Principles in Patterns (PiP) : Project Evaluation Synthesis

Evaluation activity found the technology-supported approach to curriculum design and approval developed by PiP to demonstrate high levels of user acceptance, promote improvements to the quality of curriculum designs, render more transparent and efficient aspects of the curriculum approval and quality monitoring process, demonstrate process efficacy and resolve a number of chronic information management difficulties which pervaded the previous state. The creation of a central repository of curriculum designs as the basis for their management as "knowledge assets", thus facilitating re-use and sharing of designs and exposure of tacit curriculum design practice, was also found to be highly advantageous. However, further process improvements remain possible and evidence of system resistance was found in some stakeholder groups. Recommendations arising from the findings and conclusions include the need to improve data collection surrounding the curriculum approval process so that the process and human impact of C-CAP can be monitored and observed. Strategies for improving C-CAP acceptance among the "late majority", the need for C-CAP best practice guidance, and suggested protocols on the knowledge management of curriculum designs are proposed. Opportunities for further process improvements in institutional curriculum approval, including a re-engineering of post-faculty approval processes, are also recommended

Principles in Patterns (PiP) : Piloting of C-CAP - Evaluation of Impact and Implications for System and Process Development

The Principles in Patterns (PiP) project is leading a programme of innovation and development work intended to explore and develop new technology-supported approaches to curriculum design, approval and review. It is anticipated that such technology-supported approaches can improve the efficacy of curriculum approval processes at higher education (HE) institutions, thereby improving curriculum responsiveness and enabling improved and rapid review mechanisms which may produce enhancements to pedagogy. Curriculum design in HE is a key "teachable moment" and often remains one of the few occasions when academics will plan and structure their intended teaching. Technology-supported curriculum design therefore presents an opportunity for improving academic quality, pedagogy and learning impact. Approaches that are innovative in their use of technology offer the promise of an interactive curriculum design process within which the designer is offered system assistance to better adhere to pedagogical best practice, is exposed to novel and high impact learning designs from which to draw inspiration, and benefits from system support to detect common design issues, many of which can delay curriculum approval and distract academic quality teams from monitoring substantive academic issues. This strand of the PiP evaluation (WP7:38) attempts to understand the impact of the PiP Class and Course Approval Pilot (C-CAP) system within specific stakeholder groups and seeks to understand the extent to which C-CAP is considered to support process improvements. As process improvements and changes were studied in a largely quantitative capacity during a previous but related evaluative strand, this strand includes the gathering of additional qualitative data to better understand and verify the business process improvements and change effected by C-CAP. This report therefore summarises the outcome of C-CAP piloting within a University faculty, presents the methodology used for evaluation, and the associated analysis and discussion. More generally this report constitutes an additional evaluative contribution towards a wider understanding of technology-supported approaches to curriculum design and approval in HE institutions and their potential in improving process transparency, efficiency and effectiveness

Access as Pedagogy: A Case for Embracing Feminist Pedagogy in Open and Distance Learning

While the mainstream discourse around Open and Distance Learning (ODL) centers on standardization, scalability, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness, I return to a much more contextual and humane understanding of teaching and learning in ODL through feminist pedagogy. I begin my inquiry by discussing women students’ experiences through the notion of access as pedagogy, which challenages disembodied views of online learners and learning, and a view of access to resources as an opportunity for equity. My primary focus in this discussion is gender issues; however, I view feminist pedagogy as an ethical position as well as a pedagogical position that calls attentive ways of looking into structuring educational services, methods, policies, and legislations that create an inclusive learning space not just for women, but for all students who are disadvantaged in their education. Within this context, student participation can be framed as a means for transformation, contributing to one’s well-being, agency and sense of power. I highlight the need for an intersectional gender analysis in ODL, as well as openness and transparency in pedagogical processes in order to tackle human and non-human bias, misrecognition, misrepresentation and unequal participation. Education with an explicit goal for transformation leads to the use of technology for reflective, imaginative, and critical ends

Report on a Boston University Conference December 7-8, 2012 on 'How Can the History and Philosophy of Science Contribute to Contemporary U.S. Science Teaching?'

This is an editorial report on the outcomes of an international conference sponsored by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) (REESE-1205273) to the School of Education at Boston University and the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University for a conference titled: How Can the History and Philosophy of Science Contribute to Contemporary U.S. Science Teaching? The presentations of the conference speakers and the reports of the working groups are reviewed. Multiple themes emerged for K-16 education from the perspective of the history and philosophy of science. Key ones were that: students need to understand that central to science is argumentation, criticism, and analysis; students should be educated to appreciate science as part of our culture; students should be educated to be science literate; what is meant by the nature of science as discussed in much of the science education literature must be broadened to accommodate a science literacy that includes preparation for socioscientific issues; teaching for science literacy requires the development of new assessment tools; and, it is difficult to change what science teachers do in their classrooms. The principal conclusions drawn by the editors are that: to prepare students to be citizens in a participatory democracy, science education must be embedded in a liberal arts education; science teachers alone cannot be expected to prepare students to be scientifically literate; and, to educate students for scientific literacy will require a new curriculum that is coordinated across the humanities, history/social studies, and science classrooms.Comment: Conference funded by NSF grant REESE-1205273. 31 page

The Learning Experience of Engineering Foundation Degree Students

University foundation courses have been designed to address the need of highly-diverse groups of students approaching Higher Education. These courses have been developed to support the needs and expectation of both traditional and non-traditional students, either keen on securing employment, or embarking with confidence on an Honours Degree programme. One of these programmes is the “Foundation Degree”, which targets individuals wishing to acquire knowledge and skills readily interfaceable with the work environment (Higgins, Artess and Johnstone, 2010); Engineering is particularly suited to be the subject of this type of course due to its intrinsic empirical character as a discipline. The development of Engineering Foundation Degrees has also met the employers’ demand for a competent, empirically-oriented work force. In the past 15 years, the Foundation Degree has been developed to respond not only to the needs of employers, but to fulfil students' demand for a course that balance empirical and theoretical contents and learning activities.Another foundation programme is the “Extended Degree” in Engineering, which offers a foundation year to applicants who did not fulfil the entry criteria for the first year of an accredited Engineering Honours degree (Fowler, 2015). Like the Foundation Degree, this course is aimed to both traditional and non-traditional students, supporting and enabling the acquisition of the necessary skills and knowledge to enter Higher Education, whilst taking into account their previous experience (McDowell, 1995). This course was initially developed in the 1980s to increase the national pool of professional engineers, and therefore was developed as a Level 0 study programme preceding the first year of an Engineering Honours degreeThere is a need to capture the learning experience of foundation students approaching Higher Education in order to develop and improve learning methodologies that provide them a rich and enjoyable learning experience, hopefully contributing to their academic, professional and personal development. This paper builds upon the past experience of foundation students to further elucidate the mechanisms behind the learning process of students of engineering foundation courses. The author's experience as a lecturer in a foundation engineering course at a British Higher Education Institution is presented and analysed. The effectiveness of contemporary learning methodologies and pedagogies on the learning process of students of engineering foundation courses, including the author’s, is then discussed. The evidence gathered shows that taking into account students’ emotions within the context of a problem-based approach to learning promotes student engagement and is an example of deep learning (Montero and Gonzalez, 2009)

MSIS 2016 global competency model for graduate degree programs in information systems

[Extract] This document, “MSIS 2016: Global Competency Model for Graduate Degree Programs in Information Systems”, is the latest in the series of reports that provides guidance for degree programs in the Information Systems (IS) academic discipline. MSIS 2016 is the seventh collaborative effort between ACM and AIS (following IS’97, IS 2002, and IS 2010 at the undergraduate level; MSIS 2000 and MSIS 2006 at the graduate level; and CC 2005 as an integrative document).(undefined)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Teachers\u27 Participation in Learning by Design Activities, Their Technological, Pedagogical and Content Knowledge, and Technology Integration in an Inner City School

Students at an inner city school have low test results despite making progress. The study examines the problem that technology plans implemented by the Board of Education could not improve student achievement. Educational policy recommends to increasingly sustain teaching by educational technology. Therefore, this research examines the teacher knowledge necessary for technology integration in classes, and the ways this knowledge can be fostered. The theoretical framework of this study integrates 2 prominent theories of instructional science: learning by design (LBD) and technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK). The relationship between LBD, TPACK, and technology integration in the classroom was examined. The assumption was made that LBD and TPACK predict technology integration, and that TPACK mediates the relationship between LBD and technology integration. A correlational study was carried out with a sample of N = 109 in-service, secondary, mathematics teachers from an inner city school. The data were collected using a previously validated questionnaire survey and initially analyzed by multiple regression analysis. However, the measured variables displayed nonlinear relationships, suggesting that, while TPACK partially mediates the LBD-TI relationship as hypothesized, technological knowledge had a saturation effect on TI, and thus high scores of both LBD and TPACK decreased TI. The study shows at a theoretical level how teachers can benefit from LBD experiences resulting in TPACK and how likely they combine technology with teaching. For the practice of teacher leadership, this study will suggest effective forms of professional development, thus improving teaching quality and enabling positive social change

Towards an understanding of the means-ends relationship in citizenship education

While it is clear that all educational undertakings consist of ends and means, the relationship between the two is far from straightforward. This article proposes a framework for understanding the relationship in the context of citizenship education. Qualitative research was undertaken of three educational initiatives in Brazil: the schools of the Landless Movement, the Plural School framework in the city of Belo Horizonte, and the Voter of the Future programme, run by the Electoral Tribunals. Case studies were carried out of each, involving documentary analysis, interviews and observations. Analysis of the relationship between ends and means in each case gave rise to two key frames: the first, ‘proximity’, refers to the extent to which ends and means are separate or unified; the second, ‘rationale’, refers to the grounds on which means are chosen. Finally, the implications of this framework for understanding curriculum are drawn out