This study examines the use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) as a simulation environment for mental health training. Drawing on a human factors and active learning perspective, this study explores how interactions between psychology students and AI-simulated patients may support the development of professional competencies, formative assessment, and reflective learning. An exploratory mixed-methods design was conducted with 40 final-year psychology students who completed simulated initial clinical interviews using ChatGPT. The simulation environment was iteratively designed through expert interviews and human factors principles. Interaction corpora were analyzed using natural language processing techniques, categorical analysis, and exploratory interaction metrics. Results describe the design of the simulation environment, the intervention categories that emerged during consultations, a set of linguistic, cognitive, and temporal indicators for interaction analysis, and students’ perceptions of the pedagogical value and limitations of the experience. Findings suggest that GenAI-based simulations can support competency-oriented training by generating rich interaction data for reflection, feedback, and curriculum development.
Advancements in active learning methods necessitate transparent and continuous dialogue between learners and educators to align and reconcile differing expectations. This study investigates the co-creation of assessment marking criteria in higher education, emphasising the pedagogical value of involving learners in collaboratively designing rubrics with teachers. The research explores how co-creation fosters student engagement, critical thinking, and shared ownership of valuable active learning opportunities. Conducted following a postgraduate module, the study analysed learners’ experiences of co-creating a marking rubric and employed a qualitative methodology involving module evaluations, focus groups, and interviews with participating learners. Four key themes emerged from the data on student perceptions of co-creating a marking rubric in that they: provided novel learning experiences, enhanced agency and creativity, strengthened the sense of community, and improved clarity of assessment expectations for authentic assessment. Benefits and challenges in rubric co-design and implementation are discussed within each of these themes. Findings reveal that 82% of participating learners reported a greater understanding of assessment criteria, with several describing the co-creation process as transformative and one likening the experience to ‘entering a forbidden territory’. The collaborative development of the rubric promoted inclusivity, deepened assessment literacy, and enhanced learners’ confidence and motivation. Findings also suggest that the experience of co-creating the marking rubric may have contributed to higher student achievement in the associated summative assessment task. The research demonstrates that co-creating assessment rubrics can not only enhance academic performance but also build a more inclusive, student-centred educational environment. These findings support broader implementation of co-creation practices as a means to enrich active learning and foster collaborative academic communities.
European higher education has become increasingly international. Proponents argue that internationalisation exposes students to diverse perspectives, cultivating intercultural skills through interactions with peers from different countries. However, critics have raised concerns that internationalisation may adversely impact students’ academic success. We engage with this debate by building on findings from a large-scale quantitative study at an international Dutch university, which concluded that the international classroom at Bachelor’s level tends to have a positive effect on students’ academic success in a Problem-Based Learning (PBL) environment. We specifically explore how first-year students navigate the international PBL classroom. Taking cues from constructivists views of learning, which highlight the interactive nature of knowledge construction and the role of diversity therein, we conducted 22 international classroom observations and 21 semi-structured interviews. We find that students treat each other as individuals with complex identities, of which nationality is only one aspect. Tutors and leading students can create space for diverse perspectives as part of the collaborative construction of knowledge in the international classroom. Yet, this requires purposeful design of the curriculum, as well as proper training of staff and students.
A cohort of Australian higher education providers offer initial teacher education (ITE) courses through fully asynchronous online (AO) learning, that is, where no real-time connection between participants takes place. Despite growth in this field, little is known about preservice teachers’ (PSTs’) expectations of connection/interaction with facilitators and peers in AO delivery. This study addresses the current absence of research by investigating PSTs’ expectations about connection in AO learning and how misalignment between expectation and experience impacts self-reported student satisfaction with the learning process. We surveyed 70 students studying a variety of ITE degrees delivered through AO learning at one Australian university and analysed unit information documents. The results highlight PSTs’ ill-informed expectations about the parameters of AO learning and misconceptions about their role as autonomous learners and the role of their lecturers leading to PSTs’ unsatisfactory experience. This study underscores the need for clearer communication of AO parameters and targeted strategies to prepare students for independent, connected learning in asynchronous environments.
This study investigated how different levels of social presence affect non-interactive teaching in the presence of a familiar audience. We compared three teaching conditions (video, online, and in-person) to examine whether higher levels of social presence can increase motivation and engagement, thereby improving learning outcomes. A restudy was used as the control condition. All students taught in front of a familiar peer. Results showed that social presence increased sequentially from the restudy condition to the video, online, and in-person teaching conditions. No significant differences in state anxiety or extraneous cognitive load were found among the three teaching conditions, although students in the video condition experienced significantly higher state anxiety than those in the restudy condition. Students in the in-person condition reported higher motivation, germane cognitive load, and intrinsic cognitive load than those in the restudy condition. Students in the in-person and online conditions also exhibited more happy expressions than those in the video condition. However, students in the video condition outperformed students in both the in-person and restudy conditions on the transfer test. Online teaching achieved comparable academic performance to video teaching. Social presence and motivation together mediated the positive effects of teaching activities on transfer performance (vs. restudy). These findings suggest that high social presence with a familiar audience can effectively reduce anxiety and modestly increase motivation, thereby explaining the learning advantage of teaching over restudy; however, it does not further improve, and may even hinder, learning outcomes compared to teaching with lower social presence.
