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21 – 30 of over 34000John W. McKinlay, Shona Grogan, Pat Sedakat and Christopher J. McKinlay
The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical, reflective examination of the organisation, delivery and evaluation of a training event conducted by postgraduate students…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical, reflective examination of the organisation, delivery and evaluation of a training event conducted by postgraduate students undertaking a module on human resource development.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper seeks to offer a triangulation of semi‐structured interviews, archival student written reflective accounts of the training event together with oral narrative from past participants on the module.
Findings
This paper examines the form and nature of a training event used as part of an assessment strategy on the human resource development (HRD) module of the MBA programme at the University of Abertay. The findings document the meanings and multiple realities that the participants ascribe to the training event. The interactional variable inherent in the informal and formal dichotomy of learning are also illustrated. Finally, the process of empowerment and reflection for all learners leads to a range of outcomes beyond the fulfilment of the assessment task.
Research limitations/implications
The study is exploratory and the authors do not attempt to assess the generalisability of the findings.
Practical implications
The significance of the assessment of the training event lies in the manner of its execution and the involvement of the postgraduate student learners. It is anticipated that the wider dissemination of the practice is deemed to be in the interests of the HRD community.
Originality/value
The paper highlights an innovative approach to the teaching and learning of human resource development at postgraduate level.
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The lesson study aims to examine college English teachers' growth in technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) and the improvement of students' learning outcomes in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The lesson study aims to examine college English teachers' growth in technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) and the improvement of students' learning outcomes in the context of MOOC-based and AI-powered flipped teaching and assessment of EFL writing (MAFTA).
Design/methodology/approach
Three college EFL teachers and their students (66 in total) participated in three cycles of MAFTA instruction. Triangulated analysis was conducted by considering all relevant data sources, including the teachers' discussions and reflections, the argumentative essays produced by the students before and after the MAFTA instruction, as well as the data gathered through questionnaires and interviews.
Findings
The three teachers demonstrated varying degrees of growth in TPACK, as evidenced by their increased knowledge of the technology tools and skills in utilizing the tools to realize their pedagogical beliefs on teaching EFL writing. Substantial improvements were detected in students' essays. The students generally have affirmative perceptions on the MAFTA model and the questionnaire and interviews specified the benefits they gained from each stage of the model.
Originality/value
Firstly, the lesson study is grounded in an innovative approach to teaching EFL writing that incorporates multiple technological affordances. Secondly, it closely scrutinizes the dynamics of both teachers' and students' growths during the innovative practice. The findings could offer insights into teachers' TPACK development and effective integration of technological advancements in EFL education at the tertiary level.
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This research explores the “transformation” ideas of Japanese Lesson Study (LS) and Open Approach (OA) to create and sustain a Thailand LS incorporated OA (TLSOA) model to…
Abstract
Purpose
This research explores the “transformation” ideas of Japanese Lesson Study (LS) and Open Approach (OA) to create and sustain a Thailand LS incorporated OA (TLSOA) model to successfully adapt to the local contexts. Although LS is spreading globally, previous studies have identified several challenges to its implementation.
Design/methodology/approach
The researcher employed a longitudinal research design that involved repeated investigations of a group of participants: from their fourth year as bachelor's degree students until they became eligible coordinators to practice the TLSOA model for teachers' professional development (PD). Data were collected using reflective journals, two types of survey questionnaires, and records of periodical reflective meetings over three cohorts.
Findings
As results reveal, the participating teachers' active engagement in the TLSOA model has made a positive impact on their teaching practices, collegiality, and professional self-identification. Students perceived themselves as having enormous changes in their learning behaviors. Those changes are linked to establishing a positive, student-centered, and active learning-based school culture with teachers' beliefs for innovations.
Research limitations/implications
Further studies should focus on the possible conflicts emerging between the different cultures of teaching.
Practical implications
The idea of the TLSOA model is to ensure teachers are well trained to possess sufficient skills.
Originality/value
The findings could be of value for the leaders, educators, policymakers to advocate the TLSOA model as a systematic approach to whole-school improvement and as a channel for spreading effects at the national, the APEC, and the CLMV regional levels.
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Literature has recognised entrepreneurship education as the main conduit through which entrepreneurial behaviours, attitudes and actions can be built, enacted and delivered. Since…
Abstract
Literature has recognised entrepreneurship education as the main conduit through which entrepreneurial behaviours, attitudes and actions can be built, enacted and delivered. Since the founding of new ventures is largely a resourceful founder-driven enterprise, entrepreneurship education has largely centred on galvanising and shifting the mindsets and cognition of the entrepreneur. Yet, despite over 60 years of delivering entrepreneurship education programmes, hard evidence of the generation of high-growth-oriented and sustainable ventures has been scarce as student entrepreneurship intentions do not always translate into successful venture creation. This is largely because of the complexities of the practicality of entrepreneurial education particularly, the dissonance between acquired education in business schools and the knowledge and competencies needed in the entrepreneurial field. Such dissonance can be attributed to the lack of clarity on the pedagogical approach that most resonates with entrepreneurial action, the diversity in assessment methods and the scholarly illusion pertaining to how pedagogical approaches can be channelled to the generation of growth-oriented ventures. Drawing on Girox's concepts of transformative critical pedagogy (including pedagogy of repression), Socratic dialogue, Hegelian dialectic and Yrjö Engeström's transformative expansive agency, I demonstrate how a flipped transformative critical pedagogy can be harnessed in digitally enhanced learning environments to create new entrepreneurial possibilities for facilitating critical inquiry, complex problem-solving, innovation for the market and fostering tolerance for failure in ambiguous entrepreneurial contexts.
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Teaching excellence remains a contested term in English higher education (HE). This paper begins by reflecting on its complex and sometimes blurred meaning, charting the…
Abstract
Purpose
Teaching excellence remains a contested term in English higher education (HE). This paper begins by reflecting on its complex and sometimes blurred meaning, charting the divergence between academic interests in the complexity and contextual questions relating to practice development and organisational and sectoral shifts which have been driven by managerialism, accountability and “top-down” ideas of change. The authors argue that this divergence, epitomised in the development of the teaching excellence framework, has led to a confused, if ubiquitous, use of excellence to identify organisational and sector-led ideas of what it means to deliver quality teaching. However, these frameworks have become progressively detached from the complexity of practice investigated by those interested in pedagogy. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a conceptual paper which brings together literature from teaching excellence, organisational science, time and HE to develop an alternative approach to pedagogic development.
Findings
Based on a critique of the current, confused conceptualisation of teaching excellence, the authors offer a different narrative which demonstrates how a reconsideration of the factors is important in developing critical and challenging teaching opportunities. Based on a “bottom-up” system focusing on dialogue, sustainability and “unhasty” time, the authors argue for a re-establishing of a holistic approach in HE providers based on emergent pedagogies as opposed to teaching excellence.
Originality/value
This paper demonstrates why teaching excellence has become conceptually fractured in an English context, and why a new approach to pedagogic development needs to be considered to establish a more positive and critical approach at both the institutional and sectoral levels. This paper outlines a possible approach to developing such renewal.
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The outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused significant disruptions to academic activities in educational institutions across countries of the world. In the…
Abstract
The outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused significant disruptions to academic activities in educational institutions across countries of the world. In the context of transnational higher education (TNHE), the pandemic has led to major shifts in face-to-face teaching and learning, students’ support services and student engagement. While a number of scholarly studies have examined the effect of the pandemic on education provision across different educational levels, not much has been done to address existing gaps in how academic leaders could support the transformation of the TNHE sector to respond to current disruptions. In order to address these gaps, the current study adopts a case study approach to examine the complex and evolving academic leadership roles in TNHE institutions in Ghana with respect to remote teaching and learning and virtual team activities. The current study addresses the following questions: What academic leadership approaches are essential to developing innovative practices in host TNHE in order to meet the learning needs of students during and after the pandemic? How can transformational leadership approaches interface with institutional theory to provide new direction for transforming TNHE during and after the pandemic? How can academic leadership roles support the transformation of TNHE during and after the COVID-19 pandemic? As a major contribution for addressing gaps in academic leadership roles in TNHE environments especially during COVID-19, the current study proposes an eight-component transformation model. The study concludes by arguing that the challenges facing TNHE especially during the current period of disruptions will require a transformative and innovative academic leadership approach that would ensure that education delivery addresses current and future students’ learning needs.
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Cathy Hall-van den Elsen and Tom Palaskas
This chapter takes an implementation case study approach to inform project planners, senior academics, and academic developers about the design and implementation of a…
Abstract
This chapter takes an implementation case study approach to inform project planners, senior academics, and academic developers about the design and implementation of a professional development (PD) program that prepared 700 faculty in an Australian university to reimagine their teaching practice. The catalyst for this transformation was the move from traditional classrooms to next generation learning spaces (NGLS) in the newly constructed and purpose-built environment of RMIT University’s Swanston Academic Building (SAB). The study identifies the challenges and change management issues faced by the project team, faculty, and other stakeholders.
Default teaching styles for many tertiary teachers can replicate the “best” and “worst” practices from their own student experience. As actors in their own classrooms tertiary teachers autonomously create learning environments that they consider appropriate to communicate the content, context, and culture of their particular discipline. The design and implementation of the PD and transition plan took into account the needs and perceptions of staff from each discipline area, the affordances of the new learning spaces, and their associated technologies.
This chapter contributes to a growing body of knowledge about the experience of academic and teaching staff during transition from traditional to NGLS, providing a description of the process undertaken in one university, the outcomes achieved, and the lessons learnt.
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Aidan Davison, Paul Brown, Emma Pharo, Kristin Warr, Helen McGregor, Sarah Terkes, Davina Boyd and Pamela Abuodha
Interdisciplinary approaches to climate change teaching are well justified and arise from the complexity of climate change challenges and the integrated problem-solving responses…
Abstract
Purpose
Interdisciplinary approaches to climate change teaching are well justified and arise from the complexity of climate change challenges and the integrated problem-solving responses they demand. These approaches require academic teachers to collaborate across disciplines. Yet, the fragmentation typical of universities impedes collaborative teaching practice. This paper aims to report on the outcomes of a distributed leadership project in four Australian universities aimed at enhancing interdisciplinary climate change teaching.
Design/methodology/approach
Communities of teaching practice were established at four Australian universities with participants drawn from a wide range of disciplines. The establishment and operation of these communities relied on a distributed leadership methodology which facilitates acts of initiative, innovation, vision and courage through group interaction rather than through designated hierarchical roles.
Findings
Each community of practice found the distributed leadership approach overcame barriers to interdisciplinary climate change teaching. Cultivating distributed leadership enabled community members to engage in peer-led professional learning, collaborative curriculum and pedagogical development, and to facilitate wider institutional change. The detailed outcomes achieved by each community were tailored to their specific institutional context. They included the transformation of climate change curriculum, professional development in interdisciplinary pedagogy, innovation in student-led learning activities, and participation in institutional decision-making related to curriculum reform.
Originality/value
Collaborative, non-traditional leadership practices have attracted little attention in research about sustainability education in university curricula. This paper demonstrates that the distributed leadership model for sustainability education reported here is effective in building capacity for interdisciplinary climate change teaching within disciplines. The model is flexible enough for a variety of institutional settings.
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Jon McNaughtan, Ryan Litsey and Nichole Morelock
Many scholars and practitioners have attempted innovative teaching practices in an effort to make complex ideas easier to comprehend and retain. The purpose of this study was to…
Abstract
Purpose
Many scholars and practitioners have attempted innovative teaching practices in an effort to make complex ideas easier to comprehend and retain. The purpose of this study was to test the relationship between learning and the use of 3D models created to provide physical representations of abstract concepts students could hold and manipulate.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a quasi-experimental design, we test both the students' initial comprehension of the concept and their retention of the information four weeks later when the course concluded.
Findings
Findings included an initial boost in information retention and a likely increased retention of the information, showing promising trajectories for incorporating 3D objects to enhance teaching in the classroom.
Originality/value
This study provides a unique analysis of the use of 3D printing technology to illustrate abstract concepts. This teaching innovation provides another example of how technology can enhance and engage students through active learning. We find that this approach can increase student retention of material.
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