The Facilitating University

Learning analytics is one of the most important research issues in the field of educational technology. By analyzing logs and records in educational databases and systems, it can provide useful information to teachers, learners, and decision makers – information which they can use to improve teaching strategies, learning performances, and educational policies. However, it is a great challenge for most researchers to efficiently analyze educational data in a meaningful way. This book presents various learning analytics approaches and applications, including the process of determining the coding scheme, analyzing the collected data, and interpreting the findings. This book was originally published as a special issue of Interactive Learning Environments.

Deep learning is a committed approach to learning. It is a process of constructing and interpreting new knowledge in light of prior cognitive structures and experiences, which can be applied in new, unfamiliar contexts. Deep learning produces learning that lasts a lifetime; and it results in better quality learning and profound understanding. In contrast, surface learning involves a dispassionate approach to learning. The surface learner is not concerned with understanding. Information acquired is usually lost after examinations; and there is no profound understanding or knowledge construction. Research studies show that most university and college students today take a surface approach to learning. The purpose of this book is to show readers how to create a learning environment that promotes deep learning in their classes. The book will do so by providing readers with the theoretical and pedagogical tools needed to: • Understand the notion of deep learning • Design and implement courses that encourage students to take a deep approach to learning • Design engaging and innovative teaching and learning activities that encourage students to use higher-order cognitive skills to construct knowledge and negotiate meaning • Implement assessment tools aimed at facilitating the deep learning process • Support international and other nontraditional students to construct learning deeply. The book begins with an examination of the big picture: the institutional constraints that hinder a culture of deep learning. From there, it deconstructs the concept of deep learning, and it examines every element of the deep learning process. It also discusses the factors that contribute to produce a deep learning environment. The rest of the chapters are about how to facilitate deep learning. The book examines every component of the teaching and learning system: goals, performances, and evaluation. It discusses strategies and methods that teachers can adopt to help students learn how to read and write in their disciplines in a deep way. The book also discusses the notion of inclusive deep learning environments which focus on engaging nontraditional students.

This volume provides educators with a global understanding of the successes and challenges associated with facilitating inclusive campuses in higher education amidst the growing diversity of students by providing evidence-based strategies and ideas for implementing equity and inclusion at higher education institutions around the world.

Active blended learning (ABL) is a pedagogical approach that combines sensemaking activities with focused interactions in appropriate learning settings. ABL has become a great learning tool as it is easily accessible online, with digitally rich environments, close peer and tutor interactions, and accommodations per individual learner needs. It encompasses a variety of concepts, methods, and techniques, such as collaborative learning, experiential learning, problem-based learning, team-based learning, and flipped classrooms. ABL is a tool used by educators to develop learner autonomy, engaging students in knowledge construction, reflection, and critique. In the current educational climate, there is a strong case for the implementation of ABL. Cases on Active Blended Learning in Higher Education explores strategies and methods to implement ABL in higher education. It will provide insights into teaching practice by describing the experiences and reflections of academics from around the world. The chapters analyze enablers, barriers to engagement, outcomes, implications, and recommendations to benefit from ABL in different contexts, as well as associated concepts and models. While highlighting topics such as personalized university courses, remote service learning, team-based learning, and universal design, this book is ideal for in-service and preservice teachers, administrators, instructional designers, teacher educators, practitioners, researchers, academicians, and students interested in pedagogical approaches aligned to ABL and how this works in higher education institutions.

"The ‘academy’ is not restricted to the architectural limits of the university, but a broader conception of education that, through its social dissemination, ought to be continually shaped in relation to academic practice, thinking and living. Educational institutions are not solely modern providers of a pertinent workforce but foremost communities of thought with cultural, political and social importance. On the Facilitation of the Academy is thus concerned with educational issues that cohere, but also quarrels with, the university institution today as the highest institutionalised place for learning. The contributors in this volume consider practices of learning, teaching and knowledge acquisition in academic environments. It challenges educational issues in relation to conversation, discourse and tradition as well as contains contributions on threshold concepts, knowledge production and dangerous thinking. Belonging to a variety of academic orientations – philosophy, educational theory, psychoanalysis, communication studies – the authors in this volume offer different takes, but share similar features and aspects, on the worries that should occupy academe today."

This volume provides educators with a global understanding of the successes and challenges associated with facilitating inclusive campuses in higher education amidst the growing diversity of students by providing evidence-based strategies and ideas for implementing equity and inclusion at higher education institutions around the world.

As new trends emerge in the realm of education, instructors are faced with the task of continuing development in order to stay up to date on the latest teaching methodologies for both virtual and face-to-face education. Facilitating In-Service Teacher Training for Professional Development is a pivotal reference source for the latest research on the scenarios faced by in-service educators, uncovering models, recent trends, and perceptions of in-service teacher training. Featuring extensive coverage across a range of relevant perspectives, such as teacher identity, collaborative teacher development, and exploratory practice, this book is ideally designed for researchers, practitioners, and professionals seeking current research on the need for continuing development in teacher education.