Education Sciences

Designed as a comprehensive and innovative approach, the Observatory for Academic Success (OPSA 2.0) of the Polytechnic University of Leiria (IPLeiria), Portugal, aims to enhance academic success and reduce dropout rates, addressing the growing diversity of student profiles in higher education. Through a multi-dimensional framework, OPSA 2.0 is structured around seven pillars: a Mentoring Program; a Tutoring Program; a Pedagogical Training and Development Program; a Special Learning Support Program; an Academic Success Platform; a Together with the Community Program and a Coordination, Communication, Interaction, and Dissemination Program, ensuring the management and execution of OPSA 2.0 while promoting its activities, engagement, and results. OPSA 2.0 positions itself as a benchmark in pedagogical innovation, by integrating technology, pedagogy, and institutional collaboration, offering a holistic and transformative approach to supporting student achievement and mitigating early academic disengagement. By bridging theory and practice, this article presents the design of the OPSA 2.0 project, outlining its methodological framework, objectives, and core strategic axes.

This pilot practitioner inquiry examines the use of AI-generated podcasts within a higher education research module. The study investigated two questions: (1) How do students experience, perceive, and make use of AI-generated podcasts as part of their learning? (2) What opportunities, challenges, and pedagogical considerations emerge for the educator when designing and integrating AI-generated podcasts into teaching practice? Google’s NotebookLM was used to create short recordings that summarised lecture topics, addressed student queries, and offered assignment guidance. Data were gathered from both the educator’s reflective journal and a student focus group. Findings suggest that students valued the novelty, accessibility, and supportive tone of the podcasts. They described the recordings as helpful in revisiting key ideas, clarifying uncertainties, and managing study along with other responsibilities. The educator found the podcasts practical to produce and noted that they contributed to more focused classroom discussions. At the same time, both students and the educator identified limitations, including the constraints of an audio-only format, the need for transparency when using AI, and the additional time required. As a pilot study, the findings provide indicative insights rather than generalisable conclusions. The work points to the potential of AI-generated podcasts as a supplementary resource that may reinforce understanding and support independent study, while also highlighting considerations around inclusivity, educator workload, and responsible AI use in higher education.

There is a growing demand for digital innovation to facilitate authentic communication during the learning experience at Australian Universities. Student’s communication is considered ‘authentic’ in various ways, from using discipline-specific professional language to expressing personal values through honest self-reflection. Enhancing authentic rational decision-making during social learning online is one priority area now available for students developing clinical reasoning skills. Using a Design-based Research (DBR) methodological framework, 34 students, 26 educators, and 5 learning designers from Torrens University Australia provided iterative feedback on the development and implementation of a simple digital decision wheel tool, aimed at supporting independent and collaborative decision-making. Three DBR phases were implemented, encompassing an initial pilot and development stage with 3 subjects, and two subsequent action cycles with an additional 17 subjects that were incorporated using a decision wheel tool for independent and problem-based learning. Data were generated through 44 semi-structured interviews and 20 focus groups across twenty undergraduate subjects delivered in various learning modes across five 12-week DBR action cycles. Reflexive thematic analysis and bounded rationality theory guided analysis. Outputs reveal that a simple digital tool contributed positively to making authentic learning moments visible and promoted inclusive and formative dialogue. Benefits included development of psychological authenticity when preparing to make authentic industry decisions. The initiative aligns with broader educational goals for resourcing and developing tools to scaffold a ‘critical pause’ before articulating authentic thinking when engaging with humans and machines.