The link between learning spaces and employability outcomes

Universities are investing considerable funds in designing and building innovative learning spaces without knowing the positive impact on student learning and their achievement of employability skills for the 21st century. There is a possibility of designing these new generation learning spaces to enable active and deep learning approaches to be employed to improve student learning outcomes and their achievement of employability skills.  This paper proposes that an evaluative framework for innovative learning spaces and tools to measure the impact of these learning spaces on students’ achievement of employability skills is a worthy endeavour.  Best practice innovative active learning strategies can then be identified and incorporated into a professional learning module for academics teaching in higher education. The outcomes can guide universities in developing learning spaces that maximise student learning consistent with 21st century employability skills

Revitalization of Social Studies Education to Build the Nation's Generation with Creative Pedagogy in the 21st Century

The purpose of this study is to examine Social Studies Education in preparing the nation's generation through 21st century creative pedagogy and to find out strategies to face the challenges of 21st  century Social Studies Education. The research method used is the library research method by involving searching, assessing and analyzing literature relevant to the research. Data analysis techniques use a content analysis model with steps: design determination, search for basic data, and consequent knowledge search. The results found that social studies education with 21st  century creative pedagogy requires 10 future skills of the nation's generation, namely: Complex Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, Creativity, People Management, Coordinating with other, Emotional Intelligence, Judgment and Decision Making, Service Orentation, Negotiation, Cognitive Flexbility. The strategy to face the challenges of 21st  century social studies education is to implement the four principles of the Pancasila Student Profile, namely holistic, consectual, student-centered and exploratory. Why this research is important, because as an increase in creativity and innovation that examines how social studies education can promote student creativity in responding to social and cultural issues. This research can measure the impact of Social Studies Education in shaping students' critical thinking, and analytical skills to become competent global citizens. Thus, social studies education must transform following the changing times towards technological advances as future intelligence that cannot be defeated by artificial intelligence

Finnish student teachers' perceptions of their development of 21st-century competencies

This study examined student teachers' perceptions of how well their Teacher Education (TE) had prepared them for 21st-century competencies, and how well they applied these competencies to their teaching. In addition, the study sought to identify best practices, major obstacles, and suggestions to achieve these competencies. The study was implemented in two universities and three universities of applied sciences in Finland that have TE programmes. This study used a mixed-method approach. Data were collected both quantitatively and qualitatively from student teachers (n = 227), who assessed 21st-century competencies with a structured questionnaire that included open-ended questions. Quantitative data analysis used descriptive statistics and correlations, while qualitative data analysis used content analysis. The study found that based on the student teachers' self-assessment, the student teachers achieved successfully 21st-century competencies despite differences between competencies. The best-achieved competency was 'Collaboration' and the least well-achieved was 'Global connections.' The study illustrated student teachers' perception of their success in applying 21st-century competencies to their teaching at schools. Answers to open-ended questions produced convincing evidence that courses involving collaborative and interactive learning, high quality, sufficient support, related 21st-century competencies, certain pedagogical methods used by teacher educators, and integrating theory and practice can contribute strongly to the development of student teachers' 21st-century competencies.Peer reviewe

Hybrid solutions for didactics in higher education: An interdisciplinary workshop of ‘Visual Storytelling’ to develop documentation competences

The article reports on the results of a Design-Based Research path realized through a workshop about the “Visual Storytelling” (VS). The workshop aimed to develop teacher’s professional competences about digital narrative documentation to be certified through the Open Badge system. The interdisciplinary design was developed according to the ICT-TPACK framework between the two courses “Methodologies, Didactics and Technologies for Teaching” and “Educational Research” in the Master’s degree in Primary Teaching. 32 students were involved to deal with the documentation of some real educational experiences observed at school. They were asked to fill a semi-structured questionnaire at the end of the workshop. Other data came from a rubric used to evaluate VS products from three different points of views (students’ self-assessment; university teachers; school teachers). The workshop stimulated the students to use technologies creatively, critically and reflectively to develop an authentic task realizing a VS product. According to the students’ opinion, the workshop also facilitated collaborative processes as well as skills of self-assessment and the personalization of learning.Received: 08 October 2018Accepted: 20 March 2019Published online: 29 May 2019</p

Can We Reconcile ERT (Emergency Remote Teaching) and Best Practices in Language Learning/Teaching?

The adoption of technological tools as an alternative to or in support of more traditional methods became pressing and inevitable in 2020, because of the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, which marked the closure of on-site face-to-face classes all over the world. All of a sudden, what had so far been considered to be ‘normal’ was destabilized or disrupted by the pandemic. Technology solutions had to be adopted to save the whole education system, as teachers reinvented themselves in a period which catalysed a new era in virtual language learning and teacher professional development (Copeland 2021). In some cases it was possible to move classes effectively to online and distance education platforms because of pre-existing experience, but in others all the involved stakeholders had to strive to cope and manage the ‘new normal’ (Trust and Whalen 2021). The present contribution explores the online practices adopted in a course attended by master students with a view to stimulating the attendees’ proactiveness, and in particular their involvement in tasks which encouraged them to develop a capability for using linguistic resources strategically and knowingly, aware of “how meaning potential encoded in English can be realised as a communicative resource” (Widdowson 2003, 177)

Integrating Soft Skills With Technology in Online Postsecondary Career and Technical Education

International and U.S. economic need for postsecondary training and degree attainment has fueled the demand for online courses and programs to meet the requirements of busy adults. Rapidly changing businesses and technologies necessitate that workers continually update skills and industry credentials. Employers want to hire workers who possess both technical skills and soft skills—people skills, attitudes, and values—and who can adapt to a culturally diverse, collaborative team workplace. Higher education institutions must support faculty efforts to provide effective, quality programs and courses that prepare students for this work environment. Career and Technical Education (CTE) faculty are generally hired for their industry and workforce expertise and may need assistance transitioning to eLearning strategies. Thus, a condensed manual was created as a resource to assist new online postsecondary CTE instructors with identifying and selecting the most appropriate technology and tools for incorporating soft skills development into online courses.Signature Page / Title Page / Abstract / Table of Contents / Acknowledgements / Dedication / Introduction / Review of Literature / Method / Discussion / Conclusion / References / Appendix - Project - Technology Compatibility Guide for Soft Skills Integratio

Analysing Complex Problem-Solving Strategies from a Cognitive Perspective: The Role of Thinking Skills

Complex problem solving (CPS) is considered to be one of the most important skills for successful learning. In an effort to explore the nature of CPS, this study aims to investigate the role of inductive reasoning (IR) and combinatorial reasoning (CR) in the problem-solving process of students using statistically distinguishable exploration strategies in the CPS environment. The sample was drawn from a group of university students (N = 1343). The tests were delivered via the eDia online assessment platform. Latent class analyses were employed to seek students whose problem-solving strategies showed similar patterns. Four qualitatively different class profiles were identified: (1) 84.3% of the students were proficient strategy users, (2) 6.2% were rapid learners, (3) 3.1% were non-persistent explorers, and (4) 6.5% were non-performing explorers. Better exploration strategy users showed greater development in thinking skills, and the roles of IR and CR in the CPS process were varied for each type of strategy user. To sum up, the analysis identified students’ problem-solving behaviours in respect of exploration strategy in the CPS environment and detected a number of remarkable differences in terms of the use of thinking skills between students with different exploration strategies

Lawrence Today, Volume 93, Number 1, Fall 2012

https://lux.lawrence.edu/lawrencetoday/1005/thumbnail.jp

Computer-Based Intervention Closes Learning Gap in Maths Accumulated in Remote Learning

Remote learning has reduced the mathematical performance of students. Mathematical reasoning is the critical skill that enables students to make use of all other mathematical skills. The aim of the present study was (1) to develop the mathematical reasoning skills of underachieving students and (2) to explore the application options, benefits and limitations of an online game-based intervention programme among third- and fourth-grade pupils (aged 9–11, N = 810). The content of the programme was designed to strengthen their basic maths skills in line with the curriculum. Beyond assigning the tasks, the digital intervention programme also performed the motivational, differentiation- and feedback-related tasks of the teacher. The reliability indices for pre-, post and follow-up test results proved to be high (Cronbach’s alpha = .90, .91 and .92, respectively). The effect size of the programme proved to be significant in both grades (d = .22 and .38, respectively). The results confirm the potential of the intervention programme to close, or at least significantly reduce the Covid learning gap in basic maths skills, without the need for additional teacher work—which is an important aspect of successful implementation—in areas which are the most challenging for 9-to-11-year-old pupils in the domain of mathematics

University of Memphis commencement, 2021 August. Program

Program for the Summer convocation of the 109th commencement of the University of Memphis at Memphis, Tennessee, held at the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium on August 7, 2021.https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/speccoll-ua-pub-commencements/1223/thumbnail.jp