Dimensions of University Student Learning in Medicine and Pharmacy

Study orientations in higher education consist of various dimensions, such as approaches to learning, conceptions of learning and knowledge (i.e. epistemologies), self-regulation, and motivation. They have also been measured in different ways. The main orientations typically reported are reproducing and meaning orientations. The present study explored dimensions of study orientations, focusing in particular on pharmacy and medicine. New versions of self-report instruments were developed and tested in various contexts and in two countries. Furthermore, the linkages between study orientations and students epistemological development were explored. The context of problem-based (PBL) small groups was investigated in order to better understand how collaboration contributes to the quality of learning. The participants of Study I (n=66) were pharmacy students, who were followed during a three-year professionally oriented program in terms of their study orientations and epistemologies. A reproducing orientation to studying diminished during studying, whereas only a few students maintained their original level of meaning orientation. Dualism was found to be associated with a reproducing orientation. In Study II practices associated with deep and surface approaches to learning were measured in two differing ways, in order to better distinguish between what students believed to be useful in studying, and the extent to which they applied their beliefs to practice when preparing for examinations. Differences between domains were investigated by including a sample of Finnish and Swedish medical students (n=956) and a Finnish non-medical sample of university students (n=865). Memorizing and rote learning appeared as differing components of a surface approach to learning, while understanding, relating, and critical evaluation of knowledge emerged as aspects of a deep approach to learning. A structural model confirmed these results in both student samples. Study III explored a wide variety of dimensions of learning in medical education. Swedish medical students (n=280) answered the questionnaire. The deep approach to learning was strongly related to collaboration and reflective learning, whereas the surface approach was associated with novice-like views of knowledge and the valuing of certain and directly applicable knowledge. PBL students aimed at understanding, but also valued the role of memorization. Study IV investigated 12 PBL tutorial groups of students (n=116) studying microbiology and pharmacology in a medical school. The educational application was expected to support a deep approach to learning: Group members course grades in a final examination were related to the perceived functioning of the PBL tutorial groups. Further, the quality of cases that had been used as triggers for learning, was associated with the quality of small group functioning. New dimensions of study orientations were discovered. In particular, novel, finer distinctions were found within the deep approach component. In medicine, critical evaluation of knowledge appeared to be less valued than understanding and relating. Further, collaboration appeared to be closely related to the deep approach, and it was also important in terms of successful PBL studying. The results of the studies confirmed the previously found associations between approaches to learning and study success, but showed interesting context- and subgroup-related differences in this respect. Students ideas about the nature of knowledge and their approaches to learning were shown to be closely related. The present study expanded our understanding of the dimensions of study orientations, of their development, and their contextual variability in pharmacy and medicine.

What’s in a name: Dimensions of social learning in teacher groups

Induced by a literature review, this paper presents a framework of dimensions and indicators highlighting the underpinning aspects and values of social learning within teacher groups. Notions of social networks, communities of practice and learning teams were taken as the main perspectives to influence this social learning framework. The review exercise resulted in four dimensions: (1) practice, (2) domain and value creation, (3) collective identity and (4) organization. The indicators corresponding to these dimensions serve as the foundation for understanding social learning in practice. The framework of dimensions and indicators can be of assistance for researchers as well as teacher groups that aim to assess their views on social learning and analyse whether these views fit the learning goals of the group, or that adjustments are required. In this way, learning processes within groups of teachers can be improved.

The strategic and operational dimensions of staff training and professional development for information professionals : what neXus2 has revealed

The paper seeks to continue the debate about the need for professionals in the library and information services (LIS) sector to continually engage in career-long learning to sustain and develop their knowledge and skills in a dynamic industry. Aims: The neXus2 workforce study has been funded by the ALIA and the consortium of National and State Libraries Australasia (NSLA). It builds on earlier research work (the neXus census) that looked at the demographic, educational and career perspectives of individual library and information professions, to critically examine institutional policies and practices associated with the LIS workforce. The research aims to develop a clearer understanding of the issues impacting on workforce sustainability, workforce capability and workforce optimisation. Methods: The research methodology involved an extensive online survey conducted in March 2008 which collected data on organisational and general staffing; recruitment and retention; staff development and continuing professional education; and succession planning. Encouragement to participate was provided by key industry groups, including academic, public, health, law and government library and information agencies, with the result that around 150 institutions completed the questionnaire. Results: The paper will specifically discuss the research findings relating to training and professional development, to measure the scope and distribution of training activities across the workforce, to consider the interrelationship between the strategic and operational dimensions of staff development in individual institutions and to analyse the common and distinctive factors evident in the different sectors of the profession. Conclusion: The neXus2 project has successfully engaged LIS institutions in the collection of complex industry data that is relevant to the future education and workforce strategies for all areas of the profession. Cross-sector forums such as Information Online 2009 offer the opportunity for stimulating professional dialogue on the key issues.

Information literacy research : dimensions of the emerging collective consciousness

Information literacy researchers are beginning to develop a collective consciousness, a consciousness that represents the newly appearing territory of information literacy research. This paper analyses the information literacy research territory as it is represented by the emerging collective consciousness of information literacy researchers. Five dimensions of the collective consciousness are proposed: 1) the sectoral location of the research, 2) ways of seeing information literacy, 3) ‘what’ is being investigated; that is the research object, 4) ‘how’ the object is being investigated; that is the research approaches and paradigms, and 5) disciplinary influences. These dimensions are used to: 1) reveal the character of the information literacy research territory which is in early stages of construction; 2) show how different kinds of research approaches can shed different kinds of light on the object of research; and 3) demonstrate how the five dimensions work together in the development of new studies.

The two dimensions of virtual and collocated project teams or what project team members WANT and GET : an empirical study

The current paper compares and investigates the discrepancies in motivational drives of project team members with respect to their project environment in collocated and distributed (virtual) project teams. The set of factors, which in this context are called ‘Sense of Ownership’, is used as a scale to measure these discrepancies using one tailed t tests. These factors are abstracted from theories of motivation, team performance, and team effectiveness and are related to ‘Nature of Work’, ‘Rewards’, and ‘Communication’. It has been observed that ‘virtual ness’ does not seem to impact the motivational drives of the project team members or the way the project environments provide or support those motivational drives in collocated and distributed projects. At a more specific level in terms of the motivational drives of the project team (‘WANT’) and the ability of the project environment to provide or support those factors (‘GET’), in collocated project teams, significant discrepancies were observed with respect to financial and non financial rewards, learning opportunities, nature of work and project specific communication, while in distributed teams, significant discrepancies with respect to project centric communication, followed by financial rewards and nature of work. Further, distributed project environments seem to better support the team member motivation than collocated project environments. The study concludes that both the collocated and distributed project environments may not be adequately supporting the motivational drives of its project team members, which may be frustrating to them. However, members working in virtual team environments may be less frustrated than their collocated counterparts as virtual project environments are better aligned with the motivational drives of their team members vis-à-vis the collocated project environments.

The two dimensions of virtual and collocated project teams or what project team members WANT and GET : empirical evidence

The current paper compares and investigates the discrepancies in motivational drives of project team members with respect to their project environment in collocated and distributed (virtual) project teams. The set of factors, which in this context are called ‘Sense of Ownership’, is used as a scale to measure these discrepancies using one tailed t tests. These factors are abstracted from theories of motivation, team performance, and team effectiveness and are related to ‘Nature of Work’, ‘Rewards’, and ‘Communication’. It has been observed that ‘virtualness’ does not seem to impact the motivational drives of the project team members or the way the project environments provide or support those motivational drives in collocated and distributed projects. At a more specific level in terms of the motivational drives of the project team (‘WANT’) and the ability of the project environment to provide or support those factors (‘GET’), in collocated project teams, significant discrepancies were observed with respect to financial and non financial rewards, learning opportunities, nature of work and project specific communication, while in distributed teams, significant discrepancies with respect to project centric communication, followed by financial rewards and nature of work. Further, distributed project environments seem to better support the team member motivation than collocated project environments. The study concludes that both the collocated and distributed project environments may not be adequately supporting the motivational drives of its project team members, which may be frustrating to them. However, members working in virtual team environments may be less frustrated than their collocated counterparts as virtual project environments are better aligned with the motivational drives of their team members vis-à-vis the collocated project environments.

Reframing evaluation of learning and teaching: An approach to change

Evaluation practices in the Higher Education sector have been criticised for having unclear purpose and principles; ignoring the complexity and changing nature of learning and teaching and the environments in which they occur; relying almost exclusively on student ratings of teachers working in classroom settings; lacking reliability and validity; using data for inappropriate purposes; and focusing on accountability and marketing rather than the improvement of learning and teaching. In response to similar criticism from stakeholders, in 2011 Queensland University of Technology (QUT) began a project which aims to reframe the organisation’s approach to the evaluation of learning and teaching. This paper describes the existing evaluation system; the emergence and early development of the project; and formulation of a conceptual framework identifying key dimensions of evaluation. It then compares the draft framework with other conceptualisations and models of evaluation identified in the literature, to determine its validity and suitability for supporting QUT’s plans for the future. Overall, the paper represents a structured evaluation of the REFRAME project at a particular point in its lifecycle. Given that the project follows an evidence based, practice-led process and applies an ongoing action research cycle, the findings are presented in the belief that QUT’s experience is broadly applicable to other institutions which may be contemplating change in relation to evaluation of learning and teaching.

Not all dimensions of work self-efficacy are equal : understanding the role of tertiary work placements in the development of the elements of work self-efficacy

This paper examines the relationship between a final year tertiary work placement for criminology students at Griffith University in Brisbane and the development of their work self-efficacy. Using a work self-efficacy instrument developed by Professor Joe Raelin at Northeastern University in Boston, a pilot phase in 2006 and a larger study in 2007 investigated the students’ responses across seven self-efficacy factors of learning, problem-solving, teamwork, sensitivity, politics, pressure, and role expectations. Both studies utilised a pre- and post-test and comparisons between these indicated that they believed their abilities to participate constructively in their professional work contexts significantly improved as a result of their placement experience except in the areas of learning, teamwork and sensitivity. This finding will allow us to continue to refine the processes of work placements in order to ensure the integrity of this method for student learning.

Dimensions of effectiveness and efficiency: A case study on industry–school partnerships

Internationally, the delivery of vocational education and training is being challenged by increasing skills shortages in certain industries and/or rapidly changing skill requirements. To respond to this challenge, rigid and centralised state bureaucracies are increasingly adopting partnerships between schools and industry as a strategy to encourage school-to-work transition programmes to address the local labour market demand. Drawing on experiences in Australia, this paper reports on a case study of government led partnerships between schools and industry. The Queensland Gateway to industry schools initiative currently involves over 120 schools. The study investigated how two commonly used partnership principles were understood by the Gateway to industry partners. Twelve school–industry partnerships from four industry sectors were analysed in terms of the principles of ‘efficiency’ and ‘effectiveness’ derived from the public–private partnership literature. The study found that some evidence of partnership activities associated with efficiency and effectiveness may be assigned to Gateway schools projects. However, little evidence was found that the above underlying principles were addressed systematically. Some of these partnerships were tenuously facilitated by individuals who had limited infrastructure or strategic support. Implications are that industry–school partnership stakeholders would benefit from applying partnership principles regarding implementation and management to ensure the sustainability of partnerships.

Development of the dimensions of adult mastery motivation questionnaire

Mastery motivation is an important developmental construct that has implications for development across the lifespan. Research to date has focused predominantly on infants and children, with the Dimensions of Mastery Questionnaire (DMQ) being the most widely used measure of mastery motivation. This paper reports on the development and initial validation of an adult measure: the Dimensions of Adult Mastery Motivation Questionnaire (DAMMQ). Six hundred and twenty-eight adults (68 % female) aged 18 to 90 years completed the questionnaire. Factor analysis produced 24 items that represented five factors: task persistence, preference for challenge, task related pleasure, task absorption and competence/self-efficacy. The DAMMQ was found to have good internal consistency, test-retest reliability and concurrent validity. Within group differences for age, gender and education are reported. The development of the DAMMQ paves the way for future research about mastery motivation in adult populations.

Beginning primary teachers’ perspectives on becoming a teacher in the workplace: Contextual, emotional, and temporo-spatial dimensions of identity shaping

The issue, with international and national overtones, of direct relevance to the present study, relates to the shaping of beginning teachers’ identities in the workplace. As the shift from an initial teacher education programme into initial practice in schools is a period of identity change worthy of investigation, this study focuses on the transformative search by nine beginning primary teachers for their teaching identities, throughout the course of their initial year of occupational experience, post-graduation. The nine beginning teacher participants work in a variety of primary school settings, thus strengthening the representativeness of the research cohort. Privileging ‘insider’ perspectives, the research goal is to understand the complexities of lived experience from the viewpoints of the participating informants. The shaping of identity is conceived of in dimensional terms. Accordingly, a framework composed of three dimensions of beginning teacher experience is devised, namely: contextual; emotional; temporo-spatial. Data collection and analysis is informed by principles derived from sociocultural theories; activity theory; figured worlds theory; and, dialogical self theory. Individual, face-to-face semi-structured interviews, and the maintenance of solicited digital diaries, are the principal methods of data collection employed. The use of a dimensional model fragments the integrated learning experiences of beginning teachers into constituent parts for the purpose of analysis. While acknowledging that the actual journey articulated by each participant is a more complex whole than the sum of its parts, key empirically-based claims are presented as per the dimensional framework employed: contextuality; emotionality; temporo-spatiality. As a result of applying the foci of an international literature to an under-researched aspect of Irish education, this study is offered as a context-specific contribution to the knowledge base on beginning teaching. As the developmental needs of beginning teachers constitute an emerging area of intense policy focus in Ireland, this research undertaking is both relevant and timely.

Capturing teachers' experience of learning design through case studies

This article distinguishes three dimensions to learning design: a technological infrastructure, a conceptual framework for practice that focuses on the creation of structured sequences of learning activities, and a way to represent and share practice through the use of mediating artefacts. Focusing initially on the second of these dimensions, the article reports the key findings from an exploratory study, eLIDA CAMEL. This project examined a hitherto under-researched aspect of learning design: what teachers who are new to the domain perceive to be its value as a framework for practice in the design of both flexible and classroom-based learning. Data collection comprised 13 case studies constructed from participants' self-reports. These suggest that providing students with a structured sequence of learning activities was the major value to teachers. The article additionally discusses the potential of such case studies to function as mediating artefacts for practitioners who are considering experimenting with learning design.

Peer tutoring in reading: The effects of role and organization on two dimensions of self-esteem

Background. Paired reading (PR) is an application of peer tutoring. It has been extensively researched, and its efficacy across a range of outcomes has been established. Benefits include improvements in key reading skills, and also in affective aspects of learning. Several studies have shown gains in self-esteem, although measurement methods have varied, and the model of self-esteem has rarely been clearly articulated.
Aims. To investigate the changes in self-esteem of children participating in a randomized trial of PR over a 15-week treatment period. To investigate the relative contribution of self-worth and self-competence to any gains in self-esteem. To investigate whether the pattern of change differs in children who take on different roles in the PR process.
Participants. The participants comprised a subset of a large-scale randomized trial of peer learning (The Fife Peer Learning Project). Four schools were randomly selected from schools allocated to the same-age PR condition, and four schools from those allocated to the cross-age PR condition. The same-age group consisted of 87 primary 6 children (10–11 years old). The cross-age group consisted of 81 primary 6 children. The controls, from schools randomly selected from a neighbouring authority, consisted of 92 primary 6 children.
Method. A pre–post design employing self-report measures of self-esteem. Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale was used, with scores analysed for worth and competence. The treatment period was 15 weeks, with the participants following a prescribed PR process.
Results. Significant pre–post gains were noted in self-esteem, driven predominantly by improved beliefs about competence, in both same-age and cross-age conditions, but not for controls. Gains were also seen in self-worth in the cross-age condition. Further analyses of the influence of organizational condition (same-age or cross-age) and role played (tutor vs. tutee) showed significant differences between same-age tutors and cross-age tutors in relation to self-worth. Effect sizes were generally small or moderate.
Conclusions. The findings provide further support for the belief that PR can enhance self-esteem. Importantly, the use of a two-dimensional model provides extra information about self-perceptions in PR contexts: first, the central role of self- competence; and second, the gains in self-worth which are associated with tutoring younger children (but not same-age peers). This new information has educational significance for schools considering the potential of peer tutoring and the benefits of different organizational conditions.

A psychometric analysis of reliability and validity of the index of learning styles (ILS)

Prior literature showed that Felder and Silverman learning styles model (FSLSM) was widely adopted to cater to individual styles of learners whether in traditional or Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL). In order to infer this model, the Index of Learning Styles (ILS) instrument was proposed. This research aims to analyse the soundness of this instrument in an Arabic sample. Data were integrated from different courses and years. A total of 259 engineering students participated voluntarily in the study. The reliability was analysed by applying internal construct reliability, inter-scale correlation, and total item correlation. The construct validity was also considered by running factor analysis. The overall results indicated that the reliability and validity of perception and input dimensions were moderately supported, whereas processing and understanding dimensions showed low internal-construct consistency and their items were weakly loaded in the associated constructs. Generally, the instrument needs further effort to improve its soundness. However, considering the consistency of the produced results of engineering students irrespective of cross-cultural differences, it can be adopted to diagnose learning styles.