Student-Centered Learning: Functional Requirements for Integrated Systems to Optimize Learning

The realities of the 21st-century learner require that schools and educators fundamentally change their practice. "Educators must produce college- and career-ready graduates that reflect the future these students will face. And, they must facilitate learning through means that align with the defining attributes of this generation of learners."Today, we know more than ever about how students learn, acknowledging that the process isn't the same for every student and doesn't remain the same for each individual, depending upon maturation and the content being learned. We know that students want to progress at a pace that allows them to master new concepts and skills, to access a variety of resources, to receive timely feedback on their progress, to demonstrate their knowledge in multiple ways and to get direction, support and feedback from—as well as collaborate with—experts, teachers, tutors and other students.The result is a growing demand for student-centered, transformative digital learning using competency education as an underpinning.iNACOL released this paper to illustrate the technical requirements and functionalities that learning management systems need to shift toward student-centered instructional models. This comprehensive framework will help districts and schools determine what systems to use and integrate as they being their journey toward student-centered learning, as well as how systems integration aligns with their organizational vision, educational goals and strategic plans.Educators can use this report to optimize student learning and promote innovation in their own student-centered learning environments. The report will help school leaders understand the complex technologies needed to optimize personalized learning and how to use data and analytics to improve practices, and can assist technology leaders in re-engineering systems to support the key nuances of student-centered learning

Exploring Predictors of Teamwork Performance in an Interprofessional Education Setting

Abstract EXPLORING PREDICTORS OF TEAMWORK PERFORMANCE IN AN INTERPROFESSIONAL EDUCATION SETTING By Danah M. Alsane, MS. A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Pharmaceutical Science at Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University, 2016 Advisor: Patricia Slattum, Pharm.D., Ph.D. Professor and Director of the Geriatric Pharmacotherapy Program Department of Pharmacotherapy and Outcomes Science Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to explain how individual characteristics influence teamwork development. In addition, it evaluated how teamwork development, in conjunction with content knowledge, impact students’ performance on a team-based project in an Interprofessional Quality Improvement and Patient Safety (IPQIPS) course. Methods: This cross sectional study included medical, pharmacy, and nursing students enrolled in an IPQIPS course offered for the first time at VCU. Predictors of teamwork development examined included collective orientation (measured using the Collective Orientation Scale, which included dominance and affiliation subscales), and prior interprofessional teamwork experience (measured using self-report). The Team Development Measure (TDM) was used to measure teamwork development. The Statistical Process Control Quiz (SPCQ) was used to assess content knowledge acquired during the course. The final project score was used to evaluate students’ performance on a team-based project. Structural equation modeling was used to test study hypotheses. Results: Among the proposed predictors (dominance, affiliation, and interprofessional teamwork experience), only dominance was related to TDM. No significant relationship was found between teamwork development combined with content knowledge and successful accomplishment of team-based project. Conclusion: This study was the first to our knowledge to simultaneously assess the impact of individual characteristics on teamwork development, and how teamwork development (combined with individual student knowledge) influences students’ performance on team-based project in an interprofessional education setting. Although findings were not conclusive, several potential avenues for future study are highlighted

Integrating Technology With Student-Centered Learning

Reviews research on technology's role in personalizing learning, its integration into curriculum-based and school- or district-wide initiatives, and the potential of emerging digital technologies to expand student-centered learning. Outlines implications

Infusing social emotional learning into the teacher education curriculum

Research supports the importance of policies and interventions to infuse social emotional curricula in schools. The role of teachers in supporting young children’s social and emotional readiness for classroom learning has been recognized, but instruction in children’s well-being and social emotional competence is a low priority in teacher preparation programs. In this study we, used qualitative methods to examine whether we could successfully infuse an undergraduate curriculum and instructional course with social emotional learning content. The article reports on this effort, and considered the following questions: How can courses infused with SEL content impact prospective teachers’ views on the overall role of emotions in the classroom? What is the influence of the course on preservice teachers’ conceptions of SEL and its association with children’s classroom learning and behavior? How can teacher preparation programs encourage prospective teachers to consider children’s social emotional skills once they enter the classroom as teachers? At course end, the 15 enrolled students responded to predetermined questions as part of a self-reflection assignment. Using grounded theory methods, three themes were identified from participants’ reflections, including the connection between SEL and academic learning, shifting from teacher- to student-centered pedagogy, and the desire for continued learning related to SEL. An in-depth examination of these themes revealed that SEL concepts can be successfully infused in an undergraduate course on curriculum and instruction. Implications for teacher training are discussed and future avenues for research are presented.peer-reviewe

Applying a User-centred Approach to Interactive Visualization Design

Analysing users in their context of work and finding out how and why they use different information resources is essential to provide interactive visualisation systems that match their goals and needs. Designers should actively involve the intended users throughout the whole process. This chapter presents a user-centered approach for the design of interactive visualisation systems. We describe three phases of the iterative visualisation design process: the early envisioning phase, the global specification hase, and the detailed specification phase. The whole design cycle is repeated until some criterion of success is reached. We discuss different techniques for the analysis of users, their tasks and domain. Subsequently, the design of prototypes and evaluation methods in visualisation practice are presented. Finally, we discuss the practical challenges in design and evaluation of collaborative visualisation environments. Our own case studies and those of others are used throughout the whole chapter to illustrate various approaches

Designing electronic collaborative learning environments

Electronic collaborative learning environments for learning and working are in vogue. Designers design them according to their own constructivist interpretations of what collaborative learning is and what it should achieve. Educators employ them with different educational approaches and in diverse situations to achieve different ends. Students use them, sometimes very enthusiastically, but often in a perfunctory way. Finally, researchers study them and—as is usually the case when apples and oranges are compared—find no conclusive evidence as to whether or not they work, where they do or do not work, when they do or do not work and, most importantly, why, they do or do not work. This contribution presents an affordance framework for such collaborative learning environments; an interaction design procedure for designing, developing, and implementing them; and an educational affordance approach to the use of tasks in those environments. It also presents the results of three projects dealing with these three issues

The Use of a Mock Environment Summit to Support Learning about Global Climate Change

NOTE: This is a large file, 26.6 mb in size! This article advocates the use of a Learner-Centered Environment (LCE) to teach Earth System Science. In this instance, LCE takes the form of a mock environmental summit in which students play the roles of country representatives and participate in activities such as writings, class discussions, presentations and negotiations. Rubrics developed for each activity are used both to assess student learning and to communicate feedback to students about their work. The study suggests that the adoption of an LCE enhanced student learning of content and critical skills. The frequent student presentations were found to play a major role in student learning. The rubrics served as scaffolding for knowledge construction, helped students to self-assess and maintain their quality of work, and allowed instructors to provide quick and efficient feedback. The development of basic learner-centered tools and teaching practices will help Earth System Science instructors provide learning environments most suitable for their discipline. Educational levels: Graduate or professional

Promising State Policies for Personalized Learning

This report is a valuable resource for state policymakers—whether they are seeking to create conditions in state policy to support personalized learning, moving forward with initiatives to develop personalized learning pilot programs, hosting task forces to explore policy issues and needs, or taking a comprehensive policy approach for supporting advanced personalized learning models.Personalized learning is where instruction is tailored to each student's strengths, needs, and interests—including enabling student voice and choice in what, how, when, and where they learn—to provide flexibility and supports to ensure mastery of the highest standards possible