Utilizing learning analytics in course design: voices from instructional designers in higher education

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pauline Salim Muljana ◽  
Tian Luo
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Learning Analytics ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Instructional Designers

scholarly journals Promoting Critical Thinking and Learning in a Large-Enrolment Humanities Class

2022 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kiruthika Ragupathi ◽  
Zi Hui Yeo ◽  
Hui Chieh Loy
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Student Experience ◽  
Instructional Designers ◽  
Multiple Choice Questions ◽  
Mass Higher Education ◽  
University Courses ◽  
Qualitative Responses

To promote the development of critical thinking abilities in an introductory undergraduate humanities course in the context of mass higher education, we implemented a course design that employed a series of scenario-based multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and informal peer discussions. Using an online survey to gather perception data and self-reported behavioral data, this study examines the extent to which the course design was effective at promoting critical thinking and student experience. Deductive analysis of students’ qualitative responses indicate that the course design was successful in promoting students’ development of critical thinking. Both deductive and inductive analysis of students’ qualitative responses also suggest that students largely had favorable attitudes towards this course design, though there are also some who express concerns. Our design may be useful for instructors and instructional designers aiming to promote critical thinking and learning in university courses.

scholarly journals Developing Online Engineering Courses: A Resource Kit for Collaboration Between Faculty and Instructional Designers

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-58
Author(s):  
Hui-Ching Kayla Hsu
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Instructional Design ◽  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Learning Theories ◽  
Instructional Designers ◽  
Mutual Understanding ◽  
Instructional Design Principles

The rise of online courses has created an ongoing demand for instructional designers in higher education. Collaboration between faculty and instructional designers in developing online engineering courses has therefore increased. Potential challenges during the collaboration can be addressed when faculty and instructional designers have a mutual understanding of instructional design principles. This article provides a resource kit that contains a synthesis of online learning theories and examples collected from online engineering courses. These examples can help create a course design that recognizes students’ cognitive load and provides meaningful interactions.

scholarly journals A comprehensive rubric for instructional design in e-learning

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Debattista
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Instructional Designers ◽  
Current Standard ◽  
Pedagogical Tools ◽  
Content Type ◽  
E Learning

Purpose The recognition of practice in online instruction is still subject to interpretation and different approaches as a result of the rapid changes in technology and its effect on society. The purpose of this paper is to address these differences through a synthesis that can be easily accessed and consulted by educators in the field of e-learning. Design/methodology/approach This paper reviews different examples of rubrics and instruments in higher education to propose a more comprehensive rubric that constitutes a synthesis of how some institutions in HE approach best practice in this field. Findings The proposed comprehensive rubric emanating from the synthesis of different approaches supports the development, remixing, sharing and integration of online modules and courses by providing a single reference point with as wide a range as possible of potential pedagogical tools, facilities and approaches to e-learning. Research limitations/implications It is not within the scope of this paper to review quality assurance processes and administrative components, but to propose a rubric for course design and self-review of faculty and higher education institutions for a better alignment with what is regarded as current standard best practice. Practical implications Instructional designers in e-learning have a new comprehensive rubric that can consult at design stage. Originality/value Different approaches towards what is called “good practice” are brought together and analysed to provide a synthesis and a single source that can be consulted by practitioners in the field of e-learning.

Teaching Interreligious Encounter

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Gustafson
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Community Engagement ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Comparative Theology ◽  
Guest Speakers

This chapter offers instructors in higher education some basic tools and elements of course design for interreligious encounter in the undergraduate classroom. Aiming at practice over theory, it provides practical suggestions for fostering interreligious understanding from the first day of class through the end of the semester. These suggestions include the use of guest speakers, interdisciplinary case studies, in-class reflections, and interreligious community engagement (i.e., “service learning”), among others. Further, it provides a concise bibliography of basic introductory texts for both students and instructors in the areas of comparative theology, theologies of religions and religious pluralisms, and interreligious studies and dialogue.

scholarly journals Bridging Disciplines with a New and Interactive Online Course: Drug & Nutrient Interactions

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 604-604
Author(s):  
Sara Police ◽  
Jessie Hoffman,
Keyword(s):  
Student Engagement ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Instructional Designers ◽  
Due Dates ◽  
Nutrient Interactions ◽  
University Of Kentucky ◽  
Student Cohorts ◽  
Graduate Certificate ◽  
Nutritional Sciences

Abstract Objectives The purpose of this project was to design, develop and implement an online two-credit course, Drug & Nutrient Interactions, as an elective for a new online Graduate Certificate in Applied Nutrition and Culinary Medicine at the University of Kentucky. Methods Drug & Nutrient Interactions was designed to meet the needs of select student cohorts: undergraduate Pharmacology minors, graduate students enrolled in the Masters in Nutritional Sciences program, and online graduate certificate students. Faculty within the Dept. of Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences and the Division of Clinical Nutrition were consulted to identify curricular gaps and to avoid redundancy across programs. Instructional designers were consulted to identify evidence-based best practices in online course design and teaching. Results Content of the Drug and Nutrient Interactions course is structured within four thematic modules: 1. Introduction to Pharmacology and Food & Drug Interactions, 2. Exploring Drug-Nutrient Interactions, 3. Genes, Bugs & Time, and 4. Current and Future Directions in Nutrition & Pharmacology. Each module is three to four weeks in duration, to span a 14-week semester. Each week, students’ tasks include reading, watching, writing, and reviewing content related to the student learning objectives. Methods to promote student engagement with the content recur week-to-week, to ensure consistency for students’ experience. An eBook was written by the instructors to provide a current and interdisciplinary review of the intersections of nutritional sciences and pharmacology in the course. In lieu of proctored online exams, module-level assignments assess students’ achievement of learning outcomes. Drug & Nutrient Interactions launched in fall 2019 with nine students enrolling and completing the course. Course analytics track student engagement by logging page views and participation. Increasing students’ page views and participation align with due dates for module assignments. Therefore - in spring 2020, deadlines were shifted to a weekly timeline to foster consistent engagement. Conclusions Instructors should explore various methods to foster student-content, student-student and student-instructor engagement in an online learning environment. Funding Sources This course project was funded by a UK Online award & an Alternative Textbook grant.

Environmental service-learning approach in higher education – a descriptive case study on student-led life cycle assessments of university cafeteria meals

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Johannisson ◽  
Michael Hiete
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Course Evaluation ◽  
Learning Approach ◽  
Graduate Course ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Descriptive Case Study

Purpose This study aims to share experiences of an easy to adapt service-learning approach in a graduate course on life cycle assessment (LCA). Specifically, it reports on how students helped the university’s cafeteria to assess meals by conducting an LCA for 25 meals and identifying environmental hotspots. Design/methodology/approach A descriptive case study of a graduate course at Ulm University is presented. The course included lectures and problem-based exercises, both theoretical and software assisted. A course evaluation was conducted during the course and one year after completion to poll improvement potentials, as well as its impacts on students’ everyday life. Findings It was found that although it was the first LCA for all students, the resulting LCA information of 25 different meals were homogeneous, comparable to the scientific literature and beneficial to the cafeteria’s sustainable development strategy. The concept of service-learning had a higher impact on students’ motivation than a good grade and active-learning is explicitly requested by students. The course design sensitized students to the real-life problems of LCA and made their consumption patterns more elaborate and ecological. Furthermore, this digitization of higher education could be carried out with only minor changes in the present COVID-19 pandemic situation. Originality/value As the subject of service-learning in natural sciences is still expandable, this study presents an easy to adapt case study on how to integrate such an approach into university curricula dominated by traditional learning. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this case study presents the first published LCA university course explicitly describing and evaluating a service-learning approach. The topic touches the everyday lives of students, allows comparisons between different student groups, is easily scalable to different group sizes and credits, and supports learning both how to study in small groups and cooperation between groups to ensure comparability of LCA results.

Educating future managers for a culturally diverse workspace: Using course as a living laboratory

2021 ◽  
pp. 30-41
Author(s):  
Darko Pantelic ◽  
Peter Brandstaetter ◽  
Emilia Florin Samuelsson
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
Culturally Diverse ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
International Assignments ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Multicultural Environment ◽  
Intercultural Encounters ◽  
Intercultural Interactions

Society is increasingly becoming multicultural, with more pressure to improve the quality of intercultural interactions. Higher education institutions are experiencing internationalization through increased mobility of students and faculty, which creates the need to manage diversity with the imperative of smoothing communication, reducing stress and making studying and working in a multicultural environment more efficient. Employers also dictate a need to educate culturally competent professionals, who are capable of succeeding in a globalized environment characterized by increased workforce mobility and international assignments. Intercultural competences discourse has a long track with researchers and practitioners, without any agreement on its definition or measurement, but with a clear message that cultural diversity will not result in increased intercultural competences. In this paper, intercultural competences are viewed as a transversal learning outcome, considering the increasing internationalization of higher education institutions. The research is qualitative in nature, based on the analysis of course evaluations and an open-ended survey. This study used a purposeful sample of current and former students who have been exposed to a diverse intercultural environment while studying at an international business school in Sweden. Based on the findings, a course design is suggested where exposure to cultural diversity is guided and facilitated by bringing students to collaborate in an assignment-driven context, with a culturally diverse group composition. Lecture-based components of the course are balanced with the addition of a component of self-reflection assignment, providing both culturally specific and general knowledge, thus contributing to the ability to extrapolate the experience on future intercultural encounters.

A four-country cross-case analysis of academic staff expectations about learning analytics in higher education

2021 ◽  
Vol 49 ◽  
pp. 100788
Author(s):  
Kaire Kollom ◽  
Kairit Tammets ◽  
Maren Scheffel ◽  
Yi-Shan Tsai ◽  
Ioana Jivet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Learning Analytics ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Case Analysis ◽  
Cross Case Analysis

Mapping the study of learning analytics in higher education

2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (10-11) ◽  
pp. 1142-1155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinzhuo Zhang ◽  
Xi Zhang ◽  
Shan Jiang ◽  
Patricia Ordóñez de Pablos ◽  
Yongqiang Sun
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Learning Analytics

Outcomes-based approach to quality assessment and curriculum improvement in higher education

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 158-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maureen Tam
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Quality Assessment ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Instructional Designers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Curriculum Improvement ◽  
Improving Student Learning ◽  
Views And Perceptions ◽  
Traditional Structures

Purpose – This paper was written for practitioners in higher education, including academics and instructional designers who are engaged in curriculum revision. It aims to examine the notion of outcomes-based education, survey the literature and provide a critical review of the outcomes-based approach to quality assessment and curriculum improvement in higher education. The outcomes-based approach is completely student-centred, which focuses on what students know and can actually do. Sharpening the focus onto student learning outcomes goes beyond mere tinkering with traditional structures and methods; it really constitutes a paradigm shift in educational philosophy and practice. Design/methodology/approach – This paper begins with a summary of developments in institutional quality assessment and curriculum improvement in higher education in recent decades. Then, it identifies the underlying concepts and principles that characterize the outcomes-based approach for the design and improvement of curriculum and instruction in higher education. Finally, the outcomes-based approach is critically reviewed for its value from the perspectives of both practical and philosophical considerations. Findings – In so doing, it is directed to the heightening of sensitivity as to the manner and situations in which the outcomes-based approach may be employed. Originality/value – A final note is that while learning outcomes approaches are useful, care is needed to take into account the different views and perceptions of those involved in defining learning outcomes and to keep the ultimate goal of improving student learning clearly in mind. Care must also be taken to avoid rigidity and conceptual reification during implementation in curriculum and instructional design.

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