Final Report: University of Technology, Sydney Student Feedback Survey Review

This evaluation was commissioned by Martin Hanlon, Director of the Planning and Quality Unit of the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) to investigate the Student Feedback Survey (SFS) system, engagement in stakeholder feedback and provide recommendations against the Terms of Reference.

Affordances of ICTs: an environmental study of a French language unit offered at university level

This project investigates the integration of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) into educational settings by closely looking at the uptake of the perceived affordances offered by ICTs by students enrolled in a French language course at Queensland University of Technology. This cross-disciplinary research uses the theoretical concepts of: Ecological Psychology (Gibson, 1979; Good, 2007; Reed, 1996); Ecological Linguistics (Greeno, 1994; Leather & van Dam, 2003; van Lier 2000, 2003, 2004a, 2004b); Design (Norman, 1988, 1999); Software Design/ Human-Computer Interaction (Hartson, 2003; McGrenere & Ho, 2000); Learning Design (Conole & Dyke, 2004a, 2004b; Laurillard et al. 2000;); Education (Kirschner, 2002; Salomon, 1993; Wijekumar et al., 2006) and Educational Psychology (Greeno, 1994). In order to investigate this subject, the following research questions, rooted in the theoretical foundations of the thesis, were formulated: (1) What are the learners’ attitudes towards the ICT tools used in the project?; (2) What are the affordances offered by ICTs used in a specific French language course at university level from the perspective of the teacher and from the perspective of language learners?; (3) What affordances offered by ICT tools used by the teacher within the specific teaching and learning environment have been taken up by learners?; and (4) What factors influence the uptake by learners of the affordances created by ICT tools used by the teacher within the specific teaching and learning environment? The teaching phase of this project, conducted between 2006 and 2008, used Action Research procedures (Hopkins, 2002; McNiff & Whitehead, 2002; van Lier 1994) as a research framework. The data were collected using the following combination of qualitative and quantitative methods: (1) questionnaires administered to students (Hopkins, 2002; McNiff & Whitehead, 2002) using Likert-scale questions, open questions, yes/no questions; (2) partnership classroom observations of research participants conducted by Research Participant Advocates (Hopkins, 2002; McNiff & Whitehead, 2002); and (3) a focus group with volunteering students who participated in the unit (semi-structured interview) (Hopkins, 2002; McNiff & Whitehead, 2002). The data analysis confirms the importance of a careful examination of the teaching and learning environment and reveals differences in the ways in which the opportunities for an action offered by the ICTs were perceived by teacher and students, which impacted on the uptake of affordances. The author applied the model of affordance, as described by Good (2007), to explain these differences and to investigate their consequences. In conclusion, the teacher-researcher considers that the discrepancies in perceiving the affordances result from the disparities between the frames of reference and the functional contexts of the teacher-researcher and students. Based on the results of the data analysis, a series of recommendations is formulated supporting calls for careful analysis of frames of reference and the functional contexts of all participants in the learning and teaching process. The author also suggests a modified model of affordance, outlining the important characteristics of its constituents.

Barriers to entering affordable home ownership for young people: A preliminary study from university students’ perspectives

Over the last two decades, housing affordability has been a problem for young people, and identified as factor leading to youth homelessness. The National Youth Commission Inquiry into Youth Homelessness developed a roadmap for preventing this problem (National Youth Commission, 2008). The roadmap recommends increasing the supply of affordable housing for young people as an important strategy to reduce the risk of homelessness problems. In addition, understanding the barriers and the needs of young people is a significant part of the development of a national affordable housing strategy. This paper explores issues encountered by young people when they enter the housing market as first home buyers. A short survey was conducted to review the barriers to entry, classified by income levels, housing cost and availability of affordable housing. In the current competitive job market, young people have minimal work experience, relatively low job security and low income. In addition to these barriers, participants also suggested other barriers towards the purchase of their first home, such as lack of knowledge of legal issues and lack of government funding. This study suggests the need for both government and educational support for young people around housing choices and the development of financial strategies to manage barriers towards owning their first home.

EFL teachers' perceptions and experiences of blended learning in a Vietnamese university

This qualitative study investigates English as Foreign Language (EFL) teachers' perceptions and practices of blended learning in a Vietnamese university and influencing factors. Findings revealed that teachers have limited understandings and use of blended learning due to three primary influential factors: (i) the traditional teacher-centred pedagogy, (ii) institutional management and leadership styles, and (iii) fragmented knowledge of technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK) for blended learning. To improve the take up and potential benefits of blended learning in EFL education in Vietnamese universities, this study proposes (i) a systematic understanding of blended learning concepts, (ii) a localised TPACK framework, and (iii) a model of teacher professional development program.

"Social Stuff" and institutional micro-processes: Alcohol use by students in Australian university residential colleges

The literature on alcohol consumption among university and residential college students in Australia and comparable countries shows a high incidence of heavy and/or frequent drinking. In this article, we report the findings from a study on alcohol consumption among undergraduate university students living in residential colleges in Australia. The aim of the study was to examine residents’ alcohol use as part of a broader set of institutional practices in higher education that are constructed as central to the student experience. The data were collected through in-depth semistructured interviews with 29 students from seven residential colleges. We found that inclusion of alcohol in many students’ social and extracurricular activities while residing in college is associated with heavy and/or frequent drinking. We suggest that the use of alcohol among students is shaped by the colleges’ institutional micro-processes, leading to a tension between college managements’ aim to foster alcohol citizenship and students’ liberty to engage in frequent and/or heavy drinking.

Increasing research data management capability within your university

A Powerpoint presentation on increasing research data management capability within your university, presented from the university library perspective, and focusing on collaborations with university partners to develop and implement university wide data management services and infrastructure.

Indigenous university champion angles for outcomes

The proportion of Australians to finish uni is about 25 per cent. This figure varies dramatically from the amount of Indigenous kids who attain the same result. Only five percent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders gain a degree. That's why Marnee Shay from Ilkey on the Sunshine Coast is bucking the trend... above and beyond expectations. She's believed to be the first Aboriginal recipient of the Chancellor's Medal at the University of the Sunshine Coast, and she's now starting a PHD at QUT in Brisbane. The ABC's Jon Coghill asked her about her studies and what the medal signifies.

Using culture to manage the transition into university: Conceptualising the dynamics of withdrawal and engagement

This conceptual paper explored the purposes of using culture in the process of coping with stress by looking how first year undergraduate students used cultural elements and activities to aid their transition into university. Results supported two key conceptualisations of the use of culture. Firstly, results indicated that students used culture either for withdrawal purposes, i.e., for escaping from the stressful situation, or for engagement purposes, i.e., for actively engaging with the stressful situation. Secondly, the results suggested three different forms of using culture to engage with stressful situations: mood management, learning, and personal interaction. While the results of the study resonate with the distinction between avoidance versus approach-oriented coping strategies that are widely explored in the stress and coping literature, they also suggest that the relationship between withdrawal and engagement might be dynamic with those two strategies serving distinct purposes in the process of coping with stress. The paper thus suggests that there is a need to develop process-oriented models of coping that would allow identifying patterns in the way people fluctuate between withdrawal and engagement that support and facilitate their personal growth and development.

International students' perceptions of their experience of higher education in Australia: A focus on Saudi Arabian students in their first year of a business course in a major Australian university

This study examined perceptions of international students from Saudi Arabia living and studying in Australia. As a qualitative study that featured case study methodology, the thesis discusses the experiences of Saudi Arabian students in the light of two important factors: students' expectations prior to coming to Australia and the impact of intercultural competency on students' experiences. The study found that while study participants reported mostly positive experiences, there were challenges faced such as coping with English language and culture shock. The thesis culminates in a comprehensive list of implications for educators in the light of the study's findings.

A network DEA quantity and quality-orientated production model: An application to Australian university research services

The motivation for this analysis is the recently developed Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) program developed to assess the quality of research in Australia. The objective is to develop an appropriate empirical model that better represents the underlying production of higher education research. In general, past studies on university research performance have used standard DEA models with some quantifiable research outputs. However, these suffer from the twin maladies of an inappropriate production specification and a lack of consideration of the quality of output. By including the qualitative attributes of peer-reviewed journals, we develop a procedure that captures both quality and quantity, and apply it using a network DEA model. Our main finding is that standard DEA models tend to overstate the research efficiency of most Australian universities.

Community uses of co-creative media. Digital storytelling and Co-creative Media : The role of community arts and media in propagating and coordinating population-wide creative practice

This report describes a dynamic ‘Co-creative Media System’ that is emerging in the social space bounded by the following institutional pillars: • major cultural institutions (including screen culture agencies, libraries, museums, galleries and public service broadcasters) • the Community Arts and Cultural Development sector (historically supported through various programs of the Australia Council for the Arts) • the community broadcasting sector • the Indigenous media sector, and • the higher education sector. It illustrates how this system activates the immense creative potential of the Australian population through the ongoing development and application of participatory storytelling methods and media.

Designing and evaluating a persuasive child restraint television commercial

Objective Relatively high rates of child restraint inappropriate use, misuse and faults in the installation of restraints have suggested a crucial need for public education messages to raise parental awareness of the need to use restraints correctly. This project involved the devising and pilot testing of message concepts, filming of a television advertisement (the TVC), and the evaluation of the TVC. This paper focuses specifically upon the evaluation of the TVC. The development and evaluation of the TVC were guided by an extended Theory of Planned Behaviour which comprised the standard constructs of attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control as well as the additional constructs of group norm and descriptive norm. The study also explored the extent to which parents with low and high intentions to self-check restraint/s differed on salient beliefs regarding the behaviour. Methods An online survey of parents (N = 384) was conducted where parents were randomly assigned to either an Intervention group (n = 161), and therefore viewed the advertisement within the survey, or the Control group (n = 223) and therefore did not view the advertisement. Results Following a one-off exposure to the TVC, the results indicated that, although not a significant difference, parents in the Intervention group reported stronger intentions (M = 4.43, SD = .74) to self-check restraints than parents in the Control group (M = 4.18, SD = .86). Also, parents in the Intervention group (M = 4.59, SD = .47) reported significantly higher levels of perceived behavioural control than parents in the Control group (M = 4.40, SD = .73). The regression results revealed that, for parents in the Intervention group, attitude and group norm were significant predictors of parental intentions to self-check their child restraint. Finally, the exploratory analyses of parental beliefs suggested that those parents with low intentions to self-check child restraints were significantly more likely than high intenders to agree that they did not have enough time to check restraints or that having a child in a restraint is more important than checking the installation of the restraint. Conclusion Overall, the findings provide some support for the persuasiveness of the child restraint TVC and provide insight into the factors influencing reported parental intentions as well as salient beliefs underpinning self-checking of restraints. Interventions that attempt to increase parental perceptions of the importance of self-checking restraints regularly and brevity of the time involved in doing so may be effective.