Plan your study around your life, not the other way around: How are semi-engaged students coping with flexible access?

Higher education ad campaigns that promote flexibility of study arrangements are gaining momentum in Australia and elsewhere. Edith Cowan University (ECU) acknowledged the competition between prospective students’ study time, paid work and/or family commitments with its slogan “Plan your study around your life, not the other way round”. ECU’s promotion of ‘flexibility’ is understandable in the current competitive and market-driven economic climate. However, what are the consequences of universities becoming so reactive and responsive to the demands of ‘paying customers’ and market pressures? What is the price of flexible access? This paper will analyse the rates of academic success of a sample of first-year teacher education students and their patterns of engagement. Although tentative at this point, the results of this preliminary study show that while ‘flexible access’ is desired by many, some students are not attending lectures and are not taking advantage of audio recording provisions. Thus, it is inferred that some first year students are not coping with flexible access provision. Following this line of analysis and discussion the conclusion is made that universities have an ethical obligation to assist students improve their engagement levels, especially in first year

The use and usefulness of non-assessed online learning: Tracking students\u27 behaviour on LAMS

Recent reviews of active and participatory learning design are critical of the effectiveness of such strategies, pointing out that students’ participation levels in technology-mediated discussion tasks are generally low. In addition, they note that when students are made to participate, through the attachment of assignment points to participation in online discussions, students become skilled in taking full advantage of the assignment points, without necessarily engaging in deep learning. These reviews point to a disturbing trend in student engagement that needs urgent attention. Does student effort or the lack of it pose an inherent problem for the design of online discussion tasks? Is there a need to factor in students’ ambivalence towards online communicative collaboration when designing LAMS learning tasks? In this paper, I document the use and usefulness of non-assessed discussion forum learning design, discussing the meaning of student content engagement and its relationship to deep learning before reporting preliminary research results that sought to investigate current student engagement with non-assessed learning tasks. My findings illustrate the importance of reassessing current conceptualisation of learning and assessment tasks as a linear progression. Moreover, I conclude that it is counter-productive to ‘make students collaborate’ through the simple attachment of assignment points to tasks, because it rewards compliance rather than learning

Learning in higher education symposia: A new professional development model for university educators

This report presents the findings of a case study of a novel professional development practice model for academic university staff developed by the Learning in Higher Education (LiHE) association. It describes the implementation of a social constructivist approach to professional development, characterised by various, structured collaborative activities, and possible levels of participation. The findings expand current understandings of new professional development initiatives for university educators that aim to move beyond the classical conference model. Specifically, this study documents the expectations and experiences of participants of the first Australian LiHE symposium. It explores in detail participant awareness of and reactions to the constructivist nature of this new professional development model

Why use structured controversy pedagogy (in LAMS)?

This paper explores the nature, purpose and practice of structured controversy pedagogy (SCP). It begins by examining the philosophical underpinnings of SCP and explains its relationship with transformational learning. A four-step model is introduced, followed by two LAMS-based case examples, illustrating contemporary, technology-based applications of this pedagogical model. This paper argues that SCP may provide a possibility to engage students and lecturers in teaching and learning practices that move beyond transmission education. It is a response to Dalziel’s (2010) call for more specific examples of eTeaching Strategies

Failed innovation implementation in teacher education: A case analysis

The global call for teacher quality improvement and numerous accounts of resistance to education reform at all levels of the education system brings to the forefront the tension between rhetoric and reality. This case study reports on a failed innovation attempt, which was based on the need for a signature pedagogy in Australian teacher education that better prepares beginning teachers for the demands of flexible, student-centred learning design. To assist teacher education students’ development of deep learning engagement, which is a pre-condition for the acquisition of 21st century knowledge, skills and learning attitudes, we need to better understand resistance behaviour. The reported research illustrates how the learning-centric teaching design was unable to engage ‘consumer students’ in deep learning experiences due to heightened negative emotion experienced by a great number of students. The provision of this illustrative practical example of innovation failure has the potential to make apparent how students’ ‘out-of-comfort-zone’ behaviour and resistance to change from transmission education practices to social constructivist approaches will need to be managed

Interactive Lecture Podcasting: Probing the Impact of Dialogue Design in LAMS

This paper discusses the potential utility of interactive lecture podcasting in LAMS, which is based on a preliminary examination of the data of a curriculum innovation study. The case was a teacher education (TE) unit that produced unexpected student learning behaviour. An analytic induction methodology, in conjunction with educational data mining techniques, was used to analyse the data. The purpose of the study was to better understand one specific aspect of students’ active participatory learning behaviour, vital for their success in higher education (HE): willingness to engage in online peer-to peer dialogue. The paper closes with a suggestion for more systematic monitoring of HEstudents’ online learning behaviour

The de Bono LAMS sequence series: Template designs as knowledge-mobilising strategy for 21st century higher education

In this paper, the five interlocking de Bono LAMS sequences are introduced as a new form of generic template designs. This transdisciplinary knowledge-mobilising strategy is based on Edward de Bono’s attention-directing ideas and thinking skills, commonly known as the CoRT tools. The development of the de Bono LAMS sequence series is an important milestone, signifying the current paradigmatic shift in higher education from a student consumer paradigm to a student-producer paradigm. Surpassing surface and shallow knowledge stages requires the use of multidisciplinary and generic knowledge in new and unfamiliar situations. The LAMS templates as ‘knowledge-in-practice’ models assist disciplinary specialists generate learning designs that make apparent to students that knowledge is always partial, incomplete and coloured by epistemological beliefs and cultural practices

Research Skills for the Future: Research Workforce Under the Spotlight

The value and training needs of the future research workforce is under the spotlight. In this article, I take up Ulrich and Dash's (2013) somewhat provocative invitation to engage in discussion and debate about current and future research. In my three-tiered response, I first discuss Ulrich and Dash's article, followed by my own observations about the APEC/Deloitte (2010) research report: "Skills and Competencies Needed in the Research Field: Objectives 2020," and finally, I explore, in some detail, challenges of building a twentyfirst-century research workforce

Creating the need to access peer knowledge: Changing the learning culture in teacher education through learning design

Over the years, traditional teacher-centric and content driven teaching explanations in textbooks and unit outlines have been infused with studentcentric pedagogical descriptors. How these rhetorical changes have affected teaching and learning habits in teacher education is what is under investigation in this paper. The findings of this exploratory study suggest that learning design can enable greater peer collaboration and interaction. However, the increased interaction does not necessarily equate to deeper processing of information. The conclusion is reached that unless the value-added nature of increased peer interaction and collaborative inquiry is better understood by teacher educators and student teachers; it is unlikely that habitual learning behaviours will change

Plan your study around your life, not the other way around : How are Semi-Engaged Students Coping with Flexible Access?

Higher education ad campaigns that promote flexibility of study arrangements are gaining momentum in Australia and elsewhere. Edith Cowan University (ECU) acknowledged the competition between prospective students‘ study time, paid work and/or family commitments with its slogan ―Plan your study around your life, not the other way round‖. ECU‘s promotion of ‗flexibility‘ is understandable in the current competitive and market-driven economic climate. However, what are the consequences of universities becoming so reactive and responsive to the demands of ‗paying customers‘ and market pressures? What is the price of flexible access? This paper will analyse the rates of academic success of a sample of first-year teacher education students and their patterns of engagement. Although tentative at this point, the results of this preliminary study show that while ‗flexible access‘ is desired by many, some students are not attending lectures and are not taking advantage of audio recording provisions. Thus, it is inferred that some first year students are not coping with flexible access provision. Following this line of analysis and discussion the conclusion is made that universities have an ethical obligation to assist students improve their engagement levels, especially in first year