Active Techniques Implemented in an Introductory Signal Processing Course to Help Students Achieve Higher Levels of Learning.

Holding students to high standards and assessing, measuring and evaluating their learning with challenging, authentic problems in the midterm and final exams is the goal of the professors who teach core signal processing concepts. However, the heavy reliance of these subjects on mathematics makes it difficult for students to genuinely grasp the concepts and relate to a conceptual framework. Specifically, analyzing the signals and the functionality of systems in Fourier domain; separating the system level analysis from signal level analysis; and understanding how they are related in time domain and frequency domain are among the most challenging concepts. Students’ lower grades observed over past years in the introductory signal processing course exposed a potential disconnect between the actual level of learning and the high expectations set by the professors. In this paper, we present the active learning techniques that we implemented in one of the summer session offerings of this course in our department. The research explored Peer Instruction, pre-class reading quizzes and post-lecture quizzes. In addition to the mid and end of the quarter survey results, the comparison analysis of the grades students achieved in the active learning integrated course in the second summer session and the standard course offered in first summer session is discussed. According to our results, the developed techniques helped students in the active classroom perform significantly better than their peers participating in standard lectures when tested by challenging questions in their exams

Using Gameplay Patterns to Gamify Learning Experiences

Gamification refers to the use of gaming elements to enhance user experience and engagement in non-gaming systems. In this paper we report the design and implementation of two higher education courses in which ludic elements were used to enhance the quality of the learning experience. A game can be regarded as a system of organised gameplay activities, and a course can be regarded as a system of organised learning activities. Leveraging this analogy, analysing games can provide valuable insights to organise learning activities within a learning experience. We examined a sample of successful commercial games to identify patterns of organisation of gameplay activities that could be applied to a course design. Five patterns were identified: quest structure, strategic open-endedness, non-linear progression, orientation, and challenge-based reward. These patterns were then used to define the instructional design of the courses. As a result, courses were organised as systems of quests that could be tackled through different strategies and in a non-linear way. Students received frequent feedback and were rewarded according to the challenges chosen, based on mechanics common in quest-based games. The courses involved two lecturers and 70 students. Learning journals were used throughout the term to collect data regarding student perceptions on the clarity and usefulness of the gamified approach, level of motivation and engagement in the courses, and relevance of the activities proposed. Results show that students felt challenged by the activities proposed and motivated to complete them, despite considering most activities as difficult. Students adopted different cognitive and behavioural strategies to cope with the courses’ demands. They had to define their own team project, defining the objectives, managing their times and coordinating task completion. The regular and frequent provision of feedback was highly appreciated. A sense of mastery was promoted and final achievement was positively impacted by the gamified strategy

Self-Efficacy and Expectancy of Engineering Students in Higher Education: A Case Study of the Perceptions and Beliefs of Lecturers

Online assessment is intended to enhance the learning experiences of students and improve the manner in which feedback is delivered. This paper reports on an international project, undertaken in three countries, to examine the beliefs held by engineering mathematics lecturers about the self-efficacy, and constructs of expectancy of their students. The research provides a comparison with beliefs on these topics held by students in the first year of undergraduate Bachelor of Engineering programmes. The interviews were semi-structured to stimulate conversations around a set of pre-determined themes. The thematic inputs to the lecturer interviews resulted from interpretative phenomenological analysis of the beliefs, experiences and perceptions of 127 students, gained from a series of questionnaires, and interviews. The aims of the engineering mathematics lecturer interviews were to examine current practices in terms of assessment of mathematics, and the provision of feedback, in both online and face-to-face formats. A particular focus was to determine if the self-efficacy of students is considered within the process. The research highlights differences in understanding of the assessment process held by lecturers, and students, particularly in the early stages of the first semester. There is also evidence that students’ meta-cognitive functions evolve over the first year of study, and that this may reduce the differences identified between students’ and lecturers’ perceptions. The implications of these findings are discussed

Cognitive and affective perspectives on immersive technology in education

This research explains the rationale behind the utilization of mobile learning technologies. It involves a qualitative study among children to better understand their opinions and perceptions toward the use of educational applications (apps) that are available on their mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets. The researchers organized semi-structured, face-to-face interview sessions with primary school students who were using mobile technologies at their primary school. The students reported that their engagement with the educational apps has improved their competencies. They acquired relational and communicative skills as they collaborated in teams. On the other hand, there were a few students who were not perceiving the usefulness and the ease of use of the educational apps on their mobile device. This study indicates that the research participants had different skillsets as they exhibited different learning abilities. In conclusion, this contribution opens-up avenues for future research in this promising field of study.peer-reviewe

Approaching work and learning indirectly

This paper approaches work and learning indirectly. It is part of a mixed method longitudinal study that looks at the articulation from Higher National (HN) to part time Higher Education (HE). Since 2003 the Open University in Scotland (OU) has been collecting quantitative and qualitative data on students who have HN qualifications. This paper looks at the experiences of those students and the central place of work in those journeys. The paper beings with a statistical overview. HN Students that come to the OU tend to be older, the majority are in employment, they tend to reside in more deprived areas, and are often motivated by career aspiration. Their HN qualifications tend to cluster around the applied subjects as do the subjects they chose with the OU (Engineering and Technology, Education, and Health and Social Care). The picture is of widening HE participation in applied subjects. The paper then looks at the interview data from the 2011-12 study. Choosing a vocational pathway is not always determined by exam results (some had HE entry qualifications), expectations and opportunities are important. Critical incidents at the end of school (births and deaths) were part of that narrative, as were family expectations around the “safe place” provided by vocational pathways, along with the sense that HE study was not for them. Overall participants narrated “bumpy” interrupted transitions between education and employment. Stories that emphasised social and structural barriers, personal autonomy, and stories that seemed to call into question how useful it is to talk about definite transitions between education and employment. The vocational focus of most HN study means it is normal to regard work as the natural place for learning. This focus on practice means participants think of competence as something that develops formally and informally at and through work after they “qualify”. Interviewees seemed to accept that there was no job or role for life. The paper also considers the motivations for engaging in HE study. For these students work remains the principal focus. Just like HN, part-time distance learning is considered a “safe place” as people can balance study and work. “Getting on” or “getting out” feature strongly. For example, participants found themselves in roles that required HE qualifications, and sought the security and “mobility” that aligning their experience with a qualification would bring. Many cited personal factors; they looked back to “missed opportunities” with regret. However, it became apparent that what starts as personal leads to reflections on career progression and change as studies progress. The paper concludes with some reflections on the ways that articulation between HN and part-time study widens participation in HE. For those in work it also destabilises notions of smooth or appropriate transitions, and questions the boundaries between the personal and the professional

Improving English teaching in Universitas Islam Indonesia: Implementation of cooperative learning

Even though cooperative learning is quite a recent paradigm in the field of English teaching especially in English as a Foreign or Second Language (EFL/ESL) classes, it is actually not new for Indonesians. The concept, which relies on individual contributions upon communal achievement, is similar to the concept of gotong royong, which is undoubtedly an innate belief of Indonesians. The concept of gotong royong itself is frequently defined literally as mutual help. However, it is actually more than mutual help, since it also requires all society members’ participations in any event, for the sake of the community. This literature study is aimed at investigating the applicability of cooperative learning technique in the teaching of English in Universitas Islam Indonesia. The paper will be presented in the order of discussion on cooperative learning, followed by elaboration of gotong royong, and summed up by relevancies of the two concepts. It is possible that this technique also suits the teaching of other subjects, since the concept of cooperative learning and gotong royong would also facilitate the students in going into real life phenomena and experience. Nevertheless, the implementation of this method requires large scale and systemic changes to be ideal in nature

Developing a MovieBrowser for supporting analysis and browsing of movie content

There is a growing awareness of the importance of system evaluation directly with end-users in realistic environments, and as a result some novel applications have been deployed to the real world and evaluated in trial contexts. While this is certainly a desirable trend to relate a technical system to a real user-oriented perspective, most of these efforts do not involve end-user participation right from the start of the development, but only after deploying it. In this paper we describe our research in designing, deploying and assessing the impact of a web-based tool that incorporates multimedia techniques to support movie analysis and browsing for students of film studies. From the very start and throughout the development we utilize methodologies from usability engineering in order to feed in end-user needs and thus tailoring the underlying technical system to those needs. Starting by capturing real users’ current practices and matching them to the available technical elements of the system, we deployed an initial version of our system to University classes for a semester during which we obtained an extensive amount of rich usage data. We describe the process and some of the findings from this trial

Media literacy at all levels: making the humanities more inclusive

The decline of the humanities, combined with the arrival of students focused on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), represent an opportunity for the development of innovative approaches to teaching languages and literatures. Expanding the instructional focus from traditional humanities students, who are naturally more text-focused, to address the needs of more application-oriented STEM learners ensures that language instructors prepare all students to become analytical and critical consumers and producers of digital media. Training students to question motives both in their own and authentic media messages and to justify their own interpretations results in more sophisticated second language (L2) communication. Even where institutional structures impede comprehensive curriculum reform, individual instructors can integrate media literacy training into their own classes. Tis article demonstrates ways of reaching and retaining larger numbers of students at all levels—if necessary, one course at a time.Published versio