Multi-inquiry hybrid e-learning: Instructor-learner experiences

Background: Hybrid teaching methodologies involve the purposeful combination of traditional teaching with technology advances. Despite some challenges, they have gained popularity recently, especially during the coronavirus pandemic. This study evaluated hybrid e-learning with multiple inquiries involving students’ receptiveness, preferences, behaviours and instructor observations. Method: The methodology involved a mixed-method approach with a qualitative observational case study, surveys and interviews for problem-based learning alternatives to traditional lectures. Instruction included: 1) Assigned primary literature reading with study questions to be completed before class; 2) Out-of-class online video-clips with visual, practical application (i.e. lithium and non-lithium induced tremor assessment) and online discussion in CANVAS Learning Management System; 3) Start-of-class quiz in ExamSoft, in-class team-based application questions with instructor-led discussion; 4) Out-of-class team final exam review assignment in CANVAS. Results: Qualitative themes were student engagement, flexibility, preferences, academic and non-academic stressors, etiquette, and defining responsibility for academic success. The majority of students preferred primary literature review, video clips, followed by online CANVAS discussions. Written assignments were the least desirable. Conclusion: These experiences are useful for qualitative evaluation of teaching and learning methods.

Academic Integrity of Tourism Students

The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the academic integrity of undergraduate tourism students amid the new normal. The chapter focuses on understanding the underlying reasons that instigate tourism students to cheat in written assignments. The findings reveal that tourism students are motivated to cheat by both internal and external factors. Individual or personal factors, such as students' characters, their knowledge, abilities, interests, levels of motivation, and commitment would affect the intention to cheat. Furthermore, time-related situations, the course itself, the assignment topic, demands of the assignment and the informing process, the teacher and the teaching process, the course materials, availability of the academic sources, the teaching, and the assessment environments are situational and/or contextual factors that instigate the students to cheat on their written assignments.

„Kulturowe DNA” – w czasach pandemii

This outline is dedicated to the reconstruction of an individual cultural code of high school students, who, due to the 2020 lockdown, were forced to self-isolate from peers and limit their school activity to online contacts. Based on the analysis of students’ written assignments, the author discusses what builds their identity and impacts the outlook on the world, as well as reconstructs youth’s beliefs regarding the role of old and contemporary, elitist and popular art. The study indicates the spheres of life important to young people, documents their understanding of how being apart, they can still demonstrate care of others, and emphasises the significance of students’ independence and benefits arising from recognition of their empowerment. The statements of high school girls and boys quoted by the researcher inspire further reflections on both the objectives of humanities education and the means of their implementation.

Teacher Written vs. Audio Feedback on Undergraduates’ Written Assignments

Due to the importance of instructor’s feedback on students’ written assignment as part of formative assessment and the relatively new way of delivering audio feedback, this case study aimed to explore instructor’s audio vs. written feedback provided on 15 pairs of undergraduates’ written tasks through Google Docs over an academic semester in a Saudi public university. The data was collected from actual feedback comments in both modes and follow-up interviews with the students. The content analysis of feedback revealed that audio feedback differed from written feedback in terms of quantity and content. Despite the potential of audio feedback revealed through the content analysis, the majority of students (16) preferred written feedback over audio feedback for its clarity, easiness, easy access to feedback and its focus on a certain issue in the assignments, whereas 14 of them preferred audio feedback. Several challenges highlighted by the students, including its length and detailed instruction and the difficulty in accessing it served as good points for several pedagogical implications for instructors in this study.

Emerging Scholars and Junior Faculty Present New Strategies for Student Engagement in Gerontology

With the rapid aging of the population, the need for gerontological educators to identify pedagogical strategies to increase interest and prepare students continues to grow. Innovative approaches and educational practices contribute greatly to student success in the gerontological classroom. Literature on gerontological pedagogy has shed light on the success of high-impact practices, creative assignments, pedagogical interventions, and even different course modalities when it comes to effectively delivering gerontological content and engaging students. Additionally, the Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE) provides a wealth of suggestions for creating and implementing effective gerontology courses and assignments. However, while we are familiar with these practices, we are not familiar with how specific groups of academics, such as emerging scholars and junior faculty, are utilizing them. Emerging scholars and junior faculty experience several major transitions as they prepare for life in academia. To ensure that emerging scholars and junior faculty are well prepared, we need to continue to empower these individuals to foster growth. This can be done by highlighting how emerging scholars and junior faculty have met the goals of maximizing and optimizing student learning. As such, the purpose of this symposium is to examine innovative approaches used by emerging scholars and junior academics in the gerontological classroom that have optimized student learning. This includes presentations on strategies for team-based learning, using intersectionality as a theoretical lens, and two creative written assignments, The Gerontological Movie Database Review and Interview an Elder.

PITFALLS OF PROFESSIONAL WRITING – THE MOST COMMON MISTAKES IN WRITING FOR BUSINESS PURPOSES

The present research looks into the most common inadvertencies that occur in professional writing – more specifically, in writing for business purposes. Against the background of the labour market requirements for professionals equipped with sound writing skills – perceived as ‘deal makers or breakers’ – the paper presents the results of a qualitative analysis of business written assignments of students from an English-taught Business Administration programme organised by the Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania. The analysis reveals that, despite students being highly proficient users of the target language, they nonetheless stumble upon challenges that pertain not to accuracy and correctness, but to extraneous factors such as appropriateness, flexibility, conciseness, relevance and deference. In the following, we shall attempt to shed light on these inadvertencies and highlight the aspects to be taken into account when writing in a business context.

Self-assessment and what happens over time: Student and staff perspectives, expectations and outcomes

Multiple benefits have been attributed to self-assessment and its ability to help develop evaluative judgement among learners. However, student and staff perceptions and what to expect throughout the self-assessment process deserves further scrutiny, particularly at the postgraduate level. To understand how students engage with self-assessment as a new skill, this study examined the experiential observations among postgraduate students and the teaching staff who implemented a self-assessment intervention designed to improve assessment and feedback procedures. Students were invited to self-assess their own written assignments prior to submission. Markers subsequently graded the work, and to provide a useful comparison, incorporated comments regarding the students’ own self-assessment within the feedback. Students from two postgraduate units subsequently completed an online survey ( n = 42) describing their impressions and insights regarding the self-assessment process. To expand upon survey findings, six ( n = 6) were randomly selected to participate in in-depths interviews. Teaching staff were invited to participate in separate interviews ( n = 5). Self-assessment triggered critical thinking and reflection among students and staff alike in different and specific ways. Inductive thematic analysis identified key domains relevant to both cohorts with multiple sub-themes. These related to (a) the ways self-assessment challenged habitual approaches to assessment tasks, (b) the capacity for providing and receiving increasingly meaningful feedback and (c) the need for initial teaching support and resources for ongoing guidance. Educators considering embedding self-assessment will find insights arising from the results useful for unit planning and future assessment design.

Teaching Research Writing to Chinese Graduate Students: A Guided Discovery Genre Approach

One of the biggest challenges graduate-level research writing instructors face is how to motivate students in large and multidisciplinary classes effectively. This article explores the influence of a guided inductive and discovery-based genre approach on improving students’ knowledge of research writing. A questionnaire survey was conducted, and some of the students’ written assignments were analyzed. The survey results show that the students were generally satisfied with this approach and affirmed its effectiveness in increasing their knowledge of the textual organization, format and documentation, and language style in research writing. Examining the students’ written analysis of the move structure of abstracts indicates that this approach has enhanced the students’ ability to identify moves and facilitated their acquisition of more appropriate genre knowledge. Further examination of the students’ written reflections reveals a more in-depth understanding of their learning experience. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

The relationship between topic and metaphor in second-language learners’ essays

In this article I investigate to what extent the use of metaphorical expressions in language learners’ texts vary according to the topic they have chosen to write about. The data come from the Norwegian learner corpus ASK, where the texts are from written assignments produced by adult second-language learners as part of an official Norwegian test and texts. Texts from two different prompts are selected, which are related to friendship and nature. Metaphors are defined according to conceptual metaphor theory and a triangulation of methods is used, alternating between a manual and an automatic extraction method. The results confirm the hypothesis that the two different prompts given to the learners in a language test not only triggers different metaphorical expressions but also influences the amount of metaphor used in the learners’ writing. This knowledge is important to researchers for comparing the use of metaphors between different groups, such as between different learners or between students in different stages of education. It is also important for test designers who decide on topics to be used in tests and teachers who help learners prepare for their tests. In addition, it is of interest for researchers, educators in general and the learners themselves who are interested in the effect the use of metaphors in texts have on raters’ evaluations in high-stake tests.

A telehealth-based training model for an ambulatory care pharmacy skills course

Description: Increasingly, pharmacy services are provided using telehealth-based modalities. This paper describes a pharmacy skills course that utilised telehealth principles to train students on the technical and communications skills necessary for the ambulatory care setting. Zoom breakout rooms, electronic health records, YouTube video vignettes, and teaching assistants portraying patients/physicians simulated a telehealth-based ambulatory care setting. Evaluation: Five quizzes and six written assignments were utilised to measure student’s knowledge and skills. At the end of the course, students were evaluated through a three-station objective structured clinical exam (OSCE). Students also completed a pre/post attitudes survey. Result: Overall, students performed well on various assessments including quizzes and written assignments. The majority of the students performed well on the OSCE. Significant improvement was noted on all items in the attitudes survey. Conclusion: This study suggests that a telehealth training model can be effective in teaching pharmacy students both the technical and communication skills necessary for practice in the ambulatory care setting.