An Exploratory Study of International Students Studying and Living in a Regional Area

The aim of this research is to explore the similarity and differences international students encounter while studying and living in a regional area of Australia as compared to their Asian homeland. This study builds on both academic and lifestyle issues previously identified in research and explores the international students' experiences on their academic adjustments while living in a regional area. The findings of this investigation identified three themes: education, finance, and culture. The analysis identified that students experience some level of difficulty at an initial stage but were positively accustomed to the local settings after a period of time. Finally, the findings in this paper are valuable to educational institutions, especially those of regional areas seeking to understand how international students behave and act when studying and living in a regional area. Additionally, this paper will also give prospective students an overall understanding of what to expect when they choose to study in a regional area in Australia.     

The Subject of Post-structuralism: A reply to Alison Jones

ABSTRACT Alison Jones finds in the writing of her students who take up post-structuralism, a confused humanism, an illegitimate appearance of a prediscursive self. She attributes this to some aspects of my writing and to the students' failure to understand the structuralist base of post-structuralism. Jones argues that I and her students are guilty of humanism when we use active verbs such as 'positioning' or 'forced choice', or when we try to imagine what agency might be in a post-structuralist framework. In this reply I produce a detailed reading of Jones'. In doing so, I attempt to find how she produced her reading of my writing, and at the same time to extend my understanding of what the 'post-structuralist subject' might be. I attend to this in the dual sense of human beings as subjects, and the subject of post-structuralism as we teach it to our students.     

First-year tertiary students' understandings of iron filing patterns around a magnet

This paper describes responses from 28 first-year university physics students to one question of a written test which was followed up by an interview. The study has two main research aims. Firstly, it characterises the conceptual structures of students regarding the phenomenon in question. As well as being interesting in their own right, these student understandings cast light on some broader issues regarding understanding of field representations. While students' understandings of circuit electricity are well described in the existing science education literature, their understandings of field phenomena are not. Secondly, it throws light on theoretical questions about the SOLO Taxonomy, which is the framework used to study the students' conceptual structures. Of particular interest is the nature of student thinking that marks transition from the Concrete Symbolic to the Formal SOLO mode in this area. Specializations: physics education, electricity and magnetism, conceptual structures, SOLO Taxonomy. Specializations: SOLO Taxonomy, conceptual structures, mathematics education.     

Cognitive maps and the structure of observed learning outcome assessment of physiotherapy students’ ethical reasoning knowledge

Assessment of student learning in complex areas is challenging, particularly when there is interest in students’ deeper understanding and connectivity of concepts. Assessment of ethics learning has been limited by lack of consensus regarding what is effective and an overfocus on quantification at the expense of clinical or ethical relevance. Cognitive maps provide one means to evaluate depth and personal meaning of students’ ethics knowledge. A pre-/post-test design using cognitive maps and the structure of observed learning outcome (SOLO) taxonomy was used to assess student learning on completion of a six-week intensive ethics course. Thirty-seven students completed the research. Student learning was supported by significant changes in component (content, labelling, relationships and structure/visual message), and total pre- and post-test cognitive map scores, and significant change in pre- and post-test SOLO scores. A strong relationship was found between cognitive map improvement and SOLO improvement. Student written commentaries describing their post-test cognitive map provided a richer, more elaborated account of their understanding that qualitatively enhanced their cognitive maps. Cognitive maps offer an alternative to traditional ethics assessment strategies.     

A critique of water scarcity discourses in educational policy and textbooks in Jordan

This article investigates the representation of water scarcity in Jordanian textbooks to understand its role on improving education on environmental sustainability. People's understanding of an issue guides their actions toward finding and implementing appropriate solutions to what they perceive as a problem. Discourses are key in constructing people's understanding of issues, in this case, water scarcity. This article shows the role of textbooks and of the educational system in constructing a discourse of water scarcity that frames the issue as due to nature, to neighboring countries, and to refugees. It then demonstrates how this framing opens and drives toward supply-side solutions and discusses to what extent the representations of water scarcity strive to achieve a better education on environmental sustainability.     

Using Interactive Journal Writing as a Strategy for Professional Growth

In recent years journal writing as a tool for reflective practice has gained prominence in teacher education programs. This paper reports the investigation of journal writing as a means for student teachers and university to better understand the process of learning to teach. The aims of the study were to examine how journals are used; to explore what students learn and what university teachers learn; and to identify which strategies work best. Survey and interview data were collected from the student authors of the journals. Analysis of the data contributed to our understanding of the process of interactive journal writing and the strategies we used as university teachers. Students used the journals in a number of ways. They used the journals to get direction on practice and planning, as a tool for analysis, as an emotion release, and as a way of 'sorting things out'. Students identified a number of strategies used by the university teachers as journal respondents which contributed to students' learning about teaching. This research focused our attention on interactive journal writing as a strategy that has the potential to promote reflective practice.     

Students' understanding of concepts related to plant growth

This paper reports on an investigation into students' understanding of the concept of plant growth. There are three aspects to the research. First, responses of Australian primary students to questions concerning plant growth are compared with those identified in British research (Russell & Watt, 1990). Second, the answers of secondary students, Year 7-Year 12, to questions concerning plant growth were analysed and common categories of responses were identified. Finally, the response categories were considered within the framework offered by the SOLO Taxonomy of Biggs and Collis (1982, 1991). In particular, interest was focused on whether the findings of an earlier study (Levins, 1992) in which cycles of development in the understandings of the concept of evaporation were established, might be observed in the concept of plant growth. Specializations secondary science curriculum, biology and chemistry teacher education. Specializations secondary mathematics curriculum topics, the SOLO Taxonomy, student cognitive growth.     

Student opinions and perceptions of undergraduate thermodynamics courses in engineering

Thermodynamics is a fundamental foundation of all engineering disciplines. A vast majority of engineering undergraduate programmes contain one or more courses on thermodynamics, and many engineers use thermodynamics every day to analyse or design energy systems. However, there is extensive anecdotal evidence as well as a wide range of published literature indicating that students often struggle to understand thermodynamic principles. In an effort to understand students' attitudes and perception of thermodynamics, including their expectations, experience and frustrations, an investigation was conducted. Following a review of the literature on the teaching and learning of thermodynamics in engineering, a survey questionnaire was developed and administered to close to a 1000 students in 17 thermodynamics classes at 13 universities in 7 countries. Survey results were analysed using statistical methods. This paper presents the findings of this investigation.     

Environmental Thought,the Language of Sustainability,and Digital Watches

The field of education, and derivatively environmental education, is filled with inherently difficult concepts, yet we have not, I believe, given sufficient attention to understanding these ideas that ground our work. For example, the term 'education for sustainability,' has gained rapid acceptance yet little critical attention has been given to the term. Before launching into a critique, I do acknowledge the importance of 'sustainability' and the usefulness of this concept in environmental thinking. Many ecological processes are not sustained-not kept going continuously. Species are going extinct at an alarming rate and whole ecosystems are at risk. So, it is important to talk about sustainability. However, I argue that this alone is not sufficient. In this article I examine limitations associated with the language of sustainability and their implications for environmental thinking. Using the idea of digital watches as a metaphor, I explore what sustainability is not. Contemporary examples from advertising, curriculum development, and 'wildlife management' will be used to illustrate the central theme.     

Metacognitive analysis of pre-service teacher conception of Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) using blogs

Previous studies have sought to ascertain Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) conception in pre-service teachers. This exploratory study investigated the problems outlined in the literature surrounding the development of TGfU understanding among pre-service teachers (n = 44) of the curriculum instruction model. Blog postings were analysed over an eight-week period to identify the varying levels of student conception of TGfU using the Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) taxonomy in order to ascertain whether there are specific aspects of TGfU conception that prevent learning of deeper concepts. The study found that students move through at least two SOLO levels of metacognitive development. For pre-service teachers, TGfU represents a challenge to their pedagogical paradigm. This may limit their understanding of TGfU when they perceive that it is not antithetical to their existing paradigm but rather it represents a balanced approach to achieving the goals of skill-based instruction.     

Engineering students’ sustainability approaches

Sustainability issues are increasingly important in engineering work all over the world. This article explores systematic differences in self-assessed competencies, interests, importance, engagement and practices of newly enrolled engineering students in Denmark in relation to environmental and non-environmental sustainability issues. The empirical base of the article is a nation-wide, web-based survey sent to all newly enrolled engineering students in Denmark commencing their education in the fall term 2010. The response rate was 46%. The survey focused on a variety of different aspects of what can be conceived as sustainability. By means of cluster analysis, three engineering student approaches to sustainability are identified and described. The article provides knowledge on the different prerequisites of engineering students in relation to the role of sustainability in engineering. This information is important input to educators trying to target new engineering students and contribute to the provision of engineers equipped to meet sustainability challenges.     

A synthesis of the literature on research methods education

The purpose of this research synthesis is to examine the current research on teaching and learning research methods. The aims are to understand the themes present in the current literature and identify gaps in our understanding of how we teach, and how students learn, research methods. A synthesis of 89 studies generated three themes: (1) characteristics of students taking a research methods course, (2) teaching methods and techniques, and (3) content and course goals. Gaps identified include a lack of research on assessment and on what and how students learn in research methods courses. The majority of studies reviewed were teacher reports of attempted teaching strategies so that an additional need exists for other types of research into the teaching and learning of research methods such as case studies of students' learning or experimental studies of assessment techniques. Suggestions for instructors and future research are considered.     

Applying the Structure of the Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) Taxonomy on Student's Learning Outcomes: An empirical study

This article explores the application of different educational taxonomies in measuring students' cognitive learning outcomes. The objectives were to compare three educational taxonomies--namely, the Structure of the Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) taxonomy, Bloom's taxonomy and reflective thinking measurement model--and to test the application value of these taxonomies. A comparative literature review was conducted to provide an underlying conceptual framework. Recommendations from this review were examined experimentally. Scripts of long essay papers and short classroom discussion responses were analyzed by the modified versions of the taxonomies. It was found that SOLO is suitable for measuring different kinds of learning outcomes. However, finer categorization of SOLO levels did not eradicate the problem of SOLO's conceptual ambiguity. It is suggested that the next step of research should be on setting up panels of judges to find out which taxonomy is suitable for measuring what learning outcomes under which contexts.     

Implementing 'visual thinking' in the Engineering Orientation course

Implementing an Engineering Orientation course for freshman year over several years has allowed the author to understand the problems that students face in developing the design skills that they will need in their future career. Using the material prepared by the students in discussing general engineering issues has been shown to be very effective. Including the 'visual thinking' technique in the course enhanced understanding and motivation to participate in the discussions. We argue that if students were to be exposed to this same practice throughout their education, the level of professional skills that they would develop until graduation would better satisfy the requirements of working places.     

以SOLO分类为基础的学生学习质量评价初探

以SOLO分类为基础的学生学习质量评价，将教育目标表述为对学生学习能力的要求，以测验的方式了解学生解决问题时表现出的认知发展水平。它不局限于考察学生掌握知识的量和类型，而是重视评价学生学习效果的质量。SOLO分类用结构特征解释学生对问题的五种结构反应，通过学生的反应与教师预设的教学目标的比较，分析影响学生学习效果的因素，为教师改进教学提供依据，帮助不同认知水平的学生在他们自身的基础上提高。     

Reconceptualising engineering education: Creating spaces for outcomes and dialogical agape

Most of the current theoretical perspectives espousedby many South African engineering educators arecommensurate with some radical internationaldevelopments in the engineering realm. Thesedevelopments are aimed at getting students to think,or go beyond the information given with theintegrative skill of bringing knowledge, skills,understanding and experience together in problemsolving activities and environment, which providesstudents with the best kind of preparation forlifelong independent learning. The rationale of thispaper is determined by an understanding thatengineering education at most higher educationinstitutions in South Africa is dominated by theacquisition of content, that is, ``knowing-that'.Limited epistemological and pragmatic space are beingallowed for students to engage critically withengineering knowledge, as well as to apply suchknowledge skillfully. This idea of engineering education isincommensurate with a general principle that ought toshape any form of education whereby students ought toengage not to do ``this or that', but to learn how tothink, understand and imagine themselves.In the first part of the paper a critical reflectionon the literature aims to establish connectionsbetween an understanding of engineering education andpatterns of meaning which make the concept what it is.Secondly, it is argued that an eclectic approach toengineering education is necessary in order that bothfacts (``knowing-that') and skills (``knowing-how')acquisition and application become the rationale whichwould enhance and expand engineering teaching andlearning beyond its present reduction to factual,technical content. Finally, it is shown that an eclecticapproach to engineering education has its limitationsand needs to be supplemented by the notion ofdialogical agape (love) which allows space fortransformatory learning, respect for persons and``imaginative reconstructions' of learning that canmove beyond the boundaries of socially negotiatedoutcomes.     

Engaging identities in a regional university classroom

This paper examines the coincidence between how lecturers teach and what students expect to learn at a regional university in Australia. It looks outside cognitive and behavioural theories of motivation to find that both students and lecturers are driven by a common goal, but it is not a methodology. I examine the ways in which students and lecturers seek support for their identity, and how their desire for recognition can support or interfere with the aims of education. The paper proposes that one of the fundamental challenges in higher education is to understand what goes on in-between students and lecturers in the university classroom. While many lecturers in this study are already doing this, there continues to be only an intuitive understanding of what motivates the relation between learning and teaching.     

First‐year Biology Students’ Understandings of Meiosis: An investigation using a structural theoretical framework

Meiosis is a biological concept that is both complex and important for students to learn. This study aims to explore first‐year biology students’ explanations of the process of meiosis, using an explicit theoretical framework provided by the Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome (SOLO) model. The research was based on responses of 334 first‐year biology students to practical and examination questions about meiosis, together with student interviews. Students’ written responses were coded, which resulted in a hierarchy of qualitatively different categories consistent with recent developments in the SOLO model. Most responses described a number of the less abstract elements of meiosis, but not in a coherent, relational manner, and interviews elucidated several areas of confusion about meiosis and its subordinate concepts. These findings are consistent with much previous research, and provide insights into both the use of the SOLO model as a research tool and students’ understandings of meiosis. In conjunction with previous research, the results of this study raise questions beyond its local context about the match between students’ apparent understandings and university expectations. The implications of the study relate to the use of terminology, the treatment of meiosis in textbooks, and some specific issues of pedagogy.     

高校学生对可持续发展的认知研究——基于全球261所高校的调查数据

联合国教科文组织自2015年以来在全球范围内开展了一项针对高校学生的可持续发展认知测试，其测试结果开创性地勾勒出了高校学生可持续发展认知的全球图景。基于该测试第一批次全球261所高校的调查数据分析发现，高校学生已具备基本的可持续发展知识和素养，可持续教育已普遍纳入高校的培养计划，未来需要更多地在实践活动中培养学生的可持续责任意识，“可持续发展为导向的大学”理念广泛受到认同与传播。中国高校学生在测试中整体表现优于国际平均水平，这是近年来我国高校开展可持续教育的成果体现。可持续发展教育的进一步推进需要政策、理论和实践等多层面的支持和联动。我国高校围绕立德树人的重要目标，应把可持续发展理念融入学生核心素养和综合素质培养之中。