This article investigates why students reported liking a student-driven learning design better than a highly guided design despite equivalent gains in knowledge assessments in both conditions. We created two learning designs based on the distinction in the literature between student-driven and teacher-led approaches. One teacher assigned each of…

Problem Statement: Traditional forms of assessment such as essays and end of term examinations are still widely used in higher education in Ireland as the sole assessment method. These forms of assessment, while they may be valid and reliable approaches for collecting evidence of the acquisition of theoretical knowledge, rarely afford students the…

This paper describes theory-led design as a way of developing novel tools for learning analytics (LA). It focuses upon the domain of automated discourse analysis (ADA) of group learning activities to help an instructor to orchestrate online groups in real-time. The paper outlines the literature on the development of LA tools within the domain of…

This article explores teachers and trainers didactical practices in different contexts in Norwegian VET: schools and workplaces. With the introduction of e-resources and e-portfolios in VET, learners as well as teachers and trainers experience a more hybrid learning-arena, which claims for a re-contextualization of vocational didactics as well as…

An increasing number of language educators are taking a blended approach to their teaching in order to enhance students' learning experiences and outcomes. During recent years, online tools have become a valuable resource, aiding teachers in course delivery and assessment. Blended learning, which is campus-based learning supported by online…

In this review, we investigated game design features that promote engagement and learning in game-based learning (GBL) settings. The aim was to address the lack of empirical evidence on the impact of game design on learning outcomes, identify how the design of game-based activities may affect learning and engagement, and develop a set of general…

This case study deals with the development and implementation of two online art courses. It outlines the concerns of the faculty member responsible for these courses and those of the instructional designer assisting him. The key design issues deal with the management of copyright material available via the Internet, the difficulty of implementing…

Teacher educators are always looking for instructional strategies that are easy to create and use but are powerful for promoting learning among preservice teacher candidates. Content acquisition podcasts (CAPs) is an example of an instructional strategy that embeds evidence-based instructional design principles to package and deliver critical…

The area of learning has a justifiable claim to be a special case in how it can be enhanced or supported by technology. In areas such as commerce and web design the aim is usually to ensure efficiency and support specific actions such as purchasing or accessing information as quickly and easily as possible. Working with technology for the purpose…

Objective: The Internet and other electronic media may provide one part of a solution for reducing disparities in the availability of medical services. From a patient-centred perspective, an individual with a chronic, degenerative condition may ask what information is available that I can use to manage changes in my functional capacity over time,…

In designing a capstone experience, legal educators may encounter a number of tensions between competing pedagogical imperatives and conflicting capstone principles. Should we focus on teaching content or should we focus on developing skills? Should we emphasise integration and consolidation of knowledge, or transition and the development of…

Quality Matters (QM) has been transforming established best practices and online education-based research into an applicable, scalable course level improvement process for the last decade. In this article, the authors describe QM as an ongoing design-based research project and an educational input for improving online education.

In any language education program, there are both commonalities and divergences in the ways in which students negotiate and form their identities. While work on bilingual education has revealed important similarities that students come to share, fewer studies have focused on explaining variation. In this paper, we explore individual differences by…

This paper reports on a design-based intervention in urban primary and secondary schools serving culturally diverse students from low socio-economic status (SES) communities. The intervention capitalises on a partially implemented programme in seven schools which use digital devices (netbooks) and applications to raise literacy levels. Learning…

Instructional design can be more effective if it is as fixedly dedicated to the accommodation of individual differences as it currently is to the accommodation of subject matters. That is the hypothesis. A menu of accommodation options is provided that is applicable at each of three stages of instructional development or administration: before,…