Academic blogging in the “accelerated academy”: How to build a personal, professional and public community.

As a dynamic space, a group blog can be particularly suited to the rapidly changing context of researcher development. Claire Aitchison, Susan Carter and Cally Guerin share their experiences developing a doctoral support blog, a global space for personal and professional development and for building community. Individuals and their institutions stand to benefit from blogging, they argue, but if it were to be mainstreamed, would the practice be able to retain the unique elements that account for its success

A Coordinated Framework for Developing Researchers' Intercultural Competency

While the concept of the wandering scholar is not new, the speed and frequency of academic mobility have rapidly gained momentum in the 21st century (Kim 2009). Linked to the notion of the ‘borderless’ university (Cunningham et al. 1998; Hearn 2011; Watanabe 2011), scholars today expect to study and work in more than one country, to present their research at international conferences, and to collaborate with colleagues from all around the world. The result is a multicultural academic workforce in many universities for whom boundaries between national cultures are increasingly being erased and where all members require high levels of intercultural competence

The role of technological knowledge in the pedagogical integration of film in disciplinary teaching at universities

Many university lecturers have integrated feature films and television series (FF/TV) into their lessons to improve student engagement. Although film in teaching might seem like a well-established practice, it is reliant on a range of fast-changing technologies to effectively integrate FF/TV into instruction, learning activities and assessments. This study utilises the Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) model to analyse survey and interview data regarding (1) lecturers’ familiarity with a range of concepts and skills related to film production, delivery and integration technologies; (2) their methods of learning about technologies that help optimise their FF/TV use; and (3) their institution’s provision and support in implementing various technologies integral to teaching with FF/TV. A modified framework is proposed to add to the pedagogical benefits of effective teaching with FF/TV at universities

Why start a higher degree by research? An exploratory factor analysis of motivations to undertake doctoral studies

Despite the increasing numbers of candidates embarking on higher degrees by research (HDRs, e.g., PhD, professional doctorate, practice-based doctorate), we still have limited knowledge about why they are choosing this path. What are the factors that motivate students to embark on research degrees? Given that many of those who succeed in completing their doctorates will not go into academic positions, the motivations for choosing to undertake a research degree may not match the experience or outcomes (and hence, perhaps, contribute to incompletion rates). This article investigates the motivations of students in all faculties embarking on HDRs at an Australian university. A survey of 405 students was subjected to a factor analysis. Five factors emerged: family and friends, intrinsic motivation, lecturer influence, research experience, and career progression.Cally Guerin, Asangi Jayatilaka, Damith Ranasing

'Collaborative critique' in a supervisor development programme

Supervision of research degrees is currently undergoing significant re-evaluation, as the research environment itself responds to new and ongoing external policy and funding pressures, internationalisation, increasing cross-disciplinarity and the proliferation of sub-specialisations amongst other factors. The Exploring Supervision Program is designed to aid new supervisors of research students to find effective ways of negotiating supervision in the context of this changing academy. To this end, a workshop facilitation approach is employed that we call ‘collaborative critique’, a technique designed to extend understandings of complex situations through discussion and debate stimulated by narrative, case studies and role plays. Here, we outline the rationale of collaborative critique and then demonstrate how it is used in a workshop on working in the multicultural academy.Cally Guerin and Ian Gree

Blogging as community of practice: lessons for academic development?

As practices and expectations around doctoral writing continue to change, so too do the demands on academic developers and learning advisors. Social media is increasingly playing a role in doctoral education, just as it is in higher education more generally. This paper explores a blog initiated in 2012 to inform and support doctoral writing; since its inception, it has grown to include diverse and overlapping communities of academic developers, language and literacy specialists, supervisors, and students with shared interests in doctoral writing. This case study reflects on our experiences of entering the online environment through the lens of connectivist learning, noting the practices and communities that have been established, and the blog’s positioning in relation to our formal roles within universities. We consider how blogging relates to our work as academic developers. Details of our experiences, with our analysis and reflection of them, can inform other academic developers seeking to engage in social media networks as part of their working lives

Diversity in collaborative research communities: a multicultural, multidisciplinary thesis writing group in public health

Writing groups for doctoral students are generally agreed to provide valuable learning spaces for Ph.D. candidates. Here an academic developer and the eight members of a writing group formed in a Discipline of Public Health provide an account of their experiences of collaborating in a multicultural, multidisciplinary thesis writing group. We consider the benefits of belonging to such a group for Ph.D. students who are operating in a research climate in which disciplinary boundaries are blurring and where an increasing number of doctoral projects are interdisciplinary in nature; in which both academic staff and students come from enormously diverse cultural and language backgrounds; and in which teamwork, networking and collaboration are prized but not always proactively facilitated. We argue that doctoral writing groups comprising students from diverse cultural and disciplinary backgrounds can be of significant value for postgraduates who wish to collaborate on their own academic development to improve their research writing and communication skills; at the same time, such collaborative work effectively builds an inclusive, dynamic research community.Cally Guerin, Vicki Xafis, Diana V. Doda, Marianne H. Gillam, Allison J. Larg, Helene Luckner, Nasreen Jahan, Aris Widayati and Chuangzhou X

Haematological consequences of acute uncomplicated falciparum malaria: a WorldWide Antimalarial Resistance Network pooled analysis of individual patient data

Background: Plasmodium falciparum malaria is associated with anaemia-related morbidity, attributable to host, parasite and drug factors. We quantified the haematological response following treatment of uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria to identify the factors associated with malarial anaemia. Methods: Individual patient data from eligible antimalarial efficacy studies of uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria, available through the WorldWide Antimalarial Resistance Network data repository prior to August 2015, were pooled using standardised methodology. The haematological response over time was quantified using a multivariable linear mixed effects model with nonlinear terms for time, and the model was then used to estimate the mean haemoglobin at day of nadir and day 7. Multivariable logistic regression quantified risk factors for moderately severe anaemia (haemoglobin < 7 g/dL) at day 0, day 3 and day 7 as well as a fractional fall ≥ 25% at day 3 and day 7. Results: A total of 70,226 patients, recruited into 200 studies between 1991 and 2013, were included in the analysis: 50,859 (72.4%) enrolled in Africa, 18,451 (26.3%) in Asia and 916 (1.3%) in South America. The median haemoglobin concentration at presentation was 9.9 g/dL (range 5.0–19.7 g/dL) in Africa, 11.6 g/dL (range 5.0–20.0 g/dL) in Asia and 12.3 g/dL (range 6.9–17.9 g/dL) in South America. Moderately severe anaemia (Hb < 7g/dl) was present in 8.4% (4284/50,859) of patients from Africa, 3.3% (606/18,451) from Asia and 0.1% (1/916) from South America. The nadir haemoglobin occurred on day 2 post treatment with a mean fall from baseline of 0.57 g/dL in Africa and 1.13 g/dL in Asia. Independent risk factors for moderately severe anaemia on day 7, in both Africa and Asia, included moderately severe anaemia at baseline (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 16.10 and AOR = 23.00, respectively), young age (age < 1 compared to ≥ 12 years AOR = 12.81 and AOR = 6.79, respectively), high parasitaemia (AOR = 1.78 and AOR = 1.58, respectively) and delayed parasite clearance (AOR = 2.44 and AOR = 2.59, respectively). In Asia, patients treated with an artemisinin-based regimen were at significantly greater risk of moderately severe anaemia on day 7 compared to those treated with a non-artemisinin-based regimen (AOR = 2.06 [95%CI 1.39–3.05], p < 0.001). Conclusions: In patients with uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria, the nadir haemoglobin occurs 2 days after starting treatment. Although artemisinin-based treatments increase the rate of parasite clearance, in Asia they are associated with a greater risk of anaemia during recovery

ACCEPTED VERSION Why start a higher degree by research? An exploratory factor analysis of motivations to undertake doctoral studies

The AM is defined by the National Information Standards Organization as: &quot;The version of a journal article that has been accepted for publication in a journal.&quot; This means the version that has been through peer review and been accepted by a journal editor. When you receive the acceptance email from the Editorial Office we recommend that you retain this article for future posting. Embargoes apply if you are posting the AM to an institutional or subject repository, or to academic social networks such as Mendeley, ResearchGate, or Academia.edu. give for undertaking a PhD; here we extend the discussion to explore research degree candidates&apos; motivations across all faculties. The aim of our study was to identify the factors that motivate students to undertake HDRs, and also to attempt to establish what role undergraduate experiences of research might play in this decision-making. A handful of recent studies have focused on motivations to undertake HDRs in specific disciplines, with a particular emphasis in the areas of Education and Business (see • Entry to academia • Professional development • Professional advancement • Entry to new career • Self-enrichment Business (Professional Doctorate) USA Stiber (2000) • Personal satisfaction • Preparation for teaching • Marketability for consulting • Unlike the studies listed above, our research was conducted across all faculties in a comprehensive Australian research-intensive university. The results of our study are reflective of the HDR candidate population across all faculties, rather than being focussed mainly on Education or Business as in existing studies. We did not distinguish between types of HDR in the current study. The Survey Questionnaire Development To the best of our knowledge, there is no relevant questionnaire readily available aimed at identifying motivations behind students pursuing postgraduate research. Therefore, we used a deductive approach, sometimes described as logical partitioning Participants were invited to indicate the strength of the influence of each element on a 7-point Likert scale, ranging from 1-not at all to 7-a lot. Survey Administration and Participants After approval by the Human Research Ethics Committee at the University, all currently enrolled HDR students were sent an email invitation to participate in the online survey. We received 405 responses. The percentage of responses from each faculty roughly mirrors the percentage of HDR students enrolled in each of those faculties. At the time there were approximately 1800 HDRs in the University, so the response rate was around 23%. There were 67 respondents who were eliminated from further analysis as they had completed less than 75% of the questionnaire. For the data from 338 participants who completed more than 75% of the survey, missing scale items were imputed by determining each mean for the items on the scale. Because less than 2.5% of data were missing, mean imputation is considered an appropriate data replacement strategy Descriptive statistics of the remaining sample (n=328) are presented in Statistical Analysis We used Exploratory Factor Analysis to uncover the underlying structure and dimensions of what motivated current HDR students to embark on research degrees. As the name suggests, EFA is exploratory in nature and has no expectations of the number or the nature of the variables. EFA involves a series of sequential steps (e.g., selection of the number of factors, selection of the factor rotation method) that also involves evaluating multiple options. This procedure and the decisions taken are explained in detail below. Preliminary Analyses Statisticians have argued about the minimum sample size needed for exploratory factor analysis for decades, some looking at total sample size (e.g., 100, 200, 300), some at the ratio of subjects to items (e.g., 3:1, 4:1, 5:1). For the total sample size, there are various opinions and several guiding norms that are cited in the literature. General guides include Tabachnick&apos;s rule of thumb Although the ratio of subject-to-variable is an important factor to be considered before conducting an EFA, when total sample size increases, this ratio becomes less important The correlation matrix was inspected for correlations in excess of 0.3. The literature warns that, if no correlation exceeds the threshold, the applicability of factor analysis should be reconsidered Exploratory Factor Analysis For the 42 items used in the questionnaire, a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was conducted, as this process is best suited to establish preliminary solutions in EFA The recommended method is firstly to conduct an oblique rotation in situations where there is a choice between oblique rotation or varimax rotation • Item 5: I was encouraged by my lecturer. • Item 29: I was encouraged to read cutting edge research for assignments. • Item 30: I enjoyed reading articles written by my lecturer. • Item 31: I enjoyed reading books written by my lecturer. • Item 32: I enjoyed reading extra materials recommended by my lecturer. As a result of following this procedure, seven items were finally eliminated. Five factors emerged from the analysis: 1) Family and Friends; 2) Intrinsic Motivation; 3) Lecturer Influence; 4) Research Experience; and 5) Career Progression

Writing groups, pedagogy, theory and practice : an introduction

Scholarly writing is a central component of academic life. And yet we continue to hear that it is a disputed site: a source of anxiety for many students and academics, a contentious space for both learners and teachers of academic writing; an area of disputed responsibility in research education, and higher education teaching and learning more generally. Many doctoral candidates and credentialized academics report ongoing challenges regarding scholarly writing, not the least of which is a desire for supportive environments within which writing will happen. This book is positioned by two key pressure points for writing in the academy, namely writing associated with the requirements of doctoral study, and scholarly publication more broadly. Here we showcase examples of how writing groups can respond in innovative ways to these imperatives