Authentic Learning Experiences Research Articles

Preservice Music Teacher Identity Construction Through Metaphor

I investigated how preservice instrumental music teachers understand and describe their teacher identity through the use of metaphor in a one-semester instrumental methods course emphasizing authentic context learning. Twenty-five third-year instrumental methods course music education students created a personal metaphor to explore their professional identity construction. Preservice teacher metaphors were revisited throughout the semester, while students participated in an authentic context learning experience in an urban instrumental music classroom. Data sources included student artifacts, informal interviews, and observation/field notes. The impact of teaching within an authentic learning context appears to enrich the ways in which preservice teachers are able to articulate details of their metaphor descriptions. Through their reflections across the semester, preservice teachers demonstrated how personal metaphors were used to restructure their understandings of teacher identity and capture some of the complexities of becoming teachers.

Co-designing Research Methods Lesson Plans in the Interactive Research Methods Lab

In this article we present a series of co-design sessions conducted throughout the 2019-2020 academic year, of which the aim was to plan and implement lessons on research methods for undergraduate and graduate students in the Interactive Research Methods Lab (IRML). The IRML is a brand new resource in the Bagwell College of Education (Kennesaw State University) that provides students with personalized instruction and practical experience in generating research designs, conceptual frameworks, and reviews of literature using Augmented Reality (AR) interactive contents. We followed the seven characteristic features of co-design as outlined by Roschelle et al. (2006) and structured sessions for co-design in accordance with Cober et al. (2015) and Barberá et al.’s (2017) proposed stages: a) Exploration, b) Envisioning, c) Operationalization, and d) Assessment and Reflection.
 Successful implementation of the co-designed lessons and their integration with the IRML as a technological learning resource highlight the affordances of using a co-design approach to confront the inherent challenges in designing authentic and meaningful learning experiences when teaching research methods.

Development of Livelihood Skills through School-Based, Agripreneurship Projects Integrating Youth-Adult Partnerships: The Experiences of Youth Partners in Uganda

quipping young people with livelihood skills is essential for positive youth development and empowerment as they transition into adulthood to become productive and engaged members of their communities. In Uganda, which may be the case in other nations of Sub-Saharan Africa, and elsewhere, even though many youth are becoming better educated and graduating from high schools and colleges, a majority of these graduates remain either unemployed or underemployed. Many have not acquired the necessary skills to transition from school to becoming employable and self-reliant. This phenomenon has been attributed to an outdated curriculum that does not meet the needs of contemporary times. Further, the mode of instruction in most of Uganda’s schools is teacher-centered and provides little room for student engagement and creativity to generate new knowledge, to have authentic learning experiences, or to reflect. Such challenges may be overcome through student-centered learning approaches involving School-Based, Agripreneurship Projects (SAPs) that integrate Youth-Adult Partnerships (YAPs), as were explored in this study. Evaluation of the students’ experiences through deductive and inductive thematic analysis indicated that they acquired knowledge in poultry science, business, agripreneurship, and life skills, including better communication, leadership, and conflict resolution practices. Longitudinal studies should be conducted to determine the longterm effectiveness and impact of SAPs facilitated by Y-APs on improving youth livelihoods, especially that prepare them with the life skills necessary to be productive citizens. Such research could involve cohort or panel investigations. Keywords: entrepreneurship; positive youth development (PYD); project-based learning (PjBL)

Innovation in Biomedical Engineering Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This paper addresses challenges that arose during the on-going coronavirus pandemic and methodologies implemented in teaching a Biomechanics course in the Biomedical Engineering program (Biomedical and Electrical Engineering Discipline, Faculty of Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia). We aimed to address the requirements for a quick transition of the entire curriculum to efficient remote delivery of the course, which involved: (i) providing authentic learning experiences; (ii) keeping students motivated and engaged with their classes and team projects; and (iii) preventing students from cheating when completing online assessments. The specific tools, software packages and approaches employed to support the remote teaching and learning are presented and discussed in this paper. Effective and on-going communication with students was crucial for managing their expectations, engagement with the course materials and teaching team, retaining positive learning experiences and for their overall well-being. The Socratic approach used in developing the online assessments was able to promote students’ critical thinking, problem solving and self-reflection and assisted the teaching team in minimising online cheating.

Using Local Research as a Phenomenon in the Classroom

Model-based inquiry, inquiry-based learning, and phenomenon are all popular terms in K–12 science education right now. Science education in our public education system is rapidly changing due to the implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). These standards ask teachers to move away from direct instruction to having students develop their understanding of the natural world through guided-learning activities. Under NGSS, students are expected to develop this understanding through one of the main scientific practices, model building, which requires a complex, real-world phenomenon to drive the learning experience. Phenomena work best in the classroom when they apply to students’ lives and pique their interest. Finding such phenomena can be hard – especially finding ones that have not already been thoroughly explained on the internet. A great way to find a complex, real-world phenomenon that will interest students is to partner with a local research lab to bring part of their research project into the classroom. This article lays out a process for bringing a local research project into the classroom and designing NGSS-aligned curricula around this project to create a more authentic learning experience for high school students.

Virtually Authentic: Graduate Students’ Perspective Changes toward Authentic Learning while Collaborating in a Virtual World

This qualitative case study investigates graduate students’ perspective changes apropos their cross-national collaborative learning experience while participating in an online teaching and learning course jointly taught by graduate schools in the United States and Israel. The participants met virtually, on a weekly basis between November and December 2018, on a platform called Second Life, to design and participate in collaborative learning activities. On completion of the course, interviews were conducted with a small sample of student-participants regarding their experiences. During the design phase, participants’ dominant perceptions of their learning experiences were characterized by genuine “excitement” at the novelty of collaborating virtually with colleagues on the other side of the world. Their initial perceptions evolved during the participation phase to realization as learning communities emerged and students’ roles expanded beyond the scope of mere participants. In this study, the authors argue that participants’ construction of new knowledge resulted in authentic learning from the standpoints of social constructivism and online collaborative learning theory and further discuss the factors that enabled the participants’ authentic learning experience.

Twelve tips for promoting consistent, good quality medical education across diverse clinical settings through faculty development approaches

When students attend clinical attachments in diverse locations, a key challenge is in ensuring consistently good teaching over all areas. To meet this challenge, a faculty development intervention called TiMEtoTeach was created with the aim of reaching all involved in teaching medical students. The programme takes a holistic view of workplace (professional clinical attachments) learning with the recognition of all who are part of the student learning journey, including staff in clinical environments, charitable organisations, fellow students and the patients and carers. Empowering and upskilling this diverse group, we create a Universal Faculty. We engage this group with a comprehensive and accessible faculty development programme, enabling a consistent, authentic, and realistic learning experience for students. This supports graduate preparedness for their roles as junior doctors. The twelve tips described in this article relate to simple, achievable processes that faculty developers within medical education can apply to help improve consistency and quality in clinical workplace experience for students, recognising the challenges of engaging the large and diverse group of people who support education within the clinical arena.

A research approach for co-designing education with healthcare consumers.

Community and consumer involvement in health professions education (HPE) is of growing interest among researchers and educators, particularly in preparing health care graduates to effectively learn from, and collaborate with, people with lived experience of health issues. However, to date there has been limited direction on methodological approaches to engage health care consumers in the research and co-design of HPE. In this paper, we describe the background to our work with health care consumers including the five core principles for successful co-design (inclusive; respectful; participative; iterative; outcomes focused) and how they can be applied as a research approach in HPE. We introduce the use of arts and humanities-based teaching methodologies including engagement, meaning-making and translational education strategies to illustrate how this research approach has been applied to reframe mental health education and practice in Australia. Furthermore, we share some reflective insights on the opportunities and challenges inherent in using a co-design research approach in HPE. For the consumer voice to be embedded across HPE, there needs to be a collective commitment to curriculum redesign. This paper advances our understandings of the educational research potential of working with health care consumers to co-design rich and authentic learning experiences in HPE. Co-design research approaches that partner with and legitimise health care consumers as experts by experience may better align education and health professional practice with consumers' actual needs, an important first step in transforming hierarchical health care relationships towards more humanistic models of care.

Designing, implementing and sustaining IPE within an authentic clinical environment: the impact on student learning

ABSTRACT Interprofessional education (IPE), as preparation for interprofessional practice (IPP), is essential for quality, coordinated, outcome-focussed patient care. To develop capacity for IPP in future healthcare practitioners, IPE needs to be developed within curriculum and applied within authentic settings. The study aims were threefold: (a) determine if an established type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) exercise and healthy lifestyle program could be replicated and delivered at a satellite health precinct; (b) report on changes in students’ attitudes to IPP in response to involvement in the program; (c) explore the perceptions of students in response to participation in the program whilst on placement. This paper reports on the quantitative changes in perceptions of IPE as measured by the SPICE-R2 instrument and a qualitative analysis of the student reflection of participating in IPP. Thirty-five students, from 4 health professions, participated in the study. The quantitative outcomes showed significant improvement in the perceptions of IPE (p <.01), including significant improvements understanding of roles and responsibilities, teamwork, and patient outcomes (p <.01). The qualitative analysis included a subset of 18 students who participated across two focus groups, highlighting four key themes: (a) health students reported varied initial experience with, and understanding of IPE; (b) the IPE program enabled students to see the value of teamwork for patient care; (c) IPE enhanced role clarity amongst the students, and (d) the IPE program provided an authentic learning experience, best suited to final year students. Our findings reinforced the value of a partnership between higher education and health services to deliver IPP care and learning, student valuing of the importance of IPE as part of authentic learning, and need for a scaffolded approach toward IPE is needed across health curriculums, and clinical placement to ensure all students can develop IPE capabilities that will enable them to work together to deliver the best healthcare to clients.

Incorporating Simulation-Based Education Into Stroke Training.

Incorporating Simulation-Based Education Into Stroke Training.

Design, Development, and Evaluation of an Online Statistics Course for Educational Technology Doctoral Students: a Design and Development Case

The purpose of this design and development case is to document the design, development, and evaluation of a statistics course tailored for educational technology doctoral students in an online program. The course is intended to prepare online doctoral students to both consume and produce quantitative research in the field of educational technology using relevant and authentic learning experiences. This paper first outlined the course features used to engage students in the learning materials. Twenty doctoral students enrolled in this online statistics course provided relevant data on three occasions (pre-, mid-, and post-surveys) during a 16-week academic semester. Drawing from both quantitative and qualitative data sources, this paper demonstrates that the use of authentic and relevant datasets based on peer-reviewed publications from the field of educational technology coupled with engaging practice assignments, designed for students to exercise the use of various statistical techniques using SPSS, was a successful strategy. Students found learning about analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) along with factorial and repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) in the same module overwhelming. Results showed that students’ level of statistics anxiety significantly decreased in three key areas. The discussion provides interpretations of the findings as well as our lessons learned.

Does Project-Based Learning (PBL) Promote Student Learning? A Performance Evaluation

The purpose of the study on which this paper is based was to conduct a performance evaluation of student learning for an introductory course in project management in a higher educational institution in Norway. This was done by utilizing performance measurement philosophy to evaluate perceived student learning after a project-based assignment was applied as an instructional tool. The evaluation was conducted at the end of the semester to determine whether it facilitated learning effectiveness by providing an authentic learning experience. Relevant learning criteria were identified from existing literature and were measured by means of a questionnaire survey. Ten measurement scales were established using a 5-point Likert scale. The survey was then rolled out for the same subject for two consecutive semesters for just over 100 project management students. The results indicated that the incorporation of project-based assignments has a positive impact on student learning, motivation, and performance both in the short and long term. The study finally revealed that the incorporation of project-based assignments enables the creation of real-life experiences, which further stimulates the creation and development of real-life competencies.

Professional identity development among student interpreters

Abstract Conference interpreting is a professional field that requires specialized knowledge, skills, and ethics, and becoming a professional in the field involves the adoption of a relevant professional identity. To understand how a professional identity begins to emerge among students and what factors influence the process, a case study was conducted involving four participants who were attending a graduate school of interpretation and translation in Korea. Multiple types of data were collected for qualitative analysis. The results show that the students initially tended to connect professional identity primarily with linguistic identity. Over time, the participants began to develop a better understanding of the profession through authentic learning experiences, real-world interpreting experiences, and interactions with the instructors as mentors, all of which contribute to their professional identity formation process.

Medical Simulation in Relapsed Follicular Lymphoma Improves Clinical Decision Making of Hematologists/Oncologists

Background: Frontline treatment of follicular lymphoma (FL) yields high response rates, but most patients relapse. In addition, response rates and duration of response have historically declined with subsequent treatments. These factors make management of this disease challenging. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine if an online, simulation-based continuing medical education (CME) intervention could improve clinical decision making of hematologists/oncologists (hem/oncs) regarding treatment selection for relapsed/refractory (R/R) FL. Description of Intervention: A CME certified virtual patient simulation (VPS) was made available via a website dedicated to continuous professional development. The VPS consisted of 2 cases of R/R FL presented in a platform that allows hem/oncs to assess the patients and make diagnostic and therapeutic decisions supported by an extensive database of diagnostic and treatment possibilities, matching the scope and depth of actual practice. Case 1: Patient with FL who failed 2 prior lines of therapy (R-CHOP, bendamustine/obinutuzumab), past medical history (PMH) well controlled hypertension and poorly controlled type 2 diabetes, presenting with constitutional symptoms and needs 3rd line treatment. Case 2: Patient with FL who failed 2 prior lines of therapy (bendamustine/rituximab, lenalidomide/rituximab), PMH well controlled atrial fibrillation and ulcerative colitis, patient requests intravenous therapy because he has trouble remembering to take oral medications. Methods: Clinical decisions were analyzed using a sophisticated decision engine, and tailored clinical guidance (CG) employing up-to-date evidence-base and faculty recommendations was provided after each decision. Decisions were collected post-CG and compared with each user's baseline (pre-CG) decisions using McNemar's test to determine p-values (P &amp;lt; .05 indicates significance). Data were collected between 11/20/19 and 2/19/20. Results: At the time of assessment, 154 hem/oncs who made clinical decisions were included in the analysis. From pre- to post-CG in the VPS, hem/oncs were more likely to make evidence-based practice decisions in: -Diagnosing patients with relapsed FL: 55% pre-CG and 73% post-CG (P &amp;lt; 0.001) -Starting an appropriate treatment for a patient with R/R FL ----Case 1: Ordering idelalisib: 7% pre-CG and 33% post-CG (P &amp;lt; 0.001) ----Case 1: Ordering lenalidomide + rituximab: 6% pre-CG and 28% post-CG (P &amp;lt; 0.001) ----Case 1: Ordering duvelisib: 2% pre-CG and 9% post-CG (P &amp;lt; 0.001) ----Case 2: Ordering copanlisib: 32% pre-CG and 73% post-CG (P &amp;lt; 0.001) The top rationales for selecting an appropriate treatment option were: recommended by guidelines, convenience of administration route, better efficacy compared to other agents, and best option based on patient comorbidities. Other relevant concomitant therapies ordered were consult for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, consult for stem cell transplant, radiation therapy, refer to a clinical trial, and Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) prophylaxis (Figure 1). Conclusion: This study demonstrates that VPS that immerses and engages hem/oncs in an authentic and practical learning experience improved evidence-based clinical decisions related to the management of R/R FL. This VPS increased the percentage of heme/oncs who correctly diagnosed R/R FL and selected an appropriate treatment option. This study indicates that unique educational methodologies and platforms, which are available on-demand, can be effective tools for promoting guideline-based therapy selection and clinical decision making. Acknowledgement: This CME activity was supported by an independent educational grant from Bayer, Celgene Corporation, and Verastem Oncology. Jake Cohen contributed to data analysis for this research. Reference: https://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/915986 Figure Disclosures Cohen: Janssen, Adicet, Astra Zeneca, Genentech, Aptitude Health, Cellectar, Kite/Gilead, Loxo: Consultancy; Genentech, BMS, Novartis, LAM, BioInvent, LRF, ASH, Astra Zeneca, Seattle Genetics: Research Funding.

Learner identities and the will to understand: The experiences of undergraduate biosciences students in the UK

Understanding depends on applying a particular kind of effort to learning. The research reported in this article investigates what influences students’ willingness to engage in the kinds of active learning which would be required for a deep personal understanding of the “ways of thinking and practising” of their subject area. The analysis is basedon 19 group interviews with 59 experienced biosciences students from three contrasting types of university in the UK, drawn from a more extensive set of transcripts from a large-scale national project. A rigorous thematic analysis of the data was carried out using HyperRESEARCH, a computer program which has the flexibility to allow thorough and diverse analyses of qualitative data. The findings illustrate the interplay between the will to understand, aspects of students’ identities and key dimensions of the contexts within which they were learning. Where interaction between the students and their learning context allowed for more authentic learning experiences, this seemed to have a positive influence on their willingness to engage actively and critically with their studies.

Preliminary Testing of a Peer-Teaching Model Using Geospatial Open Source Tools to Address Community Health Issues

Young people’s involvement in community-based research is not a new phenomenon, but rather a limited practice. Although young people have valuable insights to share, their voices are often missing from the research process. To address this void, Youth Enrichment Services (YES) engages youth from under-resourced contexts and creates authentic learning experiences by connecting them to social issues that impact their lives. YES’ most recent project is highlighted in this study, where teenage youth of color examined the social and environmental conditions that contributed to heightened lead exposure in a Pittsburgh Community. Using community-based participation research, students became the study’s architects, data gatherers, and analysts thereby centering their critical perspectives in an adult-centric research regime. This study offers insight into how the employed peer-teaching, field-based learning model equipped students to facilitate their own geospatial learning to address toxic lead exposure. The results suggest that by harnessing and then channeling the varied interest and technical skill levels of students, peer teaching models significantly enhanced technical learning outcomes when implemented in an applied, community-oriented research context. Integrating technical skills education with youth driven CBPR adds the critical dimension of youth experience into the research process and allows students to own their knowledge development.

S0468 Virtual Patient Simulation Improves IBS Diagnosis and Treatment: A CME Study

INTRODUCTION: Irritible bowel syndrome (IBS) is is a functional bowel disorder routiely encountered by gastroenterologists and primary care physicians (PCPs). This study examined whether online continuing medical education (CME) that incorporated a virtual patient simulation (VPS) can improve performance in the management of IBS. METHODS: An online CME case-based intervention in a VPS platform1 allowed learners to interact with patients via video, order lab tests, make diagnoses, and order treatments. Clinical decisions were analyzed, and learners received clinical guidance (CG) based on current evidence and expert recommendations. Learners were allowed to modify their decisions post-CG. Pre- (baseline) to post-CG decisions were compared using a McNemar's test. The intervention launched on August 27, 2019 and data were collected through December 2, 2019. RESULTS Significant improvements were observed as a result of participation in VPS: Case 1 (n = 168 gastroenterologists; n = 474 PCPs): • Communication with patients: 6% relative change among gastroenterologists (51% vs 54% pre/post CG; P < 0.05) and 6% relative change among PCPs (50% vs 53% pre/post CG; P < 0.001). • Order diagnostic tests: 8% relative change among gastroenterologists (84% vs 91% pre/post CG; P < 0.001) and 11% among PCPs (70% vs 81% pre/post CG; P < 0.001. • Tailoring treatment: 192% relative change among gastroenterologists (23% vs 68% pre/post CG; P < 0.001) and 300% relative change among PCPs (16% vs 63% pre/post CG; P < 0.001). Case 2 (n = 103 gastroentertologists; n = 294 PCPs): • Tailoring treatment: 85% relative change among gastroenterologists (32% vs 59% pre/post CG; P < 0.001) and 335% relative change among PCPs (13% vs 58% pre/post CG; P < 0.001). • Gastroenterologists and PCPs had significant increases in prescribing alosetron or eluxodoline following CG (Figure 1). • The top 2 rationales for selection of eluxadoline among both gastroenterologists and PCPs were efficacy in reducing symptoms and guideline recommended. CONCLISION: Participation in a VPS-based education initiative that immerses and engages learners in an authentic and practical learning experience significantly improves clinical decisions related to the diagnosis and selection of evidence-based pharmacologic treatments.Figure 1.: Prescribed treatments pre- and post- clinical guidance.

Leveraging dynamic decision-making and environmental analysis to support authentic learning experiences in digital environments

Authentic learning is a pedagogical approach that situates students in real-world settings. Authentic learning experiences in online environments allow learners to solve real-world problems when they immerse in real-world settings. It thereby requires instructional designers to make contextualized design decisions to enhance students’ online authentic learning experiences. The purpose of this paper is to provide instructional designers with a conceptual framework to help guide their instructional design decisions for authentic learning experiences in online environments. We purport that these design decisions should be guided by three constructs: authentic learning, decision-making, and contextual analysis. We also provide recommendations for future research on decision-making practices and processes in instructional design contexts.

Enhancing authentic learning experiences in teacher education through 360-degree videos and theoretical lectures: reducing preservice teachers’ anxiety

ABSTRACT Preservice teachers (PSTs) often experience professional anxiety when managing their classrooms. These feelings of anxiety can be reduced, and their feelings of self-efficacy increased by training PSTs’ interpersonal competence. This study used authentic learning experiences combining theoretical lectures and 360-degree videos watched with virtual reality headsets, to train their interpersonal competence. Participants of this study were 141 first year PSTs of a teacher education institute in the Netherlands. Results showed that the video-lecture combination led to a reduced professional anxiety and increased self-efficacy. PSTs’ self-perceptions of their own expected interpersonal behaviour indicated that PSTs thought they would be more in control in the actual classroom after the intervention. PSTs attributed these results to exemplary teacher behaviour shown in the 360-degree videos.

Case-based Instruction in Science Professional Development: Bilingual/ESL Teachers Reflect about Science Subject Matter Knowledge and Pedagogy

ABSTRACT This article is a qualitative study that explored bilingual/ESL science teachers’ reflections about subject matter knowledge (SMK) and instructional practice in the elementary grades. Thirty-three teachers were part of a 5-year professional development program designed to enhance instructional quality and effectiveness to teach English learners. Case-based instruction was used in their science coursework to present teachers with authentic learning experiences about science teaching and learning to foster critical reflection about theorizing SMK into instructional practice. Using semi-structured interview methods we collected data to analyze teachers’ reflections about science SMK and instructional practice. Teachers were interviewed using content-specific cases (vignettes) about density, circuits, food webs, and heat. Teachers were asked to identify underlying concepts case teachers/students held in each vignette. They were then asked to critically reflect on the instructional practices of the case teacher to reflect on how they would either teach the content similar to or different than the case teacher. Findings revealed that most teachers disagreed with the less than ideal teacher practices presented in the cases. After identifying underlying concepts, teachers critically reflected to suggest more effective ways of teaching science content to English Learners (ELs). Hands-on learning, systemic teaching, disciplinary language use in inquiry design, and differentiating content were emphasized as more effective instructional practices by cohort teachers. Implications suggest that even the most minimal reflection about content provides rich opportunities for reflection about pedagogy, making it an essential component of professional development.