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1 – 10 of over 2000Kristina Areskoug Josefsson and Gerd Hilde Lunde
Sexual health is insufficiently addressed in health care and higher education, which can lead to lower quality of life and negative health outcomes. To improve the situation, it…
Abstract
Purpose
Sexual health is insufficiently addressed in health care and higher education, which can lead to lower quality of life and negative health outcomes. To improve the situation, it is necessary to address both the needs of patients and professionals and collaboratively engage in finding sustainable solutions. The purpose of this paper is to explore the feasibility and value of large-scale digital coproduction in higher education.
Design/methodology/approach
A study of a project that developed seven interprofessional, digital master-level courses covering different topics related to sexual health. The project was performed through digital coproduction in higher education, with over 100 persons with various backgrounds working together online in designing content and novel digital learning activities.
Findings
Large-scale digital coproduction in higher education is feasible and valuable, but the process demands sensitive leadership, understanding of coproduction processes and willingness to learn from each other. To meet the demands from practice it is important to understand the complexity, ever-changing and unpredictable working life changes which, in turn, demands engagement in continuous learning, training activities and the need for formal education.
Originality/value
The study provides learning of the feasibility of the value of large-scale digital coproduction in higher education, which is a novel way of working in higher education.
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Andrew Cram, Stephanie Wilson, Matthew Taylor and Craig Mellare
This paper aims to identify and evaluate resolutions to key learning and teaching challenges in very large courses that involve practical mathematics, such as foundational finance.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to identify and evaluate resolutions to key learning and teaching challenges in very large courses that involve practical mathematics, such as foundational finance.
Design/methodology/approach
A design-based research approach is used across three semesters to iteratively identify practical problems within the course and then develop and evaluate resolutions to these problems. Data are collected from both students and teachers and analysed using a mixed-method approach.
Findings
The results indicate that key learning and teaching challenges in large foundational finance courses can be mitigated through appropriate consistency of learning materials; check-your-understanding interactive online content targeting foundational concepts in the early weeks; connection points between students and the coordinator to increase teacher presence; a sustained focus on supporting student achievement within assessments; and signposting relevance of content for the broader program and professional settings. Multiple design iterations using a co-design approach were beneficial to incrementally improve the course and consider multiple perspectives within the design process.
Practical implications
This paper develops a set of design principles to provide guidance to other practitioners who seek to improve their own courses.
Originality/value
The use of design-based research and mixed-method approaches that consider both student and teacher perspectives to examine the design of very large, foundational finance courses is novel.
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This study aims at assessing item fairness in students' evaluation of teaching based on students' academic college using measurement invariance analysis (MI).
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims at assessing item fairness in students' evaluation of teaching based on students' academic college using measurement invariance analysis (MI).
Design/methodology/approach
The sample of this study consists of 17,270 undergraduate students from 12 different academic colleges. SET survey consists of 20 Likert-type items distributed to four factors: planning, instruction, management and assessment was used to collect the data. The Lavaan R package with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to evaluate measurement invariance (MI). Four models of CFA were investigated and assessed: the configural model, the metric model, the scalar model and the residual invariance model. ANOVA was used to test the differences in SET according to academic colleges.
Findings
MI analysis showed that the four levels of MI models are supported. ANOVA test showed that means of SET total scores are statistically different according to students' academic colleges. College of “Education” has the highest SET mean (88.64 out of 100), and all the differences between the College of Education’s SET mean and other colleges' SET means are statistically significant.
Practical implications
The study recommends that higher education institutions test the MI of SET according to academic colleges and then use colleges with the highest SET at the university level as internal benchmarking to develop and enhance their teaching practices.
Originality/value
This study is probably the only study that tested MI according to students' colleges before testing the differences between colleges in SET. If MI is not supported, then the comparisons between academic colleges are not applicable.
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Harshleen Kaur Duggal, Puja Khatri, Asha Thomas and Marco Pironti
Massive open online courses (MOOCs), a Taylorist attempt to automate instruction, help make course delivery more efficient, economical and better. As an implementation of Digital…
Abstract
Purpose
Massive open online courses (MOOCs), a Taylorist attempt to automate instruction, help make course delivery more efficient, economical and better. As an implementation of Digital Taylorism Implementation (DTI), MOOCs enable individuals to obtain an occupation-oriented education, equipping them with knowledge and skills needed to stay employable. However, learning through online platforms can induce tremendous amounts of technology-related stress in learners such as complexity of platforms and fears of redundancy. Thus, the aim of this paper is to study how student perceptions of DTI and technostress (TS) influence their perceived employability (PE). The role of TS as a mediator between DTI and PE has also been studied.
Design/methodology/approach
Stratified sampling technique has been used to obtain data from 305 students from 6 universities. The effect of DTI and TS on PE, and the role of TS as a mediator, has been examined using the partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modelling approach with SMART PLS 4.0. software. Predictive relevance of the model has been studied using PLSPredict.
Findings
Results indicate that TS completely mediates the relationship between DTI and PE. The model has medium predictive relevance.
Practical implications
Learning outcomes from Digitally Taylored programs can be improved with certain reforms that bring the human touch to online learning.
Originality/value
This study extends Taylorism literature by linking DTI to PE of students via technostress as a mediator.
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Daniel Mican and Dan-Andrei Sitar-Taut
The current study aims to empirically analyze the influence of different information sources, together with the persuasiveness of recommender systems (RSs) on the consumer’s…
Abstract
Purpose
The current study aims to empirically analyze the influence of different information sources, together with the persuasiveness of recommender systems (RSs) on the consumer’s purchase intention (PI). It also expands the research on RSs from the point of view of consumer behavior and psychology, considering perceived usefulness and relevance. In addition, it analyzes how different types of personalized recommendations, along with non-personalized ones, influence PI.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed model has been validated using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), based on the data collected from 597 online shoppers.
Findings
This study proves that both information search and RSs influence PI, being complementary rather than mutually exclusive. Recommender systems’ findings indicate that the PI is primarily influenced by the perceived relevance of RSs, the information provided by manufacturers and reviews. Moreover, only the influence of the perceived usefulness of personalized recommendations strongly affects PI. Conversely, non-personalized recommendations do not affect PI.
Practical implications
Developers should focus on increasing the perceived usefulness and relevance of RSs. Thus, they could adopt the hybridization of RSs with the aggregation of both personal shopping behavior and social network contacts. It should integrate information signals from multiple sources to include sentiment extracted from reviews or links to the manufacturer’s page. Furthermore, the recommendation of discounted products must be only for products preferred by customers, because only these influence the PI.
Originality/value
This research provides a structural model that examines together, for the first time, the influence on the PI of the main RSs and sources of information.
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This uses quantitative and qualitative methods in assessing performance and process outcomes in a team lecture hybrid (TLH) instructional design applied in a public affairs course.
Abstract
Purpose
This uses quantitative and qualitative methods in assessing performance and process outcomes in a team lecture hybrid (TLH) instructional design applied in a public affairs course.
Design/methodology/approach
Within a non-experimental prospective design, individual and team outcomes were assessed as follows: survey of student perceptions of learning outcomes; comparison of individual and group scores on in-class case analyses using paired t-tests; external reviewers' observations of traditional lecture versus TLH activities; and analysis of students' reflections on team dynamics using a team process reflection tool adapted from four team development stages.
Findings
The following student learning outcomes results were observed: increased use of critical thinking; higher student interaction with other students and the instructor; higher student engagement in initiating or contributing to content or other learning activities; higher student enthusiasm; increased use of problem-solving skills; improved performance evidenced by quality of individual versus group products; evidence suggesting improvements in student learning outcomes when active learners and an active instructor interact in a learning environment.
Practical implications
Instructor practice tips were provided in the following areas: use of assessment methods; student engagement as an active instructor; motivational tips for classes with students from a variety of disciplines; and individual team member accountability.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the scholarship of teaching and learning (SOTL) by addressing limitations in both traditional and collaborative learning models and expanding holistic evaluations in SOTL.
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Ariel Cornett and Erin Piedmont
Place-based, social studies teaching and learning has the potential to foster engaged citizens connected and committed to improving their communities. This study explored the…
Abstract
Purpose
Place-based, social studies teaching and learning has the potential to foster engaged citizens connected and committed to improving their communities. This study explored the research question, “In what ways do classroom and field-based experiences prepare teacher candidates (TCs) to make connections between place-based education and elementary social studies education?”
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative case study examined how elementary TCs learned about, researched, curated and created place-based social studies educational resources related to community sites. Data collection included TCs’ Pre- and Post-Course Reflections as well as Self-Evaluations, which were analyzed using an inductive approach and multiple rounds of concept coding. Several themes emerged through data analysis.
Findings
The authors organized their findings around three themes: connections (i.e. place becomes personal), immersion (i.e. learning about place to learning in place) and bridge building (i.e. local as classroom). The classroom and field-based experiences in the elementary social studies methods course informed the ways in which TCs learned about and connected to the concept of place, experienced place in a specific place (i.e. downtown Statesboro, Georgia), and reflected upon the myriad ways that they could utilize place in their future elementary social studies classrooms.
Originality/value
TCs (as well as in-service teachers and teacher educators) must become more informed, connected and committed to places within their local communities in order to consider them as resources for elementary social studies teaching and learning.
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Joe Campbell, Kylienne Shaul, Kristina M. Slagle and David Sovic
Prior research suggests that collaboration is key to sustainable community development and environmental management, and peer-to-peer learning (P2PL) may facilitate community…
Abstract
Purpose
Prior research suggests that collaboration is key to sustainable community development and environmental management, and peer-to-peer learning (P2PL) may facilitate community building and collaborative learning skills. This study aims to examine the effect of P2PL on the enhancement of environmental management and sustainable development skills, community building and social capital (i.e. connectedness) and understanding of course learning objectives.
Design/methodology/approach
Quantitative and qualitative longitudinal survey data was collected in a sustainable development focused course offered at a large American public university that uses P2PL to explicitly facilitate community building and collaborative skills. Safety precautions and changing locational course offerings due to the COVID-19 pandemic in years 2020, 2021 and 2022 provided an opportunity to evaluate the impact of P2PL on these skills during both virtual and in-person formats. Additionally, this study compared in-course student evaluations with students taking other sustainable development-related courses with collaborative learning aspects to understand the wider effectiveness of this course structure.
Findings
This study finds that course format (virtual vs in-person) overall made no difference in either connectedness or conceptual understandings, and that students in both formats felt more connected to others than students taking other courses with P2PL. Scaffolding P2PL and supplemental peer support can yield improved connectedness and learning among students taking environmental coursework.
Originality/value
Sustainable development requires group collaboration and partnership building skills. Issues are consistently raised about the challenges to teaching these skills in higher education. The students and instructors in this research study identify P2PL strategies to address these challenges for in-person and virtual classroom settings.
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This article describes an effort to ease the tension between boundary spanning roles for interns participating in a yearlong Professional Development School (PDS) program. In…
Abstract
Purpose
This article describes an effort to ease the tension between boundary spanning roles for interns participating in a yearlong Professional Development School (PDS) program. In order to do this, the structure of a Social Studies Methods course was revised to mimic a professional learning community (PLC) and assignments were not evaluated for grades.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual paper that relies on self-reflection as well as student reaction, work samples and survey data.
Findings
The findings demonstrate both practices contribute to a collegial and less stressful environment for interns, while not affecting the quality of work submitted.
Originality/value
This paper highlights two of the nine NAPDS essentials, Professional Learning and Leading (3) and Boundary Spanning (8), and describes the ways both are incorporated and addressed in a PDS situated methods course. Describing course revisions, including the implementation of an ungrading practice, provides examples for potential replication.
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Andrei Ternikov and Mikhail Blyakher
This paper focuses on the factors related to faculty workload in the context of resource scarcity to examine whether there is a relationship between them and grade inflation.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper focuses on the factors related to faculty workload in the context of resource scarcity to examine whether there is a relationship between them and grade inflation.
Design/methodology/approach
As for methodological novelty, the authors created an indicator of students' expectations about grades that is related to grade inflation and conducted regression analysis using cluster-robust error correction based on this indicator.
Findings
The results suggested that proper workload allocation among the faculty can mitigate grade inflation. Namely, such measures as control for concurrent courses, the length of courses and the labor intensity of the faculty are suggested for grade inflation prevention.
Originality/value
Academic literature posits that a steep increase in average grades might cause a long-term depreciation of the quality of higher education. This article is, therefore, focused on various factors connected with grade inflation in higher education. The authors highlighted problems associated with teaching evaluation imperfections, academic norm transformation and workload intensity.
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