Individual and organisational factors influencing academics` decisions to pursue the scholarship and teaching of ICT

This paper focuses on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) academics' perceptions of factors that promote and inhibit their pursuit of scholarship in their teaching work. It identifies critical factors that influence academics' attitudes, orientations and behaviours in respect to the scholarship of teaching, and from these builds a framework for understanding the interaction between these factors. We have named this framework the Scholarship of Teaching Support Framework.

During 2001 and 2002 a national project investigated teaching and learning initiatives in the major discipline of lCT in Australia's universities. As part of this project a mini-conference program was devised to elicit academics' perceptions of the factors influencing their teaching work and their participation in scholarly activities around this work. In total 83 ICT teachers from 29 universities participated in the mini-conference program. Attendees included staff members from a range of academic levels.

In discussions of aspects of the scholarship of teaching at the mini-conference participants referred to both attributes and responses of both university teachers and the university institutions. We have categorized these factors into those that relate to the individual academic (Individual domain) and those that relate to the tertiary institutional system (Organisational domain). Many contributions highlighted the interaction between these two domains.

Within the Individual domain, two key factors described by participants as affecting the pursuit of the scholarship of teaching were teachers' motivation towards, and their capabilities in, scholarly activities surrounding their teaching. Within the organizational domain two influential factors also emerged. These were the organizational support provided through allocation of resources and symbolic support reflected in an institution's systems, policies and processes.

Our findings indicate that both the Individual and Organizational domains contribute to university teachers' decisions to pursue (or not to pursue) the scholarship of teaching.

These two domains were seen by participants to interact within university environments to influence whether a particular environment is supportive or unsupportive in terms of the pursuit of the scholarship of teaching. Factors both from and within the individual and the organizational domains were seen to interact with each other forming a web of interrelated factors that appear to influence individuals' decisions to pursue, or not to pursue, the scholarship of teaching. From this complexity four theoretical extremes emerged providing the dimensions and components of the Scholarship of Teaching Support Framework.

We argue that responsive and innovative approaches to university teaching are best supported by academics undertaking scholarly activities around their teaching work, yet this article presents a picture of a university work environment where scholarly activities that focus on teaching and learning are seen as generally unsupported and unrewarded. This perception was identified as commonalities across a university system. Although some exceptions were noted, participants generally agreed that the organisational domain of Australian universities was largely unsupportive of the pursuit of the scholarship of teaching. Similarly, in general, university ICT teachers were not thought to have the backgrounds and capabilities necessary for pursuing the scholarship of teaching, such as familiarity with literature on teaching and learning and skills in educational evaluation. However, despite perceived inhibitors in universities' organisational culture and allocation of resources, and a perceived lack in individuals' skills, participants agreed that scholarly activities and innovation in university teaching and learning do take place, These are largely driven by the intrinsic motivation of individuals. It was recognised that further work is necessary to explore how motivation can be engendered and encouraged.

The Scholarship of Teaching Support Framework is a useful tool for examining how conducive a given university teaching context is to the scholarship of teaching and, therefore, can be used for review purposes within both research and policy contexts. Such tools will become increasingly important as policy changes begin to affect practices in how university teaching work is managed, supported and encouraged.

Boom and bust in the Latrobe Valley

This thesis argues for the needs of the individual rather than a nationally imposed curriculum that does not take into account the needs of local communities suffering economic dislocation. Educational and socio-economic change are parallel narratives throughout the thesis.

Marking time: leading and managing the development of assessment in higher education

This book highlights the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Assessment as Learning Project, a three year process of assessment change in faculty. The UNSW Vice-Chancellor, Professor Frederick Hilmer charged faculties with a learning and teaching agenda to investigate ways to make quality assessment practices more effective and efficient for both staff and students. The examples provided in this edited collection demonstrate exemplary case studies and theoretical perspectives on learning, teaching, and assessment. This book presents leading research in assessment as learning with a focus on changing practices as well as discipline specific practices.

The potential of a methodology for university-wide multimedia and educational technology evaluation

This paper reports on the methodology used for a review conducted at the University of Melbourne to determine the impact on teaching, learning and student study habits of multimedia and educational technology. Of particular methodological interest among the multiple components of the review was a quasi-controlled study of student attitudes towards and experiences of using educational technology. These were gathered using a targeted student sample comprising students known to have studied units in which well-established and highly peer rated IT products are deployed and a random student sample stratified to be representative of the typical student experience of the university. The paper reports the outcomes and effectiveness of this methodology.

Evaluation of a large group method in an educational Institution : the World café versus Large Group facilitation.

This article reports on the use of a large group method, theWorld Café, compared to large group facilitation in an educational institutional setting in Oman. Change is central to many educational institutions as they aspire to ensure quality procedures and processes are implemented and maintained. One of the difficulties of introducing change within this context is the number of stakeholders involved, as well as the inherent hierarchical nature of these settings. Large group methods (LGM) are one such intervention for change that seeks to involve a maximum number of stakeholders and minimise hierarchies, while at the same time encouraging participation and creating engagement. To evaluate LGM within this setting, the study compared two different workshop techniques: one workshop was run using the LGM theWorld Café, while the other was conducted using large group facilitation (LGF). Results indicated that theWorld Café was superior to LGF in terms of increases in participant knowledge and understanding. Participants who took part in the LGM were also significantly more likely to indicate that the technique was beneficial to their learning, compared to those who took part in the LGF. Qualitative data in the form of comments also provide support for LGM. Further research is needed to assess the applicability of the findings in educational settings in other countries. Moreover, more stringent research is required to assess over time, changes in behaviours occurring following LGM, to provide further evidence as to their value in facilitating change in institutional settings.

An evaluation of the effect of an educational intervention for Australian social workers on competence in delivering brief cognitive behavioural strategies : a randomised controlled trial

Background Broad community access to high quality evidence-based primary mental health care is an ongoing challenge around the world. In Australia one approach has been to broaden access to care by funding psychologists and other allied health care professionals to deliver brief psychological treatments to general practitioners' patients. To date, there has been a scarcity of studies assessing the efficacy of social worker delivered psychological strategies. This study aims to build the evidence base by evaluating the impact of a brief educational intervention on social workers' competence in delivering cognitive behavioural strategies (strategies derived from cognitive behavioural therapy). Methods A randomised controlled trial design was undertaken with baseline and one-week follow-up measurement of both objective and self-perceived competence. Simulated consultations with standardised depressed patients were recorded on videotape and objective competence was assessed by blinded reviewers using the Cognitive Therapy Scale. Questionnaires completed by participants were used to measure self-perceived competence. The training intervention was a 15 hour face-to-face course involving presentations, video example consultations, written materials and rehearsal of skills in pairs. Results 40 Melbourne-based (Australia) social workers enrolled and were randomised and 9 of these withdrew from the study before the pre training simulated consultation. 30 of the remaining 31 social workers (97%) completed all phases of the intervention and evaluation protocol (16 from intervention and 14 from control group). The intervention group showed significantly greater improvements than the control group in objective competence (mean improvement of 14.2 (7.38-21.02) on the 66 point Cognitive Therapy Scale) and in subjective confidence (mean improvement of 1.28 (0.84-1.72) on a 5 point Likert scale). On average, the intervention group improved from below to above the base competency threshold on the Cognitive Therapy Scale whilst the control group remained below. Conclusions Social workers can attain significant improvements in competency in delivering cognitive behavioural strategies from undertaking brief face to face training. This is relevant in the context of health reforms that involve social worker delivery of evidence based psychological care. Further research is required to assess how these improvements in competence translate into performance in practice and clinical outcomes for patients.

Respecting our elders: evaluation of an educational program for adolescent students to promote respect toward older adults

The current project explored issues related to respect for older people, and then developed, implemented, and evaluated an educational intervention program for adolescents to raise understanding and improve attitudes toward older people. In Study 1, 46 focus groups were conducted, with participants (n = 211) drawn from older people, carers of older people, and adolescents to inform on issues related to the expression of respect to older people. The emergent themes were used to inform the design of the educational program delivered to adolescents and evaluated in Study 2. A total of 118 year-9 students were allocated to an intervention or control condition. The intervention group participated in 4 educational sessions focused on developing understanding of and respect for older adults, and promoting positive interactions with older people. Participants in both conditions completed measures of knowledge and attitudes to aging to determine whether the intervention had effected change at post-program and at 6-months follow-up. Analyses indicated significant improvements in knowledge, attitudes, and social skills related to older people in the intervention group compared to the control group. The findings from these studies provide a better understanding of what constitutes respect for older people, and a method for improving this in adolescents.

Evaluation of interventions for gay men: two desiderata

This paper was presented in a session at the AIDS Impact conference devoted to a debate on the methods that should be used to evaluate educational interventions. The paper highlights two desiderata for evaluation of interventions directed at gay men. First, the view is presented that there is no acceptable substitute for assessing the effect of an intervention on gay men's sexual behaviour (rather than, for example, their AIDS-related attitudes or beliefs). This view is justified in terms of (a) the differences that exist between AIDS-related thinking in the cold light of day and during actual sexual encounters; and (b) the often faulty nature of intuitions about the factors that contribute to sexual risk-taking and the ways in which it might be reduced. Second, it is argued that the randomized control study design represents the best means for ensuring that interventions will be as effective as possible. Criticisms which have been made of this design are discussed and the conclusion drawn that they do not amount to a strong case against it.

Development, implementation, and evaluation of a continence education package in acute and subacute care settings

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to trial and evaluate the effect that a discharge Continence Education Package (CEP) had on patients' continence awareness and management preferences.
DESIGN: An exploratory descriptive design was used.
SETTINGS AND SUBJECTS: A total of 631 participants were included in the study: 352 females (55.8%) and 279 males (44.2%) from 4 rural and regional settings in Victoria, Australia.
INSTRUMENTS AND METHODS: A specifically designed questionnaire was used to assess participants' knowledge of incontinence and its management and also to investigate their treatment preferences and intentions if they experienced this type of problem. Data were collected at 2 time periods. Specifically, patients were interviewed before discharge from acute and subacute settings identified as Time 1 (T1). Then the participants were given the CEP and asked to complete a similar questionnaire.
RESULTS: The findings revealed that fewer than 25% of participants had received information on continence before the study being conducted, yet the majority had indicated that they had experienced continence symptoms. The majority of participants found the CEP easy to understand (98.2%) and helpful (95.3%). Most participants said it provided them with information about types of actions to take and/or treatment options for incontinence problems. It also raised their awareness of the signs and symptoms associated with incontinence and provided them with a useful self-administered gauge with which to assess their continence status.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that the CEP may be a useful educational tool for use in the general population.