2023: ASCILITE 2023 Conference Proceedings: People, Partnerships and Pedagogies

ASCILITE Conference - Concise Papers

• Exploring the intersection of digital pedagogies, reflexivity, and culture in religious education

  Anne Siri Kvia, Thomas Cochrane

  This concise paper reports on the development of a Design-Based Research PhD project that explores the potential of virtual reality and digital pedagogies to enhance reflexivity in the context of religious education and cultural diversity awareness. The research is based in a Norwegian context and aims to develop transferable design principles for enhancing reflexivity in religious education for student teachers. The paper outlines the context, design framework, initial prototype intervention, initial participant feedback, as well as next steps in the research.

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• Deeper student-teacher partnership in 5 steps: Adopting a design thinking approach to foster community building and personal development

  Melody(Pei) Li, Gee Chong Ling, Kristin Turnbull

  Students as Partners initiatives have the potential to enable students and staff to collaborate on improving the teaching and learning experience (Mercer-Mapstone et al., 2017). Following two iterations of a students as partners initiative applied across different disciplines to enhance student-teacher partnership, an implementation strategy was established through a 5-steps process of recruitment, active listening, review, co-design, and evaluation. The proposed model established deeper partnership during the learning process, delivering significant changes that enhanced students’ learning instead of the typical iterative design at the end of the learning period (course). The partnership contributed to student partners’ development through an experiential learning process. Integrating learning theories and practices with human-centered design, we explore the research question: How do we nurture a deep student and teacher partnership for positive impact? Underpinned by Argyris & Schön’s (1974) double loop learning and design thinking the 5-steps approach resulted in greater student experience and satisfaction, enabled the development of a sense of community and personal development for student partners and course convenors.

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• The “IKEA Model” for pragmatic development of a custom learning analytics dashboard

  Leah P. Macfadyen, Alison Myers

  Many educators and learning analytics practitioners find themselves in ‘learning analytics limbo’, with access only to simplistic one-size-fits-all vendor-driven LA dashboards, as they wait for development of possible future LA solutions that would allow customizations that genuinely cater to differences in learning design and educator skills. We present here a simple and pragmatically oriented project that allows individual educators to build and customize an LA solution ‘at home’ with relatively simple tools. This open-source project takes advantage of data available to an educator via the LMS, and allows them to develop and customize an educator-facing dashboard that meets their teaching and learning design needs. This small-scale solution allows local educators and practitioners to continue to build their data literacy and LA-informed teaching skills, and to contribute to ongoing institutional learning through sharing their experience with institutional LA teams.

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• Heutagogical-based ICALL environment: A framework to develop students’ capability

  Dwi Maharrani, Thomas Cochrane

  The use of Intelligent Computer Assisted Language Learning (ICALL) in foreign language learning holds great promises, but the identification of rigorous design principles to develop students’ capability through practical learning design are still insufficient. As capability concerns how people use their competencies in the unknown rather than in familiar situations, ensuring students' capability development becomes crucial in today’s complex, dynamic, and rapidly changing system of modern society. One critical question to firstly answer regarding the numerous variety and available options of ICALL applications is what and how to choose appropriate and relevant ICALL applications which would effectively enhance students’ capability. This paper proposes a framework for the intervention design of the ICALL learning environment to develop EFL students’ capability based on the pedagogy-andragogy-heutagogy continuum and the authentic learning framework.

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• Partnering to enhance the postgraduate student experience

  Justine Maldon, Michelle Pedlow

  The learning and teaching team at Edith Cowan University's School of Nursing and Midwifery has partnered with postgraduate students to enhance their experience and success. Targeted initiatives throughout the curricula, including online and multimodal learning activities and resources, were co-developed in response to anecdotal evidence that some commencing students in this diverse cohort were lacking essential digital and academic literacy skills. The team is improving learning opportunities for all students by leveraging online platforms and fostering constructive relationships between staff and students to enhance self-engagement and motivation. A self-evaluation has been developed and implemented for students to gain a clear understanding of their academic and digital literacies. It is also providing important data about students' preparedness for their studies. This paper will share early findings from the research project, including scalable approaches and strategies to promote agency and empower students and staff.

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• Can gamification improve student engagement and learning? : A proposed quasi-experiment

  Bruce Mitchell, Mary Jesselyn Co

  Management education has traditionally been delivered in tedious and disengaging manner. Students manifest their disengagement in five dimensions - values, motivation, behavioural, interactional and competing involvements. This research targets motivation, behavioural and interactional disengagement using gamification. This project aims to investigate the impact of implementing gamification elements in an undergraduate managerial communication course on the students’ engagement and academic performance. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory, this project develops an online and in-class gamified learning intervention by aligning game attributes to desired behaviours and learning outcomes. Using a pre- and post-test survey, the researchers will examine student perceptions of the gamification intervention. Students’ written reflections on their gamification experience will also be subject to a thematic analysis. The researchers anticipate an improvement in student engagement and learning outcomes. Based on the findings, a set of design principles to guide future gamification interventions will be developed.

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• Diverse people, diverse pathways: Exploring a professional development ecosystem for Learning Designers

  Kate Mitchell, Samuel Bugden

  Learning design as a profession has seen increased visibility and recruitment within Higher Education through the pandemic and beyond. However, there are known challenges for those transitioning to learning design in entering what is a heavily specialised field, and challenges for universities in recruiting and retaining quality Learning Designers, understanding the roles and skills needed, and ensuring the consistency and quality of learning design across the sector. We argue that a holistic approach to recruiting, developing and supporting these roles in practice is needed. To further conversations around Learning Designer professional development specifically, we offer an ‘ecosystem’ for conceptualising professional development and supporting Learning Designers at different stages of their journey.

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• Navigating the Future of Professional Learning: Digital Microcredentials in the Australian Context

  Leanne Ngo, Kashmira Dave, Keith Heggart

  Microcredentials have gained immense popularity in higher education institutions for their flexible and timely approach to learning. However, their true value, impact, and recognition within Australia remain largely unexplored. This paper dives into the persistent issues surrounding microcredentials in the Australian context and explores prospective avenues for their future evolution. These insights have the potential to shape the future of microcredentials by informing integration and recognition decisions, benefiting educational institutions, industry employers, and professionals alike. Moreover, this paper discusses the possibilities for further university-industry partnerships, innovative educational offerings, revenue streams, and the development of digital pedagogical curricula and assessment designs. It emphasises the importance of providing diverse options for industry employers and professional learners in their pursuit of lifelong learning and career advancement. This paper aims to shed light on these pressing issues and pave the way for a transformative future of microcredentials in Australian higher education.

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• Forging the path in the third space: Opportunities and challenges for Learning Designers in Higher Education

  Bruna Contro Pretero, James Tsatsaronis, Keith Heggart, Robert Vanderburg, Thu Hà Bùi

  This concise paper explores the role of learning designers as third-space professionals in higher education, exploring both their self-perception and the perceptions held by other professionals in the sector. Learning designers play a crucial role in learning support, program design, web-based learning, and industry partnerships, being also able to challenge traditional practices and enhance student experiences and outcomes. However, a comprehensive understanding of their roles remains complex and necessitates further exploration. The challenges faced by learning designers include ambiguous role definitions and the delicate balance of meeting diverse stakeholder expectations. Through an autoethnographic approach, members from an ASCILITE Community Mentoring Program group offer insights into the multifaceted contributions of learning designers. Recognizing, working collaboratively with, and appreciating the diverse expertise of learning designers are key factors for universities to effectively address recent societal changes and meet the evolving needs of their students.

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• Labs, Field Trips and Tours during ERT: Insights from a New Zealand Specialist Land-based University

  Victoria Rosin, Victoria Westbrooke, Xiaomeng Lucock, Alison Bailey

  Student and lecturer insights gained on the pedagogical practices used during Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) for laboratory, field trip and tour practices, should be used to inform and improve in-person and online higher education programs for the traditionally practical-based courses of agriculture, horticulture and food. Qualitative lecturer focus group data was thematically analyzed and used to develop the online student survey. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected in mid-2021 from the online survey of students. Survey qualitative data was thematically analysed and used to validate and expand on the quantitative data descriptive statistics. Findings revealed that agricultural classes with practical components can be transitioned to deliver some material online to provide additional benefits that enhance the practical components, adds to existing material, and provides benefits in the understanding of that material for students. To transition these components well requires time, funding and online pedagogy professional development to be successful.

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• “A Co-Pilot for Learning Design?”: Perspectives from Learning Designers on the Uses, Challenges, and Risks of Generative Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education

  Adelle Ryall, Dr Stephen Abblitt

  Recent rapid developments in generative artificial intelligence (genAI), including large language models (LLMs), have the potential to radically transform higher education—perhaps especially the work of learning designers. This paper investigates how learning designers are making sense of and adapting to the current challenges and future changes caused or enabled by ongoing advances in genAI and LLMs. A team of learning designers was surveyed to gain insights into how they are currently engaging with genAI and LLMs in their professional practice and in teaching and learning contexts. This paper describes how these learning designers see genAI and LLMs emerging as not only useful tools but as agential actors and collaborators in teaching and learning contexts, and how they see this changing their practice and profession now and potentially into the future.

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• University learning partnerships: Enhancing learning, enabling innovation and addressing challenges in schools

  Amanda Samson, Eduardo Oliveira

  Universities hold a significant advantage in the development of enterprising learning partnerships where internal and intentional collaboration can assist in addressing complex problems. Building a collaborative learning partnership between faculties enhances learning, removes blocks to enterprise and addresses industry problems. The learning partnership developed in this collaboration included academic staff from two different faculties, a team of students as well as input from external stakeholders including schools and pre-service teacher candidates. The approach included digital expertise and developmental pedagogies; with a shared outcome designed to meet the enterprise goals of the industry’s partner. The student team developed confidence and capacity in their ability to communicate with the industry partner as they were encouraged to be creative, equal participants with the agency to take risks and problem solve. The tangible outcome was the delivery of a minimum viable product that has potential to address issues around teacher shortage and other limits to school resourcing. Learning partnerships within universities facilitate authentic learning and encouraged enterprise.

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• Unpacking Contrary Conceptions of Digital Literacy Across a Higher Education Landscape

  Kwong Nui Sim, Joanne Orlando, Michael Cowling

  The higher education sector is changing, driven by a post-pandemic push to a more digital focused model of delivery. Whilst this change was coming before the pandemic, COVID-19 has put the need for a better understanding of digital approaches in stark relief, as individuals could no longer meet face-to-face. And yet, our perceptions of digital literacy (competency and skills) remains limited, with literature suggesting that even the use of the term ‘digital literacy’ is diverse. This paper aims to conduct a review that positions these terms more clearly with their associated stakeholders. Using a defined systematic review methodology based on Lateral, this paper identifies a disconnect between stakeholder perceptions, particularly academics and their students, as well as influences felt by the pandemic. Through this work, we aim to lay a foundation for future research in the educational technology domain, understanding these contrary conceptions and how they may be resolved.

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