Interaction Disclosed: Unpacking Student Computer Supported Collaborative Learning

The digitalization of higher education has been on the political agenda for decades. Many universities have invested in Active Learning Classrooms (ALCs) which is a technology intense environment designed for collaborative teaching and learning. The aim of this paper is to explore students\u27 interaction with each during computer supported collaborative learning in an Active Learning Classroom. An action-oriented approach was applied within the context of a university in Sweden. The framework of interaction order and the concept of ‘involvement’ and ‘mutual monitoring’ is used as an analytic lens to examine student collaboration. The results show that the classroom arrangement including the technology set-up played an important role in students’ collaboration, causing transparency in activities and makes it more difficult for students to become passive. Contributions includes unpacking the role of collaborative technology and suggesting the concept “involvement disclosure” to shed light on the mechanisms that conditioning students’ engagement in this setting

Acceptance of Distance Learning Technology in Technology-Based Learning Management

The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) describes the factors that influence the acceptance and adoption of technology by individuals. In education management, TAM is used to understand how educators, students, and administrative staff respond to the use of technology in the educational process. The application of the Technology Acceptance Model in education management is to help educational institutions plan, implement, and support the use of technology more effectively, taking into account psychological factors and user perceptions. The variables influencing technology acceptance are Perceived Ease of Use, Perceived Usefulness, Attitude Toward Technology, and Intention to Use. This study examines the factors that influence the acceptance of technology by UT postgraduate students toward using information technology in distance learning. The research results are used to develop distance education management, especially in developing internet technology-based learning. The results show that the variables measured have a significant effect on the use of distance learning technology. The Behavioral Intention to Use variable has the most significant influence on Actual Use (AU), followed by the influence of Perceived Ease of Use (PEU) on Attitude Toward Using (ATU) and Perceived Usefulness (PU) on Attitude Toward Using (ATU).Open University, Technology Acceptance Models, Technology Based Learning Managemen

Adopting Active Learning Classroom (ALC) Technology and Overcoming Barriers: A Faculty Development Intervention Model for Technology-Enhanced Learning Spaces

The goal of this study was to understand how instructors use technology, and what challenges they face, but also to increase the participants’ understanding of Active Learning Classroom (ALCs) technologies as it applies to their teaching by applying action research methodologies. This study also seeks to lay a foundation for additional research on ALCs, education technology, and the needs of instructors in terms of faculty development in technology. This study investigates a group of 13 faculty members in multiple disciplines teaching in ALCs. Thus far, research on the impact of technology-enriched learning environments like Active Learning Classrooms has typically centered around student learning (Beichner et al., 2007; Frazee, Hughes, & Frazee, 2014; Morrone, Ouimet, Siering, & Arthur, 2014). Less attention has been paid to the faculty development needed for instructors to properly take advantage of these environments The research study addresses three questions: First, how and, for what purposes, do faculty use technology in the ALC? Second, what technology adoption factors and barriers were experienced by instructors in an Active Learning Classroom? Third, using Kolb’s experiential learning theory (1984, 2014), how does a semester-long faculty development intervention program impact instructors’ adoption of Active Learning Classroom technologies? Results indicated that the most frequently used technologies were those that were familiar from traditional (technology-equipped) lecture spaces that faculty had used. Faculty were most comfortable with content delivery tools such as instructor laptops connected to the LCD TVs, the instructor podium, and whiteboards. Additionally, technology adoption factors and barriers to adoption were identified, including time, ease of use, equipment availability, institutional classroom support, peer support, and instructor comfort levels with technology and troubleshooting. Through action research, the newest Active Learning Classroom instructors received the most hands-on training on the classroom hardware during consultations, and the exposure to classroom technologies and troubleshooting tips via an experiential learning framework allowed them to better understand the podium interface, document camera and wall-buttons while having an opportunity to reflect on their teaching

By hand and by computer – a video-ethnographic study of engineering students’ representational practices in a design project

In engineering education there has been a growing interest that the curriculum should include collaborative design projects. However, students’ collaborative learning processes in design projects have, with a few exceptions, not been studied in earlier research. Most previous studies have been performed in artificial settings with individual students using verbal protocol analysis or through interviews.  The context of this study is a design project in the fifth semester of the PBL-based Architecture and Design programme at Aalborg University. The students had the task to design a real office building in collaborative groups of 5–6 students. The preparation for an upcoming status seminar was video recorded in situ. Video ethnography, conversation analysis and embodied interaction analysis were used to explore what interactional work the student teams did and what kind of resources they used to collaborate and complete the design task. Complete six hours sessions of five groups were recorded using multiple video cameras (2 – 5 cameras per group). The different collaborative groups did not only produce and reach an agreement on a design proposal during the session – in their design practice they used, and produced, a wealth of tools and bodily-material resources for representational and modelling purposes. As an integral and seamless part of students’ interactional and representational work and the group’s collaborative thinking bodily resources such as “gestured drawings” and gestures, concrete materials such as 3D-foam and papers models, “low-tech” representations such as sketches and drawings by hand on paper and “high-tech” representations as CAD-drawings were used. These findings highlight the cognitive importance of tools and the use of bodily and material resources in students’ collaborative interactional work in a design setting. Furthermore, our study demonstrates that a focus primarily on digital technologies, as is often the case in the recent drive towards “digital learning”, would be highly problematic

A plurilingual approach to language teaching and learning in Catalonia: Using heritage languages in the additional language classroom

Aquesta tesi estudia els efectes de l'adopció d'un enfocament plurilingüe de l'ensenyament i l'aprenentatge de llengües en una aula de llengua addicional d’una escola pública de Barcelona amb 45 alumnes de 10 i 11 anys. Un període d'observació inicial condueix a la hipòtesi que el reconeixement i l'ús de les llengües d'origen dels alumnes és rellevant per a la seva identitat plurilingüe. L'estudi té com a objectiu avaluar si promoure la identitat plurilingüe pot afectar la motivació i les actituds cap a les llengües, d'una banda, i el rendiment acadèmic (català, castellà i anglès) de l'altra. Finalment, també es planteja la hipòtesi que l'adopció d'un enfocament plurilingüe pot afectar les actituds de la mestra de llengua vers les llengües i el seu ensenyament i aprenentatge. Basat en un Enfocament Plurilingüe Integrat (EPI) (Esteve i González Davies, 2016), s'empren dos eines pedagògiques de translanguaging: TOLC (Traducció per a altres contextos d’aprenentatge), (González Davies, 2012, 2014) i LITS (Textos d’identitat de llengua), una adaptació dels textos d'identitat de Cummins (2001, 2009) amb la finalitat de crear contes en anglès i traduir-los en les diferents llengües presents a l'aula. Seguint un enfocament mixte de la Grounded Theory (Teoria fonamentada en dades), es recullen dades quantitatives i qualitatives. Les principals conclusions de l'estudi són que l'adopció d'un enfocament plurilingüe vers l’ensenyament i aprenentatge de llengües és rellevant per a la identitat plurilingüe. Al seu torn, la identitat plurilingüe afecta significativament la motivació de l'alumne i el seu desig vers l'aprenentatge de llengües. A més, el rendiment acadèmic no es veu afectat per l'adopció d'un enfocament plurilingüe i la consciència lingüística dels alumnes i la seva actitud vers les llengües i el seu aprenentatge augmenta. Finalment, també es conclou que la mestra de llengües ha tenir una competència plurilingüe per tal d’ensenyar llengües.Esta tesis estudia los efectos de la adopción de un enfoque plurilingüe de la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de lenguas en un aula de lengua adicional de una escuela pública de Barcelona con 45 alumnos de 10 y 11 años. Un período de observación inicial conduce a la hipótesis de que el reconocimiento y el uso de las lenguas de origen de los alumnos es relevante para su identidad plurilingüe. El estudio tiene como objetivo evaluar si promover la identidad plurilingüe puede afectar la motivación y las actitudes hacia las lenguas, por un lado, y el rendimiento académico (catalán, castellano e inglés) de la otra. Finalmente, también se plantea la hipótesis de que la adopción de un enfoque plurilingüe puede afectar las actitudes de la maestra de lengua hacia las lenguas y su enseñanza y aprendizaje. Basado en un Enfoque Plurilingüe Integrado (EPI) (Esteve y González Davies, 2016), se emplean dos herramientas pedagógicas de translanguaging: TOLC (Traducción para otros contextos de aprendizaje), (González Davies, 2012, 2014) y LITS (Textos de identidad de lengua), una adaptación de los textos de identidad de Cummins (2001, 2009) con el fin de crear cuentos en inglés y traducirlos en las diferentes lenguas presentes en el aula. Siguiendo un enfoque mixto de la Grounded Theory (Teoría fundamentada en datos), se recogen datos cuantitativos y cualitativos. Las principales conclusiones del estudio son que la adopción de un enfoque plurilingüe hacia la enseñanza y aprendizaje de lenguas es relevante para la identidad plurilingüe. A su vez, la identidad plurilingüe afecta significativamente la motivación del alumno y su deseo hacia el aprendizaje de lenguas. Además, el rendimiento académico no se ve afectado por la adopción de un enfoque plurilingüe y la conciencia lingüística de los alumnos y su actitud hacia las lenguas y su aprendizaje aumenta. Finalmente, también se concluye que la maestra de lenguas ha tener una competencia plurilingüe para enseñar lenguas.This thesis studies the effects of adopting a plurilingual approach to teaching and learning languages in an additional language classroom of state primary school of Barcelona with 45 pupils aged 10 and 11. An initial observation period leads to the hypothesis that acknowledging and using the heritage languages of pupils is relevant to their plurilingual identity. The study aims to assess whether plurilingual identity encouragement may affect motivation and attitudes towards languages on the one hand, and academic achievement (Catalan, Spanish and English) on the other. Finally, it is also hypothesised that adopting a plurilingual approach may affect the language teacher’s attitudes towards languages and language teaching and learning. Based on an Integrating Plurilingual Approach (IPA) (Esteve & González Davies, 2016), two translanguaging pedagogical tools are employed, namely TOLC (Translation for Other Learning Contexts), (González Davies, 2012, 2014) and LITS (Language Identity Texts), an adaptation of Cummins’s identity texts (2001, 2009) in order to create storybooks in English and translate them into the different languages present in the classroom. Following a Grounded Theory and mixed-method approach, quantitative and qualitative data are collected. The main conclusions of the study are that adopting a plurilingual approach to language teaching and learning is relevant to plurilingual identity. In turn plurilingual identity significantly affects pupil’s motivation and desire towards learning languages. Also, the academic performance is not affected by adopting a plurilingual approach and the pupils' linguistic awareness and attitude towards languages and language learning increases. Finally, it is also concluded that the language teacher must be plurilingualy competent in order to teach languages

Transitional Space in Active Learning: Perspectives from an Undergraduate STEM Education Context

There is increasing evidence, particularly in STEMM higher education, that traditional didactic transmission lecturing is less effective than more active, student-centred learning. This has resulted in ongoing curriculum review and pedagogic transformation at the research-intensive institution studied and elsewhere across a changing sector. However, the examination of active learning was generally confined to instructional contexts and has assumed that undergraduate students successfully transition between timetabled and non-timetabled learning. The expectation for greater self-directed learning associated with the sector-wide shift to blended learning presents an argument for better understanding student engagement with and perception of transition. This study took a phenomenological approach to using naturalistic ethnographic observation (60 observations) and field interviews (50 interviews), in combination with automated occupancy monitoring data, to capture student transitions in two different departmental settings: Chemical Engineering and Physics. Studying physical, temporal, cognitive and social transitions in to and out of timetabled face-to-face lectures led to the definition of on-ramp, medial and off-ramp transitional spaces. These findings informed an institutional redesign of a raked lecture theatre and adjacent foyer space, which provided an opportunity to implement and test the operational impact of these research ideas with educators, architects and other practitioners. A subsequent phase of data collection included in-depth interviews with 4 students and 3 lecturers which reported transitions in behaviour, perception and expectation to actively learn in the refurbished and other learning spaces. Bioecological theory formed a framework for better understanding student transition in relation to strategy and physical/conceptual infrastructure as nested systems of influence. Transitional learning spaces within and at the fringe of classrooms are of increasing importance and might be imagined as ecotones to better understand and support blended learning in an increasingly complex post-COVID HE ecosystem.Open Acces

Participatory learning: Measuring learning and educational technology acceptance

Participatory Learning (PL) integrates several learning approaches, engaging students throughout the entire assignment process for both online and face-to-face courses. Beyond simply providing a solution, students also craft a problem (problem-based learning), grade each other (peer assessment and feedback), evaluate themselves (self-assessment), and can view others’ work (learning by example). This dissertation research explores the resulting learning effects. Contributions to both educational and Information Systems research include extending an early PL model and experiments that applied the PL approach to examinations, by validating and testing new constructs based on user activity and critical thinking. In addition, the study explores a microlearning condition. The study found that the majority of the students enjoyed being part of the PL approach for assignments while also perceiving learning benefits. Students reported learning from crafting problems, solving problems, grading and reading others’ work. The extended PL model was tested and partially validated using Partial Least Squares path modeling and analysis. Recommendations for future work include improving the PL support website and the study protocol. PL has the potential to change the way students engage with their peers and assignments, thereby improving their critical thinking across many disciplines at the university level