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doi: 10.1080/14703297.2019.1568279pmid: N/A
Middle-level administrators in African universities are often under-utilised in terms of their contribution to the administrative support for learning and teaching. They also have little access to professional development. This paper presents the findings of a study to develop a programme to enable these administrators to enhance their support for learning and teaching in their institutions. Following a selection process based on their own universities and programme workshop sessions, participants carry out projects to ‘make a difference’ to administrative effectiveness. Analysis of project reports and participant interviews shows that the projects had a real impact, and this remains ongoing in many cases. The programme design is evaluated, and key elements highlighted: a locally based selection process; international accreditation; a strength-based approach and authentic assessment involving a workplace project and reflection on learning. Educators who work in similar ‘lower-income country’ contexts may find it constructive to make comparisons with their own experiences.
Chui, Wing Hong; Khiatani, Paul Vinod; She, Minnie Heep Ching; Wong, Chak Chong
doi: 10.1080/14703297.2019.1570305pmid: N/A
This article assesses how an interactive simulation game, a modified version of Simulated Society (hereinafter ‘SIMSOC-modified’), was used for teaching a theoretical criminology course in a Hong Kong university. Its use was intended to enable students to experience inequalities, in terms of wealth and power. The primary focus was to observe how participating in SIMSOC-modified impacted students’ knowledge of and attitudes toward crime causation and their intentions to engage in activism and radicalism. The findings showed that SIMSOC-modified promoted students’ active learning, resulting in cognitive and attitudinal changes toward the social causes of crime and increased intention to radically support the social groups they closely identified with. Rather than solely relying on didactic lectures and tutorials, we found strong support for the use of SIMSOC-modified in teaching crime causation and responses.
doi: 10.1080/14703297.2019.1657033pmid: N/A
Doctoral supervision is increasingly becoming a complex enterprise, calling for highly skilled and competent supervisors. This paper considers a comparative analysis of a three – pathway model and graduate manuals of selected Ugandan universities to forecast the role of pedagogical training in doctoral supervision. The handbooks were in some instances in consistence with the model tracks. However, they, to a larger extent, envisioned informal training of PhD supervisors. The paper discerns, from the model and documents that a doctoral supervisor with pedagogical training may enlist conceptualised and differentiated supervisory skills. A supervisor on- the- job training has the opportunity to develop crystallized skills. A neophyte supervisor is a candidate of ‘supervisory accidents’. In contemporary times, the process of doctoral supervision takes the supervisor’s aptitude, which to a bigger extent is an upshot of formal pedagogical learning. An empirical analysis of the concepts considered in this paper is suggested.
Villarroel, Verónica; Boud, David; Bloxham, Susan; Bruna, Daniela; Bruna, Carola
doi: 10.1080/14703297.2018.1564882pmid: N/A
Tests and examinations are widely used internationally. Despite their pervasiveness, they tend to measure lower order thinking skills in a decontextualized manner at a time when the literature frequently argues for the benefits of a richer, authentic approach to assessment. The focus of this paper is to improve authenticity in test assessment methods through promoting realism, cognitive challenge and evaluative judgement during the planning, administering and following up of assessment tasks. The article builds on a systematic literature review, in which the main principles of authentic assessment were outlined. In this paper, we posit how these principles can be implemented through the three chronological phases of the assessment process: before, during and after the act of assessment.
Adefila, A.; Opie, J.; Ball, S.; Bluteau, P.
doi: 10.1080/14703297.2018.1541188pmid: N/A
Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments could be innovative teaching resources, providing a social space for students to engage in transformative learning. However, poor design and structure mean CSCL do not readily support skill acquisition. This study examined student engagement and learning experiences using a virtual patient designed in a CSCL. Particular attention was paid to the social interactions taking place in the space intended to enhance the communication skills of healthcare students. The findings suggested that CSCL provides a safe platform for skill acquisition by deliberately designing purposive learning tasks to take place through collective interaction. However, students found the social learning process challenging and were not always able to articulate what they were learning. The study showed that students do not have the tools to engage pedagogically with others in virtual spaces, which have specific implications for design, facilitation and assessment in CSCLs.
Chan, Siok-Yee; Lam, Yat Kuan; Ng, Theam Foo
doi: 10.1080/14703297.2018.1541189pmid: N/A
In Malaysia, the new teaching model of a flipped classroom is emerging in higher education with the aim of promoting student-centred learning. Hence the main purpose of this study is to identify the students’ acceptance level, their perceptions, and the impact of their initial exposures to the flipped classroom model. With this in mind, a survey on undergraduate students’ perceptions of the flipped classroom was evaluated at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Surprisingly, there was a low degree of acceptance and unfavourable impressions of flipped classrooms among students. The reasons were identified to be the inappropriate use of the flipped methodology and the increase of student workload. In conclusion, the implementation of the flipped classroom method was not straightforward in Malaysia with a tradition of more didactic teaching methods.
Ortiz-Lozano, José María; Rua-Vieites, Antonio; Bilbao-Calabuig, Paloma; Casadesús-Fa, Martí
doi: 10.1080/14703297.2018.1502090pmid: N/A
Student dropout is a major concern in studies investigating higher education retention strategies. However, studies investigating the optimal time to identify students who are at risk of withdrawal and the type of data to be used are scarce. Our study consists of a withdrawal prediction analysis based on classification trees using both sociodemographic and academic data from 935 first-year students at an engineering school in Spain. We build prediction models using information collected at three different moments throughout the first semester of the students’ first university year. Our results echo those of previous studies supporting the need for an early first-year intervention to prevent non-completion. In addition, academic performance data serve as a good predictor. Finally, academic monitoring throughout the first semester improves the prediction accuracy, challenging the demand for ‘as soon as possible’ identification of students who are at risk of dropout.
Sadeghi, Karim; Abolfazli Khonbi, Zainab
doi: 10.1080/14703297.2018.1433055pmid: N/A
Abstract Taking a complex dynamic systems perspective and following an adapted theory of wellbeing, the present mixed-methods project looked into the wellbeing of Iranian postgraduate students majoring in English Language Teaching (ELT). The participants included 29 male and 45 female 24–31 year-old students whose language learning histories were analysed for elements of wellbeing and coping strategies. In addition, the impact of learner variables of resiliency, language learning strategy use, multiple intelligences, and language learning aptitude on the participants’ wellbeing was investigated. The elements of wellbeing in narratives written by students were found to be emotional responses, accomplishments, meaningful engagement, and relationships in a descending order. Hierarchical multiple regression showed resiliency, language learning strategy use, multiple intelligences, and aptitude (but not gender) affected wellbeing. While male students used accomplishments, meaningful engagement, emotional responses, and relationships as their coping, their female peers used emotional responses, accomplishment, meaningful engagement, and relationships.
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