Learning Opportunities For Students Research Articles

Operationalising Vergnaud’s Notion of Scheme in Task Design in Online Learning Environments to Support the Implementation of Formative Assessment

Abstract This paper presents an implementation process model for designing and implementing tasks that provide formative feedback in the online learning environment of mathematics classrooms. Specifically, the model operationalises components of Vergnaud’s notion of scheme. The implementation process model features a task sequence guided by controlled variation and a ‘dual scheme idea’. Using such a sequence of tasks, this work illustrates how Vergnaud’s notion of scheme can be used to aid teachers in hypothesising about their learners’ understanding of problems involving linear equations, ultimately providing improved feedback for teachers and improved opportunities for student learning in online environments. In Denmark, the online environment matematikfessor.dk is used by approximately 80% of Danish K-9 students. The impact sheet to this article can be accessed at 10.6084/m9.figshare.19493846.

Piloting a semi-structured interview schedule: The influence of MOOC descriptions on potential students

Abstract Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) provide digital learning opportunities for students around the world. To reach students, MOOCs must advertise themselves to encourage enrollment. While previous studies have explored the content of MOOC descriptions, an investigation into the rhetorical functions of these descriptions has yet to be carried out. In order to discover more about the features of MOOC descriptions which influence their potential students, this paper details the design and piloting of an interview protocol which can be used to collect data regarding the persuasive impact that MOOC descriptions have on those who read them. Samples of data collected using the instrument are presented to examine the validity of the results, and a reflection is provided which discusses the application of the instrument in future research.

Street Nursing: Teaching and Improving Community Health.

Living on the streets continues to be a traumatic and dangerous lifestyle that creates many challenges in society, especially challenges related to community health and health care. In San Antonio, Texas, half of the unhoused population is Hispanic, aligning with national reports that document how Hispanics/Latinxs are overrepresented in the unhoused communities. Street Medicine™ programs are surfacing nationwide and around the world, frequently as medical schools' initiatives, to provide medical care to unhoused populations, providing a unique learning opportunity for medical students and other health care disciplines, including Nursing. UT Health Street Nursing organization was formed in the context of a clinical rotation experience for the Population-Focused Health course while supporting and collaborating with Street Medicine SA. This initiative exposes nursing students to the reality of not having a place to live and the struggles vulnerable populations face to access and navigate health care services, discovering how Latinos generally have less access to quality health care and suffer from poor health.

The Nova Hydroculture Project: Bringing a Community of Science Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) Learners Together to Grow a Unique Garden

The Nova Hydroculture Project (NHP) is a collaboration between the Nova Southeastern University (NSU) American Society for Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (ASBMB) and Sigma Xi chapters as well as Science Alive and the Nova Public Schools (K‐12) in Broward County, FL. Science Alive is a 501(c)(3) non‐profit organization (faculty‐sponsored and student‐run program) providing opportunities for teams of learners from all academic levels to explore STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) beyond textbooks through hands‐on, interactive discovery. By providing service learning opportunities for college students to lead in the local school community, we fill a need for the development of fun and educational science‐related activities in schools with traditionally underserved populations. For the NHP we are collaborating with schools that have the Title 1 designation meaning that at least 40% of the student population comes from low‐income families. Many of our college volunteers are the first in their families to attend college, as would be the case for many of the K‐12 students that we serve. Therefore, we are in an ideal environment to positively impact students that are “just like us”. The NHP involves building hydroculture gardens with food plants (such as tomatoes, peppers, and berries). Showing NHP participants how to grow vegetables and fruits in a small space with reduced amounts of water can teach alternate methods to grow fresh produce, especially in communities where traditional agricultural practices may not be possible. These techniques are also being used on the International Space Station (ISS) in their Vegetable Production System (Veggie). The first peppers from the ISS Veggie were harvested and consumed on the ISS in early November 2021, which was exciting for our teams to discuss. The NHP also provides experiential learning opportunities for young students to apply science and engineering concepts to garden‐building while working in teams with their mentors. The NHP teams document the growth and water quality of the gardens, take photos, and make science journal entries throughout the Project. Not only are hydroculture gardens fantastic opportunities to learn about science, math, technology, art, and engineering, but they are also living, breathing entities that require ongoing care and commitment, thus fostering a collaborative and interactive experience for everyone involved. The NHP brings together diverse teams of K‐12 students, parents, teachers, NSU students, and faculty as we work together and learn from each other in our diverse community.

One Health clinic promotes veterinarian-client trust among underserved pet owners and provides learning opportunities for veterinary students.

To determine the impact of a free One Health clinic with human and veterinary services on the veterinary-client relationship for underserved pet owners. A secondary aim was to understand the experience of veterinary students and volunteers who participated in the clinic. 78 pet owners, 55 students and 32 volunteers who attended the Delaware Humane Association One Health Clinic between December 2018 and November 2019. Pet owners completed an anonymous questionnaire prior to and following their veterinary appointment regarding their trust in the veterinary profession, feelings of enablement and veterinarian-client concordance. Students and volunteers completed a questionnaire within 72 hours of clinic participation about their perceptions of the educational value of the clinic. Following the One Health clinic, client trust in the veterinary profession increased significantly (t = -5.50, P < 0.001). Clients also reported high levels of enablement and veterinarian-client concordance. Students and volunteers agreed the clinic was a valuable educational experience (97.7%) and reported increased compassion, enhanced leadership, communication and teamwork skills, and an improved ability to identify social issues and think critically. The results support the utilization of One Health clinics to improve access to veterinary care for underserved pet owners. Clients reported high levels of trust, enablement and concordance following the clinic which could have long-lasting effects on their willingness to seek veterinary care and comply with veterinarians' recommendations. The positive experiences of students and volunteers also highlights the potential of low-cost veterinary clinics as unique educational experiences.

Supporting Experiential Learning Opportunities for Students With Disabilities

Limited research explores the experiences of disability resource professionals who support students with disabilities in accessing experiential learning outside the classroom environment. This study used an explanatory sequential mixed methods approach to investigate whether and how accommodations are provided to and used by students with disabilities (SWDs) during experiential learning outside the classroom. Findings suggest that many higher education institutions focus on the classroom needs of SWDs to the exclusion of other, equally critical academic needs. Themes identified in both a national survey and qualitative interviews highlight the need to provide additional support for SWDs outside the classroom.

Students' Reflections on Learning Experiences in Federally Qualified Health Centers.

Introduction: Final year pharmacy students participate in advanced pharmacy practice experiences in multiple settings. Each practice setting offers different opportunities for student learning and growth. Experiences at Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) allow student pharmacists to work with patients with unique health and socioeconomic challenges. Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the impact of an ambulatory care rotation at an FQHC on pharmacy students' learning. Methods: Final year pharmacy students submitted weekly reflections about their experiences at an FQHC using the Driscoll method of reflection. They reflected on activities, examined their effects on learning and growth, and discussed the impact the experiences would have on future practice. Qualitative analysis of students' reflections was conducted to identify themes related to learning and professional growth. Results: Pharmacy students (N = 11) reflected upon a variety of topics during their rotations at an FQHC. Fifteen themes and 11 sub-themes were identified by the reviewers within 43 reflections. Reflections covered three general areas: types of experiences students participate in at an FQHC, current and future effects of those experiences on student learning or patients' health, and students' emotional reactions during the experiences. Conclusions: Student reflections demonstrated that rotation experiences contributed to their growth and learning in communication, collaboration, and empathy. Additionally, students indicated that they gained confidence and skills throughout the rotation. By identifying the meaning students attributed to their learning experiences, reflections can be used to assess rotation activities for modification or continued inclusion.

Experiential Learning in a Two-event Project in Thailand

Despite there being several experiential learning studies on event education, all studies were based on a single event task. There is a scarcity of research on students with two different experiential learning experiences in event education. Therefore, this study aims to examine student perceptions on event learning and skills development after two different experiential learning experiences. Students learn to be event organizers by conducting real exhibition and charity events on campus. Questionnaire and classroom discussion are used to obtain student feedback through t test and content analysis. The study reveals that there are some statistically significant differences in student perceptions on event learning and the skills acquired during the two events, and also suggests that learning through two events with different purposes and characteristics is likely to result in different academic and professional learning opportunities for students. Therefore, the study provides event educators with new insights into the teaching of event management through two-event projects, and also extends experiential learning theory.

Evaluating 5% Healthier: An e-Service-Learning Teleexercise Program for Undergraduate and Graduate Students in Exercise Physiology

An e-service-learning teleexercise program, 5% Healthier, provided a remote experiential learning opportunity for students and a supervised exercise program for participants during the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study retrospectively evaluated whether students achieved course learning outcomes and improved their ability to work in teleexercise and if the intervention was a successful exercise program for participants. Supervised by graduate students, undergraduate student coaches provided 10 weeks of personalized exercise coaching to participants. Pre- and postperformance assessments were collected on participants, and anonymous surveys were administered to students and participants. Twenty-two undergraduate students and nine graduate students participated. Students’ perceptions of the e-service-learning experience were generally positive, and almost all felt it allowed them to meet the course learning outcomes and improved their ability to work in teleexercise. Seventy-three participants completed the exercise program and showed improvements in all performance assessments (body composition (weight, BMI), shoulder and hamstring flexibility, upper and lower body muscular endurance, and overall function ( p &lt; 0.01 )). Participants rated the program highly and agreed that 5% Healthier helped them gain fitness (93%). The 5% Healthier e-service-learning program is a successful model for experiential learning in exercise physiology, and the teleexercise program improved participants’ performance outcomes.

University Instructors’ Perceptions about the Prominence of Culturally Responsive Teaching Pedagogy

This qualitative study occurs in linguistically and culturally varied Moroccan higher educational contexts. It includes interviewing (10) University instructors from different universities in Morocco. The aim is to get their views and perceptions about the importance of implementing culturally responsive teaching pedagogy in their teaching methods and approaches to enhance learning opportunities for students from linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds. The notable objective of this study is to inaugurate an appropriate teaching pedagogy to teach students from varied backgrounds and to effectively satisfy the learning and teaching processes of these culturally and linguistically diverse students. The data collected from all the participants were studied and organized according to similarities and differences. The analysis of all instructors’ answers revealed their agreement that culturally responsive teaching methods and approaches are paramount to engaging culturally and linguistically diverse students in the classroom for more academic achievements.

Design Factory – Supporting technology students’ learning of general competences through university-industry collaboration

Many studies emphasise the need for supporting higher education students to develop general competences. In this study, we report on the first cycle of a design-based research project conducted in the Design Factory context. The aim of the project is to understand how general competences can be integrated into course modules and within university-industry collaboration in a successful way. In this study, we report on a theoretical problem analysis and describe the design solution, namely the Design Factory implementation. We then move on to an empirical problem analysis and investigate how students reported developing general competences in the implementation. When discussing the implications for further developing the design solution, we conclude that communication has a vital role in university-industry collaboration; it is essential in clarifying the multilevel learning opportunities (e.g., the subject content, development of general competences) for students, and in aligning industry interests with educational learning objectives. We also reflect on the first development cycle as a whole and provide implications for refining the design process. Finally, we draw conclusions from the whole DBR project and provide a new theoretical perspective (cf. Edelson, 2002), namely design-based education in the co-creation contexts, that can be utilised when investigating the development of general competences in the Design Factory context.

An Escape Room to Orient Preclinical Medical Students to the Simulated Medical Environment.

IntroductionSimulation is increasingly being used in the preclinical years of US medical school curricula to provide experiential learning opportunities for students. However, preclinical medical students may not be able to access the full benefits of immersive simulation scenarios without an in-depth introduction to the simulation environment and manikin. An escape room may be an effective way to orient students in an interactive manner to overcome this barrier.MethodsWe designed and implemented a 90-minute escape room orientation activity to address student discomfort in the simulation environment by providing a team-based, hands-on exploration of identified critical features of the room and manikin in the guise of a routine clinic visit for a patient. We surveyed learners on their confidence immediately following the escape room and on their perceptions of the session effectiveness following their first simulation.ResultsA total of 148 preclinical medical students participated in the escape room activity in 30 groups of four to five persons. Of those students, 130 participated in a simulated patient case within 1 month of the escape room activity, and 89 filled out a follow-up survey. Of responding students, 80% reported that the escape room activity was highly effective or very effective in preparing them for participation in a simulated patient case.DiscussionImplementing an escape room orientation activity for preclinical medical students was effective in preparing students to participate in their first immersive simulation scenario.

Use of wearable point-of-view live streaming technology for virtual physical exam skills training.

Implication StatementWe piloted a virtual teaching tool comprised of a chest-mounted smartphone streaming point-of-view footage over videoconferencing software to deliver a physical exam skills session. Compared to medical students taught via third person view through pre-recorded video followed by preceptor-led discussion, a higher proportion of students taught via point-of-view wearable technology reported improved knowledge of demonstrated skills and feeling engaged, comfortable interacting with their tutor, and better able to visualize demonstrated exam maneuvers. This accessible, affordable, and easily replicable innovation can potentially enhance virtual clinical skills teaching and enable novel distant clinical learning opportunities for healthcare professions students and educators.

Virtual Surgical Subinternships: Course Objectives and a Proposed Curriculum.

Background:Due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic, patient care and medical education have faced many significant changes. The Association of American Medical Colleges and the American Council of Academic Plastic Surgery officially recommended halting all student rotations and interviews for the year. This change has unfortunately fallen squarely at the onset of a vital season for education and recruitment of plastic surgery subinterns. This article presents a curriculum for a single institution’s virtual surgical subinternship to help inspire ideas and inspiration for programs developing their own virtual subinternships.Methods:The goals for the virtual surgical subinternship are focused on student preparation for residency and remain similar to those outlined by the core competencies for in-person rotations. The first virtual subinternship in plastic surgery modeled after the curriculum presented was offered as a 2-week course starting May of 2020.Results:The components of the curriculum include a self-study syllabus, virtual case reviews, virtual suture laboratory, educational teleconferences, participation in research, and mentorship meetings. The 2-week course has approximately 25 hours of conferences and teaching, involving direct interaction with residents and faculty, and approximately 15 hours of self-directed learning.Conclusions:To the authors’ knowledge, this was the first virtual subinternship offered for rising fourth-year medical students. They strongly encourage other residency training programs to offer similar virtual learning opportunities for medical students, particularly for those without access to a home plastic surgery training program. The curriculum presented in this article is simply to provide ideas, inspiration, and a potential framework for programs wishing to create similar virtual learning opportunities.

Getting Scrappy in the Classroom During COVID-19

This teaching reflection, co-authored by two librarians and three instructors, offers a case study in collaborative assignment design and argues for the value of both collaboration as an instructional model and digital exhibitions as open educational resources. It explores how the transition to remote curating, learning, and teaching prompted by COVID-19 occasioned changes in how we curated exhibitions, on the one hand, and developed learning opportunities for students, on the other hand. Focused on a digital exhibition of nineteenth-century scrapbooks and the integration of scrapbooking—as a hands-on activity and a topic of scholarly inquiry—into three courses across two disciplines (English and art history), it also provides a model of how librarians and instructors might collaborate on assignment and coursedevelopment and scaffold such collaboration into assignment and course design. The reflection includes assignments and rubrics as well as examples of students’ work. It concludes with a series of recommendations for librarians and instructors who wish to collaborate.

The question of dissection in medical training: Not just "if," but "when"? A student perspective.

While debate about the use of—and alternatives to—human cadaveric dissection in medical training is robust, little attention has been paid to questions about timing. This study explores the perspectives of medical students and recent graduates with regard to two key questions: when in the degree program do students prefer dissection opportunities and what are the students getting out of participating in dissection? Self‐report survey data from students in preclinical years (n = 105), clinical years (n = 57), and graduates (n = 13) were analyzed. Most (89%) preferred dissection during the preclinical years, with no effect by training year (χ 2 = 1.98, p = 0.16), previous anatomy (χ 2 = 3.64, p = 0.31), or dissection (χ 2 = 3.84, p = 0.26) experience. Three key findings emerged. First, the majority of students prefer to dissect in the preclinical years because they view dissection as important for developing foundation knowledge and delivering an opportunity for consolidation prior to transitioning to primarily clinical studies. In addition, students recognize that it is a time‐consuming activity requiring specialized facilities. Second, three main understandings of the purpose of dissection were reported: depth of learning, learning experience, and real‐world equivalence. Third, these student perspectives of the purpose of dissection are associated with timing preferences for dissection opportunities. The results identify the preclinical phase as the optimal time to strategically integrate dissection into medical training in order to maximize the benefits of this unique learning opportunity for students and minimize its impact upon curricular time.

Sometimes Finding Nothing is Something: Shrinking the Gap between Emerging Bilingual Learners and English Fluent Students (Case in Point)

&lt;p style="text-align:justify"&gt;For United States of America (USA) and other developed countries, science achievement gaps begin to emerge in elementary and primary school. Such gaps between USA student groups typically are connected to socio-economic status (SES) and issues such as students still learning the English language. Through an experimental design, this National Science Foundation funded study explores how integrating the arts into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curriculum and leading with a more STEAM-first approach (e.g., curriculum which integrates science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) might provide more equitable science learning opportunities for elementary or primary grade level students. More specifically, the project’s research efforts seek to also examine how integrating the arts into science instruction might help emerging bilingual (EB) students who are simultaneously learning the English language and science. Although results provide somewhat conflicting findings of statistical significance with small to moderate effect sizes, outcomes provide initial evidence that leading with STEAM science instruction before STEM efforts can be beneficial to early readers, and for EB students this benefit is magnified. As the title of this study suggest, sometimes finding nothing is something.&lt;/p&gt;

Empowering those who seek to end hunger through collaboration and data science innovation

Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin (FAEW) distributed 81% more food to community members in need during the COVID-19 pandemic than in the prior year. Though systems were in place to manage food receipt and distribution data, social distancing requirements and technological barriers revealed inefficiencies in how these data were being utilized. In pursuit of data-driven decision making and in the context of a global pandemic, FAEW partnered with Marquette University data scientists through an industry supported grant. Applying newly learned skills in Business Intelligence, students have produced detailed reports of data cleanliness in FAEW’s source systems to improve underlying data quality and better support analytic efforts. Additionally, students have synchronized Human Centered Design Thinking and Visual Analytics to produce an interactive application that is being used to optimize inventory management, storage availability, and product distribution. Finally, students are utilizing Business Analytics techniques such as supervised and unsupervised data mining to provide new insights about food receipt and distribution patterns that will have a sustainable impact on FAEW operations. This unique partnership is providing experiential learning opportunities for students, tangible data science solutions that FAEW will use to ensure best practices, and real-world solutions to collaboratively end hunger in our communities.

Pakistan State Oil: multidimensional strategic issues of a market leader

Learning outcomes The learning outcomes are as follows: to analyze the multidimensional and complex crises, and market stature of a company that was a market and industry leader in a developing country; to evaluate and interpret the outcomes of decisions pertaining declining profits, outstanding receivables, branding, marketing and radical reforms to overcome the challenges of sustainable growth, customers and employees’ loyalty, market stature and leadership crises; and to design strategic solutions for sustaining its leadership position and combating severe challenges. Case overview/synopsis The purpose of this paper is to ponder upon various crises that Pakistan State Oil (PSO) was facing, so that learners can critically analyze, assess and design strategic solutions for it. PSO was the state-run market leader in the petroleum industry. The company had been struggling to combat multiple types of turmoil at a time. Its huge fund of receivables was blocked in circular debt that caused the company budget constraints and deficits. Due to a government policy shift, the demand for its furnace oil substantially reduced and profits plummeted. The countless internal and external crises posed severe menace to its competitive position vis-a-vis its rivals. This qualitative case study garners data from eight interviews from senior managers in the petroleum industry and adds content analysis technique to acquire pertinent data from renowned media sources and subsequent analysis. The drastic crises left PSO with dearth of funds and declining profitability. Consequently, due to limited marketing budget, creativity of its marketing team for devising effective marketing programs to raise market share was compromised. PSO underwent the issues of brand sustainability, sustainable growth, customers and employees’ loyalty, and market stature to financial and leadership crises. However, despite limitations, it still enjoyed a market leadership position among its rivals in the industry by occupying more than half of the chunk of market in the petroleum industry. This is a unique case study of a state-owned giant company facing multidimensional menaces. It offers tremendous learning opportunities for students who can devise creative strategic solutions and link theories and models with practice. Complexity academic level Graduate (MBA), MS, PhD (management and administrative sciences); Suitable for teaching in chapters: Anywhere but ideally near the middle or end of the above courses. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CCS 11: Strategy.

TEACHERS’ JOB DEMANDS, RESOURCES AND JOB SATISFACTION: SECONDARY ANALYSES OF TALIS 2018 DATA FROM FLANDERS AND THE NETHERLANDS

&lt;p&gt;Across Europe, teacher shortages occur in both primary and secondary education, affecting the quality of students’ learning environment with class cancellations, combined classes, and overloaded teachers, leading to reduced learning opportunities for students. National policies in the Netherlands and Flanders go into the direction of increasing the influx of students into teacher education programmes, improving their study success and increasing retention rates of in-service teachers. In view of these teacher shortages, it is not only important to increase the intake and outflow of students in teacher education programmes, but also to increase job satisfaction of in-service teachers. Based on secondary analyses of TALIS 2018 data from primary and secondary school teachers in the Netherlands and Flanders, work demands, resources available to teachers and their job satisfaction have been examined with use of the Job Demands-Resources model (Demerouti et al., 2001). Regression analyses show that feelings of distress and perceived stress in teaching and classroom management show a negative relationship with job satisfaction. Moreover, social recognition of the teaching profession, a social value as motivation for the teaching profession and a safe learning and working climate in school are positively related to teachers’ job satisfaction. The results are discussed in the light of findings from other research on teachers’ job satisfaction and research of TALIS data, in particular.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Article visualizations:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0933/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;