The application of a set of principles to safeguard student learning engagement

Student engagement is a key contributor to student achievement and retention. Increasingly, international and Australasian universities are introducing a range of specific initiatives aimed at monitoring and intervening with students who are at risk of disengaging, particularly in their first year of study. A multi-site case study formed the focus of a national learning and teaching project to develop a suite of resources to guide good practice for safeguarding student learning engagement that were consistent with the notions of equity and social justice. Pivotal to the suite of resources is the Social Justice Framework and a set of social justice principles that emerged through a synthesis of existing literature and were further refined through the examination of qualitative data collected across the participating institutions. These social justice principles reflect general notions of equity and social justice, embrace the philosophical position of recognitive social justice, and are presented in an interconnected and co-dependent way within the framework. Participants will be provided with the opportunity to identify and discuss the practical applications of the principles to student engagement activities in their own institutions.

Factors influencing radiation therapy student clinical placement satisfaction

Introduction Radiation therapy students at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) attend clinical placements at five different clinical departments with varying resources and support strategies. This study aimed to determine the relative availability and perceived importance of different factors affecting student support while on clinical placement. The purpose of the research was to inform development of future support mechanisms to enhance radiation therapy students’ experience on clinical placement. Methods This study used anonymous Likert-style surveys to gather data from years 1 and 2 radiation therapy students from QUT and clinical educators from Queensland relating to availability and importance of support mechanisms during clinical placements in a semester. Results The study findings demonstrated student satisfaction with clinical support and suggested that level of support on placement influenced student employment choices. Staff support was perceived as more important than physical resources; particularly access to a named mentor, a clinical educator and weekly formative feedback. Both students and educators highlighted the impact of time pressures. Conclusions The support offered to radiation therapy students by clinical staff is more highly valued than physical resources or models of placement support. Protected time and acknowledgement of the importance of clinical education roles are both invaluable. Joint investment in mentor support by both universities and clinical departments is crucial for facilitation of effective clinical learning.

Evidence-informed development of engineering practical work: Effecting change through staff and student engagement

This paper discusses innovations in curriculum development in the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge as a participant in the Teaching for Learning Network (TFLN), a teaching and learning development initiative funded by the Cambridge-MIT Institute a pedagogic collaboration and brokerage network. A year-long research and development project investigated the practical experiences through which students traditionally explore engineering disciplines, apply and extend the knowledge gained in lectures and other settings, and begin to develop their professional expertise. The research project evaluated current practice in these sessions and developed an evidence-base to identify requirements for new activities, student support and staff development. The evidence collected included a novel student 'practice-value' survey highlighting effective practice and areas of concern, classroom observation of practicals, semi-structured interviews with staff, a student focus group and informal discussions with staff. Analysis of the data identified three potentially 'high-leverage' strategies for improvement: development of a more integrated teaching framework, within which practical work could be contextualised in relation to other learning; a more transparent and integrated conceptual framework where theory and practice were more closely linked; development of practical work more reflective of the complex problems facing professional engineers. This paper sets out key elements of the evidence collected and the changes that have been informed by this evidence and analysis, leading to the creation of a suite of integrated practical sessions carefully linked to other course elements and reinforcing central concepts in engineering, accompanied by a training and support programme for teaching staff.

Easing transition and promoting a positive student experience within an international partnership scheme for British and Chinese teachers

This article investigates the needs and challenges of a group of Chinese secondary school teachers in their transition to postgraduate studies in the UK in the context of a British-Chinese partnership. The strategies and efforts of the host institution, local community and the Chinese students themselves to help ease the transition and promote a positive student experience are discussed. The article highlights the sociological processes of international postgraduate student transition and contributes to our understanding of issues of student support pertinent to international partnership arrangements.

The relationship between socioeconomic status, course delivery method, and student success at a state college: A single institution analysis

In an effort to improve instruction and better accommodate the needs of students, community colleges are offering courses delivered in a variety of delivery formats that require students to have some level of technology fluency to be successful in the course. This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between student socioeconomic status (SES), course delivery method, and course type on enrollment, final course grades, course completion status, and course passing status at a state college. ^ A dataset for 20,456 students of low and not low SES enrolled in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) course types delivered using traditional, online, blended, and web enhanced course delivery formats at Miami Dade College, a large open access 4-year state college located in Miami-Dade County, Florida, was analyzed. A factorial ANOVA using course type, course delivery method, and student SES found no significant differences in final course grades when used to determine if course delivery methods were equally effective for students of low and not low SES taking STEM course types. Additionally, three chi-square goodness-of-fit tests were used to investigate for differences in enrollment, course completion and course passing status by SES, course type, and course delivery method. The findings of the chi-square tests indicated that: (a) there were significant differences in enrollment by SES and course delivery methods for the Engineering/Technology, Math, and overall course types but not for the Natural Science course type and (b) there were no significant differences in course completion status and course passing status by SES and course types overall and SES and course delivery methods overall. However, there were statistically significant but weak relationships between course passing status, SES and the math course type as well as between course passing status, SES, and online and traditional course delivery methods. ^ The mixed findings in the study indicate that strides have been made in closing the theoretical gap in education and technology skills that may exist for students of different SES levels. MDC's course delivery and student support models may assist other institutions address student success in courses that necessitate students having some level of technology fluency. ^

Online Education, Accrediting Standards, and Student Success: An Examination of the Relationship Between the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges Standards for Online Education and Student Success

Prior to 2000, there were less than 1.6 million students enrolled in at least one online course. By fall 2010, student enrollment in online distance education showed a phenomenal 283% increase to 6.1 million. Two years later, this number had grown to 7.1 million. In light of this significant growth and skepticism about quality, there have been calls for greater oversight of this format of educational delivery. Accrediting bodies tasked with this oversight have developed guidelines and standards for online education. There is a lack of empirical studies that examine the relationship between accrediting standards and student success. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the presence of Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on College (SACSCOC) standards for online education in online courses, (a) student support services and (b) curriculum and instruction, and student success. An original 24-item survey with an overall reliability coefficient of .94 was administered to students (N=464) at Florida International University, enrolled in 24 university-wide undergraduate online courses during fall 2014, who rated the presence of these standards in their online courses. The general linear model was utilized to analyze the data. The results of the study indicated that the two standards, student support services and curriculum and instruction were both significantly and positively correlated with student success but with small R2 and strengths of association less than .35 and .20 respectively. Mixed results were produced from Chi-square tests for differences in student success between higher and lower rated online courses when controlling for various covariates such as discipline, gender, race/ethnicity, GPA, age, and number of online courses previously taken. A multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the curriculum and instruction standard was the only variable that accounted for a significant amount of unique variance in student success. Another regression test revealed that no significant interaction effect exists between the two SACSCOC standards and GPA in predicting student success. The results of this study are useful for administrators, faculty, and researchers who are interested in accreditation standards for online education and how these standards relate to student success.

Online education, accrediting standards, and student success: An examination of the relationship between the southern association of colleges and schools commission on colleges standards for online education and student success

Prior to 2000, there were less than 1.6 million students enrolled in at least one online course. By fall 2010, student enrollment in online distance education showed a phenomenal 283% increase to 6.1 million. Two years later, this number had grown to 7.1 million. In light of this significant growth and skepticism about quality, there have been calls for greater oversight of this format of educational delivery. Accrediting bodies tasked with this oversight have developed guidelines and standards for online education. ^ There is a lack of empirical studies that examine the relationship between accrediting standards and student success. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the presence of Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on College (SACSCOC) standards for online education in online courses, (a) student support services and (b) curriculum and instruction, and student success. An original 24-item survey with an overall reliability coefficient of .94 was administered to students (N=464) at Florida International University, enrolled in 24 university-wide undergraduate online courses during fall 2014, who rated the presence of these standards in their online courses. The general linear model was utilized to analyze the data. The results of the study indicated that the two standards, student support services and curriculum and instruction were both significantly and positively correlated with student success but with small R2 and strengths of association less than .35 and .20 respectively. Mixed results were produced from Chi-square tests for differences in student success between higher and lower rated online courses when controlling for various covariates such as discipline, gender, race/ethnicity, GPA, age, and number of online courses previously taken. A multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the curriculum and instruction standard was the only variable that accounted for a significant amount of unique variance in student success. Another regression test revealed that no significant interaction effect exists between the two SACSCOC standards and GPA in predicting student success. ^ The results of this study are useful for administrators, faculty, and researchers who are interested in accreditation standards for online education and how these standards relate to student success.^

Supporting mature-aged students from a low socioeconomic background

The aim of the current study was to examine mature-aged student perceptions of university support services and barriers to study. Using a mixed methods approach, interviews and focus groups were conducted with mature-aged students to identify barriers to study, knowledge and use of current student support services, and suggestions to improve upon these services. From these data and an audit of university support services, an online survey was created to examine study barriers and patterns of support service use, as well as, perceptions of proposed support services not currently offered by the university within a larger sample of mature-aged students. Analysis of survey data indicated distinct patterns of barriers and support service use according to socioeconomic status as well as other demographic factors such as, age and enrolment status. Study findings are discussed in terms of generating support services for the retention of mature-aged students of low socioeconomic status and for the retention of mature-aged students in general.

Bridging the gap : developing an innovative online resource for international graduate students

This paper describes the development of an innovative online website for international graduate students studying at universities in Australia. In 2008, the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Australia identified as a key goal the development of its profile as a research intensive university. One of the performance indicators in realising this goal was to increase the proportion of international graduate students from 20% to 50% over a five-year period. To support these students, the University Research Students Centre (RSC) decided to develop an innovative interactive website called the ‘Doorway to Research’ to help prepare students for their arrival in Australia, by providing access to information and support between the period of their acceptance to their graduate programs and their arrival into the country.

Good practice for enhancing the engagement and success of commencing students

There is widespread recognition that higher education institutions (HEIs) must actively support commencing students to ensure equity in access to the opportunities afforded by higher education. This role is particularly critical for students who because of educational, cultural or financial disadvantage or because they are members of social groups currently under-represented in higher education, may require additional transitional support to “level the playing field.” The challenge faced by HEIs is to provide this “support” in a way that is integrated into regular teaching and learning practices and reaches all commencing students. The Student Success Program (SSP) is an intervention in operation at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) designed to identify and support those students deemed to be at risk of disengaging from their learning and their institution. Two sets of evidence of the impact of the SSP are presented: First, its expansion (a) from a one-faculty pilot project (Nelson, Duncan & Clarke, 2009) to all faculties and (b) into a variety of applications mirroring the student life cycle; and second, an evaluation of the impact of the SSP on students exposed to it. The outcomes suggest that: the SSP is an example of good practice that can be successfully applied to a variety of learning contexts and student enrolment situations; and the impact of the intervention on student persistence is sustained for at least 12 months and positively influences student retention. It is claimed that the good practice evidenced by the SSP is dependent on its integration into the broader First Year Experience Program at QUT as an example of transition pedagogy in action.

Indigenous knowledges : informing and supporting Indigenous students during their first year at university

This paper critically examines dominant discourses informing First Year Experience programs delivered for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students participating in higher education. We interrogate traditional ‘deficit models’ through the recognition and acknowledgement of Indigenous knowledge at the cultural interface, the arena in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students encounter university for the first time. In this paper, we demonstrate how the First Year Experience programs for Indigenous students, developed and delivered by the Oodgeroo Unit, are conceptualised by Indigenous knowledges. By recognising Indigenous knowledges and experiences, and valuing these within the Western academy, we provide an alternative to these dominant mainstream discourses and perspectives for Indigenous students navigating their way through university. We argue that Indigenous standpoints provide tools through which Indigenous students can negotiate the cultural interface that exists within the university environment.

Cost efficiency v quality service : using CHAT as a tool for understanding change and transformation in work practices

This chapter provides an analysis of feedback from key stakeholders, collected as part of a research project, on the problems and tensions evident in the collective work practices of learning advisers employed in learning assistance services at an Australian metropolitan university (Peach, 2003). The term 'learning assistance' is used in the Australian higher education sector generally to refer to student support services that include assistance with academic writing and other study skills. The aim of the study was to help learning advisers and other key stakeholders develop a better understanding of the work activity with a view to using this understanding to generate improvements in service provision. Over twenty problems and associated tensions were identified through stakeholder feedback however the focus of this chapter is the analysis of tensions related to a cluster of problems referred to as cost-efficiency versus quality service. Theoretical modelling derived from the tools made available through cultural historical activity theory and expansive visibilsation (Engestrom and Miettinen, 1999) and excerpts from data are used to illustrate how different understandings of the purpose of learning assistance services impacts on the work practices of learning advisers and creates problems and tensions in relation to the type of service available (including use of technology),level of service available, and learning adviser workload.

Supporting Students for Flexible Learning

The changing roles for academics relates to a new emphasis on: •developing life-long learners, in addition to teaching 'content'; •ensuring long-term graduate outcomes not just short-term subject objectives are achieved by all students; and •collaborative course and subject design.

2005 pedagogical orientation program in the School of Architecture and Built Environment : a case study

The University of Newcastle (UoN) offers various access and support programs for a range of students through the English Language and Foundation Studies Centre and a University orientation for students. At UoN, students are required to engage in a learning experience, meet program outcomes and demonstrate the core attributes of the University at each graduation point. For a University with a strong focus on access is there a missing facet to the access programs where students are required to study within a teaching delivery style which may be vastly different to their previous educational experience? This paper will describe a pedagogical orientation program currently delivered at UoN School of Architecture and Built Environment in 2005 to assist in the transition of students from different cultural and pedagogical backgrounds into “Problem Based Learning” as delivered by this School. Furthermore the paper will analyse how this program has enabled students from diverse backgrounds to understand and successfully embrace the new learning opportunities.

The QUT innovation space : a trans-disciplinary learning environment for entrepreneurship education : final report

In the current climate of global economic volatility, there are increasing calls for training in enterprising skills and entrepreneurship to underpin the systemic innovation required for even medium-term business sustainability. The skills long-recognised as the essential for entrepreneurship now appear on the list of employability skills demanded by industry. The QUT Innovation Space (QIS) was an experiment aimed at delivering entrepreneurship education (EE), as an extra-curricular platform across the university, to the undergraduate students of an Australian higher education institute. It was an ambitious project that built on overseas models of EE studied during an Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) Teaching Fellowship (Collet, 2011) and implemented those approaches across an institute. Such EE approaches have not been attempted in an Australian university. The project tested resonance not only with the student population, from the perspective of what worked and what didn’t work, but also with every level of university operations. Such information is needed to inform the development of EE in the Australian university landscape. The QIS comprised a physical co-working space, virtual sites (web, Twitter and Facebook) and a network of entrepreneurial mentors, colleagues, and students. All facets of the QIS enabled connection between like-minded individuals that underpins the momentum needed for a project of this nature. The QIS became an innovation community within QUT. This report serves two purposes. First, as an account of the QIS project and its evolution, the report serves to identify the student demand for skills and training as well as barriers and facilitators of the activities that promote EE in an Australian university context. Second, the report serves as a how-to manual, in the tradition of many tomes on EE, outlining the QIS activities that worked as well as those that failed. The activities represent one measure of QIS outcomes and are described herein to facilitate implementation in other institutes. The QIS initially aimed to adopt an incubation model for training in EE. The ‘learning by doing’ model for new venture creation is a highly successful and high profile training approach commonly found in overseas contexts. However, the greatest demand of the QUT student population was not for incubation and progression of a developed entrepreneurial intent, but rather for training that instilled enterprising skills in the individual. These two scenarios require different training approaches (Fayolle and Gailly, 2008). The activities of the QIS evolved to meet that student demand. In addressing enterprising skills, the QIS developed the antecedents of entrepreneurialism (i.e., entrepreneurial attitudes, motivation and behaviours) including high-level skills around risk-taking, effective communication, opportunity recognition and action-orientation. In focusing on the would-be entrepreneur and not on the (initial) idea per se, the QIS also fostered entrepreneurial outcomes that would never have gained entry to the rigid stage-gated incubation model proposed for the original QIS framework. Important lessons learned from the project for development of an innovation community include the need to: 1. Evaluate the context of the type of EE program to be delivered and the student demand for the skills training (as noted above). 2. Create a community that builds on three dimensions: a physical space, a virtual environment and a network of mentors and partners. 3. Supplement the community with external partnerships that aid in delivery of skills training materials. 4. Ensure discovery of the community through the use of external IT services to deliver advertising and networking outlets. 5. Manage unrealistic student expectations of billion dollar products. 6. Continuously renew and rebuild simple activities to maintain student engagement. 7. Accommodate the non-university end-user group within the community. 8. Recognise and address the skills bottlenecks that serve as barriers to concept progression; in this case, externally provided IT and programming skills. 9. Use available on-line and published resources rather than engage in constructing project-specific resources that quickly become obsolete. 10. Avoid perceptions of faculty ownership and operate in an increasingly competitive environment. 11. Recognise that the continuum between creativity/innovation and entrepreneurship is complex, non-linear and requires different training regimes during the different phases of the pipeline. One small entity, such as the QIS, cannot address them all. The QIS successfully designed, implemented and delivered activities that included events, workshops, seminars and services to QUT students in the extra-curricular space. That the QIS project can be considered successful derives directly from the outcomes. First, the QIS project changed the lives of emerging QUT student entrepreneurs. Also, the QIS activities developed enterprising skills in students who did not necessarily have a business proposition, at the time. Second, successful outcomes of the QIS project are evidenced as the embedding of most, perhaps all, of the QIS activities in a new Chancellery-sponsored initiative: the Leadership Development and Innovation Program hosted by QUT Student Support Services. During the course of the QIS project, the Brisbane-based innovation ecosystem underwent substantial change. From a dearth of opportunities for the entrepreneurially inclined, there is now a plethora of entities that cater for a diversity of innovation-related activities. While the QIS evolved with the landscape, the demand endpoint of the QIS activities still highlights a gap in the local and national innovation ecosystems. The freedom to experiment and to fail is not catered for by the many new entities seeking to build viable businesses on the back of the innovation push. The onus of teaching the enterprising skills, which are the employability skills now demanded by industry, remains the domain of the higher education sector.