An Engagement Strategy for Teaching Computing Concepts

The research work in this paper investigates a new teaching strategy that uses active learning through play to increase students’ uptake of learning computing concepts. The strategy promotes student engagement through playing a customized Jenga game. The game consists of a set of blocks, one side of each block is covered with a piece of dry-erase tape to allow erasing and writing on the blocks. This allows instructors to reuse this editable Jenga for developing their own game-based learning activities. The editable Jenga can be used without writing if needed. Three sample activities with writing have been developed and conducted to test the strategy experimentally in addition to a fourth activity without writing any terms on the Jenga blocks. The test results showed that the strategy improves the class average and promotes the student engagement. A survey has been conducted to get students’ feedback on the strategy. The survey results demonstrated that students like the play-based strategy. The contribution of this paper is the development of a teaching strategy that improves students’ engagement which in turn helps students to learn important computing concepts

A comprehensive survey on deep active learning and its applications in medical image analysis

Deep learning has achieved widespread success in medical image analysis, leading to an increasing demand for large-scale expert-annotated medical image datasets. Yet, the high cost of annotating medical images severely hampers the development of deep learning in this field. To reduce annotation costs, active learning aims to select the most informative samples for annotation and train high-performance models with as few labeled samples as possible. In this survey, we review the core methods of active learning, including the evaluation of informativeness and sampling strategy. For the first time, we provide a detailed summary of the integration of active learning with other label-efficient techniques, such as semi-supervised, self-supervised learning, and so on. Additionally, we also highlight active learning works that are specifically tailored to medical image analysis. In the end, we offer our perspectives on the future trends and challenges of active learning and its applications in medical image analysis.Comment: Paper List on Github: https://github.com/LightersWang/Awesome-Active-Learning-for-Medical-Image-Analysi

Laboratory 3.0: manufacturing technologies laboratory virtualization with a student-centred methodology

This paper presents a blended-learning strategy for improving the teaching method applied in the laboratory subject Manufacturing Technologies. The teaching method has been changed from a predominantly teacher-centred to an active learning system with a student-centred focus and e-learning activities. In face-to-face classes, a game-based learning platform has been used. This methodology ensured engaging classes at the same time that provided a useful live feedback for students and teachers. The virtualization of the laboratory was achieved by two different e-learning activities, self-assessment tasks and video clips. These e-learning tools have been used not only to improve the students’ learning but also to enhance their motivation. The results from academic outputs show a significant improvement after the new blended learning method is applied. Moreover, a student satisfaction survey shows the positive impact of the methodology on the students’ engagement and motivationPeer Reviewe

Student-generated Questions: Developing Mathematical Competence through Online-Assessment

This action research study presents the findings of using a formative assessment strategy in an online mathematic course during the world-wide outbreak of Covid-19 at the University of Passau, Germany. The main goals of this study were (a) to enhance students’ self-regulated learning by shifting the direction of assessment from instructors to the students, (b) to promote deep active learning in mathematics. Students were required to conduct self-regulated learning on a selected topic. They were encouraged to formulate two multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and pose them after each presentation in an online course. The effectiveness of Student-generated Questions (SGQs) as a learning strategy was measured in terms of (a) students’ engagement, and (b) learning outcomes. While evidence on students’ engagement was gathered through an online questionnaire survey, the learning outcomes were measured by analyzing the quality of SGQs. Results indicated that authoring questions, though leading to a higher students’ engagement with the materials, could be quite challenging for students and did not lead to higher achievement. The authors provide some suggestions for improving the process through regular uses of digital technologies such as PeerWise

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING THINK PAIR SHARE STRATEGY IN TEACHING READING COMPREHENSION AT JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL

This study aimed to know the implementation of Cooperative learning Think Pair Share Strategy and students' response to teaching reading comprehension at SMP Negeri 1 Bandar Baru. This study used survey method with a qualitative approach. A qualitative research sample was not taken at random but instead, have to follow certain criteria. The Implementation of Think Pair Share strategy was in accordance with theory suggested by experts in cooperative learning, namely; 1) phase (Think) that leads students to think; 2) phase (pair) that leads students to work together and interact with each other; and 3) phase (share) Here students gain meaningful learning experience, they are accustomed to speaking in front of people, so the students who previously shy being personally brave and confident. Student response was very positive towards learning, students were active, enjoy and focus on learning. Cooperative learning arranges as an effort to increase student participation, facilitating students with experience, leadership attitudes and make decisions in groups that helpful for the students' lives outside of school

Faculty Beliefs on Active learning Strategies in Higher Education: Identification of Predictors for Use of Active Learning

Evaluating the perceptions of active learning strategies is often seen from the perspective of the learners at the primary and secondary education levels. Additional data on beliefs of active learning in higher education such as of faculty members is needed. Active learning strategies are on the front line in education as a method to enhance student learning and foster twenty-first century skills. Developing twenty-first century skills is essential as the environment of the workplace is dynamic and evolving requiring individuals to rely on critical thinking and diverse application of their knowledge. Universities should continue to evolve to best prepare graduates for their endeavors postgraduation. Gaining an understanding on beliefs of active learning in higher education is beneficial as it provides insight into the faculty beliefs and how to foster a culture promoting twenty-first century skills. This study sought to understand faculty beliefs on active learning strategies and use of active learning in higher education. Faculty from three southeast universities were surveyed and a total of 210 participants completed the survey. Data was collected and analyzed to determine variables that were predictors of the frequency of use of active learning strategies and overall use of active learning strategies. The study found an overall high frequency of use of active learning strategies (M = 3.82, SD = .81), confidence in using active learning strategies (M = 3.95, SD = .84), and job satisfaction (M = 3.99, SD = .73). Correlations for frequency of use of active learning included beliefs on learning with a positive correlation of (.43), professional development with a positive correlation of (.34), and confidence in use of active learning strategies with a positive correlation of (.68). Correlations for overall use of active learning strategies included confidence in use with a positive correlation of (.38), beliefs with a positive correlation of (.36), and professional development with a positive correlation of (.26). Logistical barriers were found to be negatively correlated to both frequency of use (r =-.39) and overall use of active learning (r = -.34). The most prevalent barrier to the use of active learning was that faculty were not trained how to use these strategies. The most prevalent active learning strategy used was Socratic questioning. Regression analysis identified several predictor variables to the frequency of use of active learning strategies and for the overall use of presented active learning strategies. The predictor variables having a positive influence included beliefs on learning (a more constructivist viewpoint), professional development, and confidence in use of active learning. In addition, level of course undergraduate (lower-level courses indicating more active learning) positively predicted the frequency of use of active learning strategies. This study provided insight into the belief set of faculty members as well as the barriers seen by the faculty. The results from this study can provide universities insight to develop programs and provide support and training to their faculty to aid in their teaching and fostering of student learning. Several avenues for future research were identified and presented in the study to continue gaining insight into the beliefs of faculty member on active learning, barriers to active learning, and potential solutions to barriers

Course Design to Connect Theory to Real-World Cases: Teaching Political Philosophy in Asia

Students often have difficulty connecting theoretical and text-based scholarship to the real world. When teaching in Asia, this disconnection is exacerbated by the European/American focus of many canonical texts, whereas students' own experiences are primarily Asian. However, in my discipline of political philosophy, this problem receives little recognition nor is it comprehensively addressed. In this paper, I propose that the problem must be taken seriously, and I share my own experiences with a novel pedagogical strategy which might offer a possible path forward. Recent scholarship has championed an active learning approach, where students engage in their own research, and deliver outward-facing products that have a meaning and purpose beyond the confines of the student-professor relationship. In this spirit, I have put into practice a strategy of course design, where active learning is used to overcome students' disconnection with the course content. In particular, as a major component of course assessment, students are required to write an 'opinion piece', which is then showcased on a public website. The opinion piece must address a real-world issue which the student himself or herself selects and deems important; furthermore, it must build on the theoretical tools of the course and be written in a style which makes it accessible to a wider audience. I discuss the implementation of this strategy in two political philosophy courses, including strategies to avoid 'dumbing down' and ‘diluting’ the process of critical thinking. While no formal analysis of impact of the strategy on learning outcomes has been conducted, an anonymous pedagogical survey has yielded an overwhelmingly positive response for students' self-reported perceptions of the curricular innovations

Domain-Aware Active Learning for Multifidelity Optimization

Bayesian optimization is a popular strategy for the optimization of black-box objective functions [1]. In many engineering applications, the objective can be evaluated with multiple representations at different levels of fidelity, to enhance a trade-off between cost and accuracy. Accordingly, multifidelity methods have been proposed in a Bayesian framework to efficiently combine information sources, using low-fidelity models to enable the exploration of design alternatives, and improve the accuracy of the solution through limited high-fidelity evaluations [2]. Most multifidelity methods based on active learning search the optimal design considering only the information extracted from the surrogate model. This can preclude the evaluation of promising design configurations that can be captured only including the knowledge of the particular physical phenomena involved [3]. To address this issue, this presentation discusses original domain-aware multifidelity Bayesian frameworks to accelerate design analysis and optimization performances. In particular, our strategy comes with an active learning scheme to adaptively sample the design space, combining statistical data from the surrogate model with physical information from the specific domain. Our formulation introduces physics-informed utility functions as additional contributions to the acquisition functions. This permits to enhance the active learning with a physicsbased insight and to realize a form of domain awareness which is beneficial to the efficiency and accuracy of the optimization task. The presentation will discuss several applications and implementations of the proposed approach for single discipline and multidisciplinary aerospace design optimization problems. [1] Snoek, J., Larochelle, H.. Adams, R.P. Practical bayesian optimization of machine learning algorithms. Advances in neural information processing systems. (2012) 25. [2] Peherstorfer, B., Willcox, K., Gunzburger, M. Survey of multifidelity methods in uncertainty propagation, inference, and optimization. Siam Review (2018) 60(3): 550–591. [3] Di Fiore, F., Maggiore, P. Mainini L. Multifidelity domain-aware learning for the design of re-entry vehicles. Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization (2021

Students perceive Team-Based Learning facilitates development of graduate learning outcomes and professional skills

In tertiary education, generic professional skills should be developed along with discipline-specific knowledge and skills. Team-Based Learning (TBL), an active learning strategy, creates deep learning and enhanced student engagement; however, its effects on the development of generic learning outcomes are unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate postgraduate specialty nursing students’ perspectives of how TBL impacts the acquisition of skills defined by the university’s eight Graduate Learning Outcomes (GLOs). A descriptive exploratory design was used in this study. Postgraduate nursing students in 2016-2017 at one university were invited to participate. Data were collected via demographic survey, a ranking tool, and written reflections. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and content analysis. The response rate was 97.2 per cent (172/177). Participants were mostly females (n=152, 88.4%) aged 25–34 years (n=115, 66.9%). Student (n=156) rankings showed TBL contributed to the acquisition of critical thinking (n=90, 57.7%) and problem solving skills (n=56, 35.9%) the most. Students (n=144) made 2719 comments regarding how TBL led to the acquisition of GLOs in written reflections. Almost 98 per cent (n=2657) of all reflective comments were positive. All students mentioned at least one GLO positively due to TBL. Most positive reflections related to self-management (n=520, 19.6%) and communication (n=434, 16.3%).Postgraduate specialty nursing students perceived TBL classes contributed to the acquisition of their university’s GLOs, particularly critical thinking, problem solving, and self-management skills. The active learning strategy of TBL facilitates learning and engagement, and the attainment of essential professional attributes which are highly valued by employers