23,046 research outputs found
Get yourself connected: conceptualising the role of digital technologies in Norwegian career guidance
This report outlines the role of digital technologies in the provision of career guidance. It was commissioned by the c ommittee on career guidance which is advising the Norwegian Government following a review of the countries skills system by the OECD. In this report we argue that career guidance and online career guidance in particular can support the development of Norwa yâs skills system to help meet the economic challenges that it faces.The expert committee advising Norwayâs Career Guidance Initiativ
Self-efficacy enhanced in a cross-cultural context through an initiative in under-resourced schools in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
This paper discusses the Khanyisa Programme, an initiative in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, where learners from under-resourced schools are supported by teachers and high achievers in Grade 11 and 12 from a previously advantaged state school under apartheid. A qualitative, evaluative study was undertaken to identify key elements in the ongoing success of the programme and collect participant suggestions for improvement. The findings, discussed within the framework of self-efficacy theory, identified enormous gains by Khanyisa learners, leading to vastly improved career prospects
Peer mentoring to secure student placements
Purpose
This paper describes a case study where student peer mentors were employed to motivate and assist undergraduates to secure optional professional placement positions.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper describes the reasons for establishing the project and the recruitment of mentors. It outlines a survey of students who had not undertaken placements the previous year to try to identify the activities that would be most effective on the part of the mentors. It then describes the mentoring that was conducted. The mentors, together with the placement co-coordinator, devised support ranging from one to one mentoring, drop in âclinicsâ, online support through a social network and large group talks. It discusses the results of this work and evaluates the oral and written responses of both mentors and mentees.
Findings
Those mentees who took part in the mentoring were typically those who were already enthusiastic about placement opportunities. The majority of students did not take advantage of mentoring support either face to face or online. It was found that the mentoring scheme did not significantly affect the proportion of students seeking or securing placements. However, the mentors themselves gained tremendous benefits from the mentoring scheme in particular developing their communication skills and confidence.
Research limitations
A thorough survey of potential mentees was not carried out after the project to ascertain the reasons for their lack of engagement.
Practical implications
There are two separate implications of this project: 1) The mentoring scheme was valuable primarily for the mentors and not the mentees and 2) The level of support provided by the University is not the main factor in the low take up of optional placement opportunities. If such learning opportunities are felt to be sufficiently valuable for the student learning experience they need to be compulsory with appropriate support available â a mentoring scheme might then be of far more value to mentees.
Originality/value
There is very little published concerning the use of mentoring to facilitate work based learning. Furthermore most published work on mentoring is located in the âbest practiceâ school of pedagogical research where it is implicitly assumed that one must report on the success of an intervention. Frequently it is more valuable to examine more unexpected results of an intervention. This paper however shows much greater benefits achieved by the mentors than the mentees
Comparative research: Team learning in higher education
Team learning is the process of aligning and developing the capacity of a team to create the
results its members truly desireâ (Senge, 1990, p 236). This emphasizes the significance of
team learning as the fundamental learning units. Despite its importance, team learning
among employees in higher education, especially among academics remains poorly
understood. This research aims at shedding a light in the area which has recently been
urged by the increasingly demanding requirements of interdisciplinary research and teaching
in higher education around the world. Through a thorough literature review, a model of team
learning has been built with a set of antecedents, two moderators, and the outcome of
mental models. Hypotheses were formed, including team commitment, goal setting,
development and training, organizational culture, and leadership are positively associated
with team learning (antecedents), team learning is positively associated with knowledge
sharing (outcome), and better communication systems, and learning environment provide
better outcome of team learning (moderators). Thus, the study tested both mediating and
Kaleidoscope Postgraduate Conference, Cambridge 2009
http://www.educatejournal.org/ 92
moderating relationships. The data were collected in a form of self-report questionnaires. The
model was tested with the data collected from employees of two universities, one in the UK
and the other in Vietnam. The findings revealed interesting information on the differences
between two universities/two cultures, which is often the benefits of comparative research.
The case in VN had more positive results than the case in the UK. There are not many
differences between academic and non-academic employees, or between employees who
work in science and non-science areas. The research could not avoid some limitations due to
self-report questionnaires, though some actions were conducted to reduce research bias. In
addition, it is really difficult to measure team performance in higher education, which should
have been another outcome of team learning
ePortfolios: Mediating the minefield of inherent risks and tensions
The ePortfolio Project at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) exemplifies an innovative and flexible harnessing of current portfolio thinking and design that has achieved substantial buy-in across the institution with over 23000 active portfolios. Robust infrastructure support, curriculum integration and training have facilitated widespread take-up, while QUTâs early adoption of ePortfolio technology has enabled the concomitant development of a strong policy and systems approach to deal explicitly with legal and design responsibilities. In the light of that experience, this paper will highlight the risks and tensions inherent in ePortfolio policy, design and implementation. In many ways, both the strengths and weaknesses of ePortfolios lie in their ability to be accessed by a wider, less secure audience â either internally (e.g. other students and staff) or externally (e.g. potential employees and referees). How do we balance the obvious requirement to safeguard students from the potential for institutionally-facilitated cyber-harm and privacy breaches, with this generationâs instinctive personal and professional desires for reflections, private details, information and intellectual property to be available freely and with minimal restriction? How can we promote collaboration and freeform expression in the blog and wiki world but also manage the institutional risk that unauthorised use of student information and work so palpably carries with it? For ePortfolios to flourish and to develop and for students to remain engaged in current reflective processes, holistic guidelines and sensible boundaries are required to help safeguard personal details and journaling without overly restricting studentsâ emotional, collaborative and creative engagement with the ePortfolio experience. This paper will discuss such issues and suggest possible ways forward
Learning For Life: The Opportunity For Technology To Transform Adult Education - Part II: The Supplier Ecosystem
In fall 2014, Tyton Partners (formerly Education Growth Advisors), with support from the Joyce Foundation, conducted national research on the role and potential of instructional technology in the US adult education field. The objective was to understand the current state of the field with respect to technology readiness and the opportunities and challenges for increasing the use of technology-based instructional models within adult education. The initial publication in the series, "Part I: Interest in and Aptitude for Technology," focused on demand-side dynamics and addressed adult education administrators' and practitioners' perspectives on the role and potential of technology to support their students' needs and objectives. This second publication, "Part 2: The Supplier Ecosystem," highlights market composition and supply-side dynamics, instructional resource use, and opportunities for innovation
Is change on the horizon for Maori and Pacifica female high school students when it comes to ICT?
This paper explores some of the factors that discourage the participation of MÄori and Pacific girls in ICT in New Zealand. Despite many ICT job opportunities, there has been a steady decrease in the percentage of girls, especial MÄori and Pacific girls entering into ICT study, and pursuing ICT careers. This study used a modified version of the conceptual framework designed by Bernhardt (2014) based on the 'STEMcell' model. The STEMcell framework was used to explores the factors that discourage participation in ICT through such concepts as cultural, social, structural and social IT that contribute to the likelihood of studentâs career choice in ICT. An online questionnaire gathered data from year 11 students studying at high schools within Wellington, New Zealand. The findings indicated that Pacific girlâs more than MÄori girls reported that their family members were seen as role models, which could impact on their future career choices. The statistical results also show that stereotypes are still alive in both MÄori and Pacific year 11 studentâs perceptions and that both Pacific and MÄori girls from year 11 are unlikely to follow a career in ICT. Currently, the number of MÄori and Pacific girls enrolling in ICT subjects at secondary school is still substantially below that for boys and, until changes are made, MÄori and Pacific girls going into the industry will be in the minority
Roles and student identities in online large course forums: implications for practice.
The use of large online discussion forums within online and distance learning continues to grow. Recent innovations in online learning the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) and concomitant growth in the use of online media for the delivery of courses in traditional campus based universities provides both opportunity and challenge for online tutors and learners alike. The recognition of the role that online tutor and student identity plays in the field of retention and progression of distance learners is also well documented in the field of distance learning. Focusing on a course forum linked to a single level 2 undergraduate module and open to over a thousand students, this ideographic case study, set in a large distance learning university, uses qualitative methodology to examine the extent to which participation in a large forum can be considered within community of practice frameworks (COP) and contributes to feelings of efficacy, student identity and motivation. The paper draws on current theory pertaining to online communities and examines this in relation to the extent to which the forum adds to feelings of academic and social integration. The study concludes that although the large forum environment facilitates a certain degree of academic integration and identity there is evidence that it also presents a number of barriers producing negative effects on student motivation and online identity
Lighting up learning: mathematics becoming less of a \u27killer subject\u27 in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
This paper reports the findings of an evaluative study of an initiative, in its sixth year of implementation, enhancing the learning and teaching of mathematics in 20 disadvantaged secondary schools in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa, twenty years after democracy. Findings highlight the importance of initial and ongoing professional development for under-qualified teachers. Support and strategies that have enhanced the achievement in mathematics of learners in these still under-resourced schools, are described
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