scholarly journals The design of an empirical cross-boundary collaborative open learning framework

Open Praxis ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chrissi Nerantzi

This paper reports on the design and development of an empirical cross-boundary, collaborative open learning framework for cross-institutional academic development. The framework is one of the key outputs of a phenomenographic study into the lived experience of open learners in two open cross-institutional courses. Data was collected through individual interviews from 22 study participants from two courses that made up a collective case study. These courses were offered by UK higher education institutions in collaboration with informal partners nationally and internationally and were selected as these had different collaborative learning features built-in that could be explored. Course participants in these two courses include academic staff who teach or support learning and further open learners. The empirical design framework is proposed to support the development and implementation of cross-boundary collaborative open learning approaches within cross-institutional academic development and may also be useful in further learning and teaching settings in higher education.

Author(s):  
Carol Evans ◽  
Michael Waring

In higher education (HE) considerable attention is focused on the skills sets students need to meet the requirements of the fourth industrial revolution. The acquisition of high-level assessment feedback skills is fundamental to lifelong learning. HE has made significant investment in developing assessment feedback practices over the last 30 years; however, far less attention has been given to the development of inclusive agentic integrated assessment systems that promote student agency and autonomy in assessment feedback, and from an individual differences perspective. “Inside the Black Box,” a seminal work, opened the potential of assessment as a supportive process in facilitating students in coming to know (understanding the requirements of a task and context, and their own learning) through the development of formative assessment. However, overall, the assessment for learning movement has not changed students’ perceptions, on entering HE, that feedback is something they receive rather than something they can generate and orchestrate despite being predicated on a self-regulatory approach. HE promotes students’ use of self-regulated learning approaches although these are not sufficiently integrated into curriculum systems. In moving forward assessment feedback, it is important to adopt a theoretically integrated approach that draws on self-regulatory frameworks, agentic engagement concepts, understanding of individual differences, and the situated nature of assessment. Current emphases in HE focus on how we engage students as active participants in assessment, in coming to know assessment requirements as part of sustainable practices with students as co-constructors of assessment inputs and outputs. Assessment design should be challenging students to maximize their selective and appropriate use of assessment feedback skills for both immediate and longer-term learning gains. Addressing the professional development of lecturers and students in the acquisition and development of essential fourth industrial age assessment feedback competencies is fundamental to enhancing the quality of learning and teaching in HE.


Author(s):  
Nataliia Vinnikova

Nowadays, higher education is not only an essential condition for the spiritual and professional development of the individual, but also a decisive factor in socio-economic transformation.Taking into consideration changing nature of learning and teaching at higher education institutions, the need for professional development of teachers is increasing. The main purpose of the thesis is to highlight the problem of professional development of academic staff, its relevance and importance for improving learning and teaching. There will be presented a model of teachers’ skills improvement implemented at Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University (Ukraine), as well as new approaches to the organization of training for higher school teachers that combine different training strategies for their development.


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-3
Author(s):  
Romy Lawson ◽  

In this first editorial of 2016 I have some exciting news to share with the readership. Firstly the journal has recently been accepted for inclusion in Scopus, with the increase in citations from the journal being mentioned as noteworthy. Thanks goes to Dr Alisa Percy for her work on helping the journal gain this recognition, as well acknowledgement to previous editors. Secondly this year we shall be publishing two special issues in addition to the three regular releases: Reflection for Learning in Higher Education, Guest Editor Dr Marina Harvey (April, 2016) Dystopia or Utopia: Emerging Visions for the Future of Learning and Teaching Practice in collaboration with the Council of Australian Directors of Academic Development (CADAD) (September, 2016)


2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Wagenaar

The competence and learning outcomes approach, which intends to improve effective performance of academic staff and students, is becoming dominant in today’s higher education. This was quite different 15 years ago. This contribution aims to offer insight in the reforms initiated and implemented, by posing and answering the questions why the time was appropriate — by identifying and analysing the underlying conditions — and in what way the change was shaped — by focusing on terminology required and approaches developed. Central here is the role the Tuning project — launched in 2000-2001 — played in this respect. The contribution starts with contextualising the situation in the 1990s: the recession and growing unemployment in many European countries on the one hand and the development of a global society and the challenges the higher educational sector faced at the other. It offers the background for initiating the Tuning project, and the discourse on which its approach is based. In particular, attention is given to choosing the concept of competences, distinguishing subject specific and general/generic ones, as an integrating approach of knowledge, understanding, skills, abilities and attitudes. The approach should serve as a means of integrating a number of main goals as part of the learning and teaching process: strengthening employability and preparing for citizenship besides personal development of the student as a basis for the required educational reform. Tuning’s unique contribution is the alignment of this concept to learning outcomes statements as indicators of competence development and achievement and by relating both concepts to profiling of educational programmes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 184-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chrissi Nerantzi

This article provides an overview of peer instruction and flipped learning, two active learning approaches, in the context of learning and teaching in higher education and illustrates their relevance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Peer instruction and flipped learning should be considered when designing for flexible learning. These approaches can stimulate learning and create seamless active engagement in fully online and blended settings even when switching between these modes becomes necessary due to developments in this pandemic. This transitioning between fully online and blended, as and when required, is something that is of high importance during these challenging times, especially for campus-based universities as they are keen to secure the smooth running of their programmes under difficult circumstances. This article provides practical advice for course designers, module and programme leaders on how they can utilise peer instruction or flipped learning to maximise student engagement and learning.


Author(s):  
Chrissi Nerantzi

This case study relates to a mixed-reality game that has been developed and used by the author in the area of Academic Development and specifically within the Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (LTHE) module of the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGCAP). The game aims to provide a highly immersive learning experience to the players and opportunities to enhance their teaching in more creative ways as a result of their engagement and participation. The author shares details about this mixed-reality game and the pedagogical rationale on which it is based with other practitioners. The following also explores how this approach could be adapted and used in different learning and teaching contexts to transform learning in Higher Education into a more playful and creative experience which has potentially the power to motivate and connect individuals and teams combining physical and virtual spaces.


2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deirdre Corby ◽  
Laurence Taggart ◽  
Wendy Cousins

The transformational role education plays in the lives of people with intellectual disabilities has not been fully examined. The purpose of this study was to explore and investigate the meanings people with intellectual disabilities construct of their experiences in post-secondary and higher education. Heideggerian hermeneutic phenomenology was the qualitative methodology adopted for the study. Individual interviews were conducted with 27 people with intellectual disabilities and analysed in stages. These stages included the creation of I-Poems offering a unique opportunity for individual participant voices to be heard. Three core themes emerged to describe living an authentic life: learning (with the emphasis on increased skills, independence and opportunities); relationships (in particular, the importance of friendships), and perceptions including the existing realities of life for those with intellectual disabilities. The findings advance previous work highlighting the link between living a more authentic life and how education transforms how people with intellectual disabilities view themselves.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 52-72
Author(s):  
Ishaq Al-Naabi ◽  
◽  
Jo-Anne Kelder ◽  
Andrea Carr ◽  
◽  
...  

COVID-19 has significantly impacted teaching and learning in higher education, leading institutions to embrace Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) in response to school and university closure. A systematic review research methodology was used to identify, analyse and synthesise literature on professional development in higher education published between 2010 and 2020. Following an inductive thematic analysis, the authors identified four themes that represent the literature: learning approaches, delivery modes, design features and institutional support. Based on the emerging themes and the analysis of the selection of studies, a framework for professional development is proposed to prepare teachers in higher education for ERT. The use of the framework is recommended to guide higher education institutions in best assisting their academic staff during an ERT context.


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