Social network perspectives reveal strength of academic developers as weak ties

Social network perspectives acknowledge the influence of disciplinary cultures on academics’ teaching beliefs and practices with implications for academic developers. The contribution of academic developers in 18 scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) projects situated in the sciences are explored by drawing on data from a two-year national project in Australia within a case study research design. The application of a social network lens illuminated the contribution of eight academic developers as weak ties who infused SoTL knowledge within teams. Two heuristic cases of academic developers who also linked across networks are presented. Implications of social network perspective are discussed.     

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With the acceleration of globalization, academic developers from institutions and countries with established educational development programs and networks are called upon increasingly to share their expertise and offer guidance to colleagues in emerging higher education contexts. Based on a higher education conference held in Beijing in 2009, this paper captures the learning as the Chinese host institutions and international exchange partners progressed toward a more developed understanding and application of elastic, post-colonial approaches to the interchange. It includes a set of recommendations and guidelines to assist future international exchanges, based on the insights gained throughout this rich experience.     

Academic development,SoTL and educational research

This essay considers the relation between academic development, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and educational research. It does so with reference to questions of academic identity and disciplinary expertise, arguing that as developers we need to consider carefully the ways in which we frame how we approach attempts to foster reflective practice through the scholarship of teaching and learning. Rather than positioning SoTL as educational research, it may make more sense to approach it strategically as a means of development oriented towards more local levels of practice.     

Do academic developers’ conceptions support an integrated academic practice? A comparative case study from Hong Kong and Singapore

ABSTRACT

Academic development (AD) is increasingly being oriented towards an integrated approach to academic practice (AP), given arguments for the importance of integrating research, learning, and teaching. Given the complex and evolving character of AD as a profession, it is important to understand the conceptions of AD held by academic developers, who can play a key role in supporting conditions for such integration. This comparative case study explores conceptions of AD and the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) held by academic developers at two universities in Hong Kong and Singapore, and examines the extent to which these conceptions support an integrated AP. The findings show that not all conceptions recognise the importance of integration; moreover, though in both cases aspects of integration come to the fore, there are gaps that militate against a fuller understanding of integrating teaching and research. The study has implications for future AD practice and raises questions about using SoTL as a means of fostering teaching and research integration.     

Fostering collaborative teaching and learning scholarship through an international writing group initiative

The research presented here explored the experiences of participants in an international collaborative writing group (ICWG) initiative that ran in conjunction with the 2012 International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSoTL) conference. The ICWG sought to cultivate collaborative pedagogical scholarship by bringing together a range of international academics to co-author articles on teaching and learning topics of shared interest. Data were collected via online surveys at the beginning and end of the initiative and interim focus groups/interviews. In addition to suggesting that the ICWG is an effective means of fostering collaborative writing, the results point to a number of factors that might also influence collaboration in other contexts: modes of collaboration, opportunities for social dialogue, developing a shared vision and voice, and leadership. Implications and applications of the findings, as well as areas of further research, are discussed.     

Academic difficulties encountered by East Asian international university students in New Zealand

The study focused on learning difficulties experienced by East Asian International (EAI) students. Participants were 117 EAI students undertaking tertiary study at a major university, all were surveyed and 21 students were interviewed. The findings suggest that language limitations, academic content and learning styles were associated with difficulties in their learning. Difficulties with academic content appeared to act as the major barrier to their academic performance rather than English language. This is contrary to earlier findings, where Asian students often experienced difficulties in tasks that are particularly related to language proficiency. The study also contradicted the popular belief that Asian students are only surface learners.     

Engagement in learning: a comparison between Asian and European international university students

Drawing on research on both engagement in learning and approaches to learning, we examine the associations between international students’ approaches to learning, factors in the teaching/learning environment and self-assessed academic outcomes. A total of 307 students responded to our survey. Their experience of the purposefulness of their course assignments and the relevance of their studies was related to students having a deep approach to learning and being organised in their studies. Moreover, students applying a deep approach to learning and being organised in studying seemed to perceive their study success more positively. Furthermore, the better students’ perception of how well their courses were organised and aligned with other studies, the lower their stress level was. The Asian students in our study exhibited a slightly more surface approach to learning, and were more organised in their studies than the European students, but the differences were very small.     

大学生学业情绪与学习适应关系研究

研究采用专业的测评工具对山西省两所高水平大学学生的学业情绪与学习适应及其关系进行实证研究.结果发现:大学生积极学业情绪高于消极学业情绪,结果定向情绪高于同一愉悦度下活动定向情绪;学生在学习中能够体验到较多的自主感与成就感,但羞愧、焦虑等情绪正困扰着相当部分学生.大学生学习适应的总体状态较为良好,近三成学生表现出适应状态...     

高职院校学生学业情绪与学业自我妨碍的关系研究

学生积极学业情绪的培养和引导,不仅可以缓解学业自我妨碍行为,还可以提高学生学业自我效能感和成就感,提升课堂学习的质量和教学水平。因此,要提高学生积极学业情绪的调节和管控能力,激发积极学习情绪,促进学生全面综合发展。     

对我国学术期刊国际化发展的一点思考

21世纪的期刊出版市场竞争格局发生了巨大变化，科技学术期刊面临更严峻的考验，同时也为其走向世界提供了发展机遇。机遇与挑战共存，学术科技期刊任重道远，要尽快建立适应市场经济条件的、适应改革开放和国际化发展的新型办刊模式，求生存，谋发展。     

学业情绪及其研究进展

学业情绪对学生的学习与成长有重要影响作用。近年来,国内外研究不仅对学业情绪的概念和维度有了明确的界定,并形成了一定的理论基础,同时还在学业情绪的特殊性以及对学业情绪的干预调节方面取得了新的进展,未来研究的方向主要集中在进一步深入探讨学业情绪与相关影响因素之间的关系以及积极探索适合不同学生群体的干预措施等方面。     

运动的观点在高等数学教学中的运用

高等数学是关于变量的数学,它研究的对象是变量和图形的变化,并且由于引进了极限运算,它的研究方法是动态的、联系的,因而是辨证的.因此,在教学中要引导学生改变以往的思维模式,一是启发他们用运动变化的观点思考问题,理解概念、定理.二是想象让图形“活动”起来,使抽象理论变得具体生动,增强直观形象性.在动态意义下培养数学审美意识,激发创造精神.     

Academic Care: Building Resilience, Building Futures

In this article, the author explores the ways in which several schools in the New South Wales Independent sector have created learning teams to develop the pastoral capacity of schools. The focus of the work in schools, through the Community Change Project, has been on learning and psycho-social development as the domain of all teachers, in all classrooms. The project has led to the development of the notion of Academic Care. Academic Care involves enhancing student learning and well-being through pedagogies and processes that are sympathetic to student needs and embedded in learning experiences.     

Promoting a culture of scholarship among educational developers: exploring institutional opportunities

Educational developers tend to be located in centres and units of teaching and learning outside the academic mainstream. They have little opportunity to engage in scholarship. Through an overview of the literature on educational development and educational professional roles and responsibilities, the author suggests that promoting a culture of scholarship among educational developers will contribute significantly towards their pedagogical professional development. It will enhance the quality of professional consultation between educational developers and academic staff in the faculties. The discussion concludes with suggestions for implementing innovative strategies to promote a culture of scholarship within the higher education academic mainstream.     

Research and the academic developer: A new agenda

This paper argues that there is a need for academic developers to reassess their relationship to research, and suggests that research has to come centre stage in the practice of staff, educational and∧or academic development. The paper discusses the reasons for this and considers the implications for academic development practice. It begins with a discussion of some trends that signal the growing importance of inquiry for higher education. It highlights the important role that research and scholarship are coming to have in preparing students for a society characterized by uncertainty, complexity and plurality. It is argued that developers must become involved in this and that, if they are to be taken seriously in the future, they must become credible as researchers. Different models of the relationship between research and teaching highlight the role of developers in moving teaching and learning forward in a higher education context where teaching and research are more closely allied. Finally, the paper considers what developers need to do to prepare for the challenges lying ahead. In the argument, examples from the author's own practice are used to illustrate developers' changing agendas.     

学业情绪及其相关研究

学业情绪是在教学或学习过程中,与学生学业相关的各种情绪体验。控制价值理论认为不同的评估事件决定了预想结果情绪、回顾结果情绪和活动情绪。学业情绪具有领域特殊性,与学习动机、元认知、认知资源等有密切关系。今后应重视其领域特殊性、诱发性维度、网络学业情绪的相关研究,以及学业情绪与自我调节和外部调节学习的研究。     

The development of personal,intercultural and professional competence in international field experience in initial teacher education

This paper reports a qualitative case study of four preservice student teachers’ professional learning experiences in an international field experience programme situated in the language and cultural immersion component of a PGDE(Primary) Programme in Hong Kong. Two of the student teachers undertook the international field experience in Australia and Canada. The other two had their “non-local” field experience in mainland China1. The findings reveal student teachers' development in personal and intercultural competence in cross-cultural experiences. Their professional learning experiences in the action context, socio-professional context, and supervisory context of the cross-cultural school settings, and their reflection upon these experiences constituted the development of their professional competence. Suggestions for improvement of the international field experience programme and implications for future research are discussed.     

Mandatory trialling of support services by international students: what they choose and how they reflect

This paper evaluates a strategy to promote the uptake of support services by international students (ISs) at an Australian university. As part of their assessment, ISs completed a so-called ‘University Service Reflection Task’ (USRT) in a core first-year course. To complete the USRT, all ISs accessed one support service (e.g. language consultation, study skills workshop, careers guidance), then submitted a written reflection about the experience. Using responses to a questionnaire by 155 participants, the researchers investigated which services ISs attended for the USRT and patterns of prior attendance. Students' perspectives were explored by analysing 73 reflective essays. The results showed that two-thirds of the students participated in a service for the first time in order to complete the USRT and favoured services that had closest application to their coursework. Students expressed positive feelings about their experiences and reported learning gains, particularly in the areas of study skills and development of academic language.     

Unpacking academic requirements: international students in Management and Education disciplines

This paper reports the findings of a qualitative case study that explores how international students in different disciplines struggle to interpret their disciplinary requirements. The study shows the emergence of five main forms of unpacking academic expectations that individual students in the study employed. It will be argued that these international students appear to be active and capable of drawing on various strategies and problem‐solving skills in order to take control of their academic life and enable them to participate in the academic practices of their discipline. The students' experiences also indicate that the interaction and dialogue they establish with their lecturers plays a significant role in their success in the course.