Modelling factors for predicting student learning outcomes in higher education

This paper presents a heuristic model of student leaning as a means to understanding the scope of factors to be considered in making predictions about student learning. It is underpinned by a review of a wide body of literature. The model is drawn from Price and Richardson’s 4P model (2004) that considered factors in improving student learning and argues that the same issues apply to predicting student learning outcomes. It builds upon existing research into learning and teaching. It is an articulation and an extension of Dunkin and Biddle’s (1974) model, the Biggs (1985) original Presage-Process-Product model and research by Prosser and Trigwell (1999). The model has four main groups of factors: presage, perceptions, process and product. The presage group contains personological and situational factors such as context. Perceptions include how students conceive learning, how teachers conceive teaching, and the context. The process group of factors incorporates approaches to learning in students and teachers approaches to teaching. The model is presented as a basis for engaging in future research in a holistic manner that may bear further fruit in predicting student learning

Adaptation for a Changing Environment: Developing learning and teaching with information and communication technologies

This article examines the relationship between the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) and learning and teaching, particularly in distance education contexts. We argue that environmental changes (societal, educational and technological) make it necessary to adapt systems and practices that are no longer appropriate. However, the need to adapt can be perceived as being technology-led and primarily concerned with requiring academic staff to develop their skills in using ICT. We provide a critique of continuing professional development (CPD) for using ICT in teaching and learning that does not entail examining the impact of environmental changes upon the assumptions, goals and strategies which underlie and shape an organisation's educational practices. In particular, we oppose CPD that concentrates on the individual teacher and their use of ICT. Instead, we contend that professional development should focus upon the scholarship of teaching and learning and must also reflect the wider organisational context within which ICT is managed and used

Technology in the United Kingdom’s Higher Education Context

Frequently, university-wide strategic decisions about technology are made without fully understanding the implications for resources, administration, teaching programmes, teaching practices and learning approaches, often resulting in technology-led course designs. Yet evidence shows that it is not the technology per se that changes learning and teaching but the pedagogical advantage we make of its use. In parallel, professional development programmes have largely focused on how to use the technology, resulting in replication or supplement of existing teaching practices, as opposed to transforming learning. In particular, the lack of specific context and reflection in professional development programmes can lead to a poor understanding of how and why students use technology effectively in learning. This requires a rethink of how we support initiatives that use technology in learning and teaching. Professional development programmes need to focus not only on the individual teacher, but also on support staff, departmental, and senior managers, so that appropriate policies, supporting structures and resources are in place for effective technology use. This chapter critiques these issues in the context of higher education in the United Kingdom and examines the political drivers that have pushed for the use of information communication technology (ICT) in learning and teaching. It considers this in the context of the United Kingdom Open University and how this institution has addressed some of the issues highlighted. Finally, a framework for professional development to support ICT in learning and teaching is presented aimed at holistically improving the student learning experience. This framework incorporates not only individual staff but also faculty and institutional management

Using visual representations to improve instructional materials for distance education computing students

Understanding how to develop instructional materials for distance education students is a challenging problem, but it is exacerbated when a domain is complex to teach, such as computer science. Visual representations have a history of use in computing as a means to alleviate the difficulties of learning abstract concepts. However, it is not clear whether improvements observed are as a result of improvements in the visual representations used in instructional materials or due to individual differences in students. This research examines the two themes of individual differences and visual representation in order to investigate how they collectively impact on improving instructional materials for distance education students studying computer science. It investigates the impact of different representations on learning while additionally investigating the relationship between individual differences and student learning.The research in this thesis shows that visual representations are important in designing instructional materials. In particular, texts with visual representations have the power to cue students to perceive instructional materials as easier to process and more engaging.Investigation into the impact of concrete high-imagery versus abstract low-imagery visual representations illustrated that concrete visual representations incurred fewer cognitive overheads for computer science students and were able to ameliorate the challenges of learning computing.The research in this thesis into individual differences demonstrated that Imagers did benefit more from studying instructional materials containing text with visual components. However the research indicates that appropriate selection of individual difference tests is dependent upon the application, i.e., whether the results are to be used to assess generalised tendencies or episodes in learning and whether the tests examine underlying approaches to cognition or practices in education.An underlying question was whether students studying instructional materials containing low-imagery visual representations would cope as well as those studying high-imagery ones. Accomplished learners demonstrated that they could perform as well as with those receiving high-imagery visual representations. However, studying and recalling these materials did incur more cognitive processing.This thesis argues that improving instructional materials by including appropriate visual representations is a useful basis for improving learning for distance education computer science students

Promoting reflection in asynchronous virtual learning spaces: tertiary distance tutors' conceptions

Increasingly, universities are embedding reflective activities into the curriculum. With the growth in online tertiary education, how effectively is reflection being promoted or used in online learning spaces? Based on the notion that teachers’ beliefs will influence their approaches to teaching, this research sought to understand how a group of distance tutors at the UK Open University conceptualised reflection. It was hoped that these findings would illuminate their approaches to promoting reflection as part of their online pedagogies. Phenomenographic analysis indicated that these tutors conceptualised reflection in four qualitatively different ways. Furthermore, the data suggested that these educators held a combination of two conceptions: one that understood the origin of being reflective and one that understood the purpose of reflection. Analysis of structural aspects of these conceptions offered insight into tutors’ own perspectives for what is needed to make online learning environments fertile territory for reflective learning

The role of gender in students’ ratings of teaching quality in computer science and environmental engineering

Students’ ratings of teaching quality on course units in computer science and environmental engineering at a large Swedish university were obtained using the Course Experience Questionnaire; 8,888 sets of ratings were obtained from men and 4,280 sets were obtained from women over ten academic years. There were differences in the ratings given by students taking the two programs; in particular, teachers tended to receive higher ratings in subjects that were less typical for their gender than in subjects that were more typical for their gender. There were differences in the ratings given to male and female teachers, differences in the ratings given by male and female students, and interactions between these two effects. There was no systematic trend for students to give different ratings to teachers of the same gender as themselves compared with teachers of the other gender. Nevertheless, without exception even the statistically significant effects were small in magnitude and unlikely to be of theoretical or practical importance. It is concluded that the causes of differences in the career progression of male and female teachers in engineering education need to be sought elsewhere.   

Assessing HR Strategies for retaining an ageing workforce

An ageing workforce is an issue faced by governments and employers in most western countries (OECD 2005). The generally accepted definition of an aged worker is someone aged 45 years and over (Brooke 2003). At the level of the organisation, a range of HR strategies are recommended to deal with an ageing workforce, including attracting younger workers and retaining ageing workers for longer. Recruiting younger workers changes the demographic structure of the workforce, and is not the focus of this paper. Here we identify potential strategies derived from the literature that could be adopted to retain an existing ageing workforce. We then examine a public sector organisation with an ageing workforce, to assess which strategies have been adopted and to begin to assess how effective these strategies are. We find that the case study organisation adopts many of the HR strategies suggested in the literature, but our preliminary findings suggest that these policies are unlikely to have a positive effect on the retention of ageing workers unless the employees are actively encouraged to use the policies

Achieving Improved Quality and Validity: Reframing Research and Evaluation of Learning Technologies.

A critical reading of research literature relating to teaching and learning with technology for open, distance and blended education reveals a number of shortcomings in how investigations are conceptualised, conducted and reported. Projects often lack clarity about the nature of the enhancement that technology is intended to bring about. Frequently there is no explicit discussion of assumptions and beliefs that underpin research studies and the approaches used to investigate the educational impact of technologies. This presentation summarises a number of the weaknesses identified in published studies and considers the implications. Some ways in which these limitations could be avoided through a more rigorous approach to undertaking research and evaluation studies are then outlined and discussed

Progresser vers des politiques et des pratiques durables : un cadre à cinq niveaux pour un apprentissage en ligne durable

This paper addresses the issue of sustainability in online learning in higher education. It introduces and discusses a five-level framework for helping higher education institutions to make the transition from enterprise to sustainable policy and practice in online learning. In particular, it responds to evidence in the literature regarding the lack of sustainability in online learning in higher education. Influenced by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, this framework is characterized by three different clusters: basic needs, institutional motivation, and stakeholders’ motivations. It is presented hierarchically within five different levels. Examples are provided for each of the levels and suggestions are given to how institutions should respond to each level.Cet article traite de la question de la durabilité dans l’apprentissage en ligne pour l’éducation supérieure.Un cadre de travail à cinqniveauxy est introduit etfait l’objet d’une discussion. Ce cadre a pour but d’aider les établissements d’enseignement supérieur à faire la transition des initiatives complexes aux politiques et pratiques durables en matière d’apprentissage en ligne..Ce cadre répond notamment aux données probantes de la documentation concernant le manque de durabilité dans l’apprentissage en ligne pour l’éducation supérieure.Influencé par la hiérarchie des besoins de Maslow, le cadre se caractérise par trois grappes différentes: les besoins de base, la motivation de l’établissement et les motivations des intervenants.Il est présenté de façon hiérarchique, en cinq niveaux différents.Des exemples sont fournis pour chacun des niveaux, et des suggestions sont offertes sur la manière dont les établissements devraient réagir à chaque niveau.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio