scholarly journals Business accelerators as learning environments: A mixed methods investigation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Geoff Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Individual Performance ◽  
Business Development ◽  
Implicit Assumption ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Learning Agility ◽  
Programme Design

<p>This thesis is a study of business accelerators, and the efficacy of accelerators as learning environments. Accelerators are increasingly becoming a popular strategy for delivering a more authentic entrepreneurial learning experience. Accelerators provide a time-bound suite of highly structured educational and business development activities that provide learning support to cohorts of competitively selected high-potential entrepreneurial teams. The participants face considerable uncertainty and are exposed to complex learning and business development processes associated with rapidly building, validating, and scaling investable business models. Intense mentorship and entrepreneurial education are core features by which accelerators support this journey. Thus, an implicit assumption embedded in accelerator programme logic is the accelerator learning environment positively shapes learning and development outcomes. Yet little research has investigated how accelerators influence participant learning and development. This gap motives the current research.  A multilevel quantitative and qualitative mixed methods approach was adopted to examine participant learning and development at the three levels of participation embedded within accelerator programme design – cohort, team and participant. Concepts and measures from academic work on accelerators, learning agility, and individual performance behaviour were assembled into a coherent set of investigative tools and lenses. Taken together, they frame the accelerator learning environment as a whole system of actors and elements that operate both independently and interdependently. The research setting is a Global Accelerator Network affiliate programme based in New Zealand. Three strands of data were collected on 29 participants associated with 10 venture teams participating in a single accelerator programme cohort.  Strand 1 applied a multiphase quantitative survey approach to capture a longitudinal understanding of how accelerators influence participant learning and development at the cohort level. Patterns of relationships between the key constructs were identified for each phase. Strand 2 utilised a qualitative observation method to investigate the quantitative findings through a team lens. This was done because of the central role teams play in the accelerator programme logic. Each of these stands occurred during the accelerator. Strand 3 used interviews to explore how the accelerator learning environment influenced learning and development at the level of individual participants. Interview data was collected six months after the accelerator to capture participant perceptions in retrospect.  The research findings show accelerators do more than shelter emerging organisations; they actively support the development of the new venture, provide an authentic learning environment for the entrepreneurs, and they foster the development of entrepreneurship capacity. However, findings also suggest participant response to the learning environment is dynamic and unpredictable. Specifically, participants perceived the learning and development benefits they received from: a) mentors, as low across all phases; b) managers, as strongest during the middle and last phase of the programme; c) the cohort of participants, as very helpful during all three phases; and, d) accelerator instructional programming was tied closely to the relevance, quality and timing of the resources provided to them. Further, the evidence suggests team composition matters more than the team’s business idea, and task-oriented accelerator programme design negatively influences learning and development by limiting the amount of ‘free’ time participants have for creative interactions, experimentation and reflection. Thus, the availability of accelerator learning opportunities, such as education and mentorship, can both enable and hinder participant learning and development.  This study provides insights for entrepreneurship research focused on supporting the development and success of early-stage enterprises. The presented findings and interpretations offer scholars, organisers and stakeholders a greater appreciation of the importance of participant learning and development in accelerators. They also suggest the utility of applying learning agility and individual performance concepts as lenses for understanding individual learning processes and their effects in entrepreneurial contexts beyond accelerators. Research limitations, implications for policy and practice, and future research are discussed.</p>

scholarly journals Business accelerators as learning environments: A mixed methods investigation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Geoff Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Individual Performance ◽  
Business Development ◽  
Implicit Assumption ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Learning Agility ◽  
Programme Design

<p>This thesis is a study of business accelerators, and the efficacy of accelerators as learning environments. Accelerators are increasingly becoming a popular strategy for delivering a more authentic entrepreneurial learning experience. Accelerators provide a time-bound suite of highly structured educational and business development activities that provide learning support to cohorts of competitively selected high-potential entrepreneurial teams. The participants face considerable uncertainty and are exposed to complex learning and business development processes associated with rapidly building, validating, and scaling investable business models. Intense mentorship and entrepreneurial education are core features by which accelerators support this journey. Thus, an implicit assumption embedded in accelerator programme logic is the accelerator learning environment positively shapes learning and development outcomes. Yet little research has investigated how accelerators influence participant learning and development. This gap motives the current research.  A multilevel quantitative and qualitative mixed methods approach was adopted to examine participant learning and development at the three levels of participation embedded within accelerator programme design – cohort, team and participant. Concepts and measures from academic work on accelerators, learning agility, and individual performance behaviour were assembled into a coherent set of investigative tools and lenses. Taken together, they frame the accelerator learning environment as a whole system of actors and elements that operate both independently and interdependently. The research setting is a Global Accelerator Network affiliate programme based in New Zealand. Three strands of data were collected on 29 participants associated with 10 venture teams participating in a single accelerator programme cohort.  Strand 1 applied a multiphase quantitative survey approach to capture a longitudinal understanding of how accelerators influence participant learning and development at the cohort level. Patterns of relationships between the key constructs were identified for each phase. Strand 2 utilised a qualitative observation method to investigate the quantitative findings through a team lens. This was done because of the central role teams play in the accelerator programme logic. Each of these stands occurred during the accelerator. Strand 3 used interviews to explore how the accelerator learning environment influenced learning and development at the level of individual participants. Interview data was collected six months after the accelerator to capture participant perceptions in retrospect.  The research findings show accelerators do more than shelter emerging organisations; they actively support the development of the new venture, provide an authentic learning environment for the entrepreneurs, and they foster the development of entrepreneurship capacity. However, findings also suggest participant response to the learning environment is dynamic and unpredictable. Specifically, participants perceived the learning and development benefits they received from: a) mentors, as low across all phases; b) managers, as strongest during the middle and last phase of the programme; c) the cohort of participants, as very helpful during all three phases; and, d) accelerator instructional programming was tied closely to the relevance, quality and timing of the resources provided to them. Further, the evidence suggests team composition matters more than the team’s business idea, and task-oriented accelerator programme design negatively influences learning and development by limiting the amount of ‘free’ time participants have for creative interactions, experimentation and reflection. Thus, the availability of accelerator learning opportunities, such as education and mentorship, can both enable and hinder participant learning and development.  This study provides insights for entrepreneurship research focused on supporting the development and success of early-stage enterprises. The presented findings and interpretations offer scholars, organisers and stakeholders a greater appreciation of the importance of participant learning and development in accelerators. They also suggest the utility of applying learning agility and individual performance concepts as lenses for understanding individual learning processes and their effects in entrepreneurial contexts beyond accelerators. Research limitations, implications for policy and practice, and future research are discussed.</p>

scholarly journals Validating an Instrument to Measure School Culture in Project-Based Learning Environments

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
School Culture ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Student Outcomes ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
International Comparisons ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Instructional Model ◽  
Educational Environments ◽  
Common School

Measuring school culture and analyzing student learning experiences is a rapidly growing practice, with a notable uptick following the increased forcus on learning experiences spurred by international comparisons of educational environments and resulting student outcomes. The literature documents common constructs that are often included in school culture surveys. However, often all learning environments are organized together and offered the same school culture survey. This is problematic because a common school culture survey construct is “learning environment” and the items that form this construct will be significantly different based on the instructional model. Therefore, providing educators with a one size fits all culture survey does not meet the needs of schools offering problem-based learning (PrBL) and project-based learning (PBL) environments. This research examines the process for revising, designing, and validating a school culture survey aligned to PrBL and PBL environments.

scholarly journals CORRELATION BETWEEN PERCEPTION ON CLINICAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS AND CAREER CHOICE ON CLERKSHIP STUDENTS IN FACULTY OF MEDICINE UNIVERSITAS SEBELAS MARET

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Adinda Kharisma Apriliani ◽  
Eti Poncorini Pamungkasari ◽  
Amandha Boy Timor Randita
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Career Choice ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Career Choices ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Observational Research ◽  
Clinical Learning ◽  
Weak Correlation ◽  
Clinical Learning Environment

Background: Needs of health workers, especially general practitioners, relatively high in Indonesia. Career choices among medical students are various, such as general practitioner, specialist, medical researcher, etc. Many factors affect medical students’ career choices, one of them is learning environments. This study aims to prove the correlation between clerkship students’ perceptions of clinical learning environments and their career choices.Methods: This research was an analytical observational research with cross sectional approach. The subjects were clerkship students who underwent clinical rotation. The samples were 178 clerkship students from all departments. They were chosen by probability proportional to size sampling. Every respondent was given career choices questionnaire and PHEEM questionnaire which has analyzed for its validity and reliability with α≥0,6 (α=0,826) and r≥0,30 (r=0,442). The result of this study was analyzed by Chi-square test and followed by Contingency Coefficient with 95% confidence level (α = 0,05). Result: The result showed that students’ perception of clinical learning environment “good but still need improvement” category was nearly the same as “plenty of problems” category. The result on the students’ career choices, most students choose clinical career. There was significant correlation between perception of clinical learning environment and career choices on clerkship students of medical faculty, Sebelas Maret University with p <0,05 (p= 0,018), x2 count (x2=5,625) > x2 table (x2=3,841) and also very weak correlation (C= 0,189).Conclusion: There was very weak correlation between perception of clinical learning environments and career choice on clerkship students. 

scholarly journals A scale development study for assessing the effectiveness of blended learning environments

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 11-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emine Cabı ◽  
Yasemin Gülbahar
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Scale Development ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Development Study ◽  
Online Learning Environments ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Development Data

This study is conducted to develop a scale for assessing the effectiveness of blended learning environments based on the features of both face-to-face and online learning environments and provide suggestions for stakeholders. In the process of scale development, data gathered from 314 students were analyzed. The reliability and validity results for collected data were found to be acceptable since they were between or above the expected value. Based on the analysis it is found that the scale is composed of 55 items having a structure of 4 factors. Hence, it can be concluded that "Effectiveness of Blended Learning Environments Scale" is found as reliable and valid, and can measure what it aims to measure. Blended Learning Environment Scale, which was developed and analyzed for reliability and validity throughout this study, is expected to facilitate the further research studies that focused on blended learning environments.

scholarly journals Student Preferences within a Holistic Blended Learning Environment

2019 ◽  
pp. 276-290
Author(s):  
Bernice Beukes ◽  
Karin Barac ◽  
Lynette Nagel
Keyword(s):  
Academic Performance ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Student Preferences ◽  
Performance Levels ◽  
Residential University ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Method Approach

Extant research shows that blended learning environments are widely accepted by students mainly because of the flexibility it offers. However, there is very little research that focuses on students’ preferences within a holistic blended learning environment and the contribution that a component makes to the learning of the subject matter, especially in large class settings. The purpose of this study is to investigate students’ perceptions of blended learning components in a holistic blended learning environment and whether these perceptions vary for students with different academic performance levels. A mixed method approach was used in this study performed at a residential university in South Africa and the results indicate that auditing students do have a clear preference for specific components within the environment and significant differences exist between the preferences of different academic performance levels. Such insights allow lecturers to adjust the resources and focus of the different components implemented in a blended learning environment.

scholarly journals Making ‘Math Making’ Virtual

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 30
Author(s):  
Candace Figg ◽  
Anjali Khirwadkar ◽  
Shannon Welbourn
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Mathematics Learning ◽  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Teacher Preparation Programs ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
University Professors ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Hands On

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, university professors are challenged to re-envision mathematics learning environments for virtual delivery. Those of us teaching in elementary teacher preparation programs are exploring different learning environments that not only promote meaningful learning but also foster positive attitudes about mathematics teaching. One learning environment that has been shown to be effective for introducing preservice teachers to the creative side of mathematics—the mathematics makerspace—promotes computational thinking and pedagogical understandings about teaching mathematics, but the collaborative, hands-on nature of such a learning environment is difficult to simulate in virtual delivery. This article describes the research-based design decisions for the re-envisioned virtual mathematics makerspace.

scholarly journals Factors Affecting Students’ Preferences for Online and Blended Learning: Motivational Vs. Cognitive

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 72-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sinan Keskin ◽  
Halil Yurdugül
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Learning Motivation ◽  
Task Value ◽  
Individual Factors ◽  
E Learning ◽  
The Individual

AbstractToday’s educational institutions are expected to create learning opportunities independent of time and place, to offer easily accessible learning environments and interpersonal communication opportunities. Accordingly, higher education institutions develop strategies to meet these expectations through teaching strategies, such as e-learning, blended learning, mobile learning, etc., by using teaching technologies. These new technology-based teaching strategies are mainly shaped by decision-makers in education. This study seeks to analyse the individual factors that affect learners’ mode of teaching and learning delivery preferences. In this study, blended and online learning is considered as preferences of learners’ mode of teaching and learning delivery. The individual factors discussed in this research are cognitive learning strategies, e-learning readiness, and motivation. The data were obtained from the pre-service teachers at the end of the academic semester when they experienced online and blended learning. Data were analysed using optimal scaling analysis. The analysis method provides a two-dimensional centroid graph which shows the correlations between the variable categories. According to study findings, there is a correlation between the preferences of the learning environment, and the constructs of self-efficacy, e-learning motivation, and task value. It can be said that the motivational variables are more effective in the learning environment preference. The students with high task value, e-learning motivation, and self-efficacy preferred studying in blended learning environments. Cognitive strategies, self-directed learning, learner control, and test anxiety factors are independent of the learners’ learning delivery preferences.

scholarly journals Synkrone online læringsmiljøer – didaktisk design for synkron undervisning understøttet af digitale teknologier

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karsten Gynther ◽  
Ove Christensen ◽  
Rasmus Jørnø
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Research And Development ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Online Learning Environment ◽  
Online Learning Environments ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Synchronous Learning ◽  
Synchronous Learning Environments

Synkrone online læringsmiljøer muliggør realisering af en didaktisk praksis, der synkront kobler forskellige kontekster. Forskning i og udvikling af didaktiske principper, som kan guide uddannelsesudviklere og undervisere i deres arbejde med at udvikle didaktiske designs for synkrone læringsmiljøer, er imidlertid kun i sin spæde vorden. I denne artikel introduceres til et overordnet designframework for synkrone onlinelæringsmiljøer samt en række konkrete didaktiske principper, som eksemplificeres med en række designeksempler. Det overordnede framework rummer tre dimensioner i et didaktisk design for synkrone læringsmiljøer, der i kort form kan præsenteres som: a) simulering af tilstedeværelsesundervisning, b) remediering af tilstedeværelsesundervisning og c) innovativ transformation af tilstedeværelsesundervisning.Abstract in EnglishSynchronous online learning environments allow the realization of a didactic practice that creates contextual couplings. Research and development of didactic principles to guide teachers and developers of education in developing designs for synchronous learning environments is however still in its infancy. This article introduces a series of new conceptual tools and didactical principles for online learning environment and includes a general design framework for synchronous online learning environments and concrete didactic principles exemplified through a set of design examples. The framework outlines three dimensions of a didactic design: a) simulation of face-to-face teaching, b) remediation of face-to-face teaching and c) innovative transformation of face-to-face teaching.

scholarly journals Logical word learning: The case of kinship

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis Mollica ◽  
Steven T. Piantadosi
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Conceptual Development ◽  
Learning Model ◽  
Developmental Model ◽  
Learning Trajectories ◽  
Model Framework ◽  
Model Simulations ◽  
Linguistic Data ◽  
Kinship Term

In this paper, we propose a framework for conceptual development through the lens of program induction. We implement this framework to model the acquisition of kinship term concepts, resulting in the first formal developmental model for kinship acquisition. We demonstrate that our model can learn several kinship systems of varying complexity using cross-linguistic data from English, Pukapuka, Turkish and Yanomamö. More importantly, the behavioral patterns observed in children learning kinship terms, under-extension and over-generalization, fall out naturally from our learning model. We conducted interviews to simulate realistic learning environments and demonstrate that the characteristic-to-defining shift is a consequence of our learning model in naturalistic contexts containing abstract and concrete features. We use model simulations to discuss the influence of simplicity and learning environment on the order of acquisition of kinship terms, positing novel predictions for the learning trajectories of kinship terms. We conclude the paper with a discussion of how this model framework generalizes beyond kinship terms and the limitations of our model.

scholarly journals ’I learned a lot about my classmates …’. Exploring focus group discussions as learning environment to raise controversial issues in geography and economic education

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 16-30
Author(s):  
Christiane Hintermann ◽  
◽  
Heidrun Edlinger ◽  
Matthias Fasching ◽  
Thomas Jekel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Real World ◽  
Economic Education ◽  
Controversial Issues ◽  
Active Citizenship ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions

Teachers of geography and economics address numerous topics in the classroom which are controversially discussed in society and/or affect pupils directly. How they deal with issues such as migration or identity depends not only on the respective curriculum but also on their disciplinary knowledge and pedagogic skills. This paper argues for the need to adapt learning environments depending on educational objectives, content, age and discusses focus groups as one possible way to work with students in secondary education on sensitive matters. Focus groups are seen as a tool to enable real-world complexity in the classroom, and to prepare students for participatory, active citizenship. The paper first discusses current theoretical thought regarding controversy in both society and the classroom. It then goes on to illustrate real-world classroom experiences of focus-group based learning on controversial issues and to discuss its benefits and challenges.

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