Research trends in the implementation of eModeration Systems: A Systematic Literature Review

The 2020 COVID-19 health pandemic has accelerated the trend towards digitizing education. Increased digitization necessitates a robust and regulatory framework for monitoring standards in a knowledge society, which requires adaptivity to the continuous changes in the quality assurance processes (moderation). This provides the rationale for an investigation into the literature trends in eModeration processes. This study draws on a systematic literature review as methodology to examine the extant literature on trends in eModeration research including the purpose of the research, methodologies and limitations regarding existing eModeration systems. The findings reveal that there is little, if any, empirical evidence of systems dedicated to online moderation of assessments specifically within the secondary school sector and that eModeration is mainly an emergent phenomenon with numerous adoption challenges, especially in resource constrained contexts

We've made an e-book! Designing and publishing an e-book as tool to enhance the development of staff and students digital literacy skills

Digital literacy (DL) as a graduate attribute is being embedded in all undergraduate courses as part of Leeds Metropolitan University’s current curriculum refocus activity with the aim that our graduates will be better prepared for more employable (CBI,2009) as a result of embedded DL skills in every course via the learning outcomes and learning activities. This wholesale change is being coordinated by the University’s Digital Literacy Implementation group. This staff and student group works collaboratively with Faculties to share and support evidence based practice via hubs of learning technologists, academic staff and students. This presentation will be delivered in the form of an e book designed using the innovative free ibooks authoring tool. Each book chapter represents a stage in our project’s work in progress. Key issues addressed through the e book contents will be: broadening of information literacy into a digital setting, the evidence linking DL to improving student experience, life skills and employability, resources, and how we managed our change process. Filmed student and staff interviews, images and text will be embedded in the eBook to illuminate work in progress. Showcasing sections of the book in parallel with a verbal account from one team member’s experience of how their own novice DL skills developed will form the content of the presentation. Participants will learn that designing e books is a fun way of not only developing new DL skills themselves but that the learnt skills can be extrapolated to encourage students to develop DL skills in any subject area. This presentation demonstrates an innovative, useful tool for learning, building staff and students’ skills and reflection. Our free e book will be downloadable at the presentation. References CBI and Universities UK (2009). Future Fit: preparing graduates for the world of work. London, CBI

ALT-C 2011 Abstracts

This is a PDF of the abstracts for all the sessions at the 2011 ALT conference. It is designed to be used alongside the online version of the conference programme. It was made public on 1 September, with a "topped and tailed" made live on 2 September

Multimedia artefacts and teaching-learning experiences relating to Summative Assessment Feedback (SAF) and student overall satisfaction

This exploratory intervention study presents a broad mapping of nursing students’ and lecturers’ opinions of different mediating multimedia artefacts (MMAs: online-written, audio and video), before and after the new artefacts introduction (intervention), about their teaching-learning experiences through Summative Assessment Feedback (SAF) effectiveness, efficiency, and transformation motives for their satisfaction. The study applied a mixed method of quasi-experimental design with an intervention, evaluated via an institution-wide student survey, followed by interviews with students and lecturers. Before the interventions, students’ unfamiliarity with audio and video artefacts in SAF leads them to prefer online-written artefact in the School. Statistical analysis of goals (variables) show that while easy access, usefulness, professionalism, mobile learning, clarity, and personalisation were the most popular for the use of online-written artefact in SAF respectively; the goals of “faster to learn, easier to remember, paying more attention and providing more information” were more popular for the video artefact. The audio artefact consistently ranked the lowest choice amongst students. Additionally, there were statistically significant differences for video artefact potential to improve student satisfaction in SAF amongst all goals. Following the MMAs’ actual use in summative OSCE assessment feedback, the students express their preference for the video artefact over online-written and audio. Lecturers suggest “seeing is believing” in OSCE assessment feedback. Therefore, visually salient online-written and video artefacts are perceived as more beneficial than audio for their students. Yet, as they propose SAF in essay types require “seeing in detail is believing”, they argue for contextualisation of different assessment types. Furthermore, video artefact in OSCE feedback provides better guidance, motivation, and important points with wider summaries, whereas online-written artefact facilitates detailed error corrections, standardisation, and justifying grades through linking rubrics. Nonetheless, these choices are affected by assessment rules, division of labour and software design elements, according to the CHAT-informed interviews with lecturers

Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy for the on-board diagnosis of PEMFC via on-line identification of Equivalent Circuit Model parameters

2012 - 2013Proton Exchange Membrane, also named Polymer Electrolyte Membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) are interesting devices for energy conversion. Their development is due to the high efficiency, acceptable power density, quick start-up and good environmental compatibility. On the other hand, reliability cost and durability are the main challenges for PEM fuel cell commercialization. In 2010 the American Department of Energy (DoE) sets a target of 40000 hours for stationary and 5000 hours for automotive applications, respectively. Actually, these standards are considered as the mainly reference in fuel cell research. Based on electro-catalytic reactions, the PEMFC operation is influenced by system functioning conditions. In case of system operation in abnormal conditions several chemical, mechanical and thermal degradation mechanisms could take place inside the cell. Among other, improper water, thermal and gas managements can introduce a cell voltage drop, thus reducing the system performance. A long-term exposure to these phenomena causes the PEMFC lifetime reduction. Thus, a good system management is one of the primary targets to ensure suitable PEMFC durability. For this purpose, research activities are oriented towards the development of newest advanced monitoring and diagnostic algorithms. The primary goal is monitoring the system operation ensuring a correct system control. Moreover, the diagnostic tool (i.e. both algorithm and sensors) allows the detection of system component malfunctioning; it can isolate one or more faults that may have occurred causing the abnormal behaviour of the system operation...[edited by author]XII n.s

Guided learning and Technology Enhanced Learning – an evaluation of the impact upon students’ learning experiences at a UK HEI

Blended Learning, Technology Enhanced Learning and technology are three key components of many HEI’s approaches to teaching and learning. The language used to describe such approaches varies but is often framed in terms of enhancement, or improvement. However, the advent of the TEF (Teaching Excellence Framework) presented a potentially difficult problem for the implementers of technology. Instead of being front and centre stage in claims for enhancement, institutional TEF exercises indicate that institutions’ conception of technological enhancement is limited to the capture of lectures. This does not reflect claims from the literature which can be generally summarised as technology delivers enhancement, and improvements in students’ learning experiences and outcomes. Furthermore, the literature suggests that standardisation of resources within Virtual Learning Environments or removing interactions such as lectures and moving online will yield improvements in outcomes like the NSS (National Student Survey). Whilst the NSS data drives part of the TEF exercises, it is too distant from the point of technology implementation, and I argue a new approach is needed to form the evidence base to support technology implementations. Within this thesis I perform an investigation into an existing technology implementation strategy (an analogue of Blended Learning) to demonstrate how changes to approaches of technology implementation can improve the evidence-base for demonstrating improvement and enhancement: the approaches technology implementers utilise to justify success in BL (Blended Learning) implementations, examining the implications of a BL-style implementations upon students’ experiences via a case study of computing students, identifying the benefits and drawbacks of technology standardisation, and examine methods to evaluate students’ priorities. The outcome of this investigation is a new framework which focuses upon iterative evidence generation to manage technological implementations – which use data to look backwards, and think forwards. The analysis and approach can be tested and adopted by practitioners who want to show a constructive alignment between their own technology implementations and to work towards support the outcomes of TEF subject-level narratives. The data underlying the suggested framework is drawn from the School of CST (Computer Science and Technology) at the University which has difficulties with attainment, retention and poor NSS outcomes. I use a combination of iterative implementation utilising DBR (Design Based Research) and TA (Thematic Analysis) combined with supporting statistical analyses. The use of DBR is intended to allow fellow practitioners to adopt, test and adapt the framework to test implementation in their own context. The framework provides a departure from the existing blended learning computing literature which focuses upon claiming success from single point implementations or utilise control and experimental group approaches. My findings indicate that the intentions and utility of blended learning fails to align with the requirements of students and the rhetoric does not provide sufficient pedagogic utility to academic staff, I finish by providing a framework for other practitioners to develop and test the utility of combining narrative and quantitative data. It is this framework which will provide the implementers and managers of technology a standardised approach to planning, assessing and iteratively developing technology to support learning

COVID-2019 Impacts on Education Systems and Future of Higher Education

The rapid outbreak of the COVID-19 has presented unprecedented challenges on education systems. Closing schools and universities and cancelling face-to-face activities have become a COVID-19 inevitable reality in most parts of the world. To be business-as-usual, many higher education providers have taken steps toward digital transformation, and implementing a range of remote teaching, learning and assessment approaches. This book provides timely research on COVID-19 impacts on education systems and seeks to bring together scholars, educators, policymakers and practitioners to collectively and critically identify, investigate and share best practices that lead to rethinking and reframing the way we deliver education in future

Engaging Anthropocene Science: Perspectives on the role of geoscientific practices in Anthropocene debates

This cumulative thesis encompasses five papers that apply the theoretical perspective of Science and Technology Studies (STS) to the Anthropocene, investigating what scientific representations of the phenomenon exist, how they were created and with what effect. The analysis focuses on the geosciences and particularly stratigraphy, which have played a central role in the development of the Anthropocene discourse. The STS perspective offered by the thesis is indispensable for understanding the Anthropocene because it shows how the very activity of producing scientific knowledge on the Anthropocene shapes conceptions and societal responses to Earth system change. The fundamental contribution of STS to environmental debates is the notion that environments, especially of the global variant, require representation and that science has predominantly provided the latter. STS critically investigates the representational practices of science: it thus demonstrates that resulting scientific facts are inevitably contingent on social, historical and geographical contexts, and, therefore, always ambiguous. Applying this perspective, will help to understand the production of geoscientifically valid claims about the Anthropocene, and to analyse their conceptual and political consequences. Beyond the contributions of the individual papers, the thesis yields three main overarching results. Firstly, it highlights that geoscientific knowledge about the Anthropocene is the result of social process including a) particular settlements of scientific controversies through geoscientists, especially disagreement about the boundary and character of Anthropocene strata, b) processes of aligning novel research results and existing research practices through which new facts gain credibility within the research community, and c) the drawing of boundaries between areas of authority, including the ability and willingness to study the Anthropocene, which render geoscientific knowledge relevant to Anthropocene discourses. Secondly, the analysis shows that geoscientific representations of the Anthropocene a) affect wider concepts of Earth system change, and b) engender normative logics that have socio-political implications, i.e. either to limit anthropogenic Earth system change or to accept and intentionally manage it. Thirdly, this thesis reveals that the novel character and the wide societal popularity of the Anthropocene do not induce changes in geoscience scholarship. Established research practices prevail over innovative interdisciplinary approaches and the societal implications of geoscientific research are externalised. This research provides the basis for reflecting possible changes in (geo-)scientific practice so to reconcile the societal reach of geoscientific knowledge with the agency of geoscientists to influence the knowledge that they produce