Preparing Graduates for Professional Practice: Findings from a Case Study of Project-based Learning (PBL)

<p>Despite the increase in massive open online courses (MOOCs), evidence about the pedagogy of learning in MOOCs remains limited. This paper reports on an investigation into the pedagogy in one MOOC - Oxford Brookes University’s ‘First Steps in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education’ MOOC (FSLT12).</p><p>FSLT12 was an open and free professional development opportunity for people moving into HE teaching. It was a small course (200 participants registered from 24 countries) which was focused on introducing HE teaching skills, and, uniquely, to deliberately integrate open academic practice as a vital part of professional development for HE teachers. A qualitative, case-study approach was used in the research, based on surveys, interviews, and social media, to provide evidence about how people learned in this course and consider wider implications for teaching and learning in higher education.</p><p>The evidence shows that participants who completed the course were able to learn autonomously and navigate the distributed platforms and environments. The most challenging issues were acceptance of open academic practice and difficulty in establishing an academic identity in an unpredictable virtual environment. An interesting and significant feature of the course was the support for learners from a number of MOOC ‘veterans’ who served as role models and guides for less experienced MOOC learners.</p><p>The research shows that small task-oriented MOOCs can effectively support professional development of open academic practice.</p>

This study explores the benefits and challenges of Project-Based Learning (PjBL) in higher education. The research methodology employed a review study, utilizing various tools, methods, and software such as databases, citation management software, and data analysis software. The main findings of this study highlight the multifaceted benefits of PjBL in higher education, including enhanced student engagement, interdisciplinary collaboration, and authentic problem-solving. Implementing PjBL in higher education also presents challenges. These include faculty resistance and readiness, complexities in curriculum design and assessment, time and resource constraints, and the need for effective project management strategies. Strategies to address these challenges are discussed, including faculty training and support, curriculum alignment, assessment rubrics, and project management frameworks. This study’s findings can be useful in higher education institutions across various disciplines and areas, providing insights for educators, administrators, and policymakers who seek to integrate or enhance PjBL approaches in their curriculum. This study contributes to the existing knowledge on PBL in higher education by providing a comprehensive exploration of its benefits and challenges. It advances the understanding of how PjBL promotes active engagement, interdisciplinary collaboration, and authentic problem-solving, ultimately bridging the gap between theory and practice in education.

Morphology learning in higher education is important to improve students' understanding in determining words and correct word formation. This study aims to describe the application of Project-based learning in morphology learning, material on morphological and morphophonemic processes in texts. The method used is descriptive qualitative which combines classroom observation methods and document analysis of learning outcomes. The research participants were 15 students from the Indonesian Language Education Study Program, Universitas PGRI Adi Buana Surabaya, class of 2024, selected through a purposive sampling method. The project type was to identify morphological and morphophonemic processes in texts. The assessment used was a scored process assessment with criteria. The results of the study indicate that student learning outcomes using Project-Based Learning (PjBL) are successful, this can be seen in the student's score. The use of Project-Based Learning is effective in this learning because students will contribute to each other in analyzing texts that undergo morphological and morphophonemic processes. Based on these findings, it can be suggested that the use of Project-Based Learning is effective but does not rule out the possibility of using more diverse, interactive, and fun methods. The results of this study provide an important contribution in improving learning outcomes using Project-Based Learning (PjBL).

In this opinion piece, I argue that positive emotions are so fundamental to the student experience that they deserve a prime place within activities relating to teaching and learning in higher education (HE). Research from the learning and medical sciences demonstrates that positive emotions hold considerable benefits for many factors of fundamental importance for learning, teaching, and employment such as general physical health, cognitive health, and mental health and wellbeing. To support my argument that they should be actively cultivated in learning situations throughout HE, first, I highlight scientific research into the affordances of positive emotions for cognitive health. In this regard, I mention the Higher Education Learning Framework (HELF), a research initiative of the Australian Research Council that was created by synthesising scientific work on effective learning and teaching in HE. I then consider scientific research that is, perhaps, less explored in the context of education. This is the work of Professor Andrew Steptoe and his colleagues from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) project whose research offers helpful data for HE educators regarding the supportive relationship between positive emotions, mental health, and wellbeing. I end with some practical ideas for cultivating positive emotions in teaching situations to stimulate both positive affect and two aspects of cognition that are crucial for learning: attention and memory.

Rhizomatic learning doesn't always align with formal higher education structures and processes perhaps because of its heavy emphasis on nonlinear and community-based approach. In this chapter, we discuss this tension based on our experiences using rhizomatic pedagogy in higher education and identify points for pedagogical praxis. We first provide a review of the literature describing rhizomatic learning with an emphasis on applications in open and networked learning. We then present and discuss two cases of rhizomatic learning in British and Turkish higher education institutions in the context of academic development and educational technology. The case studies demonstrate that rhizomatic learning in higher education should be considered in relation to the macro context of the institution and the disciplinary practice, the meso context of the classroom ecology, and the micro context of the individual learner. We particularly highlight the extent to which teachers may need to facilitate rhizomatic learning in formal higher education for inclusive participation. We also argue that the notion of an independent, or individual, nomadic learner enjoying educational freedom is an imaginary construct that needs to be critically analysed in rhizomatic pedagogy.

This case study relates to a mixed-reality game that has been developed and used by the author in the area of Academic Development and specifically within the Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (LTHE) module of the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGCAP). The game aims to provide a highly immersive learning experience to the players and opportunities to enhance their teaching in more creative ways as a result of their engagement and participation. The author shares details about this mixed-reality game and the pedagogical rationale on which it is based with other practitioners. The following also explores how this approach could be adapted and used in different learning and teaching contexts to transform learning in Higher Education into a more playful and creative experience which has potentially the power to motivate and connect individuals and teams combining physical and virtual spaces.

This study examines two aspects of teaching with a project-based learning (PBL) model in higher education settings: faculty definitions of PBL and faculty PBL practices, as evidenced by their self-described successes and challenges in implementation. Faculty participants took “a leap of faith” in their teaching practices to redefine what it means to teach and learn using PBL as an instructional methodology. The findings provide insight into how faculty conceptualization of PBL drives implementation; how the PBL approach challenges college-level teachers; and how instructors’ perceptions of their own role in the PBL process impacts how they implement PBL.

This paper considers some implications for teaching in higher education of quality assurance demands made in circumstances of financial restraint. The paper suggests that responses must be anchored in improvement in student learning. This has implications for university teaching, for the evaluation of its effectiveness and for leadership in universities. The paper commences with a discussion of an understanding of the nature of the relationship between teaching and learning in higher education resulting from an Australian investigation of student perceptions of university teaching. The understanding arising from this study suggests that, given that the environment is an educational one, both evaluation of teaching and educational leadership should be in harmony with effective approaches to learning and teaching.

Assessment in higher education has been dominated by traditional practices that mainly focus on grades for student progression. However, there has been some transformation in assessment due to the advancement in education. Generally, assessment is viewed as central to student learning and experience. Assessment as learning, is not just an addition to learning and teaching, but it presents an opportunity through which students’ involvement in assessment could manifest as part of learning: assessment is learning-oriented. Assessment as Learning in Higher Education is about student empowerment; hence, students take ownership of their own learning process. Furthermore, assessment as learning promotes constructivism through student engagement and knowledge construction. This bibliometric analysis analysed the trends evident from research on assessment as learning and implementation in Higher Education. Data were retrieved from the Scopus database and analysed using VOSviewer. The thematic analysis approach was also employed. The study reveals that self-assessment is important in promoting student empowerment, which is one of the benefits of assessment as learning. It is important that higher education institutions rethink assessment as learning because this might assist in achieving the 21st-century educational goal of independent learning. The study’s findings confirm that there is a need for constructive alignment of teaching, learning and assessment; hence, assessment as learning becomes more significant. The findings provided an overview of key themes, research gaps and potential areas for future research. The insight that was gained from this bibliometric analysis will be valuable for lecturers, course designers, universities, assessors and researchers seeking to improve assessment in higher education.

Despite national requirements for accredited teaching qualifications, there is a lack of literature on disciplinary differences in student learning in higher education. Academics at a UK research‐intensive university were asked to report on the existence of literature or knowledge concerned with how students learnt in their subject. No relevant literature or folklore was identified, but responses did demonstrate a discourse in which the academics constructed their discipline as ‘better’ than other disciplines: the finding with which the present article is concerned. The discourse of the distinctiveness and superiority of one’s own discipline can be understood as a form of ‘Orientalism’. A post‐colonial analysis of the discourse of disciplinary relationships offers a partial explanation for challenges made to the validity of cross‐university activities, such as postgraduate certificates in learning and teaching.

Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in pedagogy and learning in higher education supports the concept of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL). Mobile devices and applications with educational purposes are part of using online ICT and facilitate autonomous learning in education. Using mobile applications for education has significantly improved in the last few years. However, there is still a gap, in which this concept is still not widely known and frequently experienced by learners. As a part of supporting TEL in higher education and filling this gap, the department of Computer and System Sciences at Stockholm University in Sweden is planning to develop a mobile application for the SciPro system. SciPro is the computer-mediated communication platform to support enhancement of thesis quality and facilitate autonomous learning in higher education, at both Bachelor and Master levels. This study aims to investigate and evaluate learners’ perspectives about utility of mobile applications in higher education and specifically to support SciPro functionalities. Almost 95% of the respondents use mobile applications for higher education and believe in the utility of mobile applications for supporting learning in higher education. This is while there are a few respondents (less than 5%), who do not fully share this opinion. More than 70% of the respondents think that a SciPro mobile application will add value to their thesis process. Even though it may not directly affect the speed and quality of the thesis, it will increase mobility, availability, and flexibility of accessing information and resources in SciPro.KeywordsTechnology Enhanced Learning (TEL)Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)Mobile ApplicationApplicationsLearningHigher EducationThesis Process

This article explores the possible impact of lecture duration on the quality of teaching and learning in higher education. It does so based on the notion that human attention span has boundaries and limitations, therefore, the concern is: what is the best length of lecture duration for effective teaching and learning in higher education. Based on Capacity Theories of Attention and Bottleneck Attention theory which express that people have limited attention span as well as natural mental filter, this paper interrogates the three hours lecture duration per session as a risk factor that may impact on effective teaching and learning. The aim is to critically evaluate the merit and demerit in consideration to reorienting higher education teaching curriculum for sustainability including quality assurance and control. In this perspective, lecture duration is anticipated as a risk factor that could either facilitate or hinder quality teaching and learning. In conclusion, the paper calls for empirical research to be conducted among students and lecturers to ascertain the possible impact of lecture duration on completion of syllabus including the depth of input versus output and quality academic performance.

The purpose of the article is to expand on the knowledge of playful learning in higher education through a Design-Based Research study across Danish social education and teacher education. It aims to develop a conceptual framework for playful learning in boundary-crossing collaboration within higher education pedagogy, with the study's empirical analysis examining three distinct voices of playful learning of experimentation (e.g., explorative, open-ended, creative collaboration), affectivity (e.g., emotional, sensory, and atmospheric collaboration), and relations (e.g., cultural, democratic, and polyphonic collaboration). The voices are polyphonic, though they are all expressed as social, active, and experiential ways of knowing and learning situated in playful framings outside 'ordinary' taéaching and learning. Finally, the article discusses tensions in developing playful learning in boundary-crossing collaboration between paradoxical longings for both conceptual unity and diversity, amid control and openness, which influences both practical applications and theoretical implications of developing playful learning in adult higher education.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the assessment methods used in higher education to assess students' learning, and to investigate the effects of college and grading system on the used assessment methods.Design/methodology/approachThis descriptive study investigates the assessment methods used by teachers in higher education to assess their students' learning outcomes. An instrument consisting of 15 items (each item is an assessment method) was distributed to 736 undergraduate students from four public universities in Jordan.FindingsFindings show that traditional paper‐pencil test is the most common method that is used to assess learning in higher education. Results also show that teachers in colleges of science and engineering and colleges of nursing use different assessment methods to assess learning, besides traditional testing such as: real life tasks (authentic assessment), papers, and projects. Also, the results show that teachers use the same assessment methods to assess learning, despite the grading systems (letter or numbers) used at their institutes.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample of the study was limited to undergraduate students and teachers' points of views about the frequent use of assessment methods were not studied.Practical implicationsHigher education institutes should encourage teachers to use new and modern assessment methods as well as traditional paper‐pencil testing, and study the reasons for not using these new methods.Originality/valueThe paper should alert the higher education institutes about the important of developing the assessment process, through knowing their students' points of view about the assessment methods. This will help to get students involved in the learning process.

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on students’ learning in higher education in Afghanistan