14 research outputs found
University teachersâ conceptions of âChangemakerâ: a starting point for embedding social innovation in learning and teaching
Purpose: This paper reports on a study aimed at understanding the different conceptions that University of Northampton teachers hold of âChangemakerâ, an institutional initiative to develop capacities for social innovation. Design/methodology/approach: The study took a phenomenographic approach to identify a small number of qualitatively different conceptions of Changemaker among teaching staff. Face-to-face, phenomenographic interviews were carried out with 30 teachers across the university. Transcript data were analysed using thematic inductive analysis. Findings: Five different conceptions of Changemaker were found: 1) Changemaker as university strategy; 2) Changemaker as critical thinking, perspective shifting and problem solving; 3) Changemaker as employability; 4) Changemaker as social betterment and 5) Changemaker as personal transformation. Research limitations/implications: The outcome space of conceptions represents the beliefs of teaching staff at the University of Northampton. The approach to research and plans for the practical application of findings may be of direct benefit to other education providers as they develop their own models for teaching and learning. Practical implicationâThe findings from this study will inform the next phase of the project, which involves the development of a skills/attributes/behaviours matrix for Changemaker. Originality/value: The findings of this study will address the absence of literature on teachersâ conceptions of phenomena related to social innovation, social entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship. Understanding teachersâ beliefs of such phenomena is relevant to the growing number of universities that address these subjects in the curriculum
Unearthing learnersâ conceptions of reflection to innovate business education for the 21st century
The development of learnersâ capacities for critical reflection is an important learning outcome for 21st century business education. Theories suggest that a learner holds a particular orientation to reflection, and that this perspective will be influenced by his or her underlying beliefs. This, coupled with an increased focus on the student experience, personal development, and self-regulation in higher education, offers scope for considering instructional design from a second-order perspective, or in other words, from the studentâs point of view. This study sought to understand: 1) the ways that business students orientate to reflection, 2) the different conceptions they hold of reflection, and 3) whether there is a relationship between the two. Reflective learning questionnaires were completed by 112 business students studying at the University of Northampton. Survey results showed that while the research instrument was a good fit for investigating orientations to and conceptions of reflection, there did not appear to be a correlation between the two. Learning analytics such as these will be useful for considering how the University can design more meaningful business curricula. However, the disconnect between conceptions of and orientations to reflection needs to be explored through further research
Embedding social innovation and social impact across the disciplines: identifying "Changemaker" attributes
PurposeâThis paper proposes an attributes framework for embedding âChangemakerââa university initiative for promoting social innovation and social impactâacross the disciplines at the University of Northampton. Design/methodology/approachâThe study is based on the authorsâ (2014) phenomenographic study that proposed five different conceptions of Changemaker held by academic staff: 1) Changemaker as institutional strategy; 2) Changemaker as critical thinking, perspective shifting and problem solving; 3) Changemaker as employability; 4) Changemaker as social betterment and 5) Changemaker as personal transformation. The present study explores pedagogic literature to identify skills, behaviours and attributes associated with each of these five categories. FindingsâFindings from this literature review inform a taxonomy of Changemaker attributes, which offers a catalogue of skills and behaviours associated with the five conceptions of Changemaker. Research limitations/implicationsâThe conceptions of Changemaker, that form the basis of the Changemaker attributes, represent the beliefs of teaching staff at the University of Northampton. Despite inherent limitations, the approach of using practice-based empirical findings to develop pedagogical tools may be of direct benefit to other education providers as they develop their own models for teaching and learning. Practical implicationsâThe Changemaker attributes will be used by the University of Northampton during the design, approval and review of courses to ensure that social innovation and social impact is embedded across the disciplines. Academic staff can refer these attributes when designing assessments and for inspiration toward innovative teaching practice. Originality/valueâThe findings of this study will provide a point of reference for other higher education institutions as they look for guidance on embedding social innovation and social impact into their curriculum
Barriers and enablers of youth as drivers of social change: university studentsâ perspectives
As a progressive society, there is an expectation for young people to become the social leaders and innovators of tomorrow. Not only does this expectation imply an intergenerational âpassing of the batonâ but also this scenario assumes that young people value social change and possess the self-efficacy that empowers them to ignite positive social change. Added to this is a fundamental assumption that social constructs will enable young people to work as change agents, rather than create hindrances. A complexity for higher education institutions is how to develop young peopleâs capacities for social change given the inevitable variance in how much their students value and believe they have the ability for âchangemakingâ.
This study explored university studentsâ conceptions of social change and their perspectives on the tools and resources needed to engage in social changemaking. Two focus groups were held at the University of Northampton, which elicited studentsâ (n=10) views on 1) their conceptions of social change and social innovation, 2) their perceptions of what enables young people to engage with social change and 3) their beliefs about the barriers that exist for young people in being or becoming change agents.
Findings from this study offer important implications for higher education institutions that aim to engage in positive youth development as part of the curricular or extra-curricular provision. By illuminating the perceived barriers and enablers for youth in driving social change, higher education institutions will be in a stronger position from which to nurture this generation of âchangemakersâ
Promoting reflection in asynchronous virtual learning spaces: tertiary distance tutors' conceptions
Increasingly, universities are embedding reflective activities into the curriculum. With the growth in online tertiary education, how effectively is reflection being promoted or used in online learning spaces? Based on the notion that teachersâ beliefs will influence their approaches to teaching, this research sought to understand how a group of distance tutors at the UK Open University conceptualised reflection. It was hoped that these findings would illuminate their approaches to promoting reflection as part of their online pedagogies. Phenomenographic analysis indicated that these tutors conceptualised reflection in four qualitatively different ways. Furthermore, the data suggested that these educators held a combination of two conceptions: one that understood the origin of being reflective and one that understood the purpose of reflection. Analysis of structural aspects of these conceptions offered insight into tutorsâ own perspectives for what is needed to make online learning environments fertile territory for reflective learning
Developing a framework for sustainable growth of flexible learning opportunities
Flexible learning increases access to higher education, particularly for
traditionally undeserved students. First-time entrants, who may lack
the cultural capital to be successful, may also be more likely to
participate in flexible learning than traditional students, and particularly
in online and blended courses. We posit that success for all
students enrolling in flexible forms of learning can be achieved
through course design and responsive pedagogies. For these efforts
to be successful, competency frameworks must be developed, and
initial and ongoing training provided for teaching staff. This paper
discusses a theory-based and practice-informed framework for the
scalable expansion of flexible learning, which in our case, encompassed
online learning, blended learning, competency-based education,
and open educational resources. We provide a context for the
framework, introduce the framework, discuss the steps for developing
and implementing it, and share initial findings and implications
Reflection in learning
The first video, Reflection in Learning, is ideal for introducing university students to the role of reflection in learning. Use this video as a starting point in working through the other videos on reflection. There are three 'reflect on this' learning checkpoints in this video. If showing this video as part of a learning activity, an instructor may wish to pause the video during these checkpoints for small group discussion or personal reflection.
The second video, Role of Reflection in Problem Solving, provides an overview of the importance of reflection in problem solving. This video locates reflection as the catalyst for dealing with cognitive conflict in order to assimilate new information and make decisions. The video concludes with specific strategies for improving our ability to reflect when problem-solving. This is aimed at university students working to develop employable behaviours such as critical thinking and problem-solving. Please use this video to enhance your students' learning. Teachers may wish to build a lesson around the model shown here. The four strategies for developing our reflection skills can be used in an activity such as a personal development plan or to prompt a reflective blog entry. The two videos can be viewed directly from YouTube: http://tinyurl.com/mr29n2t .
Illuminating the student experience within the liminal space: exploring data-driven learning design for negotiating troublesome concepts
This study explored how the Knowing and Reasoning Inventory (KARI)â a tool for profiling studentsâ epistemic beliefs âmight be used by learning designers to promote studentsâ conceptual development. The Threshold Concepts Framework (TCF), developed by Meyer and Land (2003), provides a way of considering how students assimilate new knowledge through a process of reworking their existing conceptual frameworks. The liminal space between conceptual thresholds can be uncomfortable when the new concepts are troublesome for learners to incorporate into their meaning frames. A complexity for educators is that a studentâs journey through the liminal space will be influenced by his or her beliefs about knowing and reasoning. The KARI is a quantitative web survey that draws on Baxter Magoldaâs (1992) âways of knowingâ interview protocol and Kuhnâs (1991) argumentative reasoning interview protocol. KARI data were collected from 77 students at the University of Northampton in May 2014. Visualisations of these data were used during a structured workshop of university staff, where they were asked to: 1) identify a threshold concept from their discipline or area of interest, 2) list a set of activities or experiences to develop studentsâ understanding of the concept and 3) to consider how a studentâs KARI profile may influence the design of these activities. While all participants were able to complete these three activities, findings from this study suggested that âthreshold conceptâ is a threshold concept for some learning designers. Findings also suggested that some learning designers may not conceptualise learning activities as needing to be personalised for students. Finally, participants, at times, struggled to interpret the visualisations of the KARI data, making it difficult to consider the meaning of these analytics
Functional, frustrating and full of potential: learners' experiences of a prototype for automated essay feedback.
OpenEssayist is an automated feedback system designed to support university students as they write essays for assessment. A first generation prototype of this system was tested on a cohort of postgraduate distance learners at the UK Open University from September to December 2013. A case study approach was used to examine three participants' experiences of the prototype. Findings from the case studies offered insight into how different users may perceive the usefulness, future potential and end-user of such a tool. This study has important implications for the next phase of development, when the role of OpenEssayist in supporting students' learning will need to be more clearly understood
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The role of feedback in the under-attainment of ethnic minority students: evidence from distance education
In UK higher education, the attainment of ethnic minority students is lower than that of white students, and this remains the case when differences in entry qualiïŹcations have been taken into account. The present study investigated whether the under-attainment of ethnic minority students might be due to the nature of the feedback that they received for their assignments. The assignments submitted by 470 ethnic minority and 470 matched white students taking a distance- learning course were compared using a computer system, Open Mentor, to categorise the feedback given by tutors based on a scheme devised by Bales. Asian and black students and students of mixed ethnicity obtained lower marks for their assignments than did the white students. However, there were only small differences between the ethnic minority students and the white students in terms of the pattern of feedback that they received, and these disappeared when the marks that they had received for their assignments had been taken into account. It is concluded that students from all ethnic groups received feedback that was commensurate with their marks, and that the origins of the attainment gap in ethnic minority students in UK higher education must be sought elsewhere