Future Learning Spaces: Space, Technology and Pedagogy

Learning can and does happen anywhere. Sometimes that learning occurs in classrooms (formal learning), other times it results from face-to-face and virtual encounters and interactions between individuals away from lecture halls and seminar rooms (social or informal learning). Space – whether physical or virtual, individual or shared – can have an important impact on learning. It can bring people together; it can encourage exploration, collaboration and discussion; it can also frame an unspoken message of exclusion, disconnectedness and disengagement (Oblinger, 2006). Higher education institutions are growing increasingly aware of the power of “built pedagogy” (Monahan, 2002) – the ability of spaces to shape and define how educators teach their students – and with it an attitude underlining the orthodox view of higher education learning spaces that has tended to treat space and learning as two related but separate domains of academic life

Lessons learned from enabling large-scale assessment change: a collaborative autoethnographic study

The global pandemic prompted universities to rethink how assessment might be reconfigured to better support student learning across different modes of delivery resulting in unprecedented, large-scale, and rapid institutional change. Significantly, there has been a dearth of empirical studies examining the nuances of staff experiences of how they have managed and negotiated assessment change throughout the pandemic context. In this article we aim to bridge this gap. We are four colleagues at different UK higher education institutions who have all been involved in leading the sustained assessment response to the pandemic within our own organisations. We use collaborative autoethnography (CAE) to explore and analyse our approaches to enabling large-scale assessment change with the aim of locating sharable lessons for educational developers and others leading change efforts in higher education. We articulate key lessons generated from our collaborative exploration that we believe may be useful to other education developers and/or academic practitioners who seek to change the assessment landscape within a course, faculty, or institution. The lessons presented offer an alternative frame for managing future-facing assessment change in higher education that is sensitive to both the practice realities of practitioners and the impact subsequent change has on student learning and performance

The Risk of Obstructive Lung Disease by Previous Pulmonary Tuberculosis in a Country with Intermediate Burden of Tuberculosis

We evaluated the effects of previous pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) on the risk of obstructive lung disease. We analyzed population-based, the Second Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001. Participants underwent chest X-rays (CXR) and spirometry, and qualified radiologists interpreted the presence of TB lesion independently. A total of 3,687 underwent acceptable spirometry and CXR. Two hundreds and ninty four subjects had evidence of previous TB on CXR with no subjects having evidence of active disease. Evidence of previous TB on CXR were independently associated with airflow obstruction (adjusted odds ratios [OR] = 2.56 [95% CI 1.84-3.56]) after adjustment for sex, age and smoking history. Previous TB was still a risk factor (adjusted OR = 3.13 [95% CI 1.86-5.29]) with exclusion of ever smokers or subjects with advanced lesion on CXR. Among never-smokers, the proportion of subjects with previous TB on CXR increased as obstructive lung disease became more severe. Previous TB is an independent risk factor for obstructive lung disease, even if the lesion is minimal and TB can be an important cause of obstructive lung disease in never-smokers. Effort on prevention and control of TB is crucial in reduction of obstructive lung disease, especially in countries with more than intermediate burden of TB

Shifts in pedagogy and flexible assessment:Integrating digital technology with good teaching and learning practice

Universities across the globe have had to rethink how the significant resources devoted to learning, teaching, and assessment might be reconfigured to better support student learning across different modes of delivery. A focus on 'flexibility' in assessment arrangements supports the need to be responsive to the requirements of a changing and increasingly uncertain higher education landscape across Africa and elsewhere in the world. This chapter explores how professors and lecturers in higher education can deliver effective assessment processes that meet the demands of online and blended learning environments. Flexibility in assessment is about responding to students' individual learning needs as well as the needs of the curriculum. The key is making assessment relevant to the students. The proliferation of learning technologies and tools, coupled with the increasing diversification of student profiles and pathways through programmes, provides the context for developing flexible assessment. Here technology is a key enabler for personalised and active blended learning experiences. This chapter considers practical ideas and strategies for inclusive, authentic, and flexible assessment task design, delivering effective feedback, and ensuring quality and consistency within assessment processes-all of which are relevant in an era of COVID-19 pandemic disruptions in higher education.</p

Future Learning Spaces: Space, Technology and Pedagogy

Learning can and does happen anywhere. Sometimes that learning occurs in classrooms (formal learning), other times it results from face-to-face and virtual encounters and interactions between individuals away from lecture halls and seminar rooms (social or informal learning). Space – whether physical or virtual, individual or shared – can have an important impact on learning. It can bring people together; it can encourage exploration, collaboration and discussion; it can also frame an unspoken message of exclusion, disconnectedness and disengagement (Oblinger, 2006). Higher education institutions are growing increasingly aware of the power of “built pedagogy” (Monahan, 2002) – the ability of spaces to shape and define how educators teach their students – and with it an attitude underlining the orthodox view of higher education learning spaces that has tended to treat space and learning as two related but separate domains of academic life

Enhancing Learning through Formative Assessment and Feedback (2nd Edition)

Assessment is a critical aspect of higher education because it has a range of powerful impacts on what staff and students do and how universities operate. Underpinned by relevant theory and practical advice this fully updated new edition takes into account the changing expectation of students in the context of an increasingly complex and shifting higher education environment to promote the role of formative assessment and formative feedback and its impact on shaping the student learning experience. Presented through the lens of contemporary perspectives, empirical evidence, and case studies across a broad range of subject disciplines, this new edition aims to encourage teaching and support staff to focus on the promotion of student learning through designing and embedding high-impact formative assessment processes and activities. Key content covers: the theoretical and philosophical aspects of formative assessment and formative feedback; the learning environment in which students undertake their learning activities, helping teachers develop appropriate formative assessment and provide effective formative feedback; the impact of formative assessment and formative feedback activities have on learning, teaching, and assessment design, as well as on the academic workload of tutors; the contemporary issues and challenges currently driving research into formative assessment; the use of technology in formative assessment and how different tools and technologies allow for the provision of effective and efficient formative feedback; the benefits of understanding how students respond to formative assessment and formative feedback as an opportunity to review the effectiveness of the teaching and learning methods and techniques; the integral role of formative assessment and formative feedback plays in postgraduate research settings; and how innovations in formative assessment and feedback inform key developments in large-scale assessment change. Aimed at both experienced and early career practitioners in higher education, this text is ideal reading for educators who wish to see a movement away from a higher education system driven by summative assessment to one where a more holistic approach to education positions learning standards rather than measurement and grades as central to effective assessment and, crucially, to return to a focus on student learners

Building a living curriculum for STEAM: An international perspective

This paper contributes to developments in addressing the ongoing needs of engineering students in the area of human-centered and human-oriented technology innovation to promote debate on future-facing curriculum design in engineering education. We address these as part of the activities of The Hilali Network, a transnational collaboration which transcends geographic and conceptual borders to merge current reform in UK and Egyptian engineering education and local community-led digital preservation and protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). One aim of the collaboration is to identify educational methodologies and principles for remixing the design of engineering higher education alongside traditionally underexplored areas in STEAM, in this case cultural heritage. In this paper, we report on the design, implementation and evaluation of our activity which aimed at developing a STEAM-based Living Curriculum, drawing on established and the latest Higher Education and Human Computer Interaction (HCI) approaches coming from both the UK and Egyp