Teaching IT professional practice with virtual teams

The ability to communicate effectively as part of a virtual team working in the online environment is a valuable skill to have in the modern e-workplace. Such skills can be difficult to develop in undergraduate students. This paper reports on a professional practice unit situated in a web 2.0 environment that aims to develop students' teamwork skills. The paper also reports on research that sought to gain understanding of the student experience of interacting online in virtual teams. The results showed that students value the virtual teamwork experience, finding it useful and relevant for their future careers. The student perceptions of various aspects of virtual teamwork have improved with each subsequent offering of the unit.

Whose risk? 'Managing' risk in school leadership

This article discusses the rise in prominence of 'risk' in schools and the processes and procedures it has triggered in its wake. The discussion commences with formal definitions of 'risk' and how risk is mandated and 'managed' in schools. Alternative views are canvassed and hegemonic emphases in risk policy and practice are critiqued. Taking a socio-cultural approach, the article explores risk from the perspective of school leaders, raising topics elided in risk discourses. The article takes the view that current conceptions of 'risk' have created greater complexity and further risks for the school leaders who 'manage' it. The article investigates school leaders 'and risk' - how risks emerge in the course of everyday school leadership work; school leaders 'at risk' - interrogating the personal and professional risk borne by school leaders through risk policies; and leaders 'as risk' - broaching the rarely raised topic of 'bad' leadership in schools, with its deleterious effects on individuals and whole school communities. These aspects of risk are not found in current literature on risk in educational leadership. The article then goes further to raise the 'undiscussable' topic of risky central leadership practices which render school leaders at even more risk. The article concludes with discussion of risks that school leaders cannot afford not to take in dealing with risk, particularly with regard to collective action to address mandated policy procedures which are detrimental to the foundational issues of teaching, learning, professional agency and community perceptions.

Social entrepreneurship and experiential learning

Social entrepreneurship is a growing, but currently ill-defined area of innovation and business development. It is about accountability not just to commercial imperatives but to the wide range of stakeholders in a social enterprise, potentially an area of great tension. Social responsibility is about a commitment to society, entrepreneurship is usually understood to provide a business outlook on the enterprise – it needs to be sustainable commercially.

To educate the modern or millennial learner (born after about 1980 and grappling with burgeoning youth needs for creative employment development) into developing a small to medium enterprise with a social responsibility, modern postgraduate coursework programs have looked closely at experiential learning. This provides a performative learning through transforming theory into applied situations. The workplace based projects used for the postgraduate programs are effective immersive learning. This paper will include a case study of two postgraduate coursework units New Ventures in Creative Enterprise, and Building Creative Teams, part of a Masters in Communication/Creative Enterprise. These provide experiential learning about strategic planning for startup creative businesses, and work-based projects which build on interpersonal skills for ongoing success.

Learning in agriculture : building social capital in island communities

Social capital helps communities respond positively to change. Research in agricultural businesses and into managing change through learning in communities has highlighted the importance of relationships between people and the formal and informal infrastructure of communities to the quality of outcomes experienced by communities, businesses and individuals. Communities can be geographic communities - the data drawn on in this paper are from an island community, for example or communities-of-common-purpose, such as agricultural organisations. This paper reviews research into managing change through learning and social capital, presents a model of the simultaneous building and use of social capital and explores the ways in which learning as part of an agricultural community can be used to bring benefits to geographic communities such as islands. The model presented in this paper stems from studies of the informal learning process that builds resilient communities. It conceptualises the way in which social capital is used and built in interactions between individuals. There are two stages to the model. The first stage depicts social capital at the micro level of one-on-one interactions where it is built and used. The second stage of the model is about the interrelationship of micro-level social capital processes with the community and societal-level social capital resources.

Learning through research : a regional university and its community

Regional universities bring a research capacity to their home locations that is rarely available through other mechanisms in the region. University initiated research projects conducted locally can provide an opportunity for regional communities to examine their practices through a different lens. Through these projects, researchers in regional universities whose research includes sites internal and external to the region are able to connect their region to national and global contexts. Research presents many opportunities for regional universities and their communities to learn together.

There is some evidence that policy-makers are aware of the importance of behavioural relationships in the engagement of regional universities with communities. Policy documents tend to focus on the macro, institutional level benefits, structural incentives and impediments to university and community engagement. This paper examines research from one faculty based on a regional university campus: the Faculty of Education at the University of Tasmania in Launceston in Australia. It takes a micro view, considering benefits and factors influencing success for small research teams and individual researchers and their community research associates. A learning community approach, where synergies from collaboration can generate new knowledge for the benefit of all university and community players, emerges as an effective model for regional engagement through research.

Social entrepreneurship and experiential learning

Social enterprises and entrepreneurship are about accountability not just to commercial imperatives but to the wide range of stakeholders in a social enterprise, potentially an area of great tension. Social responsibility is about a commitment to society or community, entrepreneurship is usually understood to provide a business outlook on the enterprise - it needs to be sustainable commercially and balanced carefully.
To educate the modem or millenniallearner (born after about 19t1O and grappling with burgeoning youth needs for creative employment developmem) into developing a small to medium enterprise with a social responsibility, modem postgraduate coursework programs have looked closely at experiential learning. This provides a transformative learning through workplace-based projects and strategic business conceptuaUsing. This paper will include a case study of two postgraduate coursework units New Ventures in Creative Enterprise, and Building Creative Teams, part of a Masters in Communication/Creative Enterprise. These provide experiential learning about strategic planning for startup creative businesses, and work-based projects which build on interpersonal skills for ongoing success.

Using virtual meeting spaces for work integrated learning

Work integrated learning activities provide students with the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills they have developed through their tertiary education to authentic work place problems. This paper reports on the outcome of a virtual work integrated learning activity undertaken by third year IT students. Students used a synchronous communication tool to participate in meetings with their virtual teammates. They were required to produce minutes and a report of their meeting. The majority of students completed the exercise successfully with some student groups using the meeting facility for subsequent collaboration during the remainder of the unit.

Academic staff perceptions of the value of the elements of an online learning environment

Based on 276 responses from academic staff in an evaluation of an online learning environment (OLE), this paper identifies those elements of the OLE that were most used and valued by staff, those elements of the OLE that staff most wanted to see improved, and those factors that most contributed to staff perceptions that the use of the OLE enhanced their teaching. The most used and valued elements were core functions, including accessing unit information, accessing lecture/tutorial/lab notes, and reading online discussions. The elements identified as most needing attention related to online assessment: submitting assignments, managing assessment items, and receiving feedback on assignments. Staff felt that using the OLE enhanced their teaching when they were satisfied that their students were able to access and use their learning materials, and when they were satisfied with the professional development they received and were confident with their ability to teach with the OLE.

Managing commercially-focused collaborative R&D projects : preliminary findings from an Australian survey

Preliminary findings from a 2005 survey of Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) project leaders are presented. The results provide initial insights into the nature and outcomes of commercially-focused CRC projects. Such projects are modest in size and budget, are focused on producing new technologies, and are seen by the partners to be risky. Project teams tend to have the necessary project management capabilities and effective communication processes. The projects are experienced in positive terms by the partners, and positive collaboration experience is associated with positive project outcomes. The preliminary investigation of an initial sample is the first step in a more detailed analysis aimed at testing a theoretical model explaining the factors determining collaboration experience.

Environmental sustainability change management in SMEs : learning from sustainability champions

This study identifies the change management processes involved in undertaking environmental sustainability (ES) initiatives within Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs) and relate these to the main attributes of learning organisations. Using case study techniques, the study draws from the change management experiences of a sample of 12 ES champions in different industries. The findings suggest that the ES champions experience four distinct change management stages in undertaking ES initiatives; namely the design, internalise, implement and evaluate stages. Each stage is also found to relate strongly with a number of key characteristics of learning organisations. Overall, the findings suggest that SMEs with strong learning organisation attributes are more likely to be successful in implementing and managing ES change initiatives. The implications of the findings are also discussed.

Life in PBL : two PBL teams

Problem-based learning (PBL) continues to challenge educational institutions in terms of demonstrating its effectiveness. Prior studies have offered insight into the methods, application, and experiences of teaching using PBL. However, student behaviours and the learning cultures that develop in PBL settings are also important. In this paper, we present the ways students of a first year engineering course at an Australian university approach PBL. A number of PBL teams in the same subject were observed throughout two semesters with their consent. This paper reports on two of these teams. Some observations were video taped to aid analysis. The purpose of this study was to analyse and compare learning approaches that help or hinder successful group outcomes. It is evident from the data that individuals in the groups have a strong influence on what is learnt. Some students also focus more on exploiting the assessment system than on maximising their learning.

Making PBL teams successful : a study on student diversity in a first year electrical engineering programme

Problem based learning (PBL) is a group learning environment that involves a radical change in the way students learn and the role that academic staff play in facilitating learning. The PBL approach claims to build extended technological and social understandings as it offers a context for development of autonomous learners. It has an emphasis on collective and individual learning motivation and decision-making behaviours.

In this paper, we present the responses of students to the heterogeneous characteristic of PBL teams in a first year electrical engineering degree course at an Australian University. The learning cultures in PBL teams that emerge as a result of the diverse characteristics of teams are also presented in this paper.

A number of PBL teams were observed and interviewed throughout their first year course with their consent. Analysis of the data collected about students’ learning and outcomes in PBL teams informed the ways in which individual students approach their learning, the ways in which they control, regulate and direct their learning individually and as a group and the extent to which they participate, engage and thereby learn in the course.

It is evident that some students have a strong influence on the behaviour of other students in their team. These students also influenced what is learnt as a team, the ways in which they interrelated, worked as a team and problem solved in changing circumstances. Therefore, when designing student teams for PBL academics should not assume that a mono-cultural group or a mixed-ability group of students will work successfully together. We think that the results of this research inform both the design of PBL courses and the facilitation of PBL groups to accomplish successful group learning outcomes.

Is this a meaningful learning experience? Interactive critical self-inquiry as investigation

What conditions enable educators to engage in meaningful learning experiences with peers and beginning practitioners? This article documents a self-study on our actions-in-practice in a peer mentoring project. The investigation involved an iterative process to improve our knowledge as teacher educators, reflective practitioners, and researchers. Data sets included: video-stimulated reflections; audiotaped reflexive dialogue; individual and shared reflective writings. Data analyzed through the iterative process revealed competing tensions that were not addressed by the triad, leading to a less than meaningful learning experience. We sought to name the dilemmas and document how they impeded meaningful learning; identifying tensions proved useful in data interpretation. The research led us to focus on the tension between collegiality and criticality. Managing this tension requires being authentic with and accepting of the other and working with cognitive dissonances. Collegiality and criticality together promote reflexivity and increase growth, leading to new professional knowledge.

Managing patient deterioration : a protocol for enhancing undergraduate nursing students’ competence through web-based simulation and feedback techniques

Aims: To describe a funded proposal for the development of an on-line evidence based educational program for the management of deteriorating patients.
Background: There are international concerns regarding the management of deteriorating patients with issues around the ‘failure to rescue’. The primary response to these issues has been the development of medical emergency teams with little focus on the education of primary first responders.
Design/Methods: A mixed methods triangulated convergent design. In this four phase proposal we plan to 1. examine nursing student team ability to manage deteriorating patients and based upon these findings 2. develop web based educational material, including interactive scenarios. This educational material will be tested and refined in the third Phase 3, prior to evaluation and dissemination in the final phase.
Conclusion: This project aims to enhance knowledge development for the management of deteriorating patients through rigorous assessment of team performance and to produce a contemporary evidence-based online training program.