HERDSA 2010 program: Concurrent session two
Web Based Lecture Technologies (WBLT): Contributing to learning and control
Mark Borman
The University of Sydney, Australia
Universities are currently investing significantly in Web Based Lecture Technologies (WBLT). Yet there has been only limited investigation regarding their contribution to education and this has typically been descriptive in nature. Based upon a survey of 144 Business Information Systems students using the most widely deployed WBLT in Australia – Lectopia – factor analysis and multiple regression were used to provide improved understanding of the specific student motivations for use. It was found that students use Lectopia because it provides them with control over the management of their studies and assists them in their learning. The control factor suggests something more than convenience or being provided with additional options; that students value the ability to manage their own studies, in an active, rather than a passive, role. The learning factor relates to the role of Lectopia in helping students understand and apply foundational aspects of a subject. As such it is clear that WBLT can make a contribution to education. The findings may assist educators to more precisely target how WBLT are deployed.
Informing academic practice about how podcasts are used by diverse groups of students
Jackie O’Flaherty, Sheila Scutter and Trenna Albrecht
University of South Australia, Australia
Audio recording of lectures (hereafter referred to as podcasts) has become common practice in many universities. The ease with which academics can podcast their teaching has resulted in extensive use of podcasting in universities. The speed with which this has happened has given little time for reflection on the value of podcasting of lectures for student learning, and the ways in which students use podcasts. Many studies have been undertaken on podcasting of lectures used in individual courses (Tynan and Colbran 2006, Abt and Barry, 2007). In this study we examine the use of podcasting by students in a large faculty of a university. This enables comparisons between students studying in different modes (full time and part time), in different programs and with different educational and language backgrounds. Thus the aim of this study was to determine why and how students are using podcasts, the perception of students of the usefulness of podcasts, and factors which impact upon student use.
Creative experiential collaborations in communications courses for the net generation
Karen Le Rossignol
Deakin University, Australia
The Confucian statement ‘Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me and I’ll remember. Involve me and I’ll understand’ reflects on the concept of experiential and transformational learning for postgraduate coursework in higher education. This work-integrated learning has a strong synergy with ‘net generation’ learners. Creative experiential learning in postgraduate communications courses suits the millennial, or net generation, learner who is time-poor, a networker with strong inclinations towards social or community knowledge pooling and a multiple media literacy, comfortable in virtual worlds and with visual emphasis. The perceived changing higher education role towards more learner-centred and performative approaches has challenged the development of postgraduate coursework within that learner context. Higher education is moving from a transmission or narrative model to a more contextually transitional model. The nexus of these two influences, the new learner and the higher education response to delivering learning, may be elaborated further from learning theory, which seems to be moving beyond social constructivist approaches, to encompassing what is referred to as connectivism. The case studies incorporated here provide two models: a workplace-oriented postgraduate collaborative team project in a communications course; and a virtual simulation for developing creative and professional writing skills at postgraduate levels. Whatever the theoretical underpinning may be, the large numbers of learners moving to postgraduate coursework or more workplace-oriented programs and subjects has thrown out the challenge to provide just-in-time, relevant and socially transforming learning with strong creative and imaginative engagement.
The application of computer-aided argument mapping in a Marketing and Financial Accounting subject
Michal Carrington, Richard Chen, Martin Davies, Jarjit Kaur and Benjamin Neville
The University of Melbourne, Australia
An argument map (AM) visually represents the structure of an argument, outlining the informal logical connections comprising the argument and informing the conclusion. Argument mapping can be augmented with a computer-aided argument mapping (CAAM) software that aids the visual mapping process. Empirical evidence suggests that the combination of argument mapping methodology with CAAM software can produce remarkable increases in students’ critical thinking ability (van Gelder, Bissett, & Cumming, 2004). This study trials the use of CAAM in two large classes in the Business and Economics Faculty at the University of Melbourne (182 undergraduate students). Descriptive statistics for both the FA and MS groups indicated that, overall, argument mapping (AM) is an effective critical and analytical thinking tool. For the FA students, univariate results show a high correlation of the independent variable (AM is an effective critical thinking tool) with each of the dependent variables. Regression analysis shows that (1) AM helps me to have a visual representation of the argument and (2) Helps me to understand the argument, at 1% and 5% significance respectively. Regression analysis for the MS students highlighted that AM helps students to: (1) have a visual representation of the argument (1%); (2) understand the argument (5%); and (3) break down complex arguments into simple manageable components (1%). This self-reported data is empirically corroborated by the results of the Californian Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) that was voluntarily used as pre-test/post-test with the MS student cohort to objectively measure the shift in their critical thinking skills.
Blended learning in higher education: How students perceive integration of face-to-face and online learning experiences in a foreign policy course
Ana-Maria Bliuc, Peter Goodyear and Robert Ellis
The University of Sydney, Australia
The paper presents research exploring university students’ perceptions of the integration between face-to-face and online contexts of their experience of learning. Students from a large Australian university were interviewed (semi-structured interviews; N=20) and surveyed (through open-ended questionnaires; N= 59) about their perceptions of integration between face-to-face and online discussions in a third year foreign policy course. Their responses were analysed using both qualitative methodology, drawing on phenomenographic principles and quantitative statistical analyses. Students’ descriptions reflect qualitative variation in the levels of perceived integration of blended learning, variation that can be mapped across four hierarchical categories. Statistical analyses revealed that the quality of integration of blended learning was reflected by students’ academic performance. That is, students who tended to describe integrated perceptions of blended learning also tended to perform better academically compared to students who displayed less integrated perceptions of blended learning. Implications of the findings are discussed from the perspective of educational research and practice.
Changing academic practice to prepare nursing undergraduates for an evidence-based approach
Moira Cordiner
University of Tasmania, Australia
Leigh Davis
Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Evidence based practice (EBP) has been accepted as a process to assist health professionals in clinical decision making to improve patient outcomes. It requires applying skills in a prescribed sequence to critique existing practices. Many countries, including Australia, require nurses to demonstrate competencies in EBP skills to be registered. In the last ten years, this has lead to universities incorporating EBP in undergraduate nursing degree courses. The literature reports many challenges including students’ difficulties in critically appraising research evidence, and their need for both simplification of the process and extensive support. The purpose of our study was to investigate the effectiveness of a standalone introductory EBP subject for a diverse group of third year undergraduates, based on a novel but challenging approach to assessment. Despite many changes made in the second iteration of the subject, most students’ perceptions of the subject’s difficulty remained unchanged. This research aligns with the issues identified in the literature and has wider applicability to the teaching of rapidly changing disciplines, where evidence-driven consumers have easy access to information and expect up-to-date practices.
We’re on a steep learning curve: The benefits and challenges of multi-campus university course delivery
Matthew Ebden
Deakin University, Australia
This paper combines literary evidence with case study experiences to explore best practice in teaching across multiple campus universities. Multi-campus teaching is increasing across the tertiary education sector posing a number of benefits and challenges for university learners, educators and administrative staff. The main solutions proposed by educational researchers to meet the challenges of multi-campus teaching include e-learning and videoconferencing technologies that provide alternative modes of delivery to traditional face-to-face learning. These modes are critiqued in the context of multi-campus delivery of university courses. Despite the growth of multi-campus teaching, little evidence exists to guide the development of multi-campus course delivery.
Embedding notions of community in the teaching research nexus: A case study
Mario Fernando and Peter McLean
University of Wollongong, Australia
Becoming aware of the variety of ways academics and students experience and apply research in higher education empowers higher education providers, policy makers and academics to become more reflective and critical of the environment in which learning is taking place. Significant shifts in commerce higher education pedagogy that value community engagement as a bridge to holistic education and sustainable social change are taking place. With the increasing need to integrate the community into the teaching-research nexus, social responsibility is moving to the forefront of commerce higher education. The paper is based on the findings of a teaching and learning scholar research project on embedding notions of community in the teaching-research nexus among commerce academics at a regional Australian university. We examine how research knowledge in commerce faculties can generate socially innovative outcomes that meaningfully benefit a wider set of stakeholders in the community. A teaching and learning innovation in assessment development in a third year commerce undergraduate subject is analysed as a basis for discussion and evidence for recommendations.
Gender equity in the professoriate: A cohort study of new women professors in Australia
Carmel M. Diezmann and Susan J. Grieshaber
Queensland University of Technology, Australia
According to statistics and trend data, women continue to be substantially under-represented in the Australian professoriate, and growth in their representation has been slow despite the plethora of equity programs. While not disputing these facts, we propose that examining gender equity by cohort provides a complementary perspective on the status of gender equity in the professoriate. Based on over 500 survey responses, we detected substantial similarities between women and men who were appointed as professors or associate professors between 2005 and 2008. There were similar proportions of women and men appointed via external or internal processes or by invitation. Additionally, similar proportions of women and men professors expressed a marked preference for research over teaching. Furthermore, there were similar distributions between the genders in the age of appointment to the professoriate. However, a notable gender difference was that women were appointed to the professoriate on average 1.9 years later than men. This later appointment provides one reason for the lower representation of women compared to men in the professoriate. It also raises questions of the typical length of time that women and men remain in the (paid) professoriate and reasons why they might leave it. A further similarity between women and men in this cohort was their identification of motivation and circumstances as key factors in their career orientation. However, substantially more women identified motivation than circumstances and the situation was reversed for men. The open-ended survey responses also provided confirmation that affirmative action initiatives make a difference to women’s careers.
Talking about research-led teaching: A discourse analysis
Susan Mayson and Jan Schapper
Monash University, Australia
Much has been written about university efforts to forge stronger links between research and teaching. In fact we wonder whether there is anything new to say about this topic. In light of this conference’s theme of Reshaping Higher Education and in response to the call for a more nuanced analysis of the issues, we critically identify and examine the effects of senior academics’ discourses on how these two core academic activities are shaped and reshaped. Our approach in this paper moves the analysis of the links between teaching and research beyond institutional issues, debates and challenges to explore the discourses that attempt to simplify academic work and issues related to bringing research and teaching together. This, we argue, has the effect of idealising research at the same time as problematising teaching. Our analysis surfaces complexities that underpin apparently instrumental and normative policy prescriptions, thereby contributing to a deeper understanding of the political and practical effects of senior managers’ views about research-led teaching.
The impact of economic policy on reshaping higher education in Malaysia
Jasvir Kaur Nachatar Singh
Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia
Jan Schapper and Susan Mayson
Monash University, Australia
Malaysia has been reshaping its higher education policies since before the1970s. This paper traces the development of higher education policies that have been developed in response to changing economic circumstances and the impact of these policies on higher education in Malaysia over the last fifty years. In particular, we focus on the contribution of globalisation to the higher education sector in Malaysia. We argue that Malaysia’s higher education system has moved through four distinct phases that can be understood as strategic efforts to respond to global economic trends and globalisation.
Approaches to learning and student self-efficacy in project-based marketing education
Chad Habel and Cullen Habel
The University of Adelaide, Australia
This study explores academic practice and student outcomes in three Marketing topics at an Australian university. A questionnaire collected data on approaches to learning and academic self-efficacy, and data analysis sought to explore relationships between these two constructs as well as the effect of study after the topics. The research found a strong relationship between approach to learning and academic self-efficacy, but surprisingly little support for work-integrated learning as a means of improving students’ self-efficacy.
The relationships between motivational beliefs, course experiences and achievement among postgraduate students
Munaza Nausheen and Paul W. Richardson
Monash University, Australia
While there is considerable knowledge about the relationship between student motivation and achievement, few studies have examined the relationships between student motivation, their course experiences and academic achievement at the postgraduate level. This paper is based on the findings of the initial correlation analysis of the data on motivational beliefs and course experiences of the 368 postgraduate students in five different subject areas enrolled in day and evening classes at the University of the Punjab, Lahore Pakistan. A Questionnaire was developed by adopting Scales from Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ), and Course Experiences Questionnaire (CEQ) to measure the motivational beliefs and course experiences of students. Academic achievement was measured using the achievement score in the final examination of the course in which the data was collected. The results of the study indicated that students’ achievement scores were positively correlated with their self-efficacy for learning and performance and negatively correlated with test anxiety; whereas course experience factor and learning community, was significantly correlated with achievement score. Significant correlations were also found among almost all motivational beliefs and course experience factors. These preliminary results will provide the basis for more sophisticated further analyses of the data.
Assessing the research experience of postgraduate student at a Hong Kong university
Lily M. Zeng and Beverley J. Webster
University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
The Student Research Experience Questionnaire (SREQ) has been used in an Australian university to measure postgraduates’ research experiences for many years. Hong Kong is undergoing major education reform and for some universities instigating the systematic evaluation of student learning experiences at all levels. The aims of this study were to validate SREQ in a Hong Kong university and explore the effect of student research experiences on the perceived development of generic skills and overall satisfaction. Data were collected from 599 currently enrolled postgraduate students at a Hong Kong university. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were used to determine the construct validity of the scales and the effects of student research experiences on the perceived development of generic skills. Overall satisfaction was explored using structural equation modelling. The results from exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported the scale structure of five SREQ scales in the Hong Kong context. The reliability estimates ranged from .88 to .93. The structural equation modelling indicated that supervision was a significant predictor of students’ perceived skill development and overall satisfaction. Infrastructure and intellectual climate had only significant contribution to overall satisfaction. The results suggested that the SREQ is a reliable and valid instrument for the measurement of research students’ research experience in the Hong Kong context. The data can provide important information about relationships between student research experiences and how to promote positive learning outcomes.
Reshaping HDR supervisor writing advice through unpacking discourses
Lalitha Velautham and Michelle Picard
The University of Adelaide, Australia
This paper aims to enhance supervisor writing advice and its uptake by research candidates through unpacking supervisors’ written comments and candidates’ perceptions of these comments. Effective commentary on research writing requires that supervisors and candidates have a mutual understanding of tasks, their responsibilities, standards and initiatives (Cargill & Cadman, 2005) and that the research candidates are able to “feed-forward” this understanding into future tasks as part of a self-management strategy (Rae & Cochrane, 2008). In this paper, we contend that a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) unpacking of supervisor comments can benefit all parties in the supervision relationship, particularly in the case of English as an Additional Language (EAL) candidates. Supervisors’ awareness of their implicit pedagogies and their role in the supervisory relationship can transform praxis (Janks, 2005). Additionally, candidate understanding of what supervisors mean by ‘good writing’ and the categories by which they judge ‘good writing’, along with the institutional, disciplinary and individual relations that underlie these categories, can empower them as research writers and as participants in the supervisory relationship (Cadman & Cargill, 2007). This research involves an analysis of supervisor comments on eleven research proposals according to Fairclough’s (2003) steps of CDA. The supervisor comments are categorised according to the types of feedback (discourse) they contain as well as the social and ideological relationships (Discourse) they reveal. Then the research candidates’ experience of the comments are analysed. Finally, pedagogical implications aimed at enhancing the supervisory relationship are discussed.
Getting fit for practice: Designing meaningful practice-based education for undergraduate students
Nora Shields, Andrea Bruder, Nicholas Taylor and Tom Angelo
La Trobe University, Australia
The aim of this pilot study was to identify physiotherapy students’ perceptions of their learning outcomes as a result of participation in an innovative voluntary clinical experience. A physiotherapy student was matched with an adolescent with Down syndrome. Both the adolescent and the student undertook an exercise program at a community gymnasium. The exercise program comprised 20, one hour sessions over 10 weeks. Data were collected as part of a randomised controlled trial. Twenty students (18 female, 2 male; mean age 19.5 ± 1.3 years) took part and completed (a) the Barriers to Exercise Scale and (b) in-depth interviews before the start and immediately after the program. Results found students had a significant positive change in their attitudes on 9 of the 18 items of the Barriers to Exercise Scale. The students described the program as a rewarding but challenging experience. They felt it gave them confidence and affirmed their choice of career. They said they valued the opportunity to get to know someone with a disability and that they liked the simplicity of the program design. A noteworthy consensus was the development of communication skills, in particular, motivational and teaching skills. Students also believed they had an opportunity to develop and practise professional interpersonal skills (leadership, managing professional relationships, organisational skills) and professional discipline skills (exercise prescription). Many of these learning outcomes identified align with desired graduate capabilities. The structure and design of this experience could be applied in other professional programs within health and more broadly.
The efficacy of concurrent Chemistry tutorial program in enhancing student outcomes for an introductory tertiary Chemistry course
John Boereboom, Alison Kuiper and Karen Roberts
University of Lincoln, United Kingdom
Chemistry 1A (PHSC101) is a required course for most science-based degrees at Lincoln University. Students entering the course come from a variety of backgrounds, both academically and in terms of life experience. The voluntary concurrent tutorial program has been designed to support students who enrol in PHSC 101 with a minimal background in Chemistry. Students self select into the program, informed by their performance in a diagnostic pre-test which evaluated their prior knowledge in chemistry. This paper reports on the efficacy of the tutorial program in improving student performance and pass rates in PHSC 101. The performances of students who attended the tutorials and students who did not were compared in terms of the relative improvement in student outcomes. This was measured by comparing the end of semester summative grades with the pre-test scores. Frequency of tutorial attendance was also taken into consideration. Qualitative data supplements the statistical information. Conclusions are drawn as to the efficacy of the tutorial program.
Student outcomes from diverse undergraduate research experiences – Findings from a multi-disciplinary study
Paul Myatt, Nicole Van den Burg and Kirsten Farrand-Zimbardi
The University of Queensland, Australia
Undergraduate research experiences (UREs) provide students with opportunities to engage in high impact experiential learning. UREs have been especially prevalent in the sciences, but there are now extensive banks of case studies demonstrating the use of UREs as an educationally enriching activity in nearly all disciplines. This study investigated the diversity of UREs available across a wide range of disciplines at a large Australian research-intensive university and examined the perceived benefits. Through group interviews with 68 academics, we gathered detailed information about 81 URE activities, across 28 Schools within the institution (representing 77.8% of Schools), ranging from archaeology to political science, from biology to social work and from law to journalism. The most common URE model observed was that of activities embedded in courses. Across disciplines the most common feature was the requirement for students to engage with the research literature in their field. A smaller number of models incorporated features which allowed students to engage in other high impact learning activities such as community-based activities and internships. Although we identified a large ‘set’ of perceived student outcomes across the varied URE models the generic graduate attributes attained by students through these UREs appeared to be independent of the discipline itself. In most cases, the UREs were available to all students rather than an elite or specialist cohort. This leads us to believe that across a range of disciplinary contexts, there are many ways to use UREs to achieve high levels of engagement of large cohorts of students.
Building a writing toolbox for first-year students
Hester Joyce, Catherine Padmore and Tonya Stebbins
La Trobe University, Australia
We present one element of an interdisciplinary, first-year writing subject that demonstrates our contribution to developing students’ writing skills, a key aspect of academic practice in a changing educational context. We discuss the writing ‘toolbox’ we designed to offer students a framework for meta-analysis that they can use in all their university writing. This meta-analysis allowed us to integrate our different expertise in creating the unit, and this is reflected in the way it is taught. Our approach could be applied in other contexts. We also explore the writing toolbox itself, discussing some of the challenges and benefits of this approach, measured through student responses in surveys and focus groups. Students learn to recognise how certain elements of language function in particular genres, and to write effectively within these genres. Simultaneously, they acquire a conceptual framework encouraging them to examine the generic forms of their particular disciplines. The subject was developed by academics from three areas (Cinema Studies, English and Linguistics) in response to a changing academic environment, curriculum renewal initiatives and our observations of the struggles faced by students when writing in different disciplines. These factors provide a context for our discussion, along with research into existing subjects and pedagogical frameworks that tackle some of these issues. While the subject was developed for students of the Humanities, our framework for meta-analysis can be adapted to suit other disciplines, and we discuss some possibilities for academics interested in doing this.
Utilising action research and enquiry processes to achieve sustainable academic development
Bettina Schwenger
Unitec New Zealand, New Zealand
Action research and enquiry processes have been identified as successful ways to help change not only how people operate, but also to enhance their understanding of both the practices they use and the context they operate within. Members of the Academic Literacies Team at Unitec New Zealand (Institute of Technology) formed an action research enquiry group in 2009 to explore how to achieve effective sustainable change in embedding literacy, language and numeracy (LLN) into vocational courses and to investigate how this could be translated into their capability building and academic development work with vocational teachers. This research paper describes the first phase of a multi-project research study and sets the scene for further work in the second phase. It considers vocational tutors’ identities and investigates core aspects of academic development for vocational tutors. An overview of action research and enquiry processes in tertiary education is provided before the setting-up, processes and methodology of the current projects at Unitec are outlined. Conference participants will be asked to critique and share their own experiences, using action research and enquiry to inform processes for academic development and change processes. The author will share some of the issues encountered, as well as research results from the first half of 2010.
Voluntary peer review of face-to-face teaching in higher education
Susan Bolt and Douglas Atkinson
Curtin University of Technology, Australia
Whilst academics welcome peer review of their research, they are less likely to seek peer review of their face-to-face teaching in higher education. Similarly, academics may readily respond to requests to review the research of others but are they just as willing to review the teaching of their peers? Even though scholarship demands systematic inquiry into teaching and learning, academics struggle to fully engage with the scholarship of teaching and learning. In 2009 academics from Curtin Business School voluntarily participated in peer review of their face-to-face teaching using a four step cyclical peer observation process. In this case, the reviewer was the faculty Coordinator of Teaching and Learning rather than a fellow lecturer. Following this, the authors conducted two focus groups and subsequently asked the 10 participants in this initiative to respond in writing to 11 survey questions to determine the usefulness of teaching observations as a method of improving the quality of teaching and learning. The research findings indicated that academics valued the voluntary peer review of their face-to-face teaching and recommended that the process should continue and be expanded if possible in the future. Participants also reported they had improved their teaching practices. Whilst the outcomes of this research were favourable, expansion of the current model requires the use of more sustainable methodologies. Hence, in this paper, literature is reviewed and the outcomes of the current research are reflected upon to inform future practice and build the capacity of academics to engage with voluntary peer review of face-to-face teaching in higher education.
A professional development framework for teaching in higher education
Natalie Brown
University of Tasmania, Australia
Matt Bower
Macquarie University, Australia
Jane Skalicky
University of Tasmania, Australia
Leigh Wood
Macquarie University, Australia
Diane Donovan
The University of Queensland, Australia
Birgit Loch
Swinburne University of Technology, Australia
Walter Bloom
Murdoch University, Australia
Nalini Joshi
The University of Sydney, Australia
This paper outlines a professional development framework for teachers in higher education, based on the United Kingdom Professional Standards Framework. The framework outlined in this paper has been designed to align with a range of other evolving models of tertiary teaching standards, extending these to identify performance indicators at three different levels of operation: teaching classes, coordinating units and, leading programs. The model is generic in terms of its overall design, but explicitly incorporates disciplinarity within the levels of operation to enable application to a variety of fields. The way in which this framework will be tailored for teaching mathematical sciences, as part of an Australian Learning and Teaching Council Project, is also discussed.
A database approach to feedback driven teaching quality improvement
Roger Bourne and Peter Kench
The University of Sydney, Australia
Actions for learning and teaching quality improvement (LTQI) should be derived from assessments of the divergence between learning objectives and learning outcomes. Such assessments are typically imbedded in stakeholder feedback. Critical to the accountability of the LTQI cycle is a transparent, structured, and reportable process for identification of actions for improvement. We describe a model and mechanism for LTQI that is centred on a database of feedback from stakeholders and potential quality improvement (QI) actions formulated in response to that feedback. A shortlist of proposed QI measures is defined by ordering of potential QI actions according to weighting factors. The database system described minimizes the “cost of compliance” for accountable QI and can be extended to include other inputs such as assessment results or the products of learning and teaching scholarship.
Preparing doctoral students for academic careers
Carol Bond and Rachel Spronken-Smith
University of Otago, New Zealand
Doctoral education has changed significantly in the last decade. Specifically, attention has shifted from a concern with knowledge generation and research development to a more holistic view of graduate education that includes preparation for a career. For example, the third cycle of the Bologna Process is based on a notion of postgraduate training that extends beyond research and its dissemination to the acquisition of educational skills for teaching and/or other labour markets. In this showcase we examine a program that focuses on preparing doctoral students for academic careers. Its aims are to: demystify academia; enhance awareness of the socialisation skills and strategic thinking that may help position and ‘quickstart’ participants into academia; explore appropriate research profiles, teaching philosophies and strategies; and develop their personal goals and look to career planning. Upon completion, participants receive a certificate of attendance. Teaching makes use of the wide-ranging experience of the participants themselves, and the expertise of senior (and some junior) academic staff from across the University. The case draws on data from interviews with participants, and formative and summative evaluations about content and delivery. Participants have been uniformly extremely positive. Students’ comments and the popularity of the program support existing literature. Our results provide the basis for discussion of the possible accreditation of such programs as part of a PhD, of how the professional enculturation of early career academics can be facilitated, and how policy and notions of the ‘traditional’ PhD may advance or constrain such facilitation.
Evaluating the effectiveness of a program to address academic language needs
Janet von Randow and John Read
The University of Auckland, New Zealand
With the increasing linguistic diversity of their student populations, many Australasian universities have instituted some form of post-entry English language assessment. In collaboration with the University of Melbourne, the University of Auckland has since 2002 administered the Diagnostic English Language Needs Assessment (DELNA), a two-stage screening and diagnosis system, to first-year undergraduate students regardless of their language background, to identify students with significant needs in academic literacy. The program has been based largely on the philosophy that support will be more effective if the students voluntarily take up recommended opportunities for academic language enhancement. The evaluation of the program has involved both macro and micro level research. At the macro level, a comparison of DELNA results with GPAs has shown clearly that targeted students who complete the full diagnosis and participate in language support achieve better academic outcomes overall than non-participants. This research has been complemented by individual interviews which have revealed that students with English as an additional language are often overwhelmed by the demands of first-year study but over time they come to recognize the nature of their language and literacy needs. It can lead to either appreciation or regret, depending on whether the students have availed themselves of opportunities for language enhancement or not. This presentation will give an overview of the research procedures involved and will highlight ways in which the findings can both provide evidence of success and inform an ongoing improvement in the provision of academic language enrichment for those students who need it.
Distributing change in university science: Building capacity in active learning
Adam Bridgeman
The University of Sydney, Australia
Danny Bedgood Jr
Charles Sturt University, Australia
Kieran Lim and Gayle Morris
Deakin University, Australia
Brian Yates and Michael Gardiner
University of Tasmania, Australia
Simon Pyke
The University of Adelaide, Australia
Mark Buntine, Mauro Mocerino, Daniel Southam and Mario Zadnik
Curtin University of Technology, Australia
In this presentation we explore a distributed framework of leadership to examine the development and practice of academic leadership to transform teaching in first year chemistry. We draw from a current ALTC project, Developing Leaders of Change in the Teaching of Large University Chemistry Classes, which strives to establish excellence in science teaching. Underpinning the pedagogical change agenda is the development of academic leadership capabilities through targeted professional learning, the creation of a purposeful network of Science Learning Leaders, and a virtual national Science Learning Hub. Ultimately the project strives to lead a qualitative shift away from didactic teaching methods, towards teaching methods that engage students in active learning and foster student-directed learning and enquiry. Distributed leadership offers ‘a way of thinking about leadership’ (Bennett, Harvey, Wise & Woods, 2003, p.2) where leadership is reconceptualised as for the ‘many rather than the few’ (Harris and Lambert, 2003:4), and turns the focus on the tasks and practices of academics in classrooms, departments and faculties. Critically, as Bennett et al. (2003, p.3) argue leadership is, ‘not something ‘done’ by an individual ‘to others’, rather it is an emergent property of a group or network of individuals in which group members pool their expertise’. In our case it is a means through which the project team can mobilize and guide other academics in the process of pedagogical change (Spillane, Halverson & Diamon, 2001). Additional frameworks, such as Kotter’s (1996) ‘Leading change’ and Roger’s (2003) ‘Diffusion of innovation’ will also be considered for their usefulness in understanding and bringing about sustainable change.
Exploring the factors that influence the graduate work expectations of Human Resource Management students
Melissa A. Parris and Kerrie Saville
Deakin University, Australia
Providing graduates with a set of skills and attributes relevant to their future employment remains a focus in both higher education policy and research. This paper reports findings from a pilot study of Human Resource Management (HRM) students’ perceptions of the graduate work experience. Specifically, it focuses on how these perceptions are shaped, driven by a concern for the uncertainty – and even fear – expressed by the study’s participants in relation to their future workplace experiences. The influences of three key factors in shaping participants’ expectations are discussed: the graduate recruitment experience, previous work experiences, and ‘graduate work folklore’ from the stories of family and friends. With these influences not always providing students with a realistic picture of their future work experience, we conclude that educators need to improve the opportunities for practical experience and industry knowledge through work placements, stronger links with industry and increased exposure to the practicalities of work within our curricula.
Communities of practice, collegiality and academic practice – Telling more of the story
Wendy Green
The University of Queensland, Australia
Raymond Hibbins
Griffith University, Australia
Lave and Wenger’s (1991) concept of ‘communities of practice’ (CoPs) promises to address the sense of ‘pedagogical solitude’ (Shulman 1993) experienced by many academics, by offering them opportunities to work together, over time, on matters of genuine concern within their own contexts – in ways that traditional staff development programs cannot. If CoPs are to gain legitimacy as a form of academic development however, we need to address the ‘epistemological and logistical difficulties’ of evaluating their impact (McDonald & Star, 2006). As with any form of academic development, participant satisfaction only tells ‘half the story’; it does not necessarily translate into changes in the thinking and practice of teaching academics, or their students (McAlpine et al, 2008). Ideally, evaluation of a CoP should do more than provide the data necessary for securing institutional support; it should also facilitate the reflective learning of its members, and capture the negotiated process of meaning-making between the individual (with their own history and experiences), and the community (Wenger, 1998). In this presentation, we tell more of the story, about one faculty-based teaching community of practice (T-CoP) which has been evolving since 2007 (Green &Ruutz, 2008). We report on an ongoing evaluative study designed and conducted by T-CoP members, which includes a survey used periodically to gauge satisfaction and share suggestions for future developments, and in-depth, semi-structured interviews, in which individual members can elect to reflect more deeply, with one of their peers, on the T-CoP’s impact – on themselves, their students, their colleagues, and their faculty.
Communities of practice: Redefining approaches to academic professional development for changing practice
Jacquelin McDonald
University of Southern Queensland, Australia
Traditional academic practice, where teaching is a private ‘behind closed classroom doors’ process, and academics are isolated from colleagues, does not meet changing expectations of academics to work collaboratively to share practices to deal with the myriad of changes in higher education. Communities of practice are one way to foster changed practice and academic learning communities as they build on the premise of social learning theory and community of practice theory. Since piloting the first community of practice (CoP) in 2006 the University of Southern Queensland’s (USQ) CoP approach as evolved to suit academic practice in Higher Education. Conveners recruit senior champions and align CoPs with institutional goals. Key features include voluntary membership and an organising structure based on the three CoP elements of domain of knowledge, building community and sharing practice. Interview data demonstrates that CoPs reduce disciplinary isolation, provide sustained professional conversations and facilitate curriculum change. The success of the CoP approach has been recognised through a USQ (2008) and AUQA (2009) Citation, an AUQA commendation (2009) and an invitation to contribute the AUQA Good Practice Data base (2010). USQ CoPs are redefining practice by providing bottom-up, participant driven, sharing and building of learning and teaching practice. This model can be applied to topic, cohort, Faculty or across institutional CoPs. Use of three CoP elements as an organising structure at USQ is unique and provides a robust working model for reshaping higher education.