Resumen de Editorial
This edition of IETI includes an important and timely paper on the use of mindfulness in relation to student’s academic performance. Miralles-Armenteros, Chiva-Gómez, Rodríguez-Sánchez and Barghouti consider if mindfulness when associated with compassion can have a positive impact on student engagement. By looking at mindfulness through the lenses of compassion and engagement, they consider how mindfulness can reduce stress and encourage greater connection between the students and their learning. They present a compelling argument for greater use of these techniques, particularly compassion, to prepare students for their future lives beyond the university.
Chilvers, Fox and Bennett build on a similar theme of listening and responding to students thoughtfully in their paper on student and staff partnerships to improve course design. This paper explores the use of a range of creative pedagogic methods to involve students in the evaluation of their learning and engage in a fuller dialogue with staff. Five principles are presented as to how these methods could be used in other disciplines.
How to engender greater student satisfaction and belonging is also the focus of Fisher and Machiori’s paper on the role of case-based Socratic Circles. Here, Fisher and Machiori introduce the Socratic Circle technique into case-based learning to enable deeper student engagement and reflection. Students were surveyed on the use of this student-centred methodology, and it was found that using this technique had the additional benefit of engendering a sense of belonging for students. This, in turn, increased student satisfaction.
Given the rapid move to online learning in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is no surprise that three papers here consider the application of technologies to learning and teaching practice. Wass and Rogers explore how video can be used for peer observation and mentoring. Through exploring the use of this technique with both mentors and tutors, Wass and Rogers present a model of teaching development that could be used in a variety of environments and one that enables a greater depth of reflection and support for a peer observation process. How multiliteracies can be developed using online networks for in-service teachers is the focus of Kim and Park's paper. Using asynchronous discussion boards, the participation of teacher-participants was analysed in terms of collaborative knowledge construction. The results show that teacher-participants engaged online to create knowledge and the analysis makes recommendations for future iterations of the programme. Huang, Yu, Tang and Chang present a study of the use of mobile learning to support language acquisition. They look at a range of key factors that can support better use of mobile learning, particularly focusing on perceptions of usefulness, playfulness and self-management.
Marti-Parreño, Galbis-Córdova and Currás-Pérez also consider how gaming can support the development of student competencies through considering a concept mapping approach to explore teacher perceptions on gaming. This research builds on previous findings to demonstrate how gamification can be used to develop a wider range of competencies such as critical thinking and self-regulation than might have previously been explored.
Li and colleagues’ paper explores how debate is more effective in fostering dialectical thinking than lecturing. Students participated in the research through the beginning and end of semester questionnaires which demonstrated that debate was the preferred approach for developing this skill set. However, further research is needed to consider how to address student anxieties by using this technique.
Student perceptions on internationalisation of the curriculum are the focus of Mittelmeier, Slof and Rienties’ paper. Masters’ students were surveyed about their experiences of internationalisation. The findings demonstrate the variety of student responses to internationalisation and present some considerations for developing policy that include students so that the relevance to their personal circumstances can be understood.
