ACE research briefing paper 002: learning and adaptation in the business creation process

This year marks the completion of data collection for year three (Wave 3) of the CAUSEE study. This report uses data from the first three years and focuses on the process of learning and adaptation in the business creation process. Most start-ups need to change their business model, their product, their marketing plan, their market or something else about the business to be successful. PayPal changed their product at least five times, moving from handheld security, to enterprise apps, to consumer apps, to a digital wallet, to payments between handhelds before finally stumbling on the model that made the a multi-billion dollar company revolving around email-based payments. PayPal is not alone and anecdotes abounds of start-ups changing direction: Sysmantec started as an artificial intelligence company, Apple started selling plans to build computers and Microsoft tried to peddle compilers before licensing an operating system out of New Mexico. To what extent do Australian new ventures change and adapt as their ideas and business develop? As a longitudinal study, CAUSEE was designed specifically to observe development in the venture creation process. In this research briefing paper, we compare development over time of randomly sampled Nascent Firms (NF) and Young Firms(YF), concentrating on the surviving cases. We also compare NFs with YFs at each yearly interval. The 'high potential' over sample is not used in this report.

A transition pedagogy for student engagement and first-year learning, success and retention

This chapter argues that higher education institutions (HEIs) must direct coordinated, whole-of-institution attention to changing, both culturally and structurally, the fundamental and prevailing character of the first-year experience (FYE). It leverages evidence from the sector(Nelson, Kift and Clarke, 2011), from research-led practice in our institution (for example, Kift, Nelson and Clarke, 2010; Nelson et al.,in press) and from research conducted under an Australian Learning and Teaching Council Senior Fellowship (Kift, 2009a, 2009b, 2009c) to assert that student engagement and success should not be left to chance, particularly those aspects such as curriculum design and enactment that are within our institutional control.

Learning in and beyond small business advisory programmes

The purpose of this paper is to analyse how participants learn in small business advisory programmes and to explore the impact of these learning programmes on the development of reflective learning dispositions in participants. The research involves two case studies of small business advisory programmes in Queensland, a state of Australia. One involves training in the use of GPS/GIS technology amongst rural SMEs and the other seeks to develop improved management and operational capabilities in regional and metropolitan manufacturing SMEs. Face to face semi-structured interviews were conducted throughout rural, regional and metropolitan Queensland with participants, trainers and senior executives in the administering organisations that ran the programmes. Learning in these programmes occurs through a combination of interaction with others and the adoption of practice-based and learner-centred processes. The impact of the programmes on participants includes the development of reflective learning dispositions, improved confidence in learning and appreciation of the value of new knowledge to their business. The research suggests that small business training programmes have the potential to affect the development of critical reflective learning dispositions in participants which is of fundamental importance to the development of a learning or knowledge economy.

Education in City and Suburban Communities

This chapter will discuss how environmental factors, specifically one’s backgrounds and where one lives, has an impact on teaching and learning. You have learned from previous chapters that inclusive education is underpinned by human rights and social justice issues. This chapter takes up that argument by identifying the diversity of students in city and suburban schools and how some are excluded, leading to disengagement with learning. We suggest possible pedagogy such as differentiated instruction and a ‘pedagogy of hope’ to counter student disengagement. Inclusive education, as an ‘act of imagination’ engages students in creative ways with the curriculum, where they can find meaning and purpose in what they are doing. Such engagement allows student to make connections between their school work and their own life worlds.

Managing distraction and attention in diverse cohorts : 21st century challenges to law student engagement

It is imperative that we consider the use of current and emerging technologies in terms of the nature of our learners, the physical environment of the lecture theatre, and how technology may help to support appropriate pedagogies that facilitate the capturing of student attention in active engaging learning experiences. It is argued that a re-evaluation of pedagogy is required to address the tech-savy traits of the 21st century learner and the extent to which their mobile devices are capable of not only distracting them from learning but also enhancing face-to-face learning experiences.

Developing relationships that support learning and participation

Developing supportive, authentic and collaborative partnerships between all partners is crucial to inclusive school culture. This chapter highlights understandings of collaboration within such a culture. It also draws attention to what is involved in achieving these relationships, and identifies associated characteristics. In addition, it describes how successful collegial teams can be developed and ways in which teachers can work as collaborative members of these teams for students with disabilities within inclusive educational settings.

Gaps in organizational leadership : linking strategic and operational activities through design-led propositions

The relationship between design process and business systems has been of interest to both practitioners and researchers exploring the numerous opportunities and challenges of this unlikely relationship. Often the relationship is presented as building design thinking capability within an organization, which can be broadly described as the union of design and strategy. Brown (2008) notes that design thinking is ‘‘a discipline that uses the designer’s sensibility and methods to match people’s needs with what is technically feasible and what business strategy can convert into customer value and market opportunities’’ (p. 1). The value that design thinking brings to an organization is a different way of framing situations and possibilities, doing things, and tackling problems: essentially a cultural transformation of the way it undertakes its business. The work of Martin (2009) has clearly shown the generalized differences between design thinking and business thinking, highlighting many instances in which these differences have been overcome, but also noting the many obstacles of trying to unify both approaches within an organization. Liedtka (2010) encourages firms to try and persist in overcoming these barriers, as she has noted that ‘‘business strategy desperately needs design ... because design is all about action and business strategy too often turns out to be only about talk ... fewer than 10 percent of new strategies are ever fully executed’’ (p. 9).

Student feedback systems in higher education: a focused literature review and environmental scan

In recent times, higher education institutions have paid increasing attention to the views of students to obtain feedback on their experience of learning and teaching through internal surveys. This article reviews research in the field and reports on practices in other Australian universities. Findings demonstrate that while student feedback is valued and used by all Australian universities, survey practices are idiosyncratic and in the majority of cases, questionnaires lack validity and reliability; data are used inadequately or inappropriately; and they offer limited potential for cross-sector benchmarking. The study confirms the need for institutions to develop an overarching framework for evaluation in which a valid, reliable, multidimensional and useful student feedback survey constitutes just one part. Given external expectations and internal requirements to collect feedback from students on their experience of learning and teaching, the pursuit of sound evaluation practices will continue to be of interest at local, national and international levels.

Learning and assessment in Australia

Camp Kilda (CK) is regarded as being a quality early childhood center, and has many features you would typically expect to see in settings across Australia. The children are busily engaged in hands-on activity, playing indoors and outdoors, in the sandpit, under the shade of a big mango tree. The learning environment is planned to offer a variety of activities, including dramatic play, climbing equipment, balls, painting, drawing, clay, books, blocks, writing materials, scissors, manipulative materials. The children are free to access all the materials, and they play either individually or in small groups. The teachers encourage and stimulate the children’s learning, through interactions and thoughtful planning. Learning and assessment at CK is embedded within the cultural and social contexts of the children and their community. Children’s learning is made visible through a rich variety of strategies, including recorded observations, work samples, photographs, and other artifacts. Parents are actively encouraged to build on these “stories” of their children. Planning is based around the teachers’ analysis of the information they gather daily as they interact with the children and their families.

Solo life to Second Life : the design of physical and virtual learning spaces inspired by the drama classroom

This paper explores the design of virtual and physical learning spaces developed for students of drama and theatre studies. What can we learn from the traditional drama workshop that will inform the design of drama and theatre spaces created in technology-mediated learning environments? The authors examine four examples of spaces created for online, distance and on-campus students and discuss the relationship between the choice of technology, the learning and teaching methods, and the outcomes for student engagement. Combining insights from two previous action research projects, the discussion focuses on the physical space used for contemporary drama workshops, supplemented by Web 2.0 technologies; a modular online theatre studies course; the blogging space of students creating a group devised play; and the open and immersive world of Second Life, where students explore 3D simulations of historical theatre sites. The authors argue that the drama workshop can be used as inspiration for the design of successful online classrooms. This is achieved by focusing on students’ contributions to the learning as individuals and group members, the aesthetics and mise-en-scene of the learning space, and the role of mobile and networked technologies. Students in this environment increase their capacity to become co-creators of knowledge and to achieve creative outcomes. The drama workshop space in its physical and virtual forms is seen as a model for classrooms in other disciplines, where dynamic, creative and collaborative spaces are required.

Checking-in at the library : designing an ambient media system for social learning and collaboration opportunities

The knowledge economy of the 21st century requires skills such as creativity, critical thinking, problem solving, communication and collaboration (Partnership for 21st century skills, 2011) – skills that cannot easily be learnt from books, but rather through learning-by-doing and social interaction. Big ideas and disruptive innovation often result from collaboration between individuals from diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise. Public libraries, as facilitators of education and knowledge, have been actively seeking responses to such changing needs of the general public...