Innovative Learning Experiences Research Articles

Learning the Importance of Export Readiness Through Experiential Learning

Experiential learning has become a popular form of teaching in higher education in recent years. This learning modality focuses on giving students stimulating and hands-on experiences that simulate a real-world environment. This paper examines an innovative experiential learning project undertaken by students at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) during the Fall 2021 semester. The students worked closely with the owner of an entrepreneurial firm to evaluate the export readiness of one its products. By the end of the project, students were able to apply the concepts learned in the classroom to real-world situations. This paper discusses the outcome of the project as well as the benefits of experiential learning for both students and faculty.

Experiential Learning for Prelicensure Nursing Students: A Pediatric Special Needs Respite Program.

A respite program at a southeastern university was developed to provide respite services to local families of children with special needs and to integrate a hands-on clinical experience for nursing students. To assess the nursing students' perceptions of participating in the respite program experience, a survey was administered to prelicensure nursing students. Analysis of survey data revealed all participants were satisfied with the respite experience, perceived they will be able to apply knowledge obtained, and acknowledged opportunities to enhance soft skills. Survey results can be used to affirm positive student perceptions associated with a respite clinical learning experience. Valuable data describing experiences of undergraduate nursing students who participated in the respite program was obtained. This innovative learning experience meets a community need for children with special needs while providing experiential learning with diverse populations. [J Nurs Educ. 2023;62(3):180-182.].

Design Thinking Approach for Increasing Innovative Action in Universities: ICT’s Mediating Effect

Introduction: The spread of the COVID-19 virus and the supremacy of digital technologies have amplified global market volatility in all industries. This circumstance will have a lasting impact on students’ employability, so the education sector, particularly universities, should refocus its learning objectives. Design thinking (DT) is a collaborative and resourceful approach to problem-solving in which the demands of end-users and content creators take precedence. Objectives: In this study, the author seeks to comprehend how design thinking procedures in higher learning institutions inspire innovative behavior among undergraduate students. In light of the extensive literature regarding the adoption of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in terms of innovative actions, this study integrates two theoretical foundations (i.e., activity theory to mediate the nature of human activity and how its internalization affects mental development) and constructive learning theory to enhance students’ innovative action. Methods: The data for this quantitative investigation were acquired using an online survey. A total of 300 questionnaires were delivered to undergraduate university students in the eastern part of Saudi Arabia, of whom 208 responded. SmartPLS was utilized to analyze the data. The methodology proposed in this study aims to cultivate in university undergraduate students the sensibility and techniques of designers that are compatible with technological feasible innovative action. Results: This study addresses technology-assisted education in the context of Saudi Arabia. Students’ innovative learning experiences are characterized by autonomy and are supported by design thinking processes mediated by information and communication technology (ICT). On the basis of the findings of this study, the role of empathy and prototype in the DT process appears to be crucial to innovativeness, whereas the roles of define and ideate are detrimental to innovativeness. It has also been determined that ICT indirectly promotes innovative student behavior. Conclusions: Students valued the incorporation of design thinking and ICT in the creation of inventive action to foster creativity in problem-solving skills throughout the digital acceleration. To evaluate the transferability of these findings, future study might be undertaken in other education sectors, such as schools, vocational institutes, and the industry itself. In addition, future data should be analyzed through in-depth interviews or root cause analysis from the perspective of educators and instructional designers.

The Attending of the Day ("The Pretending"): An Exercise in Autonomy.

Background As regulations governing appropriate resident supervision increase, it has become increasingly difficult to provide residents with the appropriate level of autonomy during their training years. The "Attending of the Day" describes an experiential teaching method that provides a balance between learners' autonomy and appropriate supervision. Methodology Each day one member of the inpatient team is selected as the "Attending of the Day," or "The Pretending." She or he then performs the typical duties of the teaching faculty, from medical decision-making regarding patient care to educating other team members during rounds. "The Pretending" is directly supervised by the clinical faculty. Results Using the grounded theory methodology, we analyzed 935 anonymous evaluations from students and residents over 14 years, leading to the identification of the following three major themes: created an enabling learning environment, provided autonomy, and improved confidence. These results led to the inclusion of the technique as part of the Back to Bedside initiative, which was rated as an essential tool in building confidence and autonomy by 75% of the participants in the 2018 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education's Back to Bedside residents' well-being survey. Recently, the Jacobs School of Medicine launched the Moments of Excellence in Education: Recognition and Inspiration (MEE:RI) program which gives students a way to recognize exemplary moments of teaching they encounter. The "Attending of the Day" method received recognition as a transformative experience in students' medical education. Conclusions The "Attending of the Day" is the first innovative experiential learning technique that allows learners of all levels in both Undergraduate Medical Education (UME) and Graduate Medical Education (GME) to practice and assess autonomy. This innovation suggests that residents and students are looking for opportunities to challenge themselves. "The Pretending" allows them to experience those challenges in an empowering learning environment while they gradually build their confidence on the path to achieving progressive autonomy.

Movies, ethics and accounting: a teaching experience

This research presents an innovative learning experience undertaken in three groups of a financial accounting course at the University of Valencia (Spain). After watching three accounting-related movies, students answered a test based on each movie with questions about the ethical and accounting issues described in them and their satisfaction with the learning technique. Nonparametric tests and a multivariate analysis showed that the students who participated in this experience obtained a higher exam mark than those who did not. Our results evidence a significant effect on the final exam mark for more questions only in one of the movies. Our results are valuable because they show that students engage in this methodological approach, which can be helpful for them to improve their exam performance.

Participatory peer research exploring the experience of learning during Covid-19 for allied health and healthcare science students.

The teaching and learning experience of allied health and healthcare science students has altered because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Limited research has explored the experience on the future healthcare workforce using participatory research design. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of a global pandemic on the clinical and academic experiences of healthcare student using a co-production approach with student peer researchers. A participatory research approach adopting online focus groups facilitated by students trained as peer researchers was adopted. First, second and final year students from occupational therapy, physiotherapy, podiatry, healthcare science, diagnostic radiography and imaging, radiotherapy and oncology, and speech and language therapy were recruited to six focus groups. Data generated through focus groups were analysed thematically using the DEPICT model to support a partnership approach. Twenty-three participants took part in six focus groups. The themes identified were: rapid changes to learning; living alongside Covid-19 and psychological impact. Students preferred blended learning approaches when available, as reduced peer interaction, studying and sleeping in the same space, and technology fatigue decreased motivation. Due to rapid changes in learning and the stress, anxiety and isolation created by the pandemic, managing study, personal life and placement resulted in a gap in confidence in clinical skills development for students. Students took their professional identity seriously, engaged in behaviours to reduce transmission of Covid-19 and employed a range of coping strategies to protect wellbeing. A challenge with the move to online delivery was the absence of informal peer learning and students indicated that moving forward they would value a hybrid approach to delivery. Higher Education should capitalise on innovative learning experiences developed during the pandemic however it is important to research the impact this has on student skill acquisition and learning experience.

'Pamoja Tunaweza': A Collaborative Program Model for Global Health Training & Education.

The past two decades have seen unprecedented student demand for global health education through experiential and engaged learning within institutions of higher education in the United States. This demand created a need for innovative institutional partnerships. Since 2007, faculty from Cornell University's Global Health Program and Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College (KCMUCo) have worked together to design, implement, and evaluate an innovative experiential learning program in global health and development policy. Since its inception, 176 Cornell undergraduates and 188 KCMUCo medical students have successfully engaged in the policy case study collaborative program and course, leading to the development of 75 policy case studies. This long-term partnership between Cornell and KCMUCo has led to an innovative cross-cultural teaching model, funding support, professional presentations for students and faculty, a visiting scholars program at Cornell, and new avenues for research and collaboration. Fifteen years of sustained partnership has required the navigation of several unique and complex challenges, providing the opportunity to reimagine and strengthen this program and partnership. The objective of this article is to share a powerful program model for global health training and education, and discuss the challenges, successes, and lessons learned through this continued collaboration.

The transformation of post pandemic hybrid teaching and learning through experiences of remote digital learning in French business schools

ABSTRACT Since March 2020, French Business Schools have been heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic due to imposed sanitary restrictions. Higher education deployed different online and offline teaching settings to ensure the continuity of students’ learning. Literature proposes hybrid teaching, which combines face-to-face activities with online technology enhanced activities as the way forward for business schools to prepare students for a hybrid business world. Nevertheless, the study identifies cultural constraints that have both built resistance to change from tutors and a consumer-based attitude to learning from students, causing significant pedagogical challenges. This qualitative study reviews the limits of the current approach to hybrid learning and its future direction. The content analysis provides novel insights into hybrid teaching and a unique dimension to knowledge optimisation. A new post-pandemic hybrid teaching and learning conceptual model is proposed that offers students an innovative learning experience within their social context.

Research on Relevant Dimensions of Tourism Experience of Intangible Cultural Heritage Lantern Festival: Integrating Generic Learning Outcomes With the Technology Acceptance Model.

The lantern exhibition at the Lantern Festival is an important traditional festival in Taiwan. Visitors play an important role in the promotion and sustainable development of intangible cultural heritage (ICH). In recent years, the involvement of digital technology in traditional lantern design and shows has contributed to the protection, inheritance, and promotion of ICH, there remains less research on using augmented reality (AR) with ICH tourism. In this study, AR is used for ICH lantern exhibition to discuss the learning experience in lantern tourism and the relationship between technology acceptance and satisfaction from the perspective of visitors, as well as evaluate what AR has on improving visitors’ awareness and learning experience. Then, primary variables of the technology acceptance model (TAM) are combined with generic learning outcomes (GLOs) to integrate ICH, education, and technology to expand TAM, building a new model to study the ICH learning experience. A questionnaire and observation are used. Respondents are visitors participating in the AR lantern exhibition in Taiwan, which is designed by the author. There is a total of 200 questionnaires collected in the end. The result shows that knowledge and understanding (KU), attitudes and values (AV), activity, behavior, and progression (ABP), and enjoyment, inspiration, and creativity (EIC) from GLOs have a positive effect on technology acceptance and actual use (AU). Therefore, visitors are satisfied with innovative and interesting technology learning experiences, enhancing learning interest and results. Besides, the interaction of the AR system improves visitors’ learning motivation, which shows the combination of AR technology with ICH tourism helps improve cultural awareness.

Virtual interprofessional education to support medical laboratory technologists' participation in interprofessional collaborative practice within integrated healthcare models.

Interprofessional collaborative practice is a key requirement for the successful implementation of integrated healthcare models. Current interprofessional education opportunities seldom include medical laboratory technologists who oversee the production of data that informs the diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of patients. Errors in the laboratory process mostly occur in the pre-analytical and post-analytical phases, which both involve the need for collaboration between medical laboratory technologists and other healthcare providers. In this article, we introduce and describe an innovative work-integrated virtual learning experience that provides technologists with the opportunity to fully participate in interprofessional education.

Innovative Behavior, Emotional Competencies, and Experiential Learning

Innovative Behavior, Emotional Competencies, and Experiential Learning

Implementation of virtual reality in construction education: a content-analysis based literature review

In construction education many research initiatives have explored the adoption of innovative and interactive learning experiences for improving the visual, analytical and problem-solving skills of students. Virtual reality (VR), in particular, has been increasingly viewed as a promising way for students to dynamically interact with information, to test concepts in a visual and intuitive manner and, through real-time feedback, to begin to construct their knowledge and spatial skills. However, with the proliferation of consumer market VR devices and headsets, the question of their appropriateness and specific benefits for construction education becomes even more important and educational VR applications still fall short of offering straightforward VR solutions to consistently realize the said benefits. This also reveals a host of conceptual and empirical challenges in how VR for construction education is conceptualized and justified. This study proposes an extensive review of the literature to identify and discuss contextual factors and trends in VR implementation for construction education in relation to three main foundations: (1) educational theoretical foundations, (2) methodological foundations and (3) technological foundations. A content analysis-based approach is adopted to identify and discuss key research themes. Results from the literature review have provided an insight into the current efforts of the implementation of virtual reality into pedagogy. It has provided a timeline of how such implementation has changed throughout the last twenty years. In addition, this study provides a unique perspective of the methodologies deployed in this research topic as well as an overview of the technological configurations adopted for VR use cases in the construction education domain. Based on these achievements, this study aims to pave the way for new research opportunities in the application of VR in construction education.

Implementation of Virtual Reality in Health Professional Higher Education: Protocol for a Scoping Review.

BackgroundThe use of virtual reality in higher education show great potential to promote novel and innovative learning experiences. Until recently, virtual reality has mostly been used in technical higher education, but lately medical education programs have begun using virtual reality. Virtual reality for health professional education improves the knowledge and skills of health professionals compared with traditional or other digital education initiatives. However, the implementation of technology in higher education is slow because of barriers to technology use and innovative and successful practices are not shared. It is, therefore, of great interest to explore how virtual reality is implemented in higher health professional and continuing education.ObjectiveThe aim of this scoping review is to identify studies that reported implementation of virtual reality in higher health professional education, to identify barriers and facilitators for implementation, and to highlight research gaps in this area.MethodsThe scoping review will be conducted according to JBI Evidence Synthesis methodologies. CINAHL, the Academic Search Elite and Education Source electronic databases, and Google Scholar will be searched for studies published between 2017 and 2022. In addition, manual searching of key items, reference tracking, and citation tracking will be performed. Searches for white papers will also be manually conducted. All authors will independently extract data from full-text papers. We will use qualitative content analysis to abstract the findings.ResultsThe literature searches were conducted in January and February 2022. The review is expected to be completed by fall 2022, after which time it will be submitted for publication.ConclusionsWe anticipate that, from the review, we will be able to coordinate recommendations for and present the challenges of virtual reality initiatives in health professional education programs. We will present recommendations for future research.International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)DERR1-10.2196/37222

Pembangunan dan Rekabentuk Pendekatan Pengajaran Hadis Muhajirin-Ansar

Malaysia Higher Education Blueprint 2015-2025 emphasizes on high impact educational practices in teaching and learning to produce future ready graduates with 21st century skills. Therefore, teaching and learning must be creatively designed, collaboratively involve many efforts and they should be structured with immersive and innovative learning experiences. Additionally, the emphasis on innovative teaching has become a priority to the universities and nation. In order to achieve excellence in educational practices, reflective teaching is essential. This article aims to discuss the practice of reflective teaching which assisted lecturers in designing a new teaching approach in two courses; PPPN3333 Hadith I and PPPN3453 Hadith II. The philosophy and basic foundation for the new teaching and learning strategy are derived from the learning experiences of companions of Prophet Muhammad, Gibb’s Reflective Cycle and ASSURE models. The study underlines the requirement for change in teaching and learning based on several factors. They are (a) to attain the course learning objectives, (b) to adapt with new generation’s learning styles, (c) and their backgrounds, (d) to solve the limitations of learning experiences due to the inadequacies of physical and infrastructural facilities, (e) teaching time and schedule, (f) employability; the need for producing graduates with 21st century skills, (g) among Islamic studies graduates who are ready for the current and new challenges. Thus, a new teaching approach is designed that combines three learning strategies which are known as Pencarian Maklumat Terarah (Structured Knowledge Expedition), Pembelajaran Kolaboratif (Collaborative Learning) and Kumpulan Malim (Mentoring). Those learning strategies are applied during classroom teaching and activities for the whole semester. The result indicates that the application of the new approach provides positive changes in students’ cognitive and affective levels. Also it motivates lifelong learning among them. Therefore, this article strongly emphasizes on the practice of reflective teaching so that new teaching approaches can be produced for the aims of education excellence and facing challenges especially teaching during pandemic crisis.

Family and community nursing: The use of an unfolding simulation via zoom

BackgroundIt is often difficult for undergraduate nursing students to have sufficient opportunity to understand the role of the nurse in providing care for clients in the community . This article describes an innovative approach to teaching family and community nursing concepts via simulation. MethodsA unfolding simulation was developed which allowed nursing students to make four virtual visits with a family via Zoom. ResultsStudents developed skills in interviewing, an improved understanding of the use of technology in health care, increased awareness of the impact of values and beliefs on health and illness, and a greater awareness of the role of the nurse in the community. ConclusionsThe use of simulation provided an innovative, safe, and consistent learning experience for students, allowing them to gain a deeper understanding of family and community nursing.

It's the Experience: A Course Redesign to Shift Student Perspectives on Population-Centered Nursing.

An innovative experiential learning activity in an online undergraduate population health nursing course provided an authentic experience that connected course content with abstract concepts and patient situations. To address identified application needs, the design incorporated social determinants of health to enhance realism and applicability and build readiness for nursing practice through the experience.

The Implementation and Evaluation of an Innovative Clinical Immersion Experience for Undergraduate Nursing Students.

The demand for clinical placement sites for nursing students requires the development of alternative clinical settings. This study aimed to evaluate an innovative learning experience for nursing students at the World Scout Jamboree. Nineteen students and four faculty were assigned to base camp medical facilities, providing care for more than 45,000 campers. Student pre- and posttests reported significant increases in cultural awareness, communication skills, and clinical problem-solving ability; students rated interprofessional teamwork highly. Findings reveal promising direction for use of alternative clinical sites to fill the gap in clinical placements while offering unique learning experiences.

Evaluation of the “Positive Parent”, a Spanish web-based program to promote positive parenting in a Personal Learning Environment

Introduction. The increasing use of online parenting resources offers the opportunity to improve the parenting role through Personal Learning Environments (PLEs). However, there is no evidence concerning the effectiveness of the learning process that takes place in a PLE space. Method. We evaluated the “Positive Parent” program through the self-assignment of: (a) 143 Spanish-speaking parents to the program modules, following a fixed learning itinerary based on the experiential methodology (Program Group), and (b) 139 parents to complementary multimedia material, following a self-guided, flexible learning itinerary (Visitor Group). For the first goal, both groups were automatically monitored for their pre-posttest completion of the Positive Parenting Scale, resulting in significant improvements in Family involvement, Affection and recognition for the child, Family communication and stress management, and Shared activities in the Program Group only. For the second goal, the Program Group was automatically monitored for Connection time, Connection duration, and Program duration, as well as level of engagement in Forum participation, Diary use, and Making a commitment. Results. Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) was used to identify patterns of pre-post changes in positive parenting, showing moderate to high improvements in three out of four profiles, that is, for 87.4% of the parents. There was a significant relation between the participants’ decisions in the PLE space and profile membership, with higher engagement in forums, diary use, and making a commitment linked with greater improvements in positive parenting. Discussion and Conclusion. Given the use of spontaneous enrolment and self-assignment of participants to the program and visitor conditions, we cannot rule out the possibility that individual differences in unknown factors (i.e., motivation) may have affected the results for program effectiveness. However, we provide evidence that the significant improvements in all dimensions of positive parenting were limited to the Program Group, as indicated by the significant group x time interactions, despite the Visitor Group’s exposure to equivalent multimedia materials. For the first time, this evaluation reveals some of the relevant implementation conditions related to the effectiveness of PLEs in non-academic settings. The Positive Parent program provides Spanish-speaking parents with an innovative and successful learning experience to enhance positive parenting that may ultimately promote positive child development and family wellbeing.

Challenge-based, interdisciplinary learning for sustainability in doctoral education

PurposeDoctoral candidates possess specialized knowledge that could support sustainability transitions. Doctoral education, however, often focusses on discipline-specific topics and working methods, making it difficult to “see the bigger picture”. This summer school on wood construction gathered doctoral candidates from different fields to explore how solutions to complex sustainability issues could be found by working together across disciplines and by engaging multiple stakeholders. The purpose of this study is to report the pedagogical approaches taken and to understand whether these fostered the candidates’ ability to develop systemic solutions and professional competency.Design/methodology/approachTwenty doctoral candidates from various backgrounds participated in a two-week summer school organized by a consortium of four universities. Interdisciplinary groups worked on real-life challenges using a systemic approach to co-create tangible solutions. To support the creation of socio-technical innovations, stakeholders and experts from different fields were involved. The participants completed two questionnaires during the summer school to help elucidate their learning experiences.FindingsThe doctoral candidates showed strong willingness to cooperate across disciplines, though they found it important to connect this learning experience to their research. The candidates reported that the experience enhanced their ability to work in a multidisciplinary capacity. The experience identified a solid basis for interdisciplinary learning principles that could be replicated.Originality/valueThe summer school focussed on an innovative learning experience based on a systems thinking approach and the development of interdisciplinary capacity in the research-business ecosystem.

Developing Community Co-designed Scenario-Based Training for Police Mental Health Crisis Response: a Relational Policing Approach to De-escalation

Using the current empirical landscape of police responses to people in mental health crisis as a backdrop, this methods paper makes an argument for the central role of collaborative co-design and production by diverse community experts and stakeholders to build transformative specialized training for frontline officers. Subject matter experts (SMEs) from across key domains participated in focus groups and curriculum creation, with outputs being the co-development of a conceptual approach and an innovative experiential learning training program. Part 1 unpacks the team’s conceptual development of a relational policing approach. This humanized method is shaped by procedural justice, trauma-informed, person-centred, and cultural safety frameworks. Part 2 details the co-production of a novel problem-based training method for a police service in Southern Ontario, Canada. The program centres on the acquisition of core competencies related to relational policing, de-escalation, and mental health crisis response. The training was designed to bring learners through a spectrum of authentic crisis scenarios: from observer-participant scenarios informed by Forum Theatre methods and targeted SME feedback to a range of high-fidelity assessment simulations that test officers’ abilities to effectively communicate, de-escalate, and make decisions under stress. This program offers repeated opportunities for officers to practice alternative crisis management strategies in scenarios that might otherwise result in the use of force.