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Vol. 18 No. 6 (2021)

Published: 3 May 2021

Articles

  • Changing teaching practice: The evolving purpose of the teacher in higher education

    Prue Gonzalez, Beate Mueller, Kevin Merry, Colin Jones, Jo-Anne Kelder

    In this Editorial, we take the opportunity to expand on the second Journal of University Teaching and Learning theme, Developing Teaching Practice. Building on Editorial 18(4), which articulated changes to higher education in the period roughly between 1980 and 2021, we believe it is pertinent to explore the changing conceptions of academic as ‘teacher’. We use Engeström’s cultural-historical activity theory as a lens to consider how higher education teachers are situated in the current context of rapid changes arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. We explore possible future purposes of higher education to consider flow-on impacts on the purpose of its teachers and how their roles might change to accommodate future expectations. We assert the need to challenge the notion of the academic as a person who is recruited into higher education largely because of their subject matter expertise while maintaining strong commitment to teaching expertise that is grounded in scholarship, critical self-reflection, and agency. In our various teaching and leadership roles, and consistent with the literature, we have observed paradoxical outcomes from the nexus between risk, innovation and development, driving risk aversity and risk management, with significant (contradictory) impacts on teaching, teachers and student learning. The barriers to implementing innovative curricula include questions of do students get a standardised and ‘safe’ educational experience or are they challenged and afforded the opportunity to transform and grow? Are they allowed to fail? Related, do teachers have genuine agency, as an educator, or are they positioned as agents of a higher education system? We explore these questions and invite our readers to engage in serious reflexivity and identify strategies that help them question their attitudes, thought processes, and assumptions about teaching and student learning. We welcome papers that contribute values-based conversations and explore ways of dealing with and adapting to change in our teaching practices, case studies of learning through failure, change and adaptation and the development of the field.

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  • The value of the Australian Awards for University Teachers (AAUT): Building and maintaining excellence in teaching and learning across the nation

    Angela Carbone

    In this commentary I provide an overview of the national award program, the Australian Awards for University Teachers (AAUT), that has been running for 23 years. I argue that the benefits of the awards are widespread in higher education. They recognise and reward creativity and innovation, they have helped build a culture of collaboration and mentoring that extends across universities and states, and most of all they validate the importance of good quality teaching in universities, providing a recognition and promotion pathway to match that of research awards. The current federal government has made the decision not to fund the awards after 2021, a decision I believe is not only short-sighted but could be damaging for Australia in the global education market. I propose three possible options to continue support for this valuable award program and encourage senior academics and past award winners to work as a group and pursue replacement funding and a sustainable management model for this program. The AAUT awards have an integral role in promoting creativity and innovation in teaching and learning, as well as opening promotion pathways and collaborations across and between universities, and across and between disciplines.

    Read article: The value of the Australian Awards for University Teachers (AAUT): Building and maintaining excellence in teaching and learning across the nation

  • One step at a time: Aligning theory and practice in a tertiary embedding initiative

    Dorothy Economou

    The widespread, theoretically-informed practice of curricula embedded academic language and learning development is generally acknowledged as the most productive method of improving tertiary student outcomes. University-wide comprehensive support, however, for the collaborative processes of interdisciplinary research, design, resource and staff development required to achieve this, is not common. Yet many practitioners continue to engage in embedding initiatives in response to faculty requests, despite institutional constraints on time and funding. This paper documents one such initiative, a common yet under-reported type, conducted one small step at a time over a number of years in a first-year core unit in the architecture faculty of a large metropolitan university in Australia. The paper aims to respond Wingate’s (2018) call for more thorough documentation of pedagogic principles applied in embedding practice to allow for replicability. This granular examination of the first implementation and later refinements of the initiative shows how aligning practice with proven theoretical models, in this case, Systemic Functional Linguistic (SFL) and the SFL-based pedagogic model, the Teaching/ Learning Cycle (TLC), proved fruitful in constrained circumstances.

    Read article: One step at a time: Aligning theory and practice in a tertiary embedding initiative

  • Argumentation and processing knowledge in open-ended assignment tasks: Challenges and accomplishments among pharmacy students

    Heidi Hyytinen, Mia Siven, Outi Salminen, Nina Katajavuori

    Students in higher education have been shown to have difficulties in developing their critical thinking skills, such as analysis and problem solving, reasoning and argumentation. Open-ended tasks offer opportunities for students to develop their own interpretations of various sources, to critically analyse domain-specific knowledge and utilize that knowledge in their argumentation. This study focuses on the ability of new Master’s students (n=37) to utilize pharmaceutical knowledge from different sources in producing written arguments and counter-arguments in the context of open-ended assignment task. The data were analysed by qualitative content analysis. The results showed that there was substantial variation in how students analysed and processed pharmaceutical knowledge as well as how they utilized that knowledge in their argumentation. While some students were able to provide comprehensive analysis of the different sources, others superficially analysed and processed the sources and struggled to generate convincing arguments. Students’ written responses were typically one-sided: only a few students provided counter-arguments associated with the pharmaceutical problem-solving situation presented in the task. Understanding the nature of the challenges in argumentation and knowledge processing encountered by pharmacy students can help pharmacy educators to modify their pedagogical practices to better support students’ learning.

    Read article: Argumentation and processing knowledge in open-ended assignment tasks: Challenges and accomplishments among pharmacy students

  • Uncovering WIL practices to enable WIL's expansion in higher education

    Lynnaire Sheridan, Oriana Price, Lynn Sheridan, Melinda Plumb, Renee Cunial, Taryn McDonnell, Rozalia Pocius

    The Australian Government is financially incentivising work integrated learning (WIL) to enhance graduate employability. As such, universities are currently expanding WIL pedagogies and practices from their traditional domain of professional degrees, to be incorporate into almost all university degrees. Using Kemmis’ Theory of Practice Architecture, this study investigated the practices of established WIL practitioners in universities and uncovers what can be referred to as a WIL ecology of practice. This ecology comprises of key WIL practices, including: networking and selling, negotiating, collaborating and innovating and legitimising. The findings from this study offer important insights into how higher education institutions may develop a WIL ecology of practice, and critically, achieve WIL funding objectives, which has arguably become ever more important given the challenges COVID-19 has presented to university operational budgets.

    Read article: Uncovering WIL practices to enable WIL's expansion in higher education

  • Facilitating a supportive learning experience: The lecturer's role in addressing mental health issues of university students during COVID-19

    Caroline Heim, Christian Heim

    During Covid-19, rates of mental health issues, particularly anxiety, rose significantly in university students. In the scramble to adapt to online learning, university professors were overwhelmed with material aimed at facilitating a supportive learning experience and preserving student academic performance in online contexts yet were ill-equipped to cope with the increased volume of mental health issues encountered. Many studies attest to the association between poor mental health and academic performance. It has been shown that students often report their mental health issues to university professors who are called upon to cope with these issues as best they can. This paper outlines strategies undertaken, in the context of a novel undergraduate mental health program, to address emergent mental health issues during Covid-19 student isolation. These practical, cost effective interventions can be used to successfully give voice to ongoing student mental health issues in a post-Covid world and to help professors feel equipped and empowered enough to contribute to stemming the tide of rising rates of mental illness meaningfully, appropriately and professionally.

    Read article: Facilitating a supportive learning experience: The lecturer's role in addressing mental health issues of university students during COVID-19

  • Co-teaching-based professional development: Self-efficacy, attitudes toward the profession, and pedagogical practices

    Irit Sasson, Noam Malkinson

    The design of university training programs affects academic outcomes therefore, exploring the various design components in the academic program is important. The study explored how participating in a co-teaching-based professional development program (PDP) affects novice teachers' self-efficacy, their attitudes toward the profession, and their application of pedagogical practices; and measured the correlation between self-efficacy and attitudes and how it is influenced by the application of pedagogical practices. We used a questionnaire answered by 300 novice teachers and interviews with 15 teachers who participated during their academic studies in the co-teaching-based PDP. The results indicated a higher sense of self-efficacy and attitudes toward the profession among teachers who participated in the co-teaching-based PDP. The relationship between teachers' self-efficacy and attitudes was partially mediated by six pedagogical applications. The findings provide insights on designing PDP that may contribute to ameliorating the entrance of novice teachers into the teaching profession with teaching skills that will sustain over time.

    Read article: Co-teaching-based professional development: Self-efficacy, attitudes toward the profession, and pedagogical practices

  • Beyond traditional peer-to-peer teaching evaluation: Using pedagogical theory in conceptualizing a collaborative teaching development program

    Renee Mazurek, Monna Arvinen-Barrow, Wendy Huddleston, Renee Reckelberg

    This paper discusses how pedagogical theory can be used in conceptualizing a collaborative teaching development program in higher education. A theoretically driven teaching development program can be of benefit to both the reviewer and the reviewee by providing (a) a foundation for the reviewee to examine their educational content being reviewed; and (b) a systematic framework for the reviewee for evaluating the content under review. Appropriately used pedagogical theory enables the constructive alignment of teaching, learning, and assessment. This collaborative, self-reflective, and bi-directional teaching development process facilitates a sense of self-determination, which facilitates motivation and achievement of goals.

    Read article: Beyond traditional peer-to-peer teaching evaluation: Using pedagogical theory in conceptualizing a collaborative teaching development program

  • Departmental leadership and peer pressure on academic research performance at universities in emerging countries: An empirical study in Vietnam

    Ngoc Nguyen, Long Pham, Susie Cox, Nhuong Bui

    Research performance of lecturers in higher education institutions has become an important topic but many variables are still largely unexplored in current literature. The main objective of this study is to examine the impact of four leadership behaviors of department heads and coworkers on the lecturers’ research performance and the moderating effects of achievement value. A survey was conducted with a sample of 408 Vietnamese lecturers at economics and business management focused universities. Our findings contribute to the literature of job performance in higher education from an organizational behavior perspective by explaining the mid-level impacts of departmental factors affecting research performance. We also discuss potential implications and make recommendations for future research.

    Read article: Departmental leadership and peer pressure on academic research performance at universities in emerging countries: An empirical study in Vietnam

  • Who is a tired student? Fatigue and its predictors from a gender perspective.

    Agata Zdun-Ryżewska, Natalia Nadrowska, Krzysztof Basiński, Maciej Walkiewicz, Magdalena Błażek

    The level of fatigue among medical students is increasing. Exhaustion is an essential symptom of burnout, which may occur even while a student. Our exploratory study sought to identify the characteristics of tired students and to describe factors determining fatigue among medical students. The studied group consisted of second-year medical students (N=193) from a Polish medical university. Statistically significant differences in fatigue appeared between male and female students. We obtained positive correlations between intensity of fatigue and sleepiness, pain intensity, stress, anxiety, depression and negative health conditions, life satisfaction, emotional stability, conscientiousness, and self-efficacy. Predictors relevant for female fatigue were sleepiness, health condition, depression, and conscientiousness (the whole model explains 46% of variance in fatigue). Predictors relevant for male fatigue were sleepiness, health condition, anxiety, and agreeableness (the whole model explains 55% of variance in fatigue). We did not observe differences in fatigue between sleepless, overloaded, or stressed people. Explaining the differences between male and female predictors and levels of fatigue in terms of personality traits through the prism of defined stereotypical social roles is worth considering.

    Read article: Who is a tired student? Fatigue and its predictors from a gender perspective.

  • Collaborative testing in Sport and Exercise Degrees: A comparison of first and third year students' perceptions

    Jonathon Headrick, Brooke Harris-Reeves, Talei Daly-Olm

    Collaborative testing is recognised as an effective assessment approach linked to positive student outcomes including enhanced test performance and reduced assessment anxiety. While collaborative testing approaches appear beneficial to university students in general, it is unclear whether students from different year levels benefit to the same extent. Therefore, the overarching aim of this study was to compare the perceptions and performances of first and third- year undergraduate students taking part in collaborative testing on multiple occasions during a semester. It was predicted that first-year students would perceive the collaborative testing opportunities as more beneficial than third-years given their limited formative experiences with university assessment. Further, it was expected that students would generally perform at a higher level on collaborative versus individual tests in line with previous work. Student performance and perceptions of collaborative testing were collected on two occasions within a semester over a period of two years in both a first-year and third-year course. Quantitative and qualitative results revealed that first-year students were more receptive and perceived more benefits relating to collaborative testing than third-years despite the fact both cohorts generally performed at a higher standard on the collaborative versus individual components. These findings suggest that while collaborative testing is considered beneficial to most, if not all, students, the benefits appear to be greater for first-year student cohorts.

    Read article: Collaborative testing in Sport and Exercise Degrees: A comparison of first and third year students' perceptions

  • Describing pre-professional identity in higher education: A case study of exercise science students

    Kelly Clanchy, Clare Minahan, Elizabeth Cardell, Andrea Bialocerkowski

    Pre-professional identity (PPI) is an understanding of the skills, qualities, conduct, culture and ideology of a students’ intended profession. Understanding PPI is valuable for students and higher-education providers to provide insight into motivation for- and to promote engagement in- learning. Describing PPI is challenging, particularly for evolving health professions. This paper describes a process undertaken to understand PPI, using exercise science (ES), a new and evolving health profession, as a case study. Mixed methods were used to describe three aspects of PPI: 1) student cohort characteristics; 2) personal factors influencing PPI; and 3) perceived career direction. Final year ES students participated in an online survey and a focus group (n=305; 59% male; 75% age range of 20-24 years). Factors contributing to the development of PPI included the desire to help others; interest and experience in sports/exercise. Students had the strongest understanding of the PI domains of affiliation, money and structure and limited understanding of the role of scientist and researcher. Two outcomes were derived from the study findings to advance the theoretical understanding of PPI: 1) a 3-item framework that describes factors specific to students’ PPI; and 2) a worked case study demonstrating how this framework was applied to gain a nuanced understanding of PPI in ES. Our framework can be applied to increase student and higher education providers understanding of PPI and the motivations underpinning student decision-making in higher education.

    Read article: Describing pre-professional identity in higher education: A case study of exercise science students

  • Using deliberate mistakes to heighten student attention

    Abey P Philip, Dawn Bennett

    Attracting and retaining students’ attention is a concern for educators at every level of education, including those in higher education. Despite compelling evidence that student-centred pedagogies enhance attention, motivation and learning gain, exposition-centred delivery in forms such as lectures persists across higher education. Contemporary research on student attention suggests that student concentration in class begins to wane within 10 minutes; that neither tutorials or lectures tend to engage students effectively; and that the optimum length of a lecture is as little as 30 minutes. Where previous studies of student attention have focussed on the impacts of active listening, flipped classrooms and authentic assessment, the exploratory study reported here sought to determine the impact of a “deliberate mistake strategy” (DMS). The study engaged 103 undergraduate business students who self-assessed their attention span before and after a DMS was employed within their semester-long unit. Analysis of the students’ self-report involved paired sample t-tests and revealed that students’ attention span had increased significantly as the result of their engagement in DMS; there were no significant gendered differences. Cohen’s d revealed a large effect size with students reporting that DMS had helped them to increase their perceived attention span when in class. Amid continued debate about how to engage students and growing realisation that multiple approaches are needed, the findings suggests that the use of a simple strategy such as DMS merits further attention.

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  • Introducing design thinking online to large business education courses for twenty-first century learning

    Carmen Vallis, Petrea Redmond

    Design thinking can be broadly defined as a set of creative skills to understand and problem-solve ambiguous and complex problems, and a practice that places humans at the heart of the design process. Such collaborative ways of design thinking and design-doing are much needed to address twenty-first century challenges such as climate change. Design thinking methodology is well known for teaching and learning in design disciplines, and to a lesser extent, as an innovative problem-solving framework for business education. Typically design thinking has been taught and practised in physical settings and to a lesser extent online. While design thinking is also increasingly practised online, this is challenging at scale in higher education contexts. This case study analyses design thinking activities with educational technologies in a large undergraduate cohort of first-year business students. Eleven students and three teachers were interviewed to ascertain their level of engagement with design thinking with digital tools and to identify common themes that enabled or inhibited such practice. Student artefacts of design thinking are explored and compared to the interview data. Findings indicate that students may develop novice design thinking skills, process knowledge and mindsets in online and remote delivery modes, despite limited experience, technical and time constraints. Broader learning design implications of design thinking constraints in digital practice are discussed to assist educators. It is suggested that higher education adopt and support design thinking, as a subject and practice, more widely.

    Read article: Introducing design thinking online to large business education courses for twenty-first century learning