Learning Environments In Higher Education Research Articles

Determining Moodle Self-Efficacy Based On Language Online Learning Environment In Higher Education

The Learning Management System (LMS) self-efficacy determined that the learner established their capabilities and confidence through a positive mindset of virtual learning activities. The integration of experiences and abilities was developed to impact Moodle as an electronic facility efficiently. The purpose of the study was to aim the investigations and determination to the LMS Moodle Self-efficacy in language learning pedagogy. The study’s design was conducted mixed research method collaborated to the quantitative and qualitative approach, and sequential basic structuralized applied to the sequential phase (quantitative and qualitative). The objective of the study took on the 257 language learners in Higher Education. The application scale of LMS Moodle self-efficacy integrated into language learning in Higher. It involved the 22 questionnaires in selecting dichotomy to agree and disagree point of the Likert scale. The study’s result had exposed the three-scales enhance to the platform of Moodle self-efficacy of accessing, Moodle self-efficacy of communication, and Moodle self-efficacy of electronic testing and feedback. The exploratory LMS Moodle self-efficacy had a maximum point range of around 0.73 and 0.92, and the condition had established to the participants’ respondents and variation in each statement. Consequently, these three scales demonstrated unbiased responses toward the questionnaire items. The online language learners conduced to comprehend Moodle become the adaptive LMS to implement the English language learning strategy completely. Nevertheless, the communication and versatility access needed to develop well in conducting language learning content so learners would feel encouraged and motivated following virtual language learning.

TRANSFORMATIVE LEARNING EXPERIENCES OF PRE-SERVICE EARLY YEARS TEACHERS: INSIGHTS FROM A GREEK HIGHER EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

This study aimed to investigate the transformative learning experiences of university students, namely pre-service teachers from an Early Years University Department in Greece. A total of 127 students were involved. The data were collected by using the Learning Activities Survey (L.A.S.). The questionnaire is divided into four parts, consisting of closed and two open-ended questions (King, 2009). The basic research questions were: (a) What stages of perspective transformation students went through during their studies, (b) What educational experiences and what personal events that experienced during their studies contributed to their perspective transformation, and (c) What elements related to students’ participation-presence at school contributed to change. It was noticed that critical reflection on assumptions, the third most important precursor step in fostering transformative learning, was one of the less common stages that students went through along with self-examination. Only 4 students went through all the stages of perspective transformation as described by Mezirow (2012). However, certain patterns of transformative learning experience were identified. The respondents were found to face disorienting dilemmas causing their awareness to be raised in terms of: (a) Previously held values, beliefs, points of view or expectations regarding children (b) Their role as early years practitioners and its impact on children, (c) The need to exceed taken for granted ideas and obsolete pedagogical perceptions and (d) The importance of self-awareness, personal growth, and empowerment. It was shown that specific educational/learning activities, especially those engaging their experience, their active participation, mutual understanding, support (between classmates or classmates and teacher) and cooperation as well as exercising theory in practice, triggered perspective transformation. These findings imply the need for cultivating a higher education learning environment that supports the practicing of strategies and the development of skills that can help learner’s transformation and promote a more sustainable, socially-just and fulfilling world.
 
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Gamification and Gen Z in Higher Education

Research has found that the new-age learner, Gen Z, is different from his/ her predecessors and hence educators need new age pedagogical interventions to cater to this group of learners. With a change in the way the new age learner learns, the education system needs to revamp to incorporate tools that suit the need of the learner.The paper reviews the use of Gamification as a tool for motivation and engagement for Gen Z in higher education with the help of peer-reviewed research literature from research databases predominantly from Scopus and Web of Science. The purpose of this paper is to provide suggestions on how to create an engaging and meaningful learning environment in Higher Education for Gen Z by providing relevant insights on Gamification with the help of secondary research. As this is an emerging field of study, this paper will help policymakers, educators and academicians to design and implement relevant interventions to use Gamification as an effective tool for Gen Z learners in the field of higher education.

Technology enhanced learning environments in higher education: A cross-discipline study on teacher and student perceptions

Teacher and student perceptions of using technology enhanced learning (TEL) in higher education have received growing attention, particularly during COVID-19, however existing studies are mainly disciplinespecific. This study adopts a holistic cross-disciplinary approach. It compares teacher and student perceptions on defining TEL, promotors and barriers for its use, and solutions offered for better use of TEL in the future. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected from an Australian university. A total of 75 teachers and 48 students completed an online survey, and of these participants, 24 teachers and 29 students participated in follow-up focus group interviews that included Kahoot! surveys. Quantitative results show that teacher and student perceptions on TEL were generally aligned except that self-reported technology savviness and confidence was rated higher than how students and staff rated each other. Qualitative analyses reveal that both teachers and students identified the main promoters for TEL as being: modern and expected in higher education, while being equalising, efficient, engaging, authentic, collaborative and flexible. The common barriers for using TEL were identified as fear, time, organisational culture, knowledge and technical/support issues, along with the perceived pitfalls of distraction, and superficial student learning. Solutions offered for TEL in the future from staff focused on the institution and a desire for strategic, pedagogical and holistic approaches, while students focussed on the accessibility, flexibility and collaborative potential of TEL. This cross-discipline pre-COVID-19 study of TEL perceptions offered by teachers and students has contributed to knowledge in this area by identifying barriers and solutions for TEL common to all disciplines that have the potential to be applied to whole of institution strategic approaches for the more effective use of TEL in teaching and learning in higher education. Student accessibility to TEL and the development of pedagogically sound digital learning resources bringing together educational developers and discipline experts are of particular relevance during and post-COVID-19.

De-territorialisations for pedagogical co-creation: Challenging traditionalistic pedagogies with students in higher education

The notion of pedagogy tends to be understood as the domain of teachers, this is a reductive way of thinking about pedagogy. Instead, in this paper I explore the heteroglossia of pedagogy through the Deleuzian-Guattarian notion of assemblage. Through this approach, pedagogy is an open debate which needs to involve students to co-create the learning environment in Higher Education (HE). Drawing on data collected with first year undergraduate students and through an action research methodological approach, I will argue that collaborative and progressive pedagogies in HE must go beyond the authority of the teacher and offer students in-class opportunities to negotiate the usual power relationships that characterise traditionalistic pedagogies. Whilst there is a stronger emphasis on engaging students differently in HE, it is important to also reflect on the dynamics that emerge from initiatives that seek to redress the pedagogical imbalances that the traditionalistic classroom perpetuates, such as enforcing a prescriptive curriculum where knowledge is transferable, inert and closely policed to satisfy performative regimes of assessment. I suggest that the notion of assemblages can help us understand the solidified and accepted classroom pedagogies as territories which are still normative in education, including HE, therefore, mapping out these territories open up possibilities for de-territorialisations.

Authenticity work in higher education learning environments: a double-edged sword?

Educational authenticity occupies a strong position in higher education research and reform, building on the assumption that correspondence between higher education learning environments and professional settings is a driver of student engagement and transfer of knowledge beyond academia. In this paper, we draw attention to an overlooked aspect of authenticity, namely the rhetorical work teachers engage in to establish their learning environments as authentic and pedagogically appropriate. We use the term “authenticity work” to denote such rhetorical work. Drawing on ethnography and critical discourse analysis, we describe how two teachers engaged in authenticity work through renegotiating professional and educational discourse in their project-based engineering course. This ideological project was facilitated by three discursive strategies: (1) deficitization of students and academia, (2) naturalization of industry practices, and (3) polarization of the state of affairs in academia and in industry. Our findings suggest that authenticity work is a double-edged sword: While authenticity work may serve to bolster the legitimacy that is ascribed to learning environments, it may also close down opportunities for students to develop critical thinking about their profession and their education. Based on these findings, we discuss implications for teaching and propose a nascent research agenda for authenticity work in higher education learning environments.

Self-regulation strategies in blended learning environments in higher education: A systematic review

Although self-regulation is an important feature related to students’ study success as reflected in higher grades and less academic course delay, little is known about the role of self- regulation in blended learning environments in higher education. For this review, we analysed 21 studies in which self-regulation strategies were taught in the context of blended learning. Based on an analysis of literature, we identified four types of strategies: cognitive, metacognitive, motivational and management. Results show that most studies focused on metacognitive strategies, followed by cognitive strategies, whereas little to no attention is paid to motivation and management strategies. To facilitate self-regulation strategies non-human student tool interactional methods were most commonly used, followed by a mix of human student-teacher and non-human student content and student environment methods. Results further show that the extent to which students actively apply self-regulation strategies also depends heavily on teacher's actions within the blended learning environment. Measurement of self-regulation strategies is mainly done with questionnaires such as the Motivation and Self-regulation of Learning Questionnaire.
 Implications for practice and policy:
 
 More attention to self-regulation in online and blended learning is essential.
 Lecturers and course designers of blended learning environments should be aware that four types of self-regulation strategies are important: cognitive, metacognitive, motivational and management.
 Within blended learning environments, more attention should be paid to cognitive, motivation and management strategies to promote self-regulation.

Student Innovations Related to COVID-19: The International Engineering Design Challenge

At the start of 2020, online education experienced a significant increase as educators attempted to mitigate a total stop to learning, fearing their students might lose a critical year of their educational experience. This rise in e-learning, affected by school closures, challenged educators to develop meaningful and timely learning experiences that were accessible and realizable for all their students while at the same time consider diverse digital equity issues affecting full participation. Their drive to increase the learning potentials of their students was a testimony to teachers’ commitment to the students they serve. It also highlighted educators’ sense of responsibility for the academic and social well-being of their students, many of which were negotiating new learning environments at home. This paper describes student involvement in the COVID-19 Engineering Design Challenge, an international Phenomenon-based Learning (PhBL) project developed to provide students in primary, secondary, and higher education learning environments with an opportunity to think about and reflect on challenges surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and to develop and share their STEM solutions globally.

Co-sensing and co-shaping as shared and relational practices in bringing about relational leaders in higher education

The aim of this article is to investigate how and what kinds of relational and shared practices were co-created within a multicultural team in a higher education collaborative learning environment. The students interacted while working towards the shared goal of co-constructing knowledge. The study provides insight into how student teams can actively build collaboration in learning spaces through manifesting relational leadership. Shared and relational practices refer broadly to all the knowledge, attitudes and skills that emerge from team interaction. A compound theoretical framework combining relational leadership and leadership trichotomy was adapted to study what particular factors enable shared and relational practices. The qualitative study drew data from students’ reflections and group discussions in an intervention which served as a space for experimentation in collaboration and dialogue. The results showed that the students practised Co-sensing and Co-shaping to effectively allow knowledge co-construction. A broadening perception of diversity and the perception that barriers were a doorway to new relational possibilities enabled Co-sensing and Co-shaping to work in collaboration. The results of the study could provide new insights for other kinds of higher education learning environments.

Gamification and Gen Z in Higher Education

Research has found that the new-age learner, Gen Z, is different from his/ her predecessors and hence educators need new age pedagogical interventions to cater to this group of learners. With a change in the way the new age learner learns, the education system needs to revamp to incorporate tools that suit the need of the learner.The paper reviews the use of Gamification as a tool for motivation and engagement for Gen Z in higher education with the help of peer-reviewed research literature from research databases predominantly from Scopus and Web of Science. The purpose of this paper is to provide suggestions on how to create an engaging and meaningful learning environment in Higher Education for Gen Z by providing relevant insights on Gamification with the help of secondary research. As this is an emerging field of study, this paper will help policymakers, educators and academicians to design and implement relevant interventions to use Gamification as an effective tool for Gen Z learners in the field of higher education.

Electronic note taking technology and academic performance in nursing students

Background: Technological advances have provided alternatives to traditional handwritten note taking that are changing the classroom learning environment in higher education for nursing students. Aims: The purpose of this study was to explore nursing student attitudes and preferences for note taking and the relationship of note taking methods on academic performance. Design: The mixed method approaches collected data from 217 nursing students in a baccalaureate program of study in spring and fall of 2017. Methods: Nursing students at the junior and senior level in the academic program voluntarily participated by completing a survey using a Likert-type scale and open-ended questions. Findings: The majority of students (69.3%) reported taking notes by electronic methods. No significant difference was found between the method of note taking and GPA (p = .139). Conclusions: Findings suggest that multiple variables influence learning in the classroom environment and note taking method has little impact on academic performance. Impact Statement: Educators should consider this finding when implementing policies on classroom electronics, including note taking. Understanding that the preferred method of note taking whether handwritten or electronic has little impact on overall academic performance should inform evidence based teaching and learning.

Learning environments in higher education: Their adaptability to the 4th industrial revolution and the 'social transformation' discourse

The South African higher-education sector is currently undergoing a significant phase in its transition. The phase is marked by a sense of uncertainty felt across institutions and entities that make up the sector. This uncertainty, to a large extent, is brought about by the socio-political realities the transition entails. Compounding this situation is the advent of the 4th Industrial Revolution (Hadden), a phenomenon to which the higher-education sector needs a heightened degree of adaptability. The learning environments provided by the higher-education sector are therefore crucial in terms of advancing the cause of positive social change as a realisable educational objective. Against this backdrop, this conceptual article examines the issue of social change as a moral imperative. The purpose is therefore to contribute to the 4IR discourse currently evolving in the context of South African higher education and its social change agenda, with cognitive capitalism as a theoretical lens. Significant scholarly work has been done on the issue of technological advancement and its implications for the social practice of education. However, a concerted effort has not been undertaken to examine the 4IR as an inevitable educational experience with potential to be both materialistically transformative and morally enslaving. The article concludes that, as 4IR unfolds into a magnificent event and starts to control every aspect of human life in general, and education in particular, the moral and ethical affirmations that support the experience of education may run into troubled waters

Self-Regulated Learning and Technology-Enhanced Learning Environments in Higher Education: A Scoping Review

This paper seeks to identify the characteristics of studies of self-regulated learning that consider the use of technology-enriched environments in higher education. To this end, a review was conducted of the scientific literature during the period 2015–2021 in various scientific databases. The analysis identified 42 research papers that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The results show that this topic has been gaining interest among researchers and the main strategies developed to self-regulate students in academic virtual environments. On the other hand, classical self-regulated learning models underpin most of the studies reviewed; Zimmermann’s approaches, or those derived from his work, are the most frequent. As regards the methodology adopted, the preferred focus is quantitative; the questionnaire is the most used for data collection. Most of the research was carried out with students studying for different university degrees; the most-analysed technology tools were LMS platforms.

Linking web-based learning self-efficacy and learning engagement in MOOCs: The role of online academic hardiness

Even though Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have created highly personalized and dynamic learning environments for higher education, the low completion rate has hampered their development. Nevertheless, how to engage MOOC learners in continuing to learn online remains unclear in terms of psychological mechanisms. Enlightened by the social cognitive view of learning and hardiness theory, this study investigates the mediating role of online academic hardiness (the courage that is needed to turn stressful changes from burdens into advantageous growth in online environments) between web-based learning self-efficacy (the specific beliefs that people have in their capability to complete tasks when learning online) and online learning engagement. Using validated self-reported scales, a total of 608 participants of six MOOCs courses from Taiwan were included in this study. The results of structural equation modeling indicated the significant mediating effect of commitment on behavioral, emotional and cognitive engagement in learning MOOCs. Additionally, we found that the components of web-based learning self-efficacy led to different types of engagement: general Internet-based learning self-efficacy contributes to behavioral and emotional engagement, whereas functional Internet-based learning self-efficacy contributes to emotional and cognitive engagement. The direct and indirect effects of web-based learning self-efficacy highlight its critical role in online learning engagement. Overall, our conceptual model based on the agentic view of social cognitive theory provides researchers and practitioners with a holistic picture to understand the MOOC engagement phenomenon by revealing mixed results compared to traditional distance education.

Intentional Stakeholder Engagement that Fosters Innovation and Equity

This article summarizes the findings of the Grand Challenges in Assessment working group that was established to create plans to “produce visible and actionable assessment findings that drive innovation” by increasing stakeholder engagement with assessment data and processes. We describe the use of a stakeholder engagement framework to intentionally plan engagement opportunities, ways to present data that are meaningful and comprehensible, and other approaches to empowering stakeholders to collaborate with faculty and administrators to improve learning environments in higher education. Thoughtful engagement of stakeholders that attends to power dynamics can amplify voices of those not typically heard which can encourage more innovative practices.

Chinese Students’ Use of Digital Resources for Their Learning in UK Higher Education

This paper explores Chinese students’ use of digital resources during their postgraduate studies in the UK. The study is important in contemporary Higher Education (HE) context where internet-based technologies, resources, online platforms and digital devices play a significant role in providing access to learning resources. A significant portion of students in HE also come from diverse cultures with arguably varying orientations to learning and using technologies. Based on qualitative data collected from focus group interviews with Chinese postgraduate students at Leicester, we explore some of the challenges that they face during their transition from learning in China (Nguyen et al., 2006; Leedham, 2015) to the UK HE learning environment. We identify the strategies that these students use, including a variety of digital tools and resources that they use to help in their formal studies during and beyond this transition stage. We also highlight their development of digital literacy skills and the responsibility that the UK HEIs have in this regard.

Design Seamless Learning Environment in Higher Education with Mobile Device

Mobile learning functions to facilitate student learning because it has characteristics that are practical to carry anywhere, so mobile learning has its interests. With mobile learning, learning is more flexible and effective. The consideration of the effectiveness of mobile learning-based learning demands the importance of research on the development of cutting-edge learning models to help students and educators to make learning easier and provide learning motivation for students in higher education. This research is descriptive quantitative research with data collection techniques using a questionnaire. This research was conducted from April to June 2020 in the PGMI Nurul Jadid University. The research population is students of the PGMI who are still active in the 2019/2020 academic year. Mobile learning based on mobile devices is in the useful category with a frequency of 28 and a percentage of 75.67, the rest is in the fairly good category, a frequency of 3 is obtained with a percentage of 8.10%, in the very good category a frequency of 4 is obtained with a percentage of 10.82%, and less, obtained a frequency of 2 with a percentage of 5.40%.

Expectations for success: Auditing opportunities for students with print disabilities to fully engage in online learning environments in higher education

The rapid digitalisation of learning has had demonstrable impacts on access to education for students with a print disability. In higher education contexts, learning management systems (LMS) have become the predominant method for distributing content. This conceptual article addresses how students with print disabilities such as vision impairment, blindness, dyslexia, and visual fatigue experience their education through online engagement. Using Redmond et al.’s (2018) online engagement framework for higher education, the authors analyse the cognitive, social, emotional, behavioural, and collaborative needs and expectations of these learners. This article provides a contemporary picture of the barriers students with print disabilities currently encounter and the possibilities for access available through the use of accessible and assistive technologies. Recommendations for equitable access, including a range of actionable strategies, are provided to assist teacher educators, higher education providers, higher education disability support advisors, and LMS designers.

Contextual facilitators for learning activities involving technology in higher education: The C♭-model

We propose a model of contextual facilitators for learning activities involving technology (in short: C♭-model) for both on-site and distance learning environments in higher education. The C♭-model aims at systematizing research on digital teaching and learning and offers a roadmap for future research to understand the complex dynamic of factors that lead to successful digital teaching and learning in higher education via suitable learning activities. First, we introduce students' learning outcomes as central benchmarks of teaching and learning with digital technologies in higher education. Second, we want to focus on a major proximal factor for students' learning outcomes and thus apply a learning activities perspective. Learning activities involving digital technologies reflect cognitive processes of students when using digital technologies and are causally connected with students' learning outcomes. Third, we highlight several contextual facilitators for learning activities involving technology in the C♭-model: learning opportunities that result from higher education teachers' instructional use of technology and students' self-arranged learning opportunities involving digital technologies. Apart from these proximal facilitators, we include more distal factors, namely, higher education teachers' knowledge, skills, and attitudes toward digital technology; higher education teachers' qualification; students' and teachers’ digital technology equipment; and institutional, organizational, and administrative factors.

Asynchronous Collaborative and Interactive Learning Support System

We propose in this paper an educational distance learning support system to provide learning environment in higher education especially it is very important during Covid-19 pandemic. This system provides the collaboration functions among students, in order to make students more active and interactive in learning process based on web technology without any restriction of time and place, and also in order to decrease teachers’ load. In this system students are endorsed to collaborate each other for constructing shared knowledge as much as possible according to their level of knowledge. Students can make discussions or ask some questions collaboratively to acquire more knowledge which cannot be gained through lessons. We describe the concept of this system including its architecture.