Papers by Christa Jacenyik-Trawoger
International Journal for Academic Development, 2025
Peer review of teaching (PRoT) in higher education serves both summative (performance management,... more Peer review of teaching (PRoT) in higher education serves both summative (performance management, award, and promotion applications), and formative purposes (collegial feedback and developing teaching practice). This phenomenographic analysis of 20 semi-structured interviews with academic and professional staff identifies four qualitatively different conceptions of PRoT: judgement, feedback, reflection, and co-construction. We make explicit what PRoT means or refers to in each category and its component parts and context, exploring five features of impetus, peer relationship, focus of review, communication of results, and intended outcomes. With all participants expressing a preference for informal approaches to PRoT, we discuss tensions around academic development, collegiality, quality of feedback, and implementation of pedagogical insights. We conclude with recommendations for academic development practice and research in peer review of teaching.
Higher Education Research & Development, 2013
ABSTRACT This article presents an analysis of rich data, gathered from interviews with 46 candida... more ABSTRACT This article presents an analysis of rich data, gathered from interviews with 46 candidates and 38 supervisors from three Australian universities, about experiences of doctoral supervision in cross-cultural situations. Our analysis shows that many of the issues reported by international candidates are the same as those encountered by domestic candidates. However, this study has identified eight intensifiers that make such situations more complicated or difficult for candidates in a cross-cultural context: language; cultural differences in dealing with hierarchy; separation from the familiar; separation from support; other cultural differences; stereotypes; time; and what happens when the candidate returns home. The two intensifiers mentioned by more than 50% of interviewees are separation from the familiar and language. Using intensifiers as a conceptual framework for self-examination may help universities to better understand the real issues, to target resources, to mitigate distress to international candidates and reduce pressure on supervisors.
10th, Apr 17, 2012
The past decade has seen increasing numbers of students coming to Western education institutions ... more The past decade has seen increasing numbers of students coming to Western education institutions from developing countries and for whom English, the language of research, is not their first language. These students face the particular complexities of adapting to and assimilating into new cultural environments, in both social and research contexts. Issues emerge and change throughout the candidature, on the candidate's journey to becoming a new researcher, and this paper will present resources that have been developed to ...
Compendium, 2012
Writing groups have been espoused as a means of supporting early-career researchers as they face ... more Writing groups have been espoused as a means of supporting early-career researchers as they face the challenges of establishing research profiles, attaining job security, gaining funding, and collaborating with other researchers. This paper presents an evaluative study of a writing group in a central learning and teaching development unit at a metropolitan Australian university. The group is unusual because its membership includes both nonacademic and academic staff from multiple disciplinary backgrounds. A participatory action research strategy was adopted to develop and evaluate the writing group, incorporate critical reflection, collaborate using a wiki, analyse qualitative data ('speed dating'), and produce word clouds to triangulate results. Discussing both the process of establishing the writing group and the evaluation strategy has value for departments, centres, and faculty-based groups wanting to develop the scholarship of teaching, support academic and non-academic staff in becoming active researchers, build cohesion, foster interdisciplinary dialogue, and create communities of practice around writing for early-career researchers.
ABSTRACT This paper explores an innovative approach to evaluating the effectiveness of a writing ... more ABSTRACT This paper explores an innovative approach to evaluating the effectiveness of a writing group in an Australian research-intensive university. Traditional qualitative and quantitative methods typically applied in higher-education research may be effective in analysing the output of writing groups; however, they do not always address the affective domain of writing and giving and receiving feedback in a small-group context. The group had previously evaluated its practice with a speed-dating activity, itself an innovative approach designed for efficiency and to take advantage of the size and diversity of the group. The changing membership of the group, from eight to four participants, warranted a methodology appropriate to the intimacy of the group. In this paper, three theoretical frameworks are used to conceptualise the practice of the smaller group: communities of practice, peer mentoring and affect theory. The methodologies of critically reflective practice and memory work described here emerged from these theoretical frameworks.
International Journal of Educational Management, 2014
ABSTRACT Purpose - Many universities are in the process of changing their learning management sys... more ABSTRACT Purpose - Many universities are in the process of changing their learning management systems to Moodle yet there is limited empirical research available on the impact of this change. This paper explores the results of an initial pilot, which was conducted as the first stage of implementing Moodle at an Australian university. Design/methodology/approach - The pilot study involved an online survey and focus groups with unit convenors teaching Open University Australia (OUA) units in Moodle. Findings - The aim was to essentially test Moodle and eliminate any technological issues prior to the university wide roll-out the following year. It was envisaged that this pilot would contribute to building capability and knowledge amongst staff members; however, it was unanticipated that this would be jeopardised by a wider and ongoing issue in higher education; namely, the casualisation of the academic workforce. This paper maps the accumulated knowledge of these unit convenors and how this knowledge is 'walking out the door'. Originality/value - This paper argues that an environment of insecure employment is a barrier to change management.
Higher Education Research & Development, 2013
ABSTRACT This paper explores an innovative approach to evaluating the effectiveness of a writing ... more ABSTRACT This paper explores an innovative approach to evaluating the effectiveness of a writing group in an Australian research-intensive university. Traditional qualitative and quantitative methods typically applied in higher-education research may be effective in analysing the output of writing groups; however, they do not always address the affective domain of writing and giving and receiving feedback in a small-group context. The group had previously evaluated its practice with a speed-dating activity, itself an innovative approach designed for efficiency and to take advantage of the size and diversity of the group. The changing membership of the group, from eight to four participants, warranted a methodology appropriate to the intimacy of the group. In this paper, three theoretical frameworks are used to conceptualise the practice of the smaller group: communities of practice, peer mentoring and affect theory. The methodologies of critically reflective practice and memory work described here emerged from these theoretical frameworks.
Peer Review of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, 2013
ABSTRACT This chapter explores the culture of leadership at Macquarie University and how that mig... more ABSTRACT This chapter explores the culture of leadership at Macquarie University and how that might influence the culture of engagement with peer review by comparing the practices and perceptions across four faculties. In particular we examine views of “top-down” and “bottom-up” approaches to peer review to investigate suggestions that a top-down approach can lead to a particular perception of peer review as a form of quality assurance or managerial surveillance imposed by leaders, rather than a form of quality enhancement encouraged through distributed leadership. What emerges is the importance of leadership actively encouraging a culture of learning and collective community of practice. We present a case study of how institutional policy on peer review contrasts with the perceptions of the same policy by staff.
International Journal of Psychology, 2012
Macquarie University ResearchOnline.
Writing groups have been espoused as a means of supporting early career researchers in academia a... more Writing groups have been espoused as a means of supporting early career researchers in academia as they face the challenges of establishing research profiles, attaining job security, gaining funding and collaborating with other researchers. This paper presents an evaluative study of a writing group in a central learning and teaching development unit at a metropolitan Australian university. The writing group is unusual in that membership includes non-academic and academic staff from multiple disciplinary backgrounds. A participatory action research strategy was adopted in developing and evaluating the writing group, incorporating critical reflection, collaboration via a wiki, group analysis of qualitative data (‘speed dating’) and the production of word clouds to triangulate results. The discussion of the processes of establishing the writing group and the evaluation strategy have value for departments, centres and faculty-based groups wanting to develop the scholarship of teaching, support academic and non-academic staff to be active researchers, build cohesion, foster interdisciplinary dialogue and create communities of practice around writing for early career researchers.
Writing groups for doctoral education and beyond: Innovations in theory and practice, 2014
An extensive body of literature on writing circles or groups in higher education for doctoral stu... more An extensive body of literature on writing circles or groups in higher education for doctoral students, and increasingly early career researchers, focuses on supporting emerging scholars to develop research capability. This literature has explored the history of writing groups for student learning, pedagogies of writing groups and principles for effective operation—including identification as writers, peer review, community building and establishing the business of writing as everyday practice. Only in passing, however, does this body of work address the gendered membership of writing circles. Where the gender of participants is indicated, the groups discussed in the literature consist predominantly of women members. Lee and Boud (2003), for example, do not identify participants but note in the acknowledgements that one of the writing groups published a paper in the proceedings of a conference focussing on women and university culture. Five of the six members in Lassig et al. (2009) are women. Aitchison and Lee are more explicit, stating: “All group members were women in the mid-stages of their career” and noting the shared points of identification this offers (2006: 272). More commonly, however, the heterogeneity of the group is emphasized, despite the predominance of women: “we are birds of very different feathers [with] varying backgrounds, motivations and research interests” (Paternak et al. 2009: 361). Although there are published examples of women writing together (Galligan et al. 2003; Dwyer et al. 2012), there is little discussion of experiences as women writers in these contexts.
This chapter builds on our previous reflective evaluations on learning in a writing group context (Bosanquet et al. 2012) to examine our practice as women writers in higher education. What does it mean to write as women and among women? How do writing circles support women to develop academic writerly identities? The discussion brings together feminist theory and pedagogy on writing as women and scholarship on intimacy and affect. Our reflections reveal the multitude of roles and myriad of identities that we perform as writers and women; enabling these observations is the protected space of our intimate writing circle. "
Higher Education Research and Development
This paper explores an innovative approach to evaluating the effectiveness of a writing group in ... more This paper explores an innovative approach to evaluating the effectiveness of a writing group in an Australian research-intensive university. Traditional qualitative and quantitative methods typically applied in higher-education research may be effective in analysing the output of writing groups; however, they do not always address the affective domain of writing and giving and receiving feedback in a small-group context. The group had previously evaluated its practice with a speed-dating activity, itself an innovative approach designed for efficiency and to take advantage of the size and diversity of the group. The changing membership of the group, from eight to four participants, warranted a methodology appropriate to the intimacy of the group. In this paper, three theoretical frameworks are used to conceptualise the practice of the smaller group: communities of practice, peer mentoring and affect theory. The methodologies of critically reflective practice and memory work described here emerged from these theoretical frameworks.
International Journal of Educational Management, Jan 31, 2014
"Purpose - Many universities are in the process of changing their learning management systems to ... more "Purpose - Many universities are in the process of changing their learning management systems to Moodle yet there is limited empirical research available on the impact of this change. This paper explores the results of an initial pilot, which was conducted as the first stage of implementing Moodle at an Australian university.
Design/methodology/approach - The pilot study involved an online survey and focus groups with unit convenors teaching Open University Australia (OUA) units in Moodle.
Findings - The aim was to essentially test Moodle and eliminate any technological issues prior to the university wide roll-out the following year. It was envisaged that this pilot would contribute to building capability and knowledge amongst staff members; however, it was unanticipated that this would be jeopardised by a wider and ongoing issue in higher education; namely, the casualisation of the academic workforce. This paper maps the accumulated knowledge of these unit convenors and how this knowledge is 'walking out the door'.
Originality/value - This paper argues that an environment of insecure employment is a barrier to change management."
ABSTRACT This chapter explores the culture of leadership at Macquarie University and how that mig... more ABSTRACT This chapter explores the culture of leadership at Macquarie University and how that might influence the culture of engagement with peer review by comparing the practices and perceptions across four faculties. In particular we examine views of “top-down” and “bottom-up” approaches to peer review to investigate suggestions that a top-down approach can lead to a particular perception of peer review as a form of quality assurance or managerial surveillance imposed by leaders, rather than a form of quality enhancement encouraged through distributed leadership. What emerges is the importance of leadership actively encouraging a culture of learning and collective community of practice. We present a case study of how institutional policy on peer review contrasts with the perceptions of the same policy by staff.
Writing Groups for Doctoral Education and Beyond: Innovations in Practice and Theory, 2014
Studies in Higher Education, 2014
Many educational researchers have experienced challenges in obtaining ethics approval. This artic... more Many educational researchers have experienced challenges in obtaining ethics approval. This article explores some of the reasons why this is the case, looking specifically at the participatory action research methodology. The authors’ experience of seeking ethics approval for a project intended to introduce peer review as an enhancement process is described. Initially, ethics clearance was denied. Details are provided of the iterative process that ultimately resulted in ethics approval, with particular reference to the differing views regarding the concepts of ‘coercion’ and ‘confidentiality’.
Peer Review of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education-International Perspectives, 2014
This chapter explores the culture of leadership at Macquarie University and how that might influe... more This chapter explores the culture of leadership at Macquarie University and how that might influence the culture of engagement with peer review by comparing the practices and perceptions across four faculties. In particular we examine views of “top-down” and “bottom-up” approaches to peer review to investigate suggestions that a top-down approach can lead to a particular perception of peer review as a form of quality assurance or managerial surveillance imposed by leaders, rather than a form of quality enhancement encouraged through distributed leadership. What emerges is the importance of leadership actively encouraging a culture of learning and collective community of practice. We present a case study of how institutional policy on peer review contrasts with the perceptions of the same policy by staff.
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Papers by Christa Jacenyik-Trawoger
This chapter builds on our previous reflective evaluations on learning in a writing group context (Bosanquet et al. 2012) to examine our practice as women writers in higher education. What does it mean to write as women and among women? How do writing circles support women to develop academic writerly identities? The discussion brings together feminist theory and pedagogy on writing as women and scholarship on intimacy and affect. Our reflections reveal the multitude of roles and myriad of identities that we perform as writers and women; enabling these observations is the protected space of our intimate writing circle. "
Design/methodology/approach - The pilot study involved an online survey and focus groups with unit convenors teaching Open University Australia (OUA) units in Moodle.
Findings - The aim was to essentially test Moodle and eliminate any technological issues prior to the university wide roll-out the following year. It was envisaged that this pilot would contribute to building capability and knowledge amongst staff members; however, it was unanticipated that this would be jeopardised by a wider and ongoing issue in higher education; namely, the casualisation of the academic workforce. This paper maps the accumulated knowledge of these unit convenors and how this knowledge is 'walking out the door'.
Originality/value - This paper argues that an environment of insecure employment is a barrier to change management."
This chapter builds on our previous reflective evaluations on learning in a writing group context (Bosanquet et al. 2012) to examine our practice as women writers in higher education. What does it mean to write as women and among women? How do writing circles support women to develop academic writerly identities? The discussion brings together feminist theory and pedagogy on writing as women and scholarship on intimacy and affect. Our reflections reveal the multitude of roles and myriad of identities that we perform as writers and women; enabling these observations is the protected space of our intimate writing circle. "
Design/methodology/approach - The pilot study involved an online survey and focus groups with unit convenors teaching Open University Australia (OUA) units in Moodle.
Findings - The aim was to essentially test Moodle and eliminate any technological issues prior to the university wide roll-out the following year. It was envisaged that this pilot would contribute to building capability and knowledge amongst staff members; however, it was unanticipated that this would be jeopardised by a wider and ongoing issue in higher education; namely, the casualisation of the academic workforce. This paper maps the accumulated knowledge of these unit convenors and how this knowledge is 'walking out the door'.
Originality/value - This paper argues that an environment of insecure employment is a barrier to change management."