors, student characteristics, learning outcomes and recommendations. Our findings indicate there are factors to consider with these platforms as well as with the learners themselves when incorporating this technology in higher education
Lochtie, D., McIntosh, E., Stork, A. and Walker, B.W. (2018) Effective Personal Tutoring in Higher Education St Albans: Critical Publishing
Get PDFLiz Thomas describes the field of personal tutoring in Higher Education as “something of an academic desert” (Foreword, p.x) and, with that in mind, the authors have set out to “unearth good practice in tutoring” (p.4). The aims set out in the introduction include providing “a highly effective approach for delivering personal tutoring and coaching” (p.4), acting as a toolkit and having impact on the strategic level, such as the achievement of key performance indicators. Overall I felt that the book achieved its aims and I would agree with Thomas that it is a “much-needed resource” (p.x)
Collective case building – an extended approach to case based learning
Get PDFCase based learning (CBL) has not seen many innovations in recent times. This research conceptualises a new extended approach to CBL called ‘collective case building’ where students are involved in co-constructing cases. It then explores whether this approach can improve students’ skills in co-constructing a case (called ‘case augmentation abilities’) and students’ discipline specific knowledge; in this case knowledge in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). A small scale quantitative study is conducted with 40 undergraduate students on a business course split into 8 groups. Students complete a questionnaire, and existing data on their module marks are collated. The study measures their ‘collectiveness’ via collective efficacy and team work. Satisfaction with the collective case building approach is also assessed along with students CSR knowledge eand case augmentation abilities. The small scale study means that the findings may be treated with caution. Nevertheless the results reveal high satisfaction with the collective case building approach, and that some variables in the regression analysis are significant in predicting students’ case augmentation abilities and discipline specific (CSR) knowledge. The initial findings from this small scale study suggest that those using case based learning should consider involving students in the co-construction of cases. Collective case building is a promising extended approach to case based learning grounded in theory and is among one of the first studies to involve students in the co-construction of a case
The Case of the Crowded Sidewalks: Implementing and Assessing Problem-Based Learning in Higher Education
Get PDFThis paper provides a scenario of Dr Picksie, an urban engineering instructor in an institute of higher education. Frustrated with the lack of student engagement and authentic, interactive, collaborative pedagogy, he tries Problem-Based Learning (PBL). By following steps of implementing and assessing PBL, he successfully leads his class through their first PBL case, The Case of the Crowded Sidewalks, and gives students the confidence and knowledge to continue more complex PBL problems throughout the semester. Although fictitious, the instructor in this scenario represents a compilation of concerns, successes, confusions and frustrations voiced by faculty and students in higher education through the authors’ professional development workshops, teaching, and research studies
Exhibiting What is Learned: Using Exhibition Assessments and Universal Design for Learning in College Teaching
Get PDFUniversal design for learning (UDL) aims to highlight students’ strengths using innovative teaching methods and assessments. In this paper, discussion of the final exhibition project in a graduate level class on special education taught through all constructs of UDL is analyzed. Students were asked to create their own final (exhibition project) highlighting six big ideas of the course in a way that exhibited their learning. Three examples of student projects are included with external links to access their video clips. Discussion of course content, structure of projects, and recommendations for use in college teaching and teacher preparation are included
Flavin, M. (2017) Disruptive Technology Enhanced Learning: The use and misuse of digital technologies in higher education. Palgrave Macmillan
Get PDF‘We need more disruptive behaviour’, is not the final action call most academics will be hoping for from a title promising to outline the use and misuse of digital technologies in higher education.
However, on reaching this final sentence, teaching staff will likely recognise themselves as part of this disruptive revolution; for what is being suggested is not necessarily a teaching-level change, but a greater recognition by those planning university-wide IT strategies that the use of digital technology is not something that can or should be contained as a one-size fits all model
In the news EDEY
Get PDFUsing twitter for professional and academic purposes can encourage students and tutors to become ‘connected educators’ (Catapano 2017) and extend expert networks, increase social capital (Rehm et al 2015), whilst improving digital literacy necessary for the sector (Brodie 2011). With this in mind the #InTheNewsEDEY was introduced on twitter for students studying on all undergraduate Education and Early Childhood Studies (ECS) awards. This research will reflect on the impact of the hashtag for students studying the ECS part-time top-up between 6th February and 27th March. Kuh (2009) believes student engagement is the time and effort students invest in educational activities explicitly linked to their desired outcomes, thus this cohort have been chosen in particular as during this time frame, they were engaging in face to face debates related to #InTheNewsEDEY topics and signposts in preparation for an assessed debate
Small Group Workshop as an Active Learning Strategy for Teaching Pharmacokinetics: Implementation and Outcomes in Undergraduate Classroom
Get PDFA pharmacokinetics course is offered in most pharmacy curricula; however, it is generally not well received by students due to its basis in mathematics and the difficulty experienced in linking basic concepts with clinical relevance. Therefore, it is imperative to reorient conventional classroom teaching of pharmacokinetics courses towards achieving enhanced outcomes in terms of problem-solving and critical thinking skills of students in clinical practice based settings. In this context, a novel small group workshop approach was designed and implemented to teach a pharmacokinetics course to undergraduate pharmacy students. The course design and delivery were based on active participation and learning by professional students in teacher centric small group workshop (SGW) sessions through practice based learning. Another group was taught with traditional didactic classroom lectures (CRL). Students’ assessment was carried out based on grade scores obtained in pharmacokinetic problem solving and answering the given questionnaire in each group. An anonymous written feedback was administered following completion of the course to determine students’ perception of the delivery method. The majority of the SGW students reported that they were active learners in small groups whereas only a few from the CRL group believed that they actively participated in the learning process. Students’ agreement that they would be able to analyse and interpret given pharmacokinetic data displayed major differences in both groups as evidenced from the feedback response. Further, there was a positive response among SGW students in their perceived ability to apply pharmacokinetic theory to the specific case scenario after attending the small group workshop sessions; paradoxically to the responses such as “Disagree” or “Unsure” about this parameter after attending the traditional classroom lectures. The study findings suggested that small group workshops offer students a tangible method to increase their overall level of understanding, comfort and confidence in the application of pharmacokinetics concepts in therapy. The small group workshop can be utilised as a potential instructional method for active and meaningful learning for the delivery of pharmacokinetics courses
Problem Based Learning
Get PDFThis poster will focus on a problem based learning (PBL) method which was incorporated in the Year 2 (level 5) module `Care of the Older Person`. This method was used to encourage students to identify and develop a variety of clinical assessment skills based on a short 10 minute video of Peter Thursby`s (Innovations in Dementia, 2010) autobiographical account of his life and career