STLHE 2016 SAPES

With the steady increase in graduate student enrollments, there is a greater need to develop the research skills demanded in today’s academic and professional workplaces (Head et al., 2013). New graduate students often struggle with research study design, development of research questions, and the literature review (Hsiao & Yu, 2012). This poster describes how a collaborative group across three universities created a learning tool that blends independent online learning and integrated classroom activities to support student academic literacies (e.g. scholarly communication; online persona; academic integrity) and research skills (e.g. building research plans; evaluating information; citation and data management).

Student2Scholar, a set of ten interrelated learning objects, was initially created as a self-directed learning option accessed via the Ontario Online portal. During the project design phase, however, module developers shifted focus to address how content could be integrated within blended learning scenarios. Blended learning, commonly interpreted as a combination of face-to-face learning with online approaches, offers increased access to and flexibility of learning materials, and also provides opportunities for student learning to be independent, personalized, and sustainable (Graham, 2006).The idea of blending can also describe a way “to combine various pedagogical approaches (e.g., constructivism, behaviorism, cognitivism) to produce an optimal learning outcome with or without instructional technology” or to target skill-driven, attitude-driven, and competency-driven learning (Driscoll, 2002).

This poster will share blended learning approaches for supporting graduate student research capabilities using Student2Scholar. We invite your participation in two ways: 1) by using Dotmocracy to rank the academic literacies and research skills where you feel graduates need the most support and 2) by recording post-its of your ideas for face-to-face activities that will blend the online modules into existing structures/courses to support student learning.