PurposeThis study aims to present Dramatic Problem Solving Facilitation Model (DPSFM) and Interactive Management (IM) as innovative alternative dispute resolution approaches that incorporate communication technologies in recording and analyzing data. DPSFM utilizes performance‐based actions with facilitation methods to help participants design action plans. Interactive Management (IM) utilizes a holistic, culturally sensitive and systemic approach to resolve complex problems. Communication technological assistance is accompanied by IM to enhance parsimony and support saliency of the ideas generated. Both approaches support action plans. This paper argues that both DPSFM and IM are theoretical frameworks that are valuable for conflict resolution, educators, and social science specialists who are interested in conducting research under the paradigm of knowing referred to as “Scholarship of Engagement”. This paradigm engages participants in research while promoting action plans and improving status quo conditions. The current paper overviews the benefits of both models and makes a strong case for application of their communication technologies across a variety of contexts. DPSFM and IM are directly involved with promoting change, and supporting actions to improve human conditions. The framework of “Scholarship of Engagement” is introduced as an integrative model for “praxis”. The purpose of this paper was to provide alternative options for working in facilitation groups.Design/methodology/approachThe methodological approach involved the models of DPSFM and IM.FindingsThe findings of DPSFM and IM applications have been positive and they were revealed in several domestic and international settings.Originality/valueThe value of this work is that it presents an alternative perspective to traditional models in facilitation. The work has transferability in a number of community settings.

PurposeThe paper aims to focus on institutional initiatives to embed e‐learning in a university in Hong Kong, from 2006‐12, through large‐scale funding of 43 e‐learning projects. It outlines the guiding principles behind the university's e‐learning development and discusses the significance of various procedures and practices in project planning, development and implementation.Design/methodology/approachThis longitudinal study combines historical perspectives with process description, analysis and personal observations. Its approach is based in action research. The authors are engaged both as participants/learning designers in particular projects and in management, administration and evaluation of the projects at the institutional level.FindingsIt is proposed that e‐learning projects need careful planning, scaffolding and managing. Also that piloting, evaluation and formal reporting as well as the availability of professional, technical and instructional design support are significant factors in success.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper is preliminary work. Further findings and analysis are expected at the final completion of all projects. A wealth of data is available in accumulated project documentation and reports, including individual project evaluations with quantitative and qualitative data.Originality/valueGiven the commonly acknowledged difficulties in helping e‐learning projects continue to completion and actually be implemented, this study can offer strategies that may be widely applied in different contexts. The scale and timeframe of the study and the amount of funding available in one institution are unusual so emerging implications are potentially significant.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understanding early childhood student teachers’ self‐reported acceptance and use of interactive whiteboard (IWB), by employing the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) as the research framework.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 112 student teachers enrolled in science‐related papers from Bachelor of Early Childhood Education completed the questionnaire, measuring their responses to performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence and facilitating condition and behavioural intention. Structural equation modelling was used as the main technique for data analysis.Findings – The results of this study showed that performance expectancy and effort expectancy were found to have a direct and statistically significant positive effect on behavioural intention. Of the four variables in the UTAUT model, the model accounted for 41 per cent of the variance in behavioural intention to use IWB among student teachers. The findings obtained i...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on a number of initiatives in civil engineering undergraduate programmes at the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG) that allow students to complete engineering projects in the community, enabling them to learn by doing.Design/methodology/approach – A formal commitment to civic engagement was undertaken by the NUIG in 2001 with the establishment of the Community Knowledge Initiative (CKI) to work on mainstreaming civic engagement (service learning) within the curriculum across the institution. Today, the majority of undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes in the College of Engineering and Informatics at NUIG have embedded service learning into their curriculum. These initiatives allow students to work with and in local communities, international communities and multi‐disciplinary groups as part of their academic courses. The paper investigates and shows that community‐based projects can enhance student learning and engagement in a number of...

Purpose – The current paper focuses on the increasing demand for generic competences both from governments and industries. Despite this fact, there is insufficient awareness and information in education systems on how to equip graduates with appropriate generic competences for the world of work and citizenship. This is even more complicated in online virtual learning programmes where face‐to‐face communication is excluded in the design and implementation of the programme curriculum. The paper seeks to question if it is possible to develop generic competences in an online virtual learning environment.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to outline and discuss a multifaceted approach to embedding change in academic practice, resulting in the integration of technology‐enhanced learning (TEL) within the wider institutional strategic approach to learning and teaching.Design/methodology/approachThis approach is evidenced through a discussion of three examples of practitioner engagement and ownership across the institution – “bottom‐up”, “middle‐out” and “top‐down” activities – demonstrating the attendant potential for transferability to other institutional settings.FindingsThe triangulation of all three levels of activity in this way ensures that strategy is informed, developed, discussed, deployed and owned across the institution.Originality/valueThe paper addresses the challenges of integrating TEL approaches within an overall teaching and learning strategic framework through the medium of practitioner‐developed and supported initiatives developed at the University of Dundee but with potential for transferability to other institutions.

PurposeThis paper aims to demonstrate how an institutional learning, teaching and assessment (LTA) strategy was developed and a “dynamic” strategy created in order to achieve the ongoing enhancement of the quality of the student learning experience. Developing LTA strategies that foster ongoing engagement and provide inspiration to academic staff is a particular challenge in higher education.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses the discussion of the evolution, development and launch of the strategy and underpinning Resource Bank to reflect on the hopes and intentions behind the approach; first the paper will discuss the collaborative and iterative approach taken to the development of an institutional LTA strategy; and second, the development of open access educational resources to underpin the strategy.FindingsThe paper then outlines staff engagement with the resource bank and positive outcomes which have been identified to date, and identifies the next steps in achieving the ambition behind the strategy and outlines the action research and fuller evaluation which will be used to monitor progress and ensure responsive learning at institutional level.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper reports on the development of the “dynamic” strategy and, although initial reactions have been very positive, a full evaluation is yet to take place.Originality/valueThe approach used in developing this dynamic strategy is innovative and offers insight into how institutions may enliven their LTA strategy.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to plan, implement, and deliver universal design for learning (UDL) benefits to a large class of undergraduate biology students.Design/methodology/approachThis pilot project used an online course site in the course management system (CMS) to establish a universal design (UD) and maintain it throughout a semester‐long class in undergraduate biology. Although the class is traditionally taught in a face‐to‐face lecture and lab format, this intervention is used to expand the representational, strategic, and affective aspects of the course.FindingsSurvey results and follow‐up interviews as well as student usage statistics and points earned on tests are collected and analysed, with the resulting data used to generate conclusions relating to the benefits of a UDL‐compliant supplemental site versus a supplemental site that does not apply UDL principles. While the students perceived‐added value in the UDL‐enhanced site, the overall intervention does not lead to improved grades leading to the possibility that there may be a “sweet spot” or optimal blend of tools and approaches.Research limitations/implicationsFurther research will be needed in order to establish a more reliable mode of using supplemental online course sites to deliver UDL. Specifically, it will be important to expand this pilot case to a wider range of courses including those that include more diverse populations of students.Practical implicationsThe CMS represents a potential means of delivering UD benefits in an optimal and replicable manner. It will be important to expand this pilot effort to identify an optimal balance of supports and also to increase its generalizability by including a wider range of courses, as well as those that include more diverse populations of students.Originality/valueThis paper uses a potentially replicable strategy to deliver the benefits of UD to college students. If an optimal balance of supports can be identified, this supplemental use of an online course site in the CMS could serve to deliver academic and student satisfaction benefits to a wide range of students, including those in the K‐12 setting.

PurposeIn tertiary institution, some students find it hard to learn database design theory, in particular, database normalization. The purpose of this paper is to develop a visualization tool to give students an interactive hands‐on experience in database normalization process.Design/methodology/approachThe model‐view‐controller architecture is used to alleviate the black box syndrome associated with the study of algorithm behavior for database normalization process. The authors propose a visualization “exploratory” tool that assists the learners in understanding the actual behavior of the database normalization algorithms of choice and also in evaluating the validity/quality of the algorithm. This paper describes the visualization tool and its effectiveness in teaching and learning normalization forms and their functional dependencies.FindingsThe effectiveness of the tool has been evaluated in surveys. It shows that students generally viewed the tool more positively than the textbook technique. This difference is significant to p<0.05 (t=1.645). The mean interactions precision and calculated value using expert judge relevance ratings show a significant difference between visualization tool and textbook performance 3.74 against 2.61 for precision with calculated t=6.69.Originality/valueThe visualization tool helped students validate/check their learning of normalization process. Consequently, the paper shows that the tool has a positive impact on students' perception.