This article explores how an integrated concept map of student engagement could improve its use in higher education (HE). In doing so it addresses three problems: (1) there is no consistently accepted understanding of student engagement; (2) no meta-theory integrates engagement's diverse and complex concepts, nor does the literature identify a…

Quality control and assurance plays a fundamental role within higher education contexts. One means by which quality control can be performed is by mapping the course learning outcomes (CLOs) to the program learning outcomes (PLO). This paper describes a system by which this mapping process can be automated and validated. The proposed AI-based…

Like many higher education institutions, amplifying experiential learning (EL) is a priority for the University of Calgary. In order to capture the extent and complexity of EL that exists in an institution, it is crucial to have a common understanding of the concept. In 2018, the University of Calgary created the EL Working Group, tasked with…

The academic disruption initiated by the COVID-19 pandemic created a need for faculty to examine students' continuity of learning. As current assessment professionals and former faculty members, we recognize this as an opportunity to utilize curriculum maps as tools to identify and address possible learning gaps that may have occurred. The…

To facilitate familiarity and comfort with outcomes assessment, we map three sets of student affairs professional standards to the outcomes assessment cycle. Although the standards differ in focus (i.e., individual competencies versus program characteristics), the mapping showcases the immense similarity in expectations regarding the gathering of…

This article considers what might be taught to meet a widely held curriculum aim of students being able to understand research in a discipline. Expertise, which may appear as a "chain of practice," is widely held to be underpinned by networks of understanding. Scientific research expertise is considered from this perspective. Within…

An essay's motive or research problem consists of the rhetorical moves illuminating why that essay matters--what puzzling elements of a primary source it resolves, which contradictions in the data it explains, or what gaps in the literature it fills. This article invites college instructors to dedicate some of their classroom time to teaching…

With digitisation and the rise of e-learning have come a range of computational tools and approaches that have allowed educators to better support the learners' experience in schools, colleges and universities. The move away from traditional paper-based course materials, registration, admissions and support services to the mobile, always-on and…

This article discusses how mapping techniques were used in university teaching in a humanities subject. The use of concept mapping was expanded as a pedagogical tool, with a focus on reflective learning processes. Data were collected through a longitudinal study of concept mapping in a university-level Classics course. This was used to explore how…

Prior learning assessment (PLA) students enter academia with different types of concepts--some of them have been formally accepted and labeled by academia and others are informally formulated by students via independent and/or experiential learning. The critical goal of PLA practices is to assess an intricate combination of prior learning…

The visualisation of knowledge structures through concept mapping can be employed to reveal critical links between theory and practice. This allows consideration of particular disciplinary knowledge structures and the active role of the student in manipulating these structures to gain understanding, in a manner that can encourage students to…

In an attempt to reveal potential threshold concepts in the field of higher education pedagogy, groups of university teachers (in the UK and in Panama) were encouraged to develop personal reflection upon their conceptions of teaching. This was initiated through concept mapping activities. It was hoped that this would help participants to address…

In recent years, user stories have emerged in academia, as well as industry, as a notable approach for expressing user requirements of interactive software systems that are developed using agile methodologies. There are social aspects inherent to software development, in general, and user stories, in particular. This paper presents directions and…

The author of this paper provides an example of a conceptual framework that supported her doctoral study and written dissertation in the field of educational psychology. The study was carried out prior to the more recent explicit emphasis on conceptual frameworks in postgraduate research texts and academic literature. The instigation for the…

Engineering Management courses are added to a traditional engineering curriculum to enhance the value of an undergraduate's engineering degree. A four-year engineering degree often leaves graduates lacking in business and management acumen. Engineering management education covers topics enhancing the value of new graduates by teaching management…