Enhancing learning opportunities in higher education: best practices that reflect on the themes of the National Student Survey, UK

This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Emerald in Quality Assurance in Education on 16/08/2021, available online at: https://doi.org/10.1108/QAE-01-2021-0004 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.Purpose: This study assessed 'Learning Opportunities' provided to the undergraduate students, from level three to six, in Higher Education (HE). A knowledge gap was identified within the current practice relating to learning opportunities for Built Environment (BE) students in HE. The study focused on the themes under section two of the National Student Survey (NSS): how students explore ideas or concepts in-depth, bring information and ideas together from different topics, and apply the learned content in a real-life context. The study aimed to provide recommendations for enhancing 'Learning Opportunities' to the BE students within HE. Methodology: Data collection focused on section two of NSS ‘Learning Opportunities’ and documentary analysis, and a qualitative survey was adopted for this study. A documental analysis of 334 Mid Module Reviews (MMR’s) was carried out. The qualitative data was collected from level three to level six students and academics from Architecture, Construction Management, Civil Engineering and Quantity Surveying disciplines representing BE context. A sample of 40 students and 15 academics, including a Head of school, a Principal lecturer, Subject leads and lecturers, participated in interviews as part of a qualitative survey. Twelve drivers were developed using the data obtained through literature, documental analysis, and interviews. These drivers were analysed using manual content analysis to identify their influence on the specified themes under NSS section two and circulated among academics to be ranked by identifying its’ influence to promote learning opportunities to BE students in HE. Findings: This study highlighted twelve drivers which promote learning opportunities in HE within BE curriculum. Findings established that topics should be explained with more real-life or industry-orientated concepts such as simplification integrated into module delivery. Contrary to the literature, the use of physical materials (i.e. handouts and whiteboard) in addition to Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) for detailed explanations were considered effective in exploring concepts. During the current COVID-19 pandemic, context-based learning needs to be promoted by integrating videos of practical implementation for better understanding. The study recognised that lab, fieldwork and tutorials were essential to apply what students have learned in BE curricula to a real-life context. Originality/Value: This study identified current learning approaches and provided recommendations to improve the BE students learning experience in HE. The identified twelve drivers would significantly help academics and academic institutions to understand how learning opportunities should be facilitated in the BE curriculum to enhance student performances in HE. Conclusion: Study identified twelve drivers that significantly contribute towards enhancing learning opportunities for BE students in the current HE context. It concludes that certain drivers should be prioritised in enhancing learning opportunities provided in BE curriculum. The study recommends that using traditional and VLE is essential to implement identified drivers and enhance the learning opportunities provided

Scientometric analysis of global scientific literature on aging in place

© 2021 The Authors. Published by MDPI. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182312468The amount of literature reporting “aging-in-place” studies has increased sharply in recent decades. However, the studies have taken a global view of the range and scope of the research that has taken place. This study presents a bibliometric analysis of the current status of the aging in place research themes published as scientific articles between 1970 and 2021, using the Web of Science database. VOSviewer software was employed to map and visualize the 1331 items of bibliographic data retrieved. The findings reveal a continuous growing trend in the publication of aging in place research. Most productive institutions derive from the USA. The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is the most preferred Journal. The most popular research hotspots or areas include; older adults, aging, housing, dementia, long-term care, and technology, and their associations with the field of “aging in place” field were elucidated. This study offers several valuable insights to scholars, research institutions, and policymakers, enabling a better understanding of the developments in the aging in place research domain

A scientometric analysis of global scientific literature on learning resources in higher education

There is a significant increase in the literature on learning resources in Higher Education (HE) but very limited evidence of studies that have taken a global overview of the context, range, and emerging trends from the previous research. This study aims to conduct a Scientometric analysis of research articles to accommodate a global overview and research trends under the theme of learning resources in HE. 4489 scientific articles were obtained as the dataset from the Web Of Science database between 1970 and 2022. Network maps and critical data were obtained by conducting co-authorship analysis for authors, organisations and countries and co-occurrence analysis for keywords from the VOSviewer software. The study revealed that the USA had a significant research input, and Salamin, N. from the University of Lausanne was recognised as the most frequently published author. The University of Illinois, USA, has the highest contribution to research articles, and the most popular research hotspots and trends were e-learning, Education, Academic libraries, Learning resources, and Cloud computing. However, the most critical finding from the study is that there needs to be real collaboration within the research theme and suggests ways to improve collaborations to enhance learning resources in HE. This study may be the first to conduct a scientometric analysis of Learning Resources in Higher education. This study offers valuable insight to academics, academic institutions, researchers, policymakers and pedagogical statutory bodies to understand the current context of learning resources in HE and recognise further develop research, collaborations and policies by considering critical findings from the study