Education Commons^™

The Virtual Mentor Program: An Initiative To Support First-Year Students And Students At Risk, Anthony Williams, Maria T. Northcote, Peter W. Kilgour, Ben Stewart

Peter Kilgour

The college/university culture of study is rarely the same as high school, making the transition difficult even for talented students. In many countries, the massification of higher education has opened up education to all, with the only limiting factor being a student’s ability to meet entry requirements and pay for subjects. A virtual mentor program can provide support to all first-year students regardless of whether they are in online, blended, or traditional learning environments. One such initiative, implemented by The University of Newcastle in Newcastle, Australia, and later by Avondale College of Higher Education in Cooranbung, Australia, also supported students …

Valuing Early Career Teachers: Putting The Brakes On The Exodus, Marion Shields, Peter W. Kilgour

Peter Kilgour

The attrition of early career teachers has been

identified as an international issue. This paper

reports on an Australian study that sought to

identify the lived experiences of beginning

teachers in one independent school system

in their first three years. Areas such as the

teacher’s job satisfaction and impacting factors

were addressed. Data revealed that the main

drivers for teachers terminating their teaching

career in the first few years are connected to

work/life balance, the level of support from

administration, the teacher’s mentor, and the

level and appropriateness of the professional

development they are permitted to attend.

Online Learning In Higher Education: Comparing Teacher And Learner Perspectives, Peter W. Kilgour, Maria T. Northcote

Peter Kilgour

Higher education teachers’ and learners’ experiences of online teaching and online learning are tempered by their respective perceptions of their online educational environments. While much research has been undertaken in recent years to explore students’ or teachers’ perceptions of online education, less research has been conducted that investigates the perceptions of both groups in parallel contexts. Utilizing a mixed methods research approach, focus groups and questionnaires were administered to three cohorts of students and their teachers, across three institutions. Results are presented in terms of teachers’ and students’ perceptions of preferred online learning environments, including their most and least agreed …

How Engaged Are Our Students? Using Analytics To Identify Students-At-Risk, Anthony Williams, Jason K. Morton, Peter W. Kilgour, Maria T. Northcote

Peter Kilgour

Learning Management System (LMS) analytics have become an area of increasing interest and development. The potential to better understand our students’ levels of engagement provided by the systems have, to date, has been underutilized information resources. The study reported here looks at the relationship of student and staff engagement in the LMS and considers the levels of predictability in student behavior leading to failure. Also considered is the impact of the lecturer on the student engagement of poor and high performing students.

Reactions, Reflections, And Responsibility: A Responsive Evaluation Of An Emerging Blended E-Learning Subject, Peter W. Kilgour, Phil Fitzsimmons

Peter Kilgour

In the decade since Schrum and Hong’s comment that “online learning has rapidly become a popular method of edu - cation for traditional and non-traditional students,” this approach to tertiary learning has morphed through several generational forms and platforms to the point where it has become firmly entrenched in the Australian tertiary landscape. As a broad generalization, e-learning, online, or flexible learning in many universities represents a spectrum of “information communications technology” (hereafter referred to as ICT) usage that ranges from little or no actual real-time interaction or “face-to-face” contact with associated viewing linkages such as YouTube through to teaching …

Using The Perceptions Of Online University Students To Improve The Pedagogy And Practice Of Distance Educators: Them Helping Us To Improve It, David Bolton, Maria T. Northcote, Peter W. Kilgour, Jason Hinze

Peter Kilgour

This paper reports on the findings of an investigation into the experiences of undergraduate and postgraduate distance education students from one higher education institution, Avondale College of Higher Education. All of the institution's current students who were enrolled in a distance course or who had previously completed a distance component of their course were surveyed using an online questionnaire. A subgroup of this population also contributed to focus group discussions. Findings from an analysis of the combined data gathered from the online questionnaire and the focus groups were used to inform the institution's professional development (PD) program that supports lecturers …

Old School Or Cutting Edge? An Examination Of Ellen G. White's Views On Education From A Best Practice Twenty-First Century Perspective, Peter W. Kilgour, Beverly J. Christian

Peter Kilgour

Ellen White was an inspired writer who was influential in the development of Adventist education in the late nineteenth century. She wrote prolifically on the philosophy of Christian education, its goals and its practice. This article explores her views, as written over a century ago, and compares them with several twenty-first educational concepts that impact pedagogical practice today. The concepts chosen are: neuroplasticity, differentiation, holistic education and well-being, metacognition, education for employability, visible learning and heutagogy. The comparison revealed that when White’s views were analysed in terms of purpose or in terms of underlying principles, they aligned with several educational …

Stem Down The Track: Two Christian Schools' Further Experiences, Peter W. Kilgour, Phil Fitzsimmons, Tieren Kilgour, Jennifer Merriman

Peter Kilgour

Students’ perceptions of what STEM is and

how it has been implemented in their schools

is reported in this paper. Students were asked

in focus groups about what STEM is and how

they had seen the progress their two respective

schools had made in its implementation. The

data showed that students were very familiar

with what STEM is and how it was developing

in their schools. While younger students

enjoyed the fun and the challenge, secondary

students could see the potential for the STEM

they are doing at school to help in their future

employment. Another interesting factor revealed

in …

Coherence - The Right Drivers In Action For Schools, Districts And Systems, Peter W. Kilgour

Peter Kilgour

No abstract provided.

Government Funding In Australian Independent Schools, Peter W. Kilgour, Anthony Williams

Peter Kilgour

This chapter gives a history of government funding of Australian independent schools with a focus on Seventh-day Adventist education identities. It covers the evolution of the methods of funding, the politics of funding, the controversies from interest groups on such funding, and Ellen White’s advice on receiving government funding for Adventist schools.

The Funding Of Adventist Schools In The Solomon Islands, Peter W. Kilgour, Joseph Pitakia

Peter Kilgour

This chapter explores the history of schooling in the Solomon Islands, the current state of education in the Solomon Islands, the place of Adventist education in the history and current practice of schooling in the Solomon Islands, the introduction of Adventist schools’ use of government funding in the Solomon Islands education system.

Using Threshold Concepts About Online Teaching To Support Novice Online Teachers: Designing Professional Development Guidelines To Individually Assist Academic Staff (“Me”) And Collectively Guide The Institution (“Us”), Maria T. Northcote, Kevin P. Gosselin, Peter W. Kilgour, Catherine Mcloughlin, Christopher Boddey

Peter Kilgour

As online learning expands across the higher education sector, individual university lecturers are required to take on roles that incorporate responsibilities for designing and teaching online courses. Their growing capacities to fulfil these roles are sometimes supported by professional development (PD) programs within their institutions while some staff engage in staff development activities outside their home institutions. These programs and activities may take place within Communities of Practice (CoPs) while others are conducted on an individual basis. While much research has been undertaken into the field of online teaching and learning, including investigations into the most useful technological tools to …