Establishing best-practice principles for the teaching of group design projects

As student-to-staff ratios escalate, increasing numbers of undergraduate architects are finding the reduction of ‘one-to-one’ studio supervision an impediment to learning. Group design projects are becoming a widespread solution to this problem. However, little analysis has been undertaken as to their effectiveness both in terms of student assessment and as a design teaching methodology.
The two hundred years of apprentice/master tradition that underpins the atelier studio system is still at the core of much present day architectural design education. Yet this tradition today poses uncertainties for a large number of co-ordinating lecturers faced with current changes in the nature of tertiary education and its funding structure. In particular, with reductions in staff/student contact time, in sessional funding sources and in the relative weighting of design-based subjects with respect to other subject areas, many design teachers are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain an atelier system that has shaped both their learning and, more pointedly, their teaching. If these deficiencies remain unchecked and design-based schools are unable to implement strategies that successfully overcome the resource intensive one-to-one teaching program, then architecture may prove to be an untenable course structure for many institutions.
Rather then spreading their time thinly, many co-ordinating lecturers are setting group projects in order to review less assignments but at greater depth. However, while this learning model better reflects design teams in practice, this approach may pose other pedagogical and assessment questions. What is clear is the urgent need for structured research into the teaching and assessment problems experienced by design teachers, and for a readily adoptable pedagogy for group design projects. At Deakin University, research is underway aimed at establishing best-practice principles for group design projects by analysing students’ performance and recording and implementing their feedback to adjustments made to the pedagogical fundamentals of assessment, group configuration, and program structure. There are after two years of preliminary studies already clear indications of what changes can be made to these to encourage more effective team learning. This paper will present the findings of these studies.

Understanding what microfinance institutions need to address to aid poverty alleviation, social inclusion and human development

Poverty, in its most basic form can be defined as a deprivation of well-being. It is an issue that has been evident in society for centuries and a concern for government policy makers and more recently for non-government organizations (NGOs). In this paper, we consider how management approaches to resolving the dilemma of poverty can be advanced by drawing on two major areas in the development arena associated with poverty, namely, ‘social exclusion’ and ‘the human development paradigm’. We put forward the argument that for groups of people where social disintegration has already occurred, only structural interventions coupled with a social development mechanism will achieve the desired effect. One method for achieving this is through the use of microfinance programs which provide a broad range of financial services to the poor and low-income households as well as to micro-enterprises. This paper contributes to both management practice and theory by developing a theoretical model that microfinance institutions need to do to aid both ‘human development’ and ‘social inclusion’ processes for the socially excluded and poor.

Student perspectives of online learning

The advent of online learning in tertiary education has changed the way students interact with institutions and undertake their studies. All students at Deakin University interact with their courses through an online learning environment. While online learning environments can be evaluated in a number of ways, the perceptions of the key users and their levels of satisfaction with the online learning environment are important measures.
This paper presents results of a survey of students studying at Deakin University in 2005. The survey explored their perceptions of learning in the online environment. The results indicate that overall students were enthusiastic about learning in such an environment. The main advantages are the flexibility that it provides and the ability to study when it suits students. The disadvantages include technical issues such as speed of access, and the need to participate regularly. The size and spread of the responses suggest that these outcomes can be generalized for all students studying online.

Designing contemporary e-supported professional development environments to enhance tertiary teaching and learning

National and organsational imperatives in Australian higher education are demanding systematic and cost-effective approaches to the professional development of staff in their teaching in order to enhance the quality of student learning. Many universities are geographically distributed, multi- campus, multi-city and multi-modal in nature, and highly dependent for their effective operation on information and communications technologies (ICT). Deakin University is one such university operating in Australian higher education. Consistent with the progressive principles and practices of the learning organisation, new approaches and environments are required to support the professional development of staff for enhanced teaching and learning in higher education. These environments now require substantial use of e-learning for both learning about teaching online and the development of teaching capacities in the world of the modern-day, technologically-supported physical classroom. This article outlines the imperatives to establish and operate cost-effective e-supported environments for professional development for excellence in teaching and learning. The key principles underlying these emergent environments are outlined, along with the major tools, resources and features of such environments. A contemporary online teaching case site is highlighted as indicative of new approaches to supporting professional development of staff for excellence in online teaching and learning.

Managing academic support for international students: the appropriateness of a learning support unit in an Australian tertiary institution

The higher education environment in Australia has undergone a radical change since the 1980s with the phenomenal increase in the intake of international students, particularly from what are referred to as Confucian Heritage Cultures (CHC): China, Korea, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. Students from these countries view the Australian higher education system very favourably. The present increase in the proportion of full-fee paying students at Australian universities is also a result of decreasing government funding to the Australian higher education sector, which has now risen to be one of the most important elements of the Australian economy. These push-pull factors have drawn more Australian tertiary institution providers into the market place, as they seek more international student enrolments for their domestic campuses and also establish campuses overseas. Potential higher education students are becoming more discerning in their choices and are choosing learning environments that offers them both relevant and stimulating educational experiences and good qualifications, along with a range of both IT and academic support services that cater to their individual learning needs. Increasing competition, both within Australia and internationally, calls for a focus on student satisfaction in order to sustain the existence of the providers. This paper addresses the issue of what international students seek in terms of academic support and demonstrates that present levels of cost efficient services by Australian higher education providers, generally characterized by IT and language support services, are inadequate and do not meet the specific needs of the students.

Development of deliberative democracy : a collection of the essays presented at the international conference on deliberative democracy and Chinese practice of participatory and deliberative institutions

Collection of the essays presented at the international conference on deliberative democray and Chinese practice of participatory and deliberative institutions

Taking responsibility for learning isn't everything : a case for developing tertiary students' conceptions of learning

This study examines first year university student perceptions of responsibility for their learning, within the context of their conceptions of learning, with a view to meeting two of the objectives of higher education in Australia: teaching students to think and to learn. A questionnaire was distributed to 100 students undertaking at least one first year subject at the University of Western Sydney (UWS) in 1998. Their written responses provided information about their conceptions of learning, as well as both direct and indirect indications of their perceptions of responsibility. Results indicated that students held perceptions of personal responsibility for their learning, but that their conceptions of learning were essentially quantitative in nature and were at the lower levels of complexity. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of university teaching and learning, and of meeting the ultimate objectives of higher education.

Teaching Chinese, teaching in Chinese, and teaching the Chinese

This article examines specific issues encountered in various areas of Chinese teaching in Australia. These issues are linked to the spheres of language planning as acquisition and as recovery and language planning as retention (Lo Bianco, 10.1007/s10993-006-9042-3). Specifically relevant to Chinese in Australia is its current prominence in formally declared national language policy, its changing status over time and its similarities and differences with Chinese in the United States (Wang, 10.1007/s10993-006-9043-2). The internationalization of education, and its commodification, has in recent years led to a major expansion in the range of offerings in Chinese in Australia, now catering to growing, and in some institutions to numerically dominant, groupings of native speakers with radically different language and academic needs from the traditional clientele of tertiary and school Chinese programs.

Institutions and policies for growth and poverty reduction: the role of private sector development

This paper goes over some of the recent discussions on the effects on growth and poverty of institutions and policies, especially those that relate to the functioning of the private sector. It examines the empirical relationship between various measures of institutional quality and regulatory policies, and economic growth and poverty. The results suggest that good governance, as measured by a strong commitment to the rule of law, among other things, matters for poverty reduction largely through its effect on economic growth. In terms of business regulations, the paper finds that less restrictive regulations pertaining to starting a business are associated with higher economic growth as well as lower rates of $2-a-day poverty. Political freedom is not associated with either higher growth or lower poverty. Taken together, the evidence here seems to suggest that the delivery of good governance and policies that facilitate the creation of new enterprises are more relevant for growth and poverty reduction than the nature of the political system per se.

Second life first hand: a teacher perspective

The professional landscape in public relations is changing as new communication and social networking technologies are integrated into day-to-day professional practice. Whilst adoption of such technologies by public relations practitioners is certainly on the increase, their use can still be regarded as limited and application experimental to some degree. However, few could argue that these technologies will be increasingly important to public relations practice in coming years.
In this context, public relations educators must strive to deliver a contemporary curriculum reflective of industry expectations and best practice principles but which also provides students with exposure to new communication contexts and technologies.

The advent of persistent virtual worlds generated by Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) and Collaborative Virtual Environments (CVEs) offer new realms for public relations practitioners and educators alike. Virtual worlds potentially provide public relations educators with novel but relevant training grounds for their students. These 3D worlds offer dynamic and authentic learning environments which have the capability to foster deep learning and engender a sense of community within a student cohort in a way that many computer-mediated classrooms sadly lack.

This paper will present the experiences of two tertiary educators’ journey towards a conceptual understanding of the persistent virtual world, Second Life, from a teacher perspective. The paper argues that the successful adoption of new online technologies like Second Life need not be inhibited by preferences for technology or prior ICT skills as long as teaching staff are given the necessary support and training by their institutions coupled with opportunity for familiarisation and experimentation.

Cultural factors behind the adoption of e-learning in Turkey

This paper aims to examine ways in which cultural factors shape the adoption and use of information technology for online teaching. This research focuses on influential early adopters in the tertiary education sector in Turkey who have become change-agents by inspiring small networks of their peers. The study examines the operation of trust and inspiration in networking and teamwork in the Asian academic environment. Findings from this research can assist individuals and institutions to better understand ways in which to optimize the online teaching and learning experience for staff.

The cost efficiency of New Zealand`s polytechnics

In New Zealand the most important institutions that are responsible for the delivery of vocational education and training programs are the government owned and operated tertiary education institutions known as polytechnics.' The New Zealand polytechnics deliver programs at the certificate, diploma and degree level. During the course of the 1990s, expansion of participation in vocational education and training was a major priority on the part of the New Zealand Government. In order to enable this to occur without placing too great a financial burden on the government and taxpayers, the polytechnics have become more dependent upon non-government sources of income (both student fees and other sources) and have been opened up to increasing levels of competition with the view that this will compel them to operate at higher levels of efficiency. As well, it is thought competition will make the polytechnics more responsive to the demands of students and industry. At the same time the polytechnics have been given more autonomy such that they have been able to move into the delivery of programs formerly denied to them. The purpose of this paper is to look at some aspects of the cost efficiency of the operation of polytechnics in New Zealand between the years 1995 and 2002. The efficient operation of the polytechnics in New Zealand is important because they need to operate at high levels of cost efficiency if they are to provide the greatest possible contribution to the development of New Zealand's skill and knowledge base. In particular one issue to consider was whether the creation of larger polytechnic institutions could achieve lower unit costs and, therefore educate a greater number of students without significantly increasing costs. In order to achieve these larger institutions, the various polytechnics have attempted to 1) expand enrolments by diversifying into the delivery of degree programs, 2) attract additional students from overseas and 3) arrange (or been forced by circumstances into) mergers in order to create larger scale institutions. In the next section, a background account of the nature of the vocational education sector and the role of the New Zealand polytechnic is given. Following this, a section containing an analysis of the cost efficiency of New Zealand's polytechnics is provided, and in the final section some conclusions are given.

Undoing men's privilege and advancing gender equality in public sector institutions

Discrimination against women in public sector organisations has been the focus of considerable research in recent years. While much of this literature acknowledges the structural basis of gender inequality, strategies for change are often focused on anti-discrimination policies, equal employment opportunities and diversity management. Discriminatory behaviour is often individualised in these interventions and the larger systems of dominance and subordination are ignored. The flipside of gender discrimination, we argue, is the privileging of men. The lack of critical interrogation of men's privilege allows men to reinforce their dominance. In this paper we offer an account of gender inequalities and injustices in public sector institutions in terms of privilege. The paper draws on critical scholarship on men and masculinities and an emergent scholarship on men's involvement in the gender relations of workplaces and organisations, to offer both a general account of privilege and an application of this framework to the arena of public sector institutions and workplaces in general.