New tools for scientific learning in the EduSeis project: the e-learning experiment

The Educational Seismological Project (EduSeis) is a scientific and educational project, the main aim of which is the development and implementation of new teaching methodologies in Earth Sciences, using seismology as a vehicle for scientific learning and awareness of earthquake risk. Within this framework, we have recently been experimenting with new learning and information approaches that are mainly aimed at a high school audience. In particular, we have designed, implemented and tested a model of an e-learning environment in a high school located in the surroundings of the Mt. Vesuvius volcano. The proposed e-learning model is built on the EduSeis concepts and educational materials (web-oriented), and is based on computer-supported collaborative learning. Ten teachers from different disciplines and fifty students at the ITIS «Majorana» technical high school (Naples) have been taking part in a cooperative e-learning experiment in which the students have been working in small groups (communities). The learning process is assisted and supervised by the teachers. The evaluation of the results from this cooperative e-learning experiment has provided useful insights into the content and didactic value of the EduSeis modules and activities. The use of network utilities and the «Learning Community» approach promoted the exchange of ideas and expertises between students and teachers and allowed a new approach to the seismology teaching through a multidisciplinary study

USE OF LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ILIAS IN TEACHING TECHNOLOGIES FOR INTENDING TEACHERS OF SECONDARY AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION

The purpose of the article is to substantiate the features of e-learning technologies of materials for intending teachers of secondary and vocational education through the use of available learning management system ILIAS.The web-based learning management system ILIAS is used to develop e-learning materials, manage and disseminate multimedia materials in an online educational environment. The ILIAS system is available, free of charge and designed to manage learning resources as part of integrated systems and e-learning. The independence of the international project ILIAS and its support by many European universities as well as IT organizations are the basis for use and development in the training of intending teachers of secondary and vocational education.While researching the given issue, we have used theoretical and empirical research methods, i.e. analysis and synthesis to clarify the basic concepts and categories of computer-based education; conceptual and comparative analysis of curricula and programs, psychological and pedagogical, scientific and methodical literature as well as the materials of scientific and practical conferences on the problem of research and advanced pedagogical experience, comparing traditional and computer-oriented approaches in teaching technology. We have also used the methods of identifying patterns and drawing conclusions on the given issue.The use of web-based management system ILIAS in the teaching of construction materials technology contributes to the formation of professional competencies of intending teachers of secondary and vocational education, manifested in the ability to integrate knowledge of different technologies, make sound technical decisions and implement them in virtual reality; selection of technological processes, planning, forecasting and evaluation of technology efficiency; perception of computer models of technological processes.

New tools for scientific learning in the EduSeis project: the e-learning experiment

The Educational Seismological Project (EduSeis) is a scientific and educational project, the main aim of which is the development and implementation of new teaching methodologies in Earth Sciences, using seismology as a vehicle for scientific learning and awareness of earthquake risk. Within this framework, we have recently been experimenting with new learning and information approaches that are mainly aimed at a high school audience. In particular, we have designed, implemented and tested a model of an e-learning environment in a high school located in the surroundings of the Mt. Vesuvius volcano. The proposed e-learning model is built on the EduSeis concepts and educational materials (web-oriented), and is based on computer-supported collaborative learning. Ten teachers from different disciplines and fifty students at the ITIS «Majorana» technical high school (Naples) have been taking part in a cooperative e-learning experiment in which the students have been working in small groups (communities). The learning process is assisted and supervised by the teachers. The evaluation of the results from this cooperative e-learning experiment has provided useful insights into the content and didactic value of the EduSeis modules and activities. The use of network utilities and the «Learning Community» approach promoted the exchange of ideas and expertises between students and teachers and allowed a new approach to the seismology teaching through a multidisciplinary study

Attribution styles as correlates of technical drawing task-persistence and technical college students’ performance

Technical drawing is a means of communicating between the designer and the manufacturers to bring ideas into reality by means of drafting. This study investigated attribution styles as collates of students’ technical drawing task-persistence and academic performance using correlational research design. The population for this study consisted of 864 students of year II and the sample study comprised of 150 (93 males and 57 females) randomly selected from six technical colleges in Edo State, Nigeria. Three instruments, Academic Performance Attribution Style Questionnaire (APASQ), Technical Drawing Taskpersistent Rating Scale (TDTPRS); and Technical Drawing Performance Test (TDPT) were developed and used for data collection. Cronbach Alpha reliability method was used to determine the reliability of the instruments and the results were obtained: SAASQ = .87; TDTPRS=.79; AND TDAT = .85. The findings of the study revealed that the technical drawing task-persistence of students was positively correlated by functional attribution style; and was negatively correlated by dysfunctional attribution style; functional attribution style positively correlated academic performance of students. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that technical drawing teachers should model and teach the students the right attribution style that will enhance their learning of technical drawing

Towards a user oriented analytical approach to learning design

The London Pedagogy Planner (LPP) is a prototype for a collaborative online planning and design tool that supports lecturers in developing, analysing and sharing learning designs. The tool is based on a developing model of the components involved in learning design and the critical relationships between them. As a decision tool it makes the pedagogical design explicit as an output from the process, capturing it for testing, redesign, reuse and adaptation by the originator, or by others. The aim is to test the extent to which we can engage lecturers in reflecting on learning design, and make them part of the educational community that discovers how best to use technology‐enhanced learning. This paper describes the development of LPP, presents pedagogical benefits of visual representations of learning designs and proposes an analytical approach to learning design based on these visual representations. The analytical approach is illustrated based on an initial evaluation with a small group of lecturers from two partner institutions

Putting theory oriented evaluation into practice

Evaluations of gaming simulations and business games as teaching devices are typically end-state driven. This emphasis fails to detect how the simulation being evaluated does or does not bring about its desired consequences. This paper advances the use of a logic model approach which possesses a holistic perspective that aims at including all elements associated with the situation created by a game. The use of the logic model approach is illustrated as applied to Simgame, a board game created for secondary school level business education in six European Union countries

Toward a user-oriented analytical approach to learning design

The London Pedagogy Planner (LPP) is a prototype for a collaborative online planning and design tool that supports lecturers in developing, analysing and sharing learning designs. The tool is based on a developing model of the components involved in learning design, and the critical relationships between them. As a decision tool, it makes the pedagogical design explicit as an output from the process, capturing it for testing, redesign, reuse and adaptation by the originator, or by others. The aim is to test the extent to which we can engage lecturers in reflecting on learning design, and make them part of the educational community that discovers how best to use Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL). This paper describes the development of LPP, presents pedagogical benefits of visual representations of learning designs, and proposes an analytical approach to learning design based on these visual representations. The analytical approach is illustrated based on an initial evaluation with the lecturers

Developing digital literacy in construction management education: a design thinking led approach

Alongside the digital innovations in AEC (Architectural, Engineering and Construction) practice, are calls for a new type of digital literacy, including a new information-based literacy informed by creativity, critical analysis and the theoretical and practical knowledge of the construction profession. This paper explores the role of design thinking and the promotion of abductive problem situations when developing digital literacies in construction education. The impacts of advanced digital modelling technologies on construction management practices and education are investigated before an examination of design thinking, the role of abductive reasoning and the rise of normative models of design thinking workflows. The paper then explores the role that design thinking can play in the development of new digital literacies in contemporary construction studies. A three-part framework for the implementation of a design thinking approach to construction is presented. The paper closes with a discussion of the importance of models of design thinking for learning and knowledge production, emphasising how construction management education can benefit from them

Modelling benefits-oriented costs for technology enhanced learning

The introduction of technology enhanced learning (TEL) methods changes the deployment of the most important resource in the education system: teachers' and learners' time. New technology promises greater personalization and greater productivity, but without careful modeling of the effects on the use of staff time, TEL methods can easily increase cost without commensurate benefit. The paper examines different approaches to comparing the teaching time costs of TEL with traditional methods, concluding that within-institution cost-benefit modeling yields the most accurate way of understanding how teachers can use the technology to achieve the level of productivity that makes personalisation affordable. The analysis is used to generate a set of requirements for a prospective, rather than retrospective cost-benefit model. It begins with planning decisions focused on realizing the benefits of TEL, and uses these to derive the likely critical costs, hence the reversal implied by a 'benefits-oriented cost model'. One of its principal advantages is that it enables innovators to plan and understand the relationship between the expected learning benefits and the likely teaching costs