Digital Commons Network^™

Narrative Justice: Somebody Delivers The Answers That Police Will Not, Neroli Price

RadioDoc Review

By investigating Courtney Copeland’s 2016 murder, the podcast series Somebody (2020) does the work that should be done by police. Narrated by Courtney’s mom, Shapearl Wells, the series not only decentres the official police narrative, but also opens up alternative paths towards seeking justice. Situated within the Black Lives Matter movement, calls to defund the police and questions about the usefulness of “objectivity” in journalism, Somebody attempts to put systemic violence on trial and hold those in power to account. Challenging extractive forms of journalism, Somebody moves towards a model of shared authority between producers and their sources. This review …

Tools Of Rescue: A Review Of Silencio Para Rescatar: Documental Sonoro, Sonia Robles

RadioDoc Review

In this audio documentary, Mexican cultural promoter and sound artist Abraham Chavelas recounts rescue activities in which he took part after a 7.1 magnitude earthquake rattled Mexico on 19 September 2017. Answering a call for help, Chavelas was assigned to a collapsed factory where an unknown number of undocumented Asian and Central American women working as seamstresses were trapped under the rubble. For two days, he aided rescue efforts by using a high-tech microphone to help determine whether or not there was life under piles of concrete, glass and debris. Chavelas used the audio he gathered before the Mexican Marines …

Mysteries Solved And Unsolved In The Search For The Missing Cryptoqueen, Claudia Calhoun

RadioDoc Review

The Missing Cryptoqueen, produced for BBC Sounds by Jamie Bartlett and Georgia Catt, investigates the cryptocurrency scam fronted by Dr. Ruja Ignatova, self-described “cryptoqueen.” The series benefits from the engrossing complexity of a sprawling conspiracy: The podcasters travel across continents to find both the scammers and their victims, making important stops in the U.K., Germany, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, and Uganda. The series also benefits from its own breathless narration, which keeps listeners in the present-tense of the storytelling. This was an especially compelling series for the large audience who listened as the weekly episodes were released, as the series integrated …

The Impact Of A Supplemental Instruction Program On Diverse Peer Leaders At A Two-Year Institution, Sarah L. Hoiland, Silvia Reyes, Antonios Varelas

Journal of Peer Learning

Supplemental Instruction (SI) is a peer-led academic support program in which SI Leaders help students develop study habits and note-taking strategies as well as facilitate test preparation. While the effects of SI on students receiving the instruction have been thoroughly investigated, there have been far fewer studies that have assessed the impact of SI on its Leaders. Furthermore, research on Leaders has yet to adequately consider community colleges or Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), or to employ qualitative methodologies. Thus, this paper details an SI program developed at a two-year HSI and the impact of the SI Leaders’ experience via qualitative data …

Editorial: The Anatomy Of High-Impact Peer Learning Experiences, Bryce D. Bunting

Journal of Peer Learning

Welcome to Volume 13 of the Journal of Peer Learning.

Teaching Physiotherapy Students To Provide Feedback Using Simulation, Diane Dennis, Anne Furness, Dawn Hall-Bibb, Shylie Mackintosh

Journal of Peer Learning

Healthcare professionals are responsible for providing education to both healthcare consumers and the peers with whom they work. As such, specific teaching skills must be developed during prelicensure training to facilitate the transition from classroom to clinical practise. The realistic environment that simulation-based learning (SBL) activities utilise is a powerful enabler of translating theory to practise. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of prelicensure physiotherapy students acting in either peer teacher or peer learner roles during a peer-assisted learning (PAL) activity delivered using SBL. Following preparatory training, over two days in 2018, a group of six …

Attendance Numbers At Si Sessions And Their Effect On Learning Conditions, Johan Fredriksson, Joakim Malm, Arthur Holmer, Lassana Ouattara

Journal of Peer Learning

Supplemental Instruction (SI) is a well-known academic support model to address retention and student performance in higher education. However, in studies reporting the effect of SI, the number of attendees at SI sessions are seldom mentioned or reflected upon.

This study investigates whether there is a lower, optimal, and upper number of SI attendees for SI sessions with viable learning conditions. A literature review of 135 publications on studies of SI programmes was conducted along with a survey of 44 SI Leaders and 176 SI attendees at Lund University in Sweden.

The literature review shows that there is no consensus …

An Investigation Into Mentoring Relationships Of Higher Education Students In Community Settings, Ridwanah Gurjee

Journal of Peer Learning

This research explores one-to-one, formal mentoring relationships between students in higher education and their partnered mentees from community and secondary school environments. The purpose is to enhance understanding of mentoring praxis, bringing insight into structures and support of relationships. This paper addresses gaps in the literature by focusing more on the interaction that takes place rather than the benefits of mentoring alone.

The research adopts an interpretive methodological approach, incorporating qualitative methods of semi-structured interviews with mentors and mentees. Reflective portfolios, completed by students as an assessment for the university’s Mentoring in the Community module, are another adopted method.

Findings …

Developing Our Students’ Level Of Mindfulness During These Unprecedented Times, Peter Reilly

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

The pandemic has provoked disruptions in students' lives and studies worldwide, which has caused them to feel moderate to high levels of anxiety and stress. Universities have responded by offering online counseling and communicating self-help recommendations via their websites. Curiously, the role that professors could play to reduce this emotional hardship has been ignored in the literature. This instructional paper describes how and why three professors in Mexico include a brief, daily mindful practice in class to help their students cope with the negative emotions that may arise. Psychological and educational research has indicated that the development of mindfulness reduces …

Addressing Academic Rejection: Recommendations For Reform, Kelly-Ann Allen, Gregory M. Donoghue, Saeed Pahlevansharif, Shane R. Jimerson Professor, John A.C. Hattie Professor

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

The aim of this paper is to provide a number of reasoned and evidence-supported arguments and a list of recommendations for reducing the impact of academic rejection. A brief literature review examined the prevalence and negative impacts of academic rejection including its purported purposes, predictors, and consequences. Findings revealed that the topic of academic rejection is largely under-studied, with very few empirical investigations. The extant literature typically places the onus on the individual academic to deal with rejection. Few articles have recommended institutional changes to ameliorate the known mental health impacts of rejection. We propose that the discovery and dissemination …

Assessment Practices In Philippine Higher Steam Education, Celina P. Sarmiento, Marie Paz E. Morales, Levi E. Elipane, Brando C. Palomar

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

The study explored practices of the sampled higher education Philippine STEAM educators in assessing learners. Data sourced from the database of a state-funded research on Philippine STEAM education using a Classroom Observation Protocol, included 106 STEAM teachers from purposely selected institutions drawn from 14 regions. Systematic data analysis (through data condensation, data display, and drawing and verifying conclusions) revealed that STEAM teachers used both appropriate traditional and authentic assessment tools and strategies with inclusive integration of technology. Furthermore, results showed that STEAM teachers’ best assessment practices may be categorised as: 1) assessment for career or industry readiness, 2) mounting assessment …

Flipped Classroom Model And Self-Efficacy In An Iranian English As A Foreign Language Context: A Gender-Based Study, Ehsan Namaziandost, Shouket Ahmad Tilwani, Shabnam Mahdizadeh Khodayari, Meisam Ziafar, Samir Alekasir, Abbas Pourhosein Gilakjani, Murad Hassan Mohammed Sawalmeh

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

This study aimed to investigate the impact of the flipped classroom model on students’ self-efficacy and the difference in self-efficacy between males and females using this model. In order to accomplish this, 66 advanced participants were selected from a private English language institute. They were divided into two equal groups, namely experimental (flipped classroom) and control (traditional) group. The students’ self-efficacy was scored before and after the intervention with the Self-Efficacy Survey. The results indicated an increase in their average self-efficacy score with the flipped classroom while the traditional classroom decreased their average score. When the genders were analyzed separately, …

Enhancing Metacognition Through Thinking Instruction: A Case Study In A Taiwanese University, Mei-Hui Chen

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

This study investigated the impact of thinking instruction on students’ metacognition and thinking behavior. Higher-order thinking occurs when individuals use their underlying metacognitive strategies which increase the probability of achieving a desirable result. The study was designed as a case study of an intervention and a posttest-only control group design was adopted. Participants consisted of students with a variety of majors were recruited from a medium-size university located in southern Taiwan. Two classes of the Developing Thinking course, totaling 78 students, comprised the group receiving the intervention, while 196 students in six General English classes comprised the comparison group. The …

Exploring Modes Of Lecturing As A Teaching Method In Higher Education: Student Attendance, Preference And Motivation, Panos Vlachopoulos, Shazia Jan

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

This paper presents the findings of a large-scale study conducted at an Australian metropolitan university, which seeks to compare attendance in different modes of lecture delivery and student preference and motivation for attendance. The research design collected data for three different teaching methods - on-campus lectures, live streaming utility and lecture recordings via lecture capture. The study addresses the broader question of the value students place on the modes of lecturing, as indicated by their attendance patterns, usage of lecture recordings, and preferences and motivations for the same. Overall, the study confirms the student preference for flexibility when accessing or …

Improving Postgraduate Students' Scientific Literacy And Self-Efficacy Using International Collaborative Research Workshops: An Exploratory Case Study In A Chinese University, Qing Zhang, Jingmin Wang, Ruihong Ji, Tairan Huang

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

Postgraduate education in China bears the dual mission of "high-end talent supply" and "scientific and technological innovation" as delegated by the Ministry of Education of China (2017). Improve the quality of postgraduate student training and management is essential for Chinese universities to meet this requirement. This paper investigates the practical effectiveness of using a specially designed, internationally collaborative research training workshop to enhance new Chinese postgraduate students' scientific literacy and self-efficacy.

The research results show that the workshop, which integrates seminar presentations and both individual and group-based student activities, is of practical significance for improving the experiences of first-year postgraduate …

Developing A Peer Supported Feedback Model That Enhances Oral Proficiency In French, Simon Bernard Bedford, Anu Bissoonauth, Klem James, Ray Stace

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

This article investigates the process of development for a novel online peer-supported approach that enhances oral proficiency in French at an Australian university to cope with ever more complex challenges. These challenges include students with mixed ability in the same class, reduced teaching resources and student surveys identifying a lack of speaking practice affecting confidence and performance in oral assessments. A related aim of the present study was to facilitate assessment literacy of our students by encouraging them to make links between the skills practised in class and the requirements for the final oral summative assessment. Methodology draws on educational …

A Practical Look At The Why And How Of Supporting International Students: A Checklist Of Teaching Tips, Shelley Beatty, Kim Clark, Sally-Anne Doherty

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

This paper looks at a pilot of a strategy designed to help academic staff better respond to the inclusive teaching needs of its international students. The strategy was implemented by a School in a Western Australian University and offered academic staff evidence-based information on specific techniques for internationalising curriculum content and delivery. The extent to which international students perceived lecturers had implemented the suggested strategies was subsequently evaluated. While the evaluation found the School had performed adequately in the eyes of its international students across key areas of teaching practice, it also suggested that achieving greater inclusiveness required attention to …

Reflective Peer Observations Of University Teaching: A Canadian Case Study, Heather Kanuka, Cheryl Sadowski

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

The purpose of this investigation was to gain insights on facilitating a peer observation process that supports constructive feedback for continued development of effective teaching practices. The findings from this Canadian case study reveal that peer observation feedback are of value for the observed (which is well documented in the research) as well as the observer. Benefits for the observers have tended to be under-investigated and/or under-reported in the literature with respect to (1) fostering collegial relationships and (2) observing a peer whose teaching practices are unfamiliar. The findings in this study also indicate that the integration of an external …

Developing Anatomy Demonstrators Of The Future: The Role Of Team-Teaching, Diane L. Hughes, Laura Y. Whitburn, Meg Colasante, Aaron C. Mcdonald, Heath Mcgowan, Anita Zacharias, Rodney A. Green

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

ABSTRACT

Recent decades have seen cadaveric anatomy teaching decline and shift from traditionally team-taught practicals in large dissection laboratories to sole-taught classes in smaller laboratories. Such changes may alter teaching quality due to loss of peer teacher interactions in class. The current study aimed to compare experiences of team-taught versus sole-taught practicals in the same course across two campuses. This paper presents on the staff experiences. The study utilised educational design research methodology for an iterative approach to solving the problem of optimising cadaveric-based teaching. Classes at the metropolitan campus were team-taught (lead demonstrator, clinical demonstrator and near-peer demonstrator, n=18) …

Tlabs: A Teaching And Learning Community Of Practice – What Is It, Does It Work And Tips For Doing One Of Your Own, Shelley Beatty, Kim Clark, Jo Lines, Sally-Anne Doherty

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

Communities of Practice are an increasingly common tool used to support novice academics in higher education settings. Initiated in 2015 at a Western Australian University, TLABs is an acronym for ‘Teaching and Learning for Level A and B’ academic staff and was designed to build a community of practice to mentor junior academics; help them develop their teaching skills; and enhance academic careers. The paper describes the nature of TLABs; how it is experienced from the perspective of participants and provides recommendations for implementing a successful teaching and learning community of practice in a higher education setting.

Experiential Learning In Higher Education. A Student-Centered Teaching Method That Improves Perceived Learning., Verónica Villarroel, Mariavictoria Benavente, María Josefina Chuecas, Daniela Bruna

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

There is an interest in involving psychology students in early practical activities, which allow them to learn in a more meaningful and authentic way. In these instances, they must apply knowledge, solve problems and demonstrate professional skills associated with the graduate competencies that they are expected to achieve. The present work seeks to position experiential learning as a means to reach these goals. With this aim, an intervention on experiential learning with second year students from a developmental psychology course is presented, describing its design, implementation and assessment. The students observed and interviewed schoolchildren to determine an area of development …

Escape Rooms' Pedagogical Potential From Female Future Teachers’ Perspectives, Coral I. Hunt-Gómez, Olga Moreno_Fernández, Pilar Moreno-Crespo, Mario Ferreras-Listán

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

Fast and easy Internet and knowledge access by just a click are some of the characteristics of the twenty first century. This means that this knowledge has been acquired fast and superficially. Thus, discernment turns into something ephemeral, because there is not a profound examination of the aspects dealt with. This is caused by the enormous quantity of information found that, in many cases, does not reflect reality. In this sense, teachers can find multitasking students that can perform many activities but without reflexively undertaking them. Education tries to solve these type of problems so the learning-teaching process is as …

Pedagogical Practice Preferences Among Generational Groups Of Learners: Towards Effective Twenty-First Century Higher Education, Ruth Ortega-Dela Cruz

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

Facilitating learning for the students nowadays demands so much from the educators. This makes the role of higher education institutions (HEIs) more challenging as they look upon the needs of the present generation. This study sought answer to that need by determining the most preferred pedagogical practices that have impact on the students’ ability to stay motivated and learn effectively. Randomly selected higher education students including bachelor, masters’ and doctorate students were surveyed. Majority of the students belong to the so-called Net Generation. They prefer pedagogical practices that engage multiple channels of learning and on ways of assessing the learning …

Student Satisfaction With Feedback In A Third Year Nutrition Unit: A Strategic Approach, Lisa Milne, Jennifer Mccann, Kristy Bolton, Julia Savage, Alison Spence

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

The feedback received by students on assessment tasks is a major source of their dissatisfaction with feedback generally, explaining why models of assessment continue to evolve to prioritise provision of useful feedback. Boud’s notion of sustainable assessment is an example. We argue for conceptualising the sustainability of assessment practices from teachers’ point of view as well. Assessment is a major component of teaching academics’ workloads. The time and effort required to support particular practices should be considered relative to how well these are evidenced to support student learning outcomes and enhance their satisfaction with feedback. We report on a trial …

Student Perceptions Of Technological Tools For Flipped Instruction: The Case Of Padlet, Kahoot! And Cirrus, Seb Dianati, Mai Nguyen, Phung Dao, Noriko Iwashita, Claudia Vasquez

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

Technological tools used in teaching and learning have been reported to influence their satisfaction, engagement and their continued effort in learning (Roach, 2014). The present study, therefore, investigated students’ perceptions of technological use in a flipped classroom at university level through evaluation of three different web-based tools, using the lens of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (Davis, 1989; Venkatesh & Davis, 2000). These tools include a collaborative canvas tool (Padlet), a live polling platform (Kahoot!) and an annotation tool (Cirrus). Results from focus group interviews show that most of the students had positive perceptions …

Enabling Cross-Cultural Student Voice During Covid-19: A Collective Autoethnography, Samuel Wilson, Shannon Tan, Matthew Knox, Angelia Ong, Joseph Crawford, Jürgen Rudolph

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

Higher education learning and teaching has faced a significant challenge in 2020. The novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has required institutions to engage in emergency response teaching and deliver distance, online, or socially distanced delivery in most jurisdictions globally. The literature to date has focused on understanding this from the perspective of the institutions and academics primarily. For example, institutional case studies and staff critical reflections. There has been literature published on student learning, student experience, and student wellbeing during COVID-19, but these are typically constructed through an academic lens (e.g. a student satisfaction survey). This research offers a co-constructed account …

Building Online Degrees Quickly: Academic Experiences And Institutional Benefits, Richard Mcinnes, Claire Aitchison, Brigitte Sloot

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

Universities everywhere are rushing to upgrade their digital learning capabilities — and, more so now, in response to COVID-19. Long term, large-scale development of online courses requires investment in digital infrastructures and collaborative curriculum design involving educational, technical, and subject-matter experts. However, compared to the resources invested in course development, there is relatively little investment in researching such development processes. Drawing on findings from a study of a strategic initiative to rapidly develop 12 fully online undergraduate degree programs in one Australian university, this paper reports on a study that aimed to capture the experiences of academic course writers. Findings …

Editorial 17.5: Strengthening Our Focus For A Post-Covid-19 Environment: Learnings From A Pandemic In Higher Education, Joseph Crawford, Alisa Percy, Jo-Anne Kelder, Kerryn Butler-Henderson

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

The year 2020 will unlikely be one that any member of the higher education community will forget. It has posed challenges and opportunities to rethink aspects of tertiary learning and teaching, and also confirmation of some of the better practices we have engaged in. For some, the novel coronavirus pandemic has forced bad practice – such as simple and rapid digitalisation of existing curriculum – often bundled into the pedagogically-ambiguous ‘emergency remote teaching’ or ERT (Toquero, 2020). The intense pressure for academics to deliver curriculum online, typically to the exception of time for comprehensive academic development and upskilling.

The practice …

Macroeconomic Determinants Of Financial Distress In Turkey: An Econometric Analysis, Arslan Ece, Güven Sayılgan

Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the possible links between macroeconomic factors and financial distress in Turkey.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the 2009/1-2016/2 quarterly data of macroeconomic factors and the number of filings for bankruptcy postponement, econometric models are developed using forward stepwise regression and classical regression methods to determine the factors influencing financial distress. A vector error correction model is also developed using macroeconomic factors found significant in both methods to investigate the interactions of financial distress with them.

Findings

In the stepwise regression implementation, performed with 16 independent variables, statistically significant variables entered into the model …

The Impact Of Individual Needs On Employee Performance While Teleworking, Sonali Bhattacharya, Priyanka Mittal

Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal

Due to change in work structures, the boundaries of private life and office work are getting depleted. There are various factors that may impact the performance of an employee, and they need to be identified. As different people in a company may have different home environments (family size, marital status, electricity, Wi-Fi, dedicated laptop with required software to teleconnect, noise and other distractions based on location of home, etc.), the telework setting varies and conflicts may arise during work and home transitions, especially when the dominant needs of a person are not met. Acquired Needs Theory by David McClelland classifies …