Developing a culture to support peer review of teaching in higher education

This presentation addresses issues related to leadership, academic development and scholarship of teaching and learning, and highlights research funded by the Australian Office of Learning and Teaching (OLT) designed to embed and sustain peer review of teaching within the culture of 5 Australian universities: Queensland University of Technology, University of Technology, Sydney, University of Adelaide, Curtin University, and Charles Darwin University. Peer review of teaching in higher education will be emphasised as a professional process for providing feedback on teaching and learning practice, which if sustained, can become an effective ongoing strategy for academic development (Barnard et al, 2011; Bell, 2005; Bolt and Atkinson, 2010; McGill & Beaty 2001, 1992; Kemmis & McTaggart, 2000). The research affirms that using developmental peer review models (Barnard et al, 2011; D'Andrea, 2002; Hammersley-Fletcher & Orsmond, 2004) can bring about successful implementation, especially when implemented within a distributive leadership framework (Spillane & Healey, 2010). The project’s aims and objectives were to develop leadership capacity and integrate peer review as a cultural practice in higher education. The research design was a two stage inquiry process over 2 years. The project began in July 2011 and encompassed a development and pilot phase followed by a cascade phase with questionnaire and focus group evaluation processes to support ongoing improvement and measures of outcome. Leadership development activities included locally delivered workshops complemented by the identification and support of champions. To optimise long term sustainability, the project was implemented through existing learning and teaching structures and processes within the respective partner universities. Research outcomes highlight the fundamentals of peer review of teaching and the broader contextual elements of integration, leadership and development, expressed as a conceptual model for embedding peer review of teaching within higher education. The research opens a communicative space about introduction of peer review that goes further than simply espousing its worth and introduction. The conceptual model highlights the importance of development of distributive leadership capacity, integration of policies and processes, and understanding the values, beliefs, assumptions and behaviors embedded in an organizational culture. The presentation overviews empirical findings that demonstrate progress to advance peer review requires an ‘across-the-board’ commitment to embed change, and inherently demands a process that co-creates connection across colleagues, discipline groups, and the university sector. Progress toward peer review of teaching as a cultural phenomenon can be achieved and has advantages for academic staff, scholarship, teaching evaluation and an organisation, if attention is given to strategies that influence the contexts and cultures of teaching practice. Peer review as a strategy to develop excellence in teaching is considered from a holistic perspective that by necessity encompasses all elements of an educational environment and has a focus on scholarship of teaching. The work is ongoing and has implication for policy, research, teaching development and student outcomes, and has potential application world-wide.

Design of a garment for data collection of toddler language and physical activity

Design process phases of development, evaluation and implementation were used to create a garment to simultaneously collect reliable data of speech production and intensity of movement of toddlers (18-36 months). A series of prototypes were developed and evaluated that housed accelerometer-based motion sensors and a digital transmitter with microphone. The approved test garment was a top constructed from loop-faced fabric with interior pockets to house devices. Extended side panels allowed for sizing. In total, 56 toddlers (28 male; 28 female; 16-36 months of age) participated in the study providing pilot and baseline data. The test garment was effective in collecting data as evaluated for accuracy and reliability using ANOVA for accelerometer data, transcription of video for type of movement, and number and length of utterances for speech production. The data collection garment has been implemented in various studies across disciplines.

Bluetooth and Wi-Fi MAC address based crowd data collection and monitoring : benefits, challenges and enhancement

This paper firstly presents the benefits and critical challenges on the use of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for crowd data collection and monitoring. The major challenges include antenna characteristics, environment’s complexity and scanning features. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are compared in this paper in terms of architecture, discovery time, popularity of use and signal strength. Type of antennas used and the environment’s complexity such as trees for outdoor and partitions for indoor spaces highly affect the scanning range. The aforementioned challenges are empirically evaluated by “real” experiments using Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Scanners. The issues related to the antenna characteristics are also highlighted by experimenting with different antenna types. Novel scanning approaches including Overlapped Zones and Single Point Multi-Range detection methods will be then presented and verified by real-world tests. These novel techniques will be applied for location identification of the MAC IDs captured that can extract more information about people movement dynamics.

Data collection techniques

The objective of this chapter is to provide an overview of traffic data collection that can and should be used for the calibration and validation of traffic simulation models. There are big differences in availability of data from different sources. Some types of data such as loop detector data are widely available and used. Some can be measured with additional effort, for example, travel time data from GPS probe vehicles. Some types such as trajectory data are available only in rare situations such as research projects.

Doctoral research training : encouraging timely completion – case study reflections of one university on how it supports a vibrant research training culture

This is a case study of a young university striving to generate and sustain a vibrant Research Training culture. The university’s research training framework is informed by a belief in a project management approach to achieving successful research candidature. This has led to the definition and reporting of key milestones during candidature. In turn, these milestones have generated a range of training programs to support Higher Degree Research (HDR) students to meet these milestones in a timely fashion. Each milestone focuses on a specific set of skills blended with supporting the development of different parts of the doctoral thesis. Data on student progress and completion has provided evidence in highlighting the role that the milestones and training are playing in supporting timely completion. A university-wide reporting cycle generated data on the range of workshops and training provided to Higher Degree Research students and supervisors. The report provided details of thesis topic and format, as well as participation in research training events and participant evaluation of those events. Analysis of the data led to recommendations and comments on the strengths and weaknesses of the current research training program. Discussion considered strategies and drivers for enhancements into the future. In particular, the paper reflects on the significant potential role of centrally curated knowledge systems to support HDR student and supervisor access, and engagement and success. The research training program was developed using blended learning as a model. It covered face-to-face workshops as well as online modules. These were supplemented by web portals that offered a range of services to inform and educate students and supervisors and included opportunities for students to interact with each other. Topics ranged from the research life cycle, writing and publication, ethics, managing research data, managing copyright, and project management to use of software and the University’s Code of Conduct for Research. The challenges discussed included: How to reach off campus students and those studying in external modes? How best to promote events to potential participants? How long and what format is best for face-to-face sessions? What online resources best supplement face-to-face offerings? Is there a place for peer-based learning and what form should this take? These questions are raised by a relatively young university seeking to build and sustain a vibrant research culture. The rapid growth in enrolments in recent years has challenged previous one-to-one models of support. This review of research training is timely in seeking strategies to address changing research training support capacity and student needs. Part of the discussion will focus on supervisory training, noting that good supervision is the one remaining place where one-to-one support is provided. Ensuring that supervisors are appropriately equipped to address student expectations is considered in the context of the research training provisions. The paper concludes with reflection on the challenges faced, and recommended ways forward as the number of research students grows into the future.

Course evaluation : reconfigurations for learning with learning management systems

The introduction of online delivery platforms such as learning management systems (LMS) in tertiary education has changed the methods and modes of curriculum delivery and communication. While course evaluation methods have also changed from paper-based in-class-administered methods to largely online-administered methods, the data collection instruments have remained unchanged. This paper reports on a small exploratory study of two tertiary-level courses. The study investigated why design of the instruments and methods to administer surveys in the courses are ineffective measures against the intrinsic characteristics of online learning. It reviewed the students' response rates of the conventional evaluations for the courses over an eight-year period. It then compared a newly developed online evaluation and the conventional methods over a two-year period. The results showed the response rates with the new evaluation method increased by more than 80% from the average of the conventional evaluations (below 30%), and the students' written feedback was more detailed and comprehensive than in the conventional evaluations. The study demonstrated the possibility that the LMS-based learning evaluation can be effective and efficient in terms of the quality of students' participation and engagement in their learning, and for an integrated pedagogical approach in an online learning environment.

From policy borrowing to implementation : an illuminative evaluation of learning and teaching in higher education in Australia (2002 to 2008)

This study documents and theorises the consequences of the 2003 Australian Government Reform Package focussed on learning and teaching in Higher Education during the period 2002 to 2008. This is achieved through the perspective of program evaluation and the methodology of illuminative evaluation. The findings suggest that the three national initiatives of that time, Learning and Teaching Performance Fund (LTPF), Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC), and Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA), were successful in repositioning learning and teaching as a core activity in universities. However, there were unintended consequences brought about by international policy borrowing, when the short-lived nature of LTPF suggests a legacy of quality compliance rather than one of quality enrichment.

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.

Recruiting, Sampling and Data Collection with Difficult Populations: Clients of Male Sex Workers.

Although there are many potential new insights to be gained through advancing research on the clients of male sex workers, significant social, ethical and methodological challenges to accessing this population exist. This research project case explores our attempts to recruit a population that does not typically form a cohesive or coherent 'community' and often avoids self-identifying to mitigate the stigma attached to buying sex. We used an arms-length recruitment campaign that focussed on directing potential participants to our study website, which could in turn lead them to participate in an anonymous telephone interview. Barriers to reaching male sex-work clients, however, demanded the evolution of our recruitment strategy. New technologies are part of the solution to accessing a hard-to-reach population, but they only work if researchers engage responsively. We also show how we conducted an in-depth interview with a client and discuss the value of using secondary data.

Teaching Reflective Learning in Higher Education : A Systematic Approach Using Pedagogic Patterns

This book is about understanding the nature and application of reflection in higher education. It provides a theoretical model to guide the implementation of reflective learning and reflective practice across multiple disciplines and international contexts in higher education. The book presents research into the ways in which reflection is both considered and implemented in different ways across different professional disciplines, while maintaining a common purpose to transform and improve learning and/or practice. Readers will find this book innovative and new in three key ways. First, in its holistic theorisation of reflection within the pedagogic field of higher education; Secondly, in conceptualising reflection in different modes to achieve specific purposes in different disciplines; and finally, in providing conceptual guidance for embedding reflective learning and reflective practice in a systematic way across whole programmes, faculties or institutions in higher education. The book considers important contextual factors that influence the teaching of forms and methods of reflection. It provides a functional analysis of multiple modes of reflection, including written, oral, visual, auditory, and embodied forms. Empirical chapters analyse the application of these modes across disciplines and at different stages of a programme. The theoretical model accounts for students’ stage of development in the disciplinary field, along with progressive and cyclical levels of higher order thinking, and learning and professional practice that are expected within different disciplines and professional fields. The book provides: • A conceptual model for the application of reflection across disciplines in a variety of contexts. • Empirical examples of different modes and pedagogic patterns for reflection. • Guidance and support for embedding systemic pedagogical and curriculum change.

Introduction: Reflective and Reflexive Approaches in Higher Education : A Warrant for Lifelong Learning?

In our complex and incongruous world, where variety produces more variety, and there is no blueprint for dealing with unprecedented change, it is imperative that individuals develop reflexive approaches to life and learning. Higher education has a role to play in guiding students to be self-analysts, with the ability to examine and mediate self and context for improved outcomes. This chapter elucidates the catchphrase of lifelong learning and its enactment in higher education. Theories of reflexivity and personal epistemology are utilised to provide the conceptual tools to understand the ways in which individuals manage competing influences and deliberate about action in their learning journey. The case is made for the integral role of higher education teachers in developing students’ capacities for reflective thinking and reflexive approaches to learning as a life project.

A model for reflection in the pedagogic field of higher education

This chapter provides an introduction to the use of pedagogical patterns in capturing and sharing educational design experience. In higher education, helping students to learn to engage in productive reflection presents a complex set of challenges. Delicate balances must be found: too little structure and support for students’ reflective work can leave them floundering; too much, and some will remain dependent. Moreover, this is a dynamic teaching problem – scaffolding needs to be adjusted as students develop confidence and capability, which they will do at different rates. The model presented in this chapter embraces the three main elements that teachers can legitimately design, or help set in place, to support their students’ reflective activity: good tasks, the right tools, and appropriate divisions of labour. It delineates a complex, shifting architecture of tasks, tools and people, activities and outcomes associated with reflective learning. It shows how the designable elements of this complex mix can be described in patterns and pattern languages, which then become design resources for teachers’ own action, reflection and professional development.

Sustainable Pedagogical Change for Embedding Reflective Learning Across Higher Education Programs

For pedagogical change to be sustained over time, and over the span of higher education courses, it needs to be framed widely, rather than ‘tacked on’. The framing includes curriculum reform and resource provision alongside staff pedagogical development. This is especially true for initiatives (such as reflective writing and assessment) that target broad-based, high-level skills and dispositions. For various reasons, such initiatives can easily become lost because of the discipline-specific focus of a syllabus outweighs the initiative, or because lack of resources compromises a desired approach. Course improvement in higher education contexts is typically difficult and episodic. In such circumstances, we argue that a strategic and trustworthy approach is necessary where practitioner-lead pedagogic development is fostered through trust and communication and is purposefully embedded within key dimensions of curriculum integration and resource provision. This chapter describes an approach to pedagogical change where curriculum, pedagogy and resources are simultaneously and collaboratively orchestrated to provide an effective framework for sustainable and effective change. A robust conceptual model is proposed to guide the implementation of such change.

Leadership to support quality improvement in Vietnamese higher education

The impetus for the study reported in this paper is the Higher Education (HE) reform agenda outlined by the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (MOET). The paper reports on phase one of a mixed method research; a quantitative approach using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) to investigate the Vietnamese HE leaders’ leadership styles. The MLQ survey was administered to approximately 190 senior managers in State HE institutions in Mekong Delta region in Vietnam (nine of colleges). The psychometrics of the MLQ for the Vietnamese sample confirmed the reliability and validity of the instrument with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.779. A CFA was conducted and all factor structures were stable and consistent. The demographic variables were used to analyse patterns of leadership behaviours by the different sub-groups. The findings suggest that leaders who have different educational background and different gender in Mekong Delta region, Vietnam do not differ significantly in their perceptions about leadership factors.