Perspectives on pedagogical change: instructor and student experiences of a newly implemented undergraduate engineering dynamics curriculum*

Engineering education has been slow to adopt research-based educational innovations. Few prior works on such adoption have investigated the combined classroom experiences of instructors and students when such innovations are being implemented. Therefore, this work focuses on the lived experiences of an instructor and her students when adopting an active, blended, and collaborative learning environment, known as Freeform, in a second-year dynamics course. Weekly reflections from the instructor were processed alongside student interviews using Thematic Analysis to discern prominent themes in their perspectives for comparison and discussion. The results indicate that the instructor navigated internal tensions between her previous instructional preferences and the philosophy and resources of Freeform. Similarly, students had to adapt to this new philosophy and suite of resources that were uncommon for their institution. Ultimately, this work highlights the contextual natures of teaching and learning, and how situational factors can influence educational innovation.     

Legal teaching methods to diverse student cohorts: a comparison between the United Kingdom,the United States,Australia and New Zealand

This article makes a comparison across the unique educational settings of law and business schools in the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and New Zealand to highlight differences in teaching methods necessary for culturally and ethnically mixed student cohorts derived from high migration, student mobility, higher education rankings and host governments promoting educational services. The approach of grounded theory is used, drawing data from instructor interviews and class observations of their teaching styles. While instructors from universities with higher numbers of international students are under pressure, the findings indicate there are positive consequences that result from these settings. Outcomes include experimentation in teaching methods, increases in the use of technology and more teacher training. There are concerns about English-language entry tests, a possible reputational risk for the higher education industry. This research contributes to the debate on changes in teaching methods that result from student mobility towards English-medium universities.     

Barriers to learning online experienced by students with a mental health disability

Online education is widely regarded as increasing accessibility to higher education to individuals with disadvantage and disability, including those with a mental health disability. However, the learning challenges these students experience within the online learning environment are not well understood. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to better understand the barriers to learning that these students face in this environment. A qualitative content analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted with 12 students revealed three major learning barriers: (a) impact of impairment, (b) personal and situational circumstances, and (c) learning environment. These barriers were found to have wide-ranging consequences for the students’ ability to fully engage in study and their overall wellbeing. The findings lend insight into the low retention rates for this cohort of students and the learning barriers that need to be addressed by online education providers to better enhance the educational experience of these students.     

20年来国内学习困难学生研究综述

学习困难问题是近20年来国内外心理学者研究的一个热点问题，如何提高这一类学生的学习能力具有重要意义。该文叙述了我国近年来有关学习困难研究的主要特点和主要研究领域，包括学习困难的界定和类型、学习困难的心理特点以及教育干预等方面的成果，在此基础上提出了未来研究要解决的问题。     

大学公共英语课程与教学测评分析

由于受到传统应试教育的深远影响,高校英语教学始终还是存在着传统应试教育的身影,但是在很多教学理念以及教学的手段和方法上已经极大地超越了传统应试教育模式的束缚,逐渐给学生营造出了更自由更利于自我发挥的学习环境,但是英语的教学模式改革还应该继续深入的开展下去,这其中对大学英语课程改革所取得的成果我们也应该要有一个更为直观的认识,对大学公共英语课程的教学评测则显得尤为重要。     

University student perspectives on institutional non-disclosure of disability and learning challenges: reasons for staying invisible

ABSTRACT

Students with disabilities (SWD) in Australian higher education need to disclose to their institution to access a range of ‘reasonable adjustments’ to support their learning. Nationally, 5.8% of the university population disclose their disability to their institution. It is suspected that there is a much larger population of students who choose non-disclosure, and therefore decide not to access support. Very little is known about the reasons for non-disclosure as this group represents a hidden population in higher education. The research reported here is based on a survey of undergraduate students in one regional Australian university where disability was reframed as ‘learning challenge’. This identified the institutionally non-disclosed group. This research identified that there were sound reasons for non-disclosure, students continually weigh up potential disclosure during their study, and students have difficulty with the disclosure process. We conclude that institutions need to understand that they have an invisible group of non-disclosing SWD in their student populations and that, to meet their learning challenges, universities need to support changes to policies, procedures and curriculum design.     

Reaching beyond an online/offline divide: invoking the rhizome in higher education course design

In the rush to digitise aspects of higher education to cater to an increasingly diverse and wide-ranging university market, there is a concern that best-practice teaching and learning based on sound pedagogy may be left behind. This article addresses this concern by offering a conceptual reimagining of the learning space that reaches beyond a digital/non-digital divide. The authors’ argument posits that imagining online and offline as different learning spaces confuses a necessary pedagogical correlation between learning delivery and learning objective that allows questions of digital (or non-digital) delivery primacy over questions of pedagogical quality. To reassert the significance of pedagogically driven course structure and design, the authors invoke Deleuze and Guattari’s image of the non-hierarchical rhizome to deconstruct binary thinking and to recognise online and offline as elements of the same pedagogical space. They then use Wenger, White, and Smith’s Digital Habitat metaphor to reimagine course design as the creation of context-sensitive learning habitats that cater to the differing needs of blended and online-only students, within a single pedagogical ecosystem.     

A Theory of Motivation and Ontological Enhancement: The role of disability policy in student empowerment and institutional change

As debate continues around the nature and values of education, it is important to ask the question of what factors motivate a student to engage with the ends of an educational institution. In this paper, a broad, holistic view of learner motivation, derived from Aristotelian ethics, is used to provide a model to drive institutional change.

Focussing on the approach of one Higher Education institution to the particular accommodations required for students with disabilities, the paper identifies three factors which motivate students, a failure to engage with the aims and ends of the educational project, a failure to see that a particular learning aim is worth attaining, and a simple lack of will‐power to attain it. To each of these failures a social cause is identified, and a change in both the institutional culture and the individual learner's approach to their education is suggested.     

A Theory of Motivation and Ontological Enhancement: The role of disability policy in student empowerment and institutional change

As debate continues around the nature and values of education, it is important to ask the question of what factors motivate a student to engage with the ends of an educational institution. In this paper, a broad, holistic view of learner motivation, derived from Aristotelian ethics, is used to provide a model to drive institutional change.
Focussing on the approach of one Higher Education institution to the particular accommodations required for students with disabilities, the paper identifies three factors which motivate students, a failure to engage with the aims and ends of the educational project, a failure to see that a particular learning aim is worth attaining, and a simple lack of will-power to attain it. To each of these failures a social cause is identified, and a change in both the institutional culture and the individual learner's approach to their education is suggested.     

Ambience in social learning: student engagement with new designs for learning spaces

An imperative to develop the social experience of learning has led to the design of informal learning spaces within libraries. Yet little is known about how these spaces are used by students or how students perceive them. Field work in one such space is reported. The general private study practice of undergraduates was captured through audio diaries, while activity in the learning space was directly observed, and students provided reflective perspectives in focus groups and through spot conversations. Results suggest such spaces are popular and yet stimulate limited group work. Yet other, less intense, forms of productive collaboration did occur and a taxonomy of four such types of encounter is offered. Of particular importance to students was access to a ‘social ambience’ for study. The results encourage institutions to design for a mixed economy of student choice over learning spaces and to consider modes of encouraging diversity in their use.     

Effects of teacher professional characteristics on student achievement: an investigation in blended learning environment with standards-based curriculum

Use of different teaching materials and curriculum for the same subjects is always a confounding factor in studies investigating teacher characteristics and student achievement. The purpose of this study is to understand the effects of different teacher qualities on student achievement in high schools with a standards-based curriculum delivered over a blended learning environment. Utilizing quantitative research approach, this study investigates the effects of teacher characteristics and teaching practices in a course offered through Cisco Networking Academy, which has a standards-oriented curriculum delivered online. Participants in the study were 226 teachers and 3299 students from Networking Academies located in the USA. The findings suggest that certain teacher characteristics such as teaching experience, degree, and primary teaching field do not have effects on student achievement.     

Factors affecting student engagement in HEIs - it is all about good teaching

The passive role of students in their learning and education and the absence of student engagement in higher education institutions (HEIs) are quite common in many higher education institutions in developing countries. The main objective of the research presented in this paper is to explore the influential factors on student engagement in HEIs in the situational frame where student engagement and active learning and teaching do not have a long tradition. To answer our research questions, we conducted a survey with 279 undergraduate students from four universities in Libya. Our findings show that the availability and active usage of the university’s ICTs resources, the university’s reputation and teachers’ activating influence on students most efficiently predict student engagement in HEIs. The role of teachers and their competencies to use active learning techniques are perceived to be very influential in promoting student engagement.     

Applying the scholarship of teaching and learning: student perceptions,behaviours and success online and face-to-face

This study compares student perceptions, learning behaviours and success in online and face-to-face versions of a Principles of Microeconomics course. It follows a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) approach by using a cycle of empirical analysis, reflection and action to improve the learning experience for students. The online course design involves 58 interactive narrated online modules, interactive online quizzes and biweekly online meetings with the instructor via video and voice-over-IP technology. Findings indicate that schedule flexibility motivates students to choose the online course format. Students in both learning environments felt they had high-quality communication with the instructor, while online students indicated limited peer-to-peer communication. Online students report studying more at home than face-to-face students, but not enough to compensate for the time face-to-face students spend in class. Reflecting on the findings, the authors suggest actions to improve the online course experience.     

Exploring the retention and success of students with disability in Australian higher education

The proportion of higher education students with disability is increasing. We know there is institutional variation in retention and performance of higher education students with disability, and there is a need to understand the reasons for this. This exploratory national study examines supports and adjustments provided by universities, including the role of disability practitioners, influence retention and performance of students with disability. The study uses a mixed-methods approach. National equity retention and performance data are analysed by higher education institution. Qualitative data on institutional policies and practices collected from a purposive sample of Australian higher education institutions are then analysed. Findings from the study include identification of factors linked to retention and performance of students with disability, including different types of disability.     

On PAR with young people: learnings from the SARUA project

The Student Action Research for University Access (SARUA) is a participatory action research project between groups of senior high school students, their schoolteachers and university staff. During the 8 years of its activities in at least 17 high schools in the greater metropolitan area of Brisbane, Australia significant learnings have developed about working with students on projects that affect their own lives. This article problematises aspects of partnerships and collaboration between two diverse cultures of the university and the school and discusses the benefits of such collaboration, some of the challenges faced and the responsibilities of the university partners in facilitating action research with young people.     

Academic practice as explanatory framework: reconceptualising international student academic engagement and university teaching

This paper joins growing interest in the concept of practice, and uses it to reconceptualise international student engagement with the demands of study at an Australian university. Practice foregrounds institutional structures and student agency and brings together psychologically- and socially-oriented perspectives on international student learning approaches. Utilising discourse theory, practice is defined as habitual and individual instances of socially-contextualised configurations of elements such as actions and interactions, roles and relations, identities, objects, values, and language. In the university context, academic practice highlights the institutionally-sanctioned ways of knowing, doing and being that constitute academic tasks. The concept is applied here to six international students' ‘readings’ of and strategic responses to academic work in a Master of Education course. It is argued that academic practice provides a comprehensive framework for explaining the interface between university academic requirements and international student learning, and the crucial role that teaching has in facilitating the experience.     

小学学业不良儿童的班级同伴关系探析

同伴是小学生学习、生活中的重要他人，同伴在儿童的发展过程中有着成人所无法取代的地位。学业不良儿童由于学业上的失败，而遭到同伴的排斥、拒绝。就这一类儿童而言，他们的班级同伴关系大致有对立的同伴关系、疏远的同伴关系、矛盾的同伴关系三种，且在交往对象、范围、同伴的组成，以及彼此间的影响上都与非学业不良儿童有着差异。本文从教师和学生两个角度来探讨了改善学业不良儿童班级同伴关系的对策。     

Inclusion of students with disability in physical education: a qualitative meta-analysis

Inclusive physical education (PE) for students with disability (SWD) evolved in line with ethical requirements and stakeholder morality. While inclusive PE is embraced at a conceptual level and desired at the classroom level, the complexity of successful implementation often remains overlooked in policy and curriculum guidelines. Qualitative studies on inclusive PE are generally small-scale, context-specific and limited in applicability to other settings, while current narrative reviews may indiscriminately select qualitative findings. To overcome existing limitations and extend understanding of world-wide teaching and learning experiences within inclusive PE, we conducted qualitative meta-analysis to systematically synthesise primary qualitative findings into secondary interpretations. First, 7 electronic databases were systematically searched to identify peer-reviewed articles published between 2000 and 2016. Of 672 identified records, 12 met pre-set inclusion criteria. Second, an inductive-deductive hybrid analysis approach revealed two major and eight minor themes. Overall, themes indicated physical educators conceptually embraced inclusive PE with a creative outlook for collaboration, knowledge and support. Cooperative and supportive efforts between physical educators, SWD, parents and teacher aides are valued in creating PE environments that effectively respond to learner diversity. While access to practical teaching guidance remains scarce, this study may contribute to physical educator practice.     

Undergraduate experiences of the research/teaching nexus across the whole student lifecycle

ABSTRACT

There is currently much interest in the interconnections between research and teaching in Higher Education. This relationship is usually termed ‘the research/teaching nexus’ (RTN). However, within this wide body of literature, there has been little attempt to explore the emergent experiences of students across the entire length of their degree programme. Drawing on the results of a three-year qualitative study that followed 40 students through their whole student lifecycle, this paper explores how undergraduates in an English university experienced the RTN, how those experiences developed over time, and how these changes can be variously enabled or constrained. Situating the findings in the context of the ‘post-truth’ society and the uncertainty of employment futures, the paper highlights how the nexus can also often serve to exclude students as much as it includes.