Intensive Learning Experience Research Articles

Embedding Universal Design into Intensive Learning Experiences

This paper reports on the findings of a study investigating a new intensive instructional design approach called the “Cheese Sandwich”. The Cheese Sandwich was used to create the “Effective Learning and Teaching” (EL&T) course at a post 1992 British University. EL&T is an intensive 3-day course for staff new to HE teaching, aligning with the institutional commitment to Universal Design for Learning (UDL). The aim of the study was to uncover the extent to which participants in EL&T encountered an intensive learning experience reflecting the UDL principles. A second aim was to assess the importance of those UDL principles in effectively supporting participant learning. Participants were 30 university staff enrolled in EL&T. The extent to which participants encountered an intensive learning experience reflecting UDL principles, and the extent to which they perceived those principles as effectively supporting their learning was assessed via the UDL perception survey. The survey consists of two main dimensions; 1) the extent to which respondents experienced learning and teaching practices reflective of UDL on their course and; 2) the extent to which respondents perceive those practices to be effective in supporting their learning. Each dimension consists of 36 items adapted from the UDL “checkpoints”. Responses to each dimension are made on a five-point Likert scale (1 – 5). Of the 36 items in Dimension 2, 29 received a mean score ≥3.5, meaning they were considered “very” or “extremely” effective for learning. For each of the 29 items considered “very” or “extremely” effective, participant perception was that they occurred “often” or “always” in EL&T. The Cheese Sandwich appears to be an effective intensive instructional design tool, enabling the embedding of UDL into intensive learning experiences, with demonstrable perceived benefits for learning.

Equality, diversity and inclusion: learning from laying our cards on the table

This article presents preliminary findings from a study designed to evaluate, develop and disseminate a cards resource developed to support dialogue and learning about EDI. Experience of creating cards to explore disciplinary thinking at the Universities of Hertfordshire (UH) and East Anglia (UEA) (Jarvis and Clark, 2020) was instrumental in the design. The resource is based on the concept of using ‘serious play’, a ‘special kind of intense learning experience’ (Rieber et al., 1998, p.30, 29, original emphasis) to support reflective, inclusive and transformational learning (Peabody and Noyes, 2017). Staff and students at UH and UEA who facilitate and attend sessions at which the cards are used are contributing to the research. Before sessions, facilitators are briefed about the guidance, the cards, and possible exercises for using them. At the end of sessions, facilitators and participants are invited to take part in a reflection activity. Facilitators are asked about the context, the activity, observations of participant response to the cards, their learning, the facilitator’s learning, and plans for future EDI activities. Participants are questioned about the role of the cards in their learning and thinking, what was learnt, and how this will impact their interaction with others. Preliminary findings indicate how participants are thinking about their working contexts, in particular how they initiate conversations around their personal lives, and share stories relating to equality, diversity and inclusivity, in order to make abstract terms more vivid. This study responds to a need to develop research-informed resources to use to encourage respectful, inclusive dialogue to address EDI topics with staff and students in higher education. Drawing on the preliminary findings shared here, new terms are being added to the current card set together with a blank card to allow users to generate their own cards; and a new resource comprising EDI stories is being considered.

Envisioning Architecture of Metaverse Intensive Learning Experience (MiLEx): Career Readiness in the 21st Century and Collective Intelligence Development Scenario

Th metaverse presents a new opportunity to construct personalized learning paths and to promote practices that scale the development of future skills and collective intelligence. The attitudes, knowledge and skills that are necessary to face the challenges of the 21st century should be developed through iterative cycles of continuous learning, where learners are enabled to experience, reflect, and produce new ideas while participating in a collective creativity process. In this paper, we propose an architecture to develop a metaverse-intensive learning experience (MiLEx) platform with an illustrative scenario that reinforces the development of 21st century career practices and collective intelligence. The learning ecosystem of MiLEx integrates four key elements: (1) key players that define the main actors and their roles in the learning process; (2) a learning context that defines the learning space and the networks of expected interactions among human and non-human objects; (3) experiential learning instances that deliver education via a real-life–virtual merge; and (4) technology support for building practice communities online, developing experiential cycles and transforming knowledge between human and non-human objects within the community. The proposed MiLEx architecture incorporates sets of technological and data components to (1) discover/profile learners and design learner-centric, theoretically grounded and immersive learning experiences; (2) create elements and experiential learning scenarios; (3) analyze learner’s interactive and behavioral patterns; (4) support the emergence of collective intelligence; (5) assess learning outcomes and monitor the learner’s maturity process; and (6) evaluate experienced learning and recommend future experiences. We also present the MiLEx continuum as a cyclic flow of information to promote immersive learning. Finally, we discuss some open issues to increase the learning value and propose some future work suggestions to further shape the transformative potential of metaverse-based learning environments.

Workforce Challenges in Long-Term Care Pick Up Speed

Workforce Challenges in Long-Term Care Pick Up Speed

The role of self-regulation and perceived self-efficacy in adaptation to home-office work during the pandemic

Abstract As a consequence of the unprecedented labor market circumstances that the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic brought about, organizations have faced challenges never seen before. One such challenge was the sudden ubiquity of working from home, which resulted in an intensive learning experience for employees and employers alike. While there is an increasing body of research on working from home in general, the perceived effectiveness of this mode of working is still under-researched. This niche provided the inspiration for us to investigate what factors might influence employees' self-efficacy in working from home arrangements. We conducted a mixed-methods case study by collecting both qualitative and quantitative data from 24 employees of a division of the Hungarian subsidiary of a chemical and consumer goods multinational. The purpose of our investigation was to gain a deeper understanding of perceived self-efficacy and self-regulation during the learning processes that the participants experienced under the new circumstances. Results suggest that the perceived high level of work-efficiency among the employees of the examined division was based on the firmly controlled work-division, trusting managers, as well as supportive and clear communication, which created space for autonomy in the adaptation process. The findings also revealed that self-reflection acted as a predictor of perceived work self-efficacy.

Through the teacher’s lens: Evaluation of the project-based curricula of Philippine and Japanese science high schools

Specialized science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) high schools provide intensive learning experiences for advanced learners. At the core of these STEM schools is a project-based (research) curriculum that aims to foster research culture among learners, creating critical thinkers and problem-solvers, preparing them to be globally competitive STEM professionals in the future. The Philippine STEM junior high schools system and Japan’s Super Science High (SSH) are amongst implementers of the project-based (research) curricula. Hence, this paper sought to conduct a critical review of these project-based curricula through quantitative analysis of Filipino and Japanese teachers’ perceptions of its effectiveness along the four dimensions of Tyler’s Objective-centered Model for curricular evaluation. Findings show similarities and significant differences in the perception of the project-based curricula' effectiveness between Filipino and Japanese teachers along the four dimensions of Tyler’s Objective-centered Model: (1) learning objectives; (2) learning experiences; (3) organization of learning experiences; and (4) evaluation methods.

Intensive Learning Experience: Development of STEM Mentorship Program for High School Gifted Students

Positive mentoring experiences for high school students with high academic ability who want more in-depth academic knowledge and real job expectations can contribute to individualized career guidance within the mentor’s profession. This study examined a governor’s school program that is designed as a residential mentorship program for high school students with high academic performance in the areas of engineering and marine science. Evaluation from mentors, mentees, and parents was collected after completing the program. Throughout the evaluations, we learned four lessons to develop a successful mentorship program. Setting goals and expectations, building effective communication, developing the right human resources and training, and building a developmental relationship were important elements to be considered for the development of the mentorship program.

Enhancing fieldwork learning experiences for the architectural conservation curriculum

PurposeFieldwork in architectural conservation education is a proven practice to develop skills in documenting current conditions and start methodological engagements with a site's architectural and historical values. It is a vehicle to generate intensive learning experiences in comprehensive degrees or short courses. Review of the practice within conservation education is not extensive and the purpose of this paper is to reflect on enhancing pedagogy further.Design/methodology/approachThis reflection was triggered by a major case study, a workshop to generate UG teaching capacity for an Architecture school in Colombia. This led to mapping the fieldwork spectrum, reviewing the authors' experiences (PG courses and external workshops) and activities planned in other MSc programmes. Fieldwork is often seen as skills training, so enhancement is explored through the affiliate geography and architecture UG curricula.FindingsThe Colombia workshop provoked strong engagement among students and tutors, and their commitment to make heritage meaningful to their projects is a measure of this pedagogy's success. Fieldwork around a site's essence, beyond skills development can induce conservation students into critical enquiries by motivating them to develop personalised contexts and enhance engagement with the unexpected through inversion of linear learning processes. Setting up site exercises early on PG programmes can encourage curiosity in exploring historic environments and contextualise surveying methods.Research limitations/implicationsStudent reaction to these ideas has still to be tested by designing new activities. The educational methods of this implementation need deeper analysis, beyond the paper's scope.Originality/valueThe paper maps the academic value of fieldwork in conservation education, investigating enhancement and cross-fertilisation from architecture and geography.

Parents’ Experiences With a Model of Integrated Maternity and Neonatal Care Designed to Empower Parents

ObjectiveTo explore the experiences of parents with an integrated maternity and neonatal ward designed to empower parents by providing family-integrated care (FICare) to mother–newborn couplets in single-family rooms. DesignA qualitative analysis with a contextual constructivist approach. SettingAn integrated maternity and neonatal level 2 ward designed to empower parents in a teaching hospital in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Maternity and neonatal care, up to and including highly complex care, is provided to mother–newborn couplets in single-family rooms according to the principles of FICare. ParticipantsTwenty-seven mothers and nine fathers of newborns who were hospitalized for at least 7 days. MethodsWe held four focus group discussions and eight semistructured interviews 1 to 3 months after discharge of the newborn to explore which experiences (mechanisms) facilitated or impeded aspects of parent empowerment (outcomes) under which specific conditions of the integrated infrastructure (contexts). We used the realist evaluation model to analyze the data. ResultsOur analysis revealed five themes of parent empowerment (outcomes): Feeling Respected, Gaining Self-Management Tools, Insights Into the Newborn’s Condition, Perceived Control, and Self-Efficacy. For each theme, participants reported facilitating and impeding experiences (mechanisms) that were initiated and influenced by the combination of single-family rooms, couplet care, rooming-in, and FICare (contexts). Unrestricted physical proximity to their newborns, 24 hours per day, in a safe private environment offered parents intensive learning experiences through active participation in care. It helped them to achieve independent parenthood at the time of discharge, but it also generated challenges such as power conflicts with the staff; prioritizing care for themselves, siblings, or the newborn; feelings of isolation; and lack of sleep. ConclusionProviding FICare to mother–newborn couplets in single-family rooms offers parents an intensive learning context for independent parenthood at the time of discharge. Health care professionals should be aware of the challenges and facilitators experienced by parents in the context of close physical proximity to their newborns 24 hours per day in single-family rooms. This awareness will allow them to better support parents in their empowerment process toward independent parenthood at the time of discharge.

Foundation Leaps Over Barriers to Boost Practitioners Moving Forward

Foundation Leaps Over Barriers to Boost Practitioners Moving Forward

Factors influencing ESL students’ selection of intensive English programs in the Western United States

Intensive English programs (IEPs) help speakers of other languages gain necessary language, cultural, and educational skills to succeed in an English‐speaking environment (Hamrick, 2012; Toner, 2017). Whereas previous research investigated factors influencing student choice of IEPs in the southeastern United States (Williams, 1994) and in California (Jones, 2013), this is the first study to identify factors influencing choice of IEPs by students of English as a second language located in the wider western United States. Results indicate that participants highly valued a program that was well respected, provided an intense learning experience, and had excellent teachers. Location factors of greatest importance were the safety of the school and community, and the good reputation of the city where the program is located. The most important student services were academic or personal counseling, immigration services, and out‐of‐class activities. The marketing factors rated highest were the program’s website, referrals from former students, and the ability to communicate online with the school. Social media appeared to be of minimal to moderate importance in influencing students’ decisions. Implications of these findings are discussed for program directors of IEPs and teachers seeking to attract new students and grow their programs.

Covid-19 and rapid adoption and improvisation of online teaching: curating resources for extensive versus intensive online learning experiences

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic closed university campuses forcing rapid improvisation and adoption of online teaching. This paper explores the experience of converting three modules from proximate to online learning delivery in March and May 2020. This process was facilitated by reflective practice to support a process of improvisation as a buffering response to the pandemic. This paper distinguishes between the development of Distance Learning programmes compared to rapid adoption of online learning. Shifting to complete online teaching involves a process by which the lecturer’s role transitions towards the curation of online and offline student experiences. This includes facilitating and blending extensive and intensive online learning experiences. Extensive involves the selection and curation of online learning support bundles. This requires the creation of learning roadmaps to facilitate student learning. Intensive revolves around online engagement between academics and students and takes two forms: shallow as involving a limited dialogue with students and deep which involves a co-creation process between students and lecturers. Online learning provides opportunities to adapt learning experiences in real-time. The paper evaluates the shift to online practice from the students’ and academics’ perspectives.

Customizing Case-Based Learning (CBL) Sessions with Limited Resources and Analysis of their Perceived Effectiveness by the Conducting Facilitators

Introduction: Intense resource involvement invites educationists to think of innovative methods for the continuation of CBL sessions while remaining within the restricted budget. The current study was planned to develop CBL sessions for second-year MBBS class during the endocrine module utilizing minimal resources and to determine the effectiveness of customized CBL methods by qualitatively analyzing experiences of the involved faculty.
 Methods: This study was conducted at Foundation University, Islamabad in six months after ethical approval. In the first phase, resource limitations like time slots, well-equipped rooms, and trained faculty were identified. CBL method was adapted and modified from the Maastricht PBL ‘Seven Jump’ process. 7 CBL sessions were conducted as per the devised method. Semi-structured interviews of 9 CBL facilitators were recorded, transcribed, validated, and analyzed in the second phase.
 Results: All facilitators believed that these sessions provided a productive, focused, intense yet enjoyable learning experience. 4 considered that large groups hindered adequate student participation, while 2 out of 9 themselves felt nervous due to large class sizes. Recap by the senior faculty member was suggested.
 Conclusion: Modified CBL sessions were perceived by facilitators as an enjoyable and intense learning opportunity for both students and themselves, despite being conducted in a large group utilizing minimal resources.

2020 Annual Meeting Course Section: Why a Course?

Back to table of contents Next article APA & MeetingsFull Access2020 Annual Meeting Course Section: Why a Course?Catherine Crone, M.D.Catherine CroneSearch for more papers by this author, M.D.Published Online:10 Jan 2020https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2020.1b50AbstractWant an option for an intensive learning experience? Don’t want to fight the crowds when you head to a popular talk by a national or international expert? Want a chance to ask more than one brief question at the end of one of the many general sessions? Want an opportunity to talk to an expert, learn a new skill, or sharpen your current skills with the latest information? If you answer “yes” to any of these questions, then consider taking a course at APA’s Annual Meeting! These are four-hour, in-depth offerings on a wide variety of subjects including psychotherapy, cannabis, neuropsychiatry, global mental health, technology, forensic psychiatry, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and public speaking.Want something more? Try a master course, an eight-hour intensive learning experience that will hone your skills in areas such as psychopharmacology, motivation interviewing, suicide assessment, management of first-episode psychosis, and office-based buprenorphine treatment. Each of these includes receipt of an APPI-published book on the course’s topic by the experts teaching the master courses.Due to their popularity, courses fill fast, so don’t delay. Register for the Annual Meeting today and be sure to get a seat in your first-choice courses. ■Download the 2020 Annual Meeting Course Guide.Catherine Crone, M.D., is the vice chair in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Inova Fairfax Hospital. She is also a member of the Scientific Program Committee. ISSUES NewArchived

Tracking Veterinary Students Who Aspire to Careers in Science.

The Cornell Leadership Program for Veterinary Students is an intensive 10-week learning experience intended to guide competitively selected scholars into careers in science and public health. It features independent research, vocational counseling, and student-directed learning modules. Program scholars are encouraged to objectively evaluate graduate training as preparation for careers promoted by the program. Prominence is given to experiential learning through research, participation in program enrichment modules, and inspirational experiences achieved through group meetings and individual interactions with established scientists. Program alumni are monitored to determine how the careers they pursue relate to their earlier-stated ambitions. In addition, subjective assessments are made of the quality of graduate training and its impact on alumni career paths. The influence of mentors, vocational counseling, and inspirational experiences on subsequent training is also subjectively assessed. Information is obtained from students' anonymous responses to questionnaires and recorded interviews. Program alumni are contacted annually to determine their current activities and career aspirations. The Leadership Program encourages program graduates to undertake careers in science and public health, yet an unanticipated number of alumni enter private veterinary practice. A factor relevant to that outcome is that many students destined for practice lack a definitive career plan. Persuading veterinary students to consider careers in research or public service is challenging but worth the effort. Critical to that connection is the need for veterinary students to objectively evaluate graduate training options because the vocations they follow appear to be strongly influenced by the experiences they choose.

AB069. 191. Establishing a surgical basecamp for undergraduates commencing clinical surgery module

Background: New models of undergraduate teaching are needed alongside advances in surgery. Boot camps are in-training postgraduate courses combining simulation-based practice with other educational methods to enhance learning and preparation for individuals entering new clinical roles. We piloted and introduced a 1-day intensive learning experience (“surgical basecamp”) to ease the transition of medical students commencing our clinical surgery module to maximise their subsequent learning opportunity, ease the transition and engage staff/student relationship.

Using a real case scenario in teaching social work with children and families in different practice settings

ABSTRACTTransforming classroom knowledge into practice competency is particularly challenging in social work with children and families. It involves complex, competitive practice approaches and different service settings with procedures and norms influencing a child’s wellbeing. The paper presents the content, application, and evaluation of a module based on a case scenario which considers the limitations and achievements of social work with children and families in different settings. A mixed-method approach was applied to this review process. Students were given an evaluative questionnaire based on the theoretical framework of experiential learning whereupon they wrote reflective essays describing their learning experience. Case method contributes to the acquisition of reflective, integrative, and stimulating knowledge. The participation level contributes to the students’ satisfaction during such learning. Students have learned that families with multiple and complex needs require a holistic approach that separate systems and services cannot provide. This way of learning, with certain limitations, allows activation and an intensive learning experience for large groups of students relevant for a number of social work schools.

Active Learning and Teaching through Digital Technology and Live Performance: ‘Choreographic Thinking’ as Art Practice in the Tertiary Sector

AbstractThis article is an interdisciplinary reflective response to an intensive studio learning and teaching experience involving artists, academics and postgraduate students. The authors of this article teach, research and practise in coding, digital design, dance, and virtual and live performance. As lecturers and students we reflect upon and propose future approaches to art practice in tertiary education informed by live performance, performance capture and studio‐based responses to digital and virtual platforms. We reflect on an innovative contribution to the field of research–teaching nexus as informed by digital and virtual data capture identifying the key element of immediacy in live performance and choreographic improvisation with systems. We reflect on practice‐based inquiry via the Choreographic Coding Lab (CCL) model – a dialogical negotiation between capture technology and interdisciplinary artists in industry and academia. How can we encourage potential studio inquiry as an adapted model in tertiary learning and teaching? Our interdisciplinary voices, presented as authors’ reflections, provide suggestions for future studio‐based, active learning contexts.

Rapid and widespread white matter plasticity during an intensive reading intervention

White matter tissue properties are known to correlate with performance across domains ranging from reading to math, to executive function. Here, we use a longitudinal intervention design to examine experience-dependent growth in reading skills and white matter in grade school-aged, struggling readers. Diffusion MRI data were collected at regular intervals during an 8-week, intensive reading intervention. These measurements reveal large-scale changes throughout a collection of white matter tracts, in concert with growth in reading skill. Additionally, we identify tracts whose properties predict reading skill but remain fixed throughout the intervention, suggesting that some anatomical properties stably predict the ease with which a child learns to read, while others dynamically reflect the effects of experience. These results underscore the importance of considering recent experience when interpreting cross-sectional anatomy–behavior correlations. Widespread changes throughout the white matter may be a hallmark of rapid plasticity associated with an intensive learning experience.

Preparing future-ready graduates through experiential entrepreneurship

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose an experiential entrepreneurship work-integrated learning (EE WIL) model recognising that the development of an entrepreneurial mindset enables graduates to manage their careers in uncertain labour markets. The model shows how students develop relationships with their professional community, and not only a few employers.Design/methodology/approachThe pedagogical underpinning of the conceptual model, attributes associated with the entrepreneurial mindset and relationships between the student, professional community and university are explained, and illustrated through a case study at the University of the Sunshine Coast.FindingsThe EE WIL model enables students to develop agency through structured engagement with a professional community, facilitating the development of bridging social capital. Bonding social capital can be developed through intense, sustained interaction between students and their professional community.Practical implicationsWIL curricula should be scaffolded and directed towards developing sustained interaction and information sharing, underpinned by professional community norms. This approach enables students to develop an aligned professional identity and emotional attachment to the professional community. The experiential development of an entrepreneurial mindset enables students to solve career challenges, by viewing these as opportunities. Professional communities and universities both share the responsibilities of preparing the future graduate workforce.Originality/valueThe conceptual model draws on effectual entrepreneurship pedagogy and contributes to the WIL literature, showing that an entrepreneurial mindset can be cultivated experientially through an intensive, emotional and authentic learning experience.