‘… do that and I'll raise your grade’. Innovative module design and recursive feedback

In an attempt to ensure students had a positive experience in their first semester, and to encourage future effective use of tutors’ feedback comments, a post-1992 university used a module in the school of education to develop an innovative feedback process. The process involved four stages: a first submission of written work, written feedback on that work, viva on student understanding of feedback, and final submission of written work. Between the viva and final submission, students could choose to improve their work for a specified number of grade points. The innovation was met favourably by students, and overall grades were improved against the previous iteration of the module. The project showed promise for adaptation in other forms for use across the University, though some ideological issues around assessment remain unresolved. The matter of the innovation and institutional quality standards is discussed in detail.     

Developing Best Practices for Technical Services Cross-Institutional Collaboration

The OhioLINK CollaboraTeS Project was initiated to support cross-institutional collaborations by building a skills inventory and by defining collaborative best practices. This article discusses what was learned and defines best practices for collaboration. The authors recommend the creation of regional technical services skills inventories, and the application of management and financial best practices to collaborations. Librarians should be confident they possess these skills because many of them have been learned in other environments. Collaboration represents a bright future for libraries struggling to meet tight budgets. Providing the tools and best practices for collaboration makes it easier for libraries to participate.     

Online training of TPACK skills of higher education scholars: a cross-institutional impact study

Higher education institutions should provide adequate training for teachers in order to increase their awareness of the complex interplay between technology, pedagogy and the cognitive knowledge in their disciplines. However, research has shown that providing effective staff development from teacher educators to support these teachers’ skills is not straightforward. An online teacher training programme created and implemented by a team of 14 teacher educators in a cross-institutional programme in the Netherlands was followed by 67 teachers. Data were gathered using a TPACK (Technological, Pedagogical, Content Knowledge) instrument in a pre-post test design. Furthermore, (perceived) learning satisfaction was measured in order to determine whether the design was appropriate. The results indicate that the teachers’ TPACK skills increased substantially. Furthermore, most participants were positive about the design and implementation of the online professionalisation programme. Nonetheless, not all teachers were able to effectively learn in this context, requiring further fine-tuning and research.     

On the viability of supporting institutional sharing of remote laboratory facilities

Laboratories are generally regarded as critical to engineering education, and yet educational institutions face significant challenges in developing and maintaining high-quality laboratory facilities. Remote laboratories are increasingly being explored as a partial solution to this challenge, with research showing that – for the right learning outcomes – they can be viable adjuncts or alternatives to conventional hands-on laboratories. One consequential opportunity arising from the inherent support for distributed access is the possibility of cross-institutional shared facilities. While both technical feasibility and pedagogic implications of remote laboratories have been well studied within the literature, the organisational and logistical issues associated with shared facilities have received limited consideration. This paper uses an existing national-scale laboratory sharing initiative, along with a related survey and laboratory sharing data, to analyse a range of factors that can affect engagement in laboratory sharing. The paper also discusses the implications for supporting ongoing laboratory sharing.