Reclaiming scholarship as an integrating dimension of academic work for the impact of research on teaching and learning in higher education

This paper offers reflections on Ernest Boyer’s conceptions of scholarship which were first outlined twenty years earlier. It considers the ways in which such conceptions have become meaninglessness as part of a wider process of reductionism and how this relates to policy discussions on curriculum, competence and teaching. It argues for the central place of research in, and the central place of, Higher Education in the professional education of teachers. It proposes that in order to develop cultures of inquiry in Higher Education we need to do so in ways that integrate research, teaching and learning. The integration process is seen to be achieved through an understanding of the nature of wholes and through a process of seeing, and therefore thinking and acting, holistically. It is argued that this is part of a wider struggle over values which the academic community needs to advance by reclaiming the meaning of scholarship

Design Science and Its Importance in the German Mathematics Educational Discussion

Mathematics Education; Learning; Teachin

Offshore education : offshore education in the wider context of internationalisation and ICT: experiences and examples from Dutch higher education

This report presents a study on offshore education conducted by a consortium of Dutch higher education researchers and commissioned by the Digital University (DU). The study explored the extent to which Dutch higher education institutions are involved in offering their educational services abroad (offshore education). After thoroughly embedding offshore education in the wider contexts of internationalisation and ICT policies, the study particularly explores the practical experiences with a number of real-life offshore activities of Dutch higher education. As a warm-up to this report, a few interesting cases are briefly touched upon below

Integration of New Technologies and Alternative Methods in Laboratory-Based Scenarios

In this study, we report a preliminary requirements analysis to recognize needs and possibilities for integrating new technologies and methods for lab-based learning in the field of Industry 4.0 and Internet of Things. To this aim, different scenarios, such as real, remote and virtual labs, are considered to be addressable within an integrated learning environment that focuses on alternative methods (i.e. Serious Games, Self-Regulated and Collaborative Learning) and new technologies (i.e. Open Badges, Mixed Reality and Learning Analytics). To support the design of the laboratory-based learning environment, qualitative interviews were conducted with both expert lecturers and relevant students in the field of engineering, to provide complementary perspectives. These interviews were carried out to analyze the requirements, and to identify possible benefits that relevant stakeholders expect by using these teaching and learning methods and technologies. A qualitative content analysis has been started on the interviews to define which is the perception of the new technologies and teaching methods. The different points of view about technologies and methods coming from expert lecturers’ and relevant students’ interviews are provided

Microteaching: effective knowledge tansfer for sustainable technological innovation

Technology and innovation play important roles in the approaches to sustainability related problems. An increasing number of companies find Sustainable Development (SD) important; this is mainly due to the growing attention from politics and society. Exchanging of new knowledge and insight is therefore important. Daily practice proves that it is difficult for (small and medium sized) companies to regularly make time to transfer knowledge internally. Therefore it is necessary for companies to have a practical approach on improving the level of knowledge of Sustainable Technological Innovation (STI) within the organisation. Microteaching STI offers a flexible and activating approach focussed on stimulating feedback, coupled on various learning styles and participants. In series of meetings of 15 to 30 minutes, related topics will be taught. The choice of topics covered will be determined by the knowledge requirements of both the employees and the company. The approach is developed and tested in collaboration with six companies in the Netherlands, Delft University of Technology and partners involved in training and Sustainable Development: Innovaders Amsterdam, in corporation with Beco Rotterdam. Learning goals of both participants and company are discussed. Mind maps have been used to indicate the attitude of the companies towards Sustainable Development. Brainstorm meetings with all partners and ‘learning by doing’ have resulted in a format to support an active learning approach. Other focus points are: Training of the (internal) trainer, choosing the correct active work form, using clear examples, paying attention to feedback, facilitating internal discussion and deepening of knowledge after the teaching. Microteaching STI in the Netherlands is a Leonardo da Vinci EU sub-project, which started in October 2004 and will be finished in February 2007. Two sub-projects in Germany and a project in Slovakia deal with the employees’ training in their respective fields, on an operational level. RWTH Aachen, Center for Learning and Knowledge Management and Department of Computer Sciences in Mechanical Engineering, is coordinator of the project. Knowledge of the approach will be transferred to Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) Barcelona Spain and also to partners in Finland and Hungarian. This paper describes experiences with the Microteaching STI approach in the Netherlands. Theory on active learning is combined with practical examples from Microteaching trainings offered.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

PARAMETERS OF AUGMENTED REALITY AND ITS USE IN EDUCATION

This article examines the issue of augmented reality and possibilities of its application in education. It briefly reports on selected results of a broader survey focused on technological, psychological, physiological and didactical aspects of the issue. It presumes that augmented reality has its unique place in technical teaching tools since it is a technological-perception concept, which in certain didactical situations creates more suitable perceptual environment than real environment itself on one hand, or virtual environment on the other. It focuses on identification of the technological-functional properties and specifics of augmented reality systems and on verification of model examples of augmented reality applications in school practice. It characterizes the course and results of empirical research project based on a descriptive case study exploring the cases of implementing selected application solutions of augmented reality into learning experience in accordance with the model of pro-active action research