Research and practice have recognized the importance of informal learning--a specific type of active learning--for higher education contexts. University students learn not only in formally organized courses, but also in a self-directed and intentional way from fellow students, through trial and error, and by reflection. However, there has been a…

The purpose of the present study is to attain a better understanding of Collaborative Learning in Informal Spaces (CLIS) by addressing the nature of learning activities that will trigger socio-cognitive conflicts and the kind of socio-emotional challenges experienced in CLIS. To this end, research was conducted over four weeks where tasks were…

The COVID-19 pandemic requires critical re-evaluation of the way Higher Education can help students maximise their learning to adjust and adapt to a new reality. This requires a holistic approach which extends beyond consideration of student learning in formal settings to understanding the role informal learning can play. Whilst research exists on…

Social Q&A refers to the process of information seeking based on questioning-and-answering in natural language through social networks. It facilitates knowledge gathering and interacting, and thus can be regarded as an appropriate environment for informal learning. This study intends to explore factors affecting continuance intention of using…

In crafting the active learning approach for this study, we leverage on the definition of active learning as a methodology that requires students' active collaborative engagement and involvement in their own learning and they are held accountable for learning with peers. Building from social interaction, we extend the notion of active learning to…

In this article, I explore how art can help Asian immigrants in Ontario understand the public spaces and the community of Toronto. Using Shusterman's "Pragmatist Aesthetics" as a theoretical framework, this study asks: How does navigating and responding to issues of equity, inclusion, and environmental resiliency foster residents'…

While online learning is increasingly used to provide continuation and facilitate interaction between students, institutions are challenged by low participation rates on their learning management systems and high drop-out rates. At the same time, students engage in extensive, needs-driven informal collaborations on a spectrum of offline and online…

Active learning encompasses a broad range of pedagogical approaches involving the learner in every step of the educational process, with the objective of stimulating ownership and critical thinking skills, among others. This paper is the result of the work carried out by the European University Association (EUA) Learning & Teaching Thematic…

The College of Health, Psychology, and Social Care at the University of Derby has transformed its Interprofessional Education (IPE) offer from a top-down standalone event into a five-year strategy designed and delivered in genuine collaboration with students. Across the higher education sector, IPE has been a struggle, tokenistic at best, with…

The main objective of this study is to find out from which sources university students obtain their information and communication technology (ICT) skills, and the role of informal peer learning in this process. The results of the survey indicate that peer learning is regarded as the most important source for acquiring ICT skills among the Library…

Autonomy support is a recently defined role for teachers, and they are expected to help learners engage in autonomous out-of-class learning. With a focus on English language learning outside the classroom, this study intended to uncover English as a foreign language teachers' practices related to autonomy support and to discuss the challenges…

This document presents the modelling and engagement process that emerge from content creation on a social network device. The latter is used informally and collaboratively to provide a meaningful learning environment and to constitute the distant side of a blended learning. This device puts into perspective the use of social network that can be…

The concept, use and experiences of 'space' in higher education have a deep influence on students and teachers. Reframing Space for Learning uniquely explores space as both a 'learning place' that may be physical, virtual, in work or in the field, and a 'belonging space' in which learners and teachers can engage and develop individually and…

This study investigates how a class of university music students who engaged in a "lived" experience of informal learning adopted methods and strategies to complete a self-learning "aural copying" performance assignment in a musicianship class in Hong Kong. Data were collected from observations of the performances and the…

As learning a foreign language poses a number of challenges for the students, it has become indispensable to search for "optimal" conditions to enhance opportunities of engaging in the target language. Within this context, the Mobile-Blended Collaborative Learning model has been integrated in and out of the classroom learning in order to…