A collaborative and experiential learning model powered by real-world projects

Information Technology (IT) curricula\u27s strong application component and its focus on user centeredness and team work require that students experience directly real-world projects for real users of IT solutions. Although the merit of this IT educational tenet is universally recognized, delivering collaborative and experiential learning has its challenges. Reaching out to identify projects formulated by actual organizations adds significantly to course preparation. There is a certain level of risk involved with delivering a useful solution while, at the same time, enough room should be allowed for students to experiment with, be wrong about, review, and learn. Challenges pertaining to the real-world aspect of problem-based learning are compounded by managing student teams and assessing their work such that both individual and collective contributions are taken into account. Finally, the quality of the project releases is not the only measure of student learning. Students should be given meaningful opportunities to practice, improve, and demonstrate their communication and interpersonal skills. In this paper we present our experience with two courses in which teams of students worked on real-world projects involving three external partners. We describe how each of the challenges listed above has impacted the course requirements, class instruction, team dynamics, assessment, and learning in these courses. Course assessment and survey data from students are linked to learning outcomes and point to areas where the collaborative and experiential learning model needs improvement

Learning in Dynamic Inter-firm Networks - The Efficacy of Multiple Contacts

This paper examines the relevance of both an efficiency-based network strategy and a learning-based network strategy in the context of inter-firm partnering. The effect of these different forms of network behaviour on company performance is analysed for companies in the international computer industry. Strategies associated with learning through so-called exploratory networks appear to generate a greater impact on technological performance in a dynamic environment than efficiency strategies through exploitative networks.industrial organization ;

Introducing digital literacy skills through IBL: A comparative study of UG and PG business information systems students

This paper reports a comparative study of Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) at Undergraduate (UG) and Postgraduate (PG) levels at a university in the north west of England. Both student cohorts undertook a professional, legal and ethical module centred on IT. This study focuses on how the different student cohorts approached this style of teaching, and how it impacted on overall student engagement throughout the semester. IBL was introduced in the 2009-2010 academic years; to the UG students in the first semester and the PG students in the second semester. Key observations gained from the study were unexpected in that the UG level students fully embraced the IBL approach, they maintained a high attendance level throughout the semester, and all preliminary and formative assessment work/tasks were eagerly completed. Ultimately, this developed students’ information literacy skills. PG students enjoyed the in-class IBL activities, but actively avoided module preparation and formative assessment work/tasks, and so minimized their opportunities to develop rich digital literacy skills. This study highlights potential enablers required to employ IBL techniques successfully

Optimal Play of the Dice Game Pig

The object of the jeopardy dice game Pig is to be the first player to reach 100 points. Each player\u27s turn consists of repeatedly rolling a die. After each roll, the player is faced with two choices: roll again, or hold (decline to roll again). If the player rolls a 1, the player scores nothing and it becomes the opponent\u27s turn. If the player rolls a number other than 1, the number is added to the player\u27s turn total and the player\u27s turn continues. If the player holds, the turn total, the sum of the rolls during the turn, is added to the player\u27s score, and it becomes the opponent\u27s turn. For such a simple dice game, one might expect a simple optimal strategy, such as in Blackjack (e.g., stand on 17 under certain circumstances, etc.). As we shall see, this simple dice game yields a much more complex and intriguing optimal policy, described here for the first time. The reader should be familiar with basic concepts and notation of probability and linear algebra

Hack Weeks as a model for Data Science Education and Collaboration

Across almost all scientific disciplines, the instruments that record our experimental data and the methods required for storage and data analysis are rapidly increasing in complexity. This gives rise to the need for scientific communities to adapt on shorter time scales than traditional university curricula allow for, and therefore requires new modes of knowledge transfer. The universal applicability of data science tools to a broad range of problems has generated new opportunities to foster exchange of ideas and computational workflows across disciplines. In recent years, hack weeks have emerged as an effective tool for fostering these exchanges by providing training in modern data analysis workflows. While there are variations in hack week implementation, all events consist of a common core of three components: tutorials in state-of-the-art methodology, peer-learning and project work in a collaborative environment. In this paper, we present the concept of a hack week in the larger context of scientific meetings and point out similarities and differences to traditional conferences. We motivate the need for such an event and present in detail its strengths and challenges. We find that hack weeks are successful at cultivating collaboration and the exchange of knowledge. Participants self-report that these events help them both in their day-to-day research as well as their careers. Based on our results, we conclude that hack weeks present an effective, easy-to-implement, fairly low-cost tool to positively impact data analysis literacy in academic disciplines, foster collaboration and cultivate best practices.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures, submitted to PNAS, all relevant code available at https://github.com/uwescience/HackWeek-Writeu

Catalyzing Change in Secondary Education in Africa and India

Mathematica Policy Research started working with the PSIPSE in late 2014 as its learning partner. In this brief, the organisations share their independent analysis of the PSIPSE approach to effecting change in secondary education—starting with the partnership's theory of change, countries of focus, and interventions supported. They end by presenting the monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) framework developed for the PSIPSE and distilling some implications of an analysis for the future