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The purpose of this paper is to develop a greater understanding of how a virtual learning environment (VLE) discussion forum can be used as a learning community to enhance reflective practice in work-based learning (WBL).

This study adopted a qualitative interpretive approach through the use of VLE [Blackboard (BB)] discussion forums followed by a focus group. Thematic and content analysis was conducted to identify patterns and themes.

The findings suggest that whilst a VLE can help create a community of practice through discussion forums, individual reflective practice, as opposed to group reflection, was found to be the most common in the communication discourse, with reflection on experience as the main category.

Original views of students have been gathered and can be used to inform future practice.

The findings can be used to better understand and enhance reflective practice of students on WBL placements.

This exploratory study seeks to understand whether an arts event designed with/by/for disabled people (the InterACT Disability Arts Festival in New Zealand) has the potential to create revolutionary futures, defined as those which help determine new paths, make the future less fearsome and allow more positive outcomes.

A qualitative approach was taken in this study. Interviews were carried out with ten disabled event attendees, two support workers, one family member, four event volunteers, two activity providers and the main event organiser of the 2019 festival. Active participant observation was also used to collect data. Deductive thematic analysis was used to determine themes and subthemes in the material.

The findings suggest the case study arts event does help to create revolutionary futures for disabled attendees through disrupting the narratives of disability, making sense of lives lived and changing lives yet to be lived.

Limited windows of opportunity were available to interact with attendees, and just 17 in-the-moment interviews were conducted. However, the findings still have value as data saturation was reached. A “revolutionary futures” conceptual framework is presented to understand the nexus between disability worlds and events and thus amplify the benefits for attendees.

Research carried out to date has provided much-needed understanding about the challenges facing disabled people at events, but this study turns this deficit approach around to focus on the opportunities provided by event participation.

The purpose of this study is to describe the perceptions of participants regarding a blended learning training course in Chile (and its e-learning adaptation due to the COVID-19 pandemic) for mentor teachers (MTs). The MT learns theoretical elements of mentoring and in parallel accompanies a newly qualified teacher while receiving support from an online tutor. Opinions are presented from MTs and accompanied teachers (ATs) about the contribution, format and methodology of the course.

A program evaluation with mixed methodology was used. Online questionnaires were sent to MTs and ATs at the end of the course. Returned questionnaires totaled 98 MTs and 20 ATs for the blended learning version and 75 MTs and 54 ATs for the e-learning format. In addition, 11 post-course interviews were conducted in three schools with MTs, ATs and their school leaders.

The course contributed to the development of mentoring skills. Participants highlighted the importance of the face-to-face component of both versions. The theoretical–practical methodology used was positively evaluated. Support and feedback provided to MTs by the online tutor was important for developing skills.

Results are part of a case (n = 247), so general statements cannot be made about the population.

While this program evaluation focuses on a specific context, the results can contribute to the design of effective MT online training courses in other contexts and countries, given the limited body of research on this type of experience.

The course provided is described in detail, which may be useful when designing similar mentor education courses in other contexts.

Student welfare and wellbeing is crucial to successful postgraduate study, regardless of the global location in which the study is taking place, making it an international issue. This study sought to add to the conversations occurring globally on this topic, focusing particularly on exploring academic faculty participation in higher education postgraduate taught (PGT) student mentoring initiatives.

By applying two theories, social exchange theory (SET) and equity theory (ET), faculty participation in postgraduate mentoring was explored and examined. A qualitative methodology, comprising 19 semi-structured interviews with faculty participating as mentors, was conducted. Data was analysed using template analysis, with SET and ET used to create thematic templates.

The application of SET and ET enabled faculty participation to be understood in terms of the perceived equity, costs and rewards of mentoring. Costs can be significant, sometimes outweighing the benefits, thus endangering the viability and sustainability of the PGT mentoring initiative. Analysis suggested two distinct types of “mentor mindsets” exist, which influence the perception of investments, equity, costs and rewards.

As higher education institutions face increasing pressure to support student welfare, it is imperative that personalised support is put under scrutiny so management practices can be established that support and encourage academic faculty participation in these support initiatives. This paper recommends how institutions can allay the costs of mentoring by considering mentor recruitment, selection, training and other supportive measures.

Cross-national research on cultural differences can help understand what drives, in differing contexts, mentors' commitment to school-based mentoring programs. This comparative study aims to explore whether adult volunteers, from Scotland and Italy, experience being mentors of vulnerable youth differently.

Data from interviews (n = 20) and questionnaires (n = 114) were used to test hypotheses concerning volunteer mentors' perceptions of their role and abilities, as well as motives for participation. According to cross-cultural theories, Scottish mentors should be more likely to identify mentoring with establishing friendly relationships with mentees and promoting youth self-empowerment. They should also be more self-confident and value-driven as volunteers.

Despite the mixed support for the assumptions concerning how the mentor role is conceived, Scottish mentors were less likely than Italians to doubt their abilities and more driven by other-focused and generative concerns.

The study reveals significant variations in how volunteers from countries featuring different welfare regimes and cultural orientations experience mentoring. The research advances the understanding of how culturally sensitive approaches can foster mentors' engagement.

The purpose of this study is to explore how the phenomenon of academic professional development looks through the eyes of graduate students navigating the increasing complexity of postgraduate careers. This study pays particular attention to how current students navigate the interplay between their beliefs, intentions and behaviors when it comes to making choices regarding their engagement in professional development.

This is a qualitative study, based on a phenomenological analysis of seven in-depth interviews with advanced PhD students from the earth sciences college at a large, public, research-intensive university located in the mid-Atlantic area of the USA (Penn State).

Framed in the Theory of Planned Behavior, the findings of this study suggest that the interviewees varied across all aspects of Theory of Planned Behavior: in their beliefs about valued career paths, in their convergence or divergence from the departmental or institutional norms they perceived and in their sense of control over their career pathways. They all shared, however, a strong desire to successfully navigate the widening array of possibilities to achieve a range of personal and professional goals, but they often lacked the ability to align those intentions with actions related to professional development.

This study suggests that institutions may wish to rethink their positionality in the professional development of graduate students, moving away from centralized models of direct support and towards more indirect, informal and co-created means of exerting influence and building community.

The partnership which underpins degree apprenticeships is a tripartite collaboration between apprentices, employers and universities. This study aims to investigate the lived experiences and reflections of the apprentices at the centre, to inform effective collaboration.

A qualitative, longitudinal study, spanning four years, in which 13 apprentices studying apprenticeship degrees at a Scottish University were interviewed in their first and final years about their experiences of the apprenticeship (26 interviews). Data was analysed via a framework matrix, which focussed on the collaborations between the apprentice, employer and university, also surfacing changes between the apprentices’ first and final year.

The tripartite collaboration is not only logistical but also, like learning, social. Apprentices require interest and support from their employers and colleagues to promote meaningful integration between their work and studies. Further, collaboration between apprentices extends from peer support into meaningful friendships and feeds into their work, as well as their studies. The university plays a key role in facilitating these essential connections.

Apprenticeships can be highly effective in upskilling the workforce and sharing knowledge and skills between academia and the workplace in both directions, while specifically enabling workers to gain degree qualifications relevant to their roles. Recommendations for future work practices, including collaborations, are made.

While the tripartite collaboration has been discussed theoretically in the literature, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first longitudinal investigation based on the lived experience of cohorts of apprentices, from the start of their degree to the final six months.

Since architectural design studio education has critical importance on the students' knowledge, skills, and awareness of sustainability, this study presents a point of view about relations between architectural education and social, economic, environmental sustainability perception of students within the scope of design studios. The primary purpose is to investigate the role of design studio education in the context of sustainability.

In the study, the Department of Architecture in Middle East Technical University (METU) was selected as a case study. The impact of design studio education on the understanding of sustainability of architecture students was investigated by conducting a survey with students and in depth-interviews with volunteer lecturers. In quantitative research after formulating four hypotheses, the questionnaire was carried out with 237 architecture students from different years. Then by using the thematic analysis method, the qualitative part of the study was conducted with 11 lecturers.

Findings reveal that the design studio education and theoretical lectures on sustainability are effective in improving students' sustainability understanding.

Architectural education supports the students about comprehensive understanding and knowledge of national and global issues. This article conducted a case study to investigate the impact of the design studio on the perception of sustainability. Data were collected from architecture students and volunteer lecturers of METU between November 2018 and February 2019. The research is original examining the importance of architectural studio education in the development of knowledge, skills, and awareness of sustainability.

In 2016, the oversight body for policing in England and Wales reported a national shortage of 5,000 qualified detectives and other investigators. Commissioned by the National Police Chiefs Council, this research critically assessed initiatives taken by the Police Service of England and Wales since that time to remedy that shortfall. The purpose of this study is to answer the question, “To what extent can fast-track investigator recruitment and training schemes enhance the PSEW’s investigative capacity and capability?”

Between 2019 and 2020, the authors examined four cases in England and Wales. Three were novel fast-track programmes for new joiners. The fourth was an investigator resilience programme. This study was qualitative and interpretive in nature. The authors carried out systematic reviews of the literature on investigative policy and detective work. The authors reviewed internal evaluations completed by Forces A, B and C. The authors interviewed respondents (n = 82) and supplemented the interview data with survey data (n = 45; N = 127); the authors analysed the data thematically and reviewed the findings in the context of systems theory and social identity theory.

The major themes identified by the analysis presented in this study were marketing and recruitment, attrition and progression, acceptance of the trainees, training and trainees’ welfare and well-being. The programmes were not as successful as they might have been because of systems failures. Principally, ineffective coordination of the programmes with other elements of the forces on which their success also relied (such as training, human resources and detective, departments). A critical limiting factor was the lack of experienced, skilled detectives able to train, support and mentor the trainees.

This paper provides empirical evidence of the efficacy of a whole systems approach to organisational change. This study evidences the crisis in police investigative practice that limits the service that the police can provide to victims and communities and ultimately threatens police legitimacy. This study provides insights from police practitioners into detective work in the modern era and highlights areas where improvement is necessary. The research on which this study is based was commissioned by the National Police Chiefs Council. Thus, there is institutional buy in to its findings.

With its roots firmly in empiricism, this paper presents the first scholarly evaluation of the police's attempts to make up a massive shortfall in investigators. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper presents the first attempt to explain the challenges the police faced in this context, thematically. This study’s focus on systems and on human behaviour is intended to inform a wide audience beyond British policing.

The purpose of this paper is to share the process, findings and conclusions from one library’s iterative usability study of its website design to inform other libraries as they perform their own assessments.

A task-completion usability study was conducted with eight undergraduate students across two iterations: the first gauged the usability of a redesigned library website and the second gauged the effectiveness of the first iteration’s findings.

We found that users performed better when the site provided multiple access points to the same information, displayed a prominent chat feature, limited the amount of text on a given page and avoided library jargon. Not only was the second round of testing important for confirming that first-round recommendations were effective but also it proved useful in catching a problem with the site that was unintentionally created during the time between tests.

No demographic data were collected during the study, thus hindering our ability to analyze our users through these data points.

This study demonstrates the value of iterative usability testing, especially when untested changes made between site versions may produce usability issues.