Friday 26 September 2014

eResource: Innovative Indigenous Teaching and Learning


Good Practice Report: Innovative Indigenous Teaching and Learning from Uni. of Southern Queensland on Vimeo.

Innovative Indigenous Teaching and Learning Report

Report Link: http://www.olt.gov.au/resource-good-practice-report-innovative-indigenous-teaching-and-learning-2013

Report Development

The review consists of three major sections. First, it provides a summative evaluation of the good practices and key outcomes for teaching and learning from completed ALTC projects and fellowships (as at February 2013) relating to the topic of Innovative Indigenous learning and teaching in higher education. Second, it presents a review of relevant Australian and international scholarly research and publications on the topic. Drawing on the observations from the review of ALTC projects and relevant literature, the final section, Recommendations, identifies areas in which further work or development is needed.

This report has reviewed sixteen ALTC funded and completed projects and fellowships as at March 2013 that are relevant to the topic of Innovative Indigenous learning and teaching. These projects and fellowships have mapped an overall picture of innovative Indigenous teaching and learning practices in Australia. These practices were implemented in different educational settings and were examined from different angles. They took on different forms and addressed specific needs of different groups of stakeholders, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous. They are forging new and meaningful structures and understanding for promoting Indigenous learning and teaching.


Outcomes

Key outcomes for teaching and learning of the ALTC completed projects on the topic of Innovative Indigenous learning and teaching:
  1. Identifying and addressing different distinct and specific areas in Australian Indigenous education that need attention
  2. Strengthening capacity of Indigenous and non-Indigenous stakeholders involved both directly and indirectly in Indigenous education
  3. Forging and advocating new paradigms of Indigenous learning and teaching
  4. Creating multiple networks for promoting new understanding of Indigenous education and Indigenous knowledge and for supporting all involved in the process
  5. Developing practical learning and teaching resources either ready for use or adaptable for different contexts
  6. Developing theoretical and philosophical tools/frameworks relevant to indigenous education
  7. Providing exemplars of good Indigenous learning and teaching practices
  8. Drawing attention to the need for concerted effort by different sectors and agencies involved in Indigenous education
  9. Promoting and recognising the importance of Indigenous knowledge practice
  10. Acting as a blueprint for further work/research to be done in the field, in terms of epistemology and methodology

Report Authors

Professor Nereda White
Professor Nereda White is an Australian Aboriginal woman from the Gooreng Gooreng people of Bundaberg, Queensland. She is currently Professor and Director of the Centre for Indigenous Education and Research, at the Australian Catholic University. Professor White holds Early Childhood teaching qualifications, and Masters and Doctoral qualifications in the area of educational leadership and management.
Dr Jack Frawley
Dr Jack Frawley is Deputy Director of Australian Catholic University's Centre for Creative & Authentic Leadership, and Senior Research Fellow with the Centre for Indigenous Education and Research.He is an active researcher in several educational leadership projects, and intercultural studies related projects.

Dang Thi Kim Anh

Friday 12 September 2014

eResource: Curriculum Renewal


Good practice report: Curriculum Renewal from Uni. of Southern Queensland on Vimeo.

Curriculum Renewal Report

Report Link: http://www.olt.gov.au/resource-curriculum-renewal-2011

Context and eResource Development 

This report serves as an overview of the work funded by the ALTC in the area of curriculum renewal in higher education, making recommendations for future work in the area. At the time of writing the report, the ALTC has funded 40 completed projects and seven fellowships in this area. These are from various discipline areas such as biology, physics, chemistry, maths, histology, pharmacology, studio arts, music, teacher education, construction, computer science, ICT, new media, engineering, health, occupational therapy, philosophy, sociology, social work, psychology, and veterinary science. The outcomes of each are summarised in this report, along with a comprehensive literature review of published national and international research and practice in the areas of curriculum renewal in higher education (up to 2011).

Outcomes 

The projects, fellowships and literature included in this report suggest some much-needed changes for higher education in Australia. They are as follows:
  1. Creating clear and accessible career pathways for students during their higher education journey.
  2. Clearly articulating threshold graduate attributes or outcomes.
  3. Aligning education pathways to meet national and international industry needs.
  4. Emphasising the interdisciplinary, intercultural, and global nature of modern knowledge.
  5. Empowering graduates for real-world work and life environments.
  6. Equipping and developing staff to use and incorporate technology tools within the curriculum in a creative manner.
  7. Recognising the emerging needs and different learning styles of our increasingly diverse and international student cohort.
 The major theme that emerges from all these projects is the need for a change of culture and curricular processes, not just at the organisational level, but also at the fundamental level of the educators themselves, who deal with students every day, and are closest to the needs, aspirations, learning, and growth of the students. There is also a need for standardisation of both graduate attributes and assessment practices in line with real-world and industry needs. The literature review of the discussion and debate in this area reveals similar needs and issues worldwide. It has also been demonstrated that while technology-assisted learning and teaching along with industry engagement can enrich learners‘ learning and engagement if done right, it has the opposite effect on learning and teaching if the delivery is poorly executed.

Report Authors

 

Dr. Bhuva Narayan 
Bhuva is the Discipline Coordinator for Information & Knowledge Management and Digital and Social Media studies at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Technology Sydney. Bhuva is currently working on two research projects: one is funded by the Centre for Health Communications and focuses on the information practices around the self-management of information-intensive chronic health conditions such as diabetes; the other is funded by the AuDA Foundation and is exploring the development of an automated cyberbullying-detection system for social media.

Bhuva’s research is in the area of information ecologies and human learning, including information interactions and information behaviours in digital and social media.  Bhuva’s teaching interests are in the areas of Information Behaviour Theories, Information Research Methods, Information Cultures, User Experience Design, Information Architecture, and Digital Libraries. She is currently also working on a First Year Experience project to engage students in professional practice. 

Professor Sylvia Lauretta Edwards 
Sylvia’s career has focused on innovation in higher education and for 6 of the past 8 years Sylvia worked in executive roles leading faculty reorganisation to facilitate significant change in one university. She now works in the higher education sector as a consultant, mentor, advisor, and coach. A recipient of a prestigious Australian Award for University Teaching in 2006, Sylvia has received numerous QUT teaching performance and leadership awards.

Her research contributions include the development of The Net Lenses model: a relational model of students’ internet searching experiences, the co-development of the Six Frames for Information Literacy Education (Bruce, Edwards & Lupton, 2006), and the Reflective Model for Internet Searching (Edwards & Bruce, 2002). Her areas of expertise include: higher education leadership, T&L leadership, change management, curriculum renewal, coaching, and human information behaviour, information searching, phenomenography and variation theory.  She has published over 50 refereed publications and delivered over 40 academic and industry presentations. 

Friday 5 September 2014

eResource: Work Integrated Learning



Good Practice Report: Work Integrated Learning from Uni. of Southern Queensland on Vimeo.

Work Integrated Learning Report

Report Link:  http://www.olt.gov.au/resource-work-integrated-learning-2011

Related Publications:

Cooper L, Orrell J, Bowden M (2010) Work Integrated Learning: A Guide to Effective Practice. Taylor & Francis, NY

Context and Development of the Report

The Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) commissioned this report to identify good practices in work-integrated learning (WIL) in Australia through a systematic review of 28 funded studies’ final reports, including WIL and discipline scoping studies, fellowships and projects.
WIL is delineated in this report as the intentional integration of theory and practice knowledge, and a WIL program provides the means to enable this integration and may, or may not, include a placement in a workplace, or a community or civic arena.


The diversity of interests within the reviewed projects points to the scope of WIL as a field of practice. A matrix was developed which identified four major WIL domains and eight dimensions to map the WIL landscape and contextualise the projects.




The following questions structure the report reviews:
  1. What was the scope of WIL practice in the study or project? (e.g. single program, discipline-wide, multi-disciplinary, sector-wide, multi-institutional) 
  2. How are WIL and its purposes conceptualised explicitly or tacitly? 
  3. Did the conceptualisation challenge current WIL conceptions and practices? 
  4. What strategies for success were identified and what are the leadership, management and educational implications? 
  5. Was there attention to issues of equity, access and risk mitigation?

Outcomes

Key outcomes of the reviewed studies recognise essential institutional, educational and partnership elements for successful WIL, as outlined below:
Institutional 
  • a clearly articulated, shared vision of WIL within the university, including a shared understanding of its purposes and expectations; 
  • a realistic recognition of WIL in institutional systems and infrastructure together with the provision of adequate resources; 
  • recognition and legitimation within disciplinary communities of the practice-generated knowledge, and the distinctive and complementary roles the university and workplace have in shaping and supporting the learning; 
  • and engaging and utilising existing institutionally-provided enabling services such as careers services in the WIL process.
Educational
  • adequate induction and preparation of students prior to their practice-based experiences; 
  • providing structured, critically reflective, self and peer learning processes during and after WIL experiences; 
  • presence of an element of risk to contribute to profound learning for students (the corollary is the futility of unchallenging placements); 
  • and investing in the development, trialling and up-scaling of technology-based tools to provide alternative or supplementary WIL experiences, and their integration in curriculum development and institutional strategic plans.
Partnerships
  • ensuring supervisory staff familiarity with students’ prior university learning; 
  • identifying and
  • including all stakeholders in development, innovation and communication regarding WIL;
  • induction/professional development for university and host-organisation supervisory staff and
  • development of their leadership capabilities; 
  • and robust and mature relationships with placement providers (host organisations) underpinned by a commitment to mutual benefit.

Report Author 

Professor Janice Orrell


Professor Janice Orrell has been an educator for over 47 years. She has taught in rural, remote and urban Schools in Western Australia and South Australia; an International School in Southern India. She has taught communication and developmental, health and educational psychology in Aboriginal Teacher Education and Nursing Education.  Her primary interests are in education for practice and assessment. Her research is in the fields of university learning and teaching; assessment in higher education; education for practice (WIL); quality assurance in HE; research education and leadership and management in higher education. She is currently a Professor of Assessment in Medical Education and a supervisor of 7 PhD and Ed Doc candidates in Flinders University's School of Education.