Learning together: a transdisciplinary approach to student–staff partnerships in higher education

ABSTRACT

Partnership in higher education has gained prominence over recent decades, but recent studies have identified a lack of research exploring how partnership practices unfold in specific disciplinary contexts. This article explores how a transdisciplinary approach can be used to better understand and facilitate student–staff partnerships where staff and students have diverse disciplinary backgrounds and knowledge. We present a case study of the Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation at the University of Technology Sydney, focusing on the adaptation of our curriculum co-creation processes by drawing on multiple knowledge types through a reflexive process of mutual learning. We conclude that explicit consideration of these principles, which are common to both transdisciplinary and partnership frameworks, have the potential to enhance consideration of diverse perspectives and the roles played by worldviews, norms and values when building student–staff partnerships around curriculum co-creation.     

Reforms to higher education assessment reporting: opportunities and challenges

This article responds to recent UK proposals on measuring and recording student achievement (Universities UK 2007) to highlight issues that are relevant across different higher education contexts, which are increasingly intertwined through the expansion of the Bologna process. Drawing from wide-ranging literature on assessment and sociology, this paper argues that the introduction of new assessment technologies cannot be seen from a purely technical perspective but instead requires a deeper appreciation of assessment as a social practice, which contributes powerfully to the construction of learner subjectivities in ways that are not necessarily benign. Although not suggesting this leads to any easy solutions, the concept of ‘meta-social’ awareness may be useful in better supporting a diverse student body in confronting the complexities of the twenty-first century.     

Equality of opportunities in Spanish higher education

In the past few decades, there has been a sharp increase in the number of students attending higher education institutions in Spain. Many commentators believe that this expansion is associated with greater equality of opportunities as more university places offer greater potential for the advancement of students from poorer backgrounds. Unfortunately, this argument is not always true. In fact, there is empirical evidence that the expansion in higher education system disproportionately benefits children from relatively rich and well educated families. In that context, the purpose of this paper is to analyse the possible effects of socioeconomic background on the decision to complete a degree before leaving the educational system in Spain. Taking the data from the Spanish module data on school to work transitions, I estimate several logit models in order to detect the influence of personal and regional characteristics on the educational decisions. The results show that, in spite of the disappearance of universities for only the elite, socioeconomic variables heavily influence the demand for university education, so the equality of opportunities in this educational level has not been completely achieved.

Conceptualising transitions from vocational to higher education: bringing together Bourdieu and Bernstein

Abstract

In this paper we provide a framework for conceptualising transitions from Vocational Education and Training (VET) programmes to Higher Education (HE), by bringing together Bourdieu’s and Bernstein’s theoretical approaches with the view to attend to the often side-lined epistemic and pedagogical parameters. We utilise the Bourdieusian tools of field, habitus and capital to capture the relational, material and cultural aspects of HE transitions. In using a Bernsteinian lens we shed further light into how social agents acquire differentially structured and valorised knowledges and develop a sense of themselves as hierarchically positioned knowers. The metaphor of transitional frictions is utilised to capture the ongoing struggles that students with a VET background experience as they make the transition to HE. We argue for the need of widening epistemic access and putting in place enabling pedagogies that can ease these transitional frictions, thereby potentially increasing the chances of successful HE participation and completion.     

落实科学发展观实现高教新跨越

我国高等教育在新的历史时期必须确立新的思路,以科学发展观为指导,实现高等教育全面协调持续发展。结合辽宁实际,笔者提出:落实科学发展观,必须以发展为主题,科学确立发展节奏与速率,确保高等教育发展的“先导性与持续性”的有机统一;以结构优化为主线,确保高等教育结构与本地建设相适应;以质量为核心,提高高等教育为本地服务的综合实力;以体制和机制创新为动力,走出提升高等教育水平的新路子,从而实现高等教育的新跨越。     

Working toward transformational leadership in higher education

Before colleges and universities can develop leaders, they must develop a coherent vision of what leadership is. A reflection on James MacGregor Burns's concepts of transformational leadership suggests where that discussion might begin.     

Becoming a female leader in higher education: investigations from a regional university

Issues of gender imbalance in leadership have long been a significant issue in universities, as is the case across most industries. This paper explores the experiences of seven females who have successfully achieved senior leadership positions at a regional university in Australia. While the experiences of these women differ in many ways, there are certainly similarities in the challenges and adversities that they have faced, and their perceptions of what has allowed them to experience success in their leadership roles. This paper provides a number of recommendations for women aspiring to be leaders in higher education, such as committing to ongoing development, taking opportunities when presented, developing resilience, developing a track record, and seeking support, and also recommendations for institutions.     

When good people happen to bad things: Student learning in unfortunate times

As a new member of the Virginia Tech community, Frank Shushok encourages us to recognize that tragedy, albeit incredibly unfortunate and difficult, provides a temporary openness to the bigger questions of life and living.     

Language–content partnership in higher education: development and opportunities

ABSTRACT

Interdisciplinary collaboration, in the sense of partnership between English language teachers and content teachers, is significant for enhancing university students’ English-medium academic success. It has long been advocated, but it has not become a common phenomenon in higher education institutions. The present article aims to synthesize what has been revealed about such collaboration in tertiary contexts in the (English-medium) literature, and to consider implications for practice and research. A systematic approach was adopted in conducting the literature review. The main body of the article focuses on illustrating five themes grounded in the literature: theoretical perspectives on the need for interdisciplinary collaboration; motivations for interdisciplinary collaboration and slow development of the trend; interdisciplinary collaboration on a continuum of partnership; team teaching in interdisciplinary collaboration; and benefits of interdisciplinary collaboration. Implications for practice and research are then discussed.     

Advancing sustainability in higher education: issues and opportunities for research

This article explores issues related to the choice of goals and approaches for advancing sustainability in higher education through research. The paper argues that diverse nature of the questions, issues and problems facing advocates of sustainability in higher education requires a willingness to adopt an eclectic approach to the choice of research methodologies or paradigms. The views of reality and knowledge embedded in alternative research paradigms—empirical–analytical, interpretive, critical, and poststructural paradigms—are summarised briefly. The relevance of the four paradigms is illustrated by taking two issues of sustainability in higher education and exploring how they would be addressed by each one. The two issues are: campus catering services and integrating the principles of the Earth Charter into an engineering degree program. The paper concludes by reviewing the debate over whether this eclectic position is consistent with the goals of advancing sustainability in higher education.     

You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him learn: Smartphone use in higher education

Smartphone technology is penetrating world markets and becoming ubiquitous in most college settings. This study takes a naturalistic approach to explore the use of these devices to support student learning. Students that had never used a smartphone were recruited to participate and reported on their expectations of the value of smartphones to achieve their educational goals. Instrumented iPhones that logged device usage were then distributed to these students to use freely over the course of 1 year. After the study, students again reported on the actual value of their smartphones to support their educational goals. We found that students' reports changed substantially before and after the study; specifically, the utility of the smartphone to help with education was perceived as favorable prior to use, and then, by the end of the study, they viewed their phones as detrimental to their educational goals. Although students used their mobile device for informal learning and access to school resources according to the logged data, they perceived their iPhones as a distraction and a competitor to requisite learning for classroom performance.     

Adult higher education opportunities: An evaluation of sources of information

How do adults learn about higher education opportunities that are available to them? Few studies have investigated this question. The Institute for Communication Research study of the promotion of adult learning programs in the United States and the Center for Research and Development in Higher Education study of higher education opportunities for adults focused on the channels chosen by educational institutions for communicating information. This study investigates adult audiences' attentiveness and evaluation of various sources of information about opportunities for higher education. Generally, it was found that personal sources of information were evaluated more highly by adults interested in pursuing higher education than by those who were not interested. The evaluation of mass media information sources were not significantly different, however, between interested adults and not-interested adults.     

Strange things happen at sea: training and new technology in a multi-billion global industry

It is not unusual to find that employers operating in low-pay sectors are reluctant to provide vocational training. Frequently they fear benefitting competitors as better-skilled employees command a more competitive position in the labour market and may choose to leave one employer and take their newly acquired skills elsewhere. However, in contrast the expectation might reasonably be that employers in more skilled sectors would be more enthusiastic about such training particularly when the financial, environmental and human costs, of errors are high. This paper therefore analyses vocational training provision in the more skilled sector of professional seafaring. In this sector, accidents may cause massive environmental damage and loss of life, and may incur substantial fines and financial penalties. Using a mix of qualitative and quantitative data, the paper focuses upon the adequacy of the training that is provided to seafarer officers in relation to the introduction of new technology aboard their vessels.     

努力做好学会工作为我区高教改革与发展服务

文章从7个方面总结了广西高教学会过去七年所取得的成绩和存在的主要不足,提出了今后学会工作的5点设想.     

以工作过程为导向,培养高职学生英语语用能力

培养学生英语语用能力在高职英语教学中的重要性不言而喻,而以工作过程为导向的职业教育理念始终贯穿高职英语教育中的专业英语(ESP)教学。本文将这一先进的职业教育理念与学生语用能力培养结合起来,探索在高职ESP教学中,以工作过程为导向培养学生英语语用能力的有效途径。     

Learning to make change happen in Chinese schools: adapting a problem-based computer simulation for developing school leaders

School leader training has become a critical strategy in educational reform. However, in China, there still exists a big gap in terms of how to transfer leadership knowledge into practice. Thus, tools that can integrate formal knowledge into practice are called for urgently in school leader training. This paper presents the results of a research and development (R&;D) approach to adapt an existing online computer simulation, Making Change Happen?, for use in Mainland China. The paper describes the process used to inform and assess our cultural adaptation of the simulation, as well as the response of Chinese principals to learning through this innovative method. Results affirmed the necessity for cultural adaptation of ‘Western’ curricula and tools for use in the Chinese context. The positive response of the Chinese school principals to learning via an online computer simulation suggested future potential for employing technology-facilitated, active learning modes in China. Implications are outlined for theory, research, and practice.