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Article
Publication date: 9 January 2024

Tripp Harris, Tracey Birdwell and Merve Basdogan

Systematic efforts to study students' use of informal learning spaces are crucial for determining how, when and why students use such spaces. This case study provides an example…

Abstract

Purpose

Systematic efforts to study students' use of informal learning spaces are crucial for determining how, when and why students use such spaces. This case study provides an example of an effort to evaluate an informal learning space on the basis of students' usage of the space and the features within the space.

Design/methodology/approach

Use of heatmap camera technology and a semi-structured interview with a supervisor of an informal learning space supported the mixed-methods evaluation of the space.

Findings

Findings from both the heatmap outputs and semi-structured interview suggested that students' use of the informal learning space is limited due to the location of the space on campus and circumstances surrounding students' day-to-day schedules and needs.

Practical implications

Findings from both the heatmap outputs and semi-structured interview suggested that students' use of the informal learning space is limited due to the location of the space on campus and circumstances surrounding students' day-to-day schedules and needs. These findings are actively contributing to the authors’ institution’s efforts surrounding planning, funding and design of other informal learning spaces on campus.

Originality/value

While most research on instructors' and students' use of space has taken place in formal classrooms, some higher education scholars have explored ways in which college and university students use informal spaces around their campuses (e.g. Harrop and Turpin, 2013; Ramu et al., 2022). Given the extensive time students spend on their campuses outside of formal class meetings (Deepwell and Malik, 2008), higher education institutions must take measures to better understand how their students use informal learning spaces to allocate resources toward the optimization of such spaces. This mixed-methods case study advances the emerging global discussion on how, when and why students use informal learning spaces.

Details

Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-7003

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 30 April 2024

Birgitte Wraae, Michael Breum Ramsgaard, Katarina Ellborg and Nicolai Nybye

The contemporary focus on extracurricular activities, here the educational incubator environment, accentuates a need to understand what we offer students in terms of the…

Abstract

The contemporary focus on extracurricular activities, here the educational incubator environment, accentuates a need to understand what we offer students in terms of the curricular and extracurricular learning environments when situated in the same higher education institution (HEI). Current research points towards breaking down the invisible barriers and silo thinking. In this conceptual study, we apply the Didaktik triangle as a theoretical and conceptual framing to make comparisons of structurally based conditions for curricular and extracurricular entrepreneurship education (EE). We present a framework that helps bridge the ‘what’, ‘why’, and ‘how’ questions in the two different learning spaces and, thereby, conjoin educators and consultants in possible pedagogical discussions on how they work with the students. The suggested bridge frames a wider ‘why’ and adds a more holistic and cohesive view of the two different types of settings. Our study contributes to the literature on how to bridge the blurred lines between curricular and extracurricular activities and break down the silos. The framework can act as an inspiration for entrepreneurship educators and practitioners who wish to provide more suitable and sustainable structures and develop a holistic learning environment.

Details

Extracurricular Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Activity: A Global and Holistic Perspective
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80382-372-0

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 November 2023

Bronwyn A. Sutton

School climate strikes are opening spaces of appearance, becoming differently active forms of public pedagogy where new and previously unthought collective climate action is…

Abstract

Purpose

School climate strikes are opening spaces of appearance, becoming differently active forms of public pedagogy where new and previously unthought collective climate action is possible. This inquiry contributes to understanding school climate strikes as important forms of climate justice activism by exploring how they work as public pedagogy.

Design/methodology/approach

The inquiry process involved poetic inquiry to produce an affective poetic witness statement to an event of school climate strikes, and then a performative enactment of diffractive reading using the poem created. The diffractive reading is used to conceptualise school climate strikes as public pedagogy and move towards an understanding of how school climate strikes work as public pedagogy. Diffused throughout is the question of where the more-than-human fits in public pedagogy and youth climate justice activism.

Findings

School climate strikes are dynamic and differently acting (diffracting) public pedagogies that work by open spaces of appearance that enable capacities for collective action in heterogeneous political spaces. Consideration of entanglements and intra-actions between learner, place, knowledge and climate change are productive in understanding how phenomena work as public pedagogy.

Originality/value

This inquiry extends on important considerations in both climate change education and public pedagogy scholarship. It diffuses consideration of the more-than-human throughout the inquiry and enacts a move beyond the humanist limits of existing public pedagogy scholarship by introducing climate intra-action, heterogeneous political spaces and non-conforming learning to an understanding of activist public pedagogies and the educative agent.

Details

Qualitative Research Journal, vol. 24 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1443-9883

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 12 January 2024

Peter Bryant

The purpose of this article is to posit an alternative learning design approach to the technology-led magnification and multiplication of learning and to the linearity of…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to posit an alternative learning design approach to the technology-led magnification and multiplication of learning and to the linearity of curricular design approaches such as a constructive alignment. Learning design ecosystem thinking creates complex and interactive networks of activity that engage the widest span of the community in addressing critical pedagogical challenges. They identify the pinch-points where negative engagements become structured into the student experience and design pathways for students to navigate their way through the uncertainty and transitions of higher education at-scale.

Design/methodology/approach

It is a conceptual paper drawing on a deep and critical engagement of literature, a reflexive approach to the dominant paradigms and informed by practice.

Findings

Learning design ecosystems create spaces within at-scale education for deep learning to occur. They are not easy to design or maintain. They are epistemically and pedagogically complex, especially when deployed within the structures of an institution. As Gough (2013) argues, complexity reduction should not be the sole purpose of designing an educational experience and the transitional journey into and through complexity that students studying in these ecosystems take can engender them with resonant, deeply human and transdisciplinary graduate capabilities that will shape their career journey.

Research limitations/implications

The paper is theoretical in nature (although underpinned by rigorous evaluation of practice). There are limitations in scope in part defined by the amorphous definitions of scale. It is also limited to the contexts of higher education although it is not bound to them.

Originality/value

This paper challenges the dialectic that argues for a complexity reduction in higher education and posits the benefits of complexity, connection and transition in the design and delivery of education at-scale.

Details

Journal of Work-Applied Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2205-2062

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 May 2024

Behnam Soltani and Michael Tomlinson

This study introduces a non-orthodox approach to the dominant policy-based approaches to graduate employability through contextualizing international students’ everyday…

Abstract

Purpose

This study introduces a non-orthodox approach to the dominant policy-based approaches to graduate employability through contextualizing international students’ everyday experiences within their educational and wider structural contexts of the labour market.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used narrative frames to collect data from 180 international students from China, Hong Kong, India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Nepal at a New Zealand tertiary institution. Narrative frames as a research tool in educational contexts are used to ellicit the experiences of individuals in the form of a story as participants reflect on their experience. The frames use sentence starters to draw responses from participants about their experiences (Barkhuizen and Wette, 2008).

Findings

This study argues that, through a socialization process, international students develop identities that fit an ever-changing labour market. This process is catalysed by a higher education landscape that produces career-ready subjects capable of appropriating different social spaces that prepare students and graduates to enter the labour market. Further, it argues that graduate employability should be understood as a complex process through which students and graduates socialise themselves through negotiating the socioacademic spaces by (1) familiarising themselves with the dominant workspace norms, (2) positioning themselves as more career-ready individuals, and (3) imagigining employable selves capable of meeting the needs of the job market.

Research limitations/implications

This study has limitations. Only one data collection source has been used. It would have been great to use narrative frames along with interviews. In addition, the data would have been stronger if the researcher could have used classroom observations, which could be a future initiative.

Practical implications

This study could provide practical insights to tertiary institutions about international students’ developing capabilities and identities so they could better prepare themselves for the world of work. Further, this study provides insights about some of the challenges that international students face in tertiary contexts to become career-ready. Hence, educators could employ strategies to better support these learners in their everyday learning spaces. This study also has useful benefits for future and current international students and international graduates regarding what investments they need to make so they can better socialize themselves in their tertiary and workplace practices.

Social implications

This study has social implications. It helps international students better understand the social, cultural and academic expectations of their host countries. Therefore, they could better socialize themselves into those practices and contribute more effectively to their academic and workplace communities. The study also helps academic and workplace institutions strategize more effectively to address the social and cultural needs of international graduates. The study also contributes to the social and cultural understanding of the teachers that engage with international students on a daily basis by helping them devise activities that better address these students’ and graduates’ needs.

Originality/value

The study adds theoretical and methodological value to the debates around graduate employability. It includes the voices of 180 students and unravels their day-to-day experiences of capability building and employability development from their own perspectives.

Details

Education + Training, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0040-0912

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 September 2023

Taeyeon Kim, Minseok Yang and Yujin Oh

This study aims to explore how educational leaders in South Korea adopted equity mindsets and how they organized changes to support students' deeper learning during COVID-19.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore how educational leaders in South Korea adopted equity mindsets and how they organized changes to support students' deeper learning during COVID-19.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors developed a comprehensive framework of Equity Leadership for Deeper Learning, by revising the existing model of Darling-Hammond and Darling-Hammond (2022) and synthesizing equity leadership literature. Drawing upon this framework, this study analyzed data collected from individual interviews and a focus group with school and district administrators in the K-12 Korean education system.

Findings

The participants prioritized an equity stance of their leadership by critically understanding socio-political conditions, challenging unjust policies, and envisioning the big picture of equity-centered education. This led them to operationalize equity leadership in practice and create a more inclusive and supportive environment for student-centered deeper learning. District leaders established well-resourced systems by creating/developing instructional resources and making policies more useful. School leaders promoted quality teaching by strengthening access, developing student-centered curricula, and establishing individualized programs for more equitable deeper learning.

Research limitations/implications

This study builds on scholarship of deeper learning and equity leadership by adding evidence from Korean educational leaders during COVID-19. First, the findings highlight the significance of leaders' equity mindsets in creating a safe and inclusive environment for deeper learning. This study further suggests that sharing an equity stance as a collective norm at the system level, spanning across districts and schools is important, which is instrumental to scale up innovation and reform initiatives. Second, this research also extends comparative, culturally informed perspectives to understand educational leadership. Most contemporary leadership theories originated from and are informed by Western and English-speaking contexts despite being widely applied to other contexts across the culture. This study's analysis underscores the importance of contextualizing leadership practices within the socio-historical contexts that influence how education systems are established and operate.

Practical implications

Leaders' adopting equity mindsets, utilizing bureaucratic resources in creative ways and implementing a school-wide quality curriculum are crucial to supporting students' deeper learning. District leaders can leverage existing vertical and horizontal networks to effectively communicate with teachers and local communities to establish well-recourced systems. As deeper learning is timeless and requires high levels of student engagement, school leaders' efforts to establish school-wide curricula is critical to facilitate deeper learning for students.

Originality/value

The study provides a nuanced understanding of how equity focused leaders responded to difficulties caused by the pandemic and strategized to support students' deeper learning. Existing studies tend to prioritize teacher effects on student learning, positing leadership effects as secondary or indirect. Alternatively, the authors argue that, without leadership supporting an inclusive environment, resourceful systems and student-centered school culture, deeper learning cannot be fully achieved in equitable ways.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 62 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 October 2023

Helen Frances Harrison, Elizabeth Anne Kinsella, Stephen Loftus, Sandra DeLuca, Gregory McGovern, Isabelle Belanger and Tristan Eugenio

This study aims to investigate student mentors' perceptions of peer mentor relationships in a health professions education program.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate student mentors' perceptions of peer mentor relationships in a health professions education program.

Design/methodology/approach

The design uses embodied hermeneutic phenomenology. The data comprise 10 participant interviews and visual “body maps” produced in response to guided questions.

Findings

The findings about student mentors' perceptions of peer mentor relationships include a core theme of nurturing a trusting learning community and five related themes of attunement to mentees, commonality of experiences, friends with boundaries, reciprocity in learning and varied learning spaces.

Originality/value

The study contributes original insights by highlighting complexity, shifting boundaries, liminality, embodied social understanding and trusting intersubjective relations as key considerations in student peer mentor relationships.

Book part
Publication date: 20 November 2023

Felix Mata, Miguel Torres-Ruiz, Roberto Zagal, Jacobo G. González León and Rolando Quintero

This chapter presents a combined approach of social and open data to evaluate a hybrid education model with online and face-to-face classes. The study consists of a sample of 310…

Abstract

This chapter presents a combined approach of social and open data to evaluate a hybrid education model with online and face-to-face classes. The study consists of a sample of 310 students from the UPIITA-IPN college. Thus, a grouping model was applied based on each student's profile and academic performance in various subjects to identify patterns and learning styles. In addition, a social sensor of emotions was implemented to measure reactions in online and face-to-face classes. It helped to identify which strategies and methods are most significant for student performance. Data were collected from forms and the Twitter social network, filtering data by general opinions about learning and experiences in class. Considering trends and patterns, we identified four types:

Pattern (1) personalization of learning: This group stood out because online teaching allows you to work at your own pace and on your own schedule. In addition, a trend toward a more individualized learning approach or the versatility of personalizing learning was observed. Pattern (2) an excessive number of channels and information: This group of students was characterized by feeling overwhelmed by the amount of information they must process in an online environment, in addition, to using various communication channels (messaging, Classroom, Zoom, Teams, email, among others) this was associated with a feeling of isolation and a lack of commitment. Pattern (3) inequality and asynchronous learning: Students with difficult access to adequate resources at home (connection, own computer, etc.). They were characterized by not being able to have the same performance in the different learning activities and expressed that the content must be adapted to the individual needs of the students. Technical problems, such as Internet connection failures or problems with electronic devices, interrupted the learning process and generated frustration for students and teachers. Pattern (4) lack of social interaction: This affected the student's ability to develop social and emotional skills. Moreover, it generates difficulties for the students to collaborate, slowing the development of social and emotional skills. It concluded that a hybrid model is successful, having schemes combined with 65% face-to-face sessions and 35% online.

Article
Publication date: 14 December 2022

Orcun Kepez and Selin Üst

The aim of this study is to understand the effect of class configurations in an active learning classroom (ALC) on students' self-perception of experiences and learning outcomes…

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study is to understand the effect of class configurations in an active learning classroom (ALC) on students' self-perception of experiences and learning outcomes, namely participation, performance, motivation and creativity.

Design/methodology/approach

A self-administered survey (N = 131) was conducted in seven classes from the varied disciplines of communication, interior design and architecture. During the first half of the semester, all selected courses were conducted in traditional classrooms, whereas those in the second half were conducted in an ALC. ALC was designed to be used with several furniture configurations which could be easily set up by members of the learning community themselves. The survey was conducted at the end of semester before final exams, when students have a clear idea of the experiences in both the traditional and the new (ALC) classrooms, having spent equal time in each of these learning environments.

Findings

The main finding of the study is that students were eager to have future classes in the ALC rather than in traditional settings since the students experienced better learning outcomes in the ALC. During the second half of the semester, students who were in classes conducted following active learning (AL) pedagogies, with its supportive spatial configurations, were more aware of the learning outcomes facilitated by the physical environment. Further, the authors found that the increase in the number of furniture configurations has a statistically significant positive impact on learning outcomes.

Originality/value

AL pedagogy is often studied as a way of teaching and rarely with its associated classroom environments. In most of the existing studies, the configuration of furniture has often been overlooked within an AL environment by a learning community. This study fills the gap in emphasising the spatial aspects of the ALC by focusing on the specific pedagogy being followed.

Details

Archnet-IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research, vol. 18 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2631-6862

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 2 October 2023

Razia Fakir Mohammad and Mahwish Kamran

This research aims to understand how satisfied students were with their online learning experience and how actively engaged they were in their studies.

1331

Abstract

Purpose

This research aims to understand how satisfied students were with their online learning experience and how actively engaged they were in their studies.

Design/methodology/approach

To study the breadth and depth of students' experiences and fully address the research aims, the researchers utilized a mixed method. Through a survey questionnaire with both closed-ended and open-ended questions, student responses were gathered. On a five-point Likert scale, the closed-ended questions were co-constructed. The research participants included students attending Pakistan's private university in Karachi. Participants from all programs were the authors' focus (i.e. undergraduate and graduate). A total of 552 students completed the survey questionnaire.

Findings

The study reveals students' level of satisfaction with their online encounters. Contextual restrictions, such as power outages, bad internet, a lack of a private place and administrative problems, make it difficult to access and connect during learning sessions. Additionally, the student's perception of online learning as being more secure and safe in terms of their physical safety was an intriguing finding. They also see the integration of online and in-person learning as advantageous because it might reduce travel expenses and time while also giving them access to independent study resources. Given its many benefits, this research supports the use of online learning in higher education. Online education promotes a healthy mix of teacher- and student-centered instruction.

Research limitations/implications

Moreover, the findings indicate that effective non-verbal communication occurs when students interact with a teacher and colleague face-to-face. In a face-to-face teaching situation, good body language may inspire, engage and motivate students. Better learning outcomes result from being able to interpret people's body language, whether it be eye contact or posture, and alter the topic and approach. Keeping in view the recent nature of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, no research has been carried out on this topic to date or on such a wide-scale transition to online learning, specifically in the context of higher education in Pakistan (Dincer, 2018). This research is unique in its kind as it focuses on the impact of online learning on the affective domain as well.

Practical implications

Given the contextual concerns, teachers must find alternative educational insights that will enable students to reduce listening demands, improve self-learning and promote engagement.

Social implications

Therefore, in the authors' context, it is a unique finding that students felt socially isolated. While numerous studies have examined anxiety, still there is still a dearth of literature regarding stress factors (Dincer, 2018). The current study provided substantial information on the impact of online learning on students' stress levels, and the consequence is that they were strained out because they felt socially isolated. Additionally, these findings are in alignment with the qualitative data showing a problem of student isolation and a lack of engagement. Since the face-to-face mode had provided them with the time and space, they were able to engage in educational socialization outside the boundaries of the classroom, such as casual conversations during breaks, gatherings at coffee shops and working on group projects at the library.

Originality/value

This research was conducted in the context of Pakistan.

Details

Asian Association of Open Universities Journal, vol. 18 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1858-3431

Keywords

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