Professional learning in higher education: making good practice relevant

Professionals working in a range of contexts are increasingly expected to engage in ongoing professional learning to maintain their skills and develop their practices. In this paper, I focus on professional learning in Higher Education and challenge the standardisation of professional learning that is becoming prevalent in a number of countries. I argue that professional learning must challenge accepted wisdom, and that this is possible while still adhering to the standards required for professional legitimacy. Developing praxis is suggested as a way of producing relevant and active professional learners while still addressing the professional standards required for quality assurance.     

快乐的朋友

[1]弗拉基米尔极有可能天生爱笑.在逐渐了解他数年后,我得知他不仅慷慨大笑,而且一点也不担心你可能会拿走比你应该得到的更多东西而他或许会吃亏.的确,他经常会没有明显原因而大声笑起来,给人留下印象的是他的笑声,而非他本人.当他在喝一碗汤的过程中、站着排队或在汽车站的时候,他都有可能会大声笑起来.     

Methods of Instruction and Learning Outcomes: A Theoretical Analysis of Two Approaches in an Introductory Information Technology Course*

In introductory information technology (IT) courses, communicating technical concepts so that they can be comprehended by all students, technical and nontechnical, has been a concern. Another challenge in such courses is to teach the real‐world applicability of technical concepts. In this conceptual article, we focus on a relatively unexplored issue in IT education—which instructional method is more effective in improving the learning outcomes of all students taking introductory IT courses. In doing so, we consider two instructional methods, lecture and multimedia case studies, and argue that either of these instructional methods, adopted singly, will be perceived by students as less effective in accomplishing learning outcomes than adopting a combination of the two instructional methods. Our arguments both augment existing knowledge about the differential influence of lecture and multimedia case studies on students’ learning outcomes and questions the wisdom of adopting either of these methods singly in introductory IT courses. We derive insights from the literature and anecdotal evidence, presented as four propositions, which illustrate the relationship between the two instructional methods and the specific learning outcomes students perceive they affect.     

Predicting course performance in freshman and sophomore physics courses: Women are more predictable than men

This study investigated the extent to which thinking skills and mathematical competency would predict the course performance of freshman and sophomore science majors enrolled in physics courses. Multiple-regression equations revealed that algebra and critical thinking skills were the best overall predictors across several physics courses. Although arithmetic skills, math anxiety, and primary mental abilities scores also correlated with performance, they were redundant with the algebra and critical thinking. The most surprising finding of the study was the differential validity by sex; predictor variables were successful in predicting course performance for women but not for men.     

Women learners and their virtual handbags: invisible experiences and everyday contexts in vocational education

As more and more mature women return to vocational learning, the issues facing this group of learners are being acknowledged and attempts made to address these concerns. Many existing strategies, developed to address the needs of other groups of learners, are applied to mature women. These women are drawn into a formal learning environment in which their everyday lives and homeplace experiences are invisible or misunderstood. Based on research into the experiences of 12 mature‐age women learners in Australia, this paper explores some issues for mature women returning to vocational education. I use the notion of women’s virtual handbags to describe how, within the current framework of lifelong learning, women’s homeplace experiences not only continue to be invisible, but can also be misconstrued to effectively create problems for women learners.     

Habituation: A Method for Cultivating Starting Points in the Ethical Life

The Aristotelian concept of habituation is receiving mounting and warranted interest in educational circles, but has also been subject to different lines of interpretation and critique. In this article, I bring forward Aristotle's words on habituation, and then clarify the two lines of interpretation that have developed in the contemporary philosophical literature. I argue that the mechanical interpretation contains an intellectualist bias and then argue a cognitivist view that positions habituation as the only method appropriate to cultivating the starting points of the ethical life. I contend, contrary to the popular view, that the starting points are non‐discursive and not subject to explanation, and thus require the non‐discursive method of habituation. I conclude with some thoughts for moral education that answer critiques of habituation concerning the role of reasoning and critical independence of students.     

Choosing whether to resist or reinforce the new managerialism: the impact of performance‐based research funding on academic identity

This article uses four academics’ gendered and cultural responses to life in a university in Aotearoa New Zealand under the new managerialist regime. Performance Based Research Funding (PBRF) requires academics to submit evidence‐based portfolios every six years to categorise and rank them, with government funding assigned accordingly. When the authors met as members of a writing group, the talk often turned to negative aspects of PBRF. Using co‐operative enquiry, the four co‐researchers began writing observations of their individual experiences, differences and identities to help them reflect and understand the impact of the changed environment. The four phases of writing as enquiry were: deciding on a focus, writing observations, engaging with the written accounts and interpreting the outcome through metaphor. The article process facilitated a positive outcome by helping the authors regain a sense of collegiality and mutual support, along with a sense of preserving their academic identity by writing and publishing as a group.     

Radical change through radical means: learning power

The history of US schooling is a remarkable tale of expanding educational opportunities in the midst of educational inequality. Despite cultural commitments to equality and justice, the US educational system continues to provide clear and consistent advantages for white and wealthier Americans and disadvantages for low-income, students of color. This paper explores why efforts to equalize education have fared so poorly and how US schools and society might become more equitable and just. Our conclusions are straightforward: Equity reforms rarely take hold because they rely on conventional, technical approaches to policymaking and educational change. Instead, equitable, high-quality schooling for all students will likely fare better with social movement activism that addresses the societal norms and politics which cement the status quo. At the heart of such activism is a process we call “learning power.” (The ideas presented here are presented more fully in Jeannie Oakes and John Rogers, Learning Power: Organizing for Education and Justice (New York: Teachers College Press, 2006).) An earlier version of this paper was presented as the 3rd Annual Distinguished Lecture on Educational Change for the Special Interest Group on Educational Change at the 2006 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association Meeting, San Francisco, California.

---