Does higher education foster critical and creative learners? An exploration of two universities in South Korea and the USA

This paper describes two studies that explore students' beliefs about critical and creative learning at two universities, and considers the implications of those beliefs in comparison to the universities' stated education goals. One is a mixed method study of students at a top university in Korea, and the second is a comparative study between the Korean university and a United States (US) university. The first study found that both high-achievers and the general population at a top Korean university perceived their critical and creative abilities as lower than their receptive learning abilities, and that higher achievers were neither more critical nor creative than lower achievers. The second study finds that the Korean university students, compared to US students, were more likely to rate their receptive learning ability as higher than their critical and creative learning abilities. Comparisons across year of higher education (HE) suggest that Korean students' perceptions did not significantly change with respect to year in school, while US students' perceptions of critical learning abilities significantly increased across school years. Results are discussed with respect to the impact of culture, epistemological beliefs, and HE instruction on critical and creative learning

Transforming pre-service teacher curriculum: observation through a TPACK lens

This paper will discuss an international online collaborative learning experience through the lens of the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework. The teacher knowledge required to effectively provide transformative learning experiences for 21st century learners in a digital world is complex, situated and changing. The discussion looks beyond the opportunity for knowledge development of content, pedagogy and technology as components of TPACK towards the interaction between those three components. Implications for practice are also discussed. In today’s technology infused classrooms it is within the realms of teacher educators, practising teaching and pre-service teachers explore and address effective practices using technology to enhance learning

Teaching and learning in virtual worlds: is it worth the effort?

Educators have been quick to spot the enormous potential afforded by virtual worlds for situated and authentic learning, practising tasks with potentially serious consequences in the real world and for bringing geographically dispersed faculty and students together in the same space (Gee, 2007; Johnson and Levine, 2008). Though this potential has largely been realised, it generally isn’t without cost in terms of lack of institutional buy-in, steep learning curves for all participants, and lack of a sound theoretical framework to support learning activities (Campbell, 2009; Cheal, 2007; Kluge & Riley, 2008). This symposium will explore the affordances and issues associated with teaching and learning in virtual worlds, all the time considering the question: is it worth the effort

STEM: country comparisons: international comparisons of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. Final report.

From 22 studies of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) policies and practices around the world the STEM: country comparisons report makes 24 key findings which highlight a number of challenges for Australia with STEM participation and provides a basis of ideas to tackle these

Information Technology in The Learning Economy -Challenges for Developing Countries

This paper inquires how the concept of the "learning economy" can be applied to the requirements of developing countries. The main purpose is to develop an analytical framework to better understand how learning and capability formation can foster industrial upgrading. Special emphasis is given to te spread of information technology (IT). We inquire under what conditions developing countries can use this set of generic technologies to improve their learning capabilities. We argue that information technology should not be regarded as a potential substitute for human skills and tacit knowledge. Instead, its main role should be to support the formation and use of tacit knowledge. In the paper we compare two stylised models of the learning economy, the Japanese versus the American model. The Japanese model is explicit in its promotion and exploitation of tacit knowledge, while the American model is driven by a permanent urge to reduce the importance of tacit knowledge and to transform it into information - that is into explicit, 4 well structured and codified knowledge. We show that each of these models has peculiar strengths and weaknesses. Developing countries need to develop their own hybrid forms of institutions that combine the advantages of both models in a way that is appropriate to their idiosyncratic needs and capabilities.information technology; learning; learning economy; knowledge; capabilities; networks; developing countries; economic development; industrial upgrading

Views of primary Thai teachers toward STREAM education

This study employed survey method for exploring views of teachers toward science, technology, reading, engineering, arts and math science, technology, reading, engineering, arts and math (STREAM) education. Primary teachers were asked their views through questionnaires after STREAM education workshop. Results revealed that teachers have holistic view and having positive view towards STREAM education even though all of them are not science or mathematics teachers. Change in belief and way of practices can allow teachers to do STREAM education in every classroom, design-based learning and creative classroom should be promoted as well. However, holistic view will be more effective into classroom, technology and other supporting learning environments should be prepared

A Spider\u27s Approach To STEAM

In this paper we present an overview of different approaches towards STEAM education, including the choices in methodology and pedagogy. From these various viewpoints we build up a framework for STEAM education and relate it to a real-world problem, namely, how a small spider can catch a prey

Beyond disciplines: Can design approaches be used to develop education for jobs that don't yet exist?

At a time when the role and purpose of universities is increasingly being questioned; when modes of study are increasingly varied; when higher education has become increasingly marketised; when large employers are declaring that a degree will no longer be a pre-requisite for hiring and when the disciplines are changing rapidly, disappearing altogether, or new ones emerging, how can we determine what we should teach in the future and how it should be taught? In such a climate, can universities continue to conform to old constructs of discipline, or are we entering a new era where skill, competency and attitude play a more significant role when employability is the goal? If this is the case, what can we learn from the pedagogies of art and design education that might be of value more broadly? In this paper the authors reveal the design, development and delivery of a pilot study exploring the potential of adopting a co-creative design-led approach to designing education beyond disciplines. The key protagonists were a cohort of post-graduate students from diverse disciplinary backgrounds studying innovation working with a number of multidiscipline academics and researchers. The paper describes how the academics and researchers drew together relevant literature and adopted a design-led approach to design the pilot project. It then goes on to detail how the pilot project ran and what the cohort created. Further it evaluates the effectiveness of the pilot in revealing useful knowledge for the development of new higher education programmes. Finally, it concludes by identifying how the pilot will inform a subsequent suite of follow-up projects to be repeated at a number of different universities in mainland Europe and South Korea. The research has been conducted as part of an EU Horizon 2020 Framework, Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions, RISE grant project. The project is entitled Global Entrepreneurial Talent Management 3, GETM3. This international project, involving 8 partner universities and multiple employer partners in 5 countries ‘in transition’ in Western and Eastern Europe, and South Korea, is working with three stakeholder groups: Students and Graduates (future employees); Employers (future wealth creators) and Higher Education Institutions (educators of the future) to explore the role of higher education in narrowing the gap between the expectations of employers and those of entrepreneurial recent-graduate employees. In the case of the pilot study described in this paper, this question is being addressed through generative research around the question “how should universities prepare graduates for jobs that don’t even exist yet?” The outcomes of this work and the subsequent follow-on projects will inform the overall findings of the GETM3 programme

Good Practical Science: Appendix 1 - Rapid Evidence Review

There is a clear need for more high-quality studies of practical work that have a tightly-defined focus and a rigorous methodological approach. We are confident that this finding would persist in a more extended review than a Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA), which is necessarily limited in scope. We would not recommend conducting a more in-depth, more traditional systematic review at this stage. There is a wealth of commentary on the purpose and usefulness of practical science, but very few robust studies. A more extensive search encompassing the grey literature would undoubtedly identify more studies, but they are unlikely to add significantly to the current knowledge base. This REA has highlighted the need for more evaluations of practical science in its various guises. There is a requirement for research that is clear in its aims, focus and definitions; has a sound methodology with adequate sample sizes and appropriate outcome measures; and is designed to shed light on the usefulness of practical science work across different contexts and for different purposes. Drawing from the literature, the report identifies five main purposes of practical science.These are to enhance student performance in conceptual understanding; practical skills; non-subject specific intellectual and personal attributes; attitudes towards science; and understanding of how science and scientists work. There is currently a much greater evidence base around practical work improving physical skills and dexterity compared with the other four purposes of practical work defined in this report

Strategic Future Directions for Developing STEM Education in Higher Education in Egypt as a Driver of Innovation Economy

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education has been achieving growing international attention. As the world economy is becoming more diversified and dependent on innovation, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) skills and expertise are progressively more needed for competition and development. Egyptian students are less competitive with other countries in STEM fields. With this new movement in education to focus more on STEM, Egyptian policymakers need to develop strategic future directions for developing STEM education in higher education in Egypt as a driver of innovation economy. The main objective of this paper is to propose strategic future directions for developing STEM education in higher education in Egypt as a driver of innovation economy, to achieve this objective the paper starts by outlining historical perspective regarding the roots of STEM education, and then followed up with the attempt to conceptualize and define the basic terms of the paper. It then outlined the features of STEM education as a national priority, since it is a driver of innovation economy. The contemporary current status of STEM education efforts in Egypt was analyzed by utilizing SWOT analysis. Finally, strategic future directions for developing STEM education in higher education in Egypt were proposed. Keywords: STEM education, Innovation Economy