SUSS SoTL Symposium 2024

Keynote 1 by Dr Park Jonghwi

Academic Programme Officer; Head, Innovation and Education, United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability

Title:

Staying Relevant in an Uncertain World – What Should Remain and What Should Change

Abstract:

We live in an era of unprecedent uncertainty. A recent pandemic was only the beginning; what has followed includes the adverse effects of climate change, loss of biodiversity, increasing food insecurity, wars and conflicts, visibly worsening inequality and the rapid rise of generative AI. These challenges have not only disrupted our daily lives but cast doubt on the education sector’s ability to provide equal and inclusive access to education for all and to equip our learners with competencies required to navigate a rapidly changing world. This talk will provide an overview of the global issues that have been disrupting the fundamental right to education and lifelong learning and collective efforts being made to address them. The talk will offer concrete examples of how higher education can stay relevant to pressing global issues while taking local leadership in lifelong learning through community-based action-oriented pedagogies. It will conclude with suggestions for new areas for higher education sector to collaborate and prioritize, including climate justice, green skills, and future literacies.  

Keynote 2 by Professor Pierre Dillenboug 

Associate Vice-President for Education; Vice-President, Academic Affairs, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne

Title:

Learning technologies: why empirical evidence does not predict what will happen in your classroom?  

Abstract:

Empirical research on educational technologies (EdTech) generally aims to isolate the effects of an EdTech-based activity from other factors such other learning activities surround the Edtech-based activity or the teacher’s role is not well controlled.. This methodology betrays our latent belief that a piece of EdTech has an intrinsic effect. Consequently, even if methodological rigor establishes robust evidence, it fails to predict the effectiveness of the same activities when the EdTech-based activity will be integrated with non-digital activities in a sequence orchestrated by a variety of teachers. I will argue that our experimental methods could make a significant jump in predicting scaling-up effects if they factored in just two more variables: the activities before/after the EdTech-based activity and the way the teacher orchestrates the activity sequence.  

Keynote 3 by Professor Peter Reimann 

Professor of Education, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences; Co-Director, Centre for Research on Learning & Innovation, University of Sydney 

Title:

Barriers to Collaborative Learning and Knowledge Building in Higher Education. 

Abstract:

Collaborative learning, ranging from ad-hoc group work to semester-long project- and problem-based learning, has become a crucial pedagogical approach in many universities. However, its potential still needs to be fully realized. This presentation will identify key kinds of barriers and propose strategies to overcome them from four distinct perspectives: organizational vision, instructional design, technological infrastructure, and use of research. The first kind of barrier is the narrow perception of collaborative learning at the strategic level, as frequently reflected in universities' teaching and learning strategies. To address this, I will advocate for a vision that embraces communities of inquiry engaged in knowledge building and creation. The second kind of barrier arises from common mistakes in instructional design, including issues related to motivation, assessment, and collaboration structure. I will explore each of these challenges and present research-based solutions. The third group of barriers concern technology, the primary challenge being the insufficient integration of collaboration design and group support systems. Lastly, I will address the barriers related to effectively communicating research findings to decision-makers and educational practitioners, such as designers and teachers. Despite the extensive research on collaboration, learning, and educational technology, little of it appears to influence decision-making at the university, program, and course levels. Drawing on lessons from the primary and secondary education sectors regarding translational research, one promising approach is participatory design, also known as co-design, at all levels. I will discuss this approach with a particular emphasis on the potential role of AI. 

Keynote 4 by Professor Cheah Horn Mun 

Dean, College of Interdisciplinary & Experiential Learning; Advisor, Teaching & Learning Centre, Singapore University of Social Sciences

Title:

Rebalancing Teaching and Learning Interactions: Emphasizing Deepening in Higher Education 

Abstract:

With skills and knowledge increasingly being updated much more rapidly, the need to stay economically relevant, particularly for the working population, translates into a challenge to continually keep abreast of the changes.  However, to thrive in this environment, it will be necessary not only to possess updated skills and knowledge, but also to apply them effectively within complex and interdisciplinary contexts.  To this end, education, especially in higher education, would need to respond well to these changing demands.  Broadly, learning can be conceived of as two interacting sets of processes, that of ‘transfer’ and ‘deepening’.  The former refers to the transfer of values, skills, and knowledge (VSK) to the learner, whereas the latter focuses on the ability to apply and extend the VSKs in both familiar and unfamiliar environments. This talk argues for a fundamental rebalancing of these processes towards ‘deepening’ and shares key ideas on how this can be enacted.