ECLECTIC as a learning ecosystem for higher education disruption

• Published in: Universal access in the information society Vol. 18; no. 3; pp. 615 - 631
• Main Authors: Moreira, Fernando, Ferreira, Maria João, Pereira, Carla Santos, Gomes, Alex Sandro, Collazos, Cesar, Escudero, David Fonseca
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.08.2019; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Autonomy; Cognition & reasoning; Computer Communication Networks; Computer Science; Computers and Society; Consumer goods; Disruption; Education; Effects; Guidelines; Higher education; Human performance; Information management; Information Storage and Retrieval; Information Systems Applications (incl.Internet); IT in Business; Learning; Long Paper; Motivation; New technology; Norms; Older people; Product design; Students; Technology; Training; User Interfaces and Human Computer Interaction; Active learning techniques; Learning ecosystems; Disruption; Higher education
• ISSN: 1615-5289; 1615-5297
• DOI: 10.1007/s10209-019-00682-x

The learning teaching paradigm in higher education is currently undergoing great transformation due to the irrefutable imposition, on the one hand, of the new technologies and, on the other, by the characteristics (habits and abilities) presented by the students that arrive to universities. These factors are not compatible with the teaching methodologies commonly used to date, that is, with the traditional model (lectures) consolidated in the nineteenth century. In this context, teachers who resort to active learning have attracted a lot of attention, since this type of approach stimulates students’ motivation and autonomy to acquire more competencies and is one of the guidelines of the European Norms and Guidelines for Quality in Higher Education. Thus, as a way of responding to these challenges, an innovative pilot project was developed, from the pedagogical point of view, implemented in a first cycle course (Management and Information Systems) using active methodologies. In this framework, an approach called ECLECTIC was developed and implemented with the use of three active learning techniques (group project, peer review and peer teaching) in the “New Trends in IT” course, from first semester, second year. The results obtained are very promising, since they have allowed students to engage in and out of the classroom and have resulted in a high-rate course success.