Use of Face-to-Face Assessment Methods in E-Learning—An Example of an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) Test

The spread of COVID-19 and social-distancing rules have increased the need for alternative learning environments with a focus on e-learning platforms. The objective of this study was to assess whether and to what extent the transition from traditional learning and assessment environment to the e-setting impacts the knowledge and skills acquired by students and their satisfaction with new e-solutions of taking the OSCE test. The study compared the results of three face-to-face (2018–2019) and one electronically conducted (2021) OSCE tests, as well as students’ feedback on the content and organization of the tests. For data analysis the one-way ANOVA test and post hoc multiple comparisons were used. The results demonstrated the feasibility and effectiveness of and students’ satisfaction with OSCE tests in the Zoom environment. However, more focus on communication techniques is required in a remote communication environment to better cover all patient health-related and drug communication aspects. There were identified differences between undergraduate students and practicing assistant pharmacists in assessing patients’ health problems and providing corresponding counseling. This result points to the need to implement the continuous development of patient-centered counseling techniques in the lifelong learning of pharmacists and the need to use innovative digital solutions, if applicable.

Minecraft Our City, an Erasmus Project in Virtual World

Virtual worlds (VWs) offer alternative learning environments for geoscience education and give students a feeling of “being there.” In fact, VWs are also immersive environments that enable situated learning and constructivist learning in accordance with the Vygotsky theory, because the learner is inside an “imaginary” world context. In this environment, many activities and experiences can take place as scaffolding, cooperative learning, peer-to-peer and peer evaluation, coaching, scientific inquiry. Therefore, VWs can be a new technology to motivate students and provide the educational opportunities to learn in a socially interactive learning community. In the literature already, some studies report experiences carried out to investigate the effectiveness of virtual worlds in education. In the world, there are virtual worlds used for education such as Opensim and Samsara. Minecraft (https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/) is a virtual world used by new generations specially.

NON-FORMAL EDUCATION IN ARCHITECTURE: LATVIAN EXPERIENCE

A wide selection of informal and non-formal learning options has been developed during the last couple of decades by many schools of Architecture and non-educational bodies to accumulate creative potential of students and give them the opportunity to express themselves in alternative learning environments. These options include summer schools, short-term brainstorming actions, competitions, and other activities focusing on interdisciplinary approach, teamwork and intense discussions with professionals from various fields not directly involved in the formal education process.Considering high popularity of non-formal learning activities and many students involved, it is important to evaluate the respective experience to estimate whether and how abilities and skills acquired through non-formal learning could benefit to those requested by the formal education programmes.The paper discusses the role and methods of non-formal education in Architecture with an aim to identify particular goals achieved using each form of learning. The case study presented in the paper is based on more than 12 years’ experience accumulated by Riga Technical University, Faculty of Architecture, in organizing non-formal educational courses for the students of Architecture and the related fields considering the experience students gained participating in the activities organized by themselves or other parties.

Appropriate Appropriation: Functionality of Student Arguments and Support Requests during Small-Group Classroom Discussions

The article examines the claim of Anderson et al. (2001) that students engaged in small-group discussions will tend to imitate and appropriate argument stratagems and other discourse behaviors from one another when it is appropriate to do so. In a study involving 67 5th- and 6th-grade students engaged in numerous small-group discussions, some evidence of appropriation was obtained, especially in regards to asking other students for reasons (“support requests”). There were several cases, however, in which students did not appear to use these requests appropriately. These cases are analyzed from the standpoint of both speech act theory and argumentation frames. The analyses indicate that students experienced a conflict between frames associated with traditional, ritualized participant structures and open, collaborative discussions. The danger of teachers and students mixing discourse frames in alternative learning environments is discussed.

Redefining Teaching and Learning in Educational Administration

Recent attention to alternatives for traditional educational leadership program delivery models is part of an evolutionary process that serves to redefine teaching and learning. The conventional linear relationship between content, teaching, and learning is being transformed by these alternative models. The assumptions and components of an experiential learning model are presented to bring focus to this process and to offer one way to redefine teaching and learning in educational leadership preparation programs. This redefinition describes teaching and learning as a transactional process of creating personal knowledge through experiential alternative learning environments. The model has design implications for individual lessons, courses, projects, or an entire program. Two examples of experientially-based course projects are presented.