[publication] Should Universities partner with NGOs? A Case Study of a University of Technology and a Coding School for Refugees #research

At this years‘ EDEN conference we made a publication titled „Should Universities partner with NGOs? A Case Study of a University of Technology and a Coding School for Refugees

Abstract:
This paper explores the advantages of a University-NGO Partnership between the Faculty of Informatics at Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna) and the NGO „refugees{code}-, a coding school for refugees in Vienna, Austria. The goal of this collaboration is twofold: Firstly, to help students apply coding skills practically and enhance their proficiency through teaching experiences with underrepresented groups; and secondly, to provide refugees with meaningful activities that match their profession, education, and personal interests, which might have been interrupted in their home countries. The study evaluates the perspectives of the stakeholders involved. To do so, written surveys and interviews with computer science students, refugees and team members of the NGO were conducted. The results indicate that meaningful educational benefits for computer science students can be created within such partnerships, such as enhanced teaching abilities, dispelled prejudices, insights into the factors affecting refugees‘ educational and career trajectories, as well as improved communication and empathy skills. However, challenges for such partnerships also exist, including giving student teachers more time for meetings and discussions, empowering them to make decisions, providing access to counseling psychologists and interpreters, and offering support in managing participants‘ expectations. The findings shed light on the potential benefits from participating in campus-community partnerships and suggest several measures to improve them, such as providing additional ECTS credits, intensifying promotional activities to encourage greater student participation, providing alumni support, and issuing official certificates.

[article @ proceeding’s homepage]
[article @ ResearchGate]

Citation: Wolf, D. and Ebner, M. (2024) ‘Should Universities partner with NGOs? A Case Study of a University of Technology and a Coding School for Refugees’, Ubiquity Proceedings, 4(1), p. 36. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5334/uproc.158.

[publication] Can Learning Analytics Find Success in Didactical Measurements? Results from a MOOC Case Study #tugraz #research

We are very proud to be part of the book „Digital Workplace Learning“ with a contribution about our MOOC research. This time we take a look to a particular MOOC and reported about the case study. Our chapter „Can Learning Analytics Find Success in Didactical Measurements? Results from a MOOC Case Study“ is now published.

Abstract:

In recent years, massive open online courses (MOOCs) led the road into a new era of learning environment systems. Since 2008, e-Learning witnessed a new type of course which is massive in student numbers, open for anyone, and available for all without limitations. MOOCs integrate social networking, accessible online resources, and open-ended outcomes and are publicly shared. In addition, MOOCs offer several online variables that allow researchers from analytical disciplines (learning analytics) to translate these variable data values into research actions and interpret patterns. In this chapter, we present a detailed analysis of a MOOC case study offered in the previous 2 years, 2015 and 2016. The Graz University of Technology, the University of Graz, and partners from the Medical University of Graz collaborated on a project producing a MOOC called “Dr. Internet.” This MOOC aims to investigate whether the Internet helps or hurts in the endeavor to increase health literacy of the public and how it affects the practitioner-patient relationship. Nevertheless, the research study in this chapter is looking onto a different point of view. We will follow a quantitative investigation and apply learning analytics techniques on learners’ behavior as well as scrutinize traces they left behind in videos, discussion forums, and quizzes. In addition, we try to further inspect the dropout rate and level of engagement. It can be outlined that the early analysis results show that those MOOCs behaved similar to other studies but they differ in the higher number of reads in the discussion forum. Reasonable didactical interventions assisted to change learners’ attitudes toward online learning. This chapter will also describe the didactical approach of the Dr. Internet MOOCs.

[Full Paper @ Springer]

[Draft version @ ResearchGate]

Reference: Khalil M., Ebner M. (2018) Can Learning Analytics Find Success in Didactical Measurements? Results from a MOOC Case Study. In: Ifenthaler D. (eds) Digital Workplace Learning. Springer, Cham. pp. 211-225

[publication] Confidence in and beliefs about first-year engineering student success: case study from KU Leuven, TU Delft, and TU Graz #research #STELA

One of our intellectual outputs of the STELA-project is a case study amongt our partners. We did a study about how students feel in the very first beginning of their study and published it at the SEFI-conference.

Abstract:

This paper explores the confidence freshman engineering students have in being successful in the first study year and which study-related behaviour they believe to be important to this end. Additionally, this paper studies which feedback these students would like to receive and compares it with the experiences of second-year students regarding feedback. To this end, two questionnaires were administered: one with freshman engineering students to measure their expectations regarding study success and expected feedback and one with second-year engineering students to evaluate their first year feedback experience.
The results show that starting first-year engineering students are confident regarding their study success. This confidence is however higher than the observed first-year students success. Not surprisingly, first-year students have good intentions and believe that most academic activities are important for student success. When second-year students look back on their first year, their beliefs in the importance of these activities have strongly decreased, especially regarding the importance of preparing classes and following communication through email and the virtual learning environment. First-year students expect feedback regarding their academic performance and engagement. They expect that this feedback primarily focuses on the impact on their future study pathway rather than on comparison to peer students. Second-year students indicate that the amount of feedback they receive could be improved, but agree with the first-year students that comparative feedback is less important.

[Full Article @ ResearchGate]

Reference: de Laet, T., Broos, T., van Staalduinen, J.-P., Ebner, M., Langie, G., van Soom, C. & Shepers, W (2018) Confidence in and beliefs about first-year engineering student success: case study from KU Leuven, TU Delft, and TU Graz. In: Proceedings of the 45th SEFI Conference, pp. 1-9. Azores, Portugal

[publication] Digitalisierung ist konsequent eingesetzt ein pädagogischer Mehrwert für das Studium: Thesen zur Verschmelzung von analogem und digitalem Lernen auf der Grundlage von neun Fallstudien #gmw17 #tugraz

Im Rahmen der 25. Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft für Medien in der Wissenschaft (GMW) haben wir einen Beitrag zu „Digitalisierung ist konsequent eingesetzt ein pädagogischer Mehrwert für das Studium: Thesen zur Verschmelzung von analogem und digitalem Lernen auf der Grundlage von neun Fallstudien“ verfasst.

Zusammenfassung:

Viele Jahre war der Einsatz von computergestütztem Lehren und Lernen an (tragbare) Computer gebunden. Ob digitale Hilfsmittel, z. B. Laptop und Video-Projektor, zum Einsatz kamen war deutlich erkennbar. Spätestens mit dem ubiquitären Internet und den Smartphones in den Taschen der Studierenden ist diese Grenzziehung zwischen sog. „analoger“ d. h. herkömmlicher Präsenzlehre sowie dem „digitalen“, d. h. dem computergestützten Lehren und Lernen, vermutlich sogar obsolet. Die Digitalisierung verändert auf unterschiedliche Weise die Lehre. Im Papier wird die These aufgestellt, dass dabei digitale und sogenannte analoge Aspekte immer mehr miteinander verschmelzen. Besonderheiten von verschmolzenen Lern- und Lehrformaten wurden in einem Arbeitspapier, das für das Hochschulforum Digitalisierung erstellt wurde, herausgearbeitet. Im Beitrag werden neun Fallstudien skizziert und ihre Besonderheiten verglichen. Daraus abgeleitet werden Thesen über die Charakteristik von verschmolzenen Lern- und Lehrformaten.

[Beitrag @ ResearchGate]

Zitation: Schön, S., Ebner, M., Schön, M., Haas, M. (2017) Digitalisierung ist konsequent eingesetzt ein pädagogischer Mehrwert für das Studium: Thesen zur Verschmelzung von analogem und digitalem Lernen auf der Grundlage von neun Fallstudien. In: Bildungsräume, Igel, C. (Hrsg.), Proceedings der 25. Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft für Medien in der Wissenschaft, Waxmann, S. 11-19