News – Page 3 – Learning Sciences Research Institute

A new paper on Drawing to Learn

January 15, 2021October 11, 2021 By Johnny Comment Closed

So in the LSRI, it's probably well known that we love learning by drawing. Over the years, we have researched drawing to learn from texts, drawing to learn in science, drawing when learning fashion design, drawing to tell stories, drawing from simulations in Chemistry and Physics and drawing in medical anatomy sessions. I am probably forgetting some! So in this paper, Katharina Scheiter (an honorary professor in the LSRI as well as a professor at the University of Tübingen) and Shaaron Ainsworth (Director of the LSRI) tried to synthesise these studies (and more) to explore how drawing can be used for different educational reasons. You don't have to be an expert as it was written for a general audience. It's just out but sadly paywalled so if you can't see it, do get in touch with Shaaron. ...

New webinar series: Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning in a Time of Crisis

January 6, 2021October 11, 2021 By Johnny Comment Closed

The Learning Sciences Research Institute is engaged in the organization of a webinar series with presentations from experts in the field of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning about good practices of learning together online. The series consists of 13 weekly presentations and subsequent Q & A with experts in the field. We are inviting you to participate in the free webinar series relevant to everyone who is teaching online: Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning in a Time of Crisis A weekly webinar series about good practices of learning together online On Wednesdays, January 13th – April 7th 2021 – 3:00 – 4:00 pm (GMT, London UK) The COVID-19 pandemic has changed school and higher education on a global scale with the rise of online teaching and learning. The Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) community of the International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS) together with the Network of Academic Programs in the Learning Sciences (NAPLeS) is offering a live webinar series with presentations as well as Q & A...

Study Resources

January 6, 2021October 11, 2021 By Shaaron Comment Closed

If you are a student looking for ways to ways to help you learn more successfully, we have been creating a set of resources that describe approaches that you can use. Or maybe you are a teacher looking for approaches to recommend to students. Over the new few weeks, we are releasing blog posts which describe an approach, discuss when to use it, what resources you might need, give hints and tips for successful application and where relevant some practice example. Today, we start with a favourite, drawing to learn. ...

New Chair of ALT ELESIG – Denise Sweeney

December 10, 2020November 21, 2021 By Johnny Comment Closed

Congratulations to LSRI member Denise Sweeney! Denise has recently been appointed chair of the Evaluations of Learners' Experiences of e–Learning Special Interest Group (ELESIG) which is part of the Association for Learning Technology (ALT). ELESIG focuses on learners’ experiences and uses of technology across all education sectors, it provides a space for members to explore the theory and practice of researching technology-enhanced learning. One of Denise aims as chair is to establish a mentoring scheme for ELESIG members new to the field of learning technology. You can see more about Denise’s plans as chair here. We at the LSRI all wish Denise a productive year in her new role as chair of ELESIG. To find out more about ELESIG click here. ...

An early holiday present

December 7, 2020October 11, 2021 By Shaaron Comment Closed

If sketching, simulations and quantum mechanics are your thing! Although intermediate level quantum mechanics involves some far from straightforward (from my limited perspective) mathematical reasoning; it can also involve visual reasoning. In this paper, co-authored with my amazing collaborators, who are working constantly to improve physics teaching, we explore how visual learning of quantum mechanics with simulations can be enhanced by asking students to draw both and during their interaction with these simulations. See this paper (open access) for lots more detail and do follow what Antje Kohnle and Gina Passante are up to. ...

Getting to grips with technology enhanced learning literature – new paper by Denise Sweeney

December 1, 2020October 11, 2021 By Johnny Comment Closed

What Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) literature do new university teachers and lecturers actually find useful? How do university teachers engage with TEL literature in their practice? Does disciplinary background influence TEL literature choices? Find out answers to these questions in a new paper by LSRI member Denise Sweeney, “Getting to grips with technology enhanced learning literature: Wading out of murky waters” (open access) can be found here. The paper is published in the inaugural edition of Studies in Technology Enhanced Learning. This new open-access academic journal aims to support scholarly conversation about Technology Enhanced Learning. ...

Researching Education – accessible summaries of research

November 9, 2020October 11, 2021 By Johnny Comment Closed

Do you work in education and want access to summaries of recent research papers?Do you want to know what is happening in educational research but don’t have access journal databases?Do you want to share summaries of your research with a wide audience? If you answered yes to any of these then you should visit Researching Education. ‘Researching Education’ is an online arena within which educational researchers can present summaries of their recently published studies - that may be of interest to educational practitioners. Many practitioners do not have access to the websites where research papers are to be found; so this service allows individuals to subscribe to a regular email ‘contents list’ that provides direct links to selected study summaries, written by the authors. The service is currently managed by Charles Crook from the LSRI on behalf of the Nottingham School of Education Visit and sign up to Researching Education here. ...

Essay mills and the portrayal of HE student experience

October 22, 2020October 11, 2021 By Johnny Comment Closed

Many essay mills adopt empathic narratives to secure custom from students. But how are student’s higher education experiences represented in these narratives? Do essay mills portray higher education practices in a positive or negative manner? And what impact could these narratives have on student’s beliefs about higher education? In How Internet Essay Mill Websites Portray the Student Experience of Higher Education, LSRI member Charles Crook and University of Nottingham colleague Elizabeth Nixon explore these questions. If you want to find out more, this paper is published by The Internet and Higher Education and is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2020.100775 ...

LSRI @ ICLS 2020

July 5, 2020October 11, 2021 By Shaaron Comment Closed

We went to Nashville. Bobby Whyte to present a full paper on Designing multimodal composition activities for integrated K-5 programming and storytelling; Freydis Vogel was part of a symposium on "Combining Scripts, Group Awareness Tools and Self-Regulated Learning – Theoretical Implications and Practical Implementations" Johnny Halls to the early career workshop, Pryce Davis to run a workshop on "Communicating design-based research: A workshop for creating and interpreting design arguments and; Shaaron Ainsworth to present a short paper on Designing Drawing Activities to Support Simulation-based Learning in Quantum Mechanics OK so we did not go to Nashville -we stayed at out desks in Nottingham and attended virtually. If you went to ICLS too, please watch our presentations on the ICLS conference site and tell us what you thought. If you can spare the time for only one - can we recommend Bobby's paper. He was nominated for the best student paper and I wish we could have seen him perform it live; but...

Move like a fish?

July 1, 2020October 11, 2021 By Shaaron Comment Closed

Can enactment help you recognise and understand the movement patterns of creatures with bodies very different to our own? A collaboration between researchers at the LSRI at Nottingham and Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien in Tübingen set out to answer that question. If you want to read about what we found out you can in this paper now published by Computers and Education. ...