Prior Experience and Initial Teacher Education

Purpose: The paper aims to provide a robust foundation for understanding the significance and application of experiential learning as an attractive alternative for classroom learning. Through the identification and evaluation of various types of experiential learning, the research seeks to elucidate the diverse approaches and their impacts on student learning outcomes, skill development, and career readiness. Furthermore, by focusing on the integration of curriculum and faculty training to foster an innovation culture, it aims to delineate strategies for enhancing educational practices to align the objectives of higher education with real-world applications. By predicting future trends in experiential learning, considering the influence of technological advancements, global collaboration, and integration with emerging learning models, thereby providing insights that can inform educators, administrators, and policymakers in enhancing the effectiveness and inclusivity of experiential learning in higher education. Methodology: This paper presents the multifaceted landscape of experiential learning within the context of higher education. The primary objectives of the paper include gaining a comprehensive understanding of the concept and principles of experiential learning, identifying and evaluating various methods of experiential learning and their impacts in higher education, and exploring the integration of curriculum and faculty training to foster an innovation culture based on exploratory research methods. Results/Analysis: The paper aims to assess the impact of experiential learning adoption on student learning, skill development, and career readiness, emphasizing the importance of aligning educational practices with real-world applications. Furthermore, the paper seeks to address critical issues related to equity and inclusivity in experiential learning, along with identifying faculty training needs. By examining challenges and proposing solutions, the chapter contributes to creating an inclusive environment that benefits a diverse student body. The analysis takes a forward-looking approach by predicting future trends in experiential learning, considering the influence of technological advancements, global collaboration, and integration with emerging learning models. Originality/Value: This holistic exploration serves as a valuable resource for educators, administrators, and policymakers seeking to enhance the effectiveness and inclusivity of experiential learning in higher education. Type of paper: Exploratory Research.

It is argued in this article that the convergence of collaborative constructivist ideas and emerging instructional technologies are transforming higher education. The article begins with an overview of instructional and communications technology and how this technology is being used in the service of either sustaining or transforming teaching and learning in higher education. Next, the idea of collaborative constructivist approaches to teaching and learning are explored and the case for a guiding framework is made. The Community of Inquiry framework is briefly described and assessed from a theoretical and practical level. Finally, the discussion turns to the nature and importance of institutional leadership if instructional technologies are to transform the quality of the teaching and learning experience in higher education.

The present project aims to break the physical limitation of job interview practices for students in LABU2060 Effective Communication in Business, the last required CLE course of the Business School’s program at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). The pandemic has intensified the need for incorporating emerging technologies, e.g., virtual reality (VR), in Higher Education. A VR job interview mobile application was implemented in LABU2060 in 2022. Surveys, field observations and focus group interviews were conducted within HKUST. It was found most students were satisfied with the usability and their learning experience gained through using the application in the 2D mode. Students participated in the field tests, utilizing the application in the VR mode (N=17). The findings revealed that the VR job interview application successfully helped students practice and prepare for their job interviews. Students preferred the VR mode to the 2D mode thanks to the immersiveness and authenticity of the VR job interview practices.

Prior research has reported that experience in undergraduate anatomy did not significantly affect students' grades in professional schools, yet students would still recommend anatomy experience prior to medical school. It has been further posited that this prior experience may have benefits that do not appear in grade outcomes, such as decreased stress levels or different study strategies. The present study investigated whether different study strategies in anatomy were reported between students with and without prior experience. The data were collected using surveys administered near the beginning and the end of the medical anatomy course. The surveys included questions about study strategies used for the course, basic demographics, and prior experience in anatomy and/or physiology. Results confirmed very few differences in course outcomes between students with and without prior experience in anatomy and/or physiology; however, differences were noted in the study strategies reported. Students with prior experience in anatomy were more likely to report use of a wider variety of strategies and less changes in strategies between the surveys. However, these differences were only noted with prior courses of a certain number and level. It is posited that students with prior experience may have already created a basic scaffold of information in their mind that they could then plug additional information into rather than creating an entirely new knowledge structure. While this did not largely change course outcomes, it is likely to have positive effects on students' perceptions of stress and feelings of being overwhelmed during the course.

This book provides evidence-informed and practical advice on how to design, teach, and facilitate hands-on, experiential learning in practical higher education settings. With rich case studies and carefully considered analysis tasks, all underpinned by research evidence, it explores the functional aspects of teaching outside of regular classroom environments. Designed to enable university teachers to adapt strategies for teaching confidently and effectively, this must-read text focusses on enhancing learning and avoiding pitfalls whilst allowing students to develop and recognise the skills needed to excel in their chosen discipline. This book also provides: Reflection Points to enable application of the ideas into teaching practice, Action Summaries that distil the main recommendations into easily applicable solutions, Further Reading sections to allow for further exploration of key ideas. Practical and evidence-informed, the strategies within this book are useful for all educators teaching in practical settings including projects, labs, studios, in the field, and in practice placements.

Numerous studies have dealt with the importance of assessment for learning (AfL) in higher education, arguing that AfL helps to promote students’ learning and supports them in becoming self-directed learners. The majority of the recent literature focuses mainly on the role of individual aspects of AfL. Less attention has been paid to the interrelation of different aspects of AfL. The current study argues that AfL combines authentic assessment tasks given to students, feedback from teacher educators, peer assessment and self-assessment. The aim of the current study is to understand student teachers’ experiences of AfL practices in higher education, focusing on the reasons why student teachers do not always find the practices supportive. The study conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 student teachers and analysed them using an inductive content analysis method. The findings indicate that student teachers have had some experiences with individual aspects of AfL. A critical finding is that, when teacher educators continually dominate in the assessment process, summative assessment remains the principal way of assessing student teachers, thus hindering the supportive role of other AfL practices. The current study also finds that learning in higher education is still quite grade-centred, which affects student teachers’ learning.

<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>

In this article, we focus on three aspects of students' prior experiences of learning: evoked conceptions of learning, evoked motivation and evoked self-efficacy. We show how, for a first-year undergraduate population, these three aspects of evoked prior experience relate to students' approaches to learning and their perceptions of the learning environment as well as to their previous schooling, their gender and the broad discipline area in which they are studying. In doing so, we confirm that evoked prior experiences are distinct and measurable and can be used to better understand the ways in which students experience learning in higher education.

Objectives(1) Understanding the characteristics of online learning experiences of Chinese undergraduate medical students; (2) Investigating students’ perceptions of ongoing online education developed in response to COVID-19 and (3) Exploring how...

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsTimothy C. CaboniTimothy C. Caboni is Lecturer in Public Policy and Higher Education and director of the academic program in institutional advancement in the Higher Education Leadership and Policy program at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College. John M. Braxton is Professor of Education in the Higher Education Leadership and Policy Program at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. Molly Black Duesterhaus is a doctoral candidate in Leadership and Policy Studies specializing in Higher Education Leadership and Policy at Vanderbilt. Meaghan E. Mundy is a doctoral candidate in Leadership and Policy Studies specializing in Higher Education Leadership and Policy at Vanderbilt. Shederick A. McClendon is Assistant Professor of Higher Education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.John M. BraxtonTimothy C. Caboni is Lecturer in Public Policy and Higher Education and director of the academic program in institutional advancement in the Higher Education Leadership and Policy program at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College. John M. Braxton is Professor of Education in the Higher Education Leadership and Policy Program at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. Molly Black Duesterhaus is a doctoral candidate in Leadership and Policy Studies specializing in Higher Education Leadership and Policy at Vanderbilt. Meaghan E. Mundy is a doctoral candidate in Leadership and Policy Studies specializing in Higher Education Leadership and Policy at Vanderbilt. Shederick A. McClendon is Assistant Professor of Higher Education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.Molly Black DeusterhausTimothy C. Caboni is Lecturer in Public Policy and Higher Education and director of the academic program in institutional advancement in the Higher Education Leadership and Policy program at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College. John M. Braxton is Professor of Education in the Higher Education Leadership and Policy Program at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. Molly Black Duesterhaus is a doctoral candidate in Leadership and Policy Studies specializing in Higher Education Leadership and Policy at Vanderbilt. Meaghan E. Mundy is a doctoral candidate in Leadership and Policy Studies specializing in Higher Education Leadership and Policy at Vanderbilt. Shederick A. McClendon is Assistant Professor of Higher Education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.Meaghan E. MundyTimothy C. Caboni is Lecturer in Public Policy and Higher Education and director of the academic program in institutional advancement in the Higher Education Leadership and Policy program at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College. John M. Braxton is Professor of Education in the Higher Education Leadership and Policy Program at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. Molly Black Duesterhaus is a doctoral candidate in Leadership and Policy Studies specializing in Higher Education Leadership and Policy at Vanderbilt. Meaghan E. Mundy is a doctoral candidate in Leadership and Policy Studies specializing in Higher Education Leadership and Policy at Vanderbilt. Shederick A. McClendon is Assistant Professor of Higher Education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.Shederick A. McClendonTimothy C. Caboni is Lecturer in Public Policy and Higher Education and director of the academic program in institutional advancement in the Higher Education Leadership and Policy program at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College. John M. Braxton is Professor of Education in the Higher Education Leadership and Policy Program at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. Molly Black Duesterhaus is a doctoral candidate in Leadership and Policy Studies specializing in Higher Education Leadership and Policy at Vanderbilt. Meaghan E. Mundy is a doctoral candidate in Leadership and Policy Studies specializing in Higher Education Leadership and Policy at Vanderbilt. Shederick A. McClendon is Assistant Professor of Higher Education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.Stephanie D. LeeTimothy C. Caboni is Lecturer in Public Policy and Higher Education and director of the academic program in institutional advancement in the Higher Education Leadership and Policy program at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College. John M. Braxton is Professor of Education in the Higher Education Leadership and Policy Program at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. Molly Black Duesterhaus is a doctoral candidate in Leadership and Policy Studies specializing in Higher Education Leadership and Policy at Vanderbilt. Meaghan E. Mundy is a doctoral candidate in Leadership and Policy Studies specializing in Higher Education Leadership and Policy at Vanderbilt. Shederick A. McClendon is Assistant Professor of Higher Education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

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.

According to the conventional wisdom in higher education today, doing an internship in college boosts a student's chances for landing a good job after graduation. At my own university, well over half the undergraduates do at least one and many do several. Another common belief is that students with serious social and political commitments do some sort of service-learning or civic engagement in college: volunteering in a battered women's shelter, going on an Alternative Spring Break, canvassing for a favored cause. More and more students enroll in study-abroad programs, experiencing other cultures intensively and firsthand. Many conduct original research, sometimes in laboratories or libraries, sometimes in local or distant communities, sometimes in collaboration with a faculty member, sometimes on their own. Observers use a variety of terms to describe these kinds of educational activities: experiential, community-based, engaged. Whatever the label, experience-based, nonclassroom learning in its many forms has become more and more widespread in American colleges and universities, more and more a conventional, almost taken-for-granted element of students' educations (cf. Qualters, 2010; Perlin, 2011 ).KeywordsExperiential LearningExperiential EducationCivic EngagementMission StatementStudent AffairThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

Research-focussed experiential learning (RFEL), where students develop academic research skills by participating in research activities, is a valuable and widespread component of higher education. It is also a potentially important source of research currency for academic staff in teaching-focussed universities. Numerous initiatives facilitate this practice in an extra-curricular capacity, whilst its integration into curricula is less widespread, but is gaining momentum. Nonetheless, real-world impact deriving from RFEL is not as visible as might be expected, and we argue that the RFEL paradigm has yet to achieve its full potential. We discuss how to overcome barriers to visibility and effective implementation of RFEL in terms of real-world outcomes, for our own discipline – ecology. A capacity gap exists, particularly at the local level, in effective ecological site monitoring for biodiversity conservation and other forms of environmental management. We believe there is currently underused potential in integrating RFEL via student field experience (field trips, field work, field classes, or field programmes) to fill this gap. We show how the parallel process of citizen science, where participating university students and others outside academia collect data as volunteers, lends insights and best practice recommendations to the field experience RFEL model. RFEL is critically important for upskilling students for competitive career markets. We outline five ways in which it can be galvanised to additionally and effectively yield real-world research and management outcomes, adding value within the sector.

This article examines an experiential student workshop focused on state–voluntary sector relationships in the UK, which formed part of a postgraduate voluntary sector studies programme. The different group behaviours observed were instructive in illustrating how students, all working in third sector or related public agencies, perceive and have assimilated demands and practices of the external environment. These insights also highlight the value of experiential learning in higher education both for student reflection and research. The article adopts an interdisciplinary approach to examine some consequences of ideologies and behaviours associated with managerial culture permeating actions in this interactive setting. It combines critical discussion of non-profit organizations with group relations and learning theories, offering a different perspective through which to explore patterns embedded in inter-agency relationships. Consideration of ways that these patterns might be changed to improve the service environment in the voluntary sector has wider implications for research in this field.

Space is a significant factor for teaching and learning (Goodyear & Carvalho, 2019), but it is comparably underexplored in the higher education (Ellis & Goodyear, 2016). Learning spaces have become hybrid in the post-pandemic period in higher education with physical locations having digital extensions and vice versa (Ellis & Goodyear, 2018), which allows more flexible study modes and access to richer study resources. In addition to having material properties which physically promote or prevent student engagement, space is also a social product with relational and structural aspects, which could shape social relationships and moreover, reflect or promote existing inequalities amongst students (Wong, 2024). Space may therefore impact on students’ learning experiences, including within feedback encounters. Feedback is a significant aspect of students’ learning experiences in higher education. It is well acknowledged that feedback is important for students’ learning and graduate outcomes (Hattie & Clarke, 2018). Feedback encounters, such as supervision meeting and placements, could provide valuable feedback opportunities with the characteristics of immediate and frequent dialogues. However, spatial factors could affect these feedback encounters positively and negatively (Gravett, 2022). For example, many students perceive academic office as a scary space to seek feedback (Gravett & Winstone, 2019) while in comparison, online discussion boards are perceived as more flexible and equitable spaces for feedback engagement (Zhou et al., 2023). Since little is known about students’ experiences of feedback spaces and how spatial factors affect feedback, it is important to explore students’ feedback experiences in the hybrid feedback spaces. International students are a cohort for whom feedback spaces are particularly important. They often experience relocation to the new learning spaces in different cultural contexts, and are likely to be unfamiliar with material and social perspectives of the spaces (Dai et al., 2018). Therefore, they might feel disrupted and anxious at the initial stages of their feedback encounters, which could lead to the effectiveness of these valuable feedback. Since international students make great social and economic contributions to Australia, to promote more equitable feedback experiences for those students, it is important to understand their feedback experiences in the feedback spaces, to inform co-design of inclusive and supportive feedback spaces. This poster will offer an overview of preliminary findings of a review study. The review has two research questions: 1. How has space has been incorporated as part of existing feedback models in higher education, across situated, hybrid, and digital learning situations? 2. How do feedback models account for the particular situations of international students? This work has implications for future theoretical and empirical studies about feedback and feedback spaces. This research has the potential to enrich theoretical understandings of feedback and space research in higher education. Findings from this study could also enrich the literature regarding international students and provide practical strategies for supporting international students’ acculturation. In addition, the study could give implications to education institutions about how to create inclusive and supportive hybrid learning environments, which could significantly enhance the student experience and learning outcomes.