Intuitive expertise in ICT graduate supervision

Intuitive expertise in the application of advanced interdisciplinary facilitation is the subject of this personal reflection on the graduate supervisory style of Professor David Squires in computers in education. This single‐case reflective study examines the characteristics of effective supervision observed during masters and doctoral supervision at King's College in the years 1990–9. Interdisciplinarity in ICT graduate studies particularly requires a fluency of supervisory expertise in enabling supervisees to combine multiple complex perspectives from a number of fields of knowledge. Intuitive combinatory aspects of supervision are highlighted in this reflection on the role carried out by an academic expert in facilitating student success. This is examined from a perspective incorporating affective as well as intellectual elements, informed by characteristics identified in professional sports and performing arts coaching/mentoring. Key characteristics comprising a model of intuitive expertise in ICT graduate supervision were outlined. The resultant portrait aims to complement existing literature on graduate supervision, with reference to the field of ICTI computers in education relating to student hypermedia composition

Academic Development Through Teaching: A Study Into the Experiences of Postgraduate and Postdoctoral Researchers

This study aims to develop an understanding of the learning about academic practice that postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers develop through teaching experiences. Three key questions are asked: What is the nature of the teaching roles that postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers undertake? What kinds of processes help postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers engage with teaching roles? What kinds of learning do teaching opportunities provide postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers? To address these questions a research design using an interpretive approach with 14 postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers at a UK university was undertaken. This involved a visual method of data collection that captured teaching experiences through photo-elicitation. The study found that the teaching roles that were undertaken varied significantly in their complexity, and that these roles were primarily accessed through ad-hoc and informal means. The study also found five key processes that helped engagement with teaching roles. These processes were identified as informal conversations with colleagues; feedback on teaching performance; observations of other teachers; collaborative working; and training. The outcome of these processes resulted in the development of new understandings about both academic work and emerging professional identities. The implications of the findings are twofold. Firstly they contribute to an improved theoretical understanding about the relationship between teaching and academic development for early career researchers, and a new model that conceptualises the nature of this relationship is presented. Secondly, the findings also have implications for professional practice. The study highlighted that the quality of the learning derived from a teaching experience will be greatly enhanced when opportunities for teaching dialogues with more experienced colleagues are present. This provides the rationale for institutions to adopt a peer review of teaching scheme that can offer formative and developmental support for postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers who are undertaking a teaching role

Trends in qualitative research in language teaching since 2000

This paper reviews developments in qualitative research in language teaching since the year 2000, focusing on its contributions to the field and identifying issues that emerge. Its aims are to identify those areas in language teaching where qualitative research has the greatest potential and indicate what needs to be done to further improve the quality of its contribution. The paper begins by highlighting current trends and debates in the general area of qualitative research and offering a working definition of the term. At its core is an overview of developments in the new millennium based on the analysis of papers published in 15 journals related to the field of language teaching and a more detailed description, drawn from a range of sources, of exemplary contributions during that period. Issues of quality are also considered, using illustrative cases to point to aspects of published research that deserve closer attention in future work, and key publications on qualitative research practice are reviewed

Information communication technology and the management of change in two educational institutions

Successive governments for decades have extolled the power of education in providing the answer to national problems. Recently published government reports (DfEE, 1998; DfEE, 1999a; DfEE, 2000a) suggest that through Further Education (FE) and Higher Education (HE), educational success for more and different types of students can be achieved, at no additional cost, through the deployment of new technologies in learning and teaching. This research explored issues of change as two educational institutions responded to the Leaming Age agenda (DfEE, 1998) which clearly articulates a role for FE and HE in providing and creating a culture of attracting more students from groups whowould not traditionally have thought about continuing their education. Both sectors have been charged with providing more flexible learning opportunities to create the culture change. Two educational institutions were used in this research, one from the FE sector, and the ·other from Higher Education. The cases for study were selected on the basis of their apparent similarities particularly in relation to the use oflnformation Communication Technology (ICT) to support the structural delivery of educational provision. In the Further Education College, change was instigated through a top dawn structural process that led to the introduction of a Resource Based Leaming Centre. In the Higher Education Institution (HEI) change was driven by a bottom up strategy focusing on pedagogic issues. Interviews with staff at various levels of seniority and analysis of student participation through technological means coupled with the analysis of responses to a student questionnaire, enabled an evaluation of each approach. These evaluations coupled with a consideration of government policy were evaluated within a Marxist reductionist approach using correspondence theory (Bowles and Gintis, 1967:23) and concepts of cultural hegemony (Gramsci, 1981:34). Additional support was drawn from management theorists who write convincingly about 'chaos theory' in relation to recent organisational change (Fullan, 1999; Lewin, 1993; McNay, 1995). This research revealed that neither of the approaches to introducing change as adopted in the chosen institutions was without problems. In both cases managers and lecturers seemed unable to communicate effectively or agree the parameters of change. The use ofICT to support pedagogy was not understood nor had changes in learning and teaching been thoroughly articulated during the planning stages. Issues of communication and understanding became central as the research developed, with linguistic ambiguity apparent in relation to the use ofICT to support national policy. Recommendations arising from the research focus on the need for a clearer articulation of terminology associated with change management issues involving ICT so that issues of pedagogy and structure can be given equal import in institutional change management. It is also suggested that approaches to leadership which put considerations of teaching and learning in a central position in school management training, be adopted in the university and college sectors

Developing academics for the future: new thinking on teaching observations

This project explored how the teaching observation experience informs the professional practice of an educational developer. By researching teaching activity and dialogic interaction within the context of teaching observation feedback, a theoretical framework was developed. I was both subject and researcher and perceived myself as an agent of change who sought to improve her own professional practice. The intention was not to generalize the findings to a larger population, but to explore through contextual description and analysis what was happening in my own organization and how I might improve this. Ten academics in Engineering and Computing Sciences were observed by me, teaching on three separate occasions over the course of one semester. The post-teaching observation feedback and learning conversations were recorded and analysed with additional data provided by field notes and journal entries that I made as the practitioner researcher. Teaching observation events provided the context of a safe space where essential conversations could take place, along with a critical exploration of the subjective experience of the participants. Findings showed a complex and expansive range of teaching activities, revealed by teaching observation and later discussed in learning conversations between each participant and me. The research is strongly grounded in the participants’ experiences and highlights the tensions and shortcomings of current teaching observation practices. The findings especially challenge the notion that teaching observations can be used as both an appraisal tool and for developmental purposes. The paper concludes by suggesting a theoretical framework for effective teaching observation practice