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2017: ASCILITE 2017 Conference Proceedings: Me, Us, IT!

The proceedings of the 2017 ASCILITE Conference: Me, Us, IT!

H. Partridge, K. Davis, & J. Thomas. (Eds.), Me, Us, IT! Proceedings ASCILITE 2017: Queensland

 

The University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia

December 4-6, 2017

ASCILITE2017 Conference Website https://2017conference.ascilite.org/

Published: 30 November 2017

ASCILITE Conference - Full Papers

  • Student-generated multimedia for supporting learning in an undergraduate physiotherapy course

    Susan Coulson, Jessica Frawley

    Outside the university, rapid authoring tools and ubiquitous technologies have fuelled a rise in usergenerated multimedia and participatory culture. The educational equivalent, digital student-generated content, has been heralded as one approach for supporting active and student-centered learning. This is especially relevant in tertiary education, where multimedia is mainly used as a method for transmission of content. Though student-generated multimedia may seem pedagogically ideal, especially for applied areas such as Health Sciences, the diversity of adoptions and limited evidence in the area make broad claims to its efficacy difficult to support. This study uses mixed methods to assess the outcomes of a student-generated multimedia assignment within a third-year university physiotherapy subject. This study found that all students were able to complete the assessment task in a way that demonstrated key disciplinary learning and professional communication skills despite many not having prior experience of this kind of assessment. Student survey data demonstrated that students were able to navigate between new tools and methods to achieve a complex task. While multimedia gave students new and creative ways through which to engage with practitioners, patients and the profession, attitudes varied in accordance with student self-efficacy and confidence. The self-directed nature of the task appears to be both an opportunity and a challenge. These findings further contribute to our understanding of implementing student-generated multimedia projects and extend this knowledge to the health sciences’ discipline.

    Read article: Student-generated multimedia for supporting learning in an undergraduate physiotherapy course

  • By design: Facing the academic challenges of implementing technology enhanced learning in higher education and the example of a third year biology unit

    Brett Fyfield, Iwona Czaplinski

    This paper takes a design research approach to the challenge of transforming learning and teaching in higher education (HE) as it is experienced at the level of an interdisciplinary team composed of content matter experts and specialists in education. It is based on the reflections of members of the team working collaboratively to transform an undergraduate biology unit, delivered in intensive mode in parallel with a standard teaching semester to improve both student engagement and teaching staff satisfaction. The unit learning design tests 21st century active learning pedagogies in the context preparing students for their professional lives. Using semi-structured interviews and reflective inquiry the authors attempt to uncover the salient features of the process of implementing technology enhanced learning, and generate constructive design solutions. The work is situated in the scholarship of learning and teaching as it encourages "reflection-in-action" and a commitment to sharing what works in STEM teaching and learning in contemporary environments. The teaching team focus on the complex problems of preparation, attendance, and engagement in a series of intensive labs, whilst the professional staff focus on the complex problems of innovation and student engagement in higher education. A number of known and hypothetical learning design principles are integrated with the affordances of the chosen learning environment (OneNote) and used to propose plausible solutions. These solutions are used to iteratively refine the learning environment and reveal new design principles. The data shows improved staff engagement with the unit and the students through an enhanced role in the application and development of modern pedagogies. The paper emphasises the benefits of providing for and supporting the emergence of microcultures, and suggest strategies for those that wish to emulate the approach taken.

    Read article: By design: Facing the academic challenges of implementing technology enhanced learning in higher education and the example of a third year biology unit

  • The role of IT in prisoner education: A global view

    Jane Garner

    Studies have consistently found that prisoners who undertake education while in prison are less likely to reoffend, and return to prison. However, in an environment where post-secondary education is increasingly being offered via online delivery, prisoners with no access to the internet are experiencing barriers to education offered by non-prison providers. This study examines the Australian prison environment, the education needs of prisoners, and their current access to education, information technology and the internet. Recent and future Australian and international developments in delivering online education to prisoners are examined.

    Read article: The role of IT in prisoner education: A global view

  • Me, us and IT: Insiders views of the complex technical, organisational and personal elements in using virtual worlds in education

    Sue Gregory, Brent Gregory, Denise Wood, Scott Grant, Sasha Nikolic, Mathew Hillier, Merle Hearns, Lisa Jacka, Marcus McDonald, Torsten Reiners, Sharon Lierse, Blooma John, Suku Sukunesan, Emily Rutherford, Jay Jay Jegathesan, Des Butler, Helen Farley, Pauletta Irwin

    The adoption and pedagogical use of technologies such as virtual worlds to support teaching and learning, and research in higher education involves a complex interplay of technical, organisational and personal factors. In this paper, eighteen educators and researchers provide an overview of how they perceive a virtual world can be used in education from the perspective of themselves as individuals ‘me’, their educational organisations and as members of the Australian and New Zealand Virtual Worlds Working Group (VWWG) community of practice ‘us’, as well as the complex technology that underpins this learning environment ‘IT’. Drawing on Linstone’s (1981, 1984) Technical, Organisational and Personal (TOP) multiple perspective concept as the framework for analysis, the authors discuss their perspectives of how the personal, organisational and technical aspects of teaching through the use of virtual worlds have impacted on their teaching and research in higher education. The potential of employing the TOP framework to inform future research into the use of technologies such as virtual worlds in teaching and learning is explored.

    Read article: Me, us and IT: Insiders views of the complex technical, organisational and personal elements in using virtual worlds in education

  • Variations in the coherence and engagement in students’ experience of blended learning

    Feifei Han, Robert Ellis

    We report a study which examines coherence of engagement of 344 first year engineering students’ blended learning experience. Using self-report and observational data sources, we demonstrate that student perceptions of the blended learning environment, academic learning outcomes, and engagement with the online learning activities are logically related at the variable level as shown by correlation analyses; and at the level of student groupings of similar learning experience and behaviors, as revealed by cluster, ANOVA, and 2 x 2 contingency analyses. Using self-report data, we found that when students perceived the learning activities in the f2f and online environments were integrated, they were more likely to be engaged with the online learning and to perform relatively higher on the assessment tasks than students who perceived disintegration between f2f and online learning. Using the observational data, students who were more engaged with the online learning tended to perceive that the online learning was well integrated with the f2f learning, that the online contributions were valuable for the whole learning experience, and achieved relatively higher than less engaged students. A 2 x 2 contingency table revealed a logical relationship between the groupings of students based on the selfreport and observational data: moderate and positive association was found between students with coherent perceptions and more engagement; and between students with fragmented perceptions and less engagement. The use of multiple data sources and methods enabled triangulation, strengthened analysis power, and offered a more comprehensive picture of students’ blended learning experience.

    Read article: Variations in the coherence and engagement in students’ experience of blended learning

  • Framework for the analysis and comparison of e-assessment systems

    Pedro Isaias, Paula Miranda, Sara Pífano

    The use of technology within the education sector affects many aspects of the learning process, including assessment. Electronic assessment presents many advantages over traditional paper based methods and it is being widely used by teachers and educational institutions. The progressive acceptance and use of e-assessment has resulted in the development of a panoply of e-assessment systems. This paper aims to propose a framework for the analysis and comparison of e-assessment systems, to support the selection of the most suitable assessment instruments. The proposed framework is composed of eight criteria, variety of design options, scalability, security, access and usability, feedback features, personalisation, cost and interoperability, which were overall validated by the viewpoints of educational experts via an online questionnaire.

    Read article: Framework for the analysis and comparison of e-assessment systems

  • Metaphors postgraduates use to depict their student experience: Individual, community and digital presence

    Shelley Kinash, Linda Crane, Gary Hamlin, Ann Bannatyne

    In an Australian national study into student constructions of postgraduate education, 38 students (masters and doctoral) were asked to draw literal or figurative pictures of their experience. Manual thematic analysis of interview transcripts revealed 33 metaphors. Metaphors were coded into individualistic, personal constructions (Me), relational community depictions (Us) and digital or information technology conceptualisations (IT) which were mapped to the Community of Inquiry (CoI) Framework’s elements of Cognitive, Social and Teaching Presence. The highest proportion of metaphors were about personal gain and process. The next largest thematic category was relational, mostly depicting what students think others should give, rather than student contribution. Aligned with this theme, students also used metaphors of isolation and perceptions of a missing ‘us’ factor. There were few metaphors drawn from the language of information technology and/or digital presence, which seems to flag a domain of the postgraduate student experience that requires further development. The key takeaways from this paper are expanded information about digital presence in postgraduate student experience, as well as quality improvement recommendations for universities.

    Read article: Metaphors postgraduates use to depict their student experience: Individual, community and digital presence

  • Online global collaboration: Affordances and inhibitors

    Julie Lindsay, Petrea Redmond

    New teaching and learning approaches are emerging through the use of technology including online global collaboration. Educators involved in global collaboration forge external relationships with others beyond their immediate learning environment. They modify and adapt the curriculum to include global learning opportunities for their learners. Global collaboration provides opportunities for rich global, cognitive, social, cultural and life-changing experiences to their students. Online global collaboration broadly refers to geographically dispersed educators that use online technologies to learn with others beyond their immediate environment to support curricular objectives, intercultural understandings, critical thinking, personal, social and ICT capabilities. This paper will report some preliminary findings from an investigation into the perceptions of K-12 educators who facilitate global collaborative learning. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews that were then themed to identify the key affordances and inhibitors to online global collaboration. The paper will provide recommendations for global collaboration in teacher education.

    Read article: Online global collaboration: Affordances and inhibitors

  • Challenges and tensions in the role of the LMS for medical education: Time for the "next generation LMS"?

    Jill Lyall, Katharina Freund, Alexandra Webb

    In the context of discussions of a “next generation LMS” and other contemporary challenges in higher education, this case study looks at the iterative process a team of educational designers and Medical School academics at Australian National University used in a review of the ANU's Medical School LMS sites. Adopting the framework of the actor network theory, this reflective process discovered the tensions, dynamics and issues involved, and worked to gain and maintain key Medical School staff engagement and support for the review and for any changes that might be recommended. This paper reflects on emerging possible models for technology-enhanced learning beyond our current institutional LMS while acknowledging the institutional constraints on learning innovation within the global higher education context. Next generation LMS models may provide a more flexible future solution that could be applicable not just to medical education, but to higher education generally.

    Read article: Challenges and tensions in the role of the LMS for medical education: Time for the "next generation LMS"?

  • Addressing inconsistency in use of the LMS: A collaborative approach

    Elizabeth Masterman

    Inconsistency in the use of the learning management system (LMS) by academic staff is a source of dissatisfaction among university students in the UK. One solution is to establish a set of minimum standards (or baseline) for LMS use within an individual institution. Another is to supply templates – frameworks for LMS course sites – with a view to providing students with a seamless experience in their interactions with the LMS. This paper describes how the issue of inconsistency was addressed at a leading research university in the UK through an exploratory project, WebLearn Improved Student Experience (WISE). The widespread devolution of responsibility for site management to administrative staff, together with the ‘maverick’ creation of course sites by those academics who chose to engage with the WebLearn LMS, had resulted in unevenness in students’ access to learning materials. The project team engaged in close collaboration with 19 departments in order to achieve the immediate purpose of improving uptake of, and consistency in, their LMS presence. The ultimate aim was to develop a support package comprising LMS templates and ‘best practice’ guidelines that would enable departments in the future to achieve the same objective, either unsupported or with minimal assistance from the central team of learning technologists. The project was evaluated using a modification of the Innovation Histories method, which included interviews with 13 participants. The evaluation findings additionally threw into relief the complex social and cultural factors at play that can inhibit a consistent student experience in an institutional LMS.

    Read article: Addressing inconsistency in use of the LMS: A collaborative approach

  • A framework for program wide curriculum transformation

    Andrea Chester, Spiros Soulis

    Designing and delivering higher education programs in a global climate of constant change, technological advances and uncertain futures leads to the need for curriculum transformation practices that are innovative and responsive. This paper describes a university-wide approach to developing a framework for program level transformation that is strengths-based, data-informed and design-led. A strengths based approach builds on good practice, creating a space that is positive and forward looking. Data informed practice and the inclusion of data wranglers on the project allowed for conversations about the known, unknowns and desirable directions to take place and inform directions. Design-led practices introduced design thinking principles such a building empathy and co-design with students, alumni and industry. The emergent framework has three key stages: vision, design and build. The vision stage focuses on the program team, its students, industry and desired direction for transformation. The design stage focuses on defining challenges, ideating, co-designing and creating a plan for development. The build stage uses a rapid prototyping and iterative approach to development that incorporates user testing early in the stage. The project has delivered a framework for program level transformation and innovation and has shown that a strengths-based approach that is data informed and engages with students as codesigners has the capacity to unite teams, inform program visions and allow for innovative practices to emerge. Taking a learner experience approach to design also highlighted the value in engaging students and industry in curriculum design from the start of the process rather than simply as end users.

    Read article: A framework for program wide curriculum transformation

  • Using threshold concepts about online teaching to support novice online teachers: Designing professional development guidelines to individually assist academic staff (“me”) and collectively guide the institution (“us”)

    Maria Northcote, Kevin Gosselin, Peter Kilgour, Catherine McLoughlin, Chris Boddey

    As online learning expands across the higher education sector, individual university lecturers are required to take on roles that incorporate responsibilities for designing and teaching online courses. Their growing capacities to fulfil these roles are sometimes supported by professional development (PD) programs within their institutions while some staff engage in staff development activities outside their home institutions. These programs and activities may take place within Communities of Practice (CoPs) while others are conducted on an individual basis. While much research has been undertaken into the field of online teaching and learning, including investigations into the most useful technological tools to incorporate into the design of online courses, the design of PD curricula to support the needs of novice teachers of online courses has not been as extensively explored. This paper reports on the outcomes of an Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT) funded project which purposely set out to identify the threshold concepts about online teaching that university lecturers develop as they engage in both the individual and communal aspects of designing and teaching online courses. The paper explains how the identification of threshold concepts about online teaching informed the development of a set of curriculum guidelines for the PD of novice online teachers. Recommendations for the design of PD for individual teachers (at the “me” level) are provided along with recommendations for the institution (at the “us” level).

    Read article: Using threshold concepts about online teaching to support novice online teachers: Designing professional development guidelines to individually assist academic staff (“me”) and collectively guide the institution (“us”)

  • Evaluating the sustainability of tablet devices in blended learning

    Cynthia Palikat, Paul Gruba

    Blended approaches to teaching and learning and higher education often demand the provision of substantial investments in professional development, curriculum change and technological resources. Given the intense effort required for successful courses, focus has turned increasingly on the sustainability of blended learning in higher education. In this study, we adopt an argument based approach to the sustainable use of tablet computers in a university pathway course. After mapping out the argument with key stakeholders, we conduct a participatory action research project that takes into account observations, interviews and personal reflections. Results of the evaluation point to a ‘weak argument’ for the continued use of tablet computers that demonstrates their use is not sustainable. We conclude with suggestions to turn to issues of curricular alignment and further adoption of argument based evaluation for educational technology.

    Read article: Evaluating the sustainability of tablet devices in blended learning

Showing 40–52 of 63 articles