Queensland University of Technology
Learning and Teaching Unit
The relationship between consumer"s with an intellectual disability and their service provider is a complex one. Differences between service providers and consumers in levels of knowledge, skills, power and responsibility means there is... more
The relationship between consumer"s with an intellectual disability and their service provider is a complex one. Differences between service providers and consumers in levels of knowledge, skills, power and responsibility means there is an ever present risk of disempowerment for the consumer with an intellectual disability. While there is a current trend towards service delivery which is person-centred, until late last century disability service models often created relationships based on the dependency and disempowerment of consumers. It has only been through purposeful reflection that service providers have begun to reverse this disempowerment when working with people with an intellectual disability.
This paper uses the project evaluation of the School-Aged Therapy Service for children with disabilities in Western Australia as an example of alternative ways to gather qualitative data from participants. The purpose of the evaluation... more
This paper uses the project evaluation of the School-Aged Therapy Service for children with disabilities in Western Australia as an example of alternative ways to gather qualitative data from participants. The purpose of the evaluation was to pave the way for considerable and quick developmental operational change in order to stem the complaints from users of the service and to provide more effective service delivery. With this in mind the research team determined it was necessary to 'map' the current model of operation as there was inconsistency from the staff as to their understanding, and their ideal model of operation before presenting a new model to management. To facilitate the change process the researchers conducted a final focus group two months after the formal evaluation to map the staff's perceptions of how the proposed new model would work and the challenges the changes would produce. This paper presents 'visual maps' that have been drawn by the staff to demonstrate that this technique provides rich, raw, timely, collaborative artefacts that are invaluable for organisations encouraging change.
This paper explores the potential opportunities that OpenCourseWare (OCW) offers in providing wider access to tertiary education, based on the ideal of 'the right to education'. It first discusses the wider implications of OCW, and its... more
This paper explores the potential opportunities that OpenCourseWare (OCW) offers in providing wider access to tertiary education, based on the ideal of 'the right to education'. It first discusses the wider implications of OCW, and its underlying philosophy, before using a case study of a tertiary preparation program (TPP) at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) to draw out the issues involved in offering a program that is created in a particular national and social context on a global scale. This paper draws specific attention to the digital divide, its effects in national and global contexts, and the particular obstacles this presents with regards to OCW. This paper argues that OCW provides many opportunities, both in terms of access to education and in terms of student recruitment and marketing for universities. To take full advantage of those opportunities, however, requires a concerted effort on the part of tertiary education institutions, and it requires a vision that is fundamentally informed by, and committed to, the principle of 'the right to education'.
- by Henk Huijser and +1
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Based on an evaluation of one-on-one student consultations in The Learning Centre at USQ, this paper argues that there is an important place for individual consultations in a university context, but that this should be seen as part of a... more
Based on an evaluation of one-on-one student consultations in The Learning Centre at USQ, this paper argues that there is an important place for individual consultations in a university context, but that this should be seen as part of a number of learning enhancement strategies on a continuum. Embedding academic skills development into discipline-specific curricula would be placed on the ideal end of this continuum, but the insights gained from oneto-one consultations are crucial in this process. An evaluation of one-to-one consultations shows the complexity of student needs, and this paper has identified four levels of this complexity: conceptual "stuck places", student scaffolding for learning, affect and development, and course and assessment analysis. The arguments are supported by case studies in mathematics and academic writing, in conjunction with survey data.
- by Lindy Kimmins and +1
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Evidence suggests that peer-assisted learning schemes on campus help students establish social networks which can have a positive influence on their learning achievements. At the University of Southern Queensland (USQ), the majority of... more
Evidence suggests that peer-assisted learning schemes on campus help students establish social networks which can have a positive influence on their learning achievements. At the University of Southern Queensland (USQ), the majority of students are off campus, which raises the urgent question: how to harness the advantages of Meet-Up (formerly PALS: Peer Assisted Learning Strategy) in an online environment? Given that the potential problem of social isolation is even more acute in distance education, how do we develop a peer assisted learning program online which creates a sense of community for its participants? Since 2006, MSN Messenger has been used on a relatively small scale to facilitate this at USQ, with largely positive initial results. Based on evaluations of this initiative, this paper explores the potential of Wimba software, within an institution-wide Moodle learning management system, to extend peer assisted learning programs in a Web 2.0 context.
- by Henk Huijser and +1
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This paper questions assumptions which underlie two influential concepts associated with new directions in tertiary pedagogies. One of these concepts (the 'Net Generation') is an attempt to pin down a series of characteristics of a new... more
This paper questions assumptions which underlie two influential concepts associated with new directions in tertiary pedagogies. One of these concepts (the 'Net Generation') is an attempt to pin down a series of characteristics of a new generation of students arriving at universities with different skills and knowledge sets from previous generations. The other concept ('multiliteracies') attempts to design a pedagogy which equips students for the demands of a rapidly changing world. Combining these two concepts raises some important questions. Although multiliteracies is essentially a philosophy of teaching and learning, much of the writing on multiliteracies implies that it is something that should be taught, which in turn assumes that students do not already have 'multimodal' abilities when they arrive in our university classrooms. However, one of the central characteristics to come out of the research on the Net Generation identifies precisely that: a highly developed ability to negotiate among different modes of communication, and a fluency in imagerich environments, rather than a text-only environment. But this raises the question: do 'fluency' and speed in reading images (or text) equal the ability to evaluate those images critically? This paper explores these questions and makes some suggestions for future directions.
This paper argues that whilst equitable educational pathways are integrated into educational policy discourses in Australia, there are significant gendered barriers to educational participation among members of the Sudanese refugee... more
This paper argues that whilst equitable educational pathways are integrated into educational policy discourses in Australia, there are significant gendered barriers to educational participation among members of the Sudanese refugee groups. The specific conditions of forced migration reinforce disadvantage and further limit opportunities. Cultural factors play a key role in this, as the data from this study demonstrate. Participants in this study are Sudanese refugees who arrived in Australia as part of the humanitarian program. The paper draws upon interviews and focus group data that were collected for a larger study on the broader issue of resettlement of Sudanese refugees in Australia. This paper argues that women from refugee backgrounds are particularly at risk and face cultural and linguistic barriers in accessing educational opportunities.
- by Aniko Hatoss and +1
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- Gender and education
This article presents the findings of a study of the interrelationships between students' individual characteristics, self-efficacy beliefs, parental involvement, university and classroom learning environments; teachers' individual... more
This article presents the findings of a study of the interrelationships between students' individual characteristics, self-efficacy beliefs, parental involvement, university and classroom learning environments; teachers' individual characteristics, teaching efficacies, university and classroom learning environments, teacher outcomes and approaches to teaching; and approaches to learning (deep and surface learning) and self-directed learning readiness. The study was guided by a two-level integrated theoretical framework, designed to examine 'student and teacher ecological systems' and their influences on student learning and outcomes. Data was drawn from 392 students and 32 teachers situated in 44 problem-based learning classrooms from three study levels at a Malaysian private medical university. The analyses, through hierarchical linear modelling, revealed what and how personal, family, learning environment and teacher factors directly influenced approaches to learning and self-directed learning readiness. Implications for teaching in higher education are discussed.
This article describes problem-based learning as a powerful pedagogical approach and an aligned teaching and learning system to explicitly and directly teach critical thinking skills in a broad range of disciplines. Problem-based learning... more
This article describes problem-based learning as a powerful pedagogical approach and an aligned teaching and learning system to explicitly and directly teach critical thinking skills in a broad range of disciplines. Problem-based learning is argued to be a powerful pedagogical approach as it explicitly and actively engages students in a learning and teaching system, characterised by reiterative and reflective cycles of learning domain-specific knowledge and doing the thinking themselves. At the same time, students are guided and coached by the problem-based learning teacher, who models critical thinking skills in the acquisition of the domainspecific knowledge. This article will explore what critical thinking actually means. What are critical thinking skills? How best to teach such skills? What is the potential role of problem-based learning in teaching critical thinking skills? Finally, the article reflects on how critical thinking can be developed through problem-based learning as a pedagogical approach in an aligned learning and teaching context.
- by Megan Yih Chyn A . Kek and +1
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- Digital Futures
Students attending university for the first time come with a range of expectations, experiences and skills. For many these prior experiences are less than optimal for achieving academic success. This paper evaluates the academic outcomes... more
Students attending university for the first time come with a range of expectations, experiences and skills. For many these prior experiences are less than optimal for achieving academic success. This paper evaluates the academic outcomes across three cohorts of a five day enabling program offered to commencing students in the week prior to their formal university orientation program. The demographics of this sample (n=965) are such that over 50% come from low socio-economic backgrounds, about 50% are first in family to attend university, 50% are mature age students and over 50% have university entrance scores in the lower ranges of academic ability. Those who entered university with an OP 1 score of 15 or less and completed the program were less likely to fail and achieved higher GPAs at the end of their first semester of studies than those who did not complete the enabling program.
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without written permission from the publisher. Product or company names used in this set are for identification purposes only. Inclusion of the names of the products or companies... more
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without written permission from the publisher. Product or company names used in this set are for identification purposes only. Inclusion of the names of the products or companies does not indicate a claim of ownership by IGI Global of the trademark or registered trademark.
- by Henk Huijser and +1
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