Learning Projects (learning + project)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


When groups decide to use asynchronous online discussions: collaborative learning and social presence under a voluntary participation structure

JOURNAL OF COMPUTER ASSISTED LEARNING, Issue 2 2009
H.-J. So
Abstract The purpose of this study is to explore how groups decide to use asynchronous online discussion forums in a non-mandatory setting, and, after the group decision is made, how group members use online discussion forums to complete a collaborative learning project requiring complex data gathering and research processes. While a large body of research on computer-mediated communication (CMC) has documented successful intervention strategies to promote and sustain online discussion forums, little of the research has examined the use of online discussion forums in voluntarily contexts, wherein the decision to use online discussion forums is a personal decision and participation is not a graded component. This study approaches the research questions using a naturalistic case study of one graduate-level blended learning course with 55 students. Employing both student interviews and content analysis methods, this study revealed that the factors affecting the group decision to use online discussion forums are (1) successful or unsuccessful experiences during the first trial, (2) perceived affordances of CMC tools, and (3) the interplay between the nature of collaborative tasks and perceived efficiency. The content analysis of online postings in two voluntary groups revealed that when groups decided to use online discussion forums, participation levels were almost equal among individual group members, and discussion threads were sustained until the final completion of the collaborative project. [source]


Johnson & Johnson's transformational leadership program prepares quality leaders for global challenges

GLOBAL BUSINESS AND ORGANIZATIONAL EXCELLENCE, Issue 2 2010
Cindy L. Crosby
The health care giant, faced with gaps in its pipeline for executives in the Quality function, constructed a potent yearlong development experience around action learning and a strong international focus. The program's successful five-year run has produced a strong stable of high-potential individuals prepared to lead in a global business. The authors discuss the structure and content of the program, the role of faculty and coaches, and the benefits of action learning projects and exercises for group and individual development, including how failure can lead to pivotal teaching moments, as illustrated through the experience of participants in the Class of 2009. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]


Action learning helps PepsiCo's sales leaders develop business acumen and innovation skills

GLOBAL BUSINESS AND ORGANIZATIONAL EXCELLENCE, Issue 4 2007
Jay Cone
To help sales leaders understand their customers' business and innovate ways to create value for customers, PepsiCo's Strategic Customer Leadership Forum combines executive involvement, multiple learning modalities, and action learning projects that focus on real work and produce real gains for PepsiCo and its customers. A fast-paced curriculum enhanced with technology,including computer-based simulations and online assessments,emphasizes experiential learning in the context of addressing actual customer issues and goals. Executive sponsorship of action learning teams and selection of projects "keeps it real" and builds high-level commitment to the learning process. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]


How academics use technology in teaching and learning: understanding the relationship between beliefs and practice

JOURNAL OF COMPUTER ASSISTED LEARNING, Issue 2 2006
J. D. Bain
Abstract This paper reports on a detailed investigation into the beliefs and practices of teachers in 22 computer-assisted learning projects in Australia in the mid-1990s. Detailed interview data were obtained, supported by the project software and other curriculum materials. The interview transcripts and documentary material were collated and condensed into rich descriptions; these were then coded on a number of belief and practice dimensions. The resulting profiles were clustered into five belief,practice categories: thoughtful instructors, pre-emptive professionals, conversational constructivists, learning facilitators and situated knowledge negotiators. These complex, yet interpretable, patterns of relationships between beliefs and practices are useful in understanding teachers' reluctance to change their teaching, one instance of which is the relatively limited uptake of technology in higher education. [source]


Imagining the Future: What Anarchism Brings to Education

JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION, Issue 1 2009
JENNIFER LOGUE
The authors review Judith Suissa's provocative book, Anarchism and Education: A Philosophical Perspective, a text that demonstrates the central role of education in anarchist theory. Suissa compellingly argues against the charges that anarchism is overly idealistic and impractical, instead seeing its potential for innovative and liberatory educational change. The authors suggest, however, that an enhanced conversation among critical pedagogy, antiracist pedagogy and anarchist thinking on education can help to show both the continued relevance of radical and creative thinking, and that anarchist thought has been part of the development of oppositional, critical, collaborative, teaching and learning projects. [source]


The quality of questions and use of resources in self-directed learning: Personal learning projects in the maintenance of certification

THE JOURNAL OF CONTINUING EDUCATION IN THE HEALTH PROFESSIONS, Issue 2 2009
T. Horsley PhD
Abstract Introduction: To engage effectively and efficiently in self-directed learning and knowledge-seeking practices, it is important that physicians construct well-formulated questions; yet, little is known about the quality of good questions and their relationship to self-directed learning or to change in practice behavior. Methods: Personal learning projects (PLPs) submitted to the Canadian Maintenance of Certification program were examined to include underlying characteristics, quality of therapeutic questions (population, intervention, comparator, outcome [PICO] mnemonic), and relationships between stage of change and level of evidence used to resolve questions. Results: We assessed 1989 submissions (from 559 Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada [RCPSC]). The majority of submissions were by males (69.2%) aged 40,59 (59.4%) with an average of 24.3 (range 6,58, SD 11.1) years since graduation. The most frequent submissions were treatment (36.6%) and diagnosis (22.3%) questions. Half of all questions described ,2 components (PICO), and only 3.7% of questions included all 4 components. Cross tabulations indicated only 1 significant trend for the use of narrative reviews and the outcome "integrating new knowledge' (P < .000). Discussion: Self-directed learning skills comprise an important strategy for specialists maintaining or expanding their expertise in patient care, but an important obstacle to answering patient care questions is the ability to formulate good ones. Engagement in most major learning activities is stimulated by management of a single patient: formal accredited group learning events are of limited value in starting episodes of self-directed learning. Low levels of evidence used to address learning projects. Future research should determine how best to improve the quality of questions submitted and whether or not these changes result in increased efficiencies, more appropriate uses of evidence, and increased changes in practice behaviors. [source]