Research article
Personalising learning: Exploring student and teacher perceptions about flexible learning and assessment in a flipped university course
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Published by: Elsevier
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Keywords
Flexible learning
; Flexible assessment
; Flipped classroom
; Personalised learning
; Higher education
Introduction
Over the last few decades in education, there has been a progressive change towards more student-centred and self-directed learning. Teaching and learning is moving from teacher centred pedagogies and practices to personalised learning in which students are more actively involved in the learning process and where students demand more flexibility through online and blended university courses (Johnson et al., 2012a, Keamy et al., 2007, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 2006). Personalising education and learning means that the “learner is central” in that the needs, interests, backgrounds and learning styles of individuals are placed at the centre, and students are more empowered through more “choice and voice” in their learning (Keamy et al., 2007, p. 2). Increasingly, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is the enabler for personalising learning by giving students greater diversity in their learning and more flexible, personalised learning spaces (Brown and Green, 2015, Keamy et al., 2007, pp. 2–4; Gordon, 2014).
The current changes in higher education about personalised learning and flexibility in pedagogic thinking and practice, called flexible pedagogies by some scholars (Gordon, 2014, Ryan and Tilbury, 2013), are wider than a focus on flexible delivery and more student choices. Flexibility “should be considered as an attribute of both learners and educators – and can also be understood as a characteristic of institutional educational strategies” (Ryan & Tilbury, 2013, p. 9).
As discussed in more detail below, flexibility also needs to extend to choices for students about assessment methods and format. As Casey and Wilson (2005, p. 9; emphasis added) stated in their guide about flexible learning, “flexibility over time and place of study and assessment methods continue to be major factors for students”. We need to rethink assessment practices to make them more flexible and personalised through a stronger emphasis on assessment for learning and assessment as learning than assessment of learning (Keamy et al., 2007, Taras, 2002). There are increasing scholarly studies about the use of flexible assessment methods in higher education (Cook, 2001, Irwin and Hepplestone, 2012, Morgan and Bird, 2007).
Flexible teaching and learning and the flipped classroom have become key terms reflecting innovative pedagogies in higher education (Sharples et al., 2014). The flipped classroom is an important concept in these discussions. It is recent terminology and refers to providing content and learning material to students before class time and using class time afterwards to actively discuss/problem-solve key aspects of that material (EDUCAUSE, 2012). It relies heavily on modern online technologies as well as significant changes in the approach to teaching from academia to be implemented effectively.
This paper is situated in the current debates about flexibility of teaching and learning, personalising learning, the flipped classroom and more flexible assessment for students. It provides critical reflections and insights about a blended learning approach in which one of the authors flipped an advanced undergraduate course, and included flexible assessment through more choices and individualised submission dates for students.
Section snippets
Personalised learning through flexible teaching and learning
Steeples, Goodyear, and Mellar (1994, p. 90) pointed out 20 years ago that with increasing numbers and diversity of students there would be increasing provision of teaching and learning in which “the individual learner [has] more responsibility for, and control over, their own learning … and will need to exercise greater control not only in negotiating their learning goals but also in structuring, timing and otherwise organizing their learning activity”. Recent Horizon Reports about the future
Methodology
One of the authors (TW) used a flipped classroom approach for his advanced undergraduate course Governance and Sustainable Development in the Social Sciences and included flexible assessment as a central component of the course. Students had two face-to-face lectures (one at the start and one at the end of the course). The face-to-face lecture at the beginning was used to explain the concepts of flexible learning, the flipped classroom and flexible assessment. Students in this course had not
Students’ views and experiences with flexible learning and assessment
The pre-course survey ran after the introductory lecture and received 96 responses with a response rate of 88%. Sixty nine per cent of the respondents were female and the respondents were on average 23 years old. Of the students who responded to the question on cultural origin, 46 students identified themselves as being Australian and 34 were from other backgrounds. Most of the students received an average grade of a credit (43%) or distinction (44%) in their previous year. In the student
Discussion
This study provided useful insight into the attitudes of students towards new approaches to teaching, specifically flipped classrooms, flexible assessment. Their responses are enlightening, especially when compared to those from the teachers. It showed that students overall enjoy and want a more personalised learning approach through the flipped classroom and flexible assessment. It also shows quite strongly that many students are undecided about the merits of many facets of personalised,
Conclusion
The majority of the students enjoyed the increased flexibility in their learning and their assessment. In particular, students enjoyed the two-hour tutorial and the flexibility around submission of assignments and the various choices each of the assignments provided. What came out strongly is that students want their personalised learning not only in the form of online activities but predominantly through interactive, collaborative, well-structured learning activities in a face-to-face
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