Mapping the Core Concepts of Physiology Across Australian University Curricula.

ObjectivesPatients do better in research-intense environments. The importance of research is reflected in the accreditation requirements of Australian clinical specialist colleges. The nature of college-mandated research training has not been...

The primary purpose of this innovative research was to investigate the influence of virtual science learning applications and student engagement and performance in Anatomy and Physiology courses at Abuyog Community College. Recognizing the increasing integration of digital tools in education, this study sought to determine how such applications could enhance student learning experiences and outcomes compared to traditional methods. Several key research questions drove this study. These questions were: How do virtual learning applications impact student engagement in Anatomy and Physiology courses? What effects do these tools have on students' performance and understanding of the subject matter? How do students perceive virtual learning applications relative to conventional teaching methods? Which components of these applications correlate most strongly with improved learning outcomes? To address these questions, an experimental research design was employed, involving 30 students divided equally into control and experimental groups. The control group followed traditional learning methods, while the experimental group utilized virtual learning applications. Data collection methods included pre-tests and post-tests to measure academic performance, as well as Likert scale surveys and open-ended questions to capture student perceptions and experiences. The intervention featured the introduction of innovative interactive virtual learning tools. These tools were specifically designed to teach complex anatomical and physiological concepts through engaging, visual, and hands-on experiences. They provided unique features such as 3D models, real-time simulations, and immediate feedback mechanisms. The findings revealed that students in the experimental group showed significant improvement in both engagement and academic performance. The Likert scale results indicated that the virtual learning applications increased student motivation and active participation. Open-ended responses highlighted that student found the interactive features and visual aids particularly beneficial for understanding difficult concepts and maintaining interest. These results suggest that virtual science learning applications can be a powerful tool in enhancing student engagement and learning outcomes in Anatomy and Physiology. The study supports the integration of such digital tools into the curriculum to foster a more interactive and effective learning environment, providing practical insights for educators and curriculum developers. Future research should explore the long-term impacts of these applications and their potential in other educational contexts.

Researchers, practitioners, and policy‐makers in many countries are grappling with ways to address the persistent problem of inequitable educational outcomes between advantaged and disadvantaged students. This paper reports the results of a unique cross‐country, cross‐cultural analysis undertaken to provide insights into teaching practices that promote equity, drawing on programmes of empirical research or syntheses of major programmes of research that worked from a complex, non‐linear view of teaching and its outcomes. We analysed international evidence about teaching practices that have a positive influence on diverse students’ learning outcomes and opportunities and then compared and contrasted the results of these analyses. From the commonalities we identified, we derived six interconnected facets of practice for equity, which are general principles of practice rather than specific teaching strategies or behaviours. Building on these facets, we developed a conceptual framework that can inform an equity‐centred teacher education curriculum that specifically addresses the task of preparing teachers who can make a positive difference to the learning opportunities and outcomes of diverse students, particularly those historically disadvantaged by the education system.

This chapter first introduces the Chinese cultural heritage in relation to education, namely Confucianism, Yi Jing (The Book of Changes) and Da Xue (The Great Learning). It then discusses the author’s own learning and teaching journeys in China and in Australia, as a case study, to demonstrate how the Chinese cultural heritage has been influencing his learning and teaching rationale, methods and practices in Australian universities. This chapter also offers three conceptual frameworks: (1) A 24/7 E-Learning 2.0 Framework; (2) A 6D Teaching Rationale Framework and (3) A 4D Improving Your Teaching Framework. These three frameworks should be integrated and function together in responding to the needs and challenges faced by university learning and teaching in the twenty-first century. In the 24/7 Elearning 2.0 Framework, there are seven key questions that should be asked when designing e-learning courses, and in addition, consideration should be given to the pedagogies to be used in guiding the e-learning process. In the heart of the 6D Teaching Rationale Framework, there are five key questions that should be asked is the student learning experience and outcomes, which is achieved by implementing and integrating five key aspects of teaching practices in relation to students: understanding, oversight, engagement and teacher-student relationships; setting clear learning aims and developing comprehensive learning contents; applying educational technology, e-learning and pedagogical methodologies; focusing on developing students graduate attributes and generic skills; and using assessment to effectively drive learning and achieve learning outcomes. The 4D Teaching Improvement Framework includes: effective lectures; differentiation in teaching; excellence in teaching; and applications for awards for excellence in teaching.

Immersive virtual reality (IVR) applications are gaining popularity in health care education. They provide an uninterrupted, scaled environment capable of simulating the full magnitude of sensory stimuli present in busy health care settings and increase students' competence and confidence by providing them with accessible and repeatable learning opportunities in a fail-safe environment. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the effects of IVR teaching on the learning outcomes and experiences of undergraduate health care students compared with other teaching methods. MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus were searched (last search on May 2022) for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) or quasi-experimental studies published in English between January 2000 and March 2022. The inclusion criteria were studies involving undergraduate students majoring in health care, IVR teaching, and evaluations of students' learning outcomes and experiences. The methodological validity of the studies was examined using the Joanna Briggs Institute standard critical appraisal instruments for RCTs or quasi-experimental studies. The findings were synthesized without a meta-analysis using vote counting as the synthesis metric. A binomial test with P<.05 was used to test for statistical significance using SPSS (version 28; IBM Corp). The overall quality of evidence was evaluated using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation tool. A total of 17 articles from 16 studies totaling 1787 participants conducted between 2007 and 2021 were included. The undergraduate students in the studies majored in medicine, nursing, rehabilitation, pharmacy, biomedicine, radiography, audiology, or stomatology. The IVR teaching domains included procedural training (13/16, 81%), anatomical knowledge (2/16, 12%), and orientation to the operating room setting (1/16, 6%). The quality of the 75% (12/16) of RCT studies was poor, with unclear descriptions of randomization, allocation concealment, and outcome assessor blinding procedures. The overall risk of bias was relatively low in the 25% (4/16) of quasi-experimental studies. A vote count showed that 60% (9/15; 95% CI 16.3%-67.7%; P=.61) of the studies identified similar learning outcomes between IVR teaching and other teaching approaches regardless of teaching domains. The vote count showed that 62% (8/13) of the studies favored using IVR as a teaching medium. The results of the binomial test (95% CI 34.9%-90%; P=.59) did not show a statistically significant difference. Low-level evidence was identified based on the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation tool. This review found that undergraduate students had positive learning outcomes and experiences after engaging with IVR teaching, although the effects may be similar to those of other forms of virtual reality or conventional teaching methods. Given the identification of risk of bias and low level of the overall evidence, more studies with a larger sample size and robust study design are required to evaluate the effects of IVR teaching. International prospective register of systematic reviews (PROSPERO) CRD42022313706; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=313706.

This study determined the relationship between instructional supervision and teachers’ teaching practices and performance and the learning outcomes of the students in selected high schools in EDDIS III, Bulacan during the School Year 2019-2020. With 346 teachers as respondents of the study, findings showed that the respondents always conducted instructional supervision in their respective schools. Likewise, respondents always utilized teaching practices such as differentiated instruction and cooperative learning. In the same manner, respondents always showed outstanding teaching performance. Meanwhile, the learning outcomes of the students were described as very satisfactory. Highly significant correlations were found between instructional supervision and teaching practices and the performance of teacher respondents. Similarly, a highly significant correlation was found between instructional supervision and the learning outcomes of the students Based on the findings of the study, the following conclusions were drawn: There is a significant relationship between instructional supervision and teaching practices. There is a significant relationship between instructional supervision and teaching performance. There is a significant relationship between instructional supervision and learning outcomes.

This paper reports on the findings from a quantitative research study into the use of a software tool that was built to support a part-complete solution method (PCSM) for the learning of computer programming. The use of part-complete solutions to programming problems is one of the methods that can be used to reduce the cognitive load that students experience during their learning. The tool that was built is a code restructuring tool known as CORT. It permits the display of a part-complete solution to a programming task together with a set of possible lines of code that can be used to fill-in the solution. Students can then easily manipulate the programming lines within CORT and then test their solutions within a traditional development environment such as Microsoft's Visual Studio. An inquiry into CORT's effect on student learning outcomes took place over a period of 14 weeks at an Australian university. Two student groups participated in an introductory programming unit, one of which utilized the CORT system whilst the other acted as a control group. Data were collected on student background, time taken to complete programming tasks, the amount of help that students required, and student learning outcomes. The data were analysed using a statistical package, and it was found that there was no significant difference in the relative levels of achievement between students in the two groups. However the results did indicate that students in the CORT group spent significantly less time and required significantly less help than the students in the control group. This suggests that if the CORT students had spent extra time on further programming tasks such that their overall time had been equal to that of the non-CORT students, then they may have achieved higher learning outcomes. Also the fact that the CORT students required less help than the control group suggests that the use of CORT might be beneficial to students studying programming in external mode where access to tutor help is more problematic.

Purpose This paper explores how flexible assessment aligns with Luk and Chan’s (2024) three principles of effective work integrated learning (WIL) assessment: adaptive design, student ownership and self-reflection, and presents a practical implementation process for introducing flexible assessment into WIL, balancing student autonomy with administrative feasibility, industry partner needs and learning outcomes. Design/Methodology/Approach A qualitative case study explores Master of Business students in a capstone WIL unit at an Australian university, analyzing their experiences with flexible group assessment, and outlines a process for its introduction into WIL. Findings Students reported transformative experiences when given control over their learning, supporting self-determination found in prior flexible assessment research. Findings demonstrate that flexible assessment in WIL fosters meaningful industry partnerships while developing crucial workplace communication and problem-solving skills. Research limitations/implications The case study is limited to a single marketing unit at one Australian university and focuses exclusively on group assessment. Future research should explore flexible assessment in individual WIL contexts and across different disciplines to enhance generalizability. Practical implications A five-step implementation process for integrating flexible assessment into WIL is outlined, balancing student autonomy with administrative feasibility and industry partner expectations. This process can be adapted across disciplines with modifications to support authentic learning experiences. Originality/Value This paper enhances understanding of flexible assessment by examining its application in group contexts and offering a model applicable across disciplines, addressing the previously underexplored intersection of flexible assessment and work-integrated learning.

Teaching Tarleton

The role of metalinguistic knowledge in learning a foreign/second language is the subject of continuing debate. In this paper we report on a study which explores this issue further with reference to undergraduate students of Chinese as a second/foreign language. The first part of the paper describes the process of developing and validating an instrument designed to elicit information about students' knowledge of the Chinese grammatical system via a pilot study involving undergraduate students of Chinese enrolled in intermediate-level courses at an Australian university. In the second part of the paper, we report on the relationship between various aspects of Chinese grammatical knowledge (as measured by this instrument) and learners' subsequent performance on both continuous assessment tasks and on end-of-semester Chinese language examinations. Findings reveal that while knowledge of the Chinese grammatical system is a good predictor of course performance overall, some aspects of this knowledge are more critical than others, and the knowledge-proficiency relationship varies in strength according to the nature of the assessment task and learners' prior experience of language study. Possible explanations for these findings are offered and suggestions put forward as to how the test described here might be used in future research.

The article deals with the significance of learning outcomes, theoretical attitudes making impact on their relevance. The changes in activities of art pedagogues and study programmes are analyzed. In preparation and implementation of study programmes, it is important to survey what is really needed for a specialist-to-be, what learning outcomes must be achieved by one. The singling out, emphasizing of various fields of learning outcomes, even assessment underline the cohesion of outcomes and precondition the integer character of education. According to groups of outcomes singled out, it has been estimated what is emphasized for future fine art and design pedagogues. The group of the outcomes on abilities to carry out research is assessed a little lower and allows drawing assumptions on improvement of this field in the study programme Fine Art and Design. The changes impacted by new Regulations of Pedagogue Training predetermine the professional identity direction of art pedagogues, from a teacher creator to a more universal pedagogue who not so much actively creates but has more knowledge on art. The aim of the research presented in the article is to investigate the emphasis of learning outcomes of future fine art and design pedagogues, the assessment by drawing an assumption that this reflects professional significance. The research problem question: what groups of learning outcomes are the most emphasized, valued, perceived? The research object is the assessment of future fine art and design pedagogues’ learning outcomes as a priority of professional significance. The surveyed: the research sample is a target sample. In total, 52 respondents filled in the questionnaires: these were Bachelor’s students of Fine Art and Design speciality (this constitutes 65 % of all students of the programme studying in 2012–2013). Research methods. The method of data collection: an anonymous questionnaire in a written form. The research was carried out in spring of 2013. The method of data analysis: statistical analysis, for analysis of correlation between variables of nominal and range scales the SPSS tables of features rates (Crosstabs) were used.Economic rationalism, management theories, entrepreneurship ideas prompt the orientation of the study programme towards interested groups, their needs and society expectations. In the training of art pedagogues, the tendency towards education of a more universal pedagogue and a specialist generating ideas of conceptual project-method-based art and science. The changing teacher’s professional identity predetermines significance of results in all fields of education. The research in the context of art pedagogues’ training may deal with scientific research, pedagogical practical placements, part of educational performance and reflection as well as new field under formation, like a character of experimental art research. In the training of fine art and design pedagogues, a clearer emphasis on, integration of abilities to carry out research into various activities (both theoretical pedagogical artistic subjects and practical placements, analytical research work when preparing for a creative process) must be made. Selection of the research-based model of performance, planning, implementation, development, correction are also characteristic to performance of an art pedagogue; therefore, abilities to carry out research should find their place in both training of pedagogues and everyday practices of art subjects teachers, creating a new field of teacher’s identity and professional significance.

Research on action–emotion style and study habits: Effects of individual differences on learning and academic performance of undergraduate students

This study aims to analyze the effect of using an electrical installation trainer media on the learning outcomes of students practicing domestic electrical installations in the electrical engineering department of the State University Of Padang. This type of research is quantitative research. The research method used is an experimental research method with a True experimental design with a Posttest-Only Control Group Design type of research design. Collecting data using a research instrument that was given a post test in the form of multiple choice questions using random sampling, by dividing the sample into two, namely some undergraduate students as the experimental class and some undergraduate students as the control class by giving the same questions to all samples of undergraduate students in the class. domestic electrical installation practice. The hypothesis is carried out using T-test analysis, the T-test was used to analyze differences in undergraduate students learning outcomes using the electrical installation trainer media and other undergraduate students without using the electrical installation trainer media. The results showed that the use of the electrical installation trainer media had a significant effect on the learning outcomes of undergraduate students and indicated that there was a significant difference between the post test results of the experimental class using the electrical installation trainer media and the control class that did not use the electrical installation trainer.This study aims to analyze the effect of using an electrical installation trainer media on the learning outcomes of students practicing domestic electrical installations in the electrical engineering department of the State University Of Padang. This type of research is quantitative research. The research method used is an experimental research method with a True experimental design with a Posttest-Only Control Group Design type of research design. Collecting data using a research instrument that was given a post test in the form of multiple choice questions using random sampling, by dividing the sample into two, namely some undergraduate students as the experimental class and some undergraduate students as the control class by giving the same questions to all samples of undergraduate students in the class. domestic electrical installation practice. The hypothesis is carried out using T-test analysis, the T-test was used to analyze differences in undergraduate students learning outcomes using the electrical installation trainer media and other undergraduate students without using the electrical installation trainer media. The results showed that the use of the electrical installation trainer media had a significant effect on the learning outcomes of undergraduate students and indicated that there was a significant difference between the post test results of the experimental class using the electrical installation trainer media and the control class that did not use the electrical installation trainer.

Social work managers do not only have to acquire leadership and entrepreneurial knowledge and competencies, but they must also possess skills such as ethical reasoning, citizenship, sustainability, and global awareness, all linked to the role of the state, its sociopolitical and ideological underpinnings, and existing power relations and social policy. This raises the question of how such skills are implemented in current social work management curricula. The purpose of this chapter is to present the results of an analysis of curricula, pedagogy, and teaching practices in social work management courses in Germany. After describing the German welfare system, its sociopolitical and ideological foundations, different theoretical models of economic behavior, and the power dynamics in social work institutions are discussed from a critical management perspective. Then the historical evolution of the academic discipline of social work management is briefly described. The central focus is then on a document-based and systematic analysis of the curricula, pedagogy, and teaching practices in German social work management programs at under- and postgraduate levels. The findings emphasize the constant need to develop the study programs’ learning outcomes, content, and teaching and learning methodologies. The chapter concludes with implications for future research and development.

The digital age together with the political and economic agenda to make higher education more accessible and cost effective are challenging teaching academics worldwide to rethink and redesign their pedagogical practices. The challenges include how to respond to increasingly diverse twenty first century learners who demand flexibility, and the requirements of a more service driven economy. For a program to be successful in higher education's current learnscape, teaching and learning need to optimise students' experiences and learning outcomes. The exploratory study discussed in this chapter investigates seventy-three postgraduate students' experiences with blended learning in guidance and counselling programs in one Australian university with an offshore branch campus in Singapore. The study aims to inform the future design and delivery of teaching and learning within blended learning spaces with a focus on pedagogical practices for student engagement. As such, it contributes to the body of knowledge about learning design that enhances student learning experiences.