Distraction and interaction in academic workspaces

This research investigated workspace satisfaction for academics and compared this with published results from commercial workers. Results show that academics are not satisfied with their workspace, and indicate that academics require different types of workspaces to commercial workers.

International postgraduate students experience in a UK university : lessons for academic practice

This paper reports on a study of the international postgraduate student experience in a United Kingdom (UK) university, using a case study approach. Looking at both the academic and non academic experience of students in the university, the paper attempts to identify differences in perceptions of staff and students on key issues related to the international student experience. The limited sample of this study is compensated for by the quality and depth of data obtained from in-depth interviews with students and staff in one UK university. Results indicate significant convergence of perceptions in relation to the quality of education in the UK though the issues of cultural integration, English language and inadequate student support and the serious threat these issues pose to the quality of experience for students. The paper identifies five key gaps in the way staff and students conceptualise the postgraduate student experience and concludes with suggestions for how management might narrow these gaps in the higher education context.

Plagiarism, the internet and student learning : improving academic integrity

Written for higher education educators, managers and policy-makers, 'Plagiarism, the Internet and Student Learning' combines theoretical understandings with a practical model of plagiarism and explains why and how plagiarism developed.

Language, technology and the law : anti-plagiarism software and students' academic writing

Plagiarism is of grave concern for academic institutions in the twenty-first
century. Institutions utilise plagiarism policies, honour codes and regulations to ensure students develop a sense of educational integrity. Technology has recently afforded new methods for staff to detect plagiarism – through antiplagiarism software. This paper explores perspectives of seven teachers across five faculties to Turnitin.com (an anti-plagiarism software package) at a large Australian university. The findings indicate that software such as Turnitin.com may assist in the quest to detect text-matching, and perhaps reduce plagiarism. It should not, however, be considered the panacea for plagiarism. Plagiarism policies should also reflect cognisance of the existence of a 'plagiarism continuum' (Sutherland-Smith, 2003) through the use of technology. This research highlights the broader need for institutions to reformulate plagiarism policies in light of cross-cultural perspectives of authorship and attribution of text.

Students' perceptions of academic and business dishonesty : Australian evidence

Publicly available information indicates that the collapse of the high-profile corporations during the recent past were due to the unethical actions of a number of major players, including high level managers in those corporations. These examples of the ethical misdeeds of corporate actors have influenced accounting professional bodies and academic institutions around the globe to revisit the issue of ethical training of business and accounting students—the corporate managers of tomorrow. However, little is known about the ethical perceptions of business and accounting students, and business academics are finding it challenging to develop and promote ethics-based accounting and business curricula. This study addresses the research gap. It explores the ethical perceptions of accounting and business students in two Australian universities using three paradigms, that is, whether there are differences between regional and metropolitan, male and female, older and younger accounting students with respect to their ethical perceptions. Empirical evidence provided in this study
suggests that while there are no differences in ethical perceptions of the regional and metropolitan accounting and business students, female and older students are found to be more ethical compared to male and younger students.

Law-and-order politics, public-opinion polls, and the media

Over the past two decades, considerable political rhetoric has focused on the need to get tough on crime. Justification for this hard-line approach has been the public's apparent concem about rising crime rates and its increasing dissatisfaction with criminal sentencing. In this paper, we consider characteristics both of the measurement of public opinion and of the influences upon public opinion that may contribute to the depiction of a fearful, punitive community. In particular, we identify sources of bias in the methods and contexts of opinion-polling that promote a distorted representation of the discrepancy between community expectations of sentencing and the practices of the judiciary. We argue that the practices of pollsters, politicians, and media combine to create a self-sustaining obstacle to considered community discussion of crime and criminal sentencing.

Comparing British and Australian fear of terrorism pre and post the Iraqi war

Public attitudes to terrorism influence government positions in opinion polls and highlight the effectiveness of terrorism as a political strategy. British (N = 47) and Australian (N = 42) participants' fear of terrorism at the onset of. and after, the Iraqi war were measured. Self-efficacy, locus of control, media consumption, belief in a just world and war opinions were also measured. Initially, the British were more fearful of terrorism than Australians. However, British fear declined after the war. It is postulated that fear of terrorism is influenced by war opinions with a pro-war attitude protecting against fear.

Students' use of online academic resources within a course web site and its relationship with their course performance : an exploratory study

Prior research suggests that the online provision of course materials can have a positive impact on students' examination performance. This study adds to the existing literature by investigating the link between the students' use of different forms of online course provisions and tools (i.e. course materials, links and discussion forums) and the final examination performance of students in a second year undergraduate accounting course. Findings indicate a positive association between the number of online files viewed by students, the number of online discussion messages posted by them, and their examination performance. A significant relationship was not found between examination performance and the amount of time spent on the subject's web site, the viewing of links to web sites that were not core to the course being studied, or the passive reading of discussion messages. These findings support the benefits to be gained by providing course materials online and encouraging students to access the materials posted and to participate actively in online discussion.

Changing perspectives : teaching and learning centres’ strategic contributions to academic development in Australian higher education

This article reports on a study of Australian teaching and learning centres to identify factors that contribute to their effective strategic leadership. These centres remain in a state of flux, with seemingly endless reconfiguration. The drivers for such change appear to lie in decision makers’ search for their centres to add more strategic value to organisational teaching, learning and the student experience. Through a synthesis of findings based on interviews, a survey of directors of centres and focus groups, the article identifies paradigmatic shifts in the ways centres see themselves, relate to their organisations and respond to external environmental forces. From an understanding of paradigm shifts, strategic contributions to academic development in the sector are framed organisationally through key points of leverage. Points of leverage are manageable actions that can be taken to maximise overall institutional impact and effectiveness.