Active and online

Three case studies of learner engagement

Authors

  • Stephanie Wilson The University of Sydney
  • Carmen Vallis The University of Sydney
  • Elaine Huber The University of Sydney https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7964-9096
  • Dewa Wardak The University of Sydney

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14742/apubs.2023.528

Keywords:

active learning, interactivity, self-paced learning, immediate feedback

Abstract

Much of the literature on flipped classrooms emphasises the physical classroom as the primary site for active learning, relegating the online environment to a place where content is delivered prior to students attending a workshop or tutorial. However, researchers have highlighted the rich opportunities for embedding interactivity in the online space and demonstrated positive impacts on the student experience. In this paper we discuss how interactivity was embedded in self-paced online modules as part of the redesign of three large courses at The University of Sydney Business School. In these courses, lectures were replaced with weekly, self-paced, media-rich online modules involving opportunities for active learning and immediate feedback. Course developments and impacts on student experience are presented through three mini case studies underpinned by evaluation embedded in a design-based research approach. The developments were conducted as part of a major strategic educational project in the Business School called Connected Learning at Scale (CLaS).

Author Biographies

Stephanie Wilson, The University of Sydney

Stephanie Wilson is a Senior Lecturer and Deputy Director (CLaS Project) with Business Co-Design (BCD). Prior to this she worked with Educational Innovation in Business as Academic Lead, Teaching Practice. From 2014-2019 she was responsible for the development, implementation and evaluation of a range of professional development programs in the Business School including the Tutor Development Program. In 2017-2018 she coordinated the Educational Practice in Business Research Group and co-convened the Innovative Learning Spaces SIG for the Centre for Research on Learning and Innovation. She is a Senior Fellow (SFHEA) of Advance HE (UK) and an assessor and mentor for the Sydney Educational Fellowship Program. Her research spans peer learning, educational futures, studio learning, and the designed environment in higher education.

Carmen Vallis, The University of Sydney

Carmen Vallis leads co-design projects with business academics and a multidisciplinary team, with the goal of making learning and teaching better for all. Her teaching and research is informed by her work across the higher education, secondary, vocational and adult education sectors in English, Creative Writing and Information and Communication Technologies. As an educational designer and developer, she explores the intersection between creativity, educational technology and learning design. Her expertise is in digital design pedagogies, the research and evaluation of educational innovations, including emerging educational design processes.

As a creative writer, her fiction and creative non-fiction have been published under the name CJ Vallis in Blue Nib Literary Magazine (Issue 42), Other Terrain Journal(Vol 9), Grieve 2019 Anthology(Vol 7), SWAMP(Issue 21), 2018, and she won the 2019 UTS Writing Anthology prize. She was runner-up in the Byron Writers Festival 2019 Flash Fiction competition, and has been longlisted for the Joanne Burns and Microflix Writing Awards. She has reviewed for Plumwood Mountain Journal, and also peer reviews student creative writing for Exclamat!on: An Interdisciplinary Journal. She is also a PhD candidate in creative writing.

Elaine Huber, The University of Sydney

Elaine has been designing curriculum and teaching adults for over 20 years and is currently the Academic Director of the Business Co-Design team at the University of Sydney. Elaine leads this multiskilled team of educational developers, learning designers, media producers and research associates, working together with discipline staff, students and industry partners on a large strategic project called Connected Learning at Scale.

Elaine’s philosophy of teaching takes a student-centred approach and incorporates active and collaborative learning to improve the student experience. Elaine has a Master of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, a Master of Education (ICT) and her PhD is in Educational Evaluation.Her other research interests include design and development of blended professional development programs for teaching staff as well as the efficacy of different methods of delivery including flipped and the intensive (compressed) modes.

Elaine is an alumni of Homeward Bound- a global leadership initiative set against the backdrop of Antarctica, which aims to heighten the influence and impact of women in making decisions that shape our planet.

Dewa Wardak, The University of Sydney

With a background in Learning Sciences, Dewa Wardak leads the design, development, and evaluation of large units of study at the Business School. Working as part of the multidisciplinary Business Co-Design team, Dewa collaborates with academics at the Business School to transform the learner experience through co-designing engaging and authentic activities and assessments. Dewa is a Fellow of Advance HE (UK) and had been a teacher educator at the Sydney School of Education and Social Work for many years before joining the Business School. Combining her passion for technology supported learning with educational design, she explores broad areas of research including networked learning, pattern languages, meaningful learning experiences for students in higher education, multimodal approaches to the analysis of learning and teaching, and research supervision and mentoring.

Dewa is a member of the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC1) at the University of Sydney and is passionate about the ethical conduct of research, particularly by students. Outside university, she has volunteered on community projects since 2014 and is passionate about supporting and mentoring women from diverse and refugee backgrounds to attain higher education qualifications.

ASCILITE 2023 Conference logo: People, Partnerships and Pedagogies

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Published

2023-11-28

Issue

2023: ASCILITE 2023 Conference Proceedings: People, Partnerships and Pedagogies

Section

ASCILITE Conference - Full Papers

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Stephanie Wilson, Dewa, Carmen, Elaine

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.