Experts have advocated anonymous marking as a means of minimizing bias in subjective student asse... more Experts have advocated anonymous marking as a means of minimizing bias in subjective student assessment. In the present study, 159 faculty members or teaching assistants across disciplines were randomly assigned (1) to grade a poor oral presentation of a university student, (2) to grade a good oral presentation of the same student, or (3) not to grade any oral presentation of the student. All graders then assessed the same written work by the student. A linear-contrasts analysis showed that, as hypothesized, the graders assigned significantly higher scores to written work following the better oral presentation than following the poor oral presentation, with intermediate scores for the written work of the student whose oral presentation was not seen by the graders. The results provide evidence of a halo effect in that prior experience with a student biased the grading of written work completed by the student. The findings suggest that keeping students anonymous, as in the condition w...
Page 1. Research in Science Education, 1997, 27(4), 611-628 Students' Conceptions of Science... more Page 1. Research in Science Education, 1997, 27(4), 611-628 Students' Conceptions of Science Across the Years of Schooling Sarah J. Stein and Campbell J. McRobbie Queensland University of Technology Abstract The alternative ...
ABSTRACT The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has grown enormously in the la... more ABSTRACT The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has grown enormously in the last decade with computers and smart devices becoming indispensable in tertiary students’ study practices. There is, however, limited documented research about the ways PhD students use ICT in their research practice. Nevertheless, it is expected that PhD students will make use of various computer technologies throughout their research process (e.g., preparation phase, fieldwork phase, analysis phase, and write-up phase). This paper reports on the analysis of one of the datasets in a study that examined how PhD students use ICT to support their research practice. The analysis takes into account the relationship and/or the tensions that exist between the PhD student participants and ICT. Two discussion sessions, which included photo capture, were conducted with nine doctoral students, who self-reported as being skilled computer users in a short questionnaire. The sessions aimed to review the ways the PhD students engage with and integrate computer technologies in light of the four phases in their research process. The preliminary analysis indicates some interesting hybrid relationships between papers and computer technologies (i.e., computer devices, tools and networks) in this cohort of PhD students’ daily research practices. These findings will form the basis of the other parts of analysis in the mentioned larger study to investigate relationships between the PhD students and ICT in their process of doing doctoral research.
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 0729436042000235427, Jan 22, 2007
ABSTRACT With increasing importance being placed on the development of generic skills in higher e... more ABSTRACT With increasing importance being placed on the development of generic skills in higher education, institutions are espousing, as part of their mission and objectives, which generic skills their graduates achieve, and teachers are being required to document how their courses and programs support the development of those skills and attributes. The mapping of opportunities for development of graduate attributes in the planned curriculum thus plays an important role in relation to quality assurance and reporting processes, and embedding these opportunities in curricula may ensure alignment between the espoused curriculum and the taught curriculum. But are these processes enough to ensure that what is espoused and enacted through the curriculum is aligned with what students experience and learn? This issue is addressed here through a case study of a team of university teachers at one Australian institution who went beyond the mapping and embedding of graduate attributes in their courses of study, and engaged in a process of action learning to create a valid and living curriculum for the development of graduate attributes. Yes Yes
The Brazilian Government has identified distance education (DE) as one of the major driving force... more The Brazilian Government has identified distance education (DE) as one of the major driving forces for change at a higher education level in Brazil. In a country with large territory dimensions such as Brazil, DE can contribute to provide access to higher and continuing education to those unable to access universities in the metropolitan areas where the majority of them are located and simply do not have the time to attend traditional classes. Most importantly, DE has the potential to finally increase access to higher education (HE) to high school leavers, as only one third of the Brazilian population aged from 18 to 24 years are currently enrolled in HE. However, implementing and developing policies for DE, in a country where traditional mainstream education practices have not changed much for decades, have proved to be challenging for the current federal government. This paper starts by providing the readers with a brief discussion of the relevant literature regarding DE in Brazil...
The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has grown enormously in the last decade... more The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has grown enormously in the last decade with computers and smart devices becoming indispensable in tertiary students’ study practices. There is, however, limited documented research about the ways PhD students use ICT in their research practice. Nevertheless, it is expected that PhD students will make use of various computer technologies throughout their research process (e.g., preparation phase, fieldwork phase, analysis phase, and write-up phase). This paper reports on the analysis of one of the datasets in a study that examined how PhD students use ICT to support their research practice. The analysis takes into account the relationship and/or the tensions that exist between the PhD student participants and ICT. Two discussion sessions, which included photo capture, were conducted with nine doctoral students, who self-reported as being skilled computer users in a short questionnaire. The sessions aimed to review the ways th...
This paper reports an investigation into the knowledge development of a group of tertiary teacher... more This paper reports an investigation into the knowledge development of a group of tertiary teachers who participated in a postgraduate course on teaching and learning. Through interviews of participants, observations of participants’ teaching, and an examination of the course and its implementation, it was shown that the course served primarily to affirm participants’ current knowledge about teaching, and to extend their ability to articulate ‘why they do what they do’. However, evidence showed that the course did not necessarily enhance participants’ ability to translate theoretical knowledge into practical knowledge. The study highlighted the necessity to acknowledge the practicality of teaching as core to the nature of learning about teaching and led to implications about the content and processes of such courses and their application within professional development experiences for tertiary teachers.
Higher knowledge, such as reasoning, emerges through everyday common-sense spontaneous activity, ... more Higher knowledge, such as reasoning, emerges through everyday common-sense spontaneous activity, said Vygotsky. Consequently, formal education needs spontaneous learning experiences to be perfect. In this chapter, the authors explore knowledge on spontaneous activity from everyday life experiences of 11 second- and third-year students who studied at a Philippine university. Students told their stories through a focus group discussion. Their stories were triangulated with an interview of their instructor, one-on-one interviews with some of them, and an open-structured essay-type questionnaire. The grounded theory approach in analyzing their learning practices reveals spontaneity that fits students’ contexts, needs, and expectations. Spontaneous learning is a process of discovery and reflection when students conduct active learning engagements. Students who preoccupy themselves with their spontaneous learning bring to themselves new self-knowledge. The self-knowing process redefines a...
Experts have advocated anonymous marking as a means of minimizing bias in subjective student asse... more Experts have advocated anonymous marking as a means of minimizing bias in subjective student assessment. In the present study, 159 faculty members or teaching assistants across disciplines were randomly assigned (1) to grade a poor oral presentation of a university student, (2) to grade a good oral presentation of the same student, or (3) not to grade any oral presentation of the student. All graders then assessed the same written work by the student. A linear-contrasts analysis showed that, as hypothesized, the graders assigned significantly higher scores to written work following the better oral presentation than following the poor oral presentation, with intermediate scores for the written work of the student whose oral presentation was not seen by the graders. The results provide evidence of a halo effect in that prior experience with a student biased the grading of written work completed by the student. The findings suggest that keeping students anonymous, as in the condition w...
ABSTRACT We know various factors can influence how teaching staff engage with student evaluation,... more ABSTRACT We know various factors can influence how teaching staff engage with student evaluation, such as institutional policies or staff beliefs. However, little research has investigated the influence of the technical processes of an evaluation system. In this article, we present a case study of the effects of changing the technical system for administering student evaluations at one New Zealand university. We develop a socio-technical model of the institutional evaluation system, and use this model to examine whether introducing an online system for ordering student feedback questionnaires and reducing processing time influenced academic staff engagement with evaluation. Survey responses, interview comments and data about ordering trends suggest the change did increase staff engagement by: (1) improving staff perceptions of evaluation and (2) increasing engaged behaviour, such as voluntarily ordering more evaluations. The outcomes of this study imply that the ‘practical implementation’ of an evaluation system is an important factor in influencing engagement with evaluation. We conclude that we can increase teacher engagement with evaluation simply by improving the ‘practical implementation’ of the evaluation system.
This chapter initially describes the Postgraduate Certificate offered at the University of Otago,... more This chapter initially describes the Postgraduate Certificate offered at the University of Otago, the first course, and the type of participants and then discusses why we chose to use a portfolio as the summative assessment item. We provide details on the components of the portfolio, illustrated with examples of participants' work. The chapter continues by sharing insights gained from teacher and participant feedback.
You can access the journal article here (just copy and paste the URL below in your browser): http... more You can access the journal article here (just copy and paste the URL below in your browser): http://search.informit.com.au/fullText;dn=562923250696356;res=IELHEA Research looking at the general practice workforce shortage has been predominantly from a quantitative perspective. The present research examined medical students’ views about general practice using a qualitative approach. Medical students in their second-year and final year of study (trainee interns, or ‘TIs’) were interviewed. Second-year students described general practice as concerned with non-challenging minor problems and characterised by relationships with individuals and communities and that general practice lifestyle was one of structured hours and an easier workload. Further impressions were that general practice has a low status within the medical hierarchy, is considered an easy default option and is not considered to be a specialty. TIs offered perceptions based on experiences working directly with general prac...
ABSTRACT Under normal circumstances, it is assumed that PhD students will make use of ICT (i.e., ... more ABSTRACT Under normal circumstances, it is assumed that PhD students will make use of ICT (i.e., computer technologies) throughout their research journey for a variety of generic and specialised purposes. Yet, there is limited documented research about postgraduate use of ICT beyond their information sourcing skills and general knowledge consumption. This paper reports the first stage of a study that aimed to examine how PhD students use their computers to support their research practice, by taking into account not only their computer use skills, but also ICT use within the broader context of the research journey. Monitoring software that harvested computer activity data was installed on the computers of nine doctoral students from the same university who self-reported as being skilled computer users over a period of three months. Regular discussion sessions were held with each student to review computer activities in the light of their own research and study contexts (PhD stage and Discipline Background). An analysis of data gathered at this first stage of the study indicates that there is no difference among the students at any stage of their doctoral research in terms of the level of their engagement with their computers, and there is no difference in the use of computer (applications and documents) among the students despite their different discipline backgrounds. At this point in the study, there is a strong indication that while ICT are playing a dominant role in doctoral student’s daily lives, ICT use to support research practice is limited. While these students used computers daily, the computers were seemed not as crucial to their research practice as expected. It appears that current perceptions about the importance of computer devices for student research practice may need to be questioned. This first stage of a larger study therefore provides the basis for further investigation.
Experts have advocated anonymous marking as a means of minimizing bias in subjective student asse... more Experts have advocated anonymous marking as a means of minimizing bias in subjective student assessment. In the present study, 159 faculty members or teaching assistants across disciplines were randomly assigned (1) to grade a poor oral presentation of a university student, (2) to grade a good oral presentation of the same student, or (3) not to grade any oral presentation of the student. All graders then assessed the same written work by the student. A linear-contrasts analysis showed that, as hypothesized, the graders assigned significantly higher scores to written work following the better oral presentation than following the poor oral presentation, with intermediate scores for the written work of the student whose oral presentation was not seen by the graders. The results provide evidence of a halo effect in that prior experience with a student biased the grading of written work completed by the student. The findings suggest that keeping students anonymous, as in the condition w...
Page 1. Research in Science Education, 1997, 27(4), 611-628 Students' Conceptions of Science... more Page 1. Research in Science Education, 1997, 27(4), 611-628 Students' Conceptions of Science Across the Years of Schooling Sarah J. Stein and Campbell J. McRobbie Queensland University of Technology Abstract The alternative ...
ABSTRACT The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has grown enormously in the la... more ABSTRACT The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has grown enormously in the last decade with computers and smart devices becoming indispensable in tertiary students’ study practices. There is, however, limited documented research about the ways PhD students use ICT in their research practice. Nevertheless, it is expected that PhD students will make use of various computer technologies throughout their research process (e.g., preparation phase, fieldwork phase, analysis phase, and write-up phase). This paper reports on the analysis of one of the datasets in a study that examined how PhD students use ICT to support their research practice. The analysis takes into account the relationship and/or the tensions that exist between the PhD student participants and ICT. Two discussion sessions, which included photo capture, were conducted with nine doctoral students, who self-reported as being skilled computer users in a short questionnaire. The sessions aimed to review the ways the PhD students engage with and integrate computer technologies in light of the four phases in their research process. The preliminary analysis indicates some interesting hybrid relationships between papers and computer technologies (i.e., computer devices, tools and networks) in this cohort of PhD students’ daily research practices. These findings will form the basis of the other parts of analysis in the mentioned larger study to investigate relationships between the PhD students and ICT in their process of doing doctoral research.
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 0729436042000235427, Jan 22, 2007
ABSTRACT With increasing importance being placed on the development of generic skills in higher e... more ABSTRACT With increasing importance being placed on the development of generic skills in higher education, institutions are espousing, as part of their mission and objectives, which generic skills their graduates achieve, and teachers are being required to document how their courses and programs support the development of those skills and attributes. The mapping of opportunities for development of graduate attributes in the planned curriculum thus plays an important role in relation to quality assurance and reporting processes, and embedding these opportunities in curricula may ensure alignment between the espoused curriculum and the taught curriculum. But are these processes enough to ensure that what is espoused and enacted through the curriculum is aligned with what students experience and learn? This issue is addressed here through a case study of a team of university teachers at one Australian institution who went beyond the mapping and embedding of graduate attributes in their courses of study, and engaged in a process of action learning to create a valid and living curriculum for the development of graduate attributes. Yes Yes
The Brazilian Government has identified distance education (DE) as one of the major driving force... more The Brazilian Government has identified distance education (DE) as one of the major driving forces for change at a higher education level in Brazil. In a country with large territory dimensions such as Brazil, DE can contribute to provide access to higher and continuing education to those unable to access universities in the metropolitan areas where the majority of them are located and simply do not have the time to attend traditional classes. Most importantly, DE has the potential to finally increase access to higher education (HE) to high school leavers, as only one third of the Brazilian population aged from 18 to 24 years are currently enrolled in HE. However, implementing and developing policies for DE, in a country where traditional mainstream education practices have not changed much for decades, have proved to be challenging for the current federal government. This paper starts by providing the readers with a brief discussion of the relevant literature regarding DE in Brazil...
The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has grown enormously in the last decade... more The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has grown enormously in the last decade with computers and smart devices becoming indispensable in tertiary students’ study practices. There is, however, limited documented research about the ways PhD students use ICT in their research practice. Nevertheless, it is expected that PhD students will make use of various computer technologies throughout their research process (e.g., preparation phase, fieldwork phase, analysis phase, and write-up phase). This paper reports on the analysis of one of the datasets in a study that examined how PhD students use ICT to support their research practice. The analysis takes into account the relationship and/or the tensions that exist between the PhD student participants and ICT. Two discussion sessions, which included photo capture, were conducted with nine doctoral students, who self-reported as being skilled computer users in a short questionnaire. The sessions aimed to review the ways th...
This paper reports an investigation into the knowledge development of a group of tertiary teacher... more This paper reports an investigation into the knowledge development of a group of tertiary teachers who participated in a postgraduate course on teaching and learning. Through interviews of participants, observations of participants’ teaching, and an examination of the course and its implementation, it was shown that the course served primarily to affirm participants’ current knowledge about teaching, and to extend their ability to articulate ‘why they do what they do’. However, evidence showed that the course did not necessarily enhance participants’ ability to translate theoretical knowledge into practical knowledge. The study highlighted the necessity to acknowledge the practicality of teaching as core to the nature of learning about teaching and led to implications about the content and processes of such courses and their application within professional development experiences for tertiary teachers.
Higher knowledge, such as reasoning, emerges through everyday common-sense spontaneous activity, ... more Higher knowledge, such as reasoning, emerges through everyday common-sense spontaneous activity, said Vygotsky. Consequently, formal education needs spontaneous learning experiences to be perfect. In this chapter, the authors explore knowledge on spontaneous activity from everyday life experiences of 11 second- and third-year students who studied at a Philippine university. Students told their stories through a focus group discussion. Their stories were triangulated with an interview of their instructor, one-on-one interviews with some of them, and an open-structured essay-type questionnaire. The grounded theory approach in analyzing their learning practices reveals spontaneity that fits students’ contexts, needs, and expectations. Spontaneous learning is a process of discovery and reflection when students conduct active learning engagements. Students who preoccupy themselves with their spontaneous learning bring to themselves new self-knowledge. The self-knowing process redefines a...
Experts have advocated anonymous marking as a means of minimizing bias in subjective student asse... more Experts have advocated anonymous marking as a means of minimizing bias in subjective student assessment. In the present study, 159 faculty members or teaching assistants across disciplines were randomly assigned (1) to grade a poor oral presentation of a university student, (2) to grade a good oral presentation of the same student, or (3) not to grade any oral presentation of the student. All graders then assessed the same written work by the student. A linear-contrasts analysis showed that, as hypothesized, the graders assigned significantly higher scores to written work following the better oral presentation than following the poor oral presentation, with intermediate scores for the written work of the student whose oral presentation was not seen by the graders. The results provide evidence of a halo effect in that prior experience with a student biased the grading of written work completed by the student. The findings suggest that keeping students anonymous, as in the condition w...
ABSTRACT We know various factors can influence how teaching staff engage with student evaluation,... more ABSTRACT We know various factors can influence how teaching staff engage with student evaluation, such as institutional policies or staff beliefs. However, little research has investigated the influence of the technical processes of an evaluation system. In this article, we present a case study of the effects of changing the technical system for administering student evaluations at one New Zealand university. We develop a socio-technical model of the institutional evaluation system, and use this model to examine whether introducing an online system for ordering student feedback questionnaires and reducing processing time influenced academic staff engagement with evaluation. Survey responses, interview comments and data about ordering trends suggest the change did increase staff engagement by: (1) improving staff perceptions of evaluation and (2) increasing engaged behaviour, such as voluntarily ordering more evaluations. The outcomes of this study imply that the ‘practical implementation’ of an evaluation system is an important factor in influencing engagement with evaluation. We conclude that we can increase teacher engagement with evaluation simply by improving the ‘practical implementation’ of the evaluation system.
This chapter initially describes the Postgraduate Certificate offered at the University of Otago,... more This chapter initially describes the Postgraduate Certificate offered at the University of Otago, the first course, and the type of participants and then discusses why we chose to use a portfolio as the summative assessment item. We provide details on the components of the portfolio, illustrated with examples of participants' work. The chapter continues by sharing insights gained from teacher and participant feedback.
You can access the journal article here (just copy and paste the URL below in your browser): http... more You can access the journal article here (just copy and paste the URL below in your browser): http://search.informit.com.au/fullText;dn=562923250696356;res=IELHEA Research looking at the general practice workforce shortage has been predominantly from a quantitative perspective. The present research examined medical students’ views about general practice using a qualitative approach. Medical students in their second-year and final year of study (trainee interns, or ‘TIs’) were interviewed. Second-year students described general practice as concerned with non-challenging minor problems and characterised by relationships with individuals and communities and that general practice lifestyle was one of structured hours and an easier workload. Further impressions were that general practice has a low status within the medical hierarchy, is considered an easy default option and is not considered to be a specialty. TIs offered perceptions based on experiences working directly with general prac...
ABSTRACT Under normal circumstances, it is assumed that PhD students will make use of ICT (i.e., ... more ABSTRACT Under normal circumstances, it is assumed that PhD students will make use of ICT (i.e., computer technologies) throughout their research journey for a variety of generic and specialised purposes. Yet, there is limited documented research about postgraduate use of ICT beyond their information sourcing skills and general knowledge consumption. This paper reports the first stage of a study that aimed to examine how PhD students use their computers to support their research practice, by taking into account not only their computer use skills, but also ICT use within the broader context of the research journey. Monitoring software that harvested computer activity data was installed on the computers of nine doctoral students from the same university who self-reported as being skilled computer users over a period of three months. Regular discussion sessions were held with each student to review computer activities in the light of their own research and study contexts (PhD stage and Discipline Background). An analysis of data gathered at this first stage of the study indicates that there is no difference among the students at any stage of their doctoral research in terms of the level of their engagement with their computers, and there is no difference in the use of computer (applications and documents) among the students despite their different discipline backgrounds. At this point in the study, there is a strong indication that while ICT are playing a dominant role in doctoral student’s daily lives, ICT use to support research practice is limited. While these students used computers daily, the computers were seemed not as crucial to their research practice as expected. It appears that current perceptions about the importance of computer devices for student research practice may need to be questioned. This first stage of a larger study therefore provides the basis for further investigation.
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