Curricular Experiences Research Articles

Big Need Not Be Bad: A Case Study of Experiential Leadership Development in Different-Sized Classes

Higher education classes have increased in size at a time of significant resource restrictions for universities. At the same time, employers are looking for graduates with relevant competencies and skills. This poses two key challenges: (1) how to design an experiential curriculum that produces significant skill development and (2) how to ensure that this program is scalable and effective in a large class context. In this case study, we describe the curriculum of a postgraduate experiential learning curriculum focused on leadership development, and report its effectiveness in developing leadership competencies in different-sized large classes. This case study demonstrates that effective large class experiential learning and leadership skills development is possible. We found comparable effectiveness across different-sized classes of up to 130 students. These results were achieved by combining experiential learning, intentional change theory, dedicated and experienced faculty coaches, feedback and coaching in small peer groups, and periodic self- and peer-evaluations. We observed that class size may differentially affect the effectiveness of experiential learning for leadership competency development at different stages of a course. Practical implications for course design and delivery are discussed, with a focus on the curriculum design elements that help make large class experiential learning impactful and manageable.

The University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine.

The University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine.

The (mis)alignment between young people’s collective physical activity experience and physical education curriculum development in Ireland

ABSTRACT Major curriculum changes have recently occurred in Ireland, including redeveloping the primary curriculum and the enactment of the Junior Cycle Framework (DES, 2015). Positive and negative experiences affect the attitudes which contribute to determining the quality of curricular experiences. Framed in the work of Fullan, M. (1991. The New Meaning of Educational Change. Toronto: Teachers College Press) and Dewey, J. (1997. Experience and Education. New York, NY: Touchstone), this study aims to understand how young people’s experiences of collective physical activity can inform physical education curriculum development and enactment. Focus group interviews were conducted in three primary and three post-primary schools. The young people’s experiences reflected the features of meaningful physical education: fun opportunities, preferably outside; to socially interact with friends; provision of activities that are both competitive and non-competitive; activities focused on team sport and alternative forms of movement such as yoga; differentiated activities and teams and choice, beyond choosing between team sports only. We argue that the young person’s voice has the potential to inform policy and practice, as well as enforce and advocate for policy and practice that positions young people at the centre of the learning experience.

Exploring Food Waste at a Residential Youth Summer Camp: A Mixed-Methods Study

ABSTRACT This study explored the feasibility of a food waste management and reduction program (FWMRP) at a youth summer camp. An experiential FWMRP educational curriculum was developed and delivered to 864 campers over four weeks. Food waste was collected for three meals before and after the program each week. Stakeholder interviews (n = 6) explored staff views about food waste and their acceptability of the FWMRP curriculum. While absolute quantity of food waste decreased, the reduction was not statistically significant (p > .05). Stakeholders identified the need for adequate resources to ensure feasibility to implement and sustain the FWMRP curriculum at this youth summer camp.

Assessing the benefits and usefulness of Schwartz Centre rounds in second-year medical students using clinical educator-facilitated group work session: not just \u201ca facilitated moan\u201d!

BackgroundAn experiential curriculum exposing medical students to the clinic early has many benefits but comes with the emotional stress this environment engenders. Schwartz rounds (SR) are an effective means to combat emotional stress and increasingly used in UK and USA hospitals. Recent studies show that the SR format may also provide benefits for medical students. This study aimed to investigate whether the guidance of SR in second year medical students provides the same benefits as to healthcare professionals.MethodsSR assessment involved 83 s year MBChB students in facilitated groupwork sessions. Topics discussed were “change and resilience” and “duty of candour”. Students completed a Likert Scale questionnaire evaluating outcomes proffered by the Point of Care Foundation in collaboration with the Schwartz Foundation, with freeform feedback.ResultsThere was an 86% completion rate with 25% providing written feedback. Participants were more likely to agree than disagree that SR were beneficial. SR effectiveness in enhancing students’ working relationship awareness and skills was strongly correlated with understanding the purpose of, and engagement with, the SR (P < 0.001). Similarly, engagement with the SR was strongly correlated with self-reporting of enhanced patient-centredness (P < 0.001). Freeform feedback could be grouped into five themes that revolved around understanding of the SR and engagement with the process. Many positive comments regarded the SR as a forum not only to “learn experientially” but to so in a “safe environment”. Many negative comments stemmed from students not seeing any benefits of engagement with the SR, in that sharing experiences was “unbeneficial”, “empathy is inherent and not learnt”, or that sharing emotional problems is simply “moaning”.ConclusionSRs are an effective way of fostering empathy and understanding towards patients and colleagues. However, for the students to benefit fully from the SR it is necessary for them to engage and understand the process. Therefore, for the successful implementation of SR into pre-clinical medical education, it is important to help students realise that SR are not merely a “facilitated whinge”.

Experiential Learning Methods in Culinary Course Can Bridge the Gap: Student Perceptions on How Hands-On Curriculum Prepares Them for Industry

ABSTRACT This exploratory study investigates students’ understanding of how they believed hands-on activities prepared them for the hospitality industry. While competitive hospitality businesses around the globe seek out new employees to take on the many leadership challenges, hospitality schools make parallel efforts to prepare their students to take on these responsibilities after graduation. Although traditional classroom techniques have a place in the hospitality classroom, experiential learning methods have emerged as a powerful way of better preparing students for the unique environment they will face when employed. The inseparable employee-to-guest nature of the hospitality industry creates idiomatic scenarios, which can often be stressful for a new employee. The context for this study is the University of South Florida’s College of Hospitality & Tourism Leadership (CHTL). Using qualitative explorative methods, students were interviewed and synthesized themes were identified. The main findings indicate students were enthusiastic when describing their hands-on activities with professionals and shared how the experiential learning curriculum was more engaging then traditional methods. Students provided narratives that claimed the dynamic activities made learned material more memorable and relevant to the real industry. Furthermore, students felt the challenging group work caused them to develop diverse insights for problem solving.

Person-centered analysis of factors related to STEM students\u2019 global awareness

BackgroundTwenty-first century communication has changed how we connect to the rest of the world. Therefore, it requires the preparation of undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students who are capable of coping with problems on a global scale and who can participate effectively in a global economic and civic environment. Breathtaking ability to send vast amounts of data instantly and at times globally often translates to graduates entering the workforce needing to be aware of the global community. Hence, in this study, factors related to engineering students’ global awareness have been explored so that higher education institutions may consider those factors when designing programs meant to influence this competence. The current study used a validated new instrument, based on a developmental model—the Model of Domain Learning (MDL)—to gauge engineering students’ growth in global awareness. The presented research is studying the following research question: What is the relation between students’ curricular and co-curricular experiences and levels of global awareness classified using MDL?ResultsPerson-centered analyses were used to answer the research question. Four hundred twenty-five engineering students, who enrolled in 18 different engineering programs in a US land-grant university, participated in this study. The study found that engineering students’ engagement in extra-curricular activities was correlated with an increase of their knowledge, strategic processing, and interest in the domain of global awareness.ConclusionsBased on the data analysis, students’ international experiences were positively related to not only their interest and knowledge but also their strategic processing predicted by the MDL. Moreover, engineering students’ international experience and high academic engagement are important variables related to their perception of increased global awareness and improved skills for international careers. Hence, higher education institutions should consider making pedagogical interventions in their programs to effectively embed international experience into students’ curriculum.

From policy to practice: the illusion of Polishness in Polish immigrant community language and culture education

ABSTRACT Increasing mobility of people across nation-state borders leads to cultural and linguistic diversification and raises discussions about the inclusion of immigrant minority languages and cultures in education. This contribution investigates possible discrepancies between top-down curricular policies and bottom-up practices at a Polish complementary school in the Netherlands. It focuses on the implementation of the school’s curriculum in times of globalization and superdiversity and explores the maintenance of linguistic and cultural values in a multilingual setting. In doing so it uses the curriculum domains as introduced by Goodlad and colleagues, i.e. the ideological, formal, perceived, operational and experiential curriculum, as an interpretive framework to analyze possible discrepancies between curricular policies and educational practices. The results reveal discrepancies between top-down policies and bottom-up practices. Classroom events and interviews illustrate the complex relationship between language and identity, showing that in a superdiverse classroom monolithic identity categories do not exist and therefore promoting Polish identity is like trying to hit a moving target. This study adds to a growing corpus of multicultural discourse studies on ethnic identity construction in education and raises awareness about the improper use of monolingual and monocultural policies in linguistically and culturally diverse classrooms.

A study of participatory teacher training experience based on the artistic experiences of Nuri curriculum

본 연구는 누리과정 예술경험을 기반으로 한 참여형 교사연수에 참여한 보육교사들의 창의적 교수효능감의 변화를 실험연구를 통해 알아보고, 질적연구를 통해 그들의 경험을 심층적으로 살펴보았다. 첫째, 참여형 교사연수에 참여한 만 5세 보육교사 60명을 실험집단으로 하여 교수효능감 사전검사와 사후검사를 실시하였고, 한 달 후에 48명을 대상으로 추후검사를 실시하였다. 둘째, 참여형 교사연수에 참여한 만 5세 보육교사 10명을 대상으로 비구조화된 질문지를 통하여 5명씩 소그룹으로 나눠 사전, 사후에 포커스 그룹 인터뷰를 실시하였고, 추후에는 개별면담을 실시하였다. 연구결과 양적 연구에서의 창의적 교수효능감은 사전에 비해 사후에 향상된 것으로 나타났다. 추후는 사전에 비해 향상되었지만, 사후에 비해서는 다소 낮아진 것으로 나타났다. 질적 연구에서는 참여형 교사연수에 대한 이해와 인식, 참여형 교사연수를 통해 느낀 예술경험의 진정한 가치들, 반성적 사고와 교수효능감의 변화가 탐색되었다.

과목선택권 확대를 통해 본 학습자 주도성의 의미 재고: S고 학생들의 공동교육과정 경험을 중심으로

과목선택권 확대를 통해 본 학습자 주도성의 의미 재고: S고 학생들의 공동교육과정 경험을 중심으로

Curriculum as place: The social relevance of the secondary school curriculum in Jamaica

A socially relevant curriculum connects learning to the needs of students as members of families, communities and society. Curriculum as place is concerned with experience; how the curriculum nurtures students' learning, growth and development and how they in turn make meaning of what they are learning given their situatedness. This study, therefore, sought to explore students' views on how their school curriculum influenced their engagement at the personal, family and community levels thereby making it socially relevant. Data from interviews of 27 high school students provide thick descriptions of participants shared views and are used to theorise about how the curriculum influenced students' engagement. The main findings indicated that students' perception of what curriculum is, influenced their interpretation of how their curriculum experiences facilitated their engagement and this interpretation was linked to their situated agency. The findings also underscored the role of the curriculum as a critical tool for creating social consciousness and destroying coloniality of knowledge. Using the findings of the study, the author argues that for society to change and for curriculum to be socially relevant the purposes of the curriculum must facilitate agency and social consciousness at three levels; personal; family and community.

Interprofessional practices and readiness for interprofessional learning among health students and graduates in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil: a cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT This paper reports on a cross-sectional study performed with 370 students and graduates from 15 undergraduate health courses in a public university in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The objective was to identify interprofessional education (IPE) curricular experiences and to evaluate the readiness for IPE among students and graduates who have attended a practical experience of IPE (Integrative Module) compared with undergraduate students who did not. The dimensionality and reliability of the Portuguese-validated expanded version of the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) with 40-items were also evaluated. This version of RIPLS was validated with 32 items. Cronbach’s alpha values of the three factors of the scale were: Factor 1 α = 0.89, Factor 2 α = 0.47 and Factor 3 α = 0.83. IPE initiatives were identified in the undergraduate curricula mainly in the practical experience (Integrative Module) (47.5%), curricular placements (29.8%) and extracurricular activities (29.5%). Students and graduates who participated in the Integrative Module demonstrated greater readiness for IPE than students who did not attend. This study suggested that shared experiences among different undergraduate courses are associated with positive attitudes and greater availability of students and graduates for interprofessional learning and work. Future studies including the psychometric analysis of the Portuguese-validated expanded RIPLS are recommended.

The Imperativeness of Curriculum Improvement of Diniyah Education at the Wustha Level in South Kalimantan

Islamic educational institutions in South Kalimantan are mushrooming both formally and informally. It is because Muslims are predominantly. They are known to be very religious and even steadfast in applying Islamic values. Most of the educational institutions grow and develop at the initiative of community members (self-help). The distribution of Islamic Religious and Religious Education Institutions in South Kalimantan is 582 institutions. This shows the potential as well as the great responsibility that is carried out in helping the government to realize the goals of National Education. However, it is unfortunate that the diniyah education curriculum experiences stagnation does not up to date. It is not connected to the needs and expectations of the community. It is due to the curriculum tends to focus more on the teacher center. Therefore, the curriculum needs to be adjusted to the needs and expectations of the community. Hence, there is no gap between educational institutions and the community. The research method of this study used Research and Development (R&amp;D). The approach used 2 steps, namely preliminary activities and curriculum improvement (development). The data resources obtained from questionnaires, interviews, observations, and documentaries. Participants are ustadz/ustadzah who teach subjects on diniyah curriculum, experts, and graduates. The results of this study indicate that the curriculum for diniyah education especially the wustha level in South Kalimantan is needed to be revised or developed. The curriculum should be adjusted to the aspirations, needs, and expectations of the community.

A Qualitative Case study on the Teaching Experiences of Biotechnology-related Curriculum Linked Extracurricular Program Management

A Qualitative Case study on the Teaching Experiences of Biotechnology-related Curriculum Linked Extracurricular Program Management

PERSPECTIVAS MULTICULTURAIS PARA O CURRÍCULO DE FORMAÇÃO DOCENTE ANTIRRACISTA

The present paper intends to contribute for reflections about the curriculum that challenges prejudices related to marginalised racial and ethnic identities. The arguet is that the curriculum could benefit from a post/decolonial multicultural perspective that focuses on interseccional and hybrid approaches geared towards challenging the essentialisation of identities and binary approaches that freeze them. I discuss consequences of the multicultural approach for a curriculum that intends to challenge racism. I present possible dimensions for the analysis of multicultural curricular experiences, informed by that perspective. I intend the text to possibly contribute for raising reflections and dialogues about future roads towards anti-racist and multicultural curricular approaches for teacher education.&nbsp

Reframing Resources in Engineering Teaching and Learning

The notion of “resources” is often framed in an economic sense: money, time, equipment and the like. The authors reconceptualise this notion, situating resources as embedded in curricular frameworks, teacher practice and student experience. This leads them to define resources as “the potential to participate in socio-cultural action” which is illustrated in this article through a series of reflections on the part of the authors, all within the context of engineering education. First, they demonstrate that curriculum can be productively thought of as a route marker for the development of resources that students need in order to enact their role as professional engineers. Thereafter, they show that lecturers bring tacit resources of trust, care, creativity and credibility to the teaching and learning space, and that these are necessary to overcome the inertia that often resists the transformation of teaching and learning practice. Finally, they reflect on how students’ prior learning experiences can be harnessed as a resource for teaching and learning. In so doing, they present resources as tied to sociocultural practices and personal and institutional histories, and encourage others to take up these ideas so as to consider how resources, viewed in the authors’ sense, are valued within (engineering) education.

Inteligências múltiplas relacionadas aos campos de experiência da Base Nacional Comum Curricular na Educação Infantil

A Educação Infantil é uma importante fase na vida da criança para desenvolver o conhecimento e passar a entendê-lo como um sistema de cultura no qual está inserida. Nesse cenário, o professor terá destaque, na concepção de promover a educação da criança por meio de atividades que consideram o mundo vivido dos escolares, de suas histórias, sua família, seus colegas, com quem convivem, tanto na instituição como em casa. A partir dessa contextualização, pretende-se contribuir com a Educação Infantil no sentido de evidenciar a relação entre as Inteligências Múltiplas (IM) e os Campos de Experiência da Base Nacional Comum Curricular (BNCC). No presente artigo, o objetivo principal é descrever a Teoria das Inteligências Múltiplas e relacionar com os Campos de Experiência da Base Nacional Comum Curricular (BNCC). O enfoque metodológico é qualitativo e descreve a Teoria das Inteligências Múltiplas de Howard Gardner e os Campos de Experiência da Base Nacional Curricular BNCC (BRASIL, 2017). As inteligências manifestam-se em todas as pessoas e o seu desenvolvimento está, relacionado aos estímulos que estão preconizados nos cinco Campos de Experiência da Base Nacional Comum Curricular – BNCC (BRASIL, 2017) para o desenvolvimento da Educação Infantil.

Coming Full Circle: A Scholarly Personal Narrative of Religion and Spirituality in Graduate Education

This scholarly personal narrative explores the experiences of a graduate-student turned tenure-track faculty member engaging religion and spirituality in the curriculum. Using autoethnographic methods, the author reflects on his curricular experiences in a student affairs master’s program at a faith-based institution and his early career experience (not) teaching religion and spirituality at a public university and faith-based university. The author encourages faculty in student affairs graduate programs to contemplate their pedagogical approach to religion and spirituality in the curriculum as well as the presence (or absence) of religion and spirituality in master’s programs in student affairs.

Pharmacy Students’ Ability to Identify the Steps of the Pharmacists’ Patient Care Process During IPPE

Objective. To determine the ability of first-year Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students to describe patient care activities performed by pharmacists and accurately associate those activities with the five core steps of the Pharmacists' Patient Care Process (PPCP). Methods. First-year student pharmacists completed introductory practice experiences at ambulatory and institutional pharmacies. Students' ability to describe activities that occurred in these settings and align them with the five core steps (collect, assess, plan, implement, and follow-up) of the PPCP were assessed. Results. The students were more adept in describing patient care activities and aligning them to the appropriate PPCP steps in an ambulatory pharmacy setting than in an institutional pharmacy setting. Students achieved higher scores when describing and aligning patient care activities associated with the collect and implement steps in an ambulatory pharmacy setting and for the assess step in an institutional pharmacy setting. Conclusion. As institutions strive to adopt the PPCP in all areas of the curriculum, this application serves as an example of successful PPCP integration early in the introductory experiential curriculum. Our results challenge faculty to provide early opportunities for students to apply the PPCP in a variety of practice settings, including settings focused on the medication distribution system.

Application of the Modified College Impact Model to Understand Chinese Engineering Undergraduates’ Sustainability Consciousness

The college impact model provides a valuable framework for explaining various college student learning outcomes. However, few quantitative studies have examined the effectiveness of college impact model in explaining engineering undergraduates’ sustainability consciousness, a critical learning outcome in engineering education. This study proposes a modified college impact model to test the structural links among curriculum experiences, sustainable agency beliefs, and engineering undergraduates’ sustainability consciousness, and to explore the moderating effect of gender on the structural model. Data are collected from 1804 senior engineering students enrolled in five traditional engineering disciplines at 14 first-class engineering universities in China. Structural equation modeling was used for testing the research model. The results demonstrate that (1) curricular emphasis has a significant direct impact on all three dimensions of students’ sustainability consciousness, while instructional practice has a significant direct influence on the sustainability knowingness dimension; (2) both curricular emphasis and instructional practice have a significant indirect influence on sustainability consciousness through the full or partial mediation of sustainable agency beliefs; and (3) gender moderates several paths in the structural model. Theoretical and practical implications are provided, and suggestions for future research are offered.