Video-supported collaborative learning: A literature review towards the identification of sound pedagogical models for conceptual thinking and professional development

Although for many people video is proven to be central both in private and professional life as a means to communicate, to entertain, and to learn, when it comes to this last function the available and established pedagogical models refer more easily to individual than to collaborative instructional strategies. In order to fill this gap, we conducted a structured literature review to scan how video technologies have been used to support collaborative learning in order to facilitate professional development, as well as which models of collaboration have been successfully established. 474 contributions have been screened, 100 of which were finally included in a detailed review. Results highlight 5 different ways of using video for supporting collaborative learning, as well as 13 underlying pedagogical approaches, the combination of which will give directions for building practice-oriented design principle on the effective implementation of video-supported collaborative learning.Erasmus + - Knowledge Alliance

Data sharing practices and data availability upon request differ across scientific disciplines

Data sharing is one of the cornerstones of modern science that enables large-scale analyses and reproducibility. We evaluated data availability in research articles across nine disciplines in Nature and Science magazines and recorded corresponding authors' concerns, requests and reasons for declining data sharing. Although data sharing has improved in the last decade and particularly in recent years, data availability and willingness to share data still differ greatly among disciplines. We observed that statements of data availability upon (reasonable) request are inefficient and should not be allowed by journals. To improve data sharing at the time of manuscript acceptance, researchers should be better motivated to release their data with real benefits such as recognition, or bonus points in grant and job applications. We recommend that data management costs should be covered by funding agencies; publicly available research data ought to be included in the evaluation of applications; and surveillance of data sharing should be enforced by both academic publishers and funders. These cross-discipline survey data are available from the plutoF repository.Peer reviewe

Towards measuring teachers' general pedagogical knowledge - A mixed method investigation of a pilot test

This paper aims to investigate a test instrument measuring teachers' general pedagogical knowledge. Pre-service teachers, in-service teachers, and teacher educators from Estonia participated in a pilot study (N = 393). Item response theory analysis showed that the items fit to a unidimensional instrument assumption. Three levels of difficulty were identified: questions based on a situation description (easiest), questions connecting situations with theoretical concepts (moderate), and questions requiring theoretical knowledge (difficult). When comparing the sample groups, pre-service teachers struggled with topics that had not been part of their curriculum yet. Interestingly, in-service teachers had more difficulty with questions requiring specific theoretical knowledge while teacher educators struggled more with practical situations in a school context. An overall suggestion for future research is to review the conceptual framework in terms of linking theory and practice to connect rather than to distinguish these characteristics of teachers' general pedagogical knowledge. The results of the study also contribute to further improvement of the instrument

Performance-Based Competency Requirements for Student Teachers and How to Assess Them

This paper reports a validation study of the performance-based competency requirements model for initial teacher education. An assessment rubric of student teachers’ performance-based competency requirements was developed in collaboration between Dutch and Estonian researchers and teacher educators. For the validation of the rubric a Delphi study was carried out. Teacher education experts (five in the Netherlands and 11 in Estonia) were asked to assess and comment on the model. This resulted, per context, in a high degree of consensus and support for the assessment rubric, involving five professional roles, 12 (Estonia) / 11 (The Netherlands) professional activities and five (Estonia) / four (The Netherlands) performance levels for each activity. Furthermore, the experts provide suggestions for assessment forms and required evidence (e.g., lesson plan, lesson observation and test including correction sheets) for the assessment of the professional activities The contribution of this study is an identified and formulated set of roles, professional activities and performance levels that can serve as an assessment rubric for performance-based teacher education. The next step is to implement the rubric and associated assessment forms in an electronic portfolio-system aimed at assessing and guiding student teachers’ professional development

The Video supported collaborative learning knowledge alliance Erasmus+ (EU)-project.

YouTube, Vlogging, SnapChat, Skype, smartphones and video in WhatsApp etc. is what youth and adults use in their daily and working life to communicate. We are visual thinkers, observational learners and thus social learners (Bruner, 1961), so using visuals in education has many benefits. However, most teachers do not know how to use videos systematically in teaching (OECD, 2017). Europe-wide, there is a need for competent teachers in utilizing e-learning with leading digital collaboration solutions. The same holds true for pedagogical knowledge of designers in educational technology companies. The potential of video-supported learning has not been opened in teacher education (Hobbs, 2006). Education and companies alike lack pedagogical models and structures to promote learning from and with videos (Krauskopf, Zahn, Hesse, & Pea, 2014) Video-based e-learning in particular is one of the most emphasized 21st century teaching-and-learning approaches. Showing a video is not enough (Van Gog, Verveer, & Verveer, 2014). However, most teachers do not use video tools in a way that contributes to developing conceptual thinking and problem solving skills as relevant work-life competences of the knowledge worker (Bereiter, 2002). The modernization of European Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) calls for a workable pedagogy and skilled teachers to take on the up-to-date video-supported collaboration solutions for creative teamwork in online environments. In this contribution we want to explain the ViSuAl-project, which tries to address the previous challenges. In particular, after introducing the project and its reference framework, we will present the first ViSuAl milestone: a state of the art review on video use and collaborative learning.Erasmus + - Knowledge Alliance

Video-supported collaborative learning: insights in the state of the art in everyday educational practice within the visual-project experiments

Most teachers do not use video tools in a way that contributes to developing conceptual thinking and problem solving skills as relevant work-life competences of the knowledge worker. Europe-wide, there is a need for e-competent teachers in utilizing e-learning with leading digital collaborative solutions. The same holds for pedagogical knowledge of designers in educational technology companies. Video based e-learning and knowledge building are critical 21st century approaches; the modernization of European higher education institutions calls for a workable pedagogy and skilled teachers to take on the up-to-date video supported collaborative solutions for creative teamwork in online environments. Video-Supported Education Alliance (VISUAL) is an Alliance of 6 HEIs-Teacher Education (HEIs-TE) and 6 Educational Technology Designers (ETDs) co-creating an evidence-based pedagogical model for Video-Supported Collaborative Learning. The developed solution enhances students’ critical thinking and problem solving skills that are important for navigating the increasingly turbulent, knowledge-intensive and entrepreneurial work-life scenarios. The model bridges school and practice, which is important for vocational education and training (VET) and teacher-educators (TE). Furthermore, it will encourage video content creation and sharing as a rising work-life competence. The models will be used and taught in teachers education (TE) so that teacher-students become familiar with Video Supported Collaborative Learning as an educational tool. This paper summarizes the results of a cycle of experiments lead by the VISUAL partners from autumn 2018 until spring 2019. The second cycle experiments are being conducted in the VISUAL project from autumn 2018 until spring 2020

Anticancer, antifungal and antibacterial potential of bis(β-ketoiminato)ruthenium(II) carbonyl complexes

Herein we report a library of new ruthenium(II) complexes which incorporate a range of functionalised β-ketoiminate ligands. The complexes undergo an unusual reduction from Ru(III) to Ru(II), and consequently incorporate carbonyl ligands from the 2-ethoxyethanol solvent, forming ruthenium(II) dicarbonyl complexes. In order to address the potential applications of these complexes, we have screened the library against a range of tumour cell lines, however, all compounds exhibit low cellular activity and this is tentatively assigned to the decomposition of the compounds in aqueous media. Studies to establish the antifungal and antibacterial potential of these complexes was addressed and show increased growth inhibitions for C. neoformans and S. aureus species