Vincent Donche

Teachers’ Everyday Professional Development Mapping Informal Learning Activities, Antecedents, and Learning Outcomes

Although a lot is known about teacher development by means of formal learning activities, research on teachers’ everyday learning is limited. In the current systematic review, we analyzed 74 studies focusing on teachers’ informal learning to identify teachers’ learning activities, antecedents for informal learning, and learning outcomes. In addition, we examined whether beginning and more experienced teachers differ with regard to informal learning. Results revealed different types of learning activities in the two groups and interesting relationships among different antecedents and various learning outcomes. Moreover, it can be concluded that the main difference between beginning and more experienced teachers lies not in the type of learning activities they undertake but rather in their attitudes toward learning, their learning outcomes, and how they are influenced by their context.

Longitudinal Measurement Invariance of Likert-Type Learning Strategy Scales: Are We Using the Same Ruler at Each Wave?.

Whether or not learning strategies change during the course of higher education is an important topic in the Student Approaches to Learning field. However, there is a dearth of any empirical evaluations in the literature as to whether or not the instruments in this research domain measure equivalently over time. Therefore, this study details the procedure of longitudinal measurement invariance testing of self-report Likert-type scales, using the case of learning strategies. The sample consists of 245 University College students who filled out the Inventory of Learning Styles—Short Version three times. Using the WLSMV estimator to take into account the ordinal nature of the data, a series of models with progressively more stringent constraints were estimated using Mplus 6.1. The results indicate that longitudinal measurement invariance holds for all but two learning strategy scales. The implications for longitudinal analysis using scales with varying degrees of measurement invariance are discussed.

Profiling First-Year Students in STEM Programs Based on Autonomous Motivation and Academic Self-Concept and Relationship with Academic Achievement

The low success rate of first-year college students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programs has spurred many academic achievement studies in which explanatory factors are studied. In this study, we investigated from a person-oriented perspective whether different motivational and academic self-concept profiles could be discerned between male and female first-year college students in STEM and whether differences in early academic achievement were associated with these student groups. Data on autonomous motivation, academic self-concept, and early academic achievement of 1,400 first-year STEM college students were collected. Cluster analyses were used to distinguish motivational profiles based on the relative levels of autonomous motivation and academic self-concept for male and female students. Differences in early academic achievement of the various profiles were studied by means of ANCOVA. Four different motivational profiles were discerned based on the dimensions of autonomous motivation (A) and academic self-concept (S): students scoring high and respectively low on both dimensions (HA-HS or LA-LS), and students scoring high on one dimension and low on the other (HA-LS or LA-HS). Also gender differences were found in this study: male students with high levels of academic self-concept and autonomous motivation had higher academic achievement compared to male students with low levels on both motivational dimensions. For female students, motivational profiles were not associated with academic achievement. The findings partially confirm the internal and external validity of the motivational theories underpinning this study and extend the present insights on identifying subgroup(s) of at risk students in contemporary STEM programs at university level.

Modeling change in learning strategies throughout higher education: a multi-indicator latent growth perspective.

The change in learning strategies during higher education is an important topic of research in the Student Approaches to Learning field. Although the studies on this topic are increasingly longitudinal, analyses have continued to rely primarily on traditional statistical methods. The present research is innovative in the way it uses a multi-indicator latent growth analysis in order to more accurately estimate the general and differential development in learning strategy scales. Moreover, the predictive strength of the latent growth models are estimated. The sample consists of one cohort of Flemish University College students, 245 of whom participated in the three measurement waves by filling out the processing and regulation strategies scales of the Inventory of Learning Styles – Short Versions. Independent-samples t-tests revealed that the longitudinal group is a non-random subset of students starting University College. For each scale, a multi-indicator latent growth model is estimated using Mplus 6.1. Results suggest that, on average, during higher education, students persisting in their studies in a non-delayed manner seem to shift towards high-quality learning and away from undirected and surface-oriented learning. Moreover, students from the longitudinal group are found to vary in their initial levels, while, unexpectedly, not in their change over time. Although the growth models fit the data well, significant residual variances in the latent factors remain.

Workplace Learning within Teacher Education: The Role of Job Characteristics and Goal Orientation.

Within teacher education, it is widely recognised that internships play a major role in preparing prospective teachers. The current research examines if the learning activities students’ undertake in the workplace can be explained by students’ goal orientation and their perceptions of the workplace. In addition, it will be investigated whether this model is predictive for students’ academic achievement. Participants in this study were 464 bachelor students enrolled in teacher education. The results from the structural equation modelling show that students’ learning goal orientation is an important predictor for students’ learning activities and academic achievement. Students with a higher learning goal orientation demonstrate a more active approach towards their learning. Regarding the context, some positive relations between work-related variables such as job demands and job control on the one hand and students’ learning activities on the other hand were identified, but their relationship was more limited than expected.

Action Research and Open Learning: In Search of an Effective Research.

Abstract The student-centred education project is an action research project conducted by lecturers at an institution of higher education and university researchers. over a 2-year period. Valuable experience has been gained about working with lecturers on projects that affect their beliefs about learning and instruction in practice. This article focuses on the use of an action research

Teaching conceptions and approaches to teaching of medical school faculty: The difference between how medical school teachers think about teaching and how they say that they do teach

Background It is often assumed that the way teachers approach their teaching is determined by the way they think about learning. This study explores how teachers of an undergraduate medical programme (UMP) think about learning, how they approach teaching and whether their conceptions of learning relate to their teaching approaches. Methods Quantitative data of academic teachers involved in the undergraduate programme in medicine were collected and analysed. We used a questionnaire designed to measure teachers’ conceptions of their own learning (COL) and of student learning as well as teachers’ approaches to teaching (AT). Results Teachers of the medical undergraduate programme hold a variety of COL, of how students learn and their AT. No significant correlations were found between teachers’ conceptions of learning and their AT. Conclusions Although UMP teachers’ ideas on learning and teaching are very diverse, some of their conceptions are interrelated. Teachers’ ideas on their own learning is sometimes – but not always – related to how they think about student learning. But most importantly, the way UMP teachers think about learning is not automatically converted into the way they approach teaching.

Learning beyond Graduation: Exploring Newly Qualified Specialists' Entrance into Daily Practice from a Learning Perspective.

The entrance of newly qualified medical specialists into daily practice is considered to be a stressful period in which curriculum support is absent. Although engaging in both personal and professional learning and development activities is recognized fundamental for lifelong professional competence, research on medical professionals’ entrance into practice is scarce. This research aims to contribute to the framework of medical professionals’ informal learning and outlines the results of an exploratory study on the nature of learning in daily practice beyond postgraduate training. Eleven newly qualified physicians from different specialized backgrounds participated in a phenomenographic study, using a critical incident method and a grounded theory approach. Results demonstrated that learning in the workplace is, to a large extent, informal and associated with a variety of learning experiences. Analysis shows that experiences related to diagnostics and treatments are important sources for learning. Furthermore, incidents related to communication, changing roles, policy and organization offer learning opportunities, and therefore categorized as learning experiences. A broad range of learning activities are identified in dealing with these learning experiences. More specifically, actively engaging in actions and interactions, especially with colleagues of the same specialty, are the most mentioned. Observing others, consulting written sources, and recognizing uncertainties, are also referred to as learning activities. In the study, interaction, solely or combined with other learning activities, are deemed as very important by specialists in the initial entrance into practice. These insights can be used to develop workplace structures to support the entrance into practice following postgraduate training.

LL-ADR: Action Design Research in Living Labs

Design Science research is a mainstream Information systems discipline, yet Living Lab literature seems not to leverage its insights. The paper describes how Living Labs can be conducted as Design Science Research (DSR) by adapting the Action Design Research method. The resulting method is named LL-ADR. A case is presented to indicate how LL-ADR can be applied and findings for both Living Labs and DSR are discussed.

Understanding Work-Related Learning: The Role of Job Characteristics and the Use of Different Sources of Learning

It is argued that internships have a distinctive contribution to professional education. It is suggested that the confrontation with the workplace triggers learning. Based on the Demand-Control-Support (DCS) model, this chapter aims to investigate the influence of job characteristics such as job demands, job control and social support on the learning in the workplace during internships. We investigated different dimensions of knowledge construction and regulation that can take place during internships (Oosterheert IE, Vermunt JD, Learn Instr 11(2):133–156, 2001). Four such activities were distinguished in our sample: (1) external-regulated knowledge construction, (2) self-regulated knowledge construction, (3) shared regulation of knowledge construction and (4) avoidance of learning. Moreover, we looked how these relate to the perceived competences reported by both the students and the supervisors. One-hundred seventeen engineering students conducting an internship and their supervisors in the companies participated by completing questionnaires based on contextualised versions of existing and validated scales. The results of the correlational analyses indicate that both individual and contextual factors need to be taken into account when (re)constructing workplaces for learning during internships. This study provides insight in workplace characteristics that affect learning during internships. Moreover, it disentangles different dimensions of knowledge construction and regulation, hereby identifying different ways in which learning is shaped in the workplace. This suggests pathways to promote learning during internships.