1,340,841 research outputs found
FDTL voices : drawing from learning and teaching projects
This publication draws on insights and experiences from individuals and teams within learning and teaching development projects in higher education. It considers lessons learnt from the processes, outcomes and tangible outputs of the projects across the spectrum of the FDTL initiative, with the intention that colleagues can draw on and benefit from this experience. The overriding theme at the heart of every FDTL project has been the desire to achieve some form of positive and meaningful change at the level of the individual, institution or discipline. The continuing legacy of the programme has been to create wider community involvement as projects have engaged with the higher education sector on multiple levels - personal, institutional, practice, and policy. This publication has remained throughout a collaborative endeavour, supported by Academy colleagues. It is based around the four themes emerging from the initiative as a whole: ⢠Sectoral/Organisational Change ⢠Conceptual Change ⢠Professional and Personal Development Partnership and ⢠Project Managemen
Action learning : co-creating value from collaborative sustainable projects
This article reports on the specific role that action learning plays in the promotion of sustainability and innovation in the Local Government sector. The study focuses on one organisation and the efforts of a senior manager to enact change. The senior manager utilized his participation in an MBA programme to bring the classroom learning into his business. As a consequence of the requirements of the programme and also the desire of the senior manager, he was able to instigate a change programme, which delivered measurable outcomes and had financial and cultural impact. This case study illustrates the favourable advantages of using action learning as an intervention approach by HEIâs in driving sustainable innovation in the Local Government sectorFinal Published versio
Recommended from our members
Effectiveness of mobile learning across various settings
This paper reviews three âmobile learningâ projects to understand the nature of and extent to which learning is enhanced and facilitated by the inclusion of mobile technologies in the different teaching/learning activities that were carried out. Reviews will be taken from a number of projects; Mobile Learning in Informal Science Settings (MELISSA),Mobile Clinical Learning and Out There in Here (OTIH) projects. Melissa was a European project dealing with a range of learning systems. The Mobile Clinical Learning project investigated the potential of learning resources provided in Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and the ways in which clinical learning within two comparative health care institutions can be supported by using small handheld computers. OTIH is seeking to support collaborative remote experimentation where learners work together in different contexts. Within these projects a range of mobile devices (e.g. smartphones, laptops, ipads) were used to allow a broader understanding of a changing mobile device landscape. The research literature suggests that learning opportunities are more likely to arise in environments where interaction is facilitated. By reviewing these projects we are able to identify elements that are facilitated by mobile technologies and explore ways that learning is supported
Grounding the curriculum: learning from live projects in architectural education
Abstract: For more than twenty years architects in the UK have advocated the use of âliveâ projects in architecture schools as an alternative to the more traditional model of studio learning, but the educational establishment continues to marginalize community-based approaches to learning. Recent debate, focusing on shortcomings of the studio culture in architectural education, has condemned the isolation of students from real world contexts and teaching methods that cultivate values of individualism and competition. As an alternative, many claims have been made about the potential for enhancing student learning by adopting live briefs and involving clients and users in the education of architects. Yet much of the literature
remains largely speculative or descriptive and so far has neglected to investigate participatory design processes to determine their precise pedagogic value. The aims of this paper are to examine the nature of learning in student projects outside the studio environment, to locate that learning within a range of categories of learning, and to develop a conceptual structure for further exploration of alternative pedagogies in architectural education. The study is based on evaluations of two participatory
design projects carried out with students at Lincoln School of Architecture in the UK. Studentsâ perceptions of the
learning they acquired are compared with the intended learning outcomes identified by tutors at the start of the projects, and these are further contrasted with the âcompetenciesâ that are typical outcomes of the traditional curriculum. The findings, which reveal significant contingent and emergent learning in the live projects, are then discussed in relation to recognized
theories of learning, such as experiential learning, social constructionism, situated learning and collaborative learning. The objective is to identify an appropriate theoretical framework that may be used to draw attention to the valuable contribution of live project learning in architectural education and support arguments in favour of a more expansive and socially grounded architecture curriculum
Doing, being, becoming: a historical appraisal of the modalities of project-based learning
Any pedagogy of media practice sits at the intersection between training for employment and education for critical thinking. As such, the use of projects is a primary means of structuring learning experiences as a means of mirroring professional practice. Yet, our understanding of the nature of projects and of project-based learning is arguably under-theorised and largely taken for granted. This paper attempts to address this issue through a synthesis of the literature from organisational studies and experiential learning. The article aims to shift the debate around project-based learning away from an instrumentalist agenda, to one that considers the social context and lived experience of projects and re-conceptualises projects as ontological modalities of doing, being and becoming. In this way, the article aims to provide a means for thinking about the use of project-based learning within the media practice curriculum that draws on metaphors of discovery, rather than of construction
The learning process in intercultural collaboration: evidence from the eChina-UK Programme
The eChina-UK Programme was established in 2002 and originally comprised a small
number of projects in which British and Chinese teams worked collaboratively to develop
and pilot e-learning materials in the field of education. Phase 1 of the Programme
spanned the period 2003 to 2005 and produced a number of practical outputs (Spencer-
Oatey 2007). Three follow-on projects were funded in Phase 2, which started in October
2005, and these included research reflecting on issues of pedagogy as well as the
creation of further teaching and learning materials. These projects ran until 2007 and, in
December of that year, Phase 3 of the Programme was put in place to capture insights
from the experiences of all of the completed projects. The goal of Phase 3, therefore, was
to draw out the learning from Phases 1 and 2 of the eChina-UK Programme with respect
to the management of intercultural aspects of international education projects.
In addition to the learning to be gained from the eChina-UK projects, the Phase 3 work
included new research both into data generated in Phases 1 and 2 and into other sources
of knowledge relating to intercultural effectiveness. The focus was on situating the learning
from the eChina-UK projects into a wider intellectual context. The intention was to
maximise the understanding of the intercultural management of international education
projects and enable the production of resources for those engaged in current and future
projects of this kind (Reid et al. 2009).
This paper presents findings from one strand of the research carried out during Phase 3 of
the eChina-UK Programme. The objective of this strand was to draw on data from eChina-
UK and related studies in order to produce theoretical and practical insights into the nature
of intercultural collaboration as a learning process. The focus on learning was primarily
determined by the realisation (from analysis of the eChina-UK data and other studies of
intercultural collaboration) that building intercultural competencies required significant
attention to individual and group learning. Any practical recommendations and resources
developed in Phase 3 of the programme would therefore need to pay attention to how
participants managed their learning during an international partnership. Similarly, we
might usefully be able to demonstrate how those planning such collaborations could
benefit from embedding good learning practices from the outset of their work.
The purpose of this paper is to summarise and analyse the findings from the empirical
work carried out within this strand of Phase 3 research. I have set out elsewhere the
theoretical background to this research and specifically to the development of the learning
process model utilised here (Reid 2009a). That model will constitute part of the material
available to researchers, managers and other practitioners through the Global People
Resource Bank (www.globalpeople.org.uk) developed in Phase 3 of the eChina-UK
Programme. None of this work would have been possible without the sustained support
and co-operation of our colleagues in the various eChina-UK projects and at our funding
body, the Higher Education Funding Council for England
Innovation in Mobile Learning: A European Perspective
In the evolving landscape of mobile learning, European researchers have conducted significant mobile learning projects, representing a distinct perspective on mobile learning research and development. Our paper aims to explore how these projects have arisen, showing the driving forces of European innovation in mobile learning. We propose context as a central construct in mobile learning and examine theories of learning for the mobile world, based on physical, technological, conceptual, social and temporal mobility. We also examine the impacts of mobile learning research on educational practices and the implications for policy. Throughout, we identify lessons learnt from European experiences to date
Learning from Experiments: An Evaluation Plan for CMAQ Projects
The Congestion Mitigation/Air Quality Program (CMAQ), established in 1991 by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) to provide about $1 billion per year to fund transportation projects that improve air quality, is intended both to support traditional transportation control measures and to encourage innovation in developing new strategies and technologies for controlling emissions from transportation sources. While the program has indeed encouraged some innovative approaches to local transportation and air quality problems, critics see it as a diversion of funds that could more usefully be devoted to conventional highway improvement projects. The current debate in Congress over the reauthorization of ISTEA and, specifically, the CMAQ provisions, is hampered by the lack of detailed information about the achievements of previous CMAQ projects and a plan for evaluating future projects. Resolution of this debate could be aided by emphasizing the role of CMAQ projects as natural experiments and developing a plan to conduct them. The purpose of this paper is to outline a strategy of analysis and data collection that will facilitate evaluation of CMAQ projects. This paper argues that the lack of emphasis (in all but the largest projects) on project evaluation can be explained by the public goods nature of information. Because local implementing agencies bear the costs of evaluation, while the benefits are enjoyed primarily by other jurisdictions in planning their transportation and environment projects, too little evaluation is conducted. At present, much of the potential usefulness of CMAQ projects to planners is dissipated because there is little systematic learning. Indeed, a project could succeed as an experiment if learning took place, even if it failed to improve air quality. This paper examines the kinds of data collected now in CMAQ programs in comparison with the kinds of data that would permit more effective program evaluation, particularly ex post evaluation, i.e., analysis of what actually resulted from the implementation of the individual project. In many cases, data-gathering should concentrate on observable outcomes that can clearly be attributed to the project and yet bear some relationship to air quality or congestion, either established by previous empirical study or by model results. A method is proposed for collecting the requisite data for each of several important types of CMAQ projects. To assure that the data are collected and evaluated will also require changes in the way in which CMAQ is administered, including the dedication of some portion of CMAQ funds for evaluating completed projects. The biggest change may be the need to develop measures of "success" and identify "control cases" against which to judge the success of the experiment.
Strength through diversity? Learning outcomes and student satisfaction with group projects in marketing
Undergraduate students majoring in Marketing are required to engage in group projects throughout their study. The main educational rationale behind requiring students to work on group projects as an integral part of their study in marketing is that the experience of group projects is a good preparation for working in teams and managing work teams in the future. Little research has been conducted which examines the individual differences of learning outcomes with group projects. Results from a principles of marketing class (n=61) suggest that older students (>21 years) reported learning more about subject matter covered in group assignments, than younger students (<21 years). Students from non-Australian ESB and multilingual backgrounds reported gaining greater knowledge of working in teams than students from non-Australian ESB who were monolingual. Results also showed a number of interactions between age, gender and hours of work govern the degree of satisfaction students have with group learning
Quantity versus Quality in Project Based Learning Practices
In the midst of the turbulence wrought by the global economy, it has become common to see projects as an essential medium for achieving change. However, project based learning practices - as a subset of organizational learning practices- have not kept pace with this development. To explore this concern, we have carried out a study on practices adopted by organizations for learning through projects involving nineteen companies from across Europe and from a range of different industries. We use the concepts of variation, selection and retention in organizational learning to analyze our findings and report the challenges faced by project based organizations in each of the areas highlighted. We conclude that time pressures, centralization and deferral are the key characteristics of learning in project based firms and that these impede project based members in learning from and through projects.centralization;deferral;organizational learning;projects;reflection
- âŚ