Learning Partnerships Research Articles

Students as Engaged Partners in Directed Research Courses

This report from the field reflects on the authors’ experiences in a directed research course on the topic of youth civic engagement in Canada. A literature review was co-written as part of a directed research course where the instructor was a visiting professor from the United States and the student was an undergraduate student in Canada. The content of this report was gathered during various stages of the directed research course and is informed by literature focused on students as engaged partners in teaching and learning in higher education. Specifically, we reflect on the ways viewing students as engaged partners can leverage their knowledge and lived experiences when engaging in directed research courses, especially when the student and faculty member may be coming from different countries in North America. In addition, we reflect on how designing a directed research course that views students as engaged partners can provide a rich ground for the redistribution of power in higher education and strengthen the quality of research through the co-creation of new knowledge and ideas.

Benefits and Challenges of Collaboration between Students and Conversational Generative Artificial Intelligence in Programming Learning: An Empirical Case Study

The utilization of conversational generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) in learning is often seen as a double-edged sword that may lead to superficial learning. We designed and implemented a programming course focusing on collaboration between students and Gen AI. This study explores the dynamics of such collaboration, focusing on students’ communication strategies with Gen AI, perceived benefits, and challenges encountered. Data were collected from class observations, surveys, final reports, dialogues between students and Gen AI, and semi-structured in-depth interviews. The results showed that effective collaboration between students and Gen AI could enhance students’ meta-cognitive and self-regulated learning skills and positively impact human-to-human communication. This study further revealed the difficulties and individual differences in collaborating with Gen AI on complex learning tasks. Overall, collaborating with Gen AI as a learning partner, rather than just a tool, enables sustainable and independent learning, beyond specific learning tasks at a given time.

Development of a U.S./U.K. Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) partnership for undergraduate education in public health

Preparing future public health (U.S.) or health and social care (U.K.) professionals for international settings is imperative in today’s higher education landscape. Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) is an innovative form of virtual exchange (VE) that provides students with international experience, cultural competence, and an understanding of global healthcare needs. This practice report summarizes how two universities in the U.S. and U.K. co-developed a COIL unit for their public health and health and social care students to learn about international healthcare systems. Public health faculty used SUNY COIL planning strategies and backward course design to guide the planning of the COIL unit. The learning processes and outcomes were designed to support program and campus learning outcomes that align with domain areas required by the Council on Education for Public Health. The planning process, curriculum, and technology used for the COIL unit are outlined. Evaluation of the unit included achieving student learning outcomes at the course, program, and campus levels; changes in intercultural awareness based on the Intercultural Knowledge and Competence VALUE Rubric; benefits to students, research assistants, and faculty; and alignment with the qualities of VE.

Research on Joint Recommendation Algorithm for Knowledge Concepts and Learning Partners Based on Improved Multi-Gate Mixture-of-Experts

The rise of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) has increased the large audience for higher education. Different learners face different learning difficulties in the process of online learning. In order to ensure the quality of teaching, online learning resource recommendation services should be more personalised and have more choices. In this paper, we propose a joint recommendation algorithm for knowledge concepts and learning partners based on improved MMoE (Multi-gate Mixture-of-Experts). Firstly, the heterogeneous information network (HIN) is constructed based on the MOOC platform and appropriate meta-paths are selected in order to extract the human–computer interaction information and student–student interaction information generated during the learners’ online learning processes more completely. Secondly, the temporal behavioural characteristics of students are obtained based on their learning paths as well as their knowledge of conceptual characteristics, and LSTM (Long Short-Term Memory) is used to mine students’ current learning interests. Finally, the gating network in MMoE is changed into an attention mechanism network, and for different tasks, multiple attention mechanism networks are used to fuse the learner’s human–computer interaction information, student–student interaction information, and interest characteristics to generate learner representations that are more in line with the respective task and to complete the tasks of knowledge conception and learning partner recommendation. Experiments on publicly available MOOC datasets show that the method proposed in this paper provides more accurate and varied personalization services to online learners compared to the latest proposed methods.

We Are All Afghanistan

On October 15, 2021, Women's Learning Partnership (WLP) convened an online, public conversation with former Minister for Women's Affairs in Afghanistan, Sima Samar, and former Governer of Bamyan Province, Habiba Sarabi, moderated by former UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Obaid and WLP Founder and President Mahnaz Afkhami. Audience members were from around the world, including directors of WLP’s partner organizations in Asia, Central Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. A question and answer session, moderated by WLP Executive Director, Allison Horowski, followed the conversation.

Challenges and Alternatives of Parents as Home Learning Partners in the Implementation of Printed Modular Distance Learning

Because of the risks posed by COVID-19, most public educational institutions have implemented printed modular distance learning instruction. The purpose of this study was to determine the challenges and alternatives faced by parents as they performed their role as home learning partners during the last two quarters of the school year 2020-2021 using the printed modular distance learning modality. It also sought to investigate the suggestions of parents as home learning partners. The study used an exploratory descriptive qualitative (EDQ) approach. It included fourteen parents from a public elementary school who were purposively chosen. In-depth interviews (IDI) were used to gather information. The different themes were identified through inductive coding. The study found that parents face the following challenges: lack of electronic gadgets, difficulty explaining/teaching, insufficient time, non-conforming modules, and an inconsistent schedule for SLM distribution. To fulfill their responsibilities, parents have employed a variety of coping strategies, such as effective time management, the use of ICT, approaching MKOs, motivation through a reward system, and spoon-feeding. Although parents considered various options for fulfilling their role as home learning partners, most participants preferred to unburden themselves by returning to in-person classes. To reduce their workload, parents suggest the following: (1) a free mobile phone for parents who do not already have one, (2) a free Wi-Fi zone, (3) module updates, and (4) monthly distribution of self-learning modules. Being a home learning partner imposes an additional burden on parents. It is suggested that the government or school work with other government agencies or non-governmental organizations to implement parents’ suggestions. Keywords: challenges, alternatives, home learning partner, modular distance learning

基于学习共同体的大学英语智慧教学模式构建研究

College English teaching is under reform, and building a smart teaching model can provide a feasible path for upgrading college English teaching methods. This study starts with analyzing the necessity of smart teaching models under the background of informatization, and then constructs a basic, interactive and cooperative model of smart teaching for college English from the perspective of the learning community. Based on the smart teaching platform, this smart teaching model takes students as its center and treats teachers as the teaching organizer (and learning partner). Finally, it explores its operating mechanism from the three teaching stages of pr-class, in-class, and after-class, providing reference paths and ideas for the reform of college English teaching.

Effect of an AI‐based chatbot on students' learning performance in alternate reality game‐based museum learning

AbstractRecently, alternate reality games (ARGs) have been applied in museum learning to encourage learners' active engagement through playful problem‐solving activities. However, most learners have insufficient prior knowledge and metacognitive skills to complete the learning tasks in such games. To support learning with ARGs, there is a need to provide proper feedback so that the learners are capable of self‐regulated learning and solving the problems encountered during the learning process. Considering the influences of individual differences, this research developed a chatbot as a learning partner in ARG‐based learning to support students’ learning with adaptive feedback in a museum. A quasi‐experimental study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness with and without the proposed approach. The results showed that the AI‐based chatbot approach could significantly improve learners' metacognition awareness, emotional engagement and behavioural engagement. Besides, it is helpful to facilitate students' double‐loop learning.Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Alternate reality games (ARGs) enable students to interact with real‐world contexts. The complexities of real contexts and ambiguities of the ARGs could frustrate students and demotivate their engagement in problem‐solving activities. Conventional corrected feedback may fail to match individual students' requirements in solving encountered problems. What this paper adds An AI‐based chatbot was designed as a smart learning partner to support the students in solving encountered problems. The experimental results showed that the proposed approach improved students' metacognitive awareness and engagement. A drawing analysis and a behaviour sequential analysis were applied to further examine the students' perceptions and behavioural patterns. Implications for practice and/or policy It is potentially worth integrating AI‐based chatbots into game‐based learning to promote students' metacognitive awareness and engagement. AI‐based chatbots provide adaptive feedback to effectively facilitate students' self‐regulated learning and double‐loop learning.

Virtual Pedagogical Microsystem: An Ecological Model for Preservice Teacher Fieldwork

ABSTRACT Access to effective field experiences in teacher preparation has been an ongoing challenge with the pandemic exacerbating concerns about adequate theory-to-practice experiences. However, the virtual fieldwork first necessary for the safety of students could now offer promising possibilities for pedagogical development. In this qualitative case study, we examined secondary English language arts preservice teachers’ pedagogical content knowing (PCKg) during online fieldwork. We bring Youth Lens theory and Repositioning Pedagogy to Ecological Systems Theory, theorizing a virtual fieldwork microsystem from recorded online teaching sessions and subsequent interviews with preservice teachers (n = 4) and high school students (n = 3) who participated in the online fieldwork. Findings reveal a co-created, shared, interdependent virtual microsystem of learning. Implications for teacher preparation include embedding learning partnerships across multiple courses to disrupt hierarchical relationships between teachers and students, leaning toward democratic ways of relating and being responsive to individual learners.

Optimizing Industrial Sector for Distance Learning Partnership

The rapid advancement of knowledge in the global arena has made it imperative for universities to remain competitive. To nurture students with outstanding competencies, universities need comprehensive support from various stakeholders, especially the industrial sector. The industry sector has emerged as an indispensable collaborator, actively contributing to the educational process, particularly in distance education. The methodology used in this study includes a comprehensive literature review. The article discusses the huge role played by the industrial sector in the context of distance education and integrating experts and practitioners from the business world into the educational framework to enrich the learning process with real-world insights. In addition, providing internship opportunities for students is also considered important. Internships provide invaluable learning experiences, enhancing graduates' competencies, thus strengthening their readiness to enter the workforce. This research explores how industry involvement in education can effectively improve the quality and relevance of distance learning, ultimately producing industry-ready graduates.

School improvement and peer learning partnerships: building organizational resilience in primary schools in England

IntroductionThis article looks at organizational resilience (OR) through the analysis of a sub-set of data gained from an independent and embedded mixed methods implementation and process evaluation (IPE) of the Schools Partnership Program (SPP) implemented over 3 years (2018–2021) and funded by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) in England. We describe ways in which SPP ‘learning map’ addresses the (i) anticipation, (ii) coping and (iii) adaptation stages and the extent to which SPP helped building organizational resilience. Taking this theoretical framework as a foundation is a novelty, as despite OR has become prominent in the academic literature apart from a few exceptions there is a dearth of international research examining OR within the school sector.MethodsA sample of 422 primary schools that took part in SPP (treatment schools) and their comparisons are analyzed applying the organizational capability-based framework. Drawing on SPP empirical data from numerous data collection strategies (interviews, surveys, shadowing school reviews and improvement workshops), the extent to which schools’ resilience capacities were improved is analyzed.ResultsOur findings suggest that SPP supported the development of OR in SPP primary schools. Despite facing several challenging external factors (student deprivation, the COVID disruption, changes to the external accountability framework and competing demands of other partner organizations) and internal factors (teacher attrition, need to developing leaders, upgrade pedagogical skills and encourage student subgroups who were underperforming) SPP schools exert (1) knowledge building through training, the review process, professional dialogue, learning from each other, as well as receiving and giving feedback. Regarding (2) resource availability, schools used SPP as a scaffold to build improvised strategies to access and mobilize shared human and physical resources; (3) social resources were built in the SPP through social capital, sharing of knowledge, enhancing a shared vision and trust. Finally, (4) SPP promoted lateral power dynamics driven by professional learning and accountability.DiscussionOverall, the paper extends the understanding of school peer review approaches for school improvement and adds to the OR international literature by presenting features that extend it toward building system resilience.

Evaluation of Critical Thinking Skills in Medical Students of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences

Background: According to the 21st Century Partnership Learning Framework, several competencies or skills should be possessed regarding critical thinking and problem-solving, communication and collaboration skills, creative and updating skills, information and communication technology literacy skills, contextual learning skills, and information and media literacy skills. Increasing critical thinking skills is necessary in modern and advanced educational systems. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the critical thinking skills of medical students. Methods: This descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study was conducted on 271 medical students in the primary science section of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Iran, in 2023 who were selected by a convenient sampling method. The data were collected by demographic characteristics and the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST). Descriptive and inferential statistical methods were used to analyze the data using SPSS software version 21. Results: The total critical thinking skills score in the studied students was 8.89 ± 3.60, equivalent to 25% of the total score. The highest and lowest areas were related to comparative reasoning and inference, with an average of 4.35 ± 1.94 and 2.59 ± 1.56, respectively. There was no significant difference between the average critical thinking skills score regarding age, gender, academic semesters, and living or not in a dormitory. Conclusions: Based on the results, medical students’ critical thinking skills are weak and lower than the exam average. The educational system of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences should be reviewed in designing a curriculum to foster critical thinking.

The influence of teacher-student relationship on Chinese high school students' academic motivation for the ideological and political subject: the mediating role of academic emotions.

This study investigated the influence of teacher-student relationship on Chinese high students' academic motivation for the ideological and political subject and the parallel mediating roles of positive and negative academic emotions on this influence. The participants of this study were 425 Chinese high school students. This study measured teacher-student relationship, academic motivation, and academic emotions through several self-reported questionnaires. Structural equation models were used to analyze data and investigate the direct and indirect influence of teacher-student relationship on Chinese high school students' academic motivation for the ideological and political subject. Teacher-student relationship had a significant, positive, and direct impact on Chinese high school students' academic motivation for the ideological and political subject. Moreover, positive and negative academic emotions, in parallel, mediated the relationship between these two factors. This study demonstrates the important influence of teacher-student relationships on Chinese high school students' academic motivation for the ideological and political subject. A positive teacher-student relationship can directly increase students' academic motivation for this subject and indirectly enhance their motivation by generating positive academic emotions. Therefore, teachers should express care for their students, make friends with them, and be their partners in learning and life. Additionally, teachers need to pay close attention to students' academic emotions and provide them emotional support so that they can develop positive academic emotions while learning, and strive to establish and maintain a good teacher-student relationship.

Cultural transmission, competition for prey, and the evolution of cooperative hunting

Although cooperative hunting is widespread among animals, its benefits are unclear. At low frequencies, cooperative hunting may allow predators to escape competition and access bigger prey that could not be caught by a lone cooperative predator. Cooperative hunting is a more successful strategy when it is common, but its spread can result in overhunting big prey, which may have a lower per-capita growth rate than small prey. We construct a one-predator species, two-prey species model in which predators either learn to hunt small prey alone or learn to hunt big prey cooperatively. Predators first learn vertically from parents, then horizontally (i.e. socially) from random individuals or siblings. After horizontal transmission, they hunt with their learning partner if both are cooperative, and otherwise they hunt alone. Cooperative hunting cannot evolve when initially rare unless predators (a) interact with siblings, or (b) horizontally transmit the cooperative behavior to potential hunting partners. Whereas competition for small prey favors cooperative hunting when this cooperation is initially rare, the frequency of cooperative hunting cannot reach 100% unless big prey is abundant. Furthermore, a mutant that increases horizontal learning can invade if cooperative hunting is present, but not at 100%, because horizontal learning allows pairs of predators to have the same strategy. Our results reveal that the interactions between prey availability, social learning, and degree of cooperation among predators may have important effects on ecosystems.

Student participation in teachers’ action research: teachers’ and students’ engagement in social learning

ABSTRACT In the literature on professional learning communities, students are rarely considered participants. Research indicates that student participation is primarily designated as a ‘data source’, with students having limited involvement in decision making. However, some studies suggest that an agentic approach to teachers’ professional development (such as action research) may foster student agency. This article aims at deepening the knowledge of student participation in teachers’ action research. Drawing on data from 14 teachers’ action research in a Swedish upper secondary school, the findings show that student participation occurs most in the data collection phase, intended to obtain students’ experiences with classroom interventions. Employing a social learning framework, the extent of student participation is suggested as involving issues of accountability and teachers’ prior learning experiences. This article argues that while teachers are responsible for both the classroom instruction and the development work, viewing students as partners in social learning offers opportunities for increased student participation in the development of classroom practices.

A Feasible Study of a Deep Learning Model Supporting Human–Machine Collaborative Learning of Object-Oriented Programming

Due to the development of deep learning technology, its application in education has received increasing attention from researchers. Intelligent agents based on deep learning technology can perform higher-order intellectual tasks than ever. However, the high deployment cost of deep learning models has hindered their widespread application in education. In addition, there needs to be more research on applying deep learning technology in education. In this study, we develop an intelligent agent using a Performer-based encoder-decoder neural model to classify object-oriented programming (OOP) errors in student code and generate hint feedback in natural language to help students correct the code. This study investigates the feasibility of deploying this agent in an educational setting to support the learning of OOP. This study first examines the low-speed inference problem of the deep learning model. A fast inference algorithm is proposed for the model, which achieves a speedup of eighty times. This study further explores integrating a human-machine collaborative learning process with the deep learning agent. Students were surveyed about their perceptions of the agent in supporting learning. Student responses are interpreted within the learning partnerships model (LPM) framework to show how the agent's technical automation and autonomy features support student-agent learning partnerships. Finally, implications and suggestions for educational application and research of deep learning technology are presented.

Facilitating the Teaching of Preschool Education Majors Based on Mobile Internet Platforms

Abstract With the increasing promotion of the concept of “Internet +”, the preschool education professional field has continuously proposed a non-commercial online education platform to play its role in promoting the teaching of preschool education. The article adopts the curriculum resource recommendation algorithm based on collaborative filtering, applies the recommendation algorithm to the mobile Internet platform, designs a personalized online education platform based on the collaborative filtering algorithm, and applies it to a specific empirical study. After experimenting using the method proposed in this paper, the average score of major grades in preschool education for the experimental group increased by 3.68 points. In the systematic analysis of learning satisfaction, 75% of the students were satisfied with the sequence of learning activities and learning partner recommendations, and 67.5% were satisfied with this learning process.

UCL’s Centre for Applied Archaeology: the end of an era of Erasmus+ partnership projects

This news article summarises several projects that took place between 2010 and 2022, during which some members of the Institute of Archaeology’s professional staff were able to take part in lifelong learning partnerships, working closely with a host of organisations from all over Europe on skills development and community heritage. These projects were funded by the Erasmus+ programme.

Dampak Implementasi Mereka Belajar Kampus Merdeka Terhadap Keterampilan Mahasiswa Program Studi Pendidikan Matematika Universitas Alwashliyah

In the era of society 5.0, skills are the most important value for a person, because skills can help them develop themselves holistically, prepare them for the world of work, and enable them to contribute positively to society. Implementing MBKM in learning is expected to meet the needs of graduates who are ready to face the world of work. By implementing MBKM, it means giving students the freedom to design collaborative projects and choose their own learning partners, MBKM facilitates innovation and co-creation. This research is a quantitative research that collects data through questionnaires and interviews. The highest increase was in independent learning skills, namely an increase of 45.3% and the smallest increase was in critical thinking skills, namely 37.3%. But basically every skill has improved. Skill improvement has an average of 41.8%. Thus, MBKM-based learning is expected to provide greater opportunities for students to take control of their own learning, develop their interests and talents, and better prepare themselves for future challenge.

Facilitating the learning and adaptation process of regional initiatives that transform towards health and wellbeing systems.

Introduction: Health-systems in western countries are under pressure due to increasing costs, changing health care demands, and a growing shortage of staff. Therefore, regional initiatives are searching for ways to integrate and reorganize services across domains. This is a complex process and requires an incremental approach based on reflection and adaptation. However, regional initiatives are still searching how to construct these processes. This study aimed to gain more understanding of how the reflection and adaptation process in regional initiatives could be facilitated.
 Methods and analysis: This study included an action research within a Dutch regional initiative, including the program managers, involved municipalities, province, health care insurer and the public health services. The partners reflected on transformation themes, identified in previous evaluation studies, by scoring them in questionnaires and discussing them in interviews. Finally, two reflection meetings were facilitated with representation of all partners, respectively on management and board level. The program manager was interviewed about the experiences with this action research. Notes of this interview and observations of the reflection sessions were analyzed inductively. To broaden the experiences within this one initiative, the experiences with the reflection process were reflected upon in semi-structured interviews with program managers from other regional initiatives (n = 11). The semi-structured interviews were coded and clustered inductively.
 Results: Based on the scoring in questionnaires and interviews a radar chart was shown in the reflection meetings. This highlighted that especially two themes (accountability and citizen participation) would need adaptation. Partners especially recognized the problems regarding accountability and agreed that further elaboration was needed. One of the aims of the reflection process was to create a collective feeling of ownership. Results show that external facilitation of the reflection process, which was objective and knowledge-based, helped to enhance the collective conversation. Reflecting with the program managers of the other initiatives learned that not all initiatives invested in a regional reflection and adaptation process. Lack of this investment was related to partners not prioritizing this process. Some program managers expected the knowledge-based reflection to be helpful in creating a common ground among the partners. The use of scoring, like in the questionnaires, or having actionable options after scoring the themes was expected to be helpful to be able to act upon the reflection.
 Lessons learned and next steps: This study described the experiences with facilitating reflection and adaptation processes of regional initiatives. It showed that knowledge-based reflection by an external facilitator was valued to enhance the collective conversation and common ground about transformation. Further research is needed to learn how this common ground could eventually result in adaptation of the initiatives and thus aid their transformation. This research identified the importance of creating a collective process amongst partners for learning and adaptation, though found that not all initiatives invested in this process due to other priorities. More awareness among partners of the initiatives is needed about the importance of this process for transformation and their role in this collective process.