Reprint: Learning With a Strategic Management Simulation Q2 Game: A Case Study

The use of simulation games as a pedagogic method is well established though its effective use is context-driven. This study adds to the increasing growing body of empirical evidence of the effectiveness of simulation games but more importantly emphasises why by explaining the instructional design implemented reflecting best practices. This multimethod study finds evidence that student learning was enhanced through the use of simulation games, reflected in the two key themes; simulation games as a catalyst for learning and simulation games as a vehicle for learning. In so doing the research provides one of the few empirically based studies that support simulation games in enhancing learning and, more importantly, contextualizes the enhancement in terms of the instructional design of the curriculum. This research should prove valuable for those with an academic interest in the use of simulation games and management educators who use, or are considering its use. Further, the findings contribute to the academic debate concerning the effective implementation of simulation game-based training in business and management education.

Applying Enterprise: Active Learning Environments for Business Higher National Diploma Students

This article details an approach to teaching entrepreneurship to Higher National Diploma (HND) students that combines lecture-based and experiential learning processes to increase student learning, comprehension, and entrepreneurial skills. A UK university redesigned an entrepreneurship course to have students design and implement business plans for a pop-up shop and an event in the local community, while working closely with instructors and outside stakeholders. The lectures used in the lessons were designed to complement the enterprise activities and be immediately applied in group work settings. Data was collected from student reflections and analyzed against instructor reflections to highlight both the success and challenges of this approach, as well as any areas of dissonance between student and instructor observations. While literature on the benefits of active and experiential learning processes are highlighted in the literature, this article examines these teaching methods specifically in a HND context, an area in which research on the benefits of these teaching methods for developing entrepreneurial students and for developing students prepared for undergraduate education has been limited.

Concerns and Expectations of Students Participating in Study Abroad Programs: Blogging to Reveal the Dynamic Student Voice

Study abroad programmes (SAP) have become increasingly popular with university students and within academia. They are often seen as an experiential opportunity to expand student learning and development, including increases in global, international, and intercultural competences. However, despite the increasing popularity of and participation in study abroad programmes, many student concerns and uncertainties remain. This research investigates initial pre-departure concerns and apprehensions of students undertaking a one-semester study abroad programme and uses these as context for an examination of violated expectations of students during their programme. The research uses interpretative phenomenological analysis to interpret data collected from regularly-updated blogs composed by students throughout their SAP experience. The process of using blogs to collect data is less formalised than many other approaches of interpretative phenomenological analysis, enabling ‘in the moment’ feedback during the SAP and lending greater depth to the understanding of student perceptions.

An integrated measure of student perceptions of feedback, engagement and school identification

Teacher feedback influences student learning, identity construction and trajectories. This study tests the measurement properties of a questionnaire designed to assess (a) student perceptions about teacher feedback; (b) student identification with school, and; (c) student engagement. 1089 students in grades 6 through 10 (mean age 13.4) participated in the study. Factor analyses yield dimensions of School Identification, Effective Feedback, Person-Centered Feedback, Engagement, and Social Acceptance. Internal consistency for principal dimensions varied between .77 and .89. The instrument is suitable for assessing student school identification, behavioral engagement, and perceptions of teacher feedback.

Práticas avaliativas na graduação de enfermagem: percepção de estudantes

A concepção de avaliação que marca a trajetória dos docentes e estudantes é, na maioria das vezes, a que compreende esse processo como um ato de atribuir valor (notas) e de julgamento (certo, errado), de acordo com a aprendizagem do estudante. O docente cumpre uma exigência burocrática e o estudante, comumente vivencia o processo avaliativo passivamente, não dinamizando seu processo de produção do conhecimento. Assim, tem-se como objetivo compreender como os estudantes de Enfermagem percebem e participam das práticas avaliativas desenvolvidas na Graduação de Enfermagem; e compreender como os estudantes de Enfermagem relacionam as práticas avaliativas desenvolvidas no Curso de Enfermagem com o seu processo de ensino e aprendizagem. Para tanto,esta Pesquisa foi aprovada pelo Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa na Área da Saúde – CEPAS/FURG, mediante Parecer 169/2013. Foram mantidos e respeitados os preceitos da Resolução nº 466/2012 do Conselho Nacional de Saúde. Tratou-se de uma pesquisa com abordagem qualitativa descritiva-exploratória, mediante a entrevista semi estruturada com 26 estudantes de Enfermagem de uma universidade pública do sul do país. O processo de análise ocorreu através da Análise Textual Discursiva, composta por quatro focos: processo de unitarização; categorização; captação do novo emergente; e processo autoorganizado do texto. Obteve-se como resultado duas categorias: Percepção de estudantes sobre as práticas avaliativas desenvolvidas na graduação de enfermagem e participação de estudantes nas práticas avaliativas desenvolvidas na graduação de enfermagem. Conclui-se que as reflexões deste estudo possam suscitar uma maior sensibilidade da comunidade acadêmica, melhoria da qualidade dos processos avaliativos desenvolvidos entre professores e estudantes do Curso de Enfermagem e um agir ético nesse ambiente, resultando em benefícios potenciais para a qualidade não só do processo de ensino e aprendizagem, mas também, do exercício profissionalcomo futuros trabalhadores da saúde.

Tile-Based Two-Dimensional Phase Unwrapping for Digital Holography Using a Modular Framework

A variety of physical and biomedical imaging techniques, such as digital holography, interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR), or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) enable measurement of the phase of a physical quantity additionally to its amplitude. However, the phase can commonly only be measured modulo 2π, as a so called wrapped phase map. Phase unwrapping is the process of obtaining the underlying physical phase map from the wrapped phase. Tile-based phase unwrapping algorithms operate by first tessellating the phase map, then unwrapping individual tiles, and finally merging them to a continuous phase map. They can be implemented computationally efficiently and are robust to noise. However, they are prone to failure in the presence of phase residues or erroneous unwraps of single tiles. We tried to overcome these shortcomings by creating novel tile unwrapping and merging algorithms as well as creating a framework that allows to combine them in modular fashion. To increase the robustness of the tile unwrapping step, we implemented a model-based algorithm that makes efficient use of linear algebra to unwrap individual tiles. Furthermore, we adapted an established pixel-based unwrapping algorithm to create a quality guided tile merger. These original algorithms as well as previously existing ones were implemented in a modular phase unwrapping C++ framework. By examining different combinations of unwrapping and merging algorithms we compared our method to existing approaches. We could show that the appropriate choice of unwrapping and merging algorithms can significantly improve the unwrapped result in the presence of phase residues and noise. Beyond that, our modular framework allows for efficient design and test of new tile-based phase unwrapping algorithms. The software developed in this study is freely available.

The Effect of using online homework exercises on student achievement in a Quantitative methods course

Abstract: Quantitative Methods (QM) is a compulsory course in the Social Science program in CEGEP. Many QM instructors assign a number of homework exercises to give students the opportunity to practice the statistical methods, which enhances their learning. However, traditional written exercises have two significant disadvantages. The first is that the feedback process is often very slow. The second disadvantage is that written exercises can generate a large amount of correcting for the instructor. WeBWorK is an open-source system that allows instructors to write exercises which students answer online. Although originally designed to write exercises for math and science students, WeBWorK programming allows for the creation of a variety of questions which can be used in the Quantitative Methods course. Because many statistical exercises generate objective and quantitative answers, the system is able to instantly assess students’ responses and tell them whether they are right or wrong. This immediate feedback has been shown to be theoretically conducive to positive learning outcomes. In addition, the system can be set up to allow students to re-try the problem if they got it wrong. This has benefits both in terms of student motivation and reinforcing learning. Through the use of a quasi-experiment, this research project measured and analysed the effects of using WeBWorK exercises in the Quantitative Methods course at Vanier College. Three specific research questions were addressed. First, we looked at whether students who did the WeBWorK exercises got better grades than students who did written exercises. Second, we looked at whether students who completed more of the WeBWorK exercises got better grades than students who completed fewer of the WeBWorK exercises. Finally, we used a self-report survey to find out what students’ perceptions and opinions were of the WeBWorK and the written exercises. For the first research question, a crossover design was used in order to compare whether the group that did WeBWorK problems during one unit would score significantly higher on that unit test than the other group that did the written problems. We found no significant difference in grades between students who did the WeBWorK exercises and students who did the written exercises. The second research question looked at whether students who completed more of the WeBWorK exercises would get significantly higher grades than students who completed fewer of the WeBWorK exercises. The straight-line relationship between number of WeBWorK exercises completed and grades was positive in both groups. However, the correlation coefficients for these two variables showed no real pattern. Our third research question was investigated by using a survey to elicit students’ perceptions and opinions regarding the WeBWorK and written exercises. Students reported no difference in the amount of effort put into completing each type of exercise. Students were also asked to rate each type of exercise along six dimensions and a composite score was calculated. Overall, students gave a significantly higher score to the written exercises, and reported that they found the written exercises were better for understanding the basic statistical concepts and for learning the basic statistical methods. However, when presented with the choice of having only written or only WeBWorK exercises, slightly more students preferred or strongly preferred having only WeBWorK exercises. The results of this research suggest that the advantages of using WeBWorK to teach Quantitative Methods are variable. The WeBWorK system offers immediate feedback, which often seems to motivate students to try again if they do not have the correct answer. However, this does not necessarily translate into better performance on the written tests and on the final exam. What has been learned is that the WeBWorK system can be used by interested instructors to enhance student learning in the Quantitative Methods course. Further research may examine more specifically how this system can be used more effectively.

THE EFFECT OF SCHOOL CLIMATE (STUDENT AND TEACHER ENGAGEMENT) ON STUDENT PERFORMANCE

Title of Dissertation: THE EFFECT OF SCHOOL CLIMATE (STUDENT AND TEACHER ENGAGEMENT) ON STUDENT PERFORMANCE Kenneth L. Marcus, Doctor of Education, 2016 Directed By: Dr. Thomas Davis, Assistant Professor, Education Policy and Leadership, Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership This quantitative research study was designed to compute correlations/relationships of student engagement and student achievement of fifth grade students. Secondary information was collected on the relationship of FARMS, type of school, hope, and well-being on student achievement. School leaders are charged with ensuring that students achieve academically and demonstrate their ability by meeting identified targets on state and district mandated assessments. Due to increased pressure to meet targets, principals implement academic interventions to improve student learning and overlook the benefits of a positive school climate. This study has provided information on the impact of school climate on student achievement. To conduct this study, the researcher collected two sets of public fifth grade data (Gallup Survey student engagement scores and DSA reading, mathematics, and science scores) to determine the relationship of student performance and school climate. Secondary data were also collected on teacher engagement and the percentage of students receiving FARMS to determine the effect on students. The findings from this study reinforced the belief that school climate can have a positive effect on student achievement. This study contributed quantitative data about the relationship between school climate and school achievement.

Predictors of feelings of depression among Asian American college students

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between various collegiate experiences including substance use, religiosity, campus climate, academic life, social life, self-concept, satisfaction with college, and perceived feelings of depression among Asian American college students compared to other racial groups. Employing Astin’s (1993) I-E-O model, the study utilized the 2008 Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) the Freshman Survey (TFS) and the follow up College Senior Survey (CSS) in 2012 with the final sample of 10,710 students including 951 Asian American students. Descriptive analysis, cross-tabulations, blocked hierarchical multiple regression analysis, the equality of the unstandardized beta coefficients from the regression analyses, and a one-way ANOVA were conducted for the data analysis. Asian American students who are female, from low SES backgrounds, academically less achieved, frequent substance users, less religiously involved, and less satisfied with overall college experiences showed higher levels of feeling depressed. For the rate of feeling depressed across racial groups, Asian American college students showed the highest rate of feeling depressed while White students reported the lowest rate of feeling depressed. For Asian American college students, feeling depressed in high school, hours spent per week on studying and homework, and self-confidence in intellectual ability were the most significant predictors of feelings of depression while drinking beer, drinking liquor, spirituality, failing to complete homework on time, hours spent per week on socializing, self rated self-confidence in social ability, and satisfaction with overall college experiences were significant predictors of feelings of depression. Asian American college students spent the longest hours on studying and homework, reported the highest GPA, but showed the lowest self-confidence on intellectual ability. For all four racial groups, feeling depressed in high school and self-confidence in intellectual ability were significant predictors of feelings of depression in common. Implications for practice and directions for future research emphasize the need for better understanding the unique cultural background and impact of academic life associated with feelings of depression among Asian American college students and developing customized psycho-educational and outreach programs to meet unique needs for psychological well-being for each racial group on campus.

La acción tutorial en los trabajos de fin de grado: análisis de su funcionamiento en la Titulación de Grado en Derecho de la Universidad de Málaga

En los nuevos planes de estudio la función tutorial alcanza un papel clave en el proceso de aprendizaje del estudiante. A diferencia del viejo concepto de acción tutorial que existía en los antiguos estudios de licenciatura, actualmente la tutorización del estudiante por parte del profesor es parte esencial de su profesor de aprendizaje. En el caso de los trabajos fin de grado esta función toma un mayor protagonismo al ser necesario que el profesor realice un seguimiento del alumno para orientarle desde su inicio hasta la finalización del trabajo fin de grado. A través de este trabajo expondremos cuáles son las funciones que el profesor-tutor debe desarrollar durante la tutorización del trabajo fin de grado y cuál es la valoración que podemos realizar de su regulación y funcionamiento en la titulación de Grado en Derecho de la Universidad de Málaga, tras dos años de experiencia.

Relatório final de estágio realizado na Escola Básica Eugénio dos Santos

O estágio pedagógico é o culminar de todo um processo que teve início na formação inicial e no qual, o futuro professor pode pôr em prática as competências adquiridas ao longo dessa formação. Este compreende um conjunto de tarefas que proporcionam a organização, estruturação e realização do processo de ensino-aprendizagem. O presente relatório visa realizar de forma reflexiva e projetiva, a análise de todo o processo formativo decorrente do estágio pedagógico em Educação Física. Este momento de formação foi determinante para o desenvolvimento de conhecimentos e competências que me permitem resolver os problemas do processo de ensino-aprendizagem de modo mais eficaz e adequado, promovendo melhores condições para a aprendizagem dos alunos. Ao longo do estágio pedagógico destaco as dificuldades iniciais e a progressão percecionada em competências fundamentais para o desenvolvimento das funções de professor, como um superior conhecimento pedagógico do conteúdo, capacidade de planear conteúdos, e capacidade de realizar um real acompanhamento ativo das aprendizagens dos alunos, fomentando a avaliação formativa. Para o meu futuro profissional, considero necessário continuar a desenvolver esforços para apresentar capacidade de autocrítica, promover o trabalho colaborativo e cooperativo, e ainda manter uma procura incessante de superação e reflexão contínua. Estes são no meu entender fatores que têm um efeito muito importante no desempenho do professor e no processo de ensino-aprendizagem dos alunos.

Une comparaison des journaux non structurés et des journaux structurés rédigés par les étudiants en hygiène dentaire

The Canadian Dental Hygienists Association (CDHA) has indicated that there is a need for research in education in the field of dental hygiene. It seems that when compared to the nursing profession, the profession of dental hygiene is only in the earliest stages of investigating ways of teaching critical thinking. The faculty of the dental hygiene program at John Abbott College has always valued the skill of self-assessment in the students, yet there are few specific learning activities provided whereby the students can learn how to perfect and work on this invaluable skill of self-reflection in order to better self-assess. Although self-assessment is required of the students upon the completion of each clinical experience in Clinic 1, 2 and 3, a modest amount of clinical time is allotted to reflect upon this most important skill. It appears that more could be done to prepare our students to assess their learning and clinical practice. Self-reflection as an essential element of practice has a valid place in professional education. The purpose of conducting this study was to find out whether unstructured or structured self-reflective journal writing is a sound pedagogical technique to encourage dental hygiene students’ self-assessment through self-reflection. The research design for the project was a single case study. The paradigm for the study was chosen with a purposeful selection of participants, involving twenty-seven, third-year dental hygiene students at John Abbott College. The students were arbitrarily enrolled in two sections, which for the purpose of this study were referred to as Group A and Group B. Three duplicated coded anonymous journal entries from each student were collected over a ten-week period during the Fall 2009 semester. To examine the students’ level of self-reflection, two methods were used. First a content analysis of reflective journals was used to ascertain the level and substance of the reflections from their clinical experiences with the intent of looking more specifically at the students’ self-assessment. The journal entries were coded and analyzed after the grades were submitted at the end of the school term. This was followed by the distribution of an anonymous questionnaire to the students in both sections. The responses of the questionnaire were tabulated and analyzed. An analysis was done on the data collected in order to determine whether age, education and or mother tongue of the students in both Groups A and B had an influence on their perceptions of journal writing, as well as the student’s opinions about the value of journal writing. This questionnaire included two open-ended questions to assist in gathering additional data on the student’s thoughts on writing journals. A content analysis of the qualitative data collected from the open-ended questions in the questionnaire was also analyzed. Results indicated there were very few differences in the level of self-reflection leading to self-assessment. However, students in Group B who were assigned structured journals showed more evidence of deeper learning. Taken as a whole, the journal entries clearly showed the students were involved in ‘reflection-on-action’ of their clinical experiences (Schon 1987, as cited in Asadoorian & Batty, 2005). The quality of the responses for the most part indicated the students took the time and effort to record their perceptions of their clinical experiences. It is important to note that the results do indicate that students did show a need to self-reflect and assess. The students did in fact validate the importance of reflection through journal writing, even though they did not particularly like it as an added assignment. The journals were found to be very helpful to the research in getting to know what the issues were that held the students’ attention. They explained how and to what extent the students developed relationships with their clients. It was obvious that clinicians have an impact and influence on student learning. The students value the help, role modeling, patience, encouraging words and or gestures, positive reinforcement, and understanding provided by their clinicians. This research provides some evidence that students do believe that self-reflection through structured journal writing helped them better prepare for future clinical sessions with their clients. Our goal as educators should be to encourage dental hygiene students to self-assess through written self-reflection as an established practice for deeper learning.

Relatório no âmbito da unidade curricular prática de ensino supervisionada, realizada na Escola Secundária/3 Rainha Santa Isabel de Estremoz

O presente relatório foi produzido no âmbito da unidade curricular Prática de Ensino Supervisionada, que faz parte do Mestrado em Ensino do Português no 3º Ciclo do Ensino Básico e Ensino Secundário e de Espanhol nos Ensinos Básico e Secundário, sob a orientação da Professora Doutora Ângela Maria Franco Martins Coelho de Paiva Balça. Identifica-se, na sua essência basilar, como um trabalho reflexivo-descritivo sobre a prática aplicada e efetuada no ano letivo 2015/2016, no lecionamento das disciplinas de Português em duas turmas de 10º ano, e de Espanhol – Língua Estrangeira I numa de 7º ano, na Escola Secundária/3 Rainha Santa Isabel, de Estremoz. Além do mais, também constitui o expoente de todo o processo levado a cabo durante os dois anos do Mestrado, o qual permitiu e conduziu à revisão, modificação, inovação e progressão em matéria de conceitos, ideias, noções, ações e teorias, quer fossem mais antigas ou recentes. Este é o produto final e contributo para o desenvolvimento e melhoria a nível pessoal e profissional. Através do conhecimento da literatura teórica e da sua aplicação na ação, a reflexão compromete-nos a cumprir uma prática fundamentada e apoiada em toda a documentação mundial, europeia e portuguesa normativa e de referência para o exercício da profissão docente o mais completo e eficaz possível. Mais do que um relatório, é uma avaliação orientativa da dimensão transformadora no desempenho docente que, na sua parte mais cogitativa, expõe estruturalmente: a observação e o seu registo; a observação em contexto; a planificação; a orientação; a componente letiva – aulas lecionadas (análise, aprendizagem e melhorias) e a pesquisa reflexiva na abordagem dos inquéritos passados nas turmas de Português e de Espanhol; e, por fim, a abordagem reflexiva sobre a avaliação formativa das aprendizagens realizada às turmas de 10º ano, na disciplina de Português; ABSTRACT: This report was produced in the scope of Supervised Teaching Practice’s curricular unit, which is part of the Master’s Degree in Teaching Portuguese for the 3rd stage of Primary Education and Secondary Education, and Spanish Foreign Language Teaching for Primary and Secondary Education, under the supervision of Dr. Ângela Maria Franco Martins Coelho de Paiva Balça. In its basic essence, this is a reflective and descriptive paper about practices applied and performed for the 2015-2016 school year to teach Portuguese, in two tenth grade classes, and Spanish as a Foreign Language, in one seventh grade class at Rainha Santa Isabel School of Estremoz. Furthermore, it outlines the entire process carried out during the two years of the Master’s Degree, which provided and led to review, change, breakthrough, and advancement regarding concepts, ideas, assumptions, and theories, whether they were pre-existing or more recent. This is the final product and the contribution towards development and improvement in personal and professional terms. Through knowledge of theoretical literature and applying it to practice, the reflection leads us to compile substantiated and supported practice in all worldwide, European, and Portuguese standards and reference documentation for the most effective pursuit of the profession. More than a report, this is an evaluation of transformation in teaching performance that structurally examines the following: observation and its registration; observation in the field; lesson design; guidance and monitoring; a teaching component (analysis, apprenticeships, and improvements) with a reflective element based on the results of the Portuguese and Spanish class surveys; and, finally, a reflexive approach about formative assessment of student learning that took place within the Portuguese course.

Creencias y prácticas de autoevaluación del aprendizaje vigentes en los procesos de formación profesional desarrollados en el CIDE durante el 2007

This article identifies beliefs and practices of self-learning existing processes developed in the CIDE during 2007. It is based on a research project with two groups of informants both academics from CIDE, that during the decade of the 90 participated in the experience of self-learning, some of themas teachers and other as students. Current practices being carried out by academics in the field of self-reporting of apprenticeships in the CIDE, show that they attach great importance to this process in the lesson and agree on the necessity to implement this process in concrete terms, that because, experiences become isolated initiatives that do not fall within any policy, guideline or orientation openly raised by the community CIDE. The beliefs of the participants with regard to the possibility of implementing self-evaluation processes of learning in the training that develops the CIDE, highlight the need for scholars to train group of academics and students in this field and also create more spaces for student involvement. Moreover, scholars believe that the self-assessment of learning is a strategy for developing metacognitive processes and reflective, which is considered a core importance in the training provided by the Centre.

Development of an institutional framework to guide transitions into enhanced blended learning in higher education

The rapidly changing digital landscape is having a significant influence on learning and teaching. Our study assesses the response of one higher education institution (HEI) to the changing digital landscape and its transition into enhanced blended learning, which seeks to go beyond the early implementation stage to make the most effective use of online learning technologies to enhance the student experience and student learning outcomes. Evidence from a qualitative study comprising 20 semi-structured interviews, informed by a literature review, has resulted in the development of a holistic framework to guide HEIs transitioning into enhanced blended learning. The proposed framework addresses questions relating to the why (change agents), what (institutional considerations), how (organisational preparedness) and who (stakeholders) of transitions into enhanced blended learning. The involvement of all stakeholder groups is essential to a successful institutional transition into enhanced blended learning.