The benefits of incorporating active learning into online, asynchronous coursework in Dental Physiology

The COVID-19 pandemic required a shift to online learning that posed particular challenges for the education of dental students. Basic science courses were presented in an online, asynchronous format to facilitate small group rotations through pre-clinical work. The success of active learning was previously examined in a Dental Physiology course, and it was desired to reassess those methods in an online environment. Students were provided with pre-recorded lectures containing learning activities, and the effectiveness was compared to traditional lecture recordings. On surveys, dental students had more positive perceptions of online recordings that incorporated active learning strategies, with higher perceived effectiveness of the lecturer, ability to pay attention, motivation to study, and confidence with the material. This was similar to the previous study, in which face-2-face (F2F) active learning was more positively reviewed than traditional lectures. Compared to these past sections, the online cohort expressed similarly positive perceptions of the active learning sections, but the online traditional lectures were perceived to be less effective than F2F lectures. Despite the differences in student perceptions, unit exam scores were similar for didactic lectures in both online and F2F settings. Unit exam scores were significantly higher when active learning strategies were employed, with the highest performance levels in the F2F cohort. While active learning strategies continue to be effective, further research is needed to optimize these methods and engage students in online coursework. The results suggest the importance of active and collaborative learning opportunities in the education of students in physiology coursework.

Flipped Classrooms in Undergraduate Statistics: Online Works Just Fine

Background The flipped classroom method requires that students engage with homework before coming to the classroom so that class time can be spent on active and collaborative learning exercises. Research has demonstrated that this can improve student performance versus traditional lecturer-led teaching methods. Objective: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the vast majority of teaching has been entirely online such that even ‘in-class’ time has been virtual. The current article examined whether online-only delivery affects the efficacy of the flipped classroom approach. Method: Grades for a research methods and statistics module and a statistics portfolio assignment were compared across consecutive cohorts of undergraduate psychology students taught by different methods. Results: Overall grades on the module did not differ significantly across teaching methods but student performance on statistics tests did. Flipped classrooms, whether accompanied by on-campus or synchronous online classes, led to significantly better performance than traditional methods. No detriment was observed by teaching entirely online. Conclusion: The key advantages of the flipped classroom method appear driven by active learning which can occur irrespective of classroom context. Teaching Implications: Using flipped classrooms can be a useful tool, particularly in subjects where students may otherwise be less engaged with the content.

A BPM-Based Agile Approach to Ensure Adaptive Learning

In agile, students learn through the gradual implementation of iterative projects with information exchanges between team members. Various research works focused on the assessment of innovative teaching methods to promote the acquisition of professional skills (e.g. project-based learning, active and collaborative learning, flipped classes, digital assisted training, etc.). In addition, adaptive learning is a pedagogical method favoring tailor-made e-learning to respond to the acquisition of certain skills, through the adaptation of pedagogical resources according to the learners’ needs. Therefore, to establish a model based on these different methods in order to benefit from their advantages, we based our work on the BPM (Business Process Management) approach, which constitutes the means of implementing the desired agility in the learning process. Thanks to such a cyclical and continuous improvement approach, the learning process will evolve and take into account not only new needs but also the specificities of each involved actor (learner or teacher).

Analysis of Cooperative Skills Development through Relational Coordination in a Gamified Online Learning Environment

One of the main problems of the sudden digital transition to online education due to the COVID-19 pandemic is the increased isolation of students. On the other hand, one of the main goals of higher education is to develop students’ cooperative competence. This experimental study presents an online learning environment, consisting of a set of web-based resources such as virtual laboratories, interactive activities, educational videos and a game-based learning methodology. The study also examines the influence of the combination of such resources with active and collaborative learning on the improvement of students’ relationships and the development of cooperative competence. To this end, an analysis was conducted based on the data collected from a core subject of the Computer Engineering and Computer Science Engineering degree courses. The answers of an

Implementación del método de aprendizaje activo y colaborativo en las prácticas de laboratorio de Materiales Ecoeficientes en modalidad virtual

During the 2020/21 academic year, the active and collaborative learning methodology was implemented in the development of a laboratory practice of the Eco-efficient Materials course of the second year of the University Master's Degree in Engineering, Processing and Characterization of Materials, in virtual modality. The use of this methodology aims to promote student participation and increase their level of responsibility in the laboratory practice, making use of the advantages of a virtual modality. Before carrying out the practice, students were given a script and then an explanatory session and resolution of doubts was held. The practices were carried out in a virtual and synchronous way. The students were responsible for setting the parameters and the teacher was in charge of reproducing them in the laboratory. The objective of this work was to observe the behavior of the students in decision-making, to appreciate if they acquired the necessary knowledge for the development of the practice and to solve the problems that may arise during it. Subsequently, the learning methodology between a virtual and a face-to-face modality was compared, and an active and collaborative learning methodology was developed that can be applied in either of the two scenarios.

The effects of collaboration scripts on the number and quality of student interactions in a social annotation tool

Social Annotation (SA) tools can be used to facilitate active and collaborative learning when students have to study academic texts. However, making these tools available does not ensure students participate in argumentative discussions. Scaffolding students by means of collaborations scripts geared towards collaboration and discussion encourages students to engage in meaningful, high-quality interactions. We conducted an experiment with students (n=59) in a course running at a Dutch university, using the SA tool Perusall. A control group received normal instructions, while an experimental group received scaffolding through collaboration scripts. The results showed a significant increase in the number of responses to fellow students for the experimental group compared to the control group. The quality of the annotations, measured on levels of Bloom’s taxonomy, increased significantly for the experimental group compared to both its baseline measurement and the control group. However, when scaffolding was faded out over subsequent assignments these differences became non-significant. The experimental groups’ increased quality of annotations did not remain over time, suggesting that internalization of the scripts was not achieved.

Short Videos to Communicate Effectively to Engineering Students

The use of multimedia in education has become a basic tool for educators. As Millennials and Generation Z use technology in their everyday life, the educational model has been shifting towards the use of multimedia and technology to enhance the active learning process. The objective of this project was to design, produce and implement short educational or instructional videos to present content with a more active approach and measure the impact on their understanding and preference. A video with the content of graduation requirements was produced, shared with 240 seniors of Engineering Academic Programs. The results show that 97% of the students liked the video and the way the content was shared and 91.6% of the students find the video format useful. The results show that the learning process was active and effective. The exit poll also shows that 97% of the students think that there should be more educational videos on some other processes. This project included the design, production and implementation of 18 videos. This research describes the approach and impact of using short videos in engineering and transition from a traditional method of sharing content to students to a more active learning environment.Keywords:Educational Videos; Active and Collaborative Learning; Student Engagement; Educational Innovation; Higher Education.

Are Online Synchronous Team-Based-Learning (TBL) pedagogy effective? Perspectives from study on a group of medical students in Oman (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Team-based learning (TBL) is highly structured, instructive, and student-focused pedagogy used by medical educators to foster students’ learning. OBJECTIVE The purpose of our study was to qualitatively explore students’ perception on effectiveness of online synchronous TBL pedagogical strategy in promoting learning outcomes. METHODS A cross-over study was conducted on MD4 year medical students, using four modified TBL sessions on common immunological diseases. The means and standard deviations of the pretest and posttest scores were compared using unpaired T-test. ANOVA for cross-over design was used to find out confounding by sequence of interventions with a p-value of < 0.05 signifying significance. Students’ feedback on the effectiveness of online TBL sessions was collected through predesigned questionnaire on a 3-point Likert scale. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 22 and was expressed as number and percentage. RESULTS In total, 139 MD4 year medical students participated in the activity. The overall response of our students toward the effectiveness of online TBL pedagogy was overwhelmingly positive. Majority (>80%) perceived TBL as an enjoyable active session that promoted their active participation and engagement in the learning process through student-led discussions. Also, many opined that TBL enhanced their critical thinking, problem solving ability, communication skills, and thus improved their knowledge. The posttest scores of the students who participated in TBL session was significantly higher when compared to self-study group, suggesting the session improved their knowledge. CONCLUSIONS TBL is an instructive and highly structured teaching-learning strategy, welcomed by majority of our participants. The pre-class preparation, readiness assurance tests, instructor’s feedback, and knowledge application exercises encourage students to engage in active and collaborative learning and thus aids in better knowledge acquisition. From our study results, it is concluded that online TBL sessions are effective in fostering students’ learning and can be used confidently when situation demands. CLINICALTRIAL NU/COMHS/EBC0001/2021

The Impact of Pair Programming on College Students’ Interest, Perceptions, and Achievement in Computer Science

Active and collaborative learning has shown considerable promise for improving student outcomes and reducing group disparities. As one common form of collaborative learning, pair programming is an adapted work practice implemented widely in higher education computing programs. In the classroom setting, it typically involves two computer science students working together on the same programming assignment. The present study examined a cluster-randomized trial of 1,198 undergraduates in 96 lab sections. Overall, pair programming had no significant effect on students’ course performance; subject matter interest; plans for future coursework; or their confidence, comfort, and anxiety with computer science. These findings were consistent across various student characteristics, except that students with favorable pretest scores exhibited negative effects from pair programming.

E-Learning Education System Design

The impact of pandemic COVID-19 is visible in every sector around the world. The educational services of India as well as world are badly affected by this worldwide pandemic.. It has created very bad impact during lockdown as 32 crore students had stopped to go to their learning centres and learning have been started on online mode during the pandemic phase. At the academic level we have seen leaders tackle the COVID-19 emergency from the strategy .The main objective of this paper, are to assess the impact of covid-19 on education sector and to study the psychological health of students also, the effectiveness of E-learning compared with traditional teaching methodology. According to a study conducted on student engagement in online courses at three different universities. level of Academic challenge, Guest Faculty to students , faculty to student interactions, student to faculty interactions, active and collaborative learning, enriching educational experience among others are used as the study’s benchmark. Their research reveals that students view faculty feedback as the most important and frequent type of interaction between student and faculty and those students also acknowledged a learning benefit associated with working in groups.