The use of digital technologies and online tools to support both students and educators has become synonymous with transforming learning within Higher Education, particularly within post graduate courses. It can be argued that the recent push for transforming Higher Education aligns itself with the notion that postgraduate students need more flexible learning opportunities while still retaining access to high quality, engaging and collaborative pedagogical approaches. This paper reports on an exploratory case study that focuses on cross campus/university collaboration and flexible learning opportunities for students studying a masters level degree in the area of Music, Communication and Technology (MCT) within a Nordic context. The research question guiding the study is “What factors do educators in a hybrid cross-campus learning environment identify as essential for providing a supportive learning experience for students?” A pedagogy, space and technology (PST) framework underpins the development of this program and forms the basis for its development. The findings from our research identify three themes that need to be considered when attempting to design and implement high quality learning opportunities for students studying a largely synchronous hybrid music, communications and technology program. These themes were flexibility, trust and the human element, and ownership. The findings also highlight the need for a renewed focus on pedagogical approaches that can be adapted and continually revised to meet the changing needs of students in a synchronous hybrid learning space.
As pedagogical approaches to teaching and learning continue to evolve to meet the needs of students in a rapidly changing, globalized world that is heavily influenced and reliant on digital technologies, it is anticipated that the learning environments in Higher Education will also be transformed. Consequently, this transformation of learning environments is often synonymous with the adoption of and continued focus on the potential benefits of online learning in the Higher Education sector. It is within this context that this paper reports on a small-scale case study in a large Nordic university where the learning management system, Blackboard was piloted and implemented using a top-down approach consisting of the comprehensive training of academic staff, students and support staff. The explorative approach used in this study identifies three common themes in the data as it follows a group of academic beta testers (N=23) who are involved in the initial phases of implementation. The study explores the educators’ primary use of Blackboard, whilst attempting to understand how academics perceive and interpret the role of online technologies to support effective pedagogical practices. Drawing on data from participant interviews, the study highlights the need for increased academic support for online learning design and a renewed focus on staff development of effective pedagogical practices
Technology and design is seen by many as having a potential for students to work with science and mathematics in practical contexts. The view is particularly evident in the Norwegian curriculum, where technology and design is defined as an interdisciplinary topic involving Science, Mathematics and Art & Crafts. This paper reports from a video study of the use of mathematics and science in student projects in technology and design. It was found that the projects contained very little conceptual knowledge from mathematics and science even when their purpose was to do so. In this paper, we analyse four selected episodes in the material, and discuss the underlying cause for why science and mathematics do not form part of the activity. These underlying causes are conceptualised as: (i) concepts and procedures not being necessary for the purpose, (ii) problem solving better accomplished by other means, (iii) focus on product quality, and (iv) not the right type of knowledge. These reflect fundamental characteristics of the nature of technology rather than to pedagogy, and the results suggest that technology and design as a domain of knowledge should be represented in the curriculum in its own right and not as an arena for learning science and mathematics.Berit Bungum is Associate Professor at The University's Resource Centre for Education in Mathematics, Science and Technology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology. She has long experience with teacher education in physics, and currently works with in-service training for teachers and development of teaching projects in science and technology.
This paper presents a case study of how a teacher and nine-year-old students deal with mathematics in a practical technology project. By analysing videotaped dialogues between teacher and a pair of students working on constructing a house model, we identify challenges of meaningful inclusion of mathematics in the project. The dialogues are analysed in terms of an analytical framework where four categories of interaction patterns are combined with two main paradigms of mathematics teaching: the exercise paradigm and landscapes of interaction. The project in itself has a potential for facilitating landscapes of investigation in mathematics teaching. However, we find that the teacher as well as students adheres to the exercise paradigm when mathematics is involved in the activity. Two illustrating episodes from the project are examined and presented in detail in this paper. The findings illustrate that the conceptions teachers and students hold of what mathematics teaching means can act as an obstacle in attempts to realize mathematics teaching in creative and meaningful contexts for young students. We suggest that making the various purposes of a project more explicit may help overcome this obstacle, and that the mathematics involved might be taught in separate sessions in order to form a constructive part of a cross-curricular project.
This study focuses on student motivation and ownership of learning in a team-based learning environment that is situated in a cross-campus and online context. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews from 12 students who participated in a joint international Master’s degree in Music, Communication and Technology programme between two large Nordic universities. The aim of the study was to identify factors that were most likely to impact student motivation and ownership in this cross-campus and online setting. Three main themes emerged from the analysis of data relating to student motivation and ownership. These three themes were autonomy, peer learning, and communication and social bonding. The study has the potential to contribute to the continued development of future learning environments, which will be physical as well as virtual, or a mix of those. The findings indicated that there is a need to focus on student tasks that should be flexible and open for student choice, and where peer learning is one of the main learning strategies used to engage students. Additionally, the findings also highlight the importance of having a focus on communication and social bonding in the planning and organisation of cross-campus and online courses in order for universities to succeed and to transform to meet the needs of a very diverse group of current and future students.
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