Mighty negatrons and collective knitting: academic educators’ experiences of collaborative inquiry-based learning

Abstract (236 words) This chapter explores the ways in which academic educators’ experience of collaborative inquiry-based learning can illuminate student behaviours, particularly in relation to assessment and the affective domain. The facilitator of this IBL, in the setting of academic staff development in United Kingdom Higher Education, uses a reflective story-telling style to detail the learning of an annual cohort of staff at a university in the north west of the UK. Six separate academic staff cohorts enrolled on a unit, as part of an Master of Arts in Academic Practice, to undertake this experiential, humanist way of learning, working with all the principles of collaborative inquiry. The chapter explores the ways in which the participants’ self-reported affective responses altered over the course of the unit, particularly in relation to the assessment. Participant reflections are integrated with pedagogic literature and extracts from the facilitator’s contemporaneous notes, assessor’s feedback and other material, detailing the ways in which the freedom of an IBL episode moves to anxiety associated with assessment, which can build as the assessment point nears. Reflections on group constitution, cohort characteristics and the role of the facilitator, are considered in relation to the notion of ‘success’ of IBL episodes. This is interrogated particularly in relation to academic staff responses to the experience of the emotions of inquiry-based learning, and how this may affect their own practice in designing teaching and learning experiences for students in Higher Education

‘Towards an effective supervisory relationship in research degree supervision: insights from attachment theory’

While the interpersonal nature of the supervisory relationship in research degree supervision has been recognised and different models of supervisory styles have been developed, the research supervision literature has yet to acknowledge the relational individual differences and the relational dynamics that are at play within the supervisor-supervisee relationship. This paper draws on literature from the higher education, clinical supervision, and leadershipfields and utilises attachment theory as a conceptual framework in an attempt to shed some light on the attachment processes and dynamics of the research supervisory relationship. The review of the evidence presented here clearly indicates the usefulness and applicability of attachment theory in the research supervision practice. This paper makes a contribution to the higher education and research supervision literature by offering new directions for research and by providing practical guidelines for the training of postgraduate research supervisors

Sustainable development and women's leadership: A participatory exploration of capabilities in Colombian Caribbean fisher communities

In coastal regions that traditionally depend on ecosystem services, sustainable development is of paramount importance. Within Colombia, a strong national policy focus on using natural resources and on UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has driven development, moving the country from the bottom to the top of the Official Development Assistance (ODA) list. However, problems with gender inequality, marginalisation and other social aspects exist here, as in similar countries with good economic indicators. Using participatory research methods, and a six-day long residency (24 women leaders in Dique Channel, Colombia) we analysed elements of women’s leadership, selected by local female community leaders, which could facilitate pathways to sustainable livelihoods in marginalised Colombian Caribbean fishing communities. Women leaders explored what sustainable development and leadership meant to them, linking these two concepts explicitly to their feelings of empowerment. They felt empowered by their capabilities around education, leadership, service, value and action and disempowered by gender inequality, level of access to education and difficult family situations. Reciprocal positive feedback loops existed between women’s perceived leadership capabilities, and education or development of networks. However, despite the empowerment derived from natural resources, their leadership for sustainable development and service-orientation, women leaders struggled to identify tangible benefits for their community. Therefore, enabling women leaders to foresee possible solutions beyond the short term is an important point for development. In addition, male leaders recognised the potential of women leaders. Enlisting their support is essential for development of women leaders as a group. These elements will need to be further explored with the community, to identify pathways for future community wellbeing

Implications of vertical policy integration for sustainable development implementation in higher education institutions

The United Nations together with various national and local actors have acknowledged the importance of sustainable development. However, sustainable development implementation is not straightforward and requires contribution by different actors. Universities have a role in influencing and contributing towards sustainable development. Also, some universities have committed to support sustainable development implementation. One of the instruments to implement sustainable development are policy frameworks, which exist at international, national and institutional level. Vertical policy integration is crucial to support effective implementation of sustainable development. Analysing vertical policy integration could provide information to help improve sustainable development implementation. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to improve understanding of sustainable development implementation in higher education by undertaking a multilevel (international, nationally, organisational) analysis of policy frameworks. Results suggested that policy frameworks include policy issues such as collaboration, partnership, education, outreach, teaching and learning, staff development, curriculum review, research, campus operations and policy that can support sustainable development implementation. However, these policy issues are not consistently integrated at all levels of policy frameworks. Achieving consistency could enhance sustainable development implementation in higher education institutions

Supporting first year undergraduates through blended learning [poster presentation]

This poster presents the lessons learned from changing a study skills programme for first year undergraduates to "blended learning", using a combination of weekly seminars, personal tutorials and timed release of 7 WebCT tutorials. The students came from varied educational backgrounds, including mature and international students. Detailed monitoring through WebCT tracking facilities was combined with details of the students' age, status as home or international students, face-to-face attendance and summative assessment performance. The results showed notably heavy use by some students with English as a second language. The conclusion was that the programme was enhanced by the innovation although adjustments to the blend of face to face and online learning were considered necessary for 2004/5. Copies of the tutorials have been used to create a new WebCT Study Support area available to second year students for remedial support and students on the taught conversion Masters programme, which includes students with first degrees in any discipline, some of whom may be returning to academic study after a significant time in the workplace, and international students experiencing study in the UK for the first time

Universities as ‘global citizens’: reflections and learning from a project on female leadership for sustainable development of fishing communities in Colombia

Research funding for projects in countries that are on the list of Official Development Assistance (ODA) – which is a measure of flows of international aid - has increased over the years. Universities have been working on projects through these funding streams that focus on sustainable development. Therefore, there has been an increase in funded research on sustainable development. However, sustainable development research in the Global South funded by international aid can be seen as paternalistic and neocolonial. Using Brookfield’s lenses, this paper presents the reflections of the researcher/educators on a research project in one of the ODA countries: Colombia. The project focused on female leadership for sustainable development in a rural fishing community and was funded by the QR Global Challenges Research fund. The paper explores the learning related to symmetrical and asymmetrical power relations, agency and identity as perceived by three researcher/educators. Finally, it examines the potential of these types of projects for universities’ critical global citizenship