Pedagogical principles for the design of virtual learning spaces in higher education

This paper focuses on effective learning spaces in contemporary higher education. Drawing on empirical data from a qualitative study of international students’ experience of blended learning programs conducted in three computing courses in two Australian universities, a range of issues and challenges are reported. Three pedagogical principles are then presented that respond to these challenges: 1. Enabling learners – learning how to learn in virtual learning spaces; 2. Programming for flexible learning – learning how to manage virtual learning environments; and, 3. Transforming learning – learning how to capitalise on the affordances of new technologies. The pedagogical principles are presented together with examples of types of practices that they support.

Leading the quality management of online learning environments in Australian higher education

The paper presents the findings of the first year of a nationally funded Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) project on the quality management of online learning environments by and through distributed leadership. The project is being undertaken by five Australian universities with major commitments to online and distance education. Each university, however, has a distinctive location, history and profile in the sector. The first year of the project has seen the development of a quality management framework with six interrelated elements. The framework is being applied, refined and validated in the second year of the project. Allied with the development of the framework, was the conduct of focus groups at each of the five partner institutions in the middle of the first year. These focus groups composed a range of staff involved collectively in the leadership of the organisation's online learning environment. Prominence was given to the nature and value of strategic planning, due diligence conducted in selecting and mainstreaming technologies, evaluation approaches informing decision making, and the various relationships between different leadership levels and domains. A number of key issues which emerged relating to the elements identified in the framework are examined.

A machine learning approach to predicting winning patterns in track cycling omnium

This paper presents work on using Machine Learning approaches for predicting performance patterns of medalists in Track Cycling Omnium championships. The omnium is a newly introduced track cycling competition to be included in the London 2012 Olympic Games. It involves six individual events and, therefore, requires strategic planning for riders and coaches to achieve the best overall standing in terms of the ranking, speed, and time in each individual component. We carried out unsupervised, supervised, and statistical analyses on the men’s and women’s historical competition data in the World Championships since 2008 to find winning patterns for each gender in terms of the ranking of riders in each individual event. Our results demonstrate that both sprint and endurance capacities are required for both men and women to win a medal in the omnium. Sprint ability is shown to have slightly more influence in deciding the medalists of the omnium competitions.

Supporting athlete selection and strategic planning in track cycling omnium: A statistical and machine learning approach

This article describes the implementation of machine learning techniques that assist cycling experts in the crucial decision-making processes for athlete selection and strategic planning in the track cycling omnium. The omnium is a multi-event competition that was included in the Olympic Games for the first time in 2012. Presently, selectors and cycling coaches make decisions based on experience and opinion. They rarely have access to knowledge that helps predict athletic performances. The omnium presents a unique and complex decision-making challenge as it is not clear what type of athlete is best suited to the omnium (e.g., sprint or endurance specialist) and tactical decisions made by the coach and athlete during the event will have significant effects on the overall performance of the athlete. In the present work, a variety of machine learning techniques were used to analyze omnium competition data from the World Championships since 2007. The analysis indicates that sprint events have slightly more influence in determining the medalists, than endurance-based events. Using a probabilistic analysis, we created a model of performance prediction that provides an unprecedented level of supporting information that assists coaches with strategic and tactical decisions during the omnium.

Problem-based learning curricula in engineering

This chapter explores Problem-Based Learning (PBL) curricula in engineering in Australasian universities, in particular its effects on student approaches to learning in PBL teams. Exploring from the three view points: curriculum design and implementation; institutional support structures assisting the transition to PBL for both students and academics; and student learning experiences in PBL teams this chapter intends to close the loop for institutions and academics using PBL to educate future engineers. In particular, this chapter examines the design of engineering PBL courses or subjects within programs and the ways in which learning experiences are designed for students, the support structures that institutions put in place for both academics and students to transition to PBL, teacher practices and student experiences of learning both individually and as a team in PBL. It is argued that many engineering programs still undermine the need for designing learning experiences to help students achieve the desired learning outcomes; seldom consider the learning cultures adopted by PBL teams and how students engage in learning as individuals and as a team. This chapter argues the need for approaches to PBL that enhance student learning and experiences in engineering and the need for support structures that assist both students and academics in the transition to problem-based learning.

Technology integration in project oriented design based learning for distance education

Technology plays critical role in delivering modern education to the next generation. Proper and effective use of technology is extremely important especially for distance education. Students who enroll in distance mode have a number of limitations as most of them work full time along with the commitments to the family. This paper discusses technology integration for the distance students based on the Project Oriented Design Based Learning.

Structural equation modeling for evaluating the user perceptions of E-learning effectiveness in higher education

A crucial prerequisite for sustainable e-learning is the understanding of learners’ preferences for various pedagogical strategies, technologies, and the management of learning resources. This paper presents an empirical study aiming to empirically test the theoretical (pedagogies, technologies and management) (PTM) model on the preference of learners and on the perceived impact of the effectiveness of e-learning. This study uses structural equation modelling (SEM) to identify the critical dimensions in the PTM model for augmenting the effectiveness of e-learning. This leads to the development of a PTM model with the path coefficients showing weak to strong relationships ranging from 0.15 to 0.42 with acceptable significance levels. The results support the hypothesis that management, technology, resources and metadata ontology dimensions affect the effectiveness of elearning both directly and indirectly through enhancing the management effectiveness of learning resources. However, the result does not support positive influence of pedagogical strategy per se on e-learning effectiveness. The implications of this study indicate the criticality of effective management of learning resources to enhance e-learning effectiveness.

Developing creative citizens through experiential learning environments in applied drama

The Seoul Agenda (2010, p.8) recognizes the value of arts education in enhancing creative and innovative capacity in young people. It goes so far as to suggest that applying arts will “cultivate a new generation of creative citizens”. This paper documents a specific area of arts education in university level drama degrees. In a case study approach, it discusses the outcomes of a work-based learning approach for students of applied drama. It explores the drama student‟s experience and considers how engaging in the study of applied drama and applied performance and having the support and opportunity to transfer these skills in real contexts acts to develop creative capacity and to contribute to consolidating the students‟ identities as citizens

Graduating Students' Perceptions of Learning Design in an Undergraduate Engineering Course

BACKGROUNDUndergraduate Civil Engineering Course at Deakin University, Australia is relatively a new course. It graduated its second main cohort in 2013. Since its beginning in 2012, this study has been running an internal annual Course Experience Surveys targeted at uncovering the graduating students’ perceptions on three components of contemporary learning system provided by Deakin University learning design, learning environment and the human factor. Learning design covers the learning curriculum, learning resources, learning activities and learning supports; learning environment includes physical environment, virtual environment and psychosocial environment; and human factor includes learners, facilitators/teachers and help/support staff and their culture. There is a common agreement among educators in higher education that these three components of learning system should interact and complement each other in order to maximise student learning. This paper coversonly learning design aspect of the overall surveys from 2012 and 2013.PURPOSEThe aim of this study is to analyse the students’ perceptions of learning design provided by Deakin University to its undergraduate civil engineering students in 2012 and 2013. This will help track down the progresses in different aspects of learning design and to understand whether the learning design provided by the institution have actually helped students in their learning and met their learning expectations.DESIGN/METHODThis study adopts questionnaire approach to collect original data by asking students about their perceptions of learning design provided by the institution. 5-point Likert-scale questionnaire survey (strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, strongly agree) is developed and responses are collected. The responses are then statistically analysed in order to uncover the students’ perceptions of learning design provided by the university.RESULTSThe statistical analysis shows that the graduating students in both 2012 and 2013 did not perceive some important aspects of the learning design of the undergraduate civil engineering program/course as good as they expected. Moreover, in line with the shift in the learning design paradigm from content-centric to more inclusive learning design where soft skills, self-directed learning skills and research skills are incorporated, graduating students clearly perceived these changes. However, respondents’ perceptions on some components of learning design got slightly down in 2013 compared with 2012 particularly the ‘learning resources’, ‘learning activities’ and ‘learning supports’.CONCLUSIONSThe shift in the learning design paradigm of the undergraduate civil engineering program/course at Deakin University from teacher-centric to student-centric between 2012 and 2013 has not been perceived by students positively as expected. Students have clearly indicated that they prefer improved curriculum, quality learning resources, customised learning activities and additional learning supports in order to successfully implement student-centric learning design.

Framing and enhancing distributed leadership in the quality management of online learning environments in higher education

This article reports on the findings of senior leadership interviews in a nationally funded project on distributed leadership in the quality management of online learning environments (OLEs) in higher education. Questions were framed around the development of an OLE quality management framework and the situation of the characteristics of distributed leadership at the core of the framework. The project’s premise is that distributed leadership is a descriptive reality of managing OLEs given the various leadership parties involved and the complexities of the contemporary technological landscape. Leaders’ understandings of distributed leadership were examined—its nature, value and potential for advancing the quality management of OLEs. There was confirmatory evidence of its reality, but its meaning and value were not uncritically accepted. It can be concluded that building distributed leadership must start through deliberative formal leadership commitment and action starting at the highest levels of the institution.

Distorted representations of the‘capability approach’ in Australian school education

Recently, curriculum developments in Australia have seen the incorporation of functionalist ‘general capabilities’ as essential markers of schooling, meaning that any pedagogical expression of classroom-based practice, including subsequent instruction, should entail the identification and development of operational general capabilities. The paper questions and critiques recent curriculum developments in Australia that characterises capabilities purely in functionalist terms, something that the broader capabilities literature eschews. The analysis is informed by aspects of the theoretical frameworks of Martin Heidegger and Pierre Bourdieu. It examines the notion of ‘general capabilities’ in the Australian Curriculum. The paper argues that there is an inherent contradiction in Australian education policy, namely a vocationally oriented national school curriculum with implied functionings that cannot fulfil designated purposes. The paper finds that the curriculum's connection to increased individual and national economic prosperity, one championing ‘jobs and careers of the twenty-first century’, is evident, although current populous forms and categories of employment seem to suggest otherwise.