Naghmeh Aghaee

How are campus students using social media to support their studies? An explorative interview study

Social media hype has created a lot of speculation among educators on how these media can be used to support learning, but there have been rather few studies so far. Our explorative interview study contributes by critically exploring how campus students perceive using social media to support their studies and the perceived benefits and limitations compared with other means. Although the vast majority of the respondents use social media frequently, a “digital dissonance” can be noted, because few of them feel that they use such media to support their studies. The interviewees mainly put forth e-mail and instant messaging, which are used among students to ask questions, coordinate group work and share files. Some of them mention using Wikipedia and YouTube for retrieving content and Facebook to initiate contact with course peers. Students regard social media as one of three key means of the educational experience, alongside face-to-face meetings and using the learning management systems, and are mainly used for brief questions and answers, and to coordinate group work. In conclusion, we argue that teaching strategy plays a key role in supporting students in moving from using social media to support coordination and information retrieval to also using such media for collaborative learning, when appropriate.

Learners' Perceptions on the Structure and Usefulness of E-Resources for the Thesis Courses.

Abstract The use of information and communication technology (ICT) in education is a way to facilitate interaction and accessing information for learning in higher education. However, finding a set of structured e-resources to facilitate learning within specific courses is still a big challenge in most higher education institutions. This includes the problems and challenges for thesis courses in both undergraduate (Bachelor) and graduate (Master) level in Sweden. To overcome or reduce the problems and enhance quality of outcomes in thesis courses, the department of Computer and Systems Sciences (DSV) at Stockholm University has developed a Learning Support System, SciPro (Scientific Process), to support the thesis process. The aim of this study is to investigate learners’ perspectives on the usefulness of structured e-resources in SciPro, to reduce challenges for finding information related to the thesis process. This was done based on an open online survey, carried out in 2012-2013 of students’ perspectives at DSV. The study found the actual problems that students have encountered in the thesis courses and hence suggested a general model as a way forward to sort the e-resources to reduce the problems in the thesis process.

Students' Perspectives on Utility of Mobile Applications in Higher Education

Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in pedagogy and learning in higher education supports the concept of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL). Mobile devices and applications with educational purposes are part of using online ICT and facilitate autonomous learning in education. Using mobile applications for education has significantly improved in the last few years. However, there is still a gap, in which this concept is still not widely known and frequently experienced by learners. As a part of supporting TEL in higher education and filling this gap, the department of Computer and System Sciences at Stockholm University in Sweden is planning to develop a mobile application for the SciPro system. SciPro is the computer-mediated communication platform to support enhancement of thesis quality and facilitate autonomous learning in higher education, at both Bachelor and Master levels. This study aims to investigate and evaluate learners’ perspectives about utility of mobile applications in higher education and specifically to support SciPro functionalities. Almost 95% of the respondents use mobile applications for higher education and believe in the utility of mobile applications for supporting learning in higher education. This is while there are a few respondents (less than 5%), who do not fully share this opinion. More than 70% of the respondents think that a SciPro mobile application will add value to their thesis process. Even though it may not directly affect the speed and quality of the thesis, it will increase mobility, availability, and flexibility of accessing information and resources in SciPro.

The effect of multiple change processes on quality and completion rate of theses: a longitudinal study

Abstract Improving the quality of Bachelor’s and Master’s theses while at the same time increasing the number of theses without expanding the existing resources proportionately is a huge challenge faced by higher educational institutions. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of multiple change processes on Bachelors and Masters level thesis work in a selected higher educational institution. The following research questions were studied: (1) How has the thesis quality changed? (2) How has the number of completed theses changed? and, (3) How has the ratio of completed theses per supervisor changed? The change processes were introduced into the thesis process in the Department of Computer and Systems Sciences (DSV), Stockholm University during 2008–2014. The results show that the quality and the number of completed theses have significantly increased. The multiple change processes including a purpose built ICT system named SciPro, which was introduced and improved incrementally during 2010–2014 are discussed and evaluated in relation to these results.