My organization, the North Carolina Educational Computing Service (NCECS), is a regional computer center currently serving forty institutions of higher education in North Carolina. We have been heavily involved in faculty training since our network began in 1967. After about two years of network operation, we realized that computer usage in disciplines other than computer science was very limited. We saw a need for efforts by the central staff to develop computer use in the physical sciences, the social sciences, business administration, etc. I would like to spend my time today not on technical training but on NCECS activities to promote computer use in a variety of disciplines—an area we call “curriculum development.”We received a grant from the National Science Foundation 2-1/2 years ago to support a statewide program of cooperative curriculum development. The program has included collection and development of curriculum materials, introducing the materials to faculties and students across the state through workshops, documentation, and supporting the materials by both technical and information services. One of the first things we did was to create a position of Curriculum Development Manager on the central staff, and to obtain someone who was primarily an educator (with broad interests in computer applications) rather than a computer scientist. The program described below has been managed by Dr. Joe Denk, Curriculum Development Manager for NCECS, and the following description was derived from his reports.

Faculty development

Contribution: This paper reports a curriculum development in hybrid problem-based learning (h-PBL), addresses the design, implementation, effectiveness, and assessment issues of h-PBL, and explains the mixed results observed regarding the impact of problem-based learning (PBL) on student grades from a hybrid perspective. Background: The effect of PBL on student learning is difficult to analyze. Empirical research on h-PBL has been scant in the engineering education field. Intended Outcomes: The hybrid approach described in this paper can be used to guide other course designs. Future research directions are also provided in order to better capture the positive effects of PBL on student learning. Application Design: A 3-D imaging project was developed and implemented using h-PBL. A non-parametric hypothesis test was conducted to compare four-year student performance data collected after the implementation of h-PBL with four-year student performance data collected under traditional lecturing; both sets of students were taught by the same instructor. Findings: Student project grades improved after h-PBL, whereas student cumulative course grades did not show significant improvement. The study suggests that higher ratios and weights of PBL, better timing in introducing PBL, and more integrated course components in the hybrid approach may further improve student performance.

Hybrid Problem-Based Learning in Digital Image Processing: A Case Study

The significance of the field of practice ‘Learning Development’ in UK higher education

Computer technologies are widely used to facilitate teaching of creative problem solving and to help engineers in their dayto-day work. To ensure effective utilisation in engineering practice, it is imperative to better understand the problem solving process itself. This research used an exploratory approach (Grounded Theory) to understand the complexities of engineering problem solving. Interview data from 22 engineers ranging from novice to experts, including 15 male and 7 female engineers were discussed. The participants believed that problem identification is the most crucial stage in good problem solving. 'Options' were identified as deterrents to long-term development of problem solving ability. It was established that it is necessary to boost self-efficacy of young engineers and make them willing to face challenges despite 'options'. Participants also suggested that conscious understanding and awareness of their own problem solving strategy is vital to the development of their problem solving skills. Findings from this paper provide new insights on how engineers develop their problem solving skills and can be used to improve existing theories on problem solving. These findings have implications on general educational strategy, as well as the development and implementation of computer technology for engineering problem solving

Long-term innovative problem solving skills: Redefining problem solving

Problem based learning in radiography education: A narrative review

Problem Based Learning (PBL) is a learning and teaching strategy which endeavours to promote active learning by giving control of the process to the learner. This involves using open-ended and unstructured problems to trigger learning. The students have to analyse the problems, decide what they need to know and, having gained the knowledge, develop appropriate solutions. Group work is an integral part of the strategy, with the sharing and evaluation of learning forming an essential element in the development of solutions. As the students are given control over the detailed curriculum and are required to evaluate and apply their learning, a greater sense of ownership is engendered than would be by the more traditional education process. This, coupled with the excitement of exploration inherent in PBL, creates a noticeable ‘buzz’ among the learners. However, a number of difficulties arise when implementing PBL, especially when attempting to integrate it into a course of study delivered largely using traditional teaching methods. Some of these difficulties are inherent in the PBL process while others arise from the juxtaposition of the two strategies. This paper details the introduction of PBL to one unit of an otherwise traditionally taught programme and discusses some of the implications of this.

http://www.reading.ac.uk/nmsruntime/saveasdialog.aspx?lID=77427&sID=293937

Implications of introducing problem-based learning in a traditionally taught course

The National Action Research Network (NARN) on Researching and Evaluating Personal Development Planning (PDP) and e-Portfolio was funded through the Higher Education Academy National Teaching Fellowship Scheme in 2007. It brought together a partnership of people from 16 English Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) who were already members of national PDP networks A¢â¬â most significantly the Centre for Recording Achievement. The broader project aim was to develop research capacity among PDP practitioners and in order to help keep this aim manageable, smaller groups based on regional groupings were set up. Although the membership did come together to share experiences at national events, it was thought that the smaller groups would be more manageable units for the more concentrated work of setting up local research projects. Each group member came with an idea for a research project, many of which are exemplified in this special edition, and over the course of the three years regional groups met to review, feedback and build on the research they had been undertaking. This brief article describes the experiences of the three regional groups and concludes that there are a number of characteristics that contribute to the success of a community of practice, including notions of joint enterprise, shared repertoire and mutual engagement, but success in achieving these relies on shared commitments and the development of trust and respect amongst the group members.

/pdf/forming-communities-of-practice-42dgm12f96.pdf

Forming communities of practice

This article reflects on the potential of communities and networks, and on the relationship between the Learning Development in Higher Education Network (LDHEN), the Association for Learning Development in Higher Education (ALDinHE) and the LearnHigher CETL.

/pdf/developing-learning-together-learning-development-networks-5g6oyye0jz.pdf

Christine Keenan

Papers

Implications of introducing problem-based learning in a traditionally taught course

Forming communities of practice

Developing Learning Together - Learning Development Networks and LearnHigher