In this presentation I will introduce my planned doctoral project in higher education pedagogy, focusing on simulation-based teaching and learning (SBTL). SBTL is far from new in education. Educating and training to professions in complex and critical situations with real-life characteristics, at adjusted pace, without causing injury or material and financial high costs, and with gradual levels of complexity has been done for many years in tertiary education. Learners have through simulation-based teaching a chance to apply knowledge, to develop skills required and to “acquire high levels of expertise in complex problem-solving tasks” (Chernikova et al., 2020, p.500). The range of educational tools to use in SBTL is wide, from analogue to highly technical spaces, and thus both the range of authenticity and the influence on learning when combining these resources with activities and material, is vivacious. From a pedagogic perspective the field portrays itself as quite complex on behalf of the teacher as a designer of the learning environment. With development and growth in usage of technology and digital resources in higher education teaching and learning, new possibilities - and challenges - constantly arise (e.g. Leijon & Tieva, 2021).

The overall aim with the compilation thesis is to explore vocational teachers’ perceptions of didactic design (Selander & Kress, 2017) for simulated learning environments. Research questions to guide this work are:

How does didactic awareness among vocational teachers take shape when designing for the simulated learning environment? What affordances and limitations do vocational teachers perceive when designing for the simulated learning environment?The starting point in this project is a Designs for Learning (DFL) approach, understood as an abductive process where work is done close to practice in which practitioners in education are being included already in the planning process (Åkerfeldt & Svärdemo Åberg, 2021). I will introduce and discuss the initial two sub-projects in the thesis: 

1.Exploring pedagogical research of the simulated learning environment – a systematic-narrative hybrid literature meta-review (Darren, Ritesh, & Jo, 2023). Preliminary results will be presented.

2. Vocational teachers’ perceptions of didactic choices in simulated learning environments – a Q-study. (Lundberg, Fraschini, & Aliani, 2023)

References

Chernikova, O., Heitzmann, N., Stadler, M., Holzberger, D., Seidel, T., & Fischer, F. (2020). Simulation-Based Learning in Higher Education: A Meta-Analysis. Review of Educational Research, 90(4), 499-541. doi:10.3102/0034654320933544

Leijon, M. & Tieva, Å. (2021). Framtidens lärandemiljöer. En forskningsbaserad översikt. Report för Akademiska Hus, June 2021. 

Lundberg, A., Fraschini, N., & Aliani, R. (2023). What is subjectivity?: Scholarly perspectives on the elephant in the room. Quality and quantity, 57(5), 4509-4529. doi:10.1007/s11135-022-01565-9

Selander, S. & Kress, G. (2017). Design för lärande – ett multimodalt perspektiv. Studentlitteratur: Lund. 

Turnbull, D., Chugh, R., & Luck, J. (2023). Systematic-narrative hybrid literature review: A strategy for integrating a concise methodology into a manuscript. Social Sciences and Humanities Open, 7(1). doi:10.1016/j.ssaho.2022.100381

Åkerfeldt, A., & Svärdemo Åberg, E. (2021). Designs for Learning: A Research Approach. International Journal of Educational Methodology, 7(4), 547-555. doi:10.12973/ijem.7.4.547