While the benefits of active learning are well-documented in science education, there remains a need for evidence supporting the high-frequency and consistent implementation of diverse active learning methods within very large (400+ student) undergraduate STEM courses. This research study aimed to assess the implementation of active learning techniques in a large, 400+ student, higher education Human Physiology class. We specifically used three active learning techniques, discussions, problem-based learning, and kinesthetic approaches after reviewing the literature. Exam performance data was collected and analyzed using nonparametric univariate tests. All exam questions were mapped to Bloom’s Taxonomy, covering both comprehension and application-level content. Results revealed there were significant differences across all semester mean exam scores. Students scored highly on exams following kinesthetic modalities of learning, though all modalities showed above average (on a bell curve, 70%) performance. These findings suggest that kinesthetic-based active learning is a uniquely potent strategy for enhancing performance in large-enrollment Human Physiology courses.

This study examined how students conceptualise their emotions when engaging in online asynchronous forums within a university course. With the move online in work and educational practices and the reduction in physical contact, the need to understand emotional influences on social learning behaviour in digital spaces is important. There is little research about how students conceive of their emotions when engaging in online asynchronous course forums. Using case study method student engagement across a 6-week fully online module was examined using a theoretical framework bringing together social, emotional and online learning dimensions. Three types of behaviours were found represented as self-protective, self-oriented and community-oriented. Perceived social and emotional behaviours are conceptualised regarding content, peer interaction and within the asynchronous forum. This study contributes understanding about how students understand their emotional engagement in a social space and how this influences their learning behaviours in an asynchronous forum. Implications for future research directions are discussed.

Journal clubs are active learning approaches routinely used within academic research institutes and allied health professions to boost critical thinking, data analysis, and disseminate knowledge of novel research concepts. These group-based discussions regarding scientific literature aim to develop knowledge and facilitate the sharing of expertise. Many of these outcomes align with those highly desired for post-graduation employability. However, they are usually constrained to small defined student groups, with limited reported attempts to deliver journal clubs at scale within the undergraduate curriculum. Therefore, this study sought to compare the pedagogical efficacy of delivering journal clubs as both extracurricular and curriculum-embedded activities and determine if they are translatable into undergraduate curricula. Student feedback was assessed through anonymous surveys upon completion of both the extracurricular and curriculum-embedded journal club sessions. Pre- and post-session surveys were also provided to assess academic literacy knowledge acquisition. Both extracurricular and curriculum-embedded journal clubs had a positive impact on student experience, knowledge acquisition and transferable skill development. Most students stated they learnt a lot from the session (86.5%) with 78.8% stating that they preferred this learning experience to didactic lectures. Students also stated the session enhanced their confidence (76.9%) and teamwork skills (78.8%) and critical appraisal of scientific research (84.6%). Further pre and post-analysis revealed journal clubs significantly increased students’ knowledge of academic literacy. Students who participated in the extracurricular journal clubs scored their enjoyment and enhancement of their employability skills higher than in the curriculum-embedded session. No significant differences were observed when responses were stratified based on socioeconomic parameters. These data show that journal clubs are a valuable pedagogical tool for developing academic literacy and key transferable skills. We also for the first time showcase how journal clubs can be designed and delivered to be an appropriate and scalable pedagogical tool for large taught modules.

Universities are increasingly enhancing their study abroad programmes to boost students’ employability skill development. Study abroad is vital for fostering leadership, management, and life skills through strategically crafted international education experiences. Despite its popularity, there is limited understanding of how duration affects the development of employability skills, such as adaptability on study abroad. This study helps to addresses this gap by assessing the socio-cultural and psychological adaptability of students before and after participating in short- or medium-term study abroad at two different international destinations. A mixed-methods approach was utilised to explore both quantitative and qualitative student response data that was collected pre- and post-study abroad experience over a 4-year period. The findings reveal that study abroad destination, duration, and the type of in-country learning significantly shape the development of students’ adaptability skills. The results also highlight notable differences in learning outcomes between short- and medium-term study abroad, offering valuable insights in curricular refinement. These insights aid in making informed decisions regarding the incorporation of relevant and suitable learning activities that are tailored to the unique impacts of duration on study abroad. The findings from this study are particularly pertinent given the ongoing disruptions and impacts on internationalising curricular, further complicated by rising travel costs, accommodation expenses, perceived, potential, and actual risks. These challenges highlight the importance of understanding the affects of duration on study abroad for short- and medium-term programmes, namely adaptability.

Used in higher education to support student success, learning-to-learn courses are for-credit courses designed to help students become more active and proactive learners. To guide student development, learning-to-learn courses teach students about various concepts and strategies rooted in learning theory and research and applications to foster learning and success in college. The syllabi of learning-to-learn courses are important to the study of active learning because they describe curricular mechanisms designed to instigate active and strategic learning. Also of interest is measuring curricular aspects of syllabi in intervention research. However, there is a paucity of research that systematically examines curricula of learning-to-learn courses. The current study used content analysis to examine 3-credit learning-to-learn syllabi across 40 community colleges, focusing on course topics, student learning outcomes, course descriptions, and standardized assessments. Qualitative data were quantified and aggregated to provide summary statistics regarding the presence/absence and extent to which syllabi addressed each content category in our coding frame, which included a priori categories related to strategic learning and emergent categories. Findings suggested that the learning-to-learn syllabi commonly addressed cognitive, motivational, and self-regulatory aspects of learning posited in theory to promote strategic learning. However, the emphasis given to strategic learning content varied across syllabi. Syllabi also varied in their mentioning of theories and standardized assessments used to promote strategic learning. The coding frame used in this study had strong interrater reliability and was effective at measuring variation in strategic learning elements within learning-to-learn syllabi. It also helped describe contextual factors and other college success topics. The current study provides support for the continued study and use of this coding frame, and the quantitative variables produced from it, in future research. Future research should examine how emphasizing strategic learning topics, theory, and assessments in learning-to-learn courses may influence learning-to-learn intervention effects on academic outcomes.

Teamwork competence is an essential competence in today’s world, in which multidisciplinary teams address the most pressing complex socio-environmental issues of our time. Higher education institutes must offer explicit teaching in teamwork competence in multidisciplinary student teams (MSTs). The student perspective on learning MST teamwork competence is under-researched. The aim of this study is to provide insights into students’ learning needs and educational design needs, using data from focus groups. Students identify six clear MST teamwork competences that they want to learn: (a) self-knowledge and self-confidence, (b) understanding and bridging differences between people, (c) creating a positive attitude, motivation, and shared responsibility, (d) taking on different roles with associated competences, (e) discussing main teamwork aspects at the start, and (f) addressing and solving problems within the team. Students state that explicit teamwork teaching is needed and that they need time to learn, practice, and reflect on MST teamwork competences, and to build interpersonal relationships within the team.

This study investigated the effect of adding metacognitive prompts before a self-explanation task in video example learning using multimodal data collection techniques such as eye tracking, screen recording. The study also examined whether students’ prior knowledge played a moderating role. A total of 116 undergraduate and graduate students watched three video examples on chemistry topics and completed a self-explanation task in a computer-based learning environment. Participants were assigned randomly to one of two conditions: metacognitive prompts versus no-metacognitive prompts. Those in the metacognitive prompts condition demonstrated higher learning performance, better quality of explanation, and increased attention paid to the learning content than those in the no-metacognitive prompts condition. Moreover, a moderated mediation analysis showed that metacognitive prompts improved students’ self-efficacy and then improved their learning performance. Prior knowledge was found to play a moderating role in the relationship between metacognitive prompts and learning performance. The results of this study show that students with low prior knowledge benefit more from metacognitive prompts added before self-explanation tasks in video-based learning. When using video examples in teaching, it is therefore recommended that students be provided with metacognitive prompts before completing self-explanation tasks, especially those with lower prior knowledge, as this can enhance their resulting self-efficacy, increasing their engagement in self-regulating behaviors and thereby lead to improvements in their later learning performance.

Higher education institutes around the world are adjusting to a rapidly changing environment caused by macro level trends such as massification and marketization. As part of this process, higher education institutions are seeking to enhance the student experience and build deeper, mutually beneficial relationships with their alumni. This involves encouraging loyalty in students and alumni from the outset of the relationship. This paper studies the impact of extra-curricular activities on students’ loyalty to their educational institution. A quantitative survey was conducted in an Irish HEI ( n = 798) and a French HEI ( n = 670). The data collected suggests that participation in extra-curricular activities has a significantly positive effect on student’s loyalty to their institution which we posit will enhance their loyalty as eventual alumni. Institutional loyalty is culturally sensitive and needs to be managed as such, but the effect of participation in extra-curricular activities on loyalty is consistent across cultural contexts. These findings suggest that institutions should support extra-curricular activities as an investment in building loyalty in students and alumni.

Interdisciplinary complex problem-solving relies on psychologically safe teamwork where individuals feel confident to speak up with unique knowledge, or voice dissent. Existing studies on psychological safety (PS) have mainly concentrated on developing diagnostic tools and categorising the antecedents to psychologically safe interactions in face-to-face teams. Few focus on the establishment and maintenance of psychological safety in online teamwork, let alone in the context of now-prevalent online learning in higher education. Leveraging the natural experiment in online teaching and learning brought about by COVID-19 lockdowns, we conducted a preliminary study that combines quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the extent to which, and how, undergraduates experience psychological safety in virtual teams. Students reported experiencing relatively high psychological safety in their collaborations, yet the results also suggest that specific elements of instructional design were needed to support the establishment and maintenance of psychological safety in the online environment. These measures include extra provision for timetabled group work, demonstrating openness and curiosity, designing assessment tasks that necessitate diverse contributions and normalising constructive failure through iterative feedback. Pedagogical tools and practices related to these measures can help online student teams build and sustain psychologically safe collaboration to optimise problem-solving and innovation.