Building an organizational change communication theory

The difficulty of communicating during organizational change has intensified with the prevalence of continuously changing organizations (Buchanan, Claydon & Doyle, 1999). The difficulty faced by managers is compounded by the lack of studies examining organizational communication within a context of organizational change (Eisenberg, Andrews, Murphy, & Laine-Timmerman, 1999; Lewis & Seibold, 1996). Not surprisingly then, is there a paucity of organizational change theory to guide further research and practitioners. This paper addresses the lack of organizational change communication research and contributes to theoretical development of communication during organizational change. A model of change communication during continuous change is presented from the analysis of two longitudinal empirical studies. Central constructs of the model are the monologic change communication, the dialogic change communication and the background talk of change. Further Van de Ven and Poole's (1995) Process Theories of Change are extended to consider the sequencing of the three constructs. The findings suggest that the sequencing of the dominant change communication approaches is informed by an alignment of individual communication competences and organizational change communication expectations.

Doing cultural heritage using the torque game engine: supporting indigenous storytelling in a 3D virtual environment

Digital Songlines (DSL) is an Australasian CRC for Interaction Design (ACID) project that is developing protocols, methodologies and toolkits to facilitate the collection, education and sharing of indigenous cultural heritage knowledge. This paper outlines the goals achieved over the last three years in the development of the Digital Songlines game engine (DSE) toolkit that is used for Australian Indigenous storytelling. The project explores the sharing of indigenous Australian Aboriginal storytelling in a sensitive manner using a game engine. The use of the game engine in the field of Cultural Heritage is expanding. They are an important tool for the recording and re-presentation of historically, culturally, and sociologically significant places, infrastructure, and artefacts, as well as the stories that are associated with them. The DSL implementation of a game engine to share storytelling provides an educational interface. Where the DSL implementation of a game engine in a CH application differs from others is in the nature of the game environment itself. It is modelled on the 'country' (the 'place' of their heritage which is so important to the clients' collective identity) and authentic fauna and flora that provides a highly contextualised setting for the stories to be told. This paper provides an overview on the development of the DSL game engine.

Secondary teachers’ conceptions of teaching and learning

This paper presents a phenomenographic analysis of the conceptions of teaching and learning held by a sample of 16 secondary school teachers in two Australian schools. It provides descriptions of four categories, derived from pooled data, of the ways in which these teachers thought about teaching and about learning, their teaching strategies, and their focus on student or content. The categories for teaching and learning are described with each teacher allocated to the category most typical of their conceptions of teaching and of learning. The lack of congruence, in some cases, between the conceptions of teaching and of learning held by these teachers is discussed.

Students’ perceptions of teaching and learning: the influence of students’ approaches to learning and teachers’ approaches to teaching

Nearly 500 secondary students in 24 classes were surveyed and four students in each class interviewed concerning their approaches to learning and perceptions of their classroom environment. While interviewed students with deep approaches to learning generally demonstrated a more sophisticated understanding of the learning opportunities offered to them than did students with surface approaches, teaching strategies also influenced students' perceptions. When teachers focused strongly on actively engaging students and creating a supportive environment, students with both deep and surface approaches focused on student-centred aspects of the class. In contrast, when traditional expository teaching methods were used exclusively, students with deep and surface approaches both focused on transmission and reproduction.