Learning Environments In Higher Education Research Articles

Player profiles for game‐based applications in engineering education

AbstractThe use of digital learning environments in higher education has led to design methodological strategies, like gamification, adapted to computer‐based learning. The effectiveness of gamification depends on the adaptation of the methodology to the player's profile. Four types of player profiles (Explorer, Killer, Socialized, and Achiever) are established according to the Bartle classification. In this article, quantitative research is carried out on the player profile and the one considered best for learning engineering professors. Sociological and academic aspects that influence player profile choices are also identified. A descriptive and inferential analysis of the answers given by a population of 532 engineering professors —who attended a training course on gamification in digital environments—to a survey designed by the authors was carried out. The results reveal that most engineering professors are Explorers and this is also the player profile considered best for learning, although there is a gap between the own player profile and the choice of the most effective one. The player profile shown here to be the most frequent among engineering professors differs from that attributed to students in the literature, which is Achiever. Gaps by gender, age, teaching experience, and university tenure are also identified. Universities are recommended to strengthen professor training to design personalized game‐based computing environments and to cater to differences due to several sociological and academic aspects.

Impact of entrepreneurial curriculum on entrepreneurial competencies among students: The mediating role of the campus learning environment in higher education.

This study explored the direct and indirect influences of the entrepreneurial curriculum on entrepreneurial competencies, using the campus learning environment as a mediator. In this study, a survey questionnaire composed of 48 items was used to collect data on the entrepreneurial curriculum, entrepreneurial competencies, and campus learning environment from pre-service vocational teachers enrolled in six universities located in Hunan Province, China. The entrepreneurial curriculum has four components, namely, curriculum content, curriculum material, teaching strategies, and feedback and assessment. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used through SmartPLS 3.3.3 to measure the effects. The curriculum content has a direct, significant, and positive influence on entrepreneurial competencies. For the indirect influence, all four dimensions of the entrepreneurial curriculum influenced the campus learning environment, which, in turn, was positively associated with entrepreneurial competencies. The campus learning environment was therefore revealed to play a mediating role between the entrepreneurial curriculum and entrepreneurial competencies. The study explored that effective entrepreneurial curriculum delivery and campus learning environment are helpful for developing entrepreneurial competencies among the pre-service vocational teachers. Universities should take initiatives to update the entrepreneurial curriculum and create a conducive campus learning environment that brings a positive change to develop entrepreneurial competencies among their students. Moreover, practical implications and future research directions are also discussed in this article.

The Effects Of An Online Service-learning Program On Kinesiology Students' Self-efficacy

BACKGROUND: Self-Efficacy (SE) is essential to take on difficult activities in life. SE is often developed when people set personalized objectives based on their abilities or knowledge, the effort to attain the goals despite the challenges, or how they learned from their failures. Academic programs in higher education provide various pedagogical approaches for students to improve SE through lectures, laboratories, internship, and experimental learning. Service-learning (SL) has been used as a form of experimental learning to develop a great sense of interpersonal and intellectual competence in students. During COVID-19 pandemic, most of face-to-face SL programs on college campuses were transitioned to virtual platform. PURPOSE: To examine self-efficacy in Kinesiology major students during 10-week virtual service-learning program. METHODS: A total of 50 Kinesiology undergraduate students participated in this intervention study. Subgroups were created based on their experience in working with individuals with disabilities (29 with experience and 21 without experience). Participants in this study planned and lead the exercise session for community members with disability using videoconference platform for 50 minutes, twice a week for 10 weeks. The General Self-Efficacy Scale (Sherer & Adams, 1982) questionnaire was administered before and after the SL program. RESULTS: A paired t-test revealed no significant difference in showed no significant difference between two groups. In addition, subgroups analysis showed no group x time interaction between the two subgroups over 10-week intervention. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from the current study demonstrated that the virtual SL platform did not affect self-efficacy in Kinesiology students over the 10 weeks. This study was conducted in the middle of COVID-19 pandemic when the traditional face-to-face educational institutions temporarily enforced a sudden transition to virtual platform. Both professors and students are still adapting and readjusting in the midst of semesters. Many students may have encountered a variety of difficulties while participating in non-traditional learning environments. Further research is needed to fully understand the SE through SL, and impact of virtual learning environment in higher education.

Analyzing the Influence of Belbin’s Roles on the Quality of Collaborative Learning for the Study of Business Fundamentals

This work uses Belbin’s balanced group theory to analyze whether the formation of teams improved the performance of 21 groups formed by the 149 students of an Introduction to Business class in a collaborative learning environment in Higher Education. The analysis is based on a comparison of two types of groups: balanced groups (according to Belbin’s role theory) and those that are not so balanced. The analysis techniques used to determine any significant differences in student grade scores were the student average comparison and the Chi homogeneity tests. The relevance of the different roles that students can acquire when forming work groups was derived from multiple regression in the exams and practices punctuations, and the relevance of each student role was determined by discriminant analysis. The results indicate that balanced groups facilitate greater homogeneity in group grades, improving the performance of the group overall.

The Sustainability of a Community of Inquiry in Online Course Satisfaction in Virtual Learning Environments in Higher Education

Teaching and learning online is quite challenging. Both require an additional capacity and effort to withstand ongoing engagement in a virtual learning environment. Nonetheless, there have been cases of dissatisfaction with virtual learning environments due to the lack of engagement and poor interaction between the instructor, students, and content, which may affect how students learn online. This study presents a cross-sectional survey that was designed to re-examine the theoretical model of the Community of Inquiry (CoI), and to examine the structure of course satisfaction using SmartPLS 3.3.8 for multivariate statistical analysis. The CoI and the course satisfaction instruments were adapted in this study. The reflections of the CoI are then assumed to form type II second-order constructs to determine their effect on student satisfaction with the course. The findings revealed that teaching, social, and cognitive presence in the CoI have a significant influence on students’ satisfaction with the courses that they are enrolled in. These results provide a direction for further research on the CoI in online learning by extending a framework that incorporates online learners as one of the essential stakeholders in education. Therefore, the results presented here are only applicable to certain courses, and it would be meaningful to investigate academic achievement and motivation, and to compare them between specific courses or subjects to find out which courses have lower or higher levels of presence.

Pedagogies of belonging in an anxious world: A collaborative autoethnography of four practitioners

The concept of belonging has found prominence in higher education learning environments, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have an unprecedented impact on educational provision. In times of disruption, alienation and isolation, the most basic of our psychological and physiological needs have come to be almost universally recognised as critical factors that must be considered and examined. Experiencing belonging is integral to human existence, and knowing where, with whom, and how we belong, is a salient driver for learning and self-actualisation. We recognise there are a number of ways to frame and approach the idea of belonging in the educational experience. We also recognise that there are multiple understandings of what belonging means and therefore how it is enacted within the curricula and the “classroom” in its varying forms - physical, online, digital, work-based. This Editorial takes a critical perspective to our own intellectual standpoint in relation to pedagogies of belonging. As co-editors, we have outlined our respective conceptions and experiences of belonging as a collaborative autoethnography, capturing our individual views of pedagogies of belonging in a collaborative context. Our collaboration has allowed us to situate ourselves both theoretically and practically, as well as ontologically, and advance our understanding of practices that promote student belonging in all its possible forms within the higher education experience. We suggest that the possibilities for belonging offered by interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches are ripe for inquiry, and the place of non-traditional, Indigenous, iterative and emergent methodologies to examine belonging requires further exploration.

Students’ Perceptions of Active Learning Classrooms from an Informal Learning Perspective: Building a Full-Time Sustainable Learning Environment in Higher Education

Under the influence of education for sustainable development, active learning classrooms, as the new learning environment in higher education, have become increasingly diversified and flexible, with a greater emphasis on student experience and engagement. Most research on these learning environments is centered on formal learning analysis and discussion, whereas empirical research on the perception of informal learning in active learning classrooms outside of class time is lacking. Based on informal learning perceptions, this study explored the strengths and weaknesses of active learning classroom spatial environments using a mixed quantitative and qualitative research approach. Through a questionnaire survey of 154 students and one-on-one semi-structured interviews with 15 students, this study found that most students were satisfied with the informal learning experience in active learning classrooms, comfortable and flexible space perception and humanized learning support facilities in active learning classrooms were critical spatial factors influencing students’ informal learning, the private environment and positive learning atmosphere in active learning classrooms could promote students’ informal learning behaviors, and for active learning classrooms, better resource management could help them develop a better quality full-time learning environment. Based on these findings, this study makes recommendations for optimizing the environment design and management of active learning classrooms.

Teacher–Student Interaction, Student–Student Interaction and Social Presence: Their Impacts on Learning Engagement in Online Learning Environments

Online learning has become an essential part of acquiring academic and professional qualifications in higher education. Online learning recently gained attention as an effective instructional approach to enhance learning engagement, causing many universities to implement it. To promote learning engagement in online learning environments in higher education, this study collected data from 354 full-time undergraduate students in a large public Chinese university and examined the effects of teacher–student interaction, student–student interaction, and social presence on learning engagement. The research findings indicated that teacher–student and student–student interaction directly affected social presence and learning engagement in online environments. And social presence also directly affected learning engagement. Meanwhile, social presence also mediated the relationship between teacher–student interaction and learning engagement and student–student interaction and learning engagement. This study confirmed the significant effects of teacher–student interaction, student–student and social presence on students’ learning engagement in online environments. The findings of this study have significant practical implications for teaching practices.

Developing reflection and critical thinking in a leadership education course: leading learning and change

ABSTRACT In higher education learning environments, critical thinking is often an assumed skill; however, many students require explicit support to effectively achieve in this area. This research focuses on the application of scaffolded learning experiences to promote reflection and critical thinking in a post-graduate educational leadership course. It particularly recognises the unique challenges for international students, managing their transition into a culturally different learning environment while meeting the academic and critical thinking demands of higher education. This research draws on two main data sources: student survey responses regarding reflections on the concept of leadership and researcher reflections on student engagement and critical thinking. Descriptive analysis provided profiles of the student cohort and their views on leadership. Three themes emerged from the analysis of open-ended responses regarding views on leadership: diverse understandings of leadership; the importance of leadership actions for change; and evaluating leadership – self and others. Reflections from one researcher on the conduct of the course and student work provided a link between the initial design and student outcomes. Two levels of positive outcomes were found. Firstly, a greater level of early engagement in course learning activities was observed which continued across the course. Secondly, students’ learning and achievement were greater than a previous cohort implying the benefits of early modelling of reflective practices to scaffold students’ critical thinking. Importantly, stronger tutorial engagement supporting critical reflections is likely to translate to other post-graduate studies. Recommendations for further research on students’ engagement and critical thinking are proposed.

Usability Methods and Attributes Reported in Usability Studies of Mobile Apps for Health Care Education: Scoping Review.

BackgroundMobile devices can provide extendable learning environments in higher education and motivate students to engage in adaptive and collaborative learning. Developers must design mobile apps that are practical, effective, and easy to use, and usability testing is essential for understanding how mobile apps meet users’ needs. No previous reviews have investigated the usability of mobile apps developed for health care education.ObjectiveThe aim of this scoping review is to identify usability methods and attributes in usability studies of mobile apps for health care education.MethodsA comprehensive search was carried out in 10 databases, reference lists, and gray literature. Studies were included if they dealt with health care students and usability of mobile apps for learning. Frequencies and percentages were used to present the nominal data, together with tables and graphical illustrations. Examples include a figure of the study selection process, an illustration of the frequency of inquiry usability evaluation and data collection methods, and an overview of the distribution of the identified usability attributes. We followed the Arksey and O’Malley framework for scoping reviews.ResultsOur scoping review collated 88 articles involving 98 studies, mainly related to medical and nursing students. The studies were conducted from 22 countries and were published between 2008 and 2021. Field testing was the main usability experiment used, and the usability evaluation methods were either inquiry-based or based on user testing. Inquiry methods were predominantly used: 1-group design (46/98, 47%), control group design (12/98, 12%), randomized controlled trials (12/98, 12%), mixed methods (12/98, 12%), and qualitative methods (11/98, 11%). User testing methods applied were all think aloud (5/98, 5%). A total of 17 usability attributes were identified; of these, satisfaction, usefulness, ease of use, learning performance, and learnability were reported most frequently. The most frequently used data collection method was questionnaires (83/98, 85%), but only 19% (19/98) of studies used a psychometrically tested usability questionnaire. Other data collection methods included focus group interviews, knowledge and task performance testing, and user data collected from apps, interviews, written qualitative reflections, and observations. Most of the included studies used more than one data collection method.ConclusionsExperimental designs were the most commonly used methods for evaluating usability, and most studies used field testing. Questionnaires were frequently used for data collection, although few studies used psychometrically tested questionnaires. The usability attributes identified most often were satisfaction, usefulness, and ease of use. The results indicate that combining different usability evaluation methods, incorporating both subjective and objective usability measures, and specifying which usability attributes to test seem advantageous. The results can support the planning and conduct of future usability studies for the advancement of mobile learning apps in health care education.International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)RR2-10.2196/19072

Analysis of student attitudes towards cooperative learning in a collectivist culture: a case of South Korea

PurposeThis study concentrates on South Korean university students' attitude towards cooperative learning by utilizing the “Student Attitudes toward Group Environments” survey (n = 427–181 female and 246 male) originally developed by Kouros and Abrami (2006).Design/methodology/approachThe purpose of this study is to unfold what factors affect the cooperative learning environment in the Higher Education context of South Korea, which is known as a collectivist society, and conduct comparative analysis on gender, department type, GPA level and school year as variables in the perception of cooperative learning. The factor analysis findings demonstrated that there are four factors influencing students' attitude about cooperative learning environments in South Korean higher education; “frustrations with group members”, “peer support”, “fairness” and “quality of product and process”. Moreover, the gender, type of department, school year and GPA variables were yielded statistically differentiating results.FindingsThe overall results showed that effective cooperative learning strategies depend on the type of culture and other demographic variables including learner's gender, department type and school year. In South Korea, known to have a collectivist culture, fairness has appeared as a new criteria needing to be considered when designing a cooperative learning environment, which is a different case than in individualistic cultures. Thus, when employing cooperative learning strategies in South Korea, educators should take learners' culture into consideration. For this, educators might utilize the final instrument of this study as a guideline or criteria to establish an effective cooperative learning environment.Originality/valueThis article provides an example from South Korea which is known as both a collectivist and high-tech country.

The Predictors of Students’ Satisfaction and Academic Achievements in Online Learning Environment in Higher Education

Student satisfaction is crucial in remote education course evaluation because it is linked to the quality of online programs and student academic performance. Meanwhile, self-regulated learning is crucial in both traditional and online learning environments since it involves the ability to organize, manage, and control their learning process. In this study, the authors tested the correlations between student satisfaction and academic achievement involving student characteristics, self-regulated learning, and Internet self-efficacy. Data were collected from 750 undergraduate students responding to an online survey questionnaire. To examine the correlation between factors in this research, a correlation analysis approach in SPSS 25 was utilized. Qualitative data were coded using MAXQDA in order to figure out other factors affecting student satisfaction. The results of the research showed Internet self-efficacy, self-regulated learning, student satisfaction, and academic achievement were significantly correlated with each other whereas gender and students’ prior experience online were perceived to highly correlate with those constructs as well. Qualitative results indicated factors impacting students’ satisfaction in online learning and supported most part of the quantitative results. Pedagogical implications and limitations of the study are also discussed.

Improving student engagement during in-person classes by using functionalities of a digital learning environment

The introduction of digital learning environments in higher education requires teachers to be able to optimize their use to improve student engagement in the learning process during in-person classes. In a quasi-experiment (N = 303), an increasing number of functionalities of a digital learning environment was used to examine the impact on changes in cognitive, affective, and behavioral student engagement between the beginning and the end of a series of lectures. The three conditions were: ‘low number of functionalities’ in which students had only to answer quizzes during the lectures; ‘moderate number of functionalities’ in which, in addition to quizzes, students could ask the teacher written questions at different moments during the lectures; ‘high number of functionalities’ which added a functionality compared to the previous two enabling students to visualize the teacher's slideshow for the course on their own device in real time during the lectures. Results revealed that visualizing the teacher's slideshow on their own device in addition to quizzing and questioning increased affective engagement of students between the beginning and end of the lectures. Furthermore, when only quizzing activities were provided, a greater proportion of students engaged behaviorally to perform additional quizzes administered one week after the end of the last lecture to prepare exams. The discussion evokes both preventing multi-tasking activities, and the need for students to self-evaluate by performing additional quizzes depending on the functionalities used by the teacher during the lectures.

Twitter as a Potential Lifelong Learning Environment in Higher Education from Saudi Students’ Practices and Perceptions: A Case Study

One of higher education’s commitments is to provide students with the skills and knowledge needed for continued learning. Blending formal and informal learning approaches is the suggested approach to close the gap between learning in the real world and in classrooms. Social media is viewed as a bridge that can make learning seamless. This qualitative study aims to examine the use of Twitter as an educational environment in which to expand students’ informal lifelong learning. The case study itself discusses female Saudi master’s degree students engaged in learning activities on Twitter for a course at a university in Saudi Arabia. The study aimed to understand their perceptions of Twitter’s integration with course activities and investigated whether the integration of Twitter motivated students toward lifelong learning. Three students from the course participated in in-depth interviews and a content analysis of their tweets. The results indicate that students receive benefits from the integration, such as self-confidence, but also drawbacks, such as lack of information literacy skills. Key results from the content analysis indicated that participants engaged with the course’s Twitter account after the course formally finished. Formal learning hashtags in Twitter led some students to engage in a broader community. Suggestions for pedagogies were to be supported with necessary skills for lifelong learners and for the teacher to continue to engage with learners’ communities informally.

SOME INSIGHT ON INFRASTRUCTURE AND RESOURCES FOR PRIVATE HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN THE UK

No organisation performs best without good infrastructure and resources. The workplace can refer to the physical or the psychosocial work environment from the individual user and organisation's perspective, differing from one industry to another. This study focuses on the physical work environment from an architectural, interior design and performance perspective in a private higher education institution. Two factors characterise office work: the degree of interaction and the level of individual autonomy. Duffy created four types of offices: hive, cell den, and club based on this concept. Examples of such types of offices are provided within the higher education context. Office workers spend plenty of time inside buildings, where their physical environments directly impact their well-being and work performance and productivity. Buildings, classrooms, computer laboratories, and education infrastructure are crucial learning environments in higher education. There is strong evidence that high-quality infrastructure and resources (facilitates) improves student outcomes and reduce dropout rates, among other benefits. A high-quality teaching and learning environment and students' experience are dependent on classroom resources, libraries, computer labs, and equipment. Maintaining, adapting innovation, repairing existing infrastructure and facilities and investing in new structures and equipment all come with significant expenditures. The question of how to fund such development is becoming increasingly difficult.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0923/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Factors Affecting the Intention to Start up a Business of Management Students in Hanoi

The article focuses on clarifying the factors affecting the intention of students in Business Administration to start up a business based on 300 observations conducted at six universities and two colleges in the city of Hanoi. The research uses qualitative and quantitative research methods to identify and test the influencing factors. The results show that there are 6 factors that positively affect the students’ intention to start up a business, including (1) opinions of people around, (2) perceived feasibility, (3) the higher education learning environment, (4) personal characteristics, (5) access to finance and (6) leadership experience. Based on these results, the group of authors has made recommendations for universities and colleges in the process of training and supporting students to start up a successful business.

Factors Affecting the Intention to Start up a Business of Management Students in Hanoi

The article focuses on clarifying the factors affecting the intention of students in Business Administration to start up a business based on 300 observations conducted at six universities and two colleges in the city of Hanoi. The research uses qualitative and quantitative research methods to identify and test the influencing factors. The results show that there are 6 factors that positively affect the students’ intention to start up a business, including (1) opinions of people around, (2) perceived feasibility, (3) the higher education learning environment, (4) personal characteristics, (5) access to finance and (6) leadership experience. Based on these results, the group of authors has made recommendations for universities and colleges in the process of training and supporting students to start up a successful business.

Toward affective decolonization: Nurturing decolonizing solidarity in higher education

This paper turns our attention to a rather neglected dimension of (de)colonization, namely, the affective elements of (de)colonization in the context of higher education. Affective decolonization highlights that decolonization has to also happen at the level of affective life. The notion of affective decolonization complements the work taking placing in the realm of “intellectual decolonization” in higher education, by exploring what it would mean to decolonize the deeply affective structures and sensibilities of coloniality entrenched in contemporary universities, especially in the Global North. The analysis traces the potentiality of a particular affect, namely, decolonizing solidarity, and illustrates how it might be possible to build deep decolonizing solidarities within and across higher education institutions. The paper proposes that the deployment of a “public pedagogy” of decolonizing solidarity pays explicit attention to affective decolonization and works to create teaching and learning environments in higher education that nurture affective practices of decolonizing solidarity.

Trends and issues of immersive learning environments in higher education from 2001 to 2020: perspectives on adaptive ubiquitous learning experiences

Trends and issues of immersive learning environments in higher education from 2001 to 2020: perspectives on adaptive ubiquitous learning experiences

Trends and issues of immersive learning environments in higher education from 2001 to 2020: perspectives on adaptive ubiquitous learning experiences

Trends and issues of immersive learning environments in higher education from 2001 to 2020: perspectives on adaptive ubiquitous learning experiences