Telling Reflections: Teaching Sustainably in a Complex Learning Environment

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debbie Prescott
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Learning Design ◽  
Contextual Cues ◽  
Online Delivery ◽  
Regional University ◽  
Assessment Tasks ◽  
Environmentally Responsive ◽  
Diverse Student ◽  
Student Cohorts

AbstractThis article examines learning design in a postgraduate preservice teacher setting. The overarching aim was to embed environmentally responsive approaches throughout two companion units for diverse student cohorts. This article reports on a teacher educator self-study in a regional university with extensive online delivery for large units (300–800 students) in a 1-year course. The author examines how assessment tasks in literacy- and numeracy-oriented units are designed to meaningfully integrate environmental sustainability using contextual cues, collaborative learning, complex tasks, and reflexivity. The author argues for the use of these four key guidelines of environmentally responsive pedagogies alongside environmental education programs to emphasise messages of sustainability even in units that are not traditionally environmentally oriented. Challenges include problematising the nature of effective teaching and dealing with the complexities of purposeful learning. Innovative unit learning design alone, however, is inadequate if the surrounding systems are fragmented and seen as separate to learning about sustainability.

Teaching Engineers Materials Selection via the Internet: The Issue of Diverse Student Backgrounds

2000 ◽  
Vol 632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y.Q. Sun ◽  
J. Economy
Keyword(s):  
Materials Science ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Internet Communication ◽  
Student Body ◽  
Online Delivery ◽  
Diverse Student Body ◽  
Diverse Student ◽  
Materials Science And Engineering

ABSTRACTThe recent advances in the internet communication technologies have provided convenient access to education for time-restricted and place-bound students. This article discusses the opportunities and implications for materials science and engineering educators to reach out, via online courses, to students engaged in a broad range of engineering disciplines. Based on observations in the design and online delivery of a course on the selection of materials, we shall examine in particular the issue of diverse student backgrounds and interests and discuss the benefits and problems of teaching a diverse student body.

scholarly journals Engaging diverse student audiences in contemporary blended learning environments in Australian higher business education: Implications for Design and Practice

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graeme Pye ◽  
Dale Holt ◽  
Scott Salzman ◽  
Emilia Bellucci ◽  
Luisa Lombardi
Keyword(s):  
Student Engagement ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Learning Design ◽  
Complex Environments ◽  
Teaching Online ◽  
Business Context ◽  
Diverse Student ◽  
Design And Practice ◽  
Education Business

This research reports on a student audience engaging in an Australian university’s undergraduate commerce program core unit that is offered across three separate geographic campus locations and online. The research extends upon work undertaken on student engagement in online settings and lies in the domain of blended learning design and practice in the Australian higher education business context. Findings, inter alia, are presented across six major student engagement dimensions as applied to the interplay between online and located/campus learning (i.e. Online Active Learning, Online Social Interaction, Online Collaboration, Online Teaching, Online Assessment, and Online Contact with Staff). Implications for blended learning design, eLearning and practice in such complex environments are examined.

Tackling Diversity and Promoting Inclusivity

2019 ◽  
pp. 13-33
Author(s):  
Josh McCarthy
Keyword(s):  
Flipped Classroom ◽  
First Year ◽  
Teaching Experiences ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Diverse Student ◽  
Student Cohorts ◽  
Insight Into

This chapter evaluates a flipped classroom model for teaching culturally and disciplinary diverse student cohorts, and analyzes the benefits and limitations of such a format when compared to traditional techniques. From 2015 to 2017, 388 first year students took part in the case study. Within three iterations of the same course, flipped and traditional tutorials were utilized. Participating students and staff evaluated the tutorial models, providing insight into both learning and teaching experiences. The findings of the study disseminate the benefits afforded by each model and provide insight into the varying attitudes of different demographics within contemporary student cohorts at university.

scholarly journals Embedding and Sustaining Equitable Practices in Teachers’ Everyday Work: A Framework for Critical Action

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann E. Lopez
Keyword(s):  
Critical Pedagogy ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Educational Achievement ◽  
Classroom Teacher ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Diverse Students ◽  
Distinctive Features ◽  
Diverse Student ◽  
Critical Action ◽  
Poor Children

Diverse student populations are now one of the distinctive features of schools in North America. This changing demographic reality in schools places equity education that includes the lived experiences of diverse students at the centre of the teaching and learning process. However, research continues to show that despite the efforts and good work of teachers, huge gaps persist in the educational achievement and outcomes of Aboriginal students, students of colour, and poor children. Based on research conducted with teachers in Southern Ontario, Canada, grounded in critical pedagogy and culturally relevant teaching, this article examines the complexities of equity education and ways to better serve the needs of diverse students. Drawing from the author’s experiences as a classroom teacher, administrator, and teacher educator, the article posits a framework for critical action on ways that teachers can embed equitable practices in their teaching.

scholarly journals Enhancing students’ employability skills and experiential learning through integration of Xero software

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Greg Jones ◽  
Hazel Jones ◽  
Dom Pensiero ◽  
Claire Beattie
Keyword(s):  
Student Outcomes ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Employability Skills ◽  
Knowledge And Skills ◽  
Regional University ◽  
Assessment Tasks ◽  
Accounting Unit ◽  
Teaching Team ◽  
Accounting Software ◽  
Enhanced Learning

Introducing XERO Accounting software into a core accounting unit can have many benefits for students, including improving their professional skills and enhancing their employability. However, it is important that students gain knowledge and skills in all aspects of the software as well as understanding the accounting processes that underlie the software’s operations. This paper presents an overview of implementation of Xero software, in a core accounting course, at a regional university in Australia. Student numbers ranged from 24-63 across the semesters studied. We highlight and discuss the processes adopted to appropriately scaffold students’ learning and assessment. We assess the effectiveness of the intervention by observing student engagement with specially developed videos and measuring student results in associated assessment tasks over three offerings of the course. The provision of a suite of learning opportunities, (training and use of excel and Xero accounting software) translated to improved student outcomes on the technologyrelated assessment items. Few students who viewed the learning videos contacted the course teaching team for further assistance, suggesting the videos were an effective resource that provided enhanced learning opportunities for students. These findings provide advice and information regarding the issues associated with integrating accounting software for other teaching teams or institutions considering similar applications in their courses or programs.

scholarly journals Introduction to the Special Section on High Stakes Online Learning Design Cases

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-146
Author(s):  
Tonia A. Dousay
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Continuing Education ◽  
Special Section ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Learning Design ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Design Constraint ◽  
Online Delivery ◽  
Legal Information

What do medical professionals, local government officials, and preservice teachers have in common? These learners often have regulated initial and continuing education requirements that require special considerations. For some, the content of the learning experience must include specific regulatory and legal information. For others, the content may be particularly sensitive, requiring a delicacy with respect to content presentation not often encountered in other learning designs. Learning designed for these audiences represent high stakes contexts that involve high risk if executed poorly and/or hold inherently high value for the learners. Misleading or misrepresented information can result in legal ramifications for and to these designers and their learners. Complicating the high stakes design constraint, these designers often find themselves designing their learning for online delivery.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document