<p>Higher education institutions should not only aim to educate academic experts who master their own fields, but also give their students generic skills important in contemporary society. New teaching methods are required to support the development of such skills. The study examined how a group of voluntary university lecturers re-designed their courses by applying theory-based pedagogical design principles emphasising object-oriented, collaborative knowledge creation supported by digital technology. The primary data consisted of lecturer interviews and students’ written post-evaluations from three courses. The re-designed courses included broader thematic assignments, more cumulative knowledge production in groups and more diverse use of technology than prior course iterations. Both the lecturers and students addressed the learning outcomes in positive terms, but collaborative knowledge production was more evident in two courses designed according to authentic professional practices. Students generally valued the working methods, although they also pointed out weaknesses in the tasks, course structuring and group work. The lecturers experienced some difficulties in guiding students’ productive group work. The pedagogical design principles worked well as conceptual tools in the intervention process, but they should be complemented with recommendations for teachers on modelling authentic professional practices and methods of scaffolding students’ collaborative knowledge creation efforts.</p>
This study uses a quasi-experimental, non-equivalent group design to analyze the outcomes in terms of students' learning and satisfaction of the redesign of a first-year, principles of microeconomics course from a lecture-based course using active learning techniques in 2013 to a partial flipped classroom in 2014 and a full flipped classroom in 2015. Students perceived a higher degree of achievement of the learning goals in both flipped courses compared to the non-flipped active learning course. Moreover, participating in the partial or full flipped classroom decreased the odds of a D or F grade or of withdraw. However, only the partial flip was associated with overall better learning outcomes in the final exam, while there was no statistically significant difference between the non-flipped active learning course and the full flip. Age was negatively associated with learning outcomes and increased the odds of a D or F grade or of withdraw. Gender had no statistically significant impact on learning outcomes. Students were least satisfied with the full flip and equally satisfied with the non-flipped active learning course and the partial flip. Lower satisfaction appears to be due to increased workload, which students evaluated to be highest in the full flip, as well as to elements of group work design. In the flipped classroom design, the pre-class multiple choice tests on Moodle emerged as a clear favorite in students' teaching evaluations.
This study provides an overview of research on teachers’ use of artificial intelligence (AI) applications and machine learning methods to analyze teachers’ data. Our analysis showed that AI offers teachers several opportunities for improved planning (e.g., by defining students’ needs and familiarizing teachers with such needs), implementation (e.g., through immediate feedback and teacher intervention), and assessment (e.g., through automated essay scoring) of their teaching. We also found that teachers have various roles in the development of AI technology. These roles include acting as models for training AI algorithms and participating in AI development by checking the accuracy of AI automated assessment systems. Our findings further underlined several challenges in AI implementation in teaching practice, which provide guidelines for developing the field.
In the present paper, the development and use of a specific set of pedagogical design principles in a large research and development project are analysed. The project (the Knowledge Practices Laboratory) developed technology and a pedagogical approach to support certain kinds of collaborative knowledge creation practices related to the 'trialogical' approach on learning. The design principles for trialogical learning are examined from three main developmental perspectives that were emphasised in the project: theory, pedagogy, and technology. As expected, the design principles had many different roles but not as straightforward or overarching as was planned. In their outer form they were more resistant to big changes than was expected but they were elaborated and specified during the process. How theories change in design-based research is discussed on the basis of the analysis. Design principles are usually seen as providing a bridge between theory and practice, but the present case showed that also complementary, more concrete frameworks are needed for bridging theory to practical pedagogical or technical design solutions.
The skills of knowledge-creating inquiry are explored as a challenge for higher education. The knowledge-creation approach to learning provides a theoretical tool for addressing them: In addition to the individual and social aspects in regulation of inquiry, the knowledge-creation approach focuses on aspects related to advancing shared objects of inquiry. The development of corresponding metaskills is suggested as an important longterm goal for higher education; these pertain, simultaneously to the individual, collective, and object-oriented aspects of monitoring inquiry. Taking part in collaborative inquiry toward advancing a shared knowledge object is foreseen as a means to facilitate the development of metaskills; the present study examines one undergraduate university course in psychology with that aim. The data consisted of a database discourse and students' selfreflections after the course, examined by qualitative content analysis. Three analyses investigated discourse evolution, knowledge advancement, and the challenge of the inquiry practices. The student-groups differed markedly in their engagement in the inquiry efforts. The study gave insights concerning novel challenges evoked by knowledge-creating inquiry, relating in particular to commitment, epistemic involvement, dealing with confusion, and the iterative nature of knowledge advancement. We propose the following implication for educational practices: Although dealing with uncertainty and areas beyond one's expertise, as well as engaging in self-directed collaborative inquiry, may seem overly demanding for students, such experiences are decisive for developing one's skills in dealing with open-ended knowledge objects in a longer time frame.
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