Ready for digital learning? A mixed-methods exploration of surveyed technology competencies and authentic performance activity

The Digital Competency Profiler (DCP) is an online application for surveying the technology preferences and abilities of students in higher education. To explore the DCP as a digital-learning-readiness tool, a mixed-methods research design was developed for relating self-reported digital competencies and online-learning activity. To this end, three authentic scenarios, comprised of six tasks mapped to self-report items, were constructed. Having submitted their survey data, each of 15 participants visited the EILAB to complete a randomly-assigned scenario with a tablet. Both the performance activity and post-activity interviews were recorded digitally using a unique activity-station setup, and task artefacts were gathered as performance outcomes. Analysis was conducted in three phases. In Phase 1, both the audio-video performance data and activity artefacts were coded, assessed and scored. Exploratory correlational analyses showed a pattern of positive relationships at the task and scenario levels for two scenario groups, suggesting some predictive value for the DCP in this context. For the third group, a positive correlation was found at the scenario level, but negative correlations were found at the task level. In Phase 2, detailed case-studies were conducted, incorporating self-report data, coded performance timelines, and post-activity interviews. Several situational influencers related to problem-solving strategy, device comfort, task difficulty and motivation, beyond the purview of the DCP, were identified. In Phase 3, the findings were interpreted to position the DCP as a tool for identifying segments of students with members who, without support, will likely struggle to engage fully in technology-rich learning environments.     

Doctoral Research Training of Counselor Education Faculty

Counselor educators (N = 167) in programs accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs were surveyed regarding research training received during their doctoral studies. Respondents shared perspectives regarding the quality and quantity of their research course work as well as suggestions on how to enhance research training in counselor education programs. Differences in the amount, type, and attitudes toward research were found according to programs from which educators were graduated and year of graduation. The influences of mentoring as a critical practice in research training also emerged. Implications for research training in counselor education are discussed.     

A Self‐Management Strategy for Increasing Implementation of Behavioural Procedures by Residential Staff

Two preliminary studies explored the use of a self‐management strategy as a component of a training program for residential Child and Family Workers. The self‐management strategy comprised the Correspondence Training procedures of Risley (1977) and the formulation of specific implementation plans (Sanders & Glynn, 1981). Experiment 1 found that prompting staff to formulate plans of how they would implement target behaviour management skills and providing individual feedback on their performance in accordance with their plans resulted in gains in implementation of target skills; no gains in implementation resulted from Instruction and Group Feedback conditions alone. This experiment examined pooled data from 18 staff collected by regular time sampled observations. Experiment 2 introduced similar procedures in a multiple baseline design to four volunteer staff, each of whom selected two target behavioural skills from the training manual. The self‐management strategy resulted in clear gains in implementation of these self‐selected target skills by all four staff. Results are discussed in terms of the potential of the correspondence training paradigm and the formulation of specific implementation plans as an approach to on‐the‐job training of residential staff.     

The policyscape of transgender equality and gender diversity in the Western Australian education system: a case study

ABSTRACT

In this paper, our purpose is to investigate policy informing texts and discourses referencing transgender equality and gender diversity in the Western Australian education system. Drawing on scholarship from transgender, queer and policy studies, we highlight the interplay of progressive and conservative forces affecting the Western Australian education system’s commitment to supporting transgender and gender non-binary students. Based on a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) project, the paper constructs a Western Australian case study, which threads together the critical examination of policy informing texts, qualitative interview data and media discourses surrounding public narratives, such as the Safe School Coalition Australia’s attempt to implement a school program, which builds awareness about gender and sexual diversity. Emerging through the material, discursive and spatial elements of locales and networks, our case study has the potential to deepen knowledge regarding the heuristic capacity of employing policyscape as an analytic category. In this vein, we draw attention to the possibilities and challenges for re-conceptualizing gender and providing trans-affirmative school spaces that promote equality.     

The ‘Problem’ of the Female Pupil Teacher: constructions,conflict and control 1860‐1910

This paper highlights just one aspect of the highly gendered nature of nineteenth century pupil teaching and focuses on how the female pupil teacher was constructed as a ‘problem’. The paper consists of two broad sections and draws extensively upon the experience of female pupil teachers who attended pupil teacher centres during the school board period. First, to set the scene and contextualise the ‘problem’, a brief account of the feminisation of teaching and what this meant for the female pupil teacher and pupil teaching in general is explored, with particular reference to the complexities of female pupil teachers’ working life and the issue of mixed centre organisation. Secondly, there follows an analysis of how attempts were made to solve or contain the perceived ‘problem’ of the female pupil teacher through the simultaneous exercise of: moral control; protection and concern with physical and mental well‐being; moulding through the medium of ‘healthful recreation’.     

Banners for Books: “Mighty-Hearted” Kindergartners Take Action through Arts-Based Service Learning

Teaching about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, is one way to support students’ learning about issues of fairness. However, learning about this document is not enough. Students need to have experiences where they explore issues of justice and equity in order to learn about respect and dignity for others. The present study explored an arts-based project in a kindergarten classroom about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 26—The Right to Education. Over the course of several months, nineteen kindergarten students learned about educational inequities around the world and specifically about an under-resourced partner school in El Salvador. Children’s literature about human rights became the catalyst for critical conversations, written responses, and drawings inspiring action. Students worked to address injustice by screen printing images they drew about their beliefs regarding a child’s right to education on fabric banners to raise awareness about school inequity. These banners were then displayed in their school and in the partner school. Overall findings from students’ discussions, writing, illustrations, and interviews indicated that the kindergartners were able to recognize their own rights and educational privilege. Through the project they demonstrated active citizenship centered on care and sought further connections with children at the partner school. In using arts-based service learning, educators involved in the study discovered how art can be used as a creative process and a teaching method to support young learners raising awareness about global inequities.     

Contexts built and found: a pilot study on the process of archival meaning-making

Over the last 20 years, humanities and archival scholars have theorized the ways in which archives imbue records with meaning. However, archival scholars have not sufficiently examined how users understand the meaning of the records they find. Building on the premise that how users come to make meaning from records is greatly in need of examination, this paper reports on a pilot study of four book history students and their processes of archival meaning-making. We focus in particular on behaviors of an interpretive rather than forensic nature. This article includes a discussion of the theoretical concepts and scholarly literature that shaped our goals for this paper. It then discusses the methodology and our interpretations of the research findings, before turning to a discussion of the findings’ implications and directions for future work.     

Integrating environmental sustainability into universities

Universities play a fundamental role in addressing global environmental challenges as their education, research and community involvement can produce long-lasting environmental effects and societal change. By demonstrating best practice in their operations, research and teaching, universities have both multiple and multiplier effects on society. For universities to comprehensively address sustainability, a ‘learning for sustainability’ approach needs to be embedded across every aspect of institutional operations in a synergistic way. Using semi-structured interviews, this research explored the factors that influence the integration of sustainability into the operations, teaching and research activities of universities in Australia and England. The research found that individuals, committed to the goal of a more sustainable world, play a vital role in the success of integrating environmental sustainability into universities. The factors critical to enabling universities to undertake the transformational changes necessary to embed environmental sustainability into all university areas included: a strong policy environment, resourcing of strategies, and encouragement of leaders and environmental sustainability advocates. Educating and building the awareness of university staff of the importance of environmental sustainability to future generations was key to a successful strategy.     

Enthusiasts,fence-sitters and sceptics: faculty perspectives on study abroad in Australia and the Czech Republic

Although governments and universities worldwide recognise the value of study abroad as a means to prepare graduates to live and work in a globalising world, there is a wide gap between the rhetoric and reality. The reasons for this are complex, but one factor, not often discussed, is the role academics play in study abroad. This paper explores academics' perceptions of study abroad in universities within two higher education systems: Australian and Czech. Findings from both countries are considered across four themes: academics' perceived value of study abroad; ‘internationalising’ academic staff; academics' concerns about student equity and integrating study abroad into the curriculum at home. The implications for practice and further research are discussed.