190 research outputs found
Studentsâ Intentions to Use Wikis in Higher Education
Although wikis have gained considerable attention in higher education, students are often reluctant to use wikis in formal learning processes. Unlike company employees, students are not often rewarded for their participation in wiki-based assignments. Therefore, students seem to be opportunistic and decide to adopt wikis if they fit their current situation and preferences. This paper adapts the Decomposed Theory of Planned Behaviour to examine the situation in higher education classrooms. To better understand studentsâ decision to use wikis, we introduced an intrinsic and extrinsic motivation construct. A survey was conducted with 133 first semester students to test the proposed model. The results provide support for the importance of an intrinsic and extrinsic motivation construct to explain influence on studentsâ wiki use
Wikis in higher education
For many years universities communicated generic graduate attributes (e.g. global citizenship) their students have acquired after studying. Graduate attributes are skills and competencies that are relevant for both employability and other aspects of life (Barrie, 2004). Over the past years and due to the Bologna Process, the focus on competencies has also found its way into universities' curricula. As a consequence, curricula were adapted in order to convey students both in-depth knowledge of a particular area as well as generic competences (Bologna Working Group on Qualifications Framework, 2005, Appendix 8). For example, students with a Master's degree should be able to âcommunicate their conclusions, and the knowledge and rationale underpinning these, to specialist and non-specialist audiences clearly and unambiguouslyâ (p. 196). This shift has been supported by the demand of the labour market for students that have achieved social and personal competencies, in addition to in-depth knowledge (Heidenreich, 2011).
On course level, this placed emphasis on collaborative learning, which had led to âgreater autonomy for the learner, but also to greater emphasis on active learning, with creation, communication and participationâ (Downes, 2005). The shift to collaborative learning has been supported by existing learning theories and models (Brown et al., 1989; Lave and Wenger, 1991; Vygotsky, 1978), which could explain the educational advantages. For example, collaborative learning has proved to promote critical thinking and communications skills (Johnson and Johnson, 1994; Laal and Ghodsi, 2012). As Haythornthwaite (2006) advocates: âcollaborative learning holds the promise of active construction of knowledge, enhanced problem articulation, and benefits exploring and sharing information and knowledge gained from peer-to-peer communicationâ (p. 10). The term collaboration defies clear definition (Dillenbourg, 1999). In this article, cooperation is seen as the division of labour in tasks, which allows group members to work independently, whereas collaboration needs continuous synchronisation and coordination of labour (Dillenbourg et al., 1996; Haythornthwaite, 2006). Therefore, cooperation allows students to subdivide task assignments, work relatively independent, and to piece the results together to one final product. In contrast, collaboration is seen as a synchronous and coordinated effort of all students to accomplish their task assignment resulting in a final product where âno single hand is visibleâ (Haythornthwaite, 2006, p. 12).
Due to the debate about digital natives (Prensky, 2001) and âstudents' heavy use of technologyâ in private life (Luo, 2010, p. 32), teachers have started to explore possible applications of modern technology in teaching and learning. Especially wikis have become popular and gained reasonable attention in higher education. Wikis have been used to support collaborative learning (e.g. Cress and Kimmerle, 2008), collaborative writing (e.g. Naismith et al., 2011), and student engagement (e.g. Neumann and Hood, 2009). A wiki is a âfreely expandable collection of interlinked Web âpagesâ, a hypertext system for storing and modifying information - a database, where each page is easily editable by any userâ (Leuf and Cunningham, 2001, p. 14; italics in original). Thereby, wikis enable the collaborative construction of knowledge (Alexander, 2006).
With the intention to take advantage of the benefits connected with collaborative learning, this doctoral thesis focuses on the facilitation of collaboration in wikis to leverage collaborative learning.
The doctoral thesis was founded on a constructivist understanding of reality. The research is associated with three different research areas: adoption of IT, computer-supported collaborative learning, and learning analytics. After reviewing existing literature, three focal points were identified that correspond to the research gaps in these research areas: factors influencing students' use of wikis, assessment of collaborative learning, and monitoring of collaboration. The aims of this doctoral thesis were (1) to investigate students' intentions to adopt and barriers to use wikis in higher education, (2) to develop and evaluate a method for assessing computer-supported collaborative learning, and (3) to map educational objectives onto learning-related data in order to establish indicators for collaboration. Based on the research aims, four studies were carried out. Each study raised unique research questions that has been addressed by different methods. Thereby, this doctoral thesis presents findings covering the complete process of the use of wikis to support collaboration and thus provides a holistic view on the use of wikis in higher education.:Introduction
Theoretical foundation
Research areas and focal points
Research aims and questions
Methods
Findings
Conclusions
References
Essay 1: Factors influencing wiki collaboration in higher education
Essay 2: Students' intentions to use wikis in higher education
Essay 3: Facilitating collaboration in wikis
Essay 4: Using fsQCA to identify indicators for wiki collaboratio
How do farmers research and learn? The example of organic farmersâ experiments and innovations: A research concept
Experimenting, adapting and innovating are central features of farmersâ activities all over the world. Farmers hold valuable knowledge about their environment, they actively do experiments, and have their own research traditions. The development of organic farming systems is continually evolving through the experiments and innovations of organic farmers. So far, there has been little attempt to study the nature, characteristics, and factors associated with the experimental processes of farmers in a systematic, comprehensive way. A current research project investigates learning processes of organic farmers in Austria, Cuba and Israel through researching the multifaceted experiments they conduct and the innovations they obtain as possible results. This paper presents the research concept of the project
Implementing the "Wiki Way" in a course in higher education
Self-organised collaborative wiki work is reality in todayâs businesses and students have to be prepared for the resulting requirements. Therefore, the aim of our paper is to demonstrate and to evaluate a way to practice self-organised and loosely coordinated wiki work in higher education. We simulate a common enterprise 2.0 collaboration situation to convey competences in a graduate-level classroom and identify challenges in this context following action research principles. We conclude with a series of insights that help higher education teachers to overcome organisational barriers and provide technical requirements for wiki software engineering
Using a dual plasma process to produce cobalt--polypyrrole catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction in fuel cells -- part II: analysing the chemical structure of the films
The chemical structure of cobalt--polypyrrole -- produced by a dual plasma
process -- is analysed by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), near
edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy (NEXAFS), X-ray diffraction (XRD),
energy-dispersive X-Ray spectroscopy (EDX) and extended x-ray absorption
spectroscopy (EXAFS).It is shown that only nanoparticles of a size of 3\,nm
with the low temperature crystal structure of cobalt are present within the
compound. Besides that, cobalt--nitrogen and carbon--oxygen structures are
observed. Furthermore, more and more cobalt--nitrogen structures are produced
when increasing the magnetron power. Linking the information on the chemical
structure to the results about the catalytic activity of the films -- which are
presented in part I of this contribution -- it is concluded that the
cobalt--nitrogen structures are the probable catalytically active sites. The
cobalt--nitrogen bond length is calculated as 2.09\,\AA\ and the
carbon--nitrogen bond length as 1.38\,\AA
Experimente von BiobĂ€uerinnen und Biobauern in Ăsterreich
Farmersâ experiments can be defined as the activity of trying or introducing something totally or partially new at the farm, including evaluation of the success or failure. In this research, topics, motives, methods and evaluation strategies of farmersâ experiments are investigated. Personal interviews were conducted with 73 organic farmers (47 semi-structured interviews, 26 structured questionnaire interviews). Organic farmers in Austria were found to experiment in a broad range of topics. To evaluate the experiments, all farmers conducted observation, and most of them also comparisons. Farmers experiment to find own creative solutions for their specific conditions and emerging problems. It is advisable to support farmers in their experimentation activities, provide room for experimentation within regulatory frameworks and to make active use of the outcomes of farmersâ experiments for the development of local agricultural systems
BĂ€uerliche Experimente in Ăsterreich â Beurteilung von Video als möglicher Auslöser der ExperimentiertĂ€tigkeit von BiobĂ€uerinnen und Biobauern
Farmersâ experiments are an integral element of agricultural practice, contribute to the development of local knowledge and form the precondition for local innovations. This study addresses organic farmersâ experiments in Austria, and specifically video as tool for capturing and sharing lessons learned from farmersâ experimentation, as well as the potential of video to trigger farmersâ experiments. For 85 % of the surveyed organic farmers (n=34) farmersâ experiments were considered to have high relevance in the course of their farming activities. The elaborated videos stimulated 71 % of the farmers to conduct experiments. The videos were successfully applicable in adult and student agricultural education. After watching them, 12 of 16 students (75 %) came up with ideas for experiments they would like to try at their parentsâ farms
BĂ€uerliche Experimente in Kuba und ihre Bedeutung fĂŒr eine nachhaltige Landwirtschaft
This paper aims to examine farmersâ perception on the contribution of farmersâ experiments to sustainable agriculture. Field research was conducted in Cuba and comprised semi-structured interviews with 72 farmers. Most Cuban farmers experimented with locally available resources. According to the farmersâ perception, resources, topics and methods were ecologically compatible and involved little risks. Through experimenting the respondents felt, that they increased the production and the degree of self-sufficiency. Farmers ensured that experiments contributed to improve the local farming system and thereby supported the sustainable development of agriculture
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