Preparing future graduates to become lifelong, expert learners: lessons and considerations from a blended engineering mathematics unit

We present an investigation of the uptake of opportunities for learning provided by a specific component (pre-lecture videos) of a blended learning model. The model, presented in previous work of the authors, was implemented to improve students’ content and learning expertise in a foundation engineering mathematics subject. The ultimate goal of the model was to support future graduates becoming lifelong expert learners, facilitating their success in later studies in and after their degree. In particular, we investigated to what extent did the cohort take the opportunity to develop their expert learning skills as evidenced by pre-lecture video viewing, and what was the relationship between the identified behaviour and learners’ progression and achievement. We present findings based on an analysis of data sourced from the unit website and propose further questions for future research

Preparing future graduates to become lifelong, expert learners: Lessons and considerations from a blended learning engineering mathematics unit

We present an investigation of the uptake of opportunities for learning provided by a specific component (pre-lecture videos) of a blended learning model. The model, presented in previous work of the authors, was implemented to improve students’ content and learning expertise in a foundation engineering mathematics subject. The ultimate goal of the model was to support future graduates becoming lifelong expert learners, facilitating their success in later studies in and after their degree. In particular, we investigated to what extent did the cohort take the opportunity to develop their expert learning skills as evidenced by pre-lecture video viewing, and what was the relationship between the identified behaviour and learners’ progression and achievement. We present findings based on an analysis of data sourced from the unit website and propose further questions for future research

Enhancing students' learning through a blended learning cycle for engineering mathematics

BACKGROUND This study responds to the need for developing effective teaching methods helping students with the acquisition of specific STEM skills (West, 2012, 2013). It applies principles of blended learning design (Saliba, et al. 2013), in the context of mathematics courses (Stevenson & Zweier, 2011; Calderon, et al., 2012; Carbonell, et al., 2013) with attention paid to the potential for use – affordances – (Gibson, 1977, 1979; Hartson, 2003; Good, 2007) of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) offered by e-learning environments (Kirschner, 2004; Kirschner et al., 2004). AIMS The overall goal of the study was to improve student engagement and satisfaction, by re-designing a 1st year engineering mathematics unit. Specific objectives included: (1) investigating ways of effectively using the online tool WeBWorK for mathematics competence diagnostics, (2) improving the delivery of face-to-face (f2f) lectures and tutorials by designing, developing and implementing activities that explicitly link f2f delivery with online components, and (3) improving 1st year student engagement by developing a model of close collaboration between the teaching team and student success and learning support programs. DESCRIPTION OF INTERVENTION Inspired by recent changes to the University’s learning and teaching vision, the authors anchored the unit’s re-design process in the blended learning methodology (Saliba, G. et al, 2013). Its principles were used to systematically evaluate the delivery modes and learning and teaching (L&T) methodologies of the unit, define areas for improvement, design and implement the changes and complete the first part of the study. More precisely, the changes included: (1) re-designing the unit’s online presence to be more efficient in providing students with a well-organized, structured L&T platform; (2) embedding online tools in the unit content; (3) designing and developing ‘challenge questions’ – activities making direct connection between theoretical content of the lecture with its practical applications during the f2f, small-group workshops, and (4) coordinating the actions of institutional learning support and student success programs to make the support visible to students. DESIGN AND METHODS The project used an action research approach to investigate the designed intervention’s effectiveness. A questionnaire composed of Likert-scale and open-ended questions was distributed at the end of semester to two cohorts of students (Summer 2013 and Semester 1 2014). Here we report on the data analysis focused on the students’ perception and the uptake of the potential for an action (affordances) offered by WeBWorK. The results allowed the designer and the teaching team to reflect on and re-think the ways the tools have been used in the unit, re-program the tool and implement the modified tool in Semester 2 2014. RESULTS Preliminary conclusion: The results of the data collected in phase 1 of the project indicated that students did not perceive full potential offered by the tool, therefore the possibility to enhance their engagement and satisfaction has not been entirely exploited. CONCLUSIONS Based on the data analysis, the authors formulated: (1) hypotheses for explaining the results and (2) possible improvements to be made in order to allow students to use more efficiently the potential offered by the tool. These will be discussed at the presentation along with the first observations made based on the implemented modifications

A blended learning model for first year science student engagement with mathematics and statistics

With the rapid decline of the enrolments in the conventional, campus-based courses, many higher education (HE) institutions around the world opt for provision of dual learning and teaching modes, most often offering fully online experiences in off-campus courses (distance education), and hybrid/ blended learning experiences in on-campus courses. This raises questions related to the quality of technology-enhanced learning (TEL) and teaching experiences (Laurillard, 2009; Kirkwood, 2014). TEL is maturing and entering a normalization phase, with modes such as blended learning expected to become the “new traditional model” or “the new normal” of course delivery mode (Porter et al., 2016) within one or two years (Johnson, Adams Becker, Estrada & Freeman, 2015). This normalisation shifts research paradigm from investigation of the ways the ICTs are used within educational settings to more focused analysis of pedagogical aspects impacting the design and implementation of the integrated ICTs. A rigorous, research-informed investigation is needed to scrutinise factors influencing effective integration of ICTs in the curricula, impact the integrated ICTs have on both teaching and learning, their effectiveness within current environment and the transferability/ adaptability of developed model(s) to other contexts (Kirkwood, 2014). This presentation reports on an informed inquiry investigating the effectiveness of the redesigned technology-enhanced learning and teaching environment in promoting student engagement in a compulsory quantitative methods unit for first year science undergraduates offered at a large, metropolitan university. A blended learning model was adopted including pre-lecture readings, didactic lectures, self-paced computer labs with demonstration videos, collaborative workshops, fortnightly online quizzes, and problem solving tasks based on realistic quantitative analysis. Teaching resources were highly structured and made available to students using Adaptive Release feature, a part of the University’s Blackboard Learning Management System. The Adaptive Release was introduced to foster students’ engagement and encourage students’ self-regulated learning, with focus on assisting students with resource development of management strategies. Quantitative data was collected through access logs on the Blackboard Learning Management System, social media activity within closed groups, an investigation of mathematical background at admission, workshop attendance and unit assessment results. The data analysis used statistical modelling which allowed researchers to demonstrate correlations between student’s preparedness level, engagement and success

Investigating the effectiveness of an ecological approach to learning design in a first year mathematics for engineering unit

This paper reports on the results of a project aimed at creating a research-informed, pedagogically reliable, technology-enhanced learning and teaching environment that would foster engagement with learning. A first-year mathematics for engineering unit offered at a large, metropolitan Australian university provides the context for this research. As part of the project, the unit was redesigned using a framework that employed flexible, modular, connected e-learning and teaching experiences. The researchers, interested in an ecological perspective on educational processes, grounded the redesign principles in probabilistic learning design (Kirschner et al., 2004). The effectiveness of the redesigned environment was assessed through the lens of the notion of affordance (Gibson, 1977,1979, Greeno, 1994, Good, 2007). A qualitative analysis of the questionnaire distributed to students at the end of the teaching period provided insight into factors impacting on the successful creation of an environment that encourages complex, multidimensional and multilayered interactions conducive to learning

Affordances of ICTs: an environmental study of a French language unit offered at university level

This project investigates the integration of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) into educational settings by closely looking at the uptake of the perceived affordances offered by ICTs by students enrolled in a French language course at Queensland University of Technology. This cross-disciplinary research uses the theoretical concepts of: Ecological Psychology (Gibson, 1979; Good, 2007; Reed, 1996); Ecological Linguistics (Greeno, 1994; Leather & van Dam, 2003; van Lier 2000, 2003, 2004a, 2004b); Design (Norman, 1988, 1999); Software Design/ Human-Computer Interaction (Hartson, 2003; McGrenere & Ho, 2000); Learning Design (Conole & Dyke, 2004a, 2004b; Laurillard et al. 2000;); Education (Kirschner, 2002; Salomon, 1993; Wijekumar et al., 2006) and Educational Psychology (Greeno, 1994). In order to investigate this subject, the following research questions, rooted in the theoretical foundations of the thesis, were formulated: (1) What are the learners’ attitudes towards the ICT tools used in the project?; (2) What are the affordances offered by ICTs used in a specific French language course at university level from the perspective of the teacher and from the perspective of language learners?; (3) What affordances offered by ICT tools used by the teacher within the specific teaching and learning environment have been taken up by learners?; and (4) What factors influence the uptake by learners of the affordances created by ICT tools used by the teacher within the specific teaching and learning environment? The teaching phase of this project, conducted between 2006 and 2008, used Action Research procedures (Hopkins, 2002; McNiff & Whitehead, 2002; van Lier 1994) as a research framework. The data were collected using the following combination of qualitative and quantitative methods: (1) questionnaires administered to students (Hopkins, 2002; McNiff & Whitehead, 2002) using Likert-scale questions, open questions, yes/no questions; (2) partnership classroom observations of research participants conducted by Research Participant Advocates (Hopkins, 2002; McNiff & Whitehead, 2002); and (3) a focus group with volunteering students who participated in the unit (semi-structured interview) (Hopkins, 2002; McNiff & Whitehead, 2002). The data analysis confirms the importance of a careful examination of the teaching and learning environment and reveals differences in the ways in which the opportunities for an action offered by the ICTs were perceived by teacher and students, which impacted on the uptake of affordances. The author applied the model of affordance, as described by Good (2007), to explain these differences and to investigate their consequences. In conclusion, the teacher-researcher considers that the discrepancies in perceiving the affordances result from the disparities between the frames of reference and the functional contexts of the teacher-researcher and students. Based on the results of the data analysis, a series of recommendations is formulated supporting calls for careful analysis of frames of reference and the functional contexts of all participants in the learning and teaching process. The author also suggests a modified model of affordance, outlining the important characteristics of its constituents

An analysis of learning networks of STEM undergraduate students to promote active learning

This thesis addresses educational design issues related to the value of networked learning practices and the understanding of learning activities within an ecological framework. It responds to the need to make it possible for first-year university students to become autonomous lifelong learners, capable of tackling complex problems. High-level goals of this kind require course, curriculum and learning environment redesign. Major contributions reveal how wide the gulf is between a number of aspects of existing practice and the intention to help students become autonomous learners, and how a well-theorised analysis of current learning arrangements can provide vital information for educational (re)design