Search results

Authentic learning or learning by doing involves real-world problems and their solutions using role-play, problem-based actions, case studies, and engagement with communities of practice in a multicultural environment by its very nature (Lombardi, 2007). Authentic learning will be explored through the lenses of an international postgraduate programme in International Tourism Management and mainly through a module that is team coached and underpins the degree. The reflective chapter examines two journeys: (i) master students who take ownership of their learning in a team setting environment; and (ii) tutor/s who take the role of team coach and facilitate student’s abilities to self-manage and take responsibility of their own learning and development. The journey is discussed from the perspective and characteristics of authentic learning activities employed in the design, implementation, and assessment of the module and, overall, the postgraduate programme. Drawing on the experiences of authentic activities presented, learnings can be applied to various modules and degrees given the broad context of tourism in a global context.

A key role of the external examiner is to review student work submitted for assessment plus the feedback and grading undertaken on that work by academic staff. The aim of this is to ensure equitability between the assessments of individual students’ achievement and consistency and comparability across courses throughout the program and with commensurate study levels and programs at other institutions, whilst safeguarding academic standards. The variety of assessment-types that an external examiner may review can be diverse. When the primary focus of the work being assessed is tangible, such as with written examinations or assignments, external examiners are able to view student achievements and assessor actions through a lens comparable to that of the original assessors. However, this process cannot adequately capture assessment-types where the only evidence is proxies to the original achievement. In this chapter, the authors explore the concept of authentic assessments, the benefits of incorporating them within study programs, identify challenges pertaining to their presence to holistic quality assurance (QA) processes in general, and the role of the external examiner in particular. The authors will demonstrate how adopting non-intrusive technologies for recording and verifying authentic assessment practices can strengthen the QA process for the benefit of all stakeholders. For illustration, a case study is employed to demonstrate how these challenges have been tackled regarding performance-based authentic assessments at an institution in Norway. The chapter concludes with a summary plus a call to arms for further research into how quality and consistency can be assured when authentic assessments are employed.

In recent years, a number of significant Australian initiatives in schools have focused on a deeper understanding of the process and the role of leadership in cultivating and promoting the core work of the school – teaching and learning. This chapter reports the research findings of the Leaders Transforming Learning and Learners (LTLL) Program (2004–2009) and in particular on how teachers experienced the changed approaches to leadership and the resultant ownership and commitment to the various learning projects utilized to implement a new framework for learning. The purpose of the project was to develop and implement with nine schools a professional learning program to assist schools and teachers transform their teaching and learning processes through leadership practices that emphasised sharing. The program was premised on a strong view that transformative learning must be the objective of all schools and a critical element of the responsibilities of leaders in those schools. A framework for leadership and learning highlights the importance of moral purpose for learning innovations, teacher leadership as the core imperative for school change and the critical elements of authentic learning and educative leadership that contribute to successful linking of learning and leading.

This chapter suggests a perspective on dealing with the future as dealing with uncertainty, which necessitates an alteration of the current learning paradigm and the adoption of a model that, not only accommodates, but also anticipates and embraces diversity, variety, and differences in knowledge. It calls for a model that moves beyond pre-determined content and learned solutions to seeding creativity and cultivating improvization. It approaches education as lifelong learning, as necessarily transformative, creative and authentic. It posits that dealing with the uncertainties of the future requires the acquisition of skills of mitigation and improvization that anticipate, not only mitigate; but to acquire the ability to see and create opportunities out of uncertainty. It endeavors to explore the ways by which higher education can address the need for facing the uncertainties of the future and the complexity of the sustainability challenges.

This chapter critically examines the implications of different pedagogical perspectives, approaches, and strategies for the design and implementation of technology-enhanced learning. The key tenets of different pedagogical perspectives are unpacked, including behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism, socio-constructivism, and connectivism, with reference to how technology can be used to instantiate them. A range of different pedagogical approaches, including collaborative learning, problem-based learning, inquiry-based learning, constructionist learning, design-based learning, and games-based learning are discussed in relation to the use of technology and the previously identified pedagogical perspectives. Pedagogical strategies at a more instantaneous level are also considered, as are the goals of technology-enhanced learning in terms of promoting authentic and meaningful learning. The critical role of the teacher when applying pedagogies using technology, as well as associated issues, are discussed throughout.

‘Education for employability’ has been the mantra of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) since its inception. To attain that, the 28 participating countries agreed to implement reforms aimed at bridging higher education (HE) curricula and learning strategies and the labour market demands. Indeed, the global financial crisis and the euro area crisis and the surge in youth unemployment they led to have reconfirmed the validity of this policy imperative. Clearly, several challenges beset the transition from content- to competence-based HE. By elaborating on the case of the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) this chapter, identifies and discusses them critically. Recommendations relevant for HE leadership conclude the discussion.

This chapter deals with aspects of the overall criticism in regard to higher education and its growing discrepancy between theory and practice, and the meaning of problem-based and authentic learning. The chapter is based on two specific cases that illustrate how higher education is organized in Sweden, and how education could be organized to correspond to the demands of authentic learning and a new form of knowledge production. Work-based learning started as an alternative to the ordinary three-year nursing program at a university college in the western part of Sweden. One main finding was that the students experienced the relation between the different types of teaching in the program as weak, and the different learning contexts in the program as being separate from each other. Higher Vocational Education (HVE) is a market-oriented vocational higher education program with close cooperation between an educational provider and working life. Work-based learning is a cornerstone of HVE, and authentic learning in a real-life setting constitutes a single course governed by its own syllabus. One main finding, was that students experienced a lack of progression in the work tasks and the subject content of the school-based education was not advanced enough. Workplace learning can serve as a structuring resource in education, but it can also be problematic because knowledge is inherent in routines and technologies.

Chapter 7 synthesizes the perception research into plausible design and configuration strategies for the learning experience dimension of a psychophysical learning system. The processes used in all five senses to reduce information into a perception are again used to create learning activities and processes, which facilitate the learning and discriminate meaning from the learning objects and activities. This process attends to the interactions across the categories of content to determine the critical components of the discipline to include in the learning experience. Once again, the focus of the psychophysical learning experience is placed on the structure of the (external) discipline, which is used to configure the learning experiences.

This chapter explores how a distinctive classroom space – the Multi-Channel Sound Studio – became the focus of a collaborative, interdisciplinary project which simulated the real-world challenges of writing, performing and recording a professional standard radio drama to a tight deadline. Students from six different degree programs combined to create an original production depicting events in the early stages of World War Two. Students had a unique opportunity to work with academics and other students on a live brief project, to exercise their creativity and take the chance to gain vocationally relevant skills. Students learned first-hand the challenges associated with a fast-paced project that had input from multiple voices and a shared responsibility for the successful outcome of a piece of work bound for public exhibition. The discussion and lessons learnt from this project are of value to colleagues interested in pursuing authentic, collaborative and interdisciplinary projects with their students both within and beyond arts-based disciplines.

This chapter provides an introduction to how the inquiry-based learning (IBL) approach is being used by colleges and universities around the world to strengthen the interconnections between teaching, learning, and research within the multidisciplinary programs. This chapter provides a synthesis and analysis of all the chapters in the volume, which present a range of perspectives, case studies, and empirical research on how IBL is being used across a range of courses across a range of institutions within multidisciplinary programs. The chapter argues that the IBL approach has great potential to enhance and transform teaching and learning. Given the growing demands placed on education to meet a diverse range of complex political, economic, and social problems and personal needs, this chapter argues that education should be a place where students learn “how-to-learn” – where increasingly higher levels of self-directed learning is fostered – and where students grow in the three key areas of learning: cognitively, emotionally, and socially. To that end, this chapter argues that IBL, if designed and implemented properly, can be an important approach to enhancing and transforming teaching and learning.