This paper deals with the problem of making group work and individual achievement meet in the context of combined examination at universities. The underlying idea of this research derives from the policy that is increasingly gaining power at many university departments, namely that it is inappropriate to examine students on the basis of group work…

To evaluate the impact of active learning approaches in a basic molecular and cell biology course for undergraduate students, we assessed the effect of learning by teaching and peer review on the learning outcomes. A literature seminar activity with peer review and feedback was organized as a compulsory activity for all students, covering about…

Intercultural group work (IGW), where students from different nationalities work together, is one important way to develop intercultural competence, a key skill for engineering students. This longitudinal, qualitative study of five master's engineering students follows their individual experiences in IGW and the affordances and challenges this way…

Recent research has highlighted the role of group metacognitive guidance in English writing. The present study was to examine 120 Chinese students learning English as a foreign language (EFL) participating in two different group metacognitive support methods for a college writing course--group feedback guidance (GFG) and self-explanation guidance…

This paper describes the use of globally accessible Massive Open Online Courses, MOOCs, for addressing the needs of learners at community learning centers in Northern Sweden. The Scandinavian "study circle" concept is used to facilitate the studying of MOOCs, thereby forming "blended" or "glonacal" courses. Although…

The aim of this paper is to explore the extent of the applicability of dynamic assessment with respect to peer written student online revisions. More specifically, it observes how groups of Swedish computer engineering students learning English for Specific Purposes engage in cooperative interactions and negotiations with their peers as they work…

Widely acknowledged as an archetypal design activity, sketching is typically carried out using little more than pen and paper. Today's designed artifacts however, are often given qualities that are hard to capture with traditional means of sketching. While pen and paper sketching catches the character of a building, it may not equally well capture…

Self-assembly is the fundamental but counterintuitive principle that explains how ordered biomolecular complexes form spontaneously in the cell. This study investigated the impact of using two external representations of virus self-assembly, an interactive tangible three-dimensional model and a static two-dimensional image, on student learning…

This study aims to provide a greater insight into how formative assessments are experienced and understood by students. Two different formative assessment methods, an individual, written assessment and an oral group assessment, were components of a pathology course within a medical curriculum. In a cohort of 70 students, written accounts were…

Collaborative social interaction when using Web 2.0 in terms of VoiceThread is investigated in a case study of a Swedish university course in social psychology. The case study method was chosen because of the desire not to manipulate the students' behaviour, and data was collected in parallel with course implementation. Two particular…

This paper investigates the links between the "contributing student pedagogy" and other forms of peer-mediated learning models, e.g. "open-ended group projects" and "communities of practice." We find that a fundamental concern in each of these models is the attribution of "value"; specifically, recognition…

The idea of the "entrepreneurial university" has captured the imagination of academics and policy makers for some time now. However, most of the recent writings on the subject have tended to emphasize technology transfer in terms of spin-off creation and licensing. This article takes its point of departure in the strategy formulations of…

Sfard and Kieran [Kieran, C., Educational Studies in Mathematics 46, 2001, 187-228; Sfard, A., Educational Studies in Mathematics 46, 2001, 13-57; Sfard, A. and Kieran, C., Mind, Culture, and Activity 8, 2001, 42-76] have developed a methodological framework, which aims at characterizing the students' mathematical discourses while they are working…

In this study we created an environment for peer learning, where students teach students by making oral presentations in groups about solving mathematical problems and explaining the theoretical background in mathematics, during the first year of an undergraduate engineering programme at the Norrkoping campus of the Linkoping University. In order…

The effects of information technology on the creative performance in small groups were examined. An experimental 3 x 2 design was used in order to assess the effects of Group Communication Support System (GCSS) and perceived usefulness on the creative product and the creative process. A chat, a video conference and a face-to-face group were…