Search Results for
"learning"

Authentic learning is a critical pedagogy and curriculum requirement in higher education to better prepare students for future workforce requirements. As such, educators adopt a range of authentic learning tasks such as work-integrated learning, industry reports, and field trips to enable student engagement in current industry issues. Although such actions are practical and have valuable impact on students, there has been little effort to narrow the theoretical gap. The present study addresses this by extending the authentic learning three-factor model (construction of knowledge, disciplined inquiry, and value beyond school) to evaluate the perceptions of educators in THE higher education towards their understanding and embeddedness of authentic elements in their teaching curriculum to better prepare industry-ready graduates. In-depth interviews were conducted with higher education THE academics (n = 21) in Australia, New Zealand, The Netherlands, and Scotland. Thematic analysis using NVivo revealed seven key themes within the authentic learning three-factor model: knowledge co-creation and scaffolding, customising knowledge and experiences, student engagement, educator capability, industry readiness, real-world problems, and meaningful connections. The proposed seven standards necessitate a paradigm shift in curriculum design, syllabus structuring, and student assessment within THE institutions. Emphasising industry-readiness as a core objective, educators must align their teaching approaches with the theoretical findings of this research to better prepare students for real-world challenges. © 2024 Society for Research into Higher Education.

This systematic review aims to examine empirical literature about advancing the social role of college-based higher education (CBHE). A thematic analysis of empirical evidence from the 58 included articles offers insights into the social role of CBHE, and the characteristics of CBHE colleges, students, and lecturers. The review indicated a growing research interest in CBHE and an increase in the geographical spread of such research as the provision has grown. It also highlighted the social role of CBHE including (i) widening higher education participation, (ii) responding to local employment needs for work-ready graduates and community development, and (iii) supporting social justice. Although there are differences in the organisation of CBHE across education systems, the review underscored the overwhelming agreement that the CBHE provision is designed to respond to two policy concerns. These are policies to increase economic competitiveness and productivity by providing learning that is industry aligned and cost effective, and policies to promote social justice and equity by providing supportive learning environments for a distinct group of students who otherwise would not access higher education. The review calls for vigilant policy to sustain the double role of CBHE and to avoid the prioritisation of education for the market. © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

The Industrial Revolution 4.0 in the 21st century has necessitated a shift in learning experiences and self-development to adapt to evolving learning mindsets and digital literacy demands. Teachers are encouraged to reduce administrative workloads that are not aligned with the digital age and focus on adopting digital-based learning models and media that suit modern student needs. This study aimed to implement and analyze the impact of case-based projects integrated with Building Information Modeling (BIM) software on civil engineering students’ understanding of interior building design. This mixed-methods research utilized a sequential explanatory design. A sample of 60 civil engineering students was selected through random sampling. Quantitative data were analyzed using path analysis, while qualitative data were examined through data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing/verification analysis. The findings indicate that the case-based project approach, integrated with BIM software, was effectively applied and positively impacted students’ skills in learning BIM. Students showed improved abilities to analyze, explore, and synthesize information through hands-on experience with real-world case-based projects. This study contributes a novel educational model by integrating technology with learning methods through case-based projects in BIM software. This innovation supports students in enhancing their analytical and problem-solving skills and aligns with the requirements of the Industrial Revolution 4.0. © 2025; Los autores.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a revolutionary force in education. This innovative and multifaceted technology is transforming several professional sectors where vocational education and training (VET) students face unprecedented challenges that demand continuous learning throughout their academic and professional life. That is why there is a need for specific, clear and coherent AI VET education plans that have a broad life cycle, a comprehensive scope of action and an evolutionary approach to take on board the constant and frenetic innovations in this field. This paper analyzes the current situation in Spain and suggests some tentative improvement actions to be implemented in this scenario of an increasingly competitive and digitized labor market, where adaptability and constant updating of skills are essential. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.

STEM education is crucial for driving economic growth, fostering technological innovation, and addressing global challenges in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2023, Malaysia and India emerged as leading contributors to STEM education. Malaysia excels with approximately 43.5% of tertiary students earning STEM degrees, while India, with 34.0% of its students in STEM, tops the global charts in STEM graduates due to its massive population of about 1.4 billion. With nine of the top ten emerging jobs by 2025 projected to be in STEM fields, these nations are well-positioned to meet future workforce demands. Recognizing this, we examined key challenges in STEM education and calls for strategic investments to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. We leveraged the PRISMA-ScR framework and content analysis of literature from 2010 to 2024, identifying seven STEM education challenges across all levels of educational institutions: Teaching practices, learning approaches, gender disparities, location, career interest, student enrollment, and student soft skills. The most pressing challenges in STEM education are teaching practices, learning approaches, and gender disparities, with issues most pronounced at the secondary school level and continuing into higher education. The study‘s findings advance theoretical understanding of STEM education obstacles and provide a foundation for further research. Practically, this work offers crucial insights for educators, policymakers, and stakeholders, enabling the development of targeted interventions to improve teaching quality, enhance learning experiences, and foster gender inclusivity in STEM. Addressing these issues is vital to advancing Sustainable Development Goal 4, promoting a more accessible, equitable, and impactful STEM education across the Asia-Pacific region. This study thus enriches the literature on the challenges of STEM education by offering a comprehensive, unbiased review of past research, drawing broader conclusions, and outlining pathways for future exploration. © 2025 AIMS Press.

The South African Department of Higher Education has emphasised the use of online learning (e-learning). Educational technology resources were used for e-learning, replacing face-to-face learning during the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). Consequently, with this transition and new developments in learning technologies, early career academics (ECAs) in one of the universities in South Africa faced various challenges in teaching language modules online. This qualitative case study intended to explore the experiences of ECAs in teaching language modules at a university during the transition from face-to-face to online learning. Data is generated from five ECAs who were purposively and conveniently sampled from the School of Education using reflective journals, and one-on-one semi-structured interviews. The technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) theory is used to guide the study towards understanding ECAs’ knowledge of technology, content, and pedagogy during online teaching of language modules. The Findings indicate that some of the ECAs expressed that online learning was not effective. The majority maintained that the online learning approach was effective. Nevertheless, there were numerous limitations, such as accessibility to technological devices (laptops), and language teacher’s state of readiness in adapting to the new approach. Therefore, more professional development programmes should be conducted and studies highlighting ECAs experiences. © 2024 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Introduction: digital content is a powerful tool for enhancing students’ interest in the learning process. The aim of the work is to determine the effectiveness of using Adobe Creative Cloud to create multimedia content in higher education institutions (HEIs). Method: the research employed the methods of observation, deduction, Thurstone scale, calculations of priority coefficient, knowledge coefficient and Student’s coefficient. Results: it was established that during training, Adobe Creative Cloud can be used to conduct theoretical and practical classes and develop students’ creative skills. It was established that charts (p(c)=1,2) and illustrations (p(c)=1,1) have the greatest importance in the created content for students’ perception. Textual information is less important for the perception of educational materials (p(c)=0,73). The students were found to perceive learning using Adobe Creative Cloud at a high level, which is associated with not overloading students with unnecessary materials and ensuring visual perception. The authors determined that students of Group 1 (Software Engineering) and Group 2 (History) achieved high academic results — (J=1,01), (J=1,0), respectively. Conclusions: the practical significance of the work is the possibility of expanding students’ approaches to building professional competence on the basis of content created using Adobe Creative Cloud. © 2025; Los autores.

The development of digital competence in adolescents is essential to the challenges of today’s society, which is strongly influenced by technology. Digital competence is no longer seen solely from the perspective of technical proficiency, as it now involves cognitive, social, and objective skills, which are all necessary for an effective and capable use of digital technologies, both in school activities and for personal use. This study aims to carry out various comparisons (regarding to gender, schooling, school location, parents’ academic qualification, help with school tasks, and reading habits) regarding the five areas of the DigComp project: information, communication, content creation, security, and digital problem solving. An adaptation of the ECODIES v2 tool was used (assessment of digital competence of compulsory education students) and applied to a sample of 810 young people aged 11 to 19 years, students in schools in the district of Viana do Castelo, Portugal. The main results show schooling, school location, and help with school tasks are not determinants in acquiring better digital competences; girls are digitally more competent than boys; students with parents with a lower level of education have lower digital competences; students who have reading habits (not related to school activities) have better digital competences. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.

In an effort to boost engagement while also nurturing 21st century skills such as collaboration and critical thinking, a growing number of U.S. public schools have expanded opportunities for students to engage in applied learning experiences via projects. This conceptual article explores the under-examined relationship between such experiences and the logic of neoliberal capitalism. The author explores how project-based learning, despite its potential as a lever for equity, sometimes takes up neoliberal capitalist tropes such as individualism, competition, profit maximization, the commodification of learner-made artifacts, and market-based solutions to social problems. The article suggests that until the field embraces approaches to project-based learning which include a Freirian emphasis on criticality and praxis, capitalist logic will persist as a mechanism by which “real world” learning can perpetuate all-too-real systems of oppression. © The Author(s) 2025.

This article explores a small number of African international students’ narratives on their identity work through work-integrated learning (WIL) in Chinese higher education. Applying a sociological use of the ‘possible selves’ concept to interview data, the findings show that individual participants accumulate a pool of like-to-be, aspire-to-be and like-to-avoid selves through navigating their WIL programs, which are reflective of the sociocultural, where the physical spaces young people inhabit (e.g. nation-states, family, schooling and employment) contribute to what selves are (im)possible for them, which are probable, which are ideal and which are feared. This study moves beyond the overwhelming dominance of the pragmatic and utilitarian aspects of WIL as merely enhancing student employability and competitiveness in current research, as I articulate the value of WIL in critical awareness raising and sense of (professional) self-making, which is an important, yet often hidden, outcome of WIL. © 2024 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.