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Contributions: This article provides valuable insights into the varying approaches of engineering students in their understanding and application of project-based learning (PBL) and its relationship with student success. The findings can be used to improve the design and implementation of effective learning environments, evaluate the effectiveness of engineering education programs, and advance the current understanding of the relationship between PBL and knowledge acquisition in engineering. Background: Previous research has demonstrated that PBL has become a significant teaching and learning method in engineering education. It has resulted in considerable progress in students’ problem-solving and critical thinking skills, teamwork, and technical concept communication. However, there is still a lack of exploration on how engineering students perceive PBL from their standpoint and how their conceptions influence student learning. This study aims to contribute to the currently limited comprehension of PBL from the students’ perspective. Research Questions: What are the qualitatively different ways engineering students conceptualize PBL, and how does PBL contribute to knowledge and skill acquisition? Methodology: A phenomenographic approach was used to gather data from engineering students who had experienced PBL in their course. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather rich and detailed data about the students’ conceptions of PBL. The data was then analyzed using a phenomenographic framework to identify how engineering students conceived PBL. Findings: Students’ conceptions of PBL are not uniform but vary in five different pedagogical beliefs that shape how they act in the PBL environment. The different conceptions of PBL in engineering education suggest that instructors need to communicate the learning objectives of PBL more clearly to students, and design PBL activities that cater to the diverse needs and expectations of students.

ABSTRACTIt is becoming apparent that generative AI has significant implications for education. However, previous technologies that have had a large impact, such as calculators, do not provide a suitable model for understanding how generative AI can and will be used in learning. Drawing on research on human-computer interactions, we map out a typology of possible student-to-generative AI relationships to afford a more nuanced discussion about what these new technologies can and should be used for in learning. Our contribution in this article is to offer a typology for considering the range of possible interactions across two dimensions of relationships. In doing so, we argue that there is not a single metaphor for the relationship between humans and AI in learning, but many.

As complex global problems increasingly require the knowledge and skills of a broad array of disciplines, existing pedagogical approaches need to shift to support graduates to develop the skills necessary for innovation. This article reports on an experimental design studio that asked students from the disciplines of architecture, business and arts to work collaboratively to propose innovative solutions to complex real-world problems. While bringing other disciplines into the design studio is not new, in previously reported examples students were provided well-defined parameters for assessment tasks, alongside clear expectations for how disciplines should work together. The studio reported here provided students with the agency to define their own artefacts in response to the problems facing palliative care, and to decide how they would work together in the process of that production. Within this context, students were forced to examine their own disciplinary limitations and to find strategies for working beyond those, and in doing so, move beyond the recognized limitations of inter- and multi-disciplinary approaches to problem solving. To understand the value of this learning experience, extensive data were gathered from students in addition to educator observations. This article provides advice for design educators wanting to augment the studio learning environment through transdisciplinary collaboration, as well as those beyond the design disciplines who may be interested in utilizing this learning approach.

ABSTRACTThe necessity of incorporating technologies into higher education has been met with a movement towards large-scale, institutional approaches to blended learning. This article reports on a qualitative study of academic learning experiences in the early implementation stage of an institutional approach to blended learning at a research-intensive university. We conducted focus groups with ten academics involved in the early phase of an institutionally driven blended learning initiative. Thematic analysis revealed that academics cared for students’ perspectives and being able to feed it back into their practices drove the blending process, but they were de-motivated by a lack of agency in designing and implementing their courses. Academics were also concerned about the effectiveness of blending for student learning and did not feel cared for by the university. A lack of collaborative dialogue left academics struggling to adjust. Through a lens of an ethic of care, we highlight the danger of a ‘care-less’ climate that impedes professional learning and promotes inefficacy and cynicism. We argue for a need to change top-down approaches to implementing blended learning; to develop policies that consider the impact on academic needs and appreciate their value as human beings, and through developing supportive relationships that enable individuals to innovate and have agency to drive the process for the betterment of student learning.

As higher education transitions from an exclusivist to a more accessible endeavour, class sizes are continuously increasing, prompting academics to explore different strategies to facilitate quality learning. In this paper, we explore the current practices of Australian biochemistry and molecular biology academics to understand how academics cope with the mass education context, and whether there are specific blocks to the introduction of active learning into these classrooms. We utilised inductive thematic analysis to identify the themes underpinning the pedagogical practices of a selection of academics in biochemistry and molecular biology. These data indicated that these academics: (1) consider themselves to be, and are, traditional teachers; (2) believe that their students will learn better the way that they were taught at university; (3) are trying to shift their teaching from traditional to non-traditional; and (4) practice reflective teaching. These findings suggest that these pedagogical practices are primarily influenced by the academics’ own presumptions and educational beliefs on how the specific discipline should be taught. Engagement in professional development appears to be influencing some academics to shift their teaching towards a more active and student-centred focus, but still, a lack of formal education qualification is holding many academics back from fully engaging with current pedagogical best practice. The findings in this study are broadly applicable to many higher education disciplines.

ABSTRACTQuestions such as ‘what is value in the student experience?’ and ‘how do we measure or assess value in higher education?’ remain an under-researched area. However, in the context of marketisation and competitive forces in higher education, there is a need to unpack what is value in the student experience. In this article, a conceptualisation of value that can be applied in higher education (known as value-in-use) is introduced and applied to a specific and increasingly important aspect of the student experience – student–staff partnerships. Qualitative survey data (n = 97) and interviews (n = 35) from ten cases of various manifestations of student–staff partnerships in the Australasian context is presented and assessed in relation to value. The findings highlight that student–staff partnerships may enhance value in the student experience and that value-in-use may be an appropriate lens through which to continue to explore how value is created and measured in the student experience.

Testing can do more than just determine what a student knows; it can aid the learning process, a phenomenon known as the testing effect. There is a growing trend for students to create and share self-assessment questions in their subject, as advocated by the contributing-student pedagogy (CSP). For subjects with large enrolments, this process can be facilitated by educational technology. PeerWise is an example of such technology. It is free, web-based software that allows students to author, share, answer, and provide feedback on multiple-choice quizzes in a collaborative and constructivist fashion. While it is popular, it is unclear to what degree it facilitates student learning. To evaluate its effectiveness, we introduced PeerWise into a second-year psychology subject. We measured the extent to which it increased scores in the final exam. We found that PeerWise did significantly increase exam scores, so was a useful learning aid.

ABSTRACT‘Early career’ in academia is typically defined in terms of research capability in the five years following PhD completion, with career progression from post-doctoral appointment to tenure, promotion and beyond. This ideal path assumes steady employment and continuous research development. With academic work increasingly casualised, experiences of ‘early career’ are changing and definitions in use by institutions and research bodies do not reflect the lived experiences of early career academics (ECAs). This paper presents five collective narratives and a thematic analysis of survey data from 522 ECAs in three Australian universities. The results offer insights into the diverse experiences of the early stages of academic careers and provide an opportunity to reconsider current definitions. We argue that the employment context in higher education makes it crucial to consider scholars’ self-definitions alongside existing objective indicators to redefine early career in academia.

Learning styles have been widely accepted in pedagogical practice but suffer from a distinct lack of empirical support. While a diverse range of learning styles have been proposed, modality preference has received the most attention within educational research and practice. Supporters of this theory posit that each individual has a dominant sense and that when new material is presented in this preferred modality, learning is improved. For the most part this theory has been debunked, however, it leaves open the question of exactly how sensory modality influences learning. This critical review identifies methodological limitations in previous research and provides a perspective from psychological science, which supports the implausibility of modality preference as a basis for instructional design. To extend on the existing literature, an alternative position is presented suggesting that modality effects are task dependent, hence modality matters, but it matters for everyone in the same way depending on the nature of the learning activity.

Each year tens of thousands of higher education students complete the Student Experience Survey. We suggest the data from the 2021 survey released today no longer adequately capture students' experience of study. [Extracted from the article]

In this paper, we argue that a particular set of issues mars traditional assessment practices. They may be difficult for educators to design and implement; only provide discrete snapshots of performance rather than nuanced views of learning; be unadapted to the particular knowledge, skills, and backgrounds of participants; be tailored to the culture of schooling rather than the cultures schooling is designed to prepare students to enter; and assess skills that humans routinely use computers to perform. We review extant artificial intelligence approaches that–at least partially–address these issues and critically discuss whether these approaches present additional challenges for assessment practice.

Help-seeking is an essential self-regulatory and metacognitive skill. In the online learning environment, much of the learning is self-directed and there are generally less opportunities to receive help in real time. The uses of email and discussion boards are the most common method of seeking help in these environments. The current study explored students’ perceptions of the use of live chat technology for online academic help-seeking within higher education, with a focus on comparing online and blended learners’ perspectives. Participants were 246 students who were studying psychology online (n= 91) or in blended learning (n= 155) environments. The live chat technology was well received by both groups, especially for its ability to provide instant, real-time, and convenient help. Live chat was particularly well received by online learners, who were more satisfied, felt more cared about by the teaching team, and would be more likely to recommend it to others than blended learners. Further, online learners reported that live chat gave them better access to staff, and felt that this feature was a good approximation for more traditional face-to-face conversations. As an online, synchronous, private help-seeking tool between student and teacher, these findings provide a strong endorsement for the use of live chat in higher education, particularly for online learners.

The article offers the insights of three Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia Inc. (HERDSA) members such as Kelly Matthews, Jason Lodge, and Agnes Bosanquet on their survey regarding early career academics' (ECAs) professional development and scholarship of research and teaching. They discuss the significance of research for academic success, the influence of institution on scholarship research, and the impacts of discipline background on their scholarship beliefs.