Finding common ground: enhancing interaction between domestic and international students in higher education

A feature of Australian Higher Education over the last 10 years has been the increased numbers of international students. This feature has been perceived to have great potential for enhanced learning for all students – both international and domestic. Yet, student surveys and research clearly indicate that there is very little interaction occurring between domestic and international students. This article reports on a study that investigated the extent to which university teaching can promote interaction between students from diverse cultural and linguistic background. Using an innovative video-analysis methodology, the research found that academics engage in a variety of activities to encourage interaction between student groups. In order to assist academics in planning interaction, one of the main findings of the study was the development of ‘The Interaction for Learning Framework (ILF)’, that identifies key dimensions for curriculum design that can be used by academics to inform ways that they can enhance interaction between diverse student groups within teaching and learning contexts.

A preliminary evaluation of the use of graphic novels in teaching information systems

As a result of declining student numbers, and poor satisfaction ratings, an introductory information systems unit was completely redeveloped. A number of innovative initiatives were designed and implemented and the unit has seen a significant improvement in student satisfaction rates. This paper describes the development of a series of graphic novels as a strategy to both increase student engagement with the unit content and enhance the attainment of learning outcomes. It also discusses how the graphic novels were used in lectures, workshops, and competitions to increase student engagement (with varying degrees of success). Students have generally found the graphic novels to be a valuable learning resource. There is a paucity of studies on the impact of graphic novels as a teaching tool, particularly within the context of higher education, and this research is a contribution to this evident gap in the literature.

Significance of a multimedia resource in the professional learning of preservice teachers

This phenomenological inquiry seeks to understand the complexity of teacher professional learning through analysis of the use of a multimedia curriculum resource in initial teacher education programs. The study follows seven preservice teachers at three points over the course of an eighteen month period to gain understandings of how they are making meaning of their becoming teacher journeys. For the purposes of this paper only one aspect of the doctoral study is reported on due to the limitations of space. Consequently, this paper focuses on the findings of the significance of using a multimedia curriculum resource, known as QuILT, for professional learning. The qualitative study used questionnaires that included open-ended questions and semi-structured interviews with each of the seven preservice teachers at three points over an eighteen month period; as well as artefacts such as their QuILT related assessment. The paper reports on the findings that the multimedia resource and its pedagogical use provide a rich professional learning environment for preservice teachers.

Engaging international students

Effective and meaningful student engagement is integral for enhancing student learning experience and outcomes. For international students who move beyond their cultural comfort zone and navigate through cross-border experiences, it is essential to conceptualise their engagement through not only the formal curriculum but also the informal curriculum. International student engagement should be viewed in relation to multiple interrelated dimensions. These may include their engagement with the learning content and learning process, the bonding between teachers and students, the interaction between international and domestic students and amongst international students themselves and their integration into the relevant networks, the community and the society that they are living in. These dimensions of engagement are anchored in the intersections of international student personal agency and personal experiences, educational practices, cultural boundaries and the broader social and political context shaping Australian international education.

Approaches to improving teaching

This paper discusses a few issues related to teaching improvement that are commonly found in tertiary education, such as curriculum development, student engagement, and ethical considerations. Scholars re- search on resolving these issues are investigated. Corresponding approaches to improving teaching of a year one information technology unit are proposed and experience is shared. The importance of teaching scholarship is also emphasized at the end of this paper.

Learning through the affordances of representation construction

In this chapter we draw upon several theoretical perspectives and past research into language and learning in science, to develop a framework to characterize how and why student engagement in representation construction practices supports learning in science.

Aligning students and staff perspectives in an engineering design curriculum

This paper focuses on the alignment of students and staff perspectives in an engineering design curriculum. Deakin University recognised the importance of student learning with engagement in design-centred education. Staff across the university are committed to ensure that students are engaged at a fairly deep learning level. Engaging students is an important aspect of learning and teaching process because it enhances the student to be self directed active learners. To measure the student engagement and staff experiences in learning and teaching process, Deakin engineering has used design based learning as one of its engineering learning principle. This study examines students perceptions of DBL in their curriculum through a paper based survey given to a cohort of senior year undergraduate engineering students. The research also illustrates the staff perceptions of DBL in engineering curriculum by conducting face-to-face interviews with them. From the analysed results, this research shows that the students and staff have an adequate experience of learning and teaching engineering through design based learning approach in an engineering design curriculum.

Digital systems for open access to formal and informal learning

 Today, Digital Systems and Services for Technology Supported Learning and Education are recognized as the key drivers to transform the way that individuals, groups and organizations “learn” and the way to “assess learning” in 21st Century. These transformations influence: Objectives - moving from acquiring new “knowledge” to developing new and relevant “competences”; Methods – moving from “classroom” based teaching to “context-aware” personalized learning; and Assessment – moving from “life-long” degrees and certifications to “on-demand” and “in-context” accreditation of qualifications. Within this context, promoting Open Access to Formal and Informal Learning, is currently a key issue in the public discourse and the global dialogue on Education, including Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and Flipped School Classrooms.

School-community collaborations: bringing authentic science into schools

There is increasing interest in collaborative arrangements between schools and community scientists to enhance student engagement with learning. We describe research in which we identify a wide range of such collaborations in Australia, and investigate through interviews with community participants their perspectives on the purposes of collaborations, on the outcomes, and the factors affecting success. We identify challenges with communication, with curriculum and with organisational arrangements that need to be considered in setting up collaborative partnerships, and argue the importance of having a teacher acting as a broker to bridge between the school and scientific communities of practice, if these challenges are to be met.

Subject matters of science, technology, mathematics and engineering

This chapter offers a critical review of curriculum in the STEM disciplines, overviewing contemporary context and issues around the STEM acronym as a contested space, issues of inquiry, social justice, current concerns with student engagement and their history, theoretical perspectives on teaching and learning in these disciplines, and key forms and foci of inquiry into STEM curriculum.

Active learning: the importance of developing a comprehensive measure

This article reports on an investigation into the validity of a widely used scale for measuring the extent to which higher education students employ active learning strategies. The scale is the active learning scale in the Australasian Survey of Student Engagement. This scale is based on the Active and Collaborative Learning scale of the National Survey of Student Engagement. The particular focus of the study was to investigate effects resulting from the addition of a small number of items to the active learning scale designed to capture some highly engaging, mostly online, activities. The items were developed in response to concerns that students studying in distance mode often report lower average scores on active learning scales than their on-campus counterparts. The additional items relate to activities such as working online with other students and faculty. The findings show that average scores on the Australasian Survey of Student Engagement/National Survey of Student Engagement scale increase significantly when the new items are included and that some differences between on-campus and distance education students narrow significantly. These findings have implications for the development of more robust and comprehensive instruments to measure active learning.

International students in transnational mobility: intercultural connectedness with domestic and international peers, institutions and the wider community

International students’ connectedness with their peers, institutions and the broader community significantly affects their learning and wellbeing. It is important to understand their multiple desires for intercultural connectedness in order to nurture it. This paper analyses the motives and nature of international students’ intercultural connectedness. It is based on a study that includes more than 150 interviews and fieldwork with international students and staff from 25 vocational education colleges in Australia. Drawing on Blumer’s symbolic interactionism theory as a conceptual framework, the study found international students’ motivation to engage in intercultural connectedness is linked to not only their desire for respect and recognition for intellectual, cultural and linguistic capacities and diversities but also for employment aspirations. The research shows various dimensions in which intercultural engagement is seen to encompass not only empathy, sociability and equity but also employability. The findings suggest meaningful interaction is essentially bound to reciprocal learning.

Growing a primary science specialism: assembling people, places, materials and ideas

This paper derives from the authors’ experiences of the development of a successful science specialism, implemented in a large primary school in regional Victoria, Australia, since 2012. We discuss how diverse resources – people, spaces, equipment, materials and ideas – were brought together to support a science specialism that focuses on positioning students as burgeoning experts; leveraging and enhancing connections with community; and, developing positive dispositions towards science and the environment. Our discussion is supported by illustrative excerpts from interviews, focus groups and meetings with school and university staff members. We conclude by identifying characteristics that might suggest principles for success in other contexts.