‘I enjoy learning’: developing early years practitioners’ identities as professionals and as professional learners

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Group in Professional Development in Education on 7 May 2018, available online via: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19415257.2018.1459788. Under embargo until 7 November 2019.Emphasis on professionalisation of the childcare workforce internationally is associated with evidence that links education and experience of early years practitioners; quality of early education and care; and outcomes for children and families. In England, this has led to a proliferation of vocational undergraduate programmes. This article draws on research carried out with early years practitioners who were completing a sector endorsed foundation degree in early years programme that provided students in full-time employment with opportunities for professional and workplace learning. The students’ views and experiences, documented in personal reflections and learning stories and voiced during focus groups, were complemented by those of early years managers and mentors. A critique of the findings to learn about developing early years practitioners’ identities as professionals and as professional learners suggests that the students became confident, reflective professionals and learners who shared their learning and sought to implement change in their settings. This research has implications for developing early childhood education and care (ECEC) practitioners, new to academic study, as learners and as confident, reflective members of a professional workforce at a time of ongoing change and uncertainty in ECEC policy and practice nationally and internationally.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Reframing e-assessment: building professional nursing and academic attributes in a first year nursing course

This paper documents the relationships between pedagogy and e-assessment in two nursing courses offered at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. The courses are designed to build the academic, numeracy and technological attributes student nurses need if they are to succeed at university and in the nursing profession. The paper first outlines the management systems supporting the two courses and how they intersect with the e-learning and e-assessment components of course design. These pedagogical choices are then reviewed. While there are lessons to be learnt and improvements to be made, preliminary results suggest students and staff are extremely supportive of the courses. The e-assessment is very positively received with students reporting increased confidence and competency in numeracy, as well as IT, academic, research and communication skills

Personal development planning in the first year

The approach to quality and standards in higher education (HE) in Scotland is enhancement led and learner centred. It was developed through a partnership of the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), Universities Scotland, the National Union of Students in Scotland (NUS Scotland) and the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) Scotland. The Higher Education Academy has also joined that partnership. The Enhancement Themes are a key element of a five-part framework, which has been designed to provide an integrated approach to quality assurance and enhancement. The Enhancement Themes support learners and staff at all levels in further improving higher education in Scotland; they draw on developing innovative practice within the UK and internationally The five elements of the framework are: z a comprehensive programme of subject-level reviews undertaken by higher education institutions (HEIs) themselves; guidance is published by the SFC (www.sfc.ac.uk) z enhancement-led institutional review (ELIR), run by QAA Scotland (www.qaa.ac.uk/reviews/ELIR) z improved forms of public information about quality; guidance is provided by the SFC (www.sfc.ac.uk) z a greater voice for students in institutional quality systems, supported by a national development service - student participation in quality scotland (sparqs) (www.sparqs.org.uk) z a national programme of Enhancement Themes aimed at developing and sharing good practice to enhance the student learning experience, facilitated by QAA Scotland (www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk). The topics for the Enhancement Themes are identified through consultation with the sector and implemented by steering committees whose members are drawn from the sector and the student body. The steering committees have the task of establishing a programme of development activities, which draw on national and international good practice. Publications emerging from each Theme are intended to provide important reference points for HEIs in the ongoing strategic enhancement of their teaching and learning provision. Full details of each Theme, its steering committee, the range of research and development activities as well as the outcomes are published on the Enhancement Themes website (www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk). To further support the implementation and embedding of a quality enhancement culture within the sector - including taking forward the outcomes of the Enhancement Themes - an overarching committee, the Scottish Higher Education Enhancement Committee (SHEEC), chaired by Professor Kenneth Miller, Vice-Principal, University of Strathclyde, has the important dual role of supporting the overall approach of the Enhancement Themes, including the five-year rolling plan, as well as institutional enhancement strategies and management of quality. SHEEC, working with the individual topic-based Enhancement Themes' steering committees, will continue to provide a powerful vehicle for progressing the enhancement-led approach to quality and standards in Scottish higher education

Introducing and Using Electronic Voting Systems in a Large Scale Project With Undergraduate Students : Reflecting on the Challenges and Successes

Electronic Voting Systems (EVS) have become a popular medium for encouraging student engagement in class-based activities and for managing swift feedback in formative and summative assessments. Since their early days of popularity and introduction some five or more years ago, the author’s UK based University has been successful in refining strategies for their use across individual academic Schools and Departments, as previously reported at ECEL (e.g. Lorimer and Hilliard, 2008). The focus of this paper is a reflection on the introduction of EVS with 300 first year undergraduate students in the School of Computer Science, within the context of a wider ‘change’ project in teaching and learning affecting the whole institution. The author examines what lessons can be learnt following this rapid scaling up of EVS activity both at a local level and more widely across an HE institution and in reflecting on the successes and challenges of this experience provides key indicators for success and useful support for others considering using EVS. The paper first considers the landscape of EVS use within the UK and then the specific introduction of EVS at her own institution, before exploring the issues in her own academic School around the latest phase of their introduction as part of an institution–wide project to review measures to support assessment and feedback.Non peer reviewe

Culturally Sensitive IS Teaching: Lessons Learned to Manage Motivation Issues

This paper seeks to raise awareness of culturally sensitive teaching that is largely overlooked in the IS teaching community. In a global, networked environment commonly faced by the contemporary business or academic world, it is imperative to prepare future IT professionals with adequate cultural understanding of such a multicultural environment in which their future work practice will engage. Derived from a teaching case situated in the context of HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) in the US, this paper narrates and reflects cultural issues and challenges that are increasingly prevalent in today‟s education systems. More specifically, the study analyzes motivational issues that are commonly observed in a homogeneous student group and provides practice lessons to help educators who might face similar issues in their teaching context to manage those issues. Insights gained from the study help reflect the significance of developing culturally sensitive pedagogy that might require future IS educators‟ and researchers‟ attention

Why are Spiritual Aspects of Care so hard to Address in Nursing Education?’ A Literature Review (1993-2015)

Difficulties persist in conceptualising spiritual needs and understanding their relationship to religious needs and relevance to wellbeing. This review was undertaken to clarify some of these issues. It set out to establish what is already known about how issues of spiritual assessment and care are addressed in undergraduate nursing education. Using a systematic approach, a literature review covering the period 1993-2015 was undertaken. Reviewed materials were collected from mainly online sources including with searches conducted using CINHAL, SUMMON and PubMed databases, after defining keywords and inclusion and exclusion criteria. The study found that Spirituality appears to be a broad but useful category which is concerned with how people experience meaning and purpose in their lives. However, it also established that here are relatively few studies focused on how spiritual care competencies could be developed in nursing students. There is also little work exploring nursing educators’ perspectives and experiences about how to develop spiritual competencies in their students. The study concludes that further research is necessary in order to bridge the gap between aspirations and practice