Kolb's experiential learning cycle is perhaps the most scholarly influential and cited model regarding experiential learning theory. However, a key issue in interpreting Kolb's model concerns a lack ...of clarity regarding what constitutes a concrete experience, exactly. A systematic literature review was conducted in order to examine: what constitutes a concrete experience and what is the nature of treatment of a concrete experience in experiential learning? The analysis revealed five themes: learners are involved, active, participants; knowledge is situated in place and time; learners are exposed to novel experiences, which involves risk; learning demands inquiry to specific real-world problems; and critical reflection acts as a mediator of meaningful learning. Accordingly, a revision to Kolb's model is proposed: experiential learning consists of contextually rich concrete experience, critical reflective observation, contextual-specific abstract conceptualization, and pragmatic active experimentation. Further empirical studies are required to test the model proposed.
Although there is a consensus on the instructional potential of Serious Games (SGs), there is still a lack of methodologies and tools not only for design but also to support analysis and assessment. ...Filling this gap is one of the main aims of the Games and Learning Alliance (http://www.galanoe.eu) European Network of Excellence on Serious Games, which has a focus upon pedagogy‐driven SGs. This paper relies on the assumption that the fundamental aspect of SG design consists in the translation of learning goals/practices into mechanical element of gameplay, serving to an instructional purpose beside that of play and fun. This paper proposes the Learning Mechanics–Game Mechanics (LM‐GM) model, which supports SG analysis and design by allowing reflection on the various pedagogical and game elements in an SG. The LM‐GM model includes a set of pre‐defined game mechanics and pedagogical elements that we have ed from literature on game studies and learning theories. Designers and analysts can exploit these mechanics to draw the LM‐GM map for a game, so as to identify and highlight its main pedagogical and entertainment features, and their interrelations. The tool may also be useful for teachers to evaluate the effectiveness of a given game and better understand how to implement it in educational settings. A case study is reported to illustrate the framework's support in determining how gameplay and pedagogy intertwine in an SG. Finally, the paper presents the results of two comparative user tests demonstrating the advantages of the proposed model with respect to a similar state‐of‐the‐art framework.
Shifts in educational research, in how scholarship in higher education is defined, and in how funding is appropriated suggest that educators within basic science fields can benefit from increased ...understanding of learning theory and how it applies to classroom practice. This article uses a mock curriculum design scenario as a framework for the introduction of five major learning theories. Foundational constructs and principles from each theory and how they apply to the proposed curriculum designs are described. A summative table that includes basic principles, constructs, and classroom applications as well as the role of the teacher and learner is also provided for each theory.
Background
Engineering and technology students need to acquire, evaluate, apply, and document information to solve complex ill‐defined problems. However, there are few assessment tools to evaluate ...how these students approach information.
Purpose
The authors integrated information literacy standards with self‐directed learning theory to create the self‐directed information literacy (SIL) scale as an assessment of students' self‐directedness using high‐quality information skills in engineering projects. The purpose of this research is to examine the measurement properties of SIL to inform the use and interpretation of SIL's scores among diverse learners.
Method
The authors administered SIL to first‐year engineering and technology students (n = 1,603). To test three hypotheses about SIL scores related to validity, reliability, and fairness, we conducted a series of psychometric analyses, including confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and measurement invariance between groups.
Results
The results of the CFA were acceptable for the proposed higher‐order factor structure of SIL and a separate Beginner Behavior factor. Measurement models for male and female scores were found invariant; however, there were measurement differences between groups of students based on their experience with instruction in the English language.
Conclusions
SIL can be scored to assess engineering and technology students' specific SIL subfactors (Recognize, Seek, Evaluate, Apply, Document, and Reflect) or scored as an overall broader measure of self‐directedness with information. A separate factor, Beginner Behavior, can be used to moderate ceiling effects. SIL scores can be used for gender comparisons but should be carefully evaluated when the sample includes students who are new to curriculum and instruction in the English language.
In artwork appreciation activities, visiting physical exhibitions in art museums is often limited by time, distance and cost. Thus, conventional teaching is mostly conducted through textbooks, ...presentation slides or videos. However, by presenting artwork appreciation through a lecture, it is difficult for students to feel the beauty of artworks, and they can hardly develop accurate appreciation knowledge and critical thinking. To tackle this problem, this study proposed an experiential learning‐based spherical video‐based virtual reality (EL‐SVVR) learning approach based on the experiential learning theory to guide students to browse world‐famous artworks and experience the features of artwork creation. This study developed an EL‐SVVR learning system and adopted a quasi‐experimental design to determine whether the EL‐SVVR learning approach improved students' performance in artwork appreciation in comparison with the conventional teaching approach. A total of 45 university students from two classes who participated in an elective art course were recruited in the study. One class was assigned to be the experimental group and adopted the EL‐SVVR learning approach, while the other class was assigned to be the control group and adopted the conventional technology‐supported learning (CTL) approach. The results showed that in comparison with the CTL approach, the EL‐SVVR learning approach enhanced students' learning achievement, learning motivation, self‐efficacy, critical thinking and performance in digital painting creation during artwork appreciation.
Practitioner notes
What is already known about this topic
Spherical video‐based virtual reality (SVVR) situates students in a simulated environment that enables them to have deep experience regarding the learning contexts.
SVVR has great potential in promoting students' learning performance by providing them situational contexts.
What this paper adds
An SVVR‐based experiential learning approach is proposed to facilitate students' artwork creation.
In addition to promoting students' learning outcomes, the EL‐SVVR learning approach could better facilitate students' learning achievement, learning motivation, critical thinking, self‐efficacy, and performance in painting creation.
Implications for practice and/or policy
SVVR is a potential technology for implementing experiential learning activities; in particular, in improving students' creative thinking for artwork creation.
It is potentially worth trying to apply the SVVR technology to other courses related to artwork creation to promote learners' learning performances and perceptions.
It is worth promoting the SVVR approach in school settings since it is a low‐tech and low‐cost solution with potentially positive impacts on students' learning outcomes.
Technology-enhanced learning research, such as that relating to the use of online technologies in formal learning contexts, is sometimes criticised for being under-theorised. This paper draws ...together areas of research and theory that have previously been somewhat separately treated, to support the integrated analysis and research of situations where technology mediates learning. First, key areas of research and theory relating to technology-mediated learning are introduced, along with their associated conceptual underpinnings and assumptions, in terms of premises. These areas are then explained with relation to one another regarding how they can be used to holistically understand learning in contexts where technology mediates learning. The implications of the theoretical concepts are discussed in terms of the future conduct of technology-mediated learning research, as well as the scope and conditions under which the theorisations apply. Author abstract
This study adopted a sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach and followed the Vygotskian social-constructivist theory of learning to explore the impact of wiki-mediated collaborative writing on ...English as a foreign language (EFL) students' writing performance, writing self-regulation, and writing self-efficacy. To this aim, two intact classes were selected and randomly assigned to experimental group with 35 EFL students and control group with 32 EFL students. Over the period of one term (almost 12 ninety-minute sessions), the students were aimed to co-construct and improve their writing performance, writing self-regulation, and writing self-efficacy through collaborative writing activities. In the experimental group, the EFL students received wiki-mediated collaborative writing instruction, while in the control group the EFL students experienced face-to-face (non-wiki) collaborative writing instruction. Two timed writing tasks, second language writing self-regulation and writing self-efficacy scales, and an individual semi-structured interview were conducted to collect the required data. Additionally, the types and frequencies of the students' writing mediations in the wiki-mediated collaborative writing group were identified. The quantitative data were analysed using paired samples t-tests and one-way ANCOVA, and language-related episodes and thematic analyses were applied to analyse the qualitative data. The quantitative data analyses indicated that both wiki-mediated and non-wiki collaborative writing instructions improved the writing performance, writing self-regulation, and writing self-efficacy of the EFL students. The quantitative data analyses also showed that the EFL students in wiki-mediated collaborative writing group outperformed those in the non-wiki collaborative writing group. The qualitative data analyses uncovered a number of peer writing mediations contributing to the EFL students' writing content (i.e. clarity of the produced message), writing organisation (i.e. sequencing of information), and language use (i.e. grammar, lexicon, & writing mechanics) in the wiki space. The qualitative data analyses further indicated the EFL students' positive attitudes and perceptions towards wiki-mediated collaborative writing. Pedagogical implications are further discussed.
There are many theories that explain how adults learn and each has its own merits. This Guide explains and explores the more commonly used ones and how they can be used to enhance student and faculty ...learning. The Guide presents a model that combines many of the theories into a flow diagram which can be followed by anyone planning learning. The schema can be used at curriculum planning level, or at the level of individual learning. At each stage of the model, the Guide identifies the responsibilities of both learner and educator. The role of the institution is to ensure that the time and resources are available to allow effective learning to happen. The Guide is designed for those new to education, in the hope that it can unravel the difficulties in understanding and applying the common learning theories, whilst also creating opportunities for debate as to the best way they should be used.
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