Presence as a dimension of first year in higher education: Measuring the value of strong affective relationships

For many university students, the commencement of university study is often fraught with difficulties. Whilst family and paid employment commitments sometimes compete with study time, some students worry that they do not have the wherewithal for tertiary study or that they may not be successful in their new venture. This paper sets out to investigate some of the concerns experienced by a group of first year students participating in a weekly context-specific support program. In contrast to the traditional approach of offering academic support to students, this program emphasises social support and the development of a learning community as essential to academic success. The notion of presence as a key indicator of quality of learning is applied to the critical reflections of students as they engage with tertiary study. In providing a time and a place for students to meet with a group of academics on a weekly basis, the program operates with no fixed academic agenda and positions students and academics as life-long learners. Through the adoption of an enabling pedagogy, authentic presence is achievable for academics and students

Productive partnerships: cross-departmental connections in a tertiary context

This chapter describes the development of productive and collegial relationships in a cross-departmental capacity-building project. The MMTP built on a first year experience program-the FYI Program (using the acronym that could stand for First Year Infusion or For Your Information)that we had designed, and had been conducting within our Faculty of Education for 1 year. Even though the program had involved a fairly small number of students, we were convinced that it had the potential to assist the 1 st year students in their transition into university study. It also provided a positive faculty response to student retention and progression issues (for further details, see Noble & Henderson, 2008). We used the Associate Fellowship to extend this first year program, and to promote the approach we used through the development of a professional development toolkit

Engaging with images: understanding identity of beginning pre-service teachers and the impacts of pastoral care in a community of practice

[Abstract]: At a regional Australian university, a Learning Circle approach was implemented with a small group of first year education students who identified themselves as “at risk” of failure in the tertiary context. As part of their participation in weekly meetings, the students engaged in discussion, reflection and problem-solving related to their transition to university study. They also participated in a visual research inquiry which included the construction of photographic images and research conversations about being university students and dealing with study demands. Through the privileging of interactions and relationships, the students were able to make connections to other Discourses from their lives outside university and began to develop a sense of agency and a growing capacity to move within and between their multiple identities. This article argues that, in order to address transition and retention issues within teacher education, effective social integration and support should accompany academic preparednes

The changing role of the tissue viability nurse: an exploration of this multifaceted post

This article explores the role of the tissue viability nurse in the UK and discusses the diversity of the role and key attributes and skills required to run a successful service. The article highlights that services differ between organisations and that there is a lack of clarity of the core functions of the role published in the literature. This is compounded by an absence of valid and reliable tools that can be used to measure the effectiveness of the tissue viability service. This article suggests it is now time to revisit the tissue viability role and explore the competencies required, and offer guidance as to the qualifications required for this multifarious post to enable staff to manage the changing needs of a diverse patient group

"EU Influence on Party Politics in Slovakia"

Slovakia’s uneasy relationship with the EU in the 1990s presents new insights into Europeanization and political parties as it appears to be a rare case where the EU has led to party system change at national level. This was accompanied by delayed Europeanization of political debate at both public and party level. Initially, views on the EU corresponded to levels of support for the post-communist reform project. However, as acceptability to the EU and the international community became identified with governmental competence, anti-reform parties were either politically marginalized or changed their political outlook and hence also their coalition potential. This is significant as it is likely also to occur in countries involved in future enlargement waves

Methods, Measures, and Madness: Possiblities for Outdoor Education Research

In this keynote presentation, the authors outlined the Top Ten Reasons Why We Need More and Better Outdoor Education Research Methods and Measures as the basis for our further discussion

Engaging with Images and Stories : Using a Learning Approach to Develop Agency of Beginning At-Risk Pre-Service Teachers

At a regional Australian university, a Learning Circle approach was implemented with a small group of first year education students who identified themselves as “at risk” of failure in the tertiary context. As part of their participation in weekly meetings, the students engaged in discussion, reflection and problem-solving related to their transition to university study. They also participated in a visual research inquiry which included the construction of photographic images and research conversations about being university students and dealing with study demands. Through the privileging of interactions and relationships, the students were able to make connections to other Discourses from their lives outside university and began to develop a sense of agency and a growing capacity to move within and between their multiple identities. This article argues that, in order to address transition and retention issues within teacher education, effective social integration and support should accompany academic preparedness

Google online marketing challenge and research opportunities

The Google Online Marketing Challenge is an ongoing collaboration between Google and academics, to give students experiential learning. The Challenge gives student teams US$200 in AdWords, Google’s flagship advertising product, to develop online marketing campaigns for actual businesses. The end result is an engaging in-class exercise that provides students and professors with an exciting and pedagogically rigorous competition. Results from surveys at the end of the Challenge reveal positive appraisals from the three—students, businesses, and professors—main constituents; general agreement between students and instructors regarding learning outcomes; and a few points of difference between students and instructors. In addition to describing the Challenge and its outcomes, this article reviews the postparticipation questionnaires and subsequent datasets. The questionnaires and results are publicly available, and this article invites educators to mine the datasets, share their results, and offer suggestions for future iterations of the Challenge