Researching information experience : methodological approaches

This chapter highlights the varied scope of research in the emerging information experience domain. First, I share my perspective as educator-researcher on information experience and its association with informed learning. Then, in six methodological snapshots I present a selection of qualitative approaches which are suited to investigating information experience. The snapshots feature: action research, constructivist grounded theory, ethnomethodology, expanded critical incident approach, phenomenography and qualitative case study. By way of illustration, six researchers explain how and why they use one of these methods. Finally, I review the key characteristics of the six methods and their respective benefits for information experience research.

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.

Beyond equivalency: Repositioning artistic research within the Australian university sector

Presented in concept at the ACUADS 2008 conference, this paper reports on a research study conducted for PhD into how artistic researchers have been accommodated in the Australian university research management system, and the impacts experienced by artistic researchers through this location. It draws upon a wide range of data to provide the first analysis of this topic reported across all artistic disciplines in Australia in relation to university experiences and updates the Strand Report in 1998 in relation to government policy. Data sources include a correlation of literature from arts disciplines with that of higher education management and government policies; survey responses from of heads of academic units containing artistic researchers in over 40% of Australian universities; interviews with 27 artistic researchers in three case study universities; and interviews with longstanding expert commentators on artistic research and Deputy Vice Chancellors responsible for research. The study suggests that while limited progress has been made towards the acceptance of artistic research as an equivalent and legitimate research endeavour, significant structural, cultural and practical challenges remain which are undermining relationships between universities and their artistic staff and engendering behavioural changes within artistic practitioners that can affect the nature and quality of artistic work that is produced. Reflecting the voices of artistic researchers across the broad visual and performing arts disciplinary spectrum from early to senior career academics, it explores ways forward for universities, and artistic researchers themselves, to secure greater equity and recognition for artistic research.

LeaD-In : a cultural change model for peer review of teaching in higher education

Peer review of teaching is recognized increasingly as one strategy for academic development even though historically peer review of teaching is often unsupported by policy, action and culture in many Australian universities. Higher education leaders report that academics generally do not engage with peer review of teaching in a systematic or constructive manner, and this paper advances and analyses a conceptual model to highlight conditions and strategies necessary for the implementation of sustainable peer review in higher education institutions. The model highlights leadership, development and implementation, which are critical to the success and formation of a culture of peer review of teaching. The work arises from collaborative research funded by the Office for Learning and Teaching to foster and advance a culture of peer review of teaching across several universities in Australia.

Transnational preservice teachers in local education programs : a critical realist approach to narratives

This study explores how preservice teachers with non-Australian educational backgrounds and prerequisite qualifications make their way into and through a local teacher education program. It is informed by Margaret Archer's sociology of reflexivity to understand the interplay between these people's personal resources and institutional constraints and enablements. Data were collected from seven participants through narrative interviews. A narrative analysis identified big and small stories. Findings show that these preservice teachers purposefully exercise their agency as they invest in a common project for a variety of transnational goals. The outcome of that project emerges from the interaction between structure and agency.

Happiness online : supporting the emotions of emergent teachers in a virtual community

Extending Lash and Urry's (1994) notion of new "imagined communities" through information and communication structures, I ask the question: Are emergent teachers happy when they interact in online learning environments? This question is timely in the context of the ubiquity of online media and its pervasiveness in teachers' everyday work and lives. The research is important nationally and internationally, because the current research is contradictory. On the one hand, feelings of isolation and frustration have been cited as common emotions experienced in many online environments (Su, Bonk, Magjuka, Liu, & Lee, 2005). Yet others report that online communities encourage a sense of belonging and support (Mills, 2011). Emotions are inherently social, are central to learning and online interaction (Shen, Wang, & Shen, 2009). The presentations reports the use of e-motion blogs to explore emotional states of emergent primary teachers in an online learning context as they transition into their first field experience in schools. The original research was conducted with a graduate class of 64 secondary science pre-service teachers in Science Education Curriculum Studies in a large Australian university, including males and females from a variety of cultural backgrounds, aged 17-55 years. Online activities involved the participants watching a series of streamed live lectures within a course of 8 weeks duration, providing a varied set of learning experiences, such as viewing live teaching demonstrations. Each week, participants provided feedback on learning by writing and posting an e-motion diary or web log about their emotional response. The blogs answered the question: What emotions you experience during this learning experience? The descriptive data set included 284 online posts, with students contributing multiple entries. The Language of Appraisal framework, following Martin and White (2005), was used to cluster the discrete emotions within six affect groups. The findings demonstrated that the pre-service teachers' emotional responses tended towards happiness and satisfaction within the typology of affect groups - un/happiness, in/security, and dis/satisfaction. Fewer participants reported that online learning mode triggered negative feelings of frustration, and when this occurred, it often pertained expectations of themselves in the forthcoming field experience in schools or as future teachers. The findings primarily contribute new understanding about emotional states in online communities, and recommendations are provided for supporting the happiness and satisfaction of emergent teachers as they interact in online communities. It demonstrates that online environments can play an important role in fulfilling teachers' need for social interaction and inclusion.

Teacher education for high poverty schools : the National Exceptional Teachers for Disadvantaged Schools program

A vital element to improve outcomes for disadvantaged students is outstanding teachers. A reality, however, is that teacher graduates in the top quartile of academic scores are far less likely to accept positions in tough urban, regional, rural and remote schools. Further, because high poverty schools can be challenging environments, these teachers are retained for much shorter periods of time. In response to this challenge, the National Exceptional Teachers for Disadvantaged Schools program (NETDS) creates a pathway for the highest quality pre-service teachers to be fully prepared, professionally and personally, for roles within high poverty schools. The program identifies the highest-achieving mainstream preservice teachers in university programs across the country and offers them a specialised curriculum and supported practicum experience in a network of disadvantaged partner schools. By working closely with government, philanthropy and partner schools, the program also works to channel these exceptional pre-service teachers into employment in schools where they will have the greatest impact. Its initial results have been exceptional: over 90% of graduates are now employed as teachers in high poverty schools. This paper will discuss their research on how they are working to build the infrastructure and capacity for research on innovations that prepare teachers for 21st century schools in the Australian context.

Student knowledge of curriculum literacies as they enter high school

This study explores students' perceptions of their learning, particularly their knowledge of writing, in their first year of high school. Conducted in a large regional high school, the researcher worked with two Year 8 teachers in the subjects of English, Science and History to apply Systemic Functional Linguistics in the development of lessons with a specific focus on writing. This Design Based Research project revealed how external and internal factors are impacting on teachers' abilities to improve students' knowledge and understandings of how specific subjects organise and represent information, particularly through writing.

Illuminative evaluation as a method applied to Australian Government policy borrowing and implementation in higher education

Any government deciding to invoke widespread change in its higher education sector through implementation of new policies impacts on every institution and all staff and students, often in both the time taken up and the heightened emotions caused. The central phenomenon that this study addresses is the process and consequences of policy changes in higher education in Australia. The aim of this article is to record the research design through the perspective (evaluation research), theoretical framework (program evaluation) and methods (content analysis, descriptive statistical analysis and bibliometric analysis) applied to the investigation of the 2003 federal government higher education reform package. This approach allows both the intended and unintended consequences arising from the policy implementation of three national initiatives focused on learning and teaching in higher education in Australia to surface. As a result, this program evaluation, also known in some disciplines as policy implementation analysis, will demonstrate the applicability of illuminative evaluation as a methodology and reinforce how program evaluation will assist and advise future government reform and policy implementation, and will serve as a legacy for future evaluative research.Any government deciding to invoke widespread change in its higher education sector through implementation of new policies impacts on every institution and all staff and students, often in both the time taken up and the heightened emotions caused. The central phenomenon that this study addresses is the process and consequences of policy changes in higher education in Australia. The aim of this article is to record the research design through the perspective (evaluation research), theoretical framework (program evaluation) and methods (content analysis, descriptive statistical analysis and bibliometric analysis) applied to the investigation of the 2003 federal government higher education reform package. This approach allows both the intended and unintended consequences arising from the policy implementation of three national initiatives focused on learning and teaching in higher education in Australia to surface. As a result, this program evaluation, also known in some disciplines as policy implementation analysis, will demonstrate the applicability of illuminative evaluation as a methodology and reinforce how program evaluation will assist and advise future government reform and policy implementation, and will serve as a legacy for future evaluative research.

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths (STEM)

"Historically, science had a place in education before the time of Plato and Aristotle (e.g., Stonehenge). Technology gradually increased since early human inventions (e.g., indigenous tools and weapons), rose up dramatically through the industrial revolution and escalated exponentially during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, particularly with the advent of the Internet. Engineering accomplishments were evident in the constructs of early civil works, including roads and structural feats such as the Egyptian pyramids. Mathematics was not as clearly defined BC (Seeds 2010), but was utilized for more than two millennia (e.g., Archimedes, Kepler, and Newton) and paved its way into education as an essential scientific tool and a way of discovering new possibilities. Hence, combining science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) areas should not come as a surprise but rather as a unique way of packaging what has been ..."--Publisher Website