Social Dimensions Of Learning Research Articles

FORMATION OF SOCIAL COMPETENCIES OF A UNIVERSITY STUDENTS: A HOLISTIC EXPLORATION

This study delves into the intricate landscape of social competency development within the university context, aiming to unravel the diverse influences that shape students’ interpersonal skills. Our primary research question examines the interplay of educational interventions, peer interactions, and extracurricular engagements in the cultivation of social competencies. Employing a mixed-methods research design encompassing surveys, interviews, and observations, the data from a representative and diverse cohort of university students was gathered. The findings unveil a rich tapestry of factors contributing to the multifaceted process of social competency formation, highlighting the nuanced roles of both formal and informal learning environments. The study not only uncovers the challenges hindering social competency development but also identifies promising opportunities for enhancement. This research enriches the academic discourse by providing actionable insights for educators, administrators, and policymakers to design interventions that foster a holistic and socially adept student body. Emphasizing the need for a comprehensive approach to education, this investigation reinforces the importance of recognizing and nurturing the social dimensions of learning within the higher education landscape.

River science: an educational resource for understanding and learning to survive flooding and environmental change

ABSTRACT Integrated river science provides decision-making life-skills for individuals and communities facing environmental change; it is a variant of critical physical geography through its socio-political dimensions. As an example, the frequency and magnitude of river flooding are amplified by climate change: society needs to understand how to cope through learning, adaptative behaviour and planning. Choices should be informed by trusted science that can only be delivered by education, to avoid “knee jerk” post-hazard reactions. We examine curricula and resources in physical geography for England to judge if they make river science more pervasive and persuasive. Scales of causation and impact remain a central geographical focus. The concept of “place” is revitalized: environmental processes harnessed to improve resilience. Literacy and numeracy skills to communicate and predict need improving, to ensure that students understand problems sufficiently well to identify the best long-term, rigorously assessed options. Higher education has a hub role for empowering lay individuals, communities and professionals but the core learning principles need to be set at school. We conclude the current physical geography river science content is not fit for future needs, notably at A-Level. Weaknesses include naivety about river processes (water and sediment movement), arcane jargon, absence of a catchment-wide approach to river management, and inadequate links between disciplined fieldwork and databases. Contemporary community dimensions of social learning, argument and countering myths are also weakly developed.

Resilient Agile Education for Lifelong Learning Post-Pandemic to Meet the United Nations Sustainability Goals

The World Health Organization officially classified COVID-19 as a pandemic in early March 2020. Extraordinary security measures, health restrictions, and social isolation left hardly any aspect of daily life untouched. One area that underwent major changes was education, whose cornerstones and foundations were challenged as schools and universities around the world were forced to close their doors to prevent the spread of the virus. In this article, the reasons resilience and agility are critical to achieving social justice, human rights, and the United Nations Sustainability goals (SDG) in the post-pandemic era are studied. It is also argued that the role of education needs to be redesigned to be resilient and agile and to ensure lifelong learning. In addition, a post-pandemic quality agenda is the focus of the article. Some of the emerging quality dimensions are empathy, satisfaction, well-being, the social dimensions of learning, and their impact at the nano, micro, meso, and macro levels. This article was prepared as part of a systematic literature review based mainly on official reports from organizations working in this field worldwide. The author selected examples from ongoing discourse and debate about the challenges in this field in addition to examples from the author’s research, experiences, and perspectives. In summary, questions regarding educational landscapes may be the same, but in the context of post-pandemic and resilient agile education for lifelong learning to meet the SDGs and the new social contract for education, the answers to the questions of why, who, when, what, and at what levels will be different. It is time not just to talk, but to act. Each of us can and must commit to the new social contract. It is time to collectively reimagine our futures to include the ecosystem of education in all learning environments, i.e., formal, non-formal, and informal, and to value resilient, agile, seamless, and rhizomatic learning in the context of lifelong learning.

Baccalaureate nursing students’ experiences of how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced learning – a mixed method study

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic mandated the reconstruction of educational programs globally. For nursing students in need of practical learning and training as a part of their curriculum, the pandemic also caused restrictions and alterations in practical placements and limited access to simulation training at campuses. The aim of this study is therefore, to describe and explore how the COVID- 19 pandemic influenced baccalaureate nursing students’ experiences of learning and their social life as a student.MethodWe used a mixed method study design including quantitative data from one of the universities (University of Agder) from a national Norwegian survey of baccalaureate nursing students and qualitative data from focus-group interviews from the same university. The quantitative survey included 396 baccalaureate nursing students (response rate, 46%). We arranged five focus groups with a total of 23 students (15 females and 8 males). The students took part in one of the focus-group interviews. The quantitative data were analyzed using chi-square test for categorical data and ANOVA tests for continuous data, while the qualitative data were analyzed using Systematic Text Condensation and an editing analysis style.ResultsMost students (70%) were concerned about the quality of the education program. In clinical placement, 83% of students had cared for patients with confirmed COVID-19 or unclear COVID-19 status. The qualitative data revealed three main themes: missing the social dimension of learning; worries and challenges in clinical placement; and experiencing normal instructive days in clinical placement. The general picture emerging from our analysis is the importance of social interactions for learning.ConclusionAs the COVID-19 pandemic continues, our findings of students’ worries about the quality of the education program and not reaching learning outcomes must be taken into consideration. Social interaction is considered crucial and fundamental for student learning. A follow-up study following baccalaureate completion is necessary to explore the consequences over time of disrupted education.

What beliefs about writing guide EFL curricula? An analysis of relevant policy documents for teaching English at German secondary schools

Although curricular analyses are of crucial importance for curricular development, documents for teaching writing in English as a foreign language [EFL] in Germany have not yet received much attention. Our study explores what beliefs about writing guide educational policy documents for teaching EFL in Germany. Using Ivanič’s (2004) discourses of writing [DoW] as a theoretical lens, we conduct a curricular analysis of 11 curricula for lower secondary school (Year 9/10) and their guiding superordinate documents. Our data suggest that none of the documents offers a comprehensive conceptualization of writing. The skills and the genre discourses are predominant; the process, the creativity, and the social practices discourses receive little attention, while the sociopolitical discourse of writing is missing. Differences in discourse frequency in curricula among school types and federal states may hinder transitions between educational tracks. The relative neglect of the procedural character of writing and the lack of acknowledgment of the social dimension of learning to write further suggest a misalignment between curricula and current research into (foreign language) writing pedagogy. This may be particularly detrimental for less proficient or socially disadvantaged learners. Implications for curricular development are outlined, suggesting that a more comprehensive approach to writing that covers all six DoW is important. In particular, we highlight the potential of process-oriented writing and also refer to the need to address digital literacy in writing.

Engaging students’ prior knowledge during instruction improves their learning of groundwater and aquifers

Water sciences education is paramount to sustainable groundwater resource management, especially of drinking water, but misunderstandings about groundwater among non-experts remain widespread. Groundwater residence is an especially challenging concept to learn because it is not directly visible in typical circumstances. The present study uses a quasi-experimental research design to compare the impacts that two instructional sequences have on improving students’ conceptual understanding of groundwater residence and aquifers. Both instructional sequences are designed to use active learning, but only one solicits and engages students’ preconceptions. The theoretical framework for this study is the knowledge integration perspective of conceptual change. As such, this study considers cognitive, temporal, and social dimensions of learning. To assess students’ learning, concept sketches were analyzed using diagrammatic and textual content analyses, normalized learning gains were calculated, multiple-choice items were scored dichotomously (i.e., scored as either correct or incorrect), free-response items were scored for partial credit, and classroom observations tracked social interactions. We found significantly larger learning gains when students’ preconceptions were explicitly incorporated into the instructional sequence compared to when they were not taken into account. We also found the prior-knowledge instructional sequence (PKIS) positively impacted both Caucasian and non-Caucasian students as well as male and female students. Our findings indicate that actively engaging students’ prior knowledge in the ways that were researched herein can be a high impact teaching practice and is worthy of future research in other specific domains beyond groundwater residence and aquifers. Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10899995.2021.2004536 .

Sustaining teacher engagement in practitioner research

ABSTRACT This study of nine Primary School teachers of Religious Education (RE) analyses the benefits of their engagement in practitioner research (PR) and shows how that engagement can be sustained. We demonstrate the importance of enhancing the social dimension of learning through forming a community-of-practice (CoP) that enables participants to gain confidence and engage in democratic dialogue. The CoP in our project was sustained because teachers built trust with each other, were willing to talk openly about their practices and, through their common commitment to RE, contributed to the knowledge base of teaching. We conclude that engaging teachers in PR can create positive changes for schools because knowledge, interrogated by critical reflection, will be rooted in teachers’ professional understanding of the processes of teaching and learning. Further, that communities-of-practice, as social learning environments, assist in sustaining teachers’ engagement in PR by creating opportunities for teachers’ collaborative critical reflection on their taken-for-granted professional practices.

PHYSICAL BODY, LIVED BODY & EMPATHY DURING CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC. WHAT’S THE MATTER?

The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly had a devastating impact on a global scale. About two months after its onset, the contagion has turned into an unprecedented threat to the health of the world population, forcing all the countries of the world to face a very difficult period, almost comparable to a post-war condition. After just over a year, then, the educational drifts of the pandemic begin to be increasingly evident, which is certainly attributable to the restrictive measures that have been imposed on us, such as the limitation of personal freedom, the zeroing of sociality and, on the educational side, the consequent distance learning. Being distant does not only mean containing the contacts of the physical body, but also weakening the social dimension of learning that belongs to the lived body and which is well expressed through the practice of empathy. The aim of this contribution is to reflect on the relationship that is established among body-emotion-communication and the worrying drifts that the current conditions of physical confinement seem to exacerbate, in light of the fact that it would be almost impossible to intercept the emotional state of the other without the presence of the body that communicates sensations, emotions and moods. “Distant but close”, this is the slogan that is still repeated to us every day. Difficult to practice “empathic closeness” in the absence of a body?

The Evaluation of Social and Professional Life Competences of University Students Through Service-Learning

The view previously held in the university regarding teaching-learning processes has changed significantly over the past few years. Undoubtedly, in the case of Europe, this change of pedagogical model has gone hand in hand with the creation of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Some of the pivotal areas of EHEA are the independent work of the individual student, the social dimension of learning, and the acquiring of skills, which are not reduced to the mere technical and/or subject matter knowledge. Generic competences and the so-called “soft skills” have also become important, given their significant contribution to the students’ academic, personal, social, and professional development. Predictably, within this framework, new methodologies appear, in line with this educational focus on competences; among these new methodologies include service-learning (SL). It basically consists of introducing a community service into the traditional academic and curricular tasks thereby seeking a better relevance and applicability in the learning processes. This article analyzes the way in which SL contributes to the acquisition, by university students, of a certain skill set which is useful for their social and professional life. To this end, we used a quasi-experimental design, which included pretest and posttest assessments based on a total sample of 1,153 students (789 SL students and 364 non-SL students). The used questionnaire evaluates three important components relevant for the purpose of the present article (perception of the university education, social participation and civic-social competences). The conclusion is that students involved in SL not only show a more positive evolution, but also obtain better results after the projects are completed (regarding satisfaction with the training, and social participation). By the same token, not all students included in the experimental group achieve homogeneous results; the differences are according to variables such as gender, the cycle/year they are enrolled in, area of study or whether or not they previously participated in university service activities. Finally, we observe that this methodology is capable of approaching university education in a holistic way by asserting cross-section type learning processes likely to be useful in the transition from the students’ academic to their professional life.

Education, collaboration and pedagogical phronesis: essential dimensions in professional learning and development

ABSTRACT This article aims to elaborate multiple dimensions of ethical perception in professionalism and introduces novel didactic viewpoints on educational routes through which professionals learn and develop the moral competencies essential to praxis. Results are discussed from recent innovative research projects on professional didactics, education and work practice. The article explores new research pathways through which to learn and develop professional ethics for teachers and social educators in collaboration between several agents in the field: students, teachers and educational leaders, as well as public institutions. Through lifelong learning trajectories, professionals are enabled to skilfully confront ethical challenges in reality, to develop concrete ethical perception and discernment based on practical wisdom, here defined as pedagogical phronesis. Based on a synthesis of empirical findings and theoretical perspectives, we argue that an interchanging dynamic between subjective experiences and dialogical learning constitutes several dimensions of tacit practical wisdom, which is accentuated in the perception of practice. These are: 1) the existential-phenomenological dimension, 2) the life-historical dimension, 3) the dimension of inter-relational competence, and 4) the social dimension of learning. Our findings have significance and applicability for policymaking, professional training, and educational development, as well as wider research projects on professional learning and development.

Becoming a member of the police. Workplace expectations of police students during in-field training

ABSTRACT Research into workplace learning explores mostly the learner’s perspective, which is also the case within police research. This paper focuses, instead, on police officers who have the role of field-training officers (FTO) and responsibility for presenting, teaching and guiding police students attending the higher education programme. The aim is to characterise the FTOs’ expectations of the students as learners, and discuss how these expectations shape the professional development of the future police officers. Through analysis of interviews with the FTOs, we show how police socialisation is sedimented and perpetuated through situated learning in the workplace. The findings show that the FTOs’ expectations can be characterised as opposites concerning students’ participation in-house and participation on-patrol. In-house, the FTOs expected the students’ participation to be passive, adaptive and obedient, while ‘on-patrol’ the FTOs expected that the students took a highly active role. The paper discusses how the social dimension of learning affects the police students’ participation and progression into the police profession, and, in particular, the development their professional identity as future police officers who can contribute to, and further develop, police practice.

Social Cognitive Theory and Medical Education: How Social Interactions Can Inform Learning

The structures and processes of medical education have changed little since the publication of Flexner’s report, which stressed the scientific orientation of medical education and the curricular structure of 2 years of formal knowledge education and 2 years of clinical experience. However, the previous perspectives on medical education are facing challenges, and these call for new pedagogy and theories on which to base medical education practice. Considering that social dimensions of learning have been emphasized in practice, perspectives that integrate these aspects are needed. Among the various learning theories, social cognitive theory refers to the theoretical framework which contends that learning occurs within interactions with others and environments. From a social cognitive standpoint, learning through observation is a critical component in human functioning. Indeed, observational learning has particular significance in medical education in that it provides the context for which the importance and meaning of role models can be understood. In addition, as theoretical constructs such as self-efficacy and outcome expectations allow us to establish an effective learning environment, exploring the concepts of the theory could be beneficial to medical education practice. In this context, the present review article aims to provide a glimpse of the fundamental assumptions and theoretical concepts of social cognitive theory and discusses the implications the theory has on teaching and learning. Further, a review of previous studies could help explain how the theory has informed medical education practice. Finally, the author will conclude with the implications and limitations of applying social cognitive theory in medical education.

Diseño de un sistema de apoyo a la regulación social del aprendizaje en los xMOOC

This research aims at studying the processes of learning regulation in xMOOC environments, attending to both the individual and social dimensions of learning. Specifically, it attempts to analyze how the processes of self-regulation, co-regulation and socially shared regulation can be supported and promoted in open and massive learning contexts to achieve a deeper learning. To this end, a design-based research model is applied to allow a direct intervention in pedagogical practice, through a cyclic process of four stages: design, intervention, evaluation and reflection and redesign of a support system for the regulation of learning in an xMOOC. This paper presents the first iteration of the research together with the results of semi-structured interviews with some participants. First, we present the theoretical foundations of the design that have been applied to the proposed regulation support system as a result of a comprehensive literatura review. Next, we describe the implementation of the system, composed of a set of promptsstrategically administered into an xMOOC on gamification. Then, we present the results, among which we highlight the diverse use of the promptsmade by the participants and the challenges to activate traces of social orientation and reflection in a learning environment of the characteristics of an xMOOC. Finally, some conclusions and recommendations for the design of learning regulation and practice in xMOOC are drawn.

Towards an evidence base on the value of social learning‐oriented approaches in the context of climate change and food security

AbstractAttention to social learning's potential to improve development outcomes in the context of climate change and food security challenges is growing. Yet evidence supporting the wide range of assertions about the outcomes of social learning processes is insufficient. More work is needed to understand when and how a social learning‐oriented approach is effective. We respond to the gap in evidence by piloting the Climate Change and Social Learning initiative's monitoring and evaluation framework for social learning. Our objectives are to begin building an evidence base and to test the theory of change behind the framework. Using a peer‐assist approach, we apply the framework to eight case studies in partnership with five initiatives. We analyse trends in evidence gathered across the case studies in four dimensions of social learning (engagement, iterative learning, capacity development, and challenging institutions) along three dimensions of change (process, learning outcomes, and changes in values and practice).

What Are (English) Lessons For?

ABSTRACTThis article takes as its starting-point four moments that occurred in the course of a year of teaching A-level English Literature in an inner-London sixth-form college. It argues that these moments represented forms of learning and experience that were valuable, but that fell outside the prevailing version of what (English) lessons are for. It uses these moments to challenge the current prescriptive and reductive models of what learning looks like, focussing on the relationship between knowledge and interpretation (with specific reference to Shakespeare), on the social dimension of learning, and on the relationship between learning and time. It concludes that the best lessons are potentially open-ended, unpredictable and unrepeatable.

Critical Theory and Transformative Learning

Mezirow relies on the critical theory of Habermas to give his theory of transformative learning rigor. Yet critiques persist and focus on whether the theory has an adequate understanding of the social dimension of learning and whether it is overly rational. This article addresses these issues and explores relevant ideas from Habermas and Honneth. Critical theory has evolved and Honneth's theory of recognition has implications for transformative learning. Following the communicative turn of Habermas, Honneth makes recognition and freedom key concepts that contribute to developing transformative learning theory. Intersubjectivity and recognition become the necessary preconditions for critical reflection, discourse, democracy and transformative learning. Freedom is also reconfigured and these ideas address the main critiques of transformation theory.

Facilitating social learning in teacher education: a case study

ABSTRACTIt is increasingly recognised that social learning by teachers can stimulate professional development. In this study, we search for the social behaviour patterns which can act as a catalyst for professional development, with an explicit focus on student teachers’ learning. Based on the ‘Dimensions of Social Learning (DSL) Framework’, including 4 dimensions and 11 indicators of social learning, the present study explores the social configuration of one network of primary teachers (n = 12), student teachers (n = 12) and teacher educators (n = 2). Two research questions guide this exploration: (1) What patterns of social behaviour in teacher networks are likely to lead to professional learning? (2) What network facilitation guidelines can be discerned to assist teachers and teacher educators wishing to optimise student teachers’ professional development? Data collection consisted of video recordings, reflective notes and semi-structured interviews with network members. The findings paint a picture of how social learning in teacher networks is related to the group’s social configuration. Observation criteria and student facilitation guidelines are suggested to support professional development within teacher networks. For each dimension in the DSL Framework, one point of attention is discerned to optimise students’ learning in teacher networks.

Diversity, Trust, and Social Learning in Collaborative Governance

AbstractScholarship on collaborative governance identifies several structural and procedural factors that consistently influence governance outcomes. A promising next step for collaborative governance research is to explore how these factors interact. Focusing on two dimensions of social learning—relational and cognitive—as outcomes of collaboration, this article examines potential interacting effects of participant diversity and trust. The empirical setting entails 10 collaborative partnerships in the United States that provide advice on marine aquaculture policy. The findings indicate that diversity in beliefs among participants is positively related to relational learning, whereas diversity in participants' affiliations is negatively related to relational learning, and high trust bolsters the positive effects of belief diversity on both relational and cognitive learning. In addition, high trust dampens the negative effects of affiliation diversity on relational learning. A more nuanced understanding of diversity in collaborative governance has practical implications for the design and facilitation of diverse stakeholder groups.

Social dimensions of learning – the experience of young adult students with Asperger syndrome at a supported IT education

The purpose of this paper is to describe how young adults with Asperger syndrome experience an educational project called ‘the IT-track’. The methods used included participant observation and research interviews. The results were interpreted within the theoretical framework described by ‘Supported Education’ (SED). The most prominent experience among the students was social learning. Students describe that they gradually began to function better socially with others and developed various abilities, such as asking for help, and talking to groups.The teachers emerged in the interviews as the single most important source of support as they formed the basis of two key points of SED. Overall, studying at the IT-track resulted in the students extending their horizons of possibility by breaking away from their previous sense of isolation which was marked by idleness and loneliness. By participating at the IT-track, the students’ sense of participation and meaningfulness increased.

Threshold Concepts and Conceptual Change Processes

This paper reviews the idea of threshold concepts in the context of conceptual change processes students experience at the cognitive and social dimensions of learning. Literature suggests the role of students’ ontological views in the development of their prior conceptions, which could be alternative to scientifically accepted ideas. It is proposed that students may be able to negotiate such troublesome concepts in a productive way as they engage in the meaning-making process with peers. Moreover, the social negotiation of knowledge can influence the conceptual change processes students experience in a discipline. This paper will serve as a theoretical benchmark towards designing a study that will focus on exploring how peer to peer collaboration supports the understanding of chemistry threshold concepts.