A conceptual framework for the cultural integration of cooperative learning : a Thai primary mathematics education perspective

The Thailand education reform adopted cooperative learning to improve the quality of education. However, it has been reported that the introduction and maintenance of cooperative learning has been difficult and uncertain because of the cultural differences. The study proposed a conceptual framework developed based on making a connection between Thai cultures and cooperative learning elements, and implemented a small-scale research project in a Thai primary mathematics class with a teacher and thirty-two Grade 4 students. The results uncovered that the three components including preparation of teachers, instructional strategies and preparation of students can be vehicles for the culture integration in cooperative learning.

Traversability estimation for a planetary rover via experimental kernel learning in a Gaussian process framework

A critical requirement for safe autonomous navigation of a planetary rover is the ability to accurately estimate the traversability of the terrain. This work considers the problem of predicting the attitude and configuration angles of the platform from terrain representations that are often incomplete due to occlusions and sensor limitations. Using Gaussian Processes (GP) and exteroceptive data as training input, we can provide a continuous and complete representation of terrain traversability, with uncertainty in the output estimates. In this paper, we propose a novel method that focuses on exploiting the explicit correlation in vehicle attitude and configuration during operation by learning a kernel function from vehicle experience to perform GP regression. We provide an extensive experimental validation of the proposed method on a planetary rover. We show significant improvement in the accuracy of our estimation compared with results obtained using standard kernels (Squared Exponential and Neural Network), and compared to traversability estimation made over terrain models built using state-of-the-art GP techniques.

Developing agency in the creative career : a design-based framework for work integrated learning

Research shows that approximately half of creative practitioners operate as embedded creatives by securing gainful employment within organisations located in the field beyond their core discipline. This foregrounds the significance of having the skills necessary to successfully cross the disciplinary boundaries in order to negotiate a professional role. The multiple implications of such reframing for emerging creative practitioners who navigate uncertain professional boundaries include developing a skill of identifying and successfully targeting the shifting professional and industry coordinates while remaining responsive to changes. A further implication involves creative practitioners engaging in a continuous cycle of re-negotiation of their professional identity making the management of multiple professional selves - along with creating and recreating a meaningful frame of references such as the language around their emerging practice - a necessary skill. This chapter presents a case study of a set of Work Integrated Learning subjects designed to develop in creative industries practitioners the skills to manage their emerging professional identities in response to the shifts in the professional world.

Conceptualising the learning organisation : creating a maturity framework to develop a shared understanding of the library's role in literacy and learning

Although they sit outside the formal education sector, libraries are intrinsically centres of learning where people can engage with knowledge and ideas and acquire the literacy skills that are essential for active participation in an increasingly digital society. In Australia, National and State Libraries Australasia (NSLA) has acknowledged the need to not only better understand the general concept of the library as a learning institution, but also to help the individual NSLA libraries specifically identify their capabilities in this arena. The NSLA Literacy and Learning project aimed to improve the members' organisational comprehension and practice as learning institutions and to help them conceptualise their ability to deliver literacy and learning programmes that will benefit their staff and their communities. The NSLA concept of learning institution encompassed two discrete lenses: the internal lens of the library's own organisational understanding and practice, and the external lens of the clients who engage in the literacy and learning programmes delivered by the library. The ultimate goal was to develop a matrix which could enable libraries to assess their perceived levels of maturity as learning institutions along a continuum of emerging to active capabilities. The matrix should also serve as a tool for shared understanding about the NSLA's own strategic directions in the literacy and learning space. This case study documents the evolving process of developing a learning institution maturity framework for libraries that considers individual, team and organisational learning, as well as clients' interactions with the organisation, with the goal of producing a framework that has the potential to measure the value of learning and growth in both the library's staff and the library's communities

Let's do it: A framework to investigate the affordances of experimental learning environments

BACKGROUND Experimental learning, traditionally conducted in on-campus laboratory venues, is the cornerstone of science and engineering education. In order to ensure that engineering graduates are exposed to ‘real-world’ situations and attain the necessary professional skill-sets, as mandated by course accreditation bodies such as Engineers Australia, face-to-face laboratory experimentation with real equipment has been an integral component of traditional engineering education. The online delivery of engineering coursework endeavours to mimic this with remote and simulated laboratory experimentation. To satisfy student and accreditation requirements, the common practice has been to offer equivalent remote and/or simulated laboratory experiments in lieu of the ones delivered, face-to face, on campus. The current implementations of both remote and simulated laboratories tend to be specified with a focus on technical characteristics, instead of pedagogical requirements. This work attempts to redress this situation by developing a framework for the investigation of the suitability of different experimental educational environments to deliver quality teaching and learning. PURPOSE For the tertiary education sector involved with technical or scientific training, a research framework capable of assessing the affordances of laboratory venues is an important aid during the planning, designing and evaluating stages of face-to-face and online (or cyber) environments that facilitate student experimentation. Providing quality experimental learning venues has been identified as one of the distance-education providers’ greatest challenges. DESIGN/METHOD The investigation draws on the expertise of staff at three Australian universities: Swinburne University of Technology (SUT), Curtin University (Curtin) and Queensland University of Technology (QUT). The aim was to analyse video recorded data, in order to identify the occurrences of kikan-shido (a Japanese term meaning ‘between desks instruction’ and over-the-shoulder learning and teaching (OTST/L) events, thereby ascertaining the pedagogical affordances in face-to-face laboratories. RESULTS These will be disseminated at a Master Class presentation at this conference. DISCUSSION Kikan-shido occurrences did reflect on the affordances of the venue. Unlike with other data collection methods, video recorded data and its analysis is repeatable. Participant bias is minimised or even eradicated and researcher bias tempered by enabling re-coding by others. CONCLUSIONS Framework facilitates the identification of experiential face-to-face learning venue affordances. Investigation will continue with on-line venues.

Creating a standardised teaching and learning framework for social work field placements

Mapping and evaluating a student's progress on placement is a core element of social work education but there has been scant attention to indicate how to effectively create and assess student learning and performance. This paper outlines a project undertaken by the Combined Schools of Social Work to develop a common learning and assessment tool that is being used by all social work schools in Victoria. The paper describes how the Common Assessment Tool (CAT) was developed, drawing on the Australian Association of Social Work Practice Standards, leading to seven key learning areas that form the basis of the assessment of a student's readiness for practice. An evaluation of the usefulness of the CAT was completed by field educators, liaison staff, and students, which confirmed that the CAT was a useful framework for evaluating students' learning goals. The feedback also identified a number of problematic features that were addressed in a revised CAT and rating scale.

Understanding the effectiveness of ICT professional learning through the TPACK Conceptual Framework: A case study

With a significant investment in digital technologies in Australian schools, the effective integration of such technology into teaching and learning is paramount. A growing body of evidence indicates that ICT professional learning is integral to the transformation of pedagogy that will improve student learning outcomes. The question arises as to how professional learning is planned and delivered within schools to ensure that all needs are being met. The purpose of this paper is to report on the research findings of a study into professional learning and ICT integration. The TPACK conceptual framework underpins the analyses of the data and brings forth the importance of technological and pedagogical knowledge. Six key categories will be discussed and the implication for practice will be considered.

A model eliciting framework for integrating mathematics and robotics learning

Robotics is taught in many Australian ICT classrooms, in both primary and secondary schools. Robotics activities, including those developed using the LEGO Mindstorms NXT technology, are mathematics-rich and provide a fertile round for learners to develop and extend their mathematical thinking. However, this context for learning mathematics is often under-exploited. In this paper a variant of the model construction sequence (Lesh, Cramer, Doerr, Post, & Zawojewski, 2003) is proposed, with the purpose of explicitly integrating robotics and mathematics teaching and learning. Lesh et al.’s model construction sequence and the model eliciting activities it embeds were initially researched in primary mathematics classrooms and more recently in university engineering courses. The model construction sequence involves learners working collaboratively upon product-focussed tasks, through which they develop and expose their conceptual understanding. The integrating model proposed in this paper has been used to design and analyse a sequence of activities in an Australian Year 4 classroom. In that sequence more traditional classroom learning was complemented by the programming of LEGO-based robots to ‘act out’ the addition and subtraction of simple fractions (tenths) on a number-line. The framework was found to be useful for planning the sequence of learning and, more importantly, provided the participating teacher with the ability to critically reflect upon robotics technology as a tool to scaffold the learning of mathematics.

Inquiry learning: A pedagogical and curriculum framework for information literacy

This chapter presents an inquiry learning framework that can be used as a pathway for the development of information literacy in both K-12 and higher education. Inquiry learning is advocated as an authentic and active approach that draws upon students’ natural curiosity. The pedagogical and curriculum framework incorporates three major elements: questioning frameworks, information literacy and an iterative research cycle. Models and strategies for the elements of the framework are presented and discussed. The chapter ends with an acknowledgement of the challenges associated with implementing inquiry learning.

Work integrated learning for design : a scholarship of integration

Within an action research framework, this paper describes the conceptual basis for developing a crossdisciplinary pedagogical model of higher education/industry engagement for the built environment design disciplines including architecture, interior design, industrial design and landscape architecture. Aiming to holistically acknowledge and capitalize on the work environment as a place of authentic learning, problems arising in practice are understood as the impetus, focus and ‘space’ for a process of inquiry and discovery that, in the spirit of Boyer’s ‘Scholarship of Integration’, provides for generic as well as discipline-specific learning.

An investigation into the use of a blended model of learning in a first year accounting subject

The weaknesses of ‗traditional‘ modes of instruction in accounting education have been widely discussed. Many contend that the traditional approach limits the ability to provide opportunities for students to raise their competency level and allow them to apply knowledge and skills in professional problem solving situations. However, the recent body of literature suggests that accounting educators are indeed actively experimenting with ‗non-traditional‘ and ‗innovative‘ instructional approaches, where some authors clearly favour one approach over another. But can one instructional approach alone meet the necessary conditions for different learning objectives? Taking into account the ever changing landscape of not only business environments, but also the higher education sector, the premise guiding the collaborators in this research is that it is perhaps counter productive to promote competing dichotomous views of ‗traditional‘ and ‗non-traditional‘ instructional approaches to accounting education, and that the notion of ‗blended learning‘ might provide a useful framework to enhance the learning and teaching of accounting. This paper reports on the first cycle of a longitudinal study, which explores the possibility of using blended learning in first year accounting at one campus of a large regional university. The critical elements of blended learning which emerged in the study are discussed and, consistent with the design-based research framework, the paper also identifies key design modifications for successive cycles of the research.

Technological barriers to learning : designing hybrid pedagogy to minimise cognitive load and maximise understanding

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) provide great promise for the future of education. In the Asia-Pacific region, many nations have started working towards the comprehensive development of infrastructure to enable the development of strong networked educational systems. In Queensland there have been significant initiatives in the past decade to support the integration of technology in classrooms and to set the conditions for the enhancement of teaching and learning with technology. One of the great challenges is to develop our classrooms to make the most of these technologies for the benefit of student learning. Recent research and theory into cognitive load, suggests that complex information environments may well impose a barrier on student learning. Further, it suggests that teachers have the capacity to mitigate against cognitive load through the way they prepare and support students engaging with complex information environments. This chapter compares student learning at different levels of cognitive load to show that learning is enhanced when integrating pedagogies are employed to mitigate against high-load information environments. This suggests that a mature policy framework for ICTs in education needs to consider carefully the development of professional capacities to effectively design and integrate technologies for learning.