Xiangyun Du

Aalborg University · Department of Development and Planning

This study explores engineering design students’ perceptions of their agency for sustainability in a Danish problem- and project-based learning (PBL) context. A conceptual framework is proposed with three dimensions: personal, action, and contextual. Q methodology was adopted to investigate the subjective views of 24 first-year undergraduate studen...

Background Recent literature has identified students' academic well-being as an indicator of their persistence in their current study and competence development. While prior literature has focused on measuring students' academic well-being from psychological and mental health perspectives, limited studies have explored the ways in which the learnin...

Purpose The integration of ESD is a complex problem. It calls for an innovative, student-centred curriculum, as well as professional learning and agency, by which university teachers feel empowered to change their practice and direct their peers and institutions towards ESD. This study aims to explore what university teachers consider to be the mos...

In response to the opportunities and challenges posed by rapid technological advancement, digital transformation (DT) has recently emerged as a key concept in higher engineering education. DT involves using digital technologies to transform educational and pedagogical practices to enhance the learning and teaching experiences, prepare students for...

BACKGROUND The Covid-19 pandemic has caused a sudden unprecedented disruption to education with a significant impact on experiential education. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to examine the readiness of the PharmD students to change to a virtual internship during the start of the COVID19 pandemic, from the perspectives of both the students and faculty...

italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Contribution: This study explores the elements engineering students perceive as important for developing their learner agency in the context of intercultural project-based learning (PBL) teams. Background: The concept of learner agency has recently g...

This article reports a mixed-methods study examining 29 academic middle leaders’ viewpoints on supporting educational change in higher educational institutions in Poland. Following a three-dimensional conceptual framework emphasizing support at the individual, collegial, and environmental levels, Q methodology was adopted to collect and analyze dat...

italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Contribution: This article contributes to the literature surrounding first-year engineering students’ academic well-being by proposing a conceptual framework guiding an understanding of supportive sources that foster students’ academic well-being. A su...

This study explored engineering educators’ perspectives on their professional learning in a pedagogical development programme with the ultimate goal of achieving educational change in African countries through the adoption of PBL methodology. This study was based on a three-year-long programme organised by a Danish university through an Erasmus pro...

Contribution: This article illustrates a theoretical model and an analytical tool for understanding the influence of diverse elements of the project-based learning (PBL) environment on engineering identity development in students. Supportive elements in three dimensions that contribute to students’ identities as future engineers are identified to i...

In response to the challenges posed by globalization and internationalization, engineering education programs are increasingly focused on knowledge, technologies, and competence that meet global needs. Against this backdrop, higher engineering students are often encouraged to collaborate in teams with others from diverse, cultural, and disciplinary...

This study explored university teachers’ professional learning when participating in a pedagogical development (PD) programme. The PD programme, entitled the Aalborg Certificate on Basics of PBL and Curriculum Change, had a workload of 150 hours and ran for four months, involving 23 teachers from Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Bogotá, Colombia)....

Background This study aims to qualitatively examine the readiness of medical students to change to virtual clerkship (VC) during the pandemic, from both the faculty and students’ perspectives. Methods A qualitative study was conducted based on the framework of readiness to change. Focus group discussions with students, and semi-structured interview...

Using social constructivist theories of adult learning, the Faculty Pedagogical Development (PD) Programme was designed to offer faculty a unique professional learning experience at one university in (country name). This study reports on the evaluation of this PD programme that involved 24 participants from different colleges in its first round of...

Introduction: COVID-19 has imposed many shared limitations on medical and health education. Just like other health professions programs at most institutions, the Qatar University health cluster (QU Health) applied a containment approach and shifted all learning online, and onsite training was replaced by virtual internships (VIs) during the first w...

Teachers are considered key drivers of the education for sustainable development (ESD) agenda. They play a critical role in ensuring the attainment of sustainability goals, yet require early opportunities to acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes, which will enable them to foster ESD. Therefore, this study documented the development...

To respond to the challenges posed by sustainability, students increasingly need new competencies, including systems thinking, critical thinking, anticipatory thinking, integrated problem-solving competence, collaboration, and self-awareness. While the literature predominantly focuses on students’ knowledge and awareness of sustainability, attentio...

This study investigated university teachers’ perspectives on their change readiness to implement education for sustainable development (ESD) through their participation in a problem-based learning (PBL) pedagogical development (PD) program. Theoretically, the study connected a systems-thinking approach to change readiness literature and proposed a...

Integration of entrepreneurship in current engineering education emphasises the need for engineers to initiate and drive innovation processes that transform ideas into societal value. Learnings from the history of engineering and the at times unsustainable impact of technology on society have drawn attention to user requirements and the societal co...

In efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, health colleges at Qatar University shifted their clinical training to virtual internships (VI) and project-based learning (PBL). The shift was new to students and faculty alike, and a major change that posed many challenges. This study aimed to explore the experience of changing to VIs during the pandem...

With the rapid development of the electronic field, the requirements for thermal management materials are increasing to satisfy the heat dissipation of electronic devices. Due to the shortcomings of low precision and difficulty in forming thermal conductive composites with complex structures in traditional technologies, it is necessary to explore a...

The study explored teacher educators’ experiences in navigating the process of responding to disruptive education due to the COVID 19 pandemic. From a complexity theory lens, the concept of simplex system was used to examine three teacher educators’ narratives on their teaching experiences prior to, during and post pandemic, as they responded to in...

From a social cultural learning perspective, the study explored the social formations for interactions of Danish students during a short-term international mobility study programme in China, using multiple qualitative data sources. Although a variety of patterns of strategies, practices and discourses were identified, the findings suggest that the...

To examine the long-term effects of pedagogical development, the study explored 56 Chinese university instructors’ viewpoints on their professional agency in implementing new pedagogical practices following a PBL program in Denmark. Q methodology was supplemented by a post-sorting survey and post-analysis interviews. An eight-factor solution emerge...

Employing a narrative inquiry, the study explored the way nine teacher educators responded temporally to the emotionally-laden challenges faced during the disruption to education caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on their enactment of professional agency and renegotiation of their identities. Findings revealed seven conflicting themes l...

This study investigated primary school teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs regarding online teaching during the Covid-19 pandemic and whether it determines any significant differences in self-efficacy levels based on different demographic data. A quantitative and qualitative survey method was employed. The data was collected from primary school teacher...

Teachers’ instructional practices are crucial to students’ achievement in reading comprehension. Students’ low English reading competence in Qatar’s government schools raises concerns about not only reading comprehension strategy instruction, but also, subsequently, learning as a natural outcome of teachers’ praxis. This quantitative survey investi...

The present quantitative study explored pre-service teachers’ perspectives regarding the quality of their Teacher Education Programme (TEP) in Lebanon, Qatar, and China. The sample consisted of 326 pre-service school teachers who completed a survey designed to examine their perception of the following indicators of TEP quality: (1) a shared vision...

Background Few studies have reported how students enact learner agency in a team setting or examined what elements of team settings students perceive as more supportive of their learning in problem- and project-based learning (PBL) processes. Purpose This study explores how engineering students perceive their enactment of learner agency, particula...

Various studies show that sustainability and education are closely interdependent. Design and implementation of the right performance assessment for students’ skills acquisition and achievements is, therefore, critical for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This article presents an in-depth analysis of the Qatar education system (K...

The current study aimed to explore the way teacher leadership for professional learning was manifested during the disruption to education caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were recruited from three public and three private schools in Qatar, and included a total of 12 primary teachers and six school principals. A phenomenological researc...

Selective laser sintering (SLS) is an additive manufacturing technology that can provide a novel strategy to manufacture complex polymer‐based composites with tailored properties. In this study, polyamide 12 (PA12) composite powders based on Al2O3, boron nitride (BN), and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were prepared via a two‐step mixing approach. Morphol...

Background This study aims to qualitatively examine the readiness of medical students to change to virtual clerkship during the pandemic, from both the faculty preceptors and students’ perspectives’. Methods A qualitative study was conducted based on the framework of readiness to change. Focus group discussions with students, and semi-structured in...

This study was conducted during the transition to emergency online learning, imposed by the spread of a worldwide pandemic known as COVID-19. The study aimed to examine the factors that influenced student agency during this sudden transition to synchronous online learning in the College of Education at Qatar University. By adopting a mixed methods...

We report a comparative qualitative study conducted in Lebanon and China on mentoring approaches, their compatibility with expectations, and their facilitation of learning opportunities. Data sources included interviews, journals, and essays from 20 student teachers (STs), and interviews from 10 cooperating teachers (CTs). Findings indicate a domin...

In light of increased cross-border movements of students to pursue their academic studies, university educators in many contexts are concerned about a lack of interactive engagement among students from different cultural backgrounds because of the use of L2 in international programmes. This study explores how students develop engagement in intercul...

This study explores project-based online intercultural collaborative learning for non-native beginners’ CFL learning (Chinese as a Foreign Language) in Denmark. Adopting a quasi-experimental design, two parallel classes were involved in the study wherein the same learning contents and project-based learning was used in both. An additional element o...

To achieve Qatar's vision for 2030, Qatar's educational direction is moving enthusiastically towards implementing STEM-based curriculum integration. Qatar's Vision for 2030 is based on striving for development at all levels, especially human development. Qatar University's (QU) vision is aligned with the 2030 vision. QU is seeking to build up stude...

This qualitative longitudinal study explored three engineering instructors’ professional agency in implementing project-based learning (PBL), including multiple sets of data (18 interviews, observations, and written reflections spanning three semesters). The results show that the instructors’ care for students, interest in pedagogical innovation, a...

This study examined the challenges novice teachers encountered in Qatari government schools and the coping strategies they adopt. A qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews with 15 novice teachers during their initial years of teaching. The findings demonstrated that most participants faced several personal challenges and ot...

This study investigated how 35 Chinese university instructors developed and engaged in critical reflections in a six-month Problem-Based Learning (PBL) professional learning program in Denmark. Data sources included individual progressive portfolios, team-project reports, and focus group interview. Quantitative analysis indicated that participants...

While project-and/or problem-based learning has been implemented in higher education worldwide for several decades, both modes of PBL remain a new phenomenon in Qatar. Over the past few years, several research projects have been conducted examining the initial PBL implementation experiences and effects in Qatar. In order to provide an overall pictu...

This study investigated 35 Chinese university teachers' development of learner-centered beliefs and practices through a six-month problem and project-based (PBL) professional learning program in Denmark using a mixed-method research. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses of the participants' teaching and learning portfolios, which each include...

This article aims to examine how language policy affects the reconstruction of academic identities in a time of rapid and significant changes in contemporary higher education. Through a narrative approach, we explore how a top-down language policy chaperones the process of redefining the perceptions of our positions as academic faculty working at Q...

Nations transfer educational reform models for the systematic improvement of education. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Gulf Cooperation Council states, which have implemented primarily Western decentralized reform models to overhaul their educational systems. This article reports non-empirical research, written as a conceptual analysis th...

During the last 40 years, problem- and project-based learning (PBL) has been widely adopted in engineering education because of its expected effectiveness in developing students’ professional knowledge and transferable skills. With a growing number of PBL researches and practices in engineering education, systematic or meta-analysis reviews were co...

This study investigated student teachers’ preferred active learning strategies, and those which they actually received during their teacher preparation programmes. An explanatory mixed methods research design was adopted, including a survey completed by 308 participants and group interviews involving 38 participants. Data were gathered from student...

This study has investigated the natures of collaboration, group-based strategy use, and perception of assessment, as well as interactions among these aspects, by examining group performance in engineering students' first experiences of a problem and project-based learning (PBL) method. Empirical evidence was gathered from focus groups and observati...

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship of problem-based learning (PBL) and the development of critical thinking disposition (CT) and academic achievement in Chinese medical students using a cross-sectional randomized design. Medical students from China Medical University (CMU) were randomized to PBL or non-PBL teaching at the com...

This study investigated the readiness of teachers towards implementing PBL mandated by a top-down policy at the national level in Qatari government primary schools. With multiple qualitative data, the study reported a lack of readiness among teachers at the initial stage of change. Despite good intentions, the change message was not successfully co...

Background: This study investigated employers' perspectives on the impact of a supervised practice program (SPP), guided by international accreditation standards on the skill development and potential employability of dietetics students. Main body: This study was based on qualitative research. Fifteen potential employers, who also served as SPP...