Empowering inquiry-based learning in short courses for professional students.

Martin, K.; Zarb, M.; McDermott, R.; Young, T.

Abstract

This paper presents the pedagogic underpinning for the development of an online postgraduate short course educating participants on multi-modal data science, specifically within the context of the digital health industry. The growing digital health sector in Scotland points to the importance of networking and teamwork components, which will be central to the professional development that should be facilitated within this short course. To that end, this paper will show how the literature has been used to inform the integration of aspects of constructivism (such as encouraging self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation) to improve participants' learning experience and their capability to apply learned skills in their practice. A key candidate for this approach is inquiry-based learning, typically characterised by events such as hackathons, which are a popular method of self-directed learning in computing education. However, hackathons present challenges for online and postgraduate learners, including lack of physical location and barriers to time investment. We are therefore motivated to propose an adaptation that draws on theories and research related to inquiry-based learning and hackathons. In this paper we describe the inception of the resulting model and evaluate an initial design against a panel of experts in the field.

Citation

MARTIN, K., ZARB, M., MCDERMOTT, R. and YOUNG, T. 2023. Empowering inquiry-based learning in short courses for professional students. In Chova, L.G., Martínez, C.G. and Lees, J. (eds.) Proceedings of the 17th International technology, education and development conference 2023 (INTED 2023), 6-8 March 2023, Valencia, Spain. Valencia: IATED [online], pages 5404-5409. Available from: https://doi.org/10.21125/inted.2023.1407

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (published)
• Conference Name: 17th International technology, education and development conference 2023 (INTED2023)
• Start Date: Mar 6, 2023
• End Date: Mar 8, 2023
• Acceptance Date: Dec 20, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Mar 8, 2023
• Publication Date: Apr 30, 2023
• Deposit Date: Jan 18, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 13, 2023
• Publisher: IATED International Academy of Technology, Education and Development
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 5404-5409
• Series ISSN: 2340-1079
• Book Title: Proceedings of the 17th International technology, education and development conference 2023 (INTED2023)
• ISBN: 9788409490264
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.21125/inted.2023.1407
• Keywords: Computing education; Inquiry-based learning; Short course development; Professional students
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1854529
• Publisher URL: https://library.iated.org/publications/INTED2023