E-Learning in Higher Education: Reflection of the Term in Mind Maps

Author(s):  
Ivana Šimonová

Abstract The paper presents results of the survey monitoring individual concepts of e-learning of university students. The survey ran at the Faculty of Informatics and Management, University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic. The research sample consisted of 104 respondents who enrolled in the first year of bachelor study programme of Applied Informatics and master study programme of Information Management. In the first phase, students did not design their mind maps by themselves but the Khan’s model of e-learning was used. This model includes 17 terms which are structured in eight dimensions. In the first phase students worked with these terms and structured them into their own concept; adding other terms or omitting any of them was encouraged. In case of completely different concept, students might have designed their own mind maps. The results showed students’ concept of e-learning had not been completely built despite their field of study is Informatics, i.e. they are expected to have close relation to modern technologies in general, including the field of education.

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (19) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim Jesper Herrmann ◽  
Rie Troelsen ◽  
Anna Bager-Elsborg

De senere års uddannelsespolitiske initiativer har belønnet studerende, der er hurtige til at vælge en videregående uddannelse, og som holder fast i den uddannelse, de nu engang har valgt. At vælge uddannelse er imidlertid ledsaget af tvivl, og nyere dansk forskning har vist, at studerende vedvarende forhandler deres position på uddannelsen. I dette studie undersøgte vi, hvor stor en andel af aktive universitetsstuderende, der stadig var i tvivl om deres valg af studie, og vi undersøgte baggrunden for denne tvivl. På baggrund af en kvantitativ analyse af svar fra 4.339 studerende på Aarhus School of Business and Social Sciences, Aarhus Universitet, fandt vi, at en tredjedel af de studerende, selv efter optagelse på deres uddannelse, stadig var i tvivl om, hvorvidt de havde valgt det rigtige studie, og at dette gjaldt for førsteårsstuderende såvel som for studerende på femte år. Analysen viste yderligere, at studietvivl var mere udbredt blandt studerende, som havde (i) svært ved at se det interessante og relevante i fagene; (ii) lav tiltro til egne akademisk evner; (iii) opnået lave karakterer ved forudgående eksamener på universitetet. I artiklens perspektivering diskuterer vi, hvorvidt studietvivl må betragtes som et almindeligt og uproblematisk studie- og livsvilkår eller, om studietvivl må antages at være problematisk. Recent reforms of the Danish education system tend to favour those students who are quick to decide what higher education course they want to study and then stick to their decision. However, research has shown that the process of course selection and completion is not always linear and that students continuously negotiate their position in their study programme. In this study we examined how current university students experienced doubt about their choice of programme, and we examined the context surrounding this doubt. Based on a quantitative analysis of answers from 4339 students at the Aarhus School of Business and Social Sciences, we found that one third of students, even after enrolment in the university, had doubts about their choice of study programme. This was true for first-year students as well as students in their fifth year. Furthermore, the analysis showed that those students who (i) had difficulties finding interest and relevance in their study programme, (ii) had low confidence in their own academic abilities or (iii) had achieved low marks in previous exams at the university, were the most likely to be uncertain about their choice of course. We discuss whether having doubts about a chosen area of study once the programme has started can be considered a normal and unproblematic process in student development, or whether it should be considered problematic.


Author(s):  
M. Eggermont ◽  
T. Frieheit ◽  
F. Brennan

University of Calgary delivers a full-year “Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering Design Methodology and Application” course where students gain basic design methodology knowledge and associated skills through lectures and tutorials. The primary “vehicle” used for student experiential learning is a team-based, open-ended design project. The problem often encountered is that students fail to see “the forest for the trees”. More specifically, they often fail to see how the design process applies to their project and potentially miss the main message of the course. This paper proposes a short inquiry based learning exercise, augmented with web-based teaching modules, to more effectively prepare students for the “application” aspect of the course. Student teams will experience the full design methodology through a compressed “mini-project” at the beginning of the term, before they have any preconceived notions about the design process. Mind-mapping has been identified as the e-learning tool to organize this mini-project. A pilot project testing the use of mind-maps was conducted in a first year design course, exploring issues related to its implementation.


Author(s):  
Markus Kipp

E-learning has become an increasingly important part of higher education and is currently used both for distance education and as a complement to teaching on the campus. In this study, we investigated the acceptance of the e-learning platform (ELP) ClinicalKey Student (ELSEVIER©) among first-year medical students. Furthermore, we asked whether acceptance (i.e., digital activities) and user behavior changed during the COVID-19 lockdown. Two first-year medical student study cohorts were followed: one cohort during the COVID-19 lockdown and another cohort one year before the lockdown. Different parameters, such as online versus offline studying, daily activities or users versus nonusers, were recorded and evaluated. Additional surveys were conducted to understand why the students used the ELP. In the non-pandemic cohort, 68 out of 251 enrolled students registered in the ELP, while the number of registered students significantly increased during the COVID-19 lockdown (201 out of 255 enrolled 2nd semester students). The increase in registered users was paralleled by an increase in daily activities normalized per user and day. Despite this increase in ELP activities, the relative distribution of different user types (i.e., online versus offline users) did not change. To conclude, this study demonstrates that the COVID-19 lockdown increases the receptivity of medical students to an ELP, but the way the students work with the ELP remains unchanged.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1889 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karina Cicha ◽  
Mariia Rizun ◽  
Paulina Rutecka ◽  
Artur Strzelecki

The article deals with distance education, which as a teaching method had to be suddenly introduced in schools and higher education institutions as a result of the global pandemic situation. The paper captures the second wave of Poland’s pandemic situation in relation to global circumstances and the methods of conducting distance learning used across the globe. The purpose of this study was to investigate first-year students’ expectations about the education shift to distance learning. GETAMEL, which is the adapted General Extended Technology Acceptance Model for E-Learning, was used in the study. The study analyzed the influence of Experience, Subjective Norms, Enjoyment, Computer Anxiety, and Self-Efficacy on students’ expectations in the context of distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. To test the research model presented during the research, The Partial Least Squares method of Structural Equation Modeling was used. An online survey was created to conduct the research, which collected data from 670 Polish first-year undergraduate students. The acquired data were analyzed using the SmartPLS 3 software. The results of the research indicated that the most important factors that influence the feelings of students and can convince them to change from teaching in the classroom to teaching in the distance learning model are the feeling of pleasure in this form of education and a sense of self-efficacy. The results of this study may be of particular interest to education practitioners, including teachers, and a starting point for further research on e-learning models, including, in particular, the understanding of students’ expectations regarding distance learning.


Author(s):  
R J Singh

This article reports on the use of blended learning in higher education. Blended learning has become popular in higher education in recent years. It is a move beyond traditional lecturing to incorporate face-to-face learning with e-learning, thereby creating a blend of learning experiences. The problem is that learning in higher education is complex and learning situations differ across contexts. Whilst there is face-to-face contact at some institutions, others offer distance learning or correspondence learning. In each context, the mode of learning may differ. The challenge is to cater for various learning opportunities through a series of learning interactions and to incorporate a blended approach. The aim of this study was to examine various ways of defining blended learning in different contexts. This was done through an examination of experiences of the use of blended learning in different higher education contexts. The study presents a case of blended learning in a postgraduate course. The experiences from all these cases are summarised and conclusions and recommendations are made in the context of blended learning in higher education in South Africa.


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