University learning in the digital age: Investigating how students learn online

Funding: 2014: $32,985
2015: $88,520
2016: $59,026

Funding or Partner Organisation: Australian Research Council (ARC Discovery Projects)
Australian Research Council (ARC Discovery Projects)

Start year: 2016

Summary: University learning in the digital age: Investigating how students learn online. Learning in higher education has become more complex since much of the founding research 40 years ago, with online technologies increasingly used to engage a diverse university student population in student-centred learning. The proposed study aims to update our understanding of student learning to this contemporary university context. The project will focus specifically on how students interpret online tasks set by their teachers, how they complete those tasks by tracking their activities in real-time, and what outcomes they achieve. This study will advance fundamental understanding of these inter-related processes, and provide the stimulus to change thinking about educational design, teaching practices, and support for students.

Publications:

Beckman, K, Apps, T, Bennett, S, Dalgarno, B, Kennedy, G & Lockyer, L 2021, 'Self-regulation in open-ended online assignment tasks: the importance of initial task interpretation and goal setting', Studies in Higher Education, vol. 46, no. 4, pp. 821-835.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Apps, T, Beckman, K, Bennett, S, Dalgarno, B, Kennedy, G & Lockyer, L 2019, 'The role of social cues in supporting students to overcome challenges in online multi-stage assignments', The Internet and Higher Education, vol. 42, pp. 25-33.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

FOR Codes: Learner Development, Higher Education, Educational Technology and Computing, Learner and learning

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people, upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.