Adopting web-based learning and teaching: a case study in higher education

Most universities worldwide are becoming distance education providers through adopting web-based learning and teaching via the introduction of learning management systems that enable them to open their courses to both on- and off-campus students. Whether this is an effective introduction depends on factors that enable and impede the adoption of such systems and their related pedagogical strategies. This study examines such factors related to adopting a learning management system in a large multicampus urban Australian university. The research method used case study approaches and purposively selected the sample consisting of innovative teaching academics from across the university, who used web-based approaches to teach both on- and off-campus learners. The data were analyzed using a combination of Rogers' theory of diffusion of innovations and actor-network theory and revealed a series of enabling and impeding factors faced by pioneering technology-adopter teaching academics, some of which are technology related while others are policy related and common to large multicampus institutions. The study found that safe adoption environments recognizing career priorities of academics are a result of the continuous negotiation between the evolving institution and its innovative and creative staff. The article concludes with a series of conditions that would form a safe, enabling, and encouraging environment for technology-adopter teaching academics in a large multicampus higher education setting.

TELMA: Technology enhanced learning environment for minimally invasive surgery

Background: Cognitive skills training for minimally invasive surgery has traditionally relied upon diverse tools, such as seminars or lectures. Web technologies for e-learning have been adopted to provide ubiquitous training and serve as structured repositories for the vast amount of laparoscopic video sources available. However, these technologies fail to offer such features as formative and summative evaluation, guided learning, or collaborative interaction between users. Methodology: The "TELMA" environment is presented as a new technology-enhanced learning platform that increases the user's experience using a four-pillared architecture: (1) an authoring tool for the creation of didactic contents; (2) a learning content and knowledge management system that incorporates a modular and scalable system to capture, catalogue, search, and retrieve multimedia content; (3) an evaluation module that provides learning feedback to users; and (4) a professional network for collaborative learning between users. Face validation of the environment and the authoring tool are presented. Results: Face validation of TELMA reveals the positive perception of surgeons regarding the implementation of TELMA and their willingness to use it as a cognitive skills training tool. Preliminary validation data also reflect the importance of providing an easy-to-use, functional authoring tool to create didactic content. Conclusion: The TELMA environment is currently installed and used at the Jesús Usón Minimally Invasive Surgery Centre and several other Spanish hospitals. Face validation results ascertain the acceptance and usefulness of this new minimally invasive surgery training environment.

Good practice guide in learning and teaching

Once again this publication is produced to celebrate and promote good teaching and learning support and to offer encouragement to those imaginative and innovative staff who continue to wish to challenge students to learn to maximum effect. It is hoped that others will pick up some good ideas from the articles contained in this volume. We have again changed our approach for this 2006/07 edition (our fourth) of the Aston Business School Good Practice Guide. As before, some contributions were selected from those identifying interesting best practice on their Annual Module reflection forms in 2005/2006. Other contributors received HELM (Research Centre in Higher Education Learning and Management) small research grants in 2005/2006. Part of the conditions were for them to write an article for this publication. We have also been less tight on the length of the articles this year. Some contributions are, therefore, on the way to being journal articles. HELM will be working with these authors to help develop these for publication. The themes covered in this year?s articles are all central to the issues faced by those providing HE teaching and learning opportunities in the 21st Century. Specifically this is providing support and feedback to students in large classes, embracing new uses of technology to encourage active learning and addressing cultural issues in a diverse student population. Michael Grojean and Yves Guillaume used Blackboard™ to give a more interactive learning experience and improve feedback to students. It would be easy for other staff to adopt this approach. Patrick Tissington and Qin Zhou (HELM small research grant holders) were keen to improve the efficiency of student support, as does Roger McDermott. Celine Chew shares her action learning project, completed as part of the Aston University PG Certificate in Teaching and Learning. Her use of Blackboard™ puts emphasis on the learner having to do something to help them meet the learning outcomes. This is what learning should be like, but many of our students seem used to a more passive learning experience, so much needs to be done on changing expectations and cultures about learning. Regina Herzfeldt also looks at cultures. She was awarded a HELM small research grant and carried out some significant new research on cultural diversity in ABS and what it means for developing teaching methods. Her results fit in with what many of us are experiencing in practice. Gina leaves us with some challenges for the future. Her paper certainly needs to be published. This volume finishes with Stuart Cooper and Matt Davies reflecting on how to keep students busy in lectures and Pavel Albores working with students on podcasting. Pavel?s work, which was the result of another HELM small research grant, will also be prepared for publication as a journal article. The students learnt more from this work that any formal lecture and Pavel will be using the approach again this year. Some staff have been awarded HELM small research grants in 2006/07 and these will be published in the next Good Practice Guide. In the second volume we mentioned the launch of the School?s Research Centre in Higher Education Learning and Management (HELM). Since then HELM has stimulated a lot of activity across the School (and University) particularly linking research and teaching. A list of the HELM seminars for 2006/2007 is listed as Appendix 1 of this publication. Further details can be obtained from Catherine Foster (c.s.foster@aston.ac.uk), who coordinates the HELM seminars. For 2006 and 2005 HELM listed, 20 refereed journal articles, 7 book chapters, 1 published conference papers, 20 conference presentations, two official reports, nine working papers and £71,535 of grant money produced in this research area across the School. I hope that this shows that reflection on learning is alive and well in ABS. We have also been working on a list of target journals to guide ABS staff who wish to publish in this area. These are included as Appendix 2 of this publication. May I thank the contributors for taking time out of their busy schedules to write the articles and to Julie Green, the Quality Manager, for putting the varying diverse approaches into a coherent and publishable form and for agreeing to fund the printing of this volume.

Good practice guide in learning and teaching

Once again this publication is produced to celebrate and promote good teaching and learning support and to offer encouragement to those imaginative and innovative staff who continue to wish to challenge students to learn to maximum effect. It is hoped that others will pick up some good ideas from the articles contained in this volume. We had changed our editorial approach in drawing together the articles for this 2005/6 edition (our third) of the ABS Good Practice Guide. Firstly we have expanded our contributors beyond ABS academics. This year?s articles have also been written by staff from other areas of the University, a PhD student, a post-doctoral researcher and staff working in learning support. We see this as an acknowledgement that the learning environment involves a range of people in the process of student support. We have also expanded the maximum length of the articles from two to five pages, in order to allow greater reflection on the issues. The themes of the papers cluster around issues relating to diversity (widening participation and internationalisation of the student body), imaginative use of new technology (electronic reading on BlackboardTM ) and reflective practitioners, (reflection on rigour and relevance; on how best to train students in research ethics, relevance in the curriculum and the creativity of the teaching process) Discussion of efforts to train the HE teachers of the future looks forward to the next academic year when the Higher Education Academy?s professional standards will be introduced across the sector. In the last volume we mentioned the launch of the School?s Research Centre in Higher Education Learning and Management (HELM). Since then HELM has stimulated a lot of activity across the School (and University) particularly linking research and teaching. A list of the HELM seminars is listed as an appendix to this publication. Further details can be obtained from Catherine Foster (c.s.foster@aston.ac.uk) who coordinates the HELM seminars. HELM has also won its first independent grant from the EU Leonardo programme to look at the effect of business education on employment. In its annual report to the ABS Research Committee HELM listed for 2004 and 2005, 11 refereed journal articles, 4 book chapters, 3 published conference papers, 18 conference papers, one official reports and £72,500 of grant money produced in this research area across the School. I hope that this shows that reflection on learning is live and well in ABS. May I thank the contributors for taking time out of their busy schedules to write the articles and to Julie Green, the Quality Manager, for putting our diverse approaches into a coherent and publishable form.

Technology enhanced learning in Higher Education

Technology-Enhanced Learning in Higher Education is an anthology produced by the international association, Learning in Higher Education (LiHE). LiHE, whose scope includes the activities of colleges, universities and other institutions of higher education, has been one of the leading organisations supporting a shift in the education process from a transmission-based philosophy to a student-centred, learning-based approach. Traditionally education has been envisaged as a process in which the teacher disseminates knowledge and information to the student, and directs them to perform – instructing, cajoling, encouraging them as appropriate – despite different students’ abilities. Yet higher education is currently experiencing rapid transformation, with the introduction of a broad range of technologies which have the potential to enhance student learning. This anthology draws upon the experiences of those practitioners who have been pioneering new applications of technology in higher education, highlighting not only the technologies themselves but also the impact which they have had on student learning. The anthology illustrates how new technologies – which are increasingly well-known and accepted by today’s ‘digital natives’ undertaking higher education – can be adopted and incorporated. One key conclusion is that learning remains a social process even in technology-enhanced learning contexts. So the technology-based proxies we construct need to retain and reflect the agency of the teacher. Technology-Enhanced Learning in Higher Education showcases some of the latest pedagogical technologies and their most creative, state-of-the-art applications to learning in higher education from around the world. Each of the chapters explores technology-enhanced learning in higher education in terms of either policy or practice. They contain detailed descriptions of approaches taken in very different curriculum areas, and demonstrate clearly that technology may and can enhance learning only if it is designed with the learning process of students at its core. So the use of technology in education is more linked to pedagogy than it is to bits and bytes.

The Use of a Computer-Based Simulation Game (CSG) for Learning and Teaching

Introduction A computer-based simulation game (CSG) was used for the first time in a final-year undergraduate module. A change management simulation game was used in the seminar classes as a formative exercise that was linked to parts of the students’ summative assessment. The module evaluation suggests that most students learned from using the CSG.

An Investigation into the Use of Computer-based Simulation Games for Learning and Teaching in Business Management Courses

Computer-based simulation games (CSG) are a form of innovation in learning and teaching. CGS are used more pervasively in various ways such as a class activity (formative exercises) and as part of summative assessments (Leemkuil and De Jong, 2012; Zantow et al., 2005). This study investigates the current and potential use of CGS in Worcester Business School’s (WBS) Business Management undergraduate programmes. The initial survey of off-the-shelf simulation reveals that there are various categories of simulations, with each offering varying levels of complexity and learning opportunities depending on the field of study. The findings suggest that whilst there is marginal adoption of the use CSG in learning and teaching, there is significant opportunity to increase the use of CSG in enhancing learning and learner achievement, especially in Level 5 modules. The use of CSG is situational and its adoption should be undertaken on a case-by-case basis. WBS can play a major role by creating an environment that encourages and supports the use of CSG as well as other forms of innovative learning and teaching methods. Thus the key recommendation involves providing module teams further support in embedding and integrating CSG into their modules.

VirRAD: A New Paradigm for Technology Enhanced Learning

In most e-learning scenarios, communication and on-line collaboration is seen as an add-on feature to resource based learning. This paper will endeavour to present a pedagogical framework for inverting this view and putting communities of practice as the basic paradigm for e-learning. It will present an approach currently being used in the development of a virtual Radiopharmacy community, called VirRAD, and will discuss how theory can lead to an instructional design approach to support technologically enhanced learning.(DIPF/Orig.)

Beyond construction…..A cross-disciplinary approach to improved learning and teaching in built environment degrees

More than 3.4 million people die each year from water, sanitation and hygiene-related causes. Lack of access to clean water and sanitation kills those most vulnerable in the third world. Leadership in managing cross-disciplinary teams is required to present economical, viable community-based solutions. This project utilised the skills of undergraduates across different disciplines of construction, project management, engineering, design, and communication, to work alongside industry mentors in a team to design, build and present an innovative, sustainable water sanitation solution for a Bangladesh community. The semester-long project enabled undergraduate students to develop skills in client relationships, teamwork, and communication as well as discipline skills of project management and construction. The real-world problem necessitated a paradigm shift away from discipline-based knowledge transference towards skills for the future. The project utilised approaches such as negotiated curriculum and assessment; self-directed, flexible participation in learning; use of social media as a learning tool and cross-disciplinary teamwork. Results from student surveys and interviews indicate that this project directly enhanced students’ work-readiness skills and recognition of the importance of problem solving using cross-disciplinary understandings. Students reported greater self-confidence for tackling future workplace challenges. The results also illustrate strong levels of student satisfaction with the cross-disciplinary approach and the importance of skills in client relationships. The project and its outcomes have implications for how learning and teaching occurs in built environment disciplines and has the potential to create significant impact on the calibre of future built environment graduates.

Integrating a sustainable academic career around scholarly learning and teaching activities

To be scholarly in learning and teaching is rigorous academic work. It demands: currency and command of both discipline subject matter and educational theory; inquiring, methodical, and reflective approaches; the collection, evaluation and documentation of evidence of learning and teaching efficacy; and, optimally, entails participation in and communication among a community of teaching professionals. This chapter examines the author’s own practice in this regard to explicate the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of scholarly and scholarship approaches, as much as the ‘what’ and ‘where’ of that endeavour. In doing so, this meta‐analysis is made ‘community property’, in the same way that Shulman (1993: 6) exhorted we ‘change the status of teaching from private to community property’ so that teaching might be more greatly valued in the academy.