Higher Education Practitioners Research Articles

The liminal space: academic literacies practitioners’ construction of professional identity in the betwixt and between

Research on third space practitioners in higher education has gained traction since the mid-2010s. However, less research has been done on academic literacy practitioners as third space practitioners, and their often-marginalised positioning at many South African higher education institutions. This is despite their integral role in student success, and the fact that many South African academic literacy practitioners support the academic literacies development of thousands of students. At the same time, many also negotiate problematic binaries in terms of institutional conceptualisations and positionings of academic literacies development. This article explores how academic literacy practitioners construct their professional identities and manage the complex tensions that are often an inherent part of these professional identities. Using qualitative data, this research explores which institutional structures and cultures surround academic literacy practitioners, and what constraining or enabling effects these have on how they perform their roles and construct their professional identities. The findings highlight that research helps academic literacy practitioners establish a professional identity and legitimise the value of academic literacies development work. Participants also spoke about the importance of communities of practice and collaboration in shaping their professional identities. Although this paper focuses on South Africa, the findings will likely be useful in other contexts where academic literacy practitioners negotiate problematic binaries while trying to construct professional identities.

Humility’s role in the student voice for social justice pedagogical method

Humility, in a variety of forms, has been examined in educational contexts in recent years. However, its association with a particular pedagogical method remains an unexplored area of inquiry. Likewise, social justice and student voice are a concern in international education arenas, including in higher education, but are not usually connected to virtue acquisition or demonstration. The student voice for social justice (SVSJ) pedagogical method, based on the framework of Nancy Fraser, seeks to aid practitioners in higher education to ensure that social justice and student voice, mediated by notions of humility, are at the forefront of higher education practices across disciplines. This is accomplished by creating spaces for students’ active participation and voice in course content development and classroom learning. In this paper, we expand philosophical explorations of intellectual humility (IH) and cultural humility (CH) as virtues that mediate teaching and learning practices and interactions in classrooms during SVSJ implementation. This ensures that each student is recognised as an important knowledge holder and that diverse ways of knowing, knowledge systems and cultural traditions are valued in higher education teaching and learning spaces.

Learning to Unpack the Term Latinx in Higher Education

The term Latinx has received increasing levels of pushback from different entities outside and within higher education. Despite the term’s wide popularity in academic spaces, higher education practitioners often utilize it without understanding whom it simultaneously includes and excludes, and whom the term refers to. Such practice perpetuates the exclusion of many students, often rendered invisible. This case study provides a glimpse into how some students experience exclusion through practitioners’ use of the term Latinx. We offer reflection questions for practitioners to consider in their work to create inclusive spaces for Latin* students on college campuses.

BELIEFS, VALUES AND EMOTIONS IN PRACTITIONERS’ ENGAGEMENTS WITH LEARNING ANALYTICS IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Internet entrepreneurs, EdTech companies, AI enthusiasts, and other powerful stakeholders around the world have promoted the idea that big data and learning analytics (LA) have the potential to revolutionise education. LA, defined as the continuous measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of data about learners and their context (Gašević et al., 2015, p. 1), is increasingly being used to track and evaluate what students do in internet-mediated environments. A growing body of literature has questioned the benefits attributed to the use of AI-based solutions and raised a number of concerns about the current developments in the education sector. Despite this growing interest among researchers, we know little about how the beliefs, values and feelings of different groups of educational practitioners shape how they engage with AI-driven learning analytics technologies and influence the evolution of the cultures of practice shaping the adoption of learning analytics. In this paper, we report on research that asks: how do culturally situated beliefs, values and emotions shape practitioners’ engagements with narrow AI in different contexts of practice? The research project as a whole examines these cultures of practice across three contrasting contexts. Here we will discuss early findings from one of these contexts – learning analytics in higher education. With insights from this research, we aim to contribute to empower practitioners in higher education and relevant stakeholders to foster the development of critical and reflective data cultures that are able to exploit the possibilities of learning analytics while being critically responsive to their societal implications and limitations.

Doctoral Students’ Experiences, Self-Efficacy, and Sense of Belonging Related to Academic Writing in an Online Program

Considering the expansion of online graduate education, higher education practitioners must support student belonging and academic writing in this growing context. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to use social cognitive theory to explore how students in an online Doctor of Education program experience becoming academic writers and to examine trends in students’ belonging and writing self-efficacy. This explanatory sequential design study included quantitative data collection via an electronic survey followed by individual and focus group interviews with participants. Seventy-four students completed the survey (29% response rate) and eleven students participated in interviews. Survey results revealed that students had a moderate to high sense of belonging related to the writing process and a significant negative correlation between writing self-efficacy and belonging uncertainty. Qualitative analysis of the interviews resulted in five themes: (1) writing is experienced as a journey, (2) unclear expectations are painful, (3) English is viewed as a privilege, (4) peer support is needed, and cannot be forced, and (5) developing writers view writing as a craft and identified writing tools. This study provides supporting evidence that belonging is possible in online doctoral education. Recommendations for practice include the strategic engagement of peers and clear, timely notes from instructors.

Fostering Learner Autonomy in Higher Education through Coaching and Mentoring for Non-Traditional Learners

This article considers the potential ways for coaching and mentoring practices in higher education to support the development of learner autonomy, a key espoused aim of university education. I argue that coaching and mentoring can foster self-regulated learning, critical thinking, and goal-setting among students, empowering them to take greater responsibility for their learning, and that higher education institutions should make greater use of coaching and mentoring practises, particularly for non-traditional learners[what in the UK are identified as ‘widening participation’ students]. The aim is to stimulate reflection and discussion among higher education practitioners.

Responding to the Forced Pivot of Higher Education Planners and Practitioners Serving Students in the Aftermath of COVID-19

This research provides valuable insights into the impact of COVID-19 on the education system, the need for adaptation, and the importance of various aspects such as experiential learning, emotional well being, mental health, workplace and online education. It offers recommendations and considerations for policymakers and practitioners in higher education to navigate the post-pandemic world successfully.

Faculty and Assessment Practitioner Needs for Student Learning Outcomes Assessment in Higher Education

This study examined the assessment needs of faculty and assessment practitioners in higher education. Sergiovanni’s (2000, 2004) lifeworld-systemsworld framework (LSF) and Clandinin and Connelly’s (2006) commonplaces of narrative inquiry (CNI) were the theoretical lenses to investigate this topic. Through 20 in-depth, semi-directed interviews (15 assessment practitioners and 5 faculty), six themes were identified between two research questions: (a) meaningful assessment work takes time; (b) assessment should not interfere with academic freedom; (c) assessment work requires resources; (d) assessment has a long-term orientation; (e) assessment responds to external stakeholders; and (f) assessment was impacted by the pandemic. The discussion spotlights the practical, policy, and theoretical implications of our findings within the broader higher education assessment literature.

Reflections on the Value of the Classroom: Animated Narratives about Student Engagement and Learning Under Lockdown at an International College in Thailand

Many in higher education are calling for a re-think of teaching and learning principles. The global pandemic de-stabilized foundational assumptions that guided pedagogy for many higher education practitioners. One such assumption is the value of the physical classroom for student engagement. Advances in educational technology and online learning practice have become immediately indispensable. And they have forced a reckoning for traditionalists. This qualitative narrative study examines the stories of undergraduates while studying online during the campus lockdown at a liberal arts college in Bangkok, Thailand. Their stories were produced into animated clips, which are featured in this article. They provide a uniquely vivid illustration of their learning engagement, as well as critical reflections on the value of the campus experience during a forced absence of it. While the study finds that students in some ways became more self-disciplined, it also reflects a refreshed awareness of the importance of ritual and shared physical space, in spite of the allure of educational technology.

An Empirical Study on the Learning Experiences and Outcomes of College Student Club Committee Members Using a Linear Hierarchical Regression Model

This study explored college students’ learning experiences and outcomes as club committee members. Using a linear regression model, it investigated the relevance of personal background variables and club learning experiences to club learning outcomes. This study selected 15 universities and colleges’ student club committee members in TaiwanA total of 1850 questionnaires were distributed, and 1761 valid questionnaires were recovered, with a recovery rate of over 95%. The study findings are as follows: Regarding learning experiences and learning outcomes, the student club committee members was good. According to this study’s linear regression analysis: The personal background of student club committee members and their club learning experience had significant explanatory power on the learning outcomes, with R2 values ranging from 39.6% to 61.1% for each dimension. This indicates that learning from club activities can be an essential pathway to cultivating students’ learning outcomes and a valuable reference for promoting club education in colleges and universities in Taiwan. Higher education practitioners should plan activities or programs for student club leaders with learning outcomes in mind, and design learning programs to meet the needs of student club leaders in each school so that students can achieve higher quality learning outcomes. In addition, this study also found that the assessment indicators of learning outcomes of the CAS of the U.S. can be applied to check the learning outcomes of student clubs in higher education in Taiwan.

A failure to engage? Negotiating the gap between students’ expectations and tutors’ assumptions in seminars

Seminar-based teaching remains of continued importance to many degree programmes, particularly within the author’s discipline of the humanities and social sciences. However, one of the perennial concerns cited by practitioners in Higher Education (HE) relates to engaging students in seminars. In contrast to earlier works which are concerned solely with techniques to better engage students within the classroom, through the use of a literature review, this paper explores deeper the expectations about teaching and learning that students bring with them to HE, as well as the assumptions that teachers in HE make about their students when planning teaching and learning activities. Ultimately it concludes that tutors must do more to understand their students’ experiences in transitioning to university, particularly for first-generation students, and work with students to negotiate new styles of teaching and learning which will be unfamiliar to many of them.This article was published open access under a CC BY licence: https://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0.

Utilizing Design Thinking to Create Digital Self-Directed Learning Environment for Enhancing Digital Literacy in Thai Higher Education

Aim/Purpose: To explore the effectiveness of utilizing the design thinking approach in developing digital self-directed learning environment to enhance digital literacy skills in Thai higher education. Background: To foster digital literacy skills in higher education, Thai students require more than access to technology. Emphasizing digital self-directed learning and incorporating Design Thinking approach, can empower students to learn and develop their digital skills effectively. This study explores the impact of digital self-directed learning environment, developed using a design thinking approach, on enhancing digital literacy skills among higher education students in Thailand. Methodology: The research methodology involves developing a digital self-directed learning environment, collecting and analyzing data, and using statistical analysis to compare the outcomes between different groups. The sample includes 60 undergraduate students from the School of Industrial Education and Technology at King Mongkut Institute of Technology, divided into a control group (n=30) and an experimental group (n=30). Data analysis involves mean, standard deviation, and one-way MANOVA. Contribution: This research contributes to the evidence supporting the use of Design Thinking in developing digital self-directed learning environment, demonstrating its effectiveness in meeting learners’ needs and improving learning outcomes in higher education. Findings: Key findings include: 1) the digital media and self-directed learning activities plan developed through the design thinking approach received high-quality ratings from experts, with mean scores of 4.87 and 4.93, respectively; and 2) post-lesson comparisons of learning outcome and digital literacy assessment scores revealed that the group utilizing digital media with self-directed learning activities had significantly higher mean scores than the traditional learning group, with a significance level of 0.001. Recommendations for Practitioners: Practitioners in higher education should use design thinking to develop digital self-directed learning environments that enhance digital literacy skills. This approach involves creating high-quality digital media and activities, promoting engagement and improved outcomes. Collaboration and stakeholder involvement are essential for effective implementation. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers should continue to explore the effectiveness of design thinking approaches in the development of learning environments, as well as their influence on different educational aspects such as student engagement, satisfaction, and overall learning outcomes. Impact on Society: By enhancing digital literacy skills among higher education students, this study contributes to the development of a digitally skilled workforce, encourages lifelong learning, and aids individuals in effectively navigating the challenges of the digital era. Future Research: Future research could explore a broader range of student demographics and educational settings to validate the effectiveness of the Design Thinking approach in enhancing digital literacy. This could include integrating design thinking with alternative digital learning and teaching methods to further improve digital literacy.

“It Felt Like Waking up From Zombie Nation”: Introducing Early-Years Practitioners in Higher Education to Issues of Social Justice for Transformative Learning

21st century early years practitioners are expected to become agents of change by challenging societal inequalities and embracing anti-oppressive approaches. Yet, research suggests that many practitioners hold negative attitudes about children and families who are ethnically, culturally, linguistically and economically different from those in the mainstream and appear oblivious to how their own practice may contribute to the educational inequalities experienced by these children. This article draws on research carried out with early-years practitioners completing a Foundation degree in early years and an Early Childhood Studies BA (Hons) Top-Up course in England, which examined the practitioners’ perspectives of a transformative pedagogy for social justice. Findings suggest the pedagogy inspired practitioners to work towards eradicating enduring societal inequalities. However, when the emotional impact of the transformation is overwhelming, transformative learning may not only inhibit action but also lead practitioners to a state of liminality that requires time to emerge from.

Higher Education Practitioners' Experience in a Global Pandemic

I write this reflection from my perspective as an international education practitioner and administrator, but also as a doctoral student in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University. The intersection of these identities presents a perspective that is informed by my lived reality of what internationalization of higher education is, in the Canadian context. It is this space, between theory and practice of internationalization of higher education, where my research interests lie. I am specifically focused on the experience of higher education staff members. This is of particular interest in the current context of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the internationalization of higher education.

From Theoretical Debates to Lived Experiences: Autoethnographic Insights into Open Educational Practices in German Higher Education

The Open Science Fellow Program built a community where researchers learned how to work openly. Within this environment, questions emerged on what it means to teach openly, i.e. which practices represent open learning and teaching and which examples can be shared amongst colleagues and peers? Different concepts of open educational practices (OEP) aim at giving answers to open learning and teaching. At the same time, OEP still lack a common definition and many discussions on the topic only give minimal or implicit guidance to concrete approaches of being open —despite the creation and sharing of open educational resources.Investigating how we as practitioners implement concepts of OEP in the classroom was the starting point for the autoethnographic study we describe in this paper. We conducted a literature review to map explicit concepts of OEP, we reflected those concepts regarding the adaptation in our own teaching and our experiences with OER-based and other open teaching concepts. We discuss four research papers and our respective position as practitioners in higher education in Germany. We reflect on the current state of ideas of OEP and their practical adaptation and implementation in learning and teaching scenarios.

Does online engagement matter? The impact of interactive learning modules and synchronous class attendance on student achievement in an immersive delivery model

One Australian public university is radically changing the way it delivers higher education, introducing a 6-week immersive scheduling delivery model across all units and courses. Despite the emerging success of block and immersive models for raising the performance of diverse student cohorts, the design factors underpinning positive outcomes are underexplored. This paper presents a mixed methods study of the impact and value of student engagement with interactive and responsive online content modules and synchronous classes in an immersive scheduling model. The findings indicate that behavioural engagement with online learning modules has a positive effect on academic success and is a significant predictor of a higher final score. Qualitative data indicate several attributes of high-quality online learning modules that students appear to associate with engagement and deeper learning in the immersive model: interactivity, media richness, constructive alignment, flexibility and responsiveness. Synchronous class attendance did not impact final scores; however, students nonetheless valued the opportunity to form safe and supportive communities of inquiry during classes. This study demonstrates that in times of increasing demand for more flexible learning, immersive scheduling models that are founded on active learning principles and embed interactive, responsive, media-rich online learning modules can improve student engagement and performance. Implications for practice or policy: Higher education practitioners should integrate interactive, responsive, media-rich and constructively aligned online learning modules into curricula. Synchronous active learning classes that create safe communities of inquiry should be offered alongside options for asynchronous participation. Low levels of engagement with online learning modules should prompt follow-up from educators to raise engagement and bolster academic achievement. Immersive delivery models are effective curriculum innovations that, when designed with interactive online modules, can support improved academic achievement.

Personalising medical education: ePortfolios for workplace- based assessment


 
 
 There is much literature on the challenges of designing for and implementing ePortfolios. Issues include technology management and overcoming barriers to acceptance and usability. Yet as higher education practitioners we find ourselves continually stumbling over these issues. Through discussion of a work-in progress case study at a large Australian medical school, we raise some of the design and implementation issues that impacted integration and facilitation of an ePortfolio system. The system was created to support students’ personal learning, and evidencing and assessment of clinical competence. Recognising the importance of context, we focus on a Workplace Learning Portfolio (WLP) course, in which an ePortfolio system was adopted to support and deliver workplace-based assessments for students in Years 3 and 4 of a Doctor of Medicine (MD) program. Discussion centres around the promise and reality of concurrently implementing curriculum and technological change with a large cohort of domestic and international students. The complexity of using an ePortfolio system to identify students at risk of academic failure is raised, as is an example of unexpected student engagement with personalised learning.
 
 

Marginality and mattering: Inequality in STEM majors’ relationships with higher education practitioners.

Marginality and mattering: Inequality in STEM majors’ relationships with higher education practitioners.

The Contribution of Higher Education to Sustainability: The Development and Assessment of Sustainability Competences in a University Case Study

Universities can make a significant contribution to sustainability, and the development of sustainability competences in their graduates should be a key outcome of their courses. We propose an assessment framework for enabling and evaluating the attainment of sustainability competences in University students. We outline its six steps, offering tools on how to assess the alignment of University programs’ Learning Outcomes (LOs) to sustainability and how translate them into competences for sustainability. We provide approaches to evaluate existing assessment methods in terms of enabling students to develop and apply their competences, guidance on how to conduct the assessments to collect data on student performance and eventually how to use the data, and evidence collected to evaluate if the students are developing the intended competences. We illustrate the application of the assessment tool in a University case study and we draw conclusions on the evidence it offers to how higher education practitioners can benefit from its use.

Enabling feedback seeking, agency and uptake through dialogic screencast feedback

Screencast feedback is higher in quantity, explicit and engaging and may better enable uptake compared to written feedback. However, most studies deploy screencast feedback as ‘transmission’ of feedback comments, positioning learners as passive and neglecting the importance of agency and action within the uptake process. This study attempts to overcome this limitation by conceptually positioning and deploying screencast feedback in a way that supports agency by providing technology-mediated opportunities for learners to request feedback and initiate uptake-oriented dialogues with providers. Taking a qualitative case approach, using written data, reflections (N  = 14) and surveys (N  = 14) to progressively focus interviews with 13 undergraduate advanced writing students in South Korea, three themes were developed. First, screencasts appeared to enhance understanding of feedback, helping learners understand standards and to set and achieve goals. Second, through initial feedback requests and opportunities to seek and clarify feedback, responding to feedback dialogically enabled learners to better understand and enact it, supporting their agency. Finally, the perception that the feedback was supportive and caring encouraged trust and motivation to engage with and use feedback. The findings have several theoretical and practical implications and are especially relevant to higher education practitioners wishing to support agency and uptake with a relational approach.