Narrative and constructivism in cyberspace: Instructional design for distance delivery using hypertext on the internet

This explores two aspects of instructional design in the delivery of distance using hypertext on the Internet. It first considers the role of narrative: a fixed sequence of learning experiences organised by the instructor. Secondly it examines the role of learners in constructing their knowledge by interacting with peers, teachers and diverse material on World Wide Web sites on the Internet. The paper concludes with a working model for designing distance education programmes using hypertext on the Internet

A critical reflection on a research partnership

This critical reflection asks what contributions a research partnership, active between 1997 and 2014, made to knowledge about student learning in higher education. It focuses on three overarching projects. The first, on assessment, addressed ways to empower students in assessment processes and make them fairer for students from diverse backgrounds. The second, on student retention and success, identified ways for students to integrate into higher education while also advocating that institutions adapt their cultures and practices to meet the needs of students from diverse backgrounds. The third, on student engagement, attracted considerable interest for a conceptual organiser of this complex construct. It included ten proposals for action and recognised the impact of non-institutional factors on engagement. It also found that engagement is best researched within institutions. A critical reflection on the influences of the projects suggests that their impact on assessment was negligible. However, the retention and engagement projects have influenced mainstream thinking

Learning with peers, active citizenship and student engagement in Enabling Education

This paper examines one specific question:  What support do students in Enabling Education need to learn the behaviours, knowledge and attitudes required to succeed in tertiary education, employment and life? Success appears in many guises. It can mean achieving officially desired outcomes such as retention, completion and employment. It can also mean achieving less measurable outcomes such as deep learning, wellbeing and active citizenship. The paper first introduces an overarching success framework before exploring how the widely used student engagement pedagogy can support learners to achieve both official and personal success outcomes. It then develops two specific constructs applicable to Enabling Education as found in student engagement: facilitated peer learning and active citizenship. Peer learning is here connected to tutor supported but peer facilitated mentoring; active citizenship to educational experiences in classrooms, institutions and workplaces that support flexibility, resilience, openness to change and diversity. The paper includes examples of how facilitated peer learning and active citizenship can build success in practice

Student engagement: A complex business supporting the first year experience in tertiary education

At the heart of this paper is the idea that student engagement is a complex business. It examines a number of conceptual engagement frameworks that show how this complexity can enhance the first year experience of students in higher education. Eight propositions emerge from the complexity. Some are present in all conceptual frameworks; others feature only in a few or are implied rather than stated. But each offers some suggestions for teachers and institutions to engage students. Some propositions will look familiar. Chief among these are propositions that offer practical ways to improve engagement in the first year. But other propositions emerge from less well harvested research fields. They emphasise the importance of discipline knowledge, student wellbeing, outside influences on student learning and flexibility in the face of changing student expectations. But overarching the eight propositions is the realisation that so many of the ideas produced by engagement researchers are generic. It is up to teachers and institutions to interpret and shape such ideas for specific and unique contexts, subjects and, most importantly, learners.</em

Adult Learning, Tertiary Education Policy in New Zealand and the Future

This article traces ideas about adult learning from Unesco’s Hamburg Declaration (1997) to the Labour government’s Tertiary Education Strategy (2002) and speculates how these ideas might fare over the next five years in a policy context dominated by “third way” politics. It is divided into three sections. In the first, the Hamburg Declaration’s Agenda for the Future is discussed in the broader framework of thinking about adult learning. In the second, the themes from the Agenda for the Future are used to analyse the emerging strategies for tertiary education in New Zealand. In the final section it is suggested that the “third way” future envisioned by the Strategy is beset with economic, social and cultural tensions

Evidence-based Educational Policy Research: Some Questions

Hotly contested debates about evidence-based educational research, policy development and practice have become a feature of the educational landscape in New Zealand as elsewhere. Advocates argue that applying scientifically established research evidence of what works is the way to improve educational quality and student outcomes. Governments in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand support the development of scientific evidence-based policy and practice that shows what works. Doubters are not questioning the importance of scientific research evidence. Indeed it seems untenable to deny the centrality of evidence in decision-making about what works in education. Rather, sceptics and opponents question meanings of key terms like “science”, “evidence” and “quality”. They question the politics behind evidence-based research, assumptions about the nature of evidence, science and research methodology and whether research that aims to provide universal answers actually works. This article canvasses these questions. Written from a sceptical perspective, it draws on experiences from the United States, the United Kingdom and New Zealand

Adult Learning, Tertiary Education Policy in New Zealand and the Future

This article traces ideas about adult learning from Unesco’s Hamburg Declaration (1997) to the Labour government’s Tertiary Education Strategy (2002) and speculates how these ideas might fare over the next five years in a policy context dominated by “third way” politics. It is divided into three sections. In the first, the Hamburg Declaration’s Agenda for the Future is discussed in the broader framework of thinking about adult learning. In the second, the themes from the Agenda for the Future are used to analyse the emerging strategies for tertiary education in New Zealand. In the final section it is suggested that the “third way” future envisioned by the Strategy is beset with economic, social and cultural tensions

Improving Tertiary Student Outcomes in An Evidence-based Accountability Policy Framework

Tertiary student retention, progression and achievement have become major policy issues in New Zealand, and the English-speaking world generally. Both the human and financial costs of non-completion have led to policy settings dedicated to improving student outcomes. After briefly sketching policy developments in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States, the article examines the New Zealand government’s emerging policy framework for improving student outcomes. It suggests that concern for student learning and success is justified, but questions some of the underlying assumptions behind the policies. These, the article argues, focus on system-wide accountability using crude statistical indicators that can lead to sanctions. The paper uses retention research from overseas and New Zealand to test both assumption and criticism. The article suggests that evidence does not support a generic and punitive approach to improve student outcomes. It suggests a reframing of both accountability and research evidence to produce an alternative approach to student outcomes policy

Improving Tertiary Student Outcomes in An Evidence-based Accountability Policy Framework

Tertiary student retention, progression and achievement have become major policy issues in New Zealand, and the English-speaking world generally. Both the human and financial costs of non-completion have led to policy settings dedicated to improving student outcomes. After briefly sketching policy developments in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States, the article examines the New Zealand government’s emerging policy framework for improving student outcomes. It suggests that concern for student learning and success is justified, but questions some of the underlying assumptions behind the policies. These, the article argues, focus on system-wide accountability using crude statistical indicators that can lead to sanctions. The paper uses retention research from overseas and New Zealand to test both assumption and criticism. The article suggests that evidence does not support a generic and punitive approach to improve student outcomes. It suggests a reframing of both accountability and research evidence to produce an alternative approach to student outcomes policy

Improving student engagement : Ten proposals for action

En: Active Learning in Higher Education, 11(3), pp. 167–177Since the 1980s an extensive research literature has investigated how to improve student success in higher education focusing on student outcomes such as retention, completion and employability. A parallel research programme has focused on how students engage with their studies and what they, institutions and educators can do to enhance their engagement, and hence success. This article reports on two syntheses of research literature on student engagement and how this can be enhanced. It first synthesizes 93 research studies from ten countries to develop a conceptual organizer for student engagement that consists of four perspectives identified in the research: student motivation; transactions between teachers and students; institutional support; and engagement for active citizenship. Secondly, the article synthesizes findings from these perspectives as ten propositions for improving student engagement in higher education. It concludes by identifying some limitations with the conceptual organizer and one suggestion for developing a more integrated approach to student engagement