Redefining dropping out in online higher education: a case study from the UOC

In recent years, studies into the reasons for dropping out of higher education (including online education) have been undertaken with greater regularity, parallel to the rise in the relative weight of this type of education, compared with brick-and-mortar education. However, the work invested in characterising the students who drop out of education, compared with those who do not, appears not to have had the same relevance as that invested in the analysis of the causes. The definition of dropping out is very sensitive to the context. In this article, we reach a purely empirical definition of student dropping out, based on the probability of not continuing a specific academic programme following several consecutive semesters of "theoretical break". Dropping out should be properly defined before analysing its causes, as well as comparing the drop-out rates between the different online programmes, or between online and on-campus ones. Our results show that there are significant differences among programmes, depending on their theoretical extension, but not their domain of knowledge.

Proceedings of the 1st Seminar on Higher Education Rankings and E-learning

First International Seminar on Higher EducationRankings and e-Learning. Proceedings

An Empirical Study on Faculty Perceptions and Teaching Practices of Wikipedia

Some faculty members from different universities around the world have begun to use Wikipedia as a teaching tool in recent years. These experiences show, in most cases, very satisfactory results and a substantial improvement in various basic skills, as well as a positive influence on the students' motivation. Nevertheless and despite the growing importance of e-learning methodologies based on the use of the Internet for higher education, the use of Wikipedia as a teaching resource remains scarce among university faculty.Our investigation tries to identify which are the main factors that determine acceptance or resistance to that use. We approach the decision to use Wikipedia as a teaching tool by analyzing both the individual attributes of faculty members and the characteristics of the environment where they develop their teaching activity. From a specific survey sent to all faculty of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), pioneer and leader in online education in Spain, we have tried to infer the influence of these internal and external elements. The questionnaire was designed to measure different constructs: perceived quality of Wikipedia, teaching practices involving Wikipedia, use experience, perceived usefulness and use of 2.0 tools. Control items were also included for gathering information on gender, age, teaching experience, academic rank, and area of expertise.Our results reveal that academic rank, teaching experience, age or gender, are not decisive factors in explaining the educational use of Wikipedia. Instead, the decision to use it is closely linked to the perception of Wikipedia's quality, the use of other collaborative learning tools, an active attitude towards web 2.0 applications, and connections with the professional non-academic world. Situational context is also very important, since the use is higher when faculty members have got reference models in their close environment and when they perceive it is positively valued by their colleagues. As far as these attitudes, practices and cultural norms diverge in different scientific disciplines, we have also detected clear differences in the use of Wikipedia among areas of academic expertise. As a consequence, a greater application of Wikipedia both as a teaching resource and as a driver for teaching innovation would require much more active institutional policies and some changes in the dominant academic culture among faculty members.

Debating as a classroom tool for adapting learning outcomes to the European higher education area

The creation of the European Higher Education Area has meant a number of significant changes to the educational structures of the university community. In particular, the new system of European credits has generated the need for innovation in the design of curricula and teaching methods. In this paper, we propose debating as a classroom tool that can help fulfill these objectives by promoting an active student role in learning. To demonstrate the potential of this tool, a classroom experiment was conducted in a bachelor’s degree course in Industrial Economics -Regulation and Competition-, involving a case study in competition policy and incorporating the techniques of a conventional debate -presentation of standpoints, turns, right to reply and summing up-. The experiment yielded gains in student attainment and positive assessments of the subject. In conclusion, the incorporation of debating activities helps students to acquire the skills, be they general or specific, required to graduate successfully in Economics.

CRM and higher education : developing a monitoring system to improve relationships in e-learning environments

Peer-reviewed

Web and education, a successful open entanglement

E-learning, understood as the intensive use of Information and Communication Technologies in mainly but not only) distance education, has radically changed the meaning of the latter. E-learning is an overused term which has been applied to any use of technology in education. Today, the most widely accepted meaning ofe-learning coincides with the fourth generation described by Taylor (1999), where there is an asynchronousprocess that allows students and teachers to interact in an educational process expressly designed in accordance with these principles. We prefer to speak of Internet-Based Learning or, better still, Web-Based Learning, for example, to explain the fact that distance education is carried out using the Internet, with the appearance of the virtual learning environment concept, a web space where the teaching and learning process is generated and supported (Sangrà, 2002). This entails overcoming the barriers of space and time of brickand mortar education (although we prefer the term face-to-face) or of classical distance education using broadcasting and adopting a completely asynchronous model that allows access to education by many more users, at any level (including secondary education, but primarily higher education and lifelong learning).

Reflective Learning in Higher Education: A Comparative Analysis

A descriptive, exploratory study is presented based on a questionnaire regarding the following aspects of reflective learning: a) self-knowledge, b) relating experience to knowledge, c) self-reflection, and d) self-regulation of the learning processes. The questionnaire was completed by students studying four different degree courses (social education, environmental sciences, nursing, and psychology). Specifically, the objectives of a self-reported reflective learning questionnaire are: i) to determine students’ appraisal of reflective learning methodology with regard to their reflective learning processes, ii) to obtain evidence of the main difficulties encountered by students in integrating reflective learning methodologies into their reflective learning processes, and iii) to collect students’ perceptions regarding the main contributions of the reflective learning processes they have experienced

Wikipedia in Higher Education: An Empirical Study on Faculty Perceptions and Practices

Peer-reviewed

Digital learner portfolio as a tool for inovating assessment in the European Higher Education Area

The present article comes from a doctoral thesis that turns on digital learner portfolio, which is an innovating methodology from the perspective of European Higher Education Area. First, the educative concept of eportfolio is described in the sense of its procedure and its structure, by means of the technological support of a platform of virtual campus. Second, it is shown the pedagogical model of an eportfolio that adapts subjects with an instrumental character to one organization based on tasks and reflections. This design of virtual learning environment is based on a teaching- learning methodology sustained in the activity of the student, which tries to give support to the management of his or her own process of learning and assessment. Finally, the article illustrates the experience of implementation of the first digital learner portfolios in the University of Barcelona and the Autonomous University of Barcelona, with the objective of reflecting about the pedagogical consequences that this assessment model with technological support has in a traditional higher education institution.

La incidencia de la toma de apuntes sobre el aprendizaje significativo. Un estudio de enseñanza superior.= The incidence of notetaking on meaningful learning. A study of higher education.

En este estudio presentamos una experiencia llevada a cabo con estudiantes de la asignatura “Psicología de la Educación” de diferentes centros universitarios. Tomando como marco de referencia las teorías constructivistas del aprendizaje, el objetivo de nuestro trabajo se centra en comprobar la incidencia de la utilización de diferentes estrategias de enseñanza por parte del profesor y de determinadas estrategias de aprendizaje en el proceso de registrar la información por parte de los estudiantes, en la significatividad del aprendizaje.Los resultados obtenidos muestran que en los grupos donde los profesores han utilizado estrategias de enseñanza diferentes a la clase magistral, se ha producido un cambio positivo en las respuestas de los estudiantes o se ha mantenido el mismo nivel, mientras que el grupo donde se ha utilizado una metodología magistral, el nivel de respuesta es inferior. Así mismo, hemos podido observar como los grupos de estudiantes que utilizan las estrategias de aprendizaje seleccionadas para tomar apuntes mejoran su nivel de respuestas, lo cual no se produce en el grupo control

A teaching/learning support tool for introductory programming courses

In This work we present a Web-based tool developed with the aim of reinforcing teaching and learning of introductory programming courses. This tool provides support for teaching and learning. From the teacher's perspective the system introduces important gains with respect to the classical teaching methodology. It reinforces lecture and laboratory sessions, makes it possible to give personalized attention to the student, assesses the degree of participation of the students and most importantly, performs a continuous assessment of the student's progress. From the student's perspective it provides a learning framework, consisting in a help environment and a correction environment, which facilitates their personal work. With this tool students are more motivated to do programming

Not the right job but a secure one : over-education and temporary employment in France, Italy and Spain

Resorting to four waves of the European Community Household Panel, this research explores the association between temporary employment and the likelihood of being over-educated. Such an association has been largely ignored by the literature explaining over-education, more inclined to attribute such a mismatch to the system of education. Selecting three similarly standarised and stratified systems of education (France, Italy and Spain) and controlling for many other variables likely to affect over-education, like gender, age, tenure, job change, firm size or sector, the paper demonstrates that such an association between temporary employment and over-education exists. Being a stepping stone towards a more stable and adjusted position in the labour market, holding a temporary employment may be associated to a higher likelihood of being over-educated. Such an association is more likely in Italy and France. Yet, the opposite sign prevails where permanent employment becomes such a valuable asset as to make individuals trade human capital by employment security. This is the case of Spain.

The use of ISO 9001 quality standard in higher education institution libraries

[eng] ISO standard 9001 is one of a set of management tools that libraries have adopted in recent years. This article focuses on libraries in higher education institutions that have received ISO certification of their quality management systems (ISO standard 9001:2000). We examine their reasons for seeking certification and the advantages and difficulties they have encountered in applying this ISO standard. Finally, we consider the future prospects of ISO standard 9001 in university libraries.

Effects of math anxiety on student success in higher education

This study examines whether math anxiety and negative attitudes toward mathematics have an effect on university students" academic achievement in a methodological course forming part of their degree. A total of 193 students were presented with a math anxiety test and some questions about their enjoyment, self-confidence and motivation regarding mathematics, and their responses were assessed in relation to the grades they had obtained during continuous assessment on a course entitled"Research Design". Results showed that low performance on the course was related to math anxiety and negative attitudes toward mathematics. We suggest that these factors may affect students" performance and should therefore be taken into account in attempts to improve students" learning processes in methodological courses of this kind.

A methodological approach to identify teacher's ICT competencies in online learning environments in Higher Education

Aquest article pretén descriure el procés metodològic d'identificació i mesurament de les competències TIC dels professors i com a formadors en les TIC en un entorn d'aprenentatge en línia en l'Educació Superior portat a terme en el marc del Projecte Europeu Elene-TLC.La revisió de la recerca en les competències en línia del professor demostra que, en primer lloc, el mètode més utilitzat per a identificar aquestes competències és el focus group. En segon lloc, la tècnica Delphi és la tècnica més utilitzada per reunir el consens d'experts sobre quines són les competències principals per al professor en línia entre els que s'indiquen.La proposta metodològica descrita en aquest document consisteix en la creació de 7 grups de discussió en línia, l'objectiu dels quals era identificar les competències formatives dels professors en línia i les dels professos en línia. La llista de competències obtingudes posteriorment es va oferir als experts europeus que participaven en l'aplicació de la tècnica Delphi. A aquests experts se'ls va demanar que ordenessin les competències d'acord amb el seu grau d'importància.Els resultats mostren que els grups de discussió en línia i el mètode Delphi són les metodologies apropiades per a identificar les competències TIC dels professors universitaris en els entorns d'aprenentatge en línia.