5,811 research outputs found
Breaking Virtual Barriers : Investigating Virtual Reality for Enhanced Educational Engagement
Virtual reality (VR) is an innovative technology that has regained popularity in recent years. In the field of education, VR has been introduced as a tool to enhance learning experiences. This thesis presents an exploration of how VR is used from the context of educators and learners. The research employed a mixed-methods approach, including surveying and interviewing educators, and conducting empirical studies to examine engagement, usability, and user behaviour within VR. The results revealed educators are interested in using VR for a wide range of scenarios, including thought exercises, virtual field trips, and simulations. However, they face several barriers to incorporating VR into their practice, such as cost, lack of training, and technical challenges. A subsequent study found that virtual reality can no longer be assumed to be more engaging than desktop equivalents. This empirical study showed that engagement levels were similar in both VR and non-VR environments, suggesting that the novelty effect of VR may be less pronounced than previously assumed. A study against a VR mind mapping artifact, VERITAS, demonstrated that complex interactions are possible on low-cost VR devices, making VR accessible to educators and students. The analysis of user behaviour within this VR artifact showed that quantifiable strategies emerge, contributing to the understanding of how to design for collaborative VR experiences. This thesis provides insights into how the end-users in the education space perceive and use VR. The findings suggest that while educators are interested in using VR, they face barriers to adoption. The research highlights the need to design VR experiences, with understanding of existing pedagogy, that are engaging with careful thought applied to complex interactions, particularly for collaborative experiences. This research contributes to the understanding of the potential of VR in education and provides recommendations for educators and designers to enhance learning experiences using VR
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The impact of enterprise social networking on knowledge sharing between academic staff in higher education
This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonHigher education institutions have always considered knowledge sharing critical for research excellence and finding proper methods for sharing knowledge across academic staff has therefore been a major issue for universities and knowledge management research. Recent evidence shows that many universities have embraced enterprise social networking tools to improve communication, relationships, partnerships, and knowledge sharing. To date, there is little understanding of the critical factors for online knowledge sharing behaviour between academic staff, and the impact of these factors on work benefits for academic staff which differ between consumptive users and contributive users in higher education. This study employed the extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) to examine factors affecting knowledge sharing about the consumptive use and contributive use of enterprise social network (ESN) behaviour. The study adopts a critical realism philosophical approach and employed a grounded theory mixed methods. The conceptual model was validated through structural equation modelling based on an online survey of 254 academic staff using enterprise social networking as a part of their work in the United Kingdom. The findings have significant theoretical and practical implications for researchers and policy makers. The research has developed a cohesive ESN use model by extending and modifying the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology. The findings indicate significant differences around factors affecting consumptive and contributive usage patterns within ESNs. Due to advances in communication technologies, this research argues that a previous model suggested by Venkatesh et al. (2003) is no longer fit for purpose and the new communication tools can lead to improved knowledge in higher education. This research also makes valuable contributions to universities from a managerial viewpoint, suggesting that universities could help their scholars find a more comprehensive range of funding sources matching scholars' ideas
2023-2024 Catalog
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Italian higher education students’ perspectives on internationalization at home and their identity as English as lingua franca users
This study aims to explore the Italian students’ perspectives on using English in English-medium instruction (EMI) programs in light of the practices of internationalization at home (IaH) at the University of Bologna (UNIBO) in Italy and further investigates whether these attitudes affect their language identity as English as lingua franca (ELF) users. To serve this aim, a mixed-method approach was adopted to collect quantitative and in-depth qualitative data in two phases through an online survey and a semi-structured interview. A total number of 78 Italian students participated in the survey, out of which 14 participants were interviewed. The findings of the online survey indicated that most participants (92%) held a positive perspective toward the use of English in EMI programs and the findings from the interviews were in line with the results of the survey. However, the purpose of the interviews was to explore the participants’ views on their language identity as ELF users. Thematic analysis of the interviews revealed that students experience emotional, cognitive, and social transitions in EMI programs in response to their shift from a non-EMI to an EMI academic setting. Overall, all the above-mentioned transitions were positive and could lead to personal development. However, it can be concluded that the EMI context provides few opportunities for the emergence of significant new subject positions mediated by English in this study. The focus on students’ perspectives on the use of English in EMI programs can contribute to the improvement in language policy planning and internationalized curriculum design by policymakers and alleviate tensions over the controversial issue of the Englishization of higher education by considering how EMI students perceive their use of English as ELF users not superior standard English users
Pre-service practicum at a teacher education college : a case in Ethiopia
This study explored how the basic ideas of the constructivist theory of learning are
put into practice in the pre-service practicum programme to determine the extent to
which key participants hold a shared set of beliefs about the pre-service practicum
and to explore its implementation at the Hossana College of Teacher Education,
Ethiopia, in light of the constructivist paradigm. A single qualitative case (holistic)
design was used to fully grasp the phenomenon under inquiry from the standpoint of
the research participants. This qualitative single-case study was guided by the
constructivist theory of learning based on constructivist interpretivism's philosophical
paradigms. This research was also based on the Vygotskian epistemological idea
that social reality is formed and mediated because contact and engagement do not
exist without participants. Twenty-nine individuals were purposively sampled, all of
whom were well-informed. Interviews, observations, document reviews, and field
studies were also used to collect relevant and sufficient data for the study. The
qualitative data underwent interpretive and reflective analyses. The study's findings
revealed that, despite the inherent constraints of the practicum implementation
process, the practicum is critical to developing competent professionals. However, it
appears that the essence of the practicum is not well understood in light of the
constructivist teacher education framework. Thus, participants' ideas regarding the
fundamental assumptions and theoretical underpinnings of constructivist pedagogy
were contradictory to the beliefs of the constructivist theory of learning. The
programme was being run in an environment that did not support the ways in which
to achieve the end goal. An integrated and dependable partnership or collaboration among the involved parties had not yet been established. The roles and
responsibilities were not properly shared by all the concerned bodies. It seemed that
a kind of compliance dominated the scene of the practicum rather than collaboration.
Tasks in practicum courses were not clear and well-organised in the practicum
setting, and college supervisors and cooperating teachers continued to play
traditional roles. The entire learning environment is less supportive of the practicum's
premises. Based on theory, policy, and practice, this study came to a conclusion on
the proposed framework for pre-service practicum implementation.Curriculum and Instructional StudiesPh. D. (Curriculum Studies
An empirical evaluation of m-health service users’ behaviours: A case of Bangladesh
A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Wolverhampton for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.Mobile health (m-health) services are revolutionising healthcare in the developing world by improving accessibility, affordability, and availability. Although these services are revolutionising healthcare in various ways, there are growing concerns regarding users' service quality perceptions and overall influence on satisfaction and usage behaviours. In developing countries, access to healthcare and low healthcare costs are insufficient if users lack confidence in healthcare service quality.
Bangladesh's Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) provides the only government-sponsored m-health service available to the entire population. DGHS's m-health service, available since 2009, is yet to be evaluated in terms of users' perceptions of the quality of service and its impact on satisfaction and usage. Hence, this study developed a conceptual model for evaluating the associations between overall DGHS m-health service quality, satisfaction, and usage behaviours. This study operationalised overall m-health service quality as a higher-order construct with three dimensions- platform quality, information quality, and outcome quality, and nine corresponding subdimensions-privacy, systems availability, systems reliability, systems efficiency, responsiveness, empathy, assurance, emotional benefit, and functional benefit.
Moreover, researchers in various service domains, including- healthcare, marketing, environmental protection, and information systems, evaluated and confirmed the influence of social and personal norms on satisfaction and behavioural outcomes like- intention to use. Despite this, no research has been conducted to determine whether these normative components affect m-health users' service satisfaction and usage behaviours. As a result, this study included social and personal norms along with overall service quality into the conceptual model to assess the influence of these variables on users' satisfaction and m-health service usage behaviours. Data was collected from two districts in Bangladesh- Dhaka and Rajshahi, utilising the online survey approach. A total of 417 usable questionnaires were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling to investigate the relationships between the constructs in Warp PLS.
The study confirms that all three dimensions of service quality and their corresponding subdimensions influence users' overall perceptions of DGHS m-health service quality. Moreover, overall DGHS m-health service quality has a significant direct association with satisfaction and an indirect association with usage behaviours through satisfaction. While social norms do not influence satisfaction and usage behaviours within the DGHS m-health context, personal norms directly influence users' satisfaction and indirectly influence usage behaviours through satisfaction. Theoretically, the study contributes by framing the influence of users' overall m-health service quality perceptions, social and personal norms on their actual usage behaviours rather than the intention to use. It also extends the existing knowledge by assessing and comparing m-health users' continuous and discontinuous behaviours. Methodologically this study confirms the usefulness of partial least squares structural equational modelling to analyse a complex model including a higher order construct (i.e., overall perceived service quality). Practically, the study demonstrates the importance of users' satisfaction in addition to service quality, as service quality only affects usage behaviours through satisfaction in the current study context. Additionally, knowing that personal norms significantly influence service satisfaction motivates providers of m-health services to strive to enhance users' personal norms toward m-health service to enhance service satisfaction and usage. Overall, the study will help enhance patient outcomes and m-health service usage
Leading for Equity: Understanding the influences, realities, resistance, and beliefs around tracking and acceleration in suburban school districts
Inequity and marginalization exist within educational structures, policies, and practices. As such, practitioners, like district-level leaders need a clearer understanding of the barriers and their role in making meaning and shaping progress to overcome the disconnect between their beliefs, data, and meaningful and sustainable action. This study sought to understand regional efforts and influences of district leaders around issues of academic tracking and acceleration. As a result of a desire for transformation, this qualitative research study closely examined high-level district leaders by analyzing how they view academic tracking and acceleration within their organizations, how they address issues of equity within acceleration and course tracking systems, and how they navigate what they say gets in the way of de-tracking efforts.
The study focused on the following three research questions: What are the realities and beliefs of district leaders around issues of tracking and acceleration? How do district leaders address tracking and acceleration within their middle and high schools? and How does regional influences and pressure impact decision-making and change efforts?
Twelve district leaders consisting of Superintendents of Schools and Assistant Superintendents / Directors of Curriculum & Instruction from six suburban school districts within one region of New York State participated in the study. Data were collected using semi-structured, joint, and focus group interviews, participant observations, and artifacts / historical document reviews. The data was informed by a conceptual framework that combined the tracking reform framework of Oakes (1992), the equity-focused change framework for school leadership by Radd, Generett, Gooden, and Theoharis (2021), and Theoharis and Scanlan’s (2015) practices for socially just leadership.
Both inductive and deductive coding were utilized to generate categories and themes for the qualitative data as part of the analysis. For the supplemental, yet very limited, quantitative/descriptive data used within this study, proportional representation and disproportionality were the primary concepts used for analysis. Additionally, pivot tables and 100% stacked bar charts were used to represent the descriptive data.
Results of this study revealed that regionally there are many oppressive patterns that are allowed to exist within the suburban districts / schools. Moreover, the study’s findings indicated that the leaders all have good intentions, but little is done to disrupt tracking within the districts / schools. The study suggests that district leaders need to employ collective efforts and strategies, all of which require educators to actively work together to influence, change, and counteract pressures that create inequity within academic tracking and acceleration programs, to eliminate barriers and ensure access for all students
Everyone is on Their Phones: Eighth Graders\u27 Struggle with Social Media in School
This qualitative study examined social media in the school setting from the point of view of eighth-grade participants. This study implemented a focused ethnography, examining a group of individuals’ perspectives on a focused area of their shared culture. Using critical theory, this study examined qualitative data with the concepts of structures, subjectivity, and power at the confluence of social media and school for eighth-grade students. Qualitative data were collected using five semi-structured focus groups, artifact analysis, fieldnotes, and memos. The findings highlighted that eighth-grade students acknowledge that there is a struggle between social media and school. This struggle alters their school experience, both in terms of subjectivity—in the form of a struggle for recognition—and in the structures they navigate daily—in the form of a friction between the media and scholastic apparatus. The findings show this struggle as an antinomic, ambiguous, and ambivalent battle where students experienced both advantages and disadvantages from the confluence between social media and school
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