2022: ASCILITE 2022 Conference Proceedings: Reconnecting relationships through technology

The rising cost of tertiary study-related expenses, including textbooks, has been shown to influence enrolment rates, course choices and quality of learning experiences and outcomes for students. To address issues related to affordability

The rising cost of tertiary study-related expenses, including textbooks, has been shown to influence enrolment rates, course choices and quality of learning experiences and outcomes for students. To address issues related to affordability and accessibility, the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ) has recently implemented alternative learning materials through open educational resources (OERs). Published by UniSQ in 2021, the ‘Fundamentals of Anatomy and Physiology’ is an opensource, online textbook provided as a supplementary resource for students undertaking first-year anatomy and physiology courses. To investigate student satisfaction and the overall usefulness of implementing this textbook into undergraduate courses, responses to a student feedback survey were analysed. The main themes that emerged from the qualitative feedback included 1. increased student accessibility to course information, 2. improved tertiary education affordability, 3. enhanced course content comprehension, 4. provisioned student agency and choice to interact with formats that best suited the student learning context and 5. overall was rated as a beneficial and useful resource. Although the majority of students who responded to the survey (56%) did not have any negative perceptions about the online textbook per se, there were two negative response themes that emerged regarding the user interface and internet connectivity. Further evaluation regarding retention rates and overall achievement remains to be addressed.

Teaching and learning online have increased as a consequence of the pandemic. There is an increasing need for learning design proficiency both in terms of new roles and also new expertise. In recognition of this, the Tertiary Education

Teaching and learning online have increased as a consequence of the pandemic. There is an increasing need for learning design proficiency both in terms of new roles and also new expertise. In recognition of this, the Tertiary Education Commission in Aotearoa | New Zealand is supporting the design of a micro-credential to develop introductory knowledge in this field. Given the complexity and breadth of competencies needed in this role determining the foundational components is challenging. Prior research focused on professional standards and employer requirements only capture one perspective of the role. In this Delphi study, we sought the views of thirty-four learning designers to determine the essential competencies required for learning design in the current (post)pandemic context. Findings demonstrate the importance of understanding the nuances of different modes of learning, pedagogy before technology and the value of relationships.

Online discussion is often adopted to facilitate students’ interaction and communication in higher education. Student engagement, which is a prerequisite of the expected outcomes in online discussion, has been conceptualized as a

Online discussion is often adopted to facilitate students’ interaction and communication in higher education. Student engagement, which is a prerequisite of the expected outcomes in online discussion, has been conceptualized as a multi-component construct with behavioural, cognitive and emotional aspects. Compared to the first two aspects, emotional engagement has received the least empirical investigation. Nonetheless, previous research has proposed emotional engagement is related to student’s motivation and personality traits. This study adopted an exploratory approach investigating the associations between students’ basic psychological needs (BPNS, i.e., autonomy, competence and relatedness), personality traits (i.e., the Big Five) and emotional engagement during WeChat-based discussions. Participants included 94 Chinese university students who voluntarily completed an anonymous online survey measuring the aforementioned factors. As hypothesized, results indicated extroversion, agreeableness, openness and BPNS were positively related to emotional engagement in online discussion. Further mediation analyses indicated BPNS had mediation effects on the relationship between traits and engagement. This is a sign for researchers and practitioners that BPNS might be more important for improving emotional engagement in online discussion settings. The practical suggestions for teachers, research limitations and future work are also offered.

Feedback plays a crucial role in learning. Yet, higher education continues to face challenges regarding facilitating effective feedback processes. One of the challenges is the difficulty to track how students interact with feedback and the

Feedback plays a crucial role in learning. Yet, higher education continues to face challenges regarding facilitating effective feedback processes. One of the challenges is the difficulty to track how students interact with feedback and the impact of feedback on learning outcomes. Learning analytics (LA) has opened up opportunities to enhance feedback practice with a wide array of data. However, most research seeks to deliver data-driven feedback rather than understanding how students make use of feedback and how educators can use learning analytics to support students in this process. As a first step to address this gap, our study investigated educators’ views of challenges and elements of effective feedback processes in addition to their perceptions of data-driven feedback. The study found that feedback design (e.g., feedback purpose, content, and structure), educator-related factors (e.g., time constraints and resource limitations), and student-related factors (e.g., disposition, self-regulation, and sense-making) can have positive or negative impacts on the feedback process. It also highlights the need for the development of student feedback literacy. Based on the findings, we proposed ideas for an LA-based feedback tool that can be used to facilitate a dialogic feedback process and address challenges with feedback.

In recent decades, there has been an increase in studies on international students’ use of social media in their host countries. However, there has been limited investigation on how these students utilise social media to help them learn

In recent decades, there has been an increase in studies on international students’ use of social media in their host countries. However, there has been limited investigation on how these students utilise social media to help them learn and adjust to their new surroundings. The purpose of this study is to find out how one group of Chinese international Students (CIS), utilised WeChat to support their living and study through building relationships amongst each other in New Zealand (NZ). Nine in-depth individual interviews were conducted focusing on critical incidents that these students experienced while studying in NZ. The analysis of these incidents yielded several themes. The findings identified that CIS used social media in many different ways but primarily to help them maintain and create social networks in their host country, construct and sustain community, and engage in peer interactions and collaborative learning. Overall, CIS frequently utilised WeChat for connecting with peers to cope with variety of issues, including emotional support, building a social network, an outlet to vent about stress, isolation and depression, amongst many others. This study highlights the importance of social media in creating a sustainable connection amongst peers that contributes to student wellbeing in the higher education sector.

This paper reports the trends and challenges of research education in Australia, and presents a case study of a student-initiated community for Higher Degree Research (HDR) students at a public university. The study aims to determine

This paper reports the trends and challenges of research education in Australia, and presents a case study of a student-initiated community for Higher Degree Research (HDR) students at a public university. The study aims to determine whether an online Community of Practice (CoP) has developed among HDR students without any design effort from the university, and whether the community helped HDR students achieve connectedness without face-to-face interactions. The results indicate that the community is a spontaneous, distributed, small but diverse HDR CoP within a faculty. Feedback from the members show that the technology employed in the community is appropriate for peer communication, knowledge sharing and collaboration in the CoP, but technical problems on the communication technology could discourage members’ engagement and participation. The findings also reveal that length of the membership has a statistically significant impact on HDR student connectedness, but technology satisfaction and virtual mode do not.

As the higher education landscape enters a new era of digital-first education, education designers are tasked with supporting the pedagogic work of educators to design learning experiences which connect students with disciplinary content

As the higher education landscape enters a new era of digital-first education, education designers are tasked with supporting the pedagogic work of educators to design learning experiences which connect students with disciplinary content, with each other and with their educator in the digital learning environment. This paper uses a collaborative autoethnographic approach to reflect upon the challenges experienced by two education designers implementing a pedagogic model to support blended and hybrid learning at scale. A key tension of this work is the perception that design templates diminish educators’ academic freedom and creativity by exerting institutional control over disciplinary experts. We argue that bringing teaching teams together in dialogic and disciplinary learning communities around our pedagogic model fosters creativity by providing space for educators to scaffold their own development, and ultimately, reconceptualise their content for new ways of teaching and learning.

It is internationally accepted that digitally-supported learning increases the accessibility of higher education due to its capacity to overcome traditional university's spatial and temporal limitations. At the same time, increased

It is internationally accepted that digitally-supported learning increases the accessibility of higher education due to its capacity to overcome traditional university's spatial and temporal limitations. At the same time, increased student-teacher ratios and reduced student-targeted support may lower the quality of learning and instruction in higher education. Research focussed on digital learning environments in higher education identified social anxiety as an increased challenge for learners and teaching staff. This international case study investigates students’ social anxiety at two higher education institutions. Findings show that social anxiety exists in higher education digital learning environments and differs across cultural contexts and gender. The data suggests that it is worth tertiary educators pausing to consider the role that social anxiety may be playing in reducing interactions within online units. Additional research is required to establish the causes of social anxiety in digital learning environments and develop strategies to minimise its effect.

Increasing class sizes in higher education make it difficult to maintain quality. Teaching large cohorts within the context of restrained resources and the limitations of Learning Management Systems impacts the experiences of educators

Increasing class sizes in higher education make it difficult to maintain quality. Teaching large cohorts within the context of restrained resources and the limitations of Learning Management Systems impacts the experiences of educators. Research is now examining how educators make sense of this experience to guide stakeholders toward practical directions for future pedagogical and social practices. A review of previous research noted three groups of challenges faced by online teaching: (1) technological, (2) pedagogical, and (3) social. Our study explores the experiences of educators teaching large cohort (500 to 2300 students) undergraduate courses online. This concise paper presents the findings from the social aspects of the challenge. Our qualitative approach explores the experiences of educators at our school who teach large cohorts online. We suggest recommendations to address the social needs of students and educators involved with large cohorts online.

In the current neoliberal agenda, universities require Educational Designers (EDs) to establish influence and ensure the improvements in education for the benefit of graduates. The preservation of high-quality teaching is fundamental in

In the current neoliberal agenda, universities require Educational Designers (EDs) to establish influence and ensure the improvements in education for the benefit of graduates. The preservation of high-quality teaching is fundamental in connecting educators with students, which was crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, the influence of EDs on affecting a change in teaching practice has not been adequately explored. This case study collected qualitative survey responses from seventeen EDs in one Australian university, and used inductive thematic analysis to explore how they attempted to influence academics to change teaching practices. Results indicated a definitive need to collaborate with academics to implement the desired changes. Moreover, strong professional relationships with academics, effective communication, and creating a favourable environment were important to the EDs’ influence attempts. Cultural challenges within the university was an interesting discovery regarding influence capability. These findings provide key insights into how EDs support a change in educational practice within the university environment.

University tutorials have been part of course design for decades. Tutorials often promote smaller group discussions, where students collaborate and connect to peers, arguably improving academic outcomes and supporting development of social

University tutorials have been part of course design for decades. Tutorials often promote smaller group discussions, where students collaborate and connect to peers, arguably improving academic outcomes and supporting development of social skills. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, however, many challenges emerged on to how to move towards more cooperative forms of learning, how to support students’ connections to a learning community, whilst still maintaining social distancing. This article discusses students’ experiences of tutorial sessions implemented prior and after the pandemic, in a first-year course at a Chilean university. Overall results indicate that while there were no significant differences in students’ perceptions of learning from tutorials pre and during the pandemic, both groups experienced some opportunities and challenges which are discussed.

This study examined factors that affect educators’ behavioural intention to use Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) tools in a polytechnic in Singapore. Five hundred and twenty-five educators completed a survey measuring their responses to

This study examined factors that affect educators’ behavioural intention to use Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) tools in a polytechnic in Singapore. Five hundred and twenty-five educators completed a survey measuring their responses to six variables in the extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). This study is related to the sub-theme of reconnecting people with educational technologies. Social and environmental constructs were included to measure the influence of other persons and the facilitating conditions on the educators’ intention to use (IU) TEL tools. Structural Equation Modelling was used to test the research model. The results showed that attitude towards usage (ATU) of TEL tools was the dominant determinant of educators’ IU. Overall, attitude toward usage (ATU), perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEU), subjective norm (SN) and facilitating conditions (FC) explained 65.3% of the variance in IU. SN had positive and significant effects on PEU and PU, whereas FC significantly influenced PEU. Finally, the implications of findings for polytechnic educators are discussed in the paper.

Mobile and digital technologies can support learning experiences outside of the traditional classroom contexts and provide opportunities for collaborative elearning initiatives. Following design-based research (DBR) principles, curriculum

Mobile and digital technologies can support learning experiences outside of the traditional classroom contexts and provide opportunities for collaborative elearning initiatives. Following design-based research (DBR) principles, curriculum developers face challenges in building mobile learning opportunities that are fit for purpose, adequately supported, and embraced by instructors and students alike. However, published accounts of mobile and technology-enhanced learning initiatives are currently largely restricted to ‘successes’ and lack descriptions of the processes and challenges involved in development. Critical factors for success – derived from accounts of ‘failed’ projects – may also be useful to guide the planning of initiatives in development. I present here potential steps towards a guiding framework for mobile and technology-enhanced learning developers that incorporates both an appraisal of these critical success factors within the context of a developing initiative and the instructive value of ‘productive failure’.