Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander university students conceptions of formal learning and experiences of informal learning

This paper describes an investigation of conceptions of learning held by 22 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from three universities in Queensland, Australia. Other areas investigated were students' experiences of informal learning, their reasons for studying and the strategies they used to learn. Research into conceptions of learning is gaining impetus and current beliefs include the premise that approaches to learning adopted by university students, and hence learning outcomes, are closely related to their conceptions of learning. There is substantial research focused on Aboriginal learning styles in early childhood and primary school which indicates that Aboriginal children prefer to learn in a practical way as well as through observation and imitation and trial and error. Very little research has focused specifically on Aboriginal university students' conceptions of learning. Results of this study found that these students view and approach formal university learning in much the same way as other university students and most hold quantitative conceptions of learning. The most interesting result was the difference between students' conceptions of formal learning and their experiences of informal learning. Many students' experiences of informal learning were grounded in practical activities or exhibited a cultural focus, however, most formal learning is not dependent upon practical or cultural knowledge. It is proposed that formal learning for Indigenous students recognise and include an Indigenous perspective such as integrating, where appropriate, practical strategies for learning. We also suggest that Indigenous students be helped to develop conceptions that will enable them to learn formal, theoretical material successfully.

Learning in and out of university : Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students’ conceptions and strategies used to learn

Research suggests that students’ approaches to learning and learning outcomes are closely related to their conceptions of learning. This paper describes a phenomenographically inspired investigation into conceptions of formal learning held by 22 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from three Australian universities in Queensland; experiences of informal learning, reasons for studying and strategies used to learn were also investigated. The attrition rate for these students in tertiary education is higher than that of any other group of students. It was hoped that information gained may delineate factors that contribute to high attrition rates and therefore inform courses of action that may lead to improved teaching and learning practices for these students. Additionally, success in tertiary education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students may increase their involvement in mainstream society. Results showed that they view and approach university learning in much the same way as other university students. It was also apparent that, generally, the strategies these students used did not match the conceptions of learning they held. An interesting result was the difference between the conceptions of formal learning and explanations of informal learning

Learning in formal and informal contexts : conceptions and strategies of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander university students

Research suggests that students' approaches to learning and hence learning outcomes are closely related to their conceptions of learning. This paper describes an investigation into conceptions of formal learning held by 22 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from three Australian universities in Queensland; categories of informal learning, reasons for studying and strategies used to learn were also investigated. The attrition rate for these students in tertiary education is higher than that of any other group of students. The main aim of this study was to determine their conceptions of learning in order to provide information that might facilitate instruction more suited to their needs in order to address the high attrition rate. Results showed that these students view and approach university learning in much the same way as other university students. It was also apparent that, for the most part, the strategies these students used did not match the conceptions of learning they held. An interesting result was the difference between the conceptions of formal learning and perceptions of informal learning.

Student interactivity and teacher participation: An application of legitimate peripheral participation in higher education online learning environments

Lave and Wenger’s legitimate peripheral participation is an important aspect of online learning environments. It is common for teachers to scaffold varying levels of online participation in Web 2.0 contexts, such as online discussion forums and blogs. This study argues that legitimate peripheral participation needs to be redefined in response to students’ decentralised multiple interactions and non-linear engagement in hyperlinked learning environments. The study examines students’ levels of participation in online learning through theories of interactivity, distinguishing between five levels of student participation in the context of a first-year university course delivered via a learning management system. The data collection was implemented through two instruments: i) a questionnaire about students’ interactivity perception in the online reflective learning (n = 238) and then ii) an open discussion on the reason for the diverse perceptions of interactivity (n = 34). The study findings indicate that student participants, other than those who were active, need high levels of teacher or moderator intervention, which better enables legitimate peripheral participation to occur in online learning contexts.

Powering a curriculum for all : a critical ethnographic study of inclusive education

This project makes a contribution to knowledge about the successful leadership practices that enhance education for young people with a disability in a Queensland Secondary School. The project used a critical ethnographic approach with a variety of data collection methods and analysis. For example, the use of work diaries, semi-structured interviews, document analysis and observation. These leadership practices were found to be relevant to the development of inclusive schools for all learners.The most powerful leadership practices found were those used by the leader to challenge, interupt and replace exsisting discourse and processes that led to exclusion of students with a disability.

The role of goal importance in predicting university students’ high academic performance

We examined goal importance, focusing on high, but not exclusive priority goals, in the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to predict students’ academic performance. At the beginning of semester, students in a psychology subject (N = 197) completed TPB and goal importance items for achieving a high grade. Regression analyses revealed partial support for the TPB. Perceived behavioural control, but not attitude or subjective norm, significantly predicted intention, with intention predicting final grade. Goal importance significantly predicted intention, but not final grade, indicating that perceiving a performance goal as highly, but not necessarily exclusively, important impacts on students’ achievement intentions.

From policy borrowing to implementation : an illuminative evaluation of learning and teaching in higher education in Australia (2002 to 2008)

This study documents and theorises the consequences of the 2003 Australian Government Reform Package focussed on learning and teaching in Higher Education during the period 2002 to 2008. This is achieved through the perspective of program evaluation and the methodology of illuminative evaluation. The findings suggest that the three national initiatives of that time, Learning and Teaching Performance Fund (LTPF), Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC), and Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA), were successful in repositioning learning and teaching as a core activity in universities. However, there were unintended consequences brought about by international policy borrowing, when the short-lived nature of LTPF suggests a legacy of quality compliance rather than one of quality enrichment.

Australian screen content in education

Our presentation today will introduce our current ARC Linkage project on Australian screen content in education. We will then go on to discuss our initial research, which is attempting to quantify the use of screen content in Australian education. The presentation concludes with a brief discussion of some of the emerging video on demand services available to schools and universities.

Enhancing social work interprofessional learning through across university and industry collaboration : early steps in the Advanced Health Directives Project

There is ongoing interest in strategies for enhancing the reciprocal benefit derived from social work placements by students, host agencies, and universities. There is also recognition that interprofessional learning is an important aspect of social work education,and that field education placements have a role to play in this learning. This article reports on an innovation in community-engaged learning undertaken between a major public hospital and a university, where a team of social work and law students contributed to a focused inquiry into a socio-legal practice challenge faced by the hospital, namely the use of Advanced Health Directives (AHDs).Various collaborative processes involved in the early phase of the AHD project are reflected on by participants.A preliminary evaluation supports the value of taking a systematic approach to university–industry engagement where interprofessional collaboration occurs vertically and horizontally within and across university and placement hosting agencies.

Contexts, codes and online communications – a case study exploring issues related to using CMCs in a drama education project

Many educators are currently interested in using computer-mediated communications (CMCs) to support learning and creative practice. In my work I have been looking at how we might create drama through using cyberspaces, working with teachers and students in secondary school contexts. In trying to understand issues that have arisen and ways of working with the data I have found a number of frameworks helpful for analysing the online interactions. These frameworks draw from O'Toole's work on contexts negotiated in the creation of drama and other frameworks drawn from Wertsch, Bakhtin and Vygotsky's work on speech utterances, dialogic processes and internalisation of learning. The contexts and factors which must be negotiated in online communications within learning contexts are quite complex and educators may need to provide parameters and protocols to ensure appropriate languages, genres and utterances are utilised. The paper explores some of the types of languages, genres and utterances that emerged from a co-curricula drama project and issues that arose, including the importance of establishing processes for giving and receiving critical feedback This paper is of relevance to those whose research strategies may involve the use of computer-mediated communications as well as those utilising cyberspaces in educational contexts.

Cartels – What are they and how to avoid being part of one : the implications of University fee deregulation

Universities supply a range of services to students. These include most obviously, tuition services in relation to undergraduate and postgraduate courses; research supervision services in relation to research degrees; as well as consultancy services in relation to Government and industry work. For the purposes of the CCA, universities are trading corporations. They engage in trade or commerce through the provision of a range of services for reward. As such Universities are subject to the same rules and regulations that govern the conduct of other trading corporations, such Coles and Woolworths. As senior officers and managers of a trading corporation you need to acquire some basic understanding of the rules that govern competition in the education sector. In other sectors, companies generally undertake a risk assessment of those areas where they are most at risk of contravening the CCA; to ascertain in advance how problems might arise so that they can put in place strategies to mitigate the risk of inadvertent contraventions.

Case Study 4: Education Doctoral Student - "An Exploratory Study of Online Social Networking within a Doctorate of Education Program"

Introduction The professional doctorate is specifically designed for professionals investigating real-world problems and relevant issues for a profession, industry, and/or the community. The focus is scholarly research into professional practices. The research programme bridges academia and the professions, and offers doctoral candidates the opportunity to investigate issues relevant to their own practices and to apply these understandings to their professional contexts. The study on which this article is based sought to track the scholarly skill development of a cohort of professional doctoral students who commenced the course in January 2008 at an Australian university. Because they hold positions of responsibility and are time-poor, many doctoral students have difficulty transitioning from professional practitioner to researcher and scholar. The struggle many experience is in the development of a theoretical or conceptual standpoint for argumentation (Lesham, 2007; Weese et al., 1999). It was thought that the use of a scaffolded learning environment that drew upon a blended learning approach incorporating face to face intensive blocks and collaborative knowledge-building tools such as wikis would provide a data source for understanding the development of scholarly skills. Wikis, weblogs and similar social networking software have the potential to support communities to share, learn, create and collaborate. The development of a wiki page by each candidate in the 2008 cohort was encouraged to provide the participants and the teaching team members with textual indicators of progress. Learning tasks were scaffolded with the expectation that the candidates would complete these tasks via the wikis. The expectation was that cohort members would comment on each other’s work, together with the supervisor and/or teaching team member who was allocated to each candidate. The supervisor is responsible for supervising the candidate’s work through to submission of the thesis for examination and the teaching team member provides support to both the supervisor and the candidate through to confirmation. This paper reports on the learning journey of a cohort of doctoral students during the first seven months of their professional doctoral programme to determine if there had been any qualitative shifts in understandings, expectations and perceptions regarding their developing knowledge and skills. The paper is grounded in the literature pertaining to doctoral studies and examines the structure of the professional doctoral programme. Following this is a discussion of the qualitative study that helped to unearth key themes regarding the participants’ learning journey.

Blended learning : meeting the needs of distance education students

This thesis involved research into the barriers and enablers that existed for a cohort of mature-aged education support students engaging with blended learning through distance education. The findings that emerged from this research indicated that a flexible model of blended learning is possible in this context. The findings shed light on the experiences of novice technology users' participation in blended learning. The study highlighted the significance of factors such as isolation, technology, communication, connectivity, prior learning, and the growth of self-efficacy that influenced learner engagement.