Building an open social learning community around a Dspace repository on Statistics

LORs, addressing content management and preservation, have the positive collaterals of institutional positioning and dissemination, but their main benefit is the empowerment of interest-centred learning communities, as we recognise that learning is much more than content, which becomes infrastructure: the LOR provides the learner interaction with the LOs, but also with other learners and teachers.

Knowledge Sharing in a Virtual Learning Community

The focus of this Master’s Thesis is on knowledge sharing in a virtual Learning community. The theoretical part of this study aims at presenting the theory of knowledge sharing, competence development and learning in virtual teams. The features of successful learning organizations as well as enablers of effective knowledge sharing in virtual communities are also introduced to the reader in the theoretical framework. The empirical research for this study was realized in a global ICT company, specifically in its Human Resources business unit. The research consisted of two rounds of online questionnaires, which were conducted among all the members of the virtual Learning community. The research aim was to find shared opinions concerning the features of a successful virtual Learning community. The analysis of the data in this study was conducted using a qualitative research methodology. The empirical research showed that the main important features of a successful virtual Learning community are members’ passion towards the community way of working as well as the relevance of the content in the virtual community. In general, it was found that knowledge sharing and competence development are important matters in dynamic organizations as well as virtual communities as method and tool for sharing knowledge and hence increasing both individual and organizational knowledge. This is proved by theoretical and by empirical research in this study.

The role of the learning community in the development of discipline knowledge and generic graduate outcomes

In this paper we describe a study of learning outcomes at a research-intensive Australian university. Three graduate outcome variables (discipline knowledge and skills, communication and problem solving, and ethical and social sensitivity) are analysed separately using OLS regression and comparisons are made of the patterns of unique contributions from four independent variables (the CEQ Good Teaching and Learning Communities Scales, and two new, independent, scales for measuring Teaching and Program Quality). Further comparisons of these patterns are made across the Schools of the university. Results support the view that teaching and program quality are not the only important determinants of students' learning outcomes. It is concluded that, whilst it continues to be appropriate for universities to be concerned with the quality of their teaching and programs, the interactive, social and collaborative aspects of students' learning experiences, captured in the notion of the Learning Community, are also very important determinants of graduate outcomes, and so should be included in the focus of attempts at enhancing the quality of student learning.

The (new ?) basics of a teacher professional learning community

This paper argues for the need to further theorise the concept of teacher professional learning communities and provides empirical evidence to support this case. The paper presents findings from an ongoing research project, which investigates the nature of teacher professional learning communities. The study reveals that actual communities do not conform to a normailized articulation of features, as outlined in much of the literature on this topic. Consequently, it represents an attempt to engage in the difficult but necessary task of simultaneously fashioning theory from practice, whilst interpreting theory, in practice. The study proposes that current functionalist understandings of teacher professional learning communities are based upon a literature base which is insufficiently nuanced to capture the complexity inherent within these bodies. A broader base of a more critical sociological literature is also drawn upon to better understand actual, "lived" teacher communities, which are somewhat difficult to describe. In part, such communities exhibit features of functionalist conceptions but they are also organic entities which may be quite unpredictable in their outcomes and cannot be reduced to specific features; they each have their own specific "logic of practice" (Bourdieu, 1990) which influences their activities, in their particular field. The argument proposed here is that in one particular community, this complexity may be represented by the many purposes which the community served, arguably often unbeknown to its members, which fashioned the actual community. This paper tries to add to the existing theoretical base of literature, at the same time as providing evidence to support this theorisation.

Students' recollections of participating in a first year residential learning community experience

The purpose of this qualitative study was to gain an understanding of what participation in a first year residential learning community meant to students 2–3 years after their involvement in the program. Various theories including environmental, student involvement, psychosocial and intellectual, were used as a framework for this case study. Each of the ten participants was a junior or senior level student at the time of the study, but had previously participated in a first year residential learning community at Florida International University. The researcher held two semi-structured interviews with each participant, and collected data sheets from each. ^ The narrative data produced from the interviews were transcribed, coded and analyzed to gain insights into the experiences and perspectives of the participants. Member checking was used after the interview process. A peer reviewer offered feedback during the data analysis. The resulting data was coded into categories, with a final selection of four themes and 15 sub-themes, which captured the essence of the participants' experiences. The four major themes included: (a) community, (b) involvement, (c) identity, and (d) academics. The community theme is used to describe how students perceived the environment to be. The involvement theme is used to describe the students' participation in campus life and their interaction with other members of the university community. The identity theme is used to describe the students' process of development, and the personal growth they underwent as a result of their experiences. The academics theme refers to the intellectual development of students and their interaction around academic issues. ^ The results of this study showed that the participants valued greatly their involvement in the First Year Residents Succeeding Together program (FYRST) and can articulate how it helped them succeed as students. In describing their experience, they most recall the sense of community that existed, the personal growth they experienced, the academic development process they went through, and their involvement, both with other people and with activities in their community. Recommendations are provided for practice and research, including several related to enhancing the academic culture, integrating faculty, utilizing peer influence and providing further opportunities to create a seamless learning environment. ^

The effect of an enriched learning community on success and retention in chemistry courses

Since the mid-1990s, the United States has experienced a shortage of scientists and engineers, declining numbers of students choosing these fields as majors, and low student success and retention rates in these disciplines. Learning theorists, educational researchers, and practitioners believe that learning environments can be created so that an improvement in the numbers of students who complete courses successfully could be attained (Astin, 1993; Magolda & Terenzini, n.d.; O'Banion, 1997). Learning communities do this by providing high expectations, academic and social support, feedback during the entire educational process, and involvement with faculty, other students, and the institution (Ketcheson & Levine, 1999). ^ A program evaluation of an existing learning community of science, mathematics, and engineering majors was conducted to determine the extent to which the program met its goals and was effective from faculty and student perspectives. The program provided laptop computers, peer tutors, supplemental instruction with and without computer software, small class size, opportunities for contact with specialists in selected career fields, a resource library, and Peer-Led Team Learning. During the two years the project has existed, success, retention, and next-course continuation rates were higher than in traditional courses. Faculty and student interviews indicated there were many affective accomplishments as well. ^ Success and retention rates for one learning community class ( n = 27) and one traditional class (n = 61) in chemistry were collected and compared using Pearson chi square procedures ( p = .05). No statistically significant difference was found between the two groups. Data from an open-ended student survey about how specific elements of their course experiences contributed to success and persistence were analyzed by coding the responses and comparing the learning community and traditional classes. Substantial differences were found in their perceptions about the lecture, the lab, other supports used for the course, contact with other students, helping them reach their potential, and their recommendation about the course to others. Because of the limitation of small sample size, these differences are reported in descriptive terms. ^

Students' recollections of participating in a first year residential learning community experience

The purpose of this qualitative study was to gain an understanding of what participation in a first year residential learning community meant to students 2-3 years after their involvement in the program. Various theories including environmental, student involvement, psychosocial and intellectual, were used as a framework for this case study. Each of the ten participants was a junior or senior level student at the time of the study, but had previously participated in a first year residential learning community at Florida International University. The researcher held two semi-structured interviews with each participant, and collected data sheets from each. The narrative data produced from the interviews were transcribed, coded and analyzed to gain insights into the experiences and perspectives of the participants. Member checking was used after the interview process. A peer reviewer offered feedback during the data analysis. The resulting data was coded into categories, with a final selection of four themes and 15 sub-themes, which captured the essence of the participants' experiences. The four major themes included: (a) community, (b) involvement, (c) identity, and (d) academics. The community theme is used to describe how students perceived the environment to be. The involvement theme is used to describe the students' participation in campus life and their interaction with other members of the university community. The identity theme is used to describe the students' process of development, and the personal growth they underwent as a result of their experiences. The academics theme refers to the intellectual development of students and their interaction around academic issues. The results of this study showed that the participants valued greatly their involvement in the First Year Residents Succeeding Together program (FYRST) and can articulate how it helped them succeed as students. In describing their experience, they most recall the sense of community that existed, the personal growth they experienced, the academic development process they went through, and their involvement, both with other people and with activities in their community. Recommendations are provided for practice and research, including several related to enhancing the academic culture, integrating faculty, utilizing peer influence and providing further opportunities to create a seamless learning environment.

The Impact of Teaching Presence in Intensive Online Courses on Perceived Learning and Sense of Community: A Mixed Methods Study

This mixed methods concurrent triangulation design study was predicated upon two models that advocated a connection between teaching presence and perceived learning: the Community of Inquiry Model of Online Learning developed by Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2000); and the Online Interaction Learning Model by Benbunan-Fich, Hiltz, and Harasim (2005). The objective was to learn how teaching presence impacted students’ perceptions of learning and sense of community in intensive online distance education courses developed and taught by instructors at a regional comprehensive university. In the quantitative phase online surveys collected relevant data from participating students (N = 397) and selected instructional faculty (N = 32) during the second week of a three-week Winter Term. Student information included: demographics such as age, gender, employment status, and distance from campus; perceptions of teaching presence; sense of community; perceived learning; course length; and course type. The students claimed having positive relationships between teaching presence, perceived learning, and sense of community. The instructors showed similar positive relationships with no significant differences when the student and instructor data were compared. The qualitative phase consisted of interviews with 12 instructors who had completed the online survey and replied to all of the open-response questions. The two phases were integrated using a matrix generation, and the analysis allowed for conclusions regarding teaching presence, perceived learning, and sense of community. The findings were equivocal with regard to satisfaction with course length and the relative importance of the teaching presence components. A model was provided depicting relationships between and among teaching presence components, perceived learning, and sense of community in intensive online courses.

Time Series Input Selection using Multiple Kernel Learning

In this paper we study the relevance of multiple kernel learning (MKL) for the automatic selection of time series inputs. Recently, MKL has gained great attention in the machine learning community due to its flexibility in modelling complex patterns and performing feature selection. In general, MKL constructs the kernel as a weighted linear combination of basis kernels, exploiting different sources of information. An efficient algorithm wrapping a Support Vector Regression model for optimizing the MKL weights, named SimpleMKL, is used for the analysis. In this sense, MKL performs feature selection by discarding inputs/kernels with low or null weights. The approach proposed is tested with simulated linear and nonlinear time series (AutoRegressive, Henon and Lorenz series).