Student Perceptions of Object-Based Learning
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| Title: | Student Perceptions of Object-Based Learning |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Angela Newton |
| Source: | Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. 2025 (38). |
| Availability: | Association for Learning Development in Higher Education. 33 Lower Road, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP2 9NB, UK. e-mail: admin@aldinhe.ac.uk; Web site: https://jldhe.aldinhe.ac.uk/ |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 19 |
| Publication Date: | 2025 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Education Level: | Higher Education Postsecondary Education |
| Descriptors: | Foreign Countries, Higher Education, Undergraduate Students, Manipulative Materials, Active Learning, Discussion (Teaching Technique), Student Attitudes, Student Experience, Sociology, Critical Thinking, Inquiry, Investigations, Workshops, Cooperative Learning |
| Geographic Terms: | United Kingdom (Leeds) |
| ISSN: | 1759-667X |
| Abstract: | Since returning to face-to-face teaching, post COVID-19 UK higher education has needed to adjust to significant challenges, including the acceleration of the role that generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and personal screens play in the student experience. Whilst screens now mediate the learning experience to a large degree, this study investigates a return to materiality via object-based learning (OBL) as a multisensory, experiential pedagogy with the potential to stimulate criticality and build confidence in person-to-person communications amongst taught students. This paper details a research project into student perceptions and experiences of OBL at the University of Leeds. Taught students participated in experimental OBL workshops and then reported their experiences in a qualitatively focused questionnaire which included some quantitative questions aimed at understanding overall satisfaction. Participants were overwhelmingly positive about their experience of taking part in OBL workshops, particularly in relation to working with others, engaging with materiality, using their skills of analysis and interpretation, and the active nature of learning in this context. OBL requires a classroom dynamic in which academic staff facilitate and guide discussion, rather than conforming to traditional didactic patterns of teaching. Students of Sociology and Social Policy taking part in the study saw the direct relevance of the objects under discussion to their disciplinary area, and the results of this study are assisting the School in strategically implementing OBL within the curriculum, specifically in a new module for third year undergraduate students, The Sociology of Objects. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1493171 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | Since returning to face-to-face teaching, post COVID-19 UK higher education has needed to adjust to significant challenges, including the acceleration of the role that generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and personal screens play in the student experience. Whilst screens now mediate the learning experience to a large degree, this study investigates a return to materiality via object-based learning (OBL) as a multisensory, experiential pedagogy with the potential to stimulate criticality and build confidence in person-to-person communications amongst taught students. This paper details a research project into student perceptions and experiences of OBL at the University of Leeds. Taught students participated in experimental OBL workshops and then reported their experiences in a qualitatively focused questionnaire which included some quantitative questions aimed at understanding overall satisfaction. Participants were overwhelmingly positive about their experience of taking part in OBL workshops, particularly in relation to working with others, engaging with materiality, using their skills of analysis and interpretation, and the active nature of learning in this context. OBL requires a classroom dynamic in which academic staff facilitate and guide discussion, rather than conforming to traditional didactic patterns of teaching. Students of Sociology and Social Policy taking part in the study saw the direct relevance of the objects under discussion to their disciplinary area, and the results of this study are assisting the School in strategically implementing OBL within the curriculum, specifically in a new module for third year undergraduate students, The Sociology of Objects. |
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| ISSN: | 1759-667X |
