Digital Commons Network^™

‘Don’T Let Anyone Bring Me Down Again’: Applying ‘Possible Selves’ To Understanding Persistence Of Mature-Age First-In-Family Students, Janine Delahunty, Sarah Elizabeth O'Shea

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

This article applies the framework of possible selves to the motivation and persistence behaviours of one group of university students. We draw on possible selves to consider how particular goal-focused actions and life experiences may significantly shape movements towards imagined futures. Utilising a narrative approach from longitudinal data, this article considers the ways in which possible selves were articulated by five first-in-family students, all of whom were mature-aged women returning to formal learning. A series of vignettes enabled us to explore how students themselves conceived of this movement into university, and how hoped-for selves were considered and enacted (or not). …

Beyond Time And Space: Using Ai To Solve Client Service Challenges Now And Into The Future, Rory L.L. Sie, Debra Nolan

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

One of the biggest challenges for libraries today is fulfilling client service requests 24/7. We have skilled staff in the Library during the day and evening, and LiveChat for those not able to visit in person, but what happens after hours? Who is there to help those who work shifts, have children, live on the other side of the planet or just prefer studying at 2am? Artificial intelligence (AI) promises an affordable solution, but will it provide the quality, flexibility and authenticity needed to ensure client satisfaction? Importantly, can the accuracy and veracity of responses be assured? At the University …

Using Concept Maps And Goal-Setting To Support The Development Of Self-Regulated Learning In A Problem-Based Learning Curriculum, Lisa K. Thomas, Sue Bennett, Lori Lockyer

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

Problem-based learning (PBL) in medical education focuses on preparing independent learners for continuing, self-directed, professional development beyond the classroom. Skills in self-regulated learning (SRL) are important for success in PBL and ongoing professional practice. However, the development of SRL skills is often left to chance. This study presents the investigated outcomes for students when support for the development of SRL was embedded in a PBL medical curriculum. This investigation involved design, delivery and testing of SRL support, embedded into the first phase of a four-year, graduate-entry MBBS degree. The intervention included concept mapping and goal-setting activities through iterative processes of …

"Are We There Yet?": Making Sense Of Transition In Higher Education, Jeannette Stirling, Louise C. Rossetto

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

This paper reviews a first year transition program first implemented in 2011 and designed for students commencing higher education at the regional campuses of an Australian university. A significant proportion of students attending these campuses are mature age, the first in family to attempt university study, Indigenous, and/or from low socio-economic backgrounds. Our project aims were to facilitate academic participation and hence retention in a higher education environment that relies on various multimedia technologies and blended learning models. Ongoing evaluations of the project clearly indicate its efficacy. Even so, longitudinal analyses raise questions about how current social inclusion policy shapes …

New Learning Opportunities In A Networked World: Developing A Research Agenda On Innovative Uses Of Icts For Learning And Teaching., P A. Krischner, M J J P M Boon, P Janssen, Fleur Prinsen, Susan Mckenney, L Kester, S Stoyanov

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

No abstract provided.

Student Skills And The Bradley Agenda In Australia, Jennifer Carpenter, Joanne Dearlove, James Gt Marland

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

This paper investigates the study strategies that first-year Australian university students bring with them to university. The research has currency due to the implementation of the Review of Australian higher education [Bradley, D., Noonan, P., Nugent, H., & Scales, B. (2008). Review of Australian higher education: Final report. Canberra: Australian Government.], which recommended that universities increase the number of students in undergraduate courses. In response to government incentives to increase enrolments, many universities have lowered their entrance scores and, as a result, have attracted students who would not traditionally have been eligible for university entrance. The study employed the Learning …

Lassi: An Australian Evaluation Of An Enduring Study Skills Assessment Tool, James Gt Marland, Joanne Dearlove, Jennifer Carpenter

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

This study assesses the reliability and validity of the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI), an American survey instrument, in an Australian context. The results of this study were compared with those generated by a comparison study held at a different Australian university and also against other internationally published research. There was a high degree of similarity between the LASSI scores from the students at the two Australian universities, however these scores were considerably different from norms published in the LASSI manual. The students' scores in this study were also compared with data on their gender and age and the …

Pre-Raphaelite Wonderland: Christian Yandell's Alice, Michael K. Organ

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

In 1923, young Australian artist Christian Yandell (1894–1954) applied a Pre-Raphaelite pen to the task of illustrating an Australasian edition of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland (1924). A latecomer to the Pre-Raphaelite and Symbolist worlds of myth and legend, Yandell’s work from the 1910s through to the 1930s strongly reflected both art movements, with theosophical underpinnings eventually dominating. Like Pre-Raphaelitism, Yandell’s was a narrative art, embedded in stories and telling their own, thus the natural application to Carroll's classic work of fantasy. Intelligent, mythological, spiritual, dreamy, and mystical, Yandell's drawings were less a reflection of her hometown Melbourne in 1923 …

Maybe We Could Just Count The Boxes Of Chocolates? Measuring The Impact Of Learning Development Mathematics Support For Undergraduate Students, Lesley Wilkins

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

Many students who are required to study mathematics as part of their undergraduate degree find the subject challenging. Support is offered for these students by Learning Development mathematics lecturers, mainly through individual or small-group consultations, workshops on specifically-requested concepts, or drop-in sessions. The effect of this support is difficult to determine, however; yet it is essential to demonstrate its success to the institution's management to ensure continued funding. Confidence in mathematics is a factor associated with a student's success in mathematics learning (Parsons, Croft & Harrison, 2009). This paper describes a project conducted at a large regional Australian university which …

The Tipping Point: How Granular Statistics Can Make A Big Difference In Understanding And Demonstrating Value, Alison Pepper, Margie Jantti

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to introduce an original, quantitative approach to examining the use of library electronic resources by demographic (or 'market segment'). In turn it provides an innovative way to demonstrate and explore the value of libraries and importantly, electronic collections.

Methodology: University of Wollongong's Performance Indicator Unit (PIU), in partnership with the University of Wollongong Library (UWL), has built a data warehouse - the 'Marketing Cube' that links real time usage of electronic resources (eresources) at a title level, to student demographic data.

Findings: The Marketing Cube design provides a robust analytics framework for examining …

Uow Curriculum Model, Marcus O'Donnell, Margaret Wallace, Anne L. Melano, Romy Lawson, Eeva Leinonen

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

The Curriculum Transformation Project (CTP) is an ambitious four-year plan to build on and enhance UOW’s national and international reputation for top quality teaching and learning that maximises student success. It builds on the outstanding work done by UOW academics over many years and seeks to enhance our reputation for innovative teaching and learning practices. Each faculty has a strong tradition of good practice unique to the demands of their discipline which will be highlighted as we develop and share resources for implementation of the project. The CTP will also build on previous university-wide initiatives such as the development and …

Unlocking The Potential Of Library Generated Data To Assess Value, Impact, And Influence, Margie Jantti, Brian Cox

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

The University of Wollongong Library (UWL) has initiated an innovative and collaborative research project to unambiguously demonstrate the value that can be provided by academic libraries. The project centres on the integration and interrogation of a series of discrete datasets, e.g. student performance, student attrition, student demographic data, and borrowing and electronic resources usage data. The project has enabled UWL to identify whether a correlation exists between usage of Library resources and academic performance (e.g. grades). Findings reveal a strong and sustained correlation; providing a new facet through which to view and understand the student academic experience.The project is different …

If We Work Together, I Will Have Greater Power: Coalitions In Networked Innovation, Rory L. Sie, Peter Sloep, Marlies Bitter-Rijpkema

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

The present article uses agent-based social simulation to study rational behaviour in networked innovation. A simulation model that includes network characteristics and network participant's characteristics is run using parameter sweeping, yielding 1450 simulation cases. The notion of coalitions was used to denote partnerships in networked innovation. Coalitions compete against each other and several variables were observed for winning coalitions. Close analysis of the variations and their influence on the average power per winning coalition was analysed using stepwise multiple regression analysis. The analysis brought forward two main conclusions. First, as average betweenness centrality per winning coalition increases, the average power …

Myriad Mirrors: Doppelgangers And Doubling In The Vampire Diaries, Kimberley Mcmahon-Coleman

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

As Samantha George notes in Chapter 4 above, mirroring is of fundamental importance in Gothic literature and film. It is also a prevalent trope in the CW network teen drama, The Vampire Diaries. The television series is itself a ‘doubling’ in that it is an adaptation of a series of novels by L. J. Smith, creating a situation wherein the same central characters inhabit the parallel townships of the novels’ Fells Church and television’s Mystic Falls, and consequently have histories which are, at times, contradictory.2 The television version also explicitly explores the concept of the doppelgänger, and thus the idea …

Goals, Motivation For, And Outcomes Of Personal Learning Through Networks: Results Of A Tweetstorm, Rory L. Sie, Nino Pataraia, Eleni Boursinou, Kamakshi Rajagopal, Anoush Margaryan, Isobel Falconer, Marlies Bitter-Rijpkema, Allison Littlejohn, Peter Sloep

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

Recent developments in the use of social media for learning have posed serious challenges for learners. The information overload that these online social tools create has changed the way learners learn and from whom they learn. An investigation of learners' goals, motivations and expected outcomes when using a personal learning network is essential since there have been few empirical studies in the domain. Previous research focused on the factors that influence learning in virtual environments, but these studies were mainly conducted in an era in which online social media were not yet used for personal learning networks. The current paper …

Capturing Business Intelligence Required For Targeted Marketing, Demonstrating Value, And Driving Process Improvement, Brian Cox, Margie Jantti

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

The University of Wollongong (UOW) has undertaken an innovative and collaborative research project to demonstrate the value that can be provided by academic libraries. The tool developed, the “Library Cube”, is a data warehouse linking student borrowing and use of electronic resources to students’ academic grades and demographic information. The project is different to other institutions’ efforts to link usage to student outcomes, in that the Library Cube is not a one-off research project, but is now an ongoing part of UOW’s systems and performance reporting and represents a fundamental shift in evaluating the student experience through the integration of …

Discovering The Impact Of Library Use And Student Performance, Brian L. Cox, Margie H. Jantti

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

Key Takeaways • Without a valid, reliable way to collect data from various library and enterprise systems, it's difficult to quantitatively assert how a library adds value. • University of Wollongong Library developed the Library Cube, a tailored database and reporting function that joins library usage data with student data, including demographic and academic performance information. • Analysis of the resulting data reveals a strong correlation between students' grades and use of information resources the library provides.

Implicit Racial Prejudice Against African-Americans In Balanced Scorecard Performance Evaluations, David R. Upton, C Edward Arrington

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

No abstract provided.

Disorderly, Valerie Harwood

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

Over the past thirty years the word disorderly has become increasingly linked to discourses of mental disorder. This change points to the effects that the social and cultural has in the production of ‘scientific’ knowledge of youth. Unlike uses in the mid twentieth century, the word disorderly is now medicalized, conjuring images of aberrant behavior together with psychopathology. Earlier depictions of disorderliness such as James Dean’s famous role as Jim Stark, the drunk and disorderly youth outsider in Rebel Without a Cause (Weisbart & Ray, 1955) were not underwritten with medicalized notions. Such representations linked youth with “out of order” …

Role-Based E-Learning For University Students : A Comparison Of Australian, American, British And Singapore Designs, Sandra Wills

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

Role play in face-to-face contexts has been shown to be a powerful teaching design at all levels of education. The arrival of e-learning makes it possible to engage with different types of role play, for example inter-national and inter-institutional collaborations, role plays blending online and face-to-face interaction, role plays blending synchronous and asynchronous media including recordings of the sessions, and role play within distance learning contexts. It is now possible to conduct elaborate and responsive role play activities where the identity of the participants is not immediately apparent, where they may use avatars or inhabit 3D virtual worlds as part …

Becoming An 'Authorised' Postgraduate Research Writer, Bronwyn James

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

No abstract provided.

Book Review - The Right To Higher Education: Beyond Widening Participation, Bronwyn James

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

When we first conceived of the idea of the Critical Discussions about Social Inclusion Forum - the word critical was at the forefront in our minds. We wanted to create an opportunity to critically reflect on the ways in which the most recent social inclusion agenda might be understood and acted upon while being attentive to the ways in which "doing" social inclusion might inadvertently reproduce or manifest other forms of social exclusion. We also wanted to discuss what doing social inclusion might mean for our work as academic language and learning educators, as discipline lecturers, as policy makers and …

Social Inclusion As An Unfinished Verb: A Practice-Based Approach, Lynne Keevers, Pamela Abuodha

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

The Australian Government has embarked on a social inclusion agenda that includes ambitious targets to increase and widen participation in higher education. From the evidence to date their approach to social inclusion in higher education focuses attention on statistical indicators of "proportional representation". Most of the available measures of social inclusion and exclusion have an individualistic focus and tend to characterise social exclusion as a "state" in which people are assumed to be "excluded" from access to higher education. Such a perspective focuses attention on the point of entry but backgrounds how the relational experience of under-represented groups in learning …

Two Left Feet: Dancing In Academe To The Rhythms Of Neoliberal Discourse, Colleen Mcgloin, Jeannette Stirling

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

Notions of culture, cultural diversity and cultural safety have again come to the centre of higher education awareness in Australia. The Education Services for Overseas Students (ESOS) Act 2000 ensures that Australian universities have a legal and pedagogical obligation to effectively support the language and learning requirements of international students. The Final Report on the 2008 Review of Australian Higher Education (hereafter referred to as the Bradley Report) recommends a range of initiatives geared to make Australian universities more competitive in the global market place while also becoming more accessible for Indigenous students, domestic students of ‘low socio‐economic status’, and …

What's In It For Me? Recommendation Of Peers In Networked Innovation, Rory L. Sie, Marlies Bitter-Rijpkema, Peter Sloep

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

Several studies have shown that connecting to people in other networks foster creativity and innovation. However, it is often difficult to tell what the prospective value of such alliances is. Cooperative game theory offers an a priori estimation of the value of future collaborations. We present an agent-based social simulation approach to recommending valuable peers in networked innovation. Results indicate that power as such does not lead to a winning coalition in networked innovation. The recommendation proved to be successful for low-strength agents, which connected to high-strength agents in their network. Future work includes tests in real-life and other recommendation …

A Simulation For Content-Based And Utility-Based Recommendation Of Candidate Coalitions In Virtual Creativity Teams, Rory L. Sie, Marlies Bitter-Rijpkema, Peter Sloep

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

Psychological literature shows that people do not always make rational choices with respect to whom to collaborate with. Providing the value of candidate connections may help them choosing the right people to connect with in a network. This paper presents a model about coalitions in creativity that will be used to generate content-based and knowledge-based recommendations of candidate coalitions.

The New Outsiders: Adhd And Disadvantage, Valerie Harwood

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

Recent research has pointed to the uneven distribution of diagnoses of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, with disproportionately high numbers in areas marked by poverty (Gifford Sawyer et al., 2004; Olfsen et al., 2003). This chapter examines this issue of ADHD and social and economic disadvantage. Drawing on research with youth professionals from some of the most disadvantaged communities in Australia, the chapter puts forward the case that the ADHD phenomenon has highly problematic effects on the lives of children and young people in these communities. The intent is to show how the ADHD phenomenon interacts with disadvantage, and suggest how …

Digital Integrity And The Teaching/Learning Nexus: Taking The Pedagogical Pulse Of The Multi-Location University., Jeannette Stirling, Kerryn Hopkins, Brendan Riddick

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

This case study considers questions of pedagogical and educational integrity in relation to multi-location or distributed learning environments that deploy blended learning models. Specifically, we engage with the implications of these models in light of recommendations that Australian universities continue to improve access for students from low socio-economic backgrounds and other identified equity groups. We provide an overview of the critical success factors germane to the implementation of these models at the University of Wollongong in 2000 and examine some of the pressure points that have emerged as the project expands into 2010.

Reusability Of Online Role Play: Learning Objects Or Learning Designs?, Sandra Wills, A. Mcdougall

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

This study tracks the uptake of online role play in Australia from 1990 to 2006 and the affordances to its uptake. It examines reusability, as one affordance, from the perspective of two often polarized constructs: Learning Object and Learning Design. The study treats “reuse” on two levels: reuse of an existing online role play and reuse of an online role play as the model for another role play. In keeping with terminology that has come into recent use, we propose that the first level implies the online role play is used as a Learning Object and the second level implies …

Encouraging Role Based Online Learning Environments - The Blue Report, Sandra Wills, E. Rosser, E. Devonshire, E. Leight, C. Russell, J. Shepherd

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

Project EnROLE has been a two year $200,000 ALTC project to encourage uptake of online role based learning environments, with particular focus on what is commonly referred to by us as role play. Role play is widely acknowledged to be a powerful teaching technique in face to face, blended and online teaching contexts and has been previously singled out as an example of good practice by ALTC predecessors: CAUT, CUTSD and AUTC. The project goal was to encourage uptake of online role based learning environments using the strategy of building a community of practice at university, state and national levels …