Developing professional competencies and stimulating collaboration at Hague University of Applied Sciences

Learning objectives

• Students practice reading comprehension skills
• Students can identify and understand key theories and models in literature
• Students can analyse and apply these concepts, using them to make decisions and translating them into policy objectives

Learning activities

Students read an article uploaded using Interactive Document and answer in-line questions about the text. Peers’ answers and responses are visible to all students doing the assignment, resulting in a learning environment that favours collaborative thinking. The article is used as preparation for weekly discussions in small groups where the material is analysed together.


These learning activities address the following levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy:

• Understand relevant theories, models, and practices through reading
• Apply and analyse concepts in discussions and assignments
• Evaluate peers’ responses and contributions
  

Evaluation and assessment

The activities carried out using Interactive Document were not directly evaluated by the instructor, rather, these activities were used to develop skills and competencies to be later employed in completing assignments.

Notable outcomes

• Using FeedbackFruits played a major role in increasing student activation and engagement - the platform was accessible and straightforward for students.
• On first use, determining the most suitable options during setup took some experimentation, but eventually this became more intuitive.
• The biggest benefit to using FbF was the time saved by the instructor in grading assessments, which becomes even more crucial with larger groups.

‍Instructor Role

• ‍‍The instructor explains how FeedbackFruits will be used within the course manual, and gives instructions to students about how to complete the assignment in Interactive Document.

• They create inline questions and discussion pointers within the tool, after which students are able to read the material, answering these questions and responding to the discussion points.
• The instructor sees an overview of students’ progress with the activity and can gauge how students are responding to the material.

Technical Value Added ‍

• Using Interactive Document helps students learn from each other while completing the same assignment.
• It also saves time in assessment: now an overview of all work can be seen within the tool instead of having to look at each students’ work individually.

Possible Variation

Using a summative Interactive Document that includes a grading module could allow instructors to assess participation, collaboration and correctness of answers for a final grade.