Education Commons^™

Evaluation Of The Impact Of Leading Australia’S Schools Participation (2006-2008) On School Effectiveness, Elizabeth Kleinhenz, Stephen Dinham, Clare Ozolins, Michelle Anderson, Catherine Scott

Dr Elizabeth Kleinhenz

No abstract provided.

Innovative Teaching Approaches That Stimulate Active Student Learning, Sherwood Thompson, Roger Cleveland, Norman Powell

Norman W. Powell

No abstract provided.

Cloud Computing: Strategies For Cloud Computing Adoption, Faith J. Shimba

Faith Joel Shimba

The advent of cloud computing in recent years has sparked an interest from different IT stakeholders. This is a result of the new economic model for the IT department that cloud computing promises. The model promises to remove the need for heavy investment for limited IT resources towards renting IT resources and paying based on usage. Although, the adoption of cloud computing promises various benefits to organizations, a successful adoption requires an understanding of different dynamics and expertise in diverse domains. Currently there are inadequate guidelines for adoption and this book proposes a roadmap for cloud computing adoption called ROCCA. …

Breath Of Fresh Air: How Students Describe Their Experiences And Find Meaning From Their Interactions With African American Faculty In The College Classroom, Kathleen Neville, Tara L. Parker

Kathleen Neville

Preferences Of First-Time Expectant Mothers For Care Of Their Child: I Wouldn’T Leave Them Somewhere That Made Me Feel Insecure, Wendy Anne Boyd, Karen J. Thorpe, Collette Patria Tayler

Dr Wendy Boyd

Australia has witnessed a continual increase in maternal employment over the past two decades, which places focus on both supply of childcare and a demand for high-quality care. This study examined childcare preferences regarding the return to paid work of 124 Australian women who were expecting their first child. In contrast with most studies that have retrospective designs, the design of this study presents the perspectives of women prior to the birth of their first child – that is, before they have made a final decision about child care. This study found that the majority (78 per cent) of the …

Essential Responsibilities Of Student Affairs Administrators: Identifying A Purpose In Life And Helping Students Do The Same, Christy M. Craft, Robin Hochella

Christy Moran Craft

As part of a larger investigation into the spiritual lives of student affairs administrators, the first author interviewed 24 practitioners representing four types of institutions to determine how they think about issues related to their purpose in life. The results of the study provide insight into the importance of reflecting upon such issues in order to be equipped to assist students in their own identification of a purpose in life.

A Breath Of Fresh Air: Reflecting On The Changing Practices Of Assessment Online, Meg O'Reilly

Dr Meg O'Reilly

Prior to a flight we are reminded that in an emergency we are to place the oxygen mask on our own faces before we place them on a child to ensure we can assist the child. Unfortunately, with regard to teacher learning. ..we spend a great deal of time placing oxygen masks on other people's faces while we ourselves are suffocating" (Zederayko & Ward, 1999: 36 [28]). To breathe in some new ideas on assessment for learners in the changing online world, academic staff need to have time, energy and will for fresh reflections and collective dialogue upon their innovations. …

A Mission That Matters, Sherwood Thompson

Sherwood Thompson

No abstract provided.

Reinvigorating Educational Design For An Online World, Meg O'Reilly

Dr Meg O'Reilly

With changes to higher education being significantly impacted by the rapid pace of technological evolution in the new millennium, there is a need to find greater humanity in the course development process. As traditional mediators and creative collaborators in the process of course design, educational designers are well positioned to bring spirit and soul to their work with academic staff. This paper explores the need for reinvigorating teaching and learning relationships through creative, post-egoist meaningful approaches to educational design in times of enormous technological and workplace change.

Interaction Online: Above And Beyond The Requirements Of Assessment, Meg O'Reilly, Diane Newton

Dr Meg O'Reilly

Today’s literature is filled with new paradigms for learning, specifically in relation to the increasing adoption of computer-mediated techniques for interactive learning. In many cases, learning may now be enhanced through the experience of a shared online environment for critical discussion, knowledge building and the establishment of supportive social communities. Research data obtained from social science students at Southern Cross University over two semesters reveals students’ perceptions of the importance of online discussion whether these are assessable or not. This paper presents some findings and explores the impact of the emergence of a student-centred social learning environment.

In At The Deep End: Swapping Roles Through Staff Development Online, Meg O'Reilly, Allan Ellis

Dr Meg O'Reilly

After reviewing questions about how Australian Universities carry out staff development for online teaching and learning, this paper reports on an initiative that has brought together the outcomes of previous research into an online resource and workshop. Having piloted these, the full version of the workshop was recently completed by a group of staff at Southern Cross University. The authors reflect upon experiences of swapping roles – teachers becoming learners, and educational designer (usually a student advocate in the design process) becoming the teacher. Reflections on experiences are reported from reflective journal and evaluation data.

Using Cross-Disciplinary Action Learning Sets When Designing Online Assessment, Meg O'Reilly

Dr Meg O'Reilly

The drive to find appropriate ways to integrate online technologies into assessment has come about within Australian higher education as a consequence of widely held aspirations to remain competitive in the global marketplace. An action research initiative at Southern Cross University reported in this paper suggests both extrinsic and intrinsic reasons why academics considering online assessment may or may not follow through with immediate implementation. More specifically, a crossdisciplinary action learning set in the case study presented has shown benefits in approaching educational design as a cyclical, collegial, creative and reflexive process for planning, implementing and evaluating online assessment.

Educational Design As Transdisciplinary Partnership: Supporting Assessment Design For Online, Meg O'Reilly

Dr Meg O'Reilly

The design of student assessment for the online context can be a disquieting experience without the support of colleagues and a group of peers from across a range of disciplines with whom to share ideas. This paper reports on interviews conducted with academic “peak performers” as well as some educational design practitioners about the current practices of designing for online assessment. A transdisciplinary approach to educational design is proposed for further exploration.

Case Studies Of Online Assessment, Meg O'Reilly, Sue Bennett, Michael J. Keppell

Dr Meg O'Reilly

This paper outlines the progress to date of a project to compile, analyse and share examples of innovative online assessment activities using; online testing; teamwork and collaboration; simulations and role plays, and dialogue with experts and across cultures. The aim of this research is to provide teaching academics and educational developers with examples of assessment strategies that have been successfully applied in higher education, and to derive a number of key principles about online assessment that will be useful for future research. The project involves case studies from two Australian universities, which have been used to develop an initial set …

Community, Exchange And Diversity: The Carrick Exchange, Robyn Philip, Geraldine Lefoe, Meg O'Reilly, Dominique Parrish

Dr Meg O'Reilly

The Carrick Exchange is a significant new online service that will provide communication and collaboration services, and learning and teaching resources across the Australian and international higher education sectors. The Carrick Exchange is sponsored by the Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. It is for those who teach, manage and lead learning and teaching in Australian higher education. The Carrick Exchange aims to provide access to quality learning materials and resources; information about new technologies and ideas that impact on teaching practice and student learning; opportunities for academic and support staff to network with others, comment on …

Sharing Quality Resources For Teaching And Learning: A Peer Review Model For The Altc Exchange In Australia, Geraldine Lefoe, Robyn Philip, Meg O'Reilly, Dominique Parrish

Dr Meg O'Reilly

The ALTC Exchange (formerly the Carrick Exchange), is a national repository and networking service for Australian higher education. The Exchange was designed to provide access to a repository of shared learning and teaching resources, work spaces for team members engaged in collaborative projects, and communication and networking services. The Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) established the Exchange for those who teach, manage and lead learning and teaching in higher education. As part of the research conducted to inform the development of the Exchange, models for peer review of educational resources were evaluated. For this, a design based research approach …

Towards Using Www For Teaching And Learning, Meg O'Reilly

Dr Meg O'Reilly

Traditional forms of distance education course delivery rely on paper based exchange of information and invariably suffer from an extreme paucity of dialogue. On the other hand, telecommunications-based education (Debreceny, Ellis & Chua, 1995) makes use of both existing and new technologies for a variety of options in course delivery which maximise dialogue, interaction and interactivity.

Designing Webcds: A Low Cost Option To Enhance Learning And Interaction, Meg O'Reilly, Chris Morgan

Dr Meg O'Reilly

Candidates of Southern Cross University's Doctor of Business Administration are a unique group. Demands by these senior executives for flexibility of delivery and portability of courseware has been the recent impetus for course redesign. Informed by a student survey and expressed needs of staff, instructional designers focused on a low cost hybrid model for delivery of study resources. A collection of Web linked CDROMs have been designed to utilise advantages of online interaction while storing high resolution video materials without limitations of bandwidth and unwieldy download times. Enhancements to teaching, learning and assessment approaches are discussed.

Staff Development Responses To The Demand For Online Teaching And Learning, Allan Ellis, Meg O'Reilly, Roger Debreceny

Dr Meg O'Reilly

Australian universities are coming under increasing demand to deliver online courses. This demand is driven by four main factors; 1) the increasing availability of multimedia capable computers, fast modems and Internet access; 2) the emergence of online technologies such as the WWW that provides a crossplatform, non-proprietary multimedia delivery system; 3) the promise of enhancements to the quality of the teaching and learning experience; and 4) being part of the global education market. The academic who teaches successfully online now needs a knowledge of both pedagogy as it applies to the online environment and a knowledge of current appropriate software, …

Staff Development By Immersion In Interactive Learning Online, Meg O'Reilly, Jennifer M. Brown

Dr Meg O'Reilly

This is a story from an Australian perspective of the changes in staff development approaches over the past few years, in response to the rapidly changing educational and technological environments. In particular the authors reflect upon initiatives implemented and those planned for the future at Southern Cross University, as a result of the impact of staff development activities in our own institution and in other Australian universities to date. The paper concludes with a plan for the Teaching and Learning Centre’s website to move beyond delivery of information, exemplars and resources, to support a program of active immersion of staff …

Resource Directory For Assessing Learners Online, Meg O'Reilly

Dr Meg O'Reilly

To address the need for critical research, and to target access to the wide range of resources in the field of online assessment practices in higher education now published on the Internet itself, a research project has recently commenced at Southern Cross University. This project aims to improve the online assessment practices of academic staff through reflective practice and action research. An accompanying website is under development to provide a directory of resources including examples of the practices and theories pertaining to assessment online, as well as links to published literature. The poster presentation will provide access to this resource …

Educational Design As Transdisciplinary Partnership: Supporting Assessment Design For Online, Meg O'Reilly

Dr Meg O'Reilly

The design of student assessment for the online context can be a disquieting experience without the support of colleagues and a group of peers from across a range of disciplines with whom to share ideas. This paper reports on interviews conducted with academic “peak performers” as well as some educational design practitioners about the current practices of designing for online assessment. A transdisciplinary approach to educational design is proposed for further exploration.

Children & Behaviour: A Strengths-Based Approach To Education: Conference Report, Sallie Newell, Adam Biggs, Anne Graham, Lyn Gardon

Professor Anne Graham

Difficult and/or challenging student behaviour continues to rank high in terms of the most frequently cited ‘problems’ confronting schools and teachers. Research suggests that positive and proactive behaviour management is one of the most constructive building blocks for effective classrooms. Teachers recognise that behaviour is closely linked with learning outcomes as well as to issues of care, respect and safety that contribute to positive classroom environments. This conference, we believe, provides an important forum in which to explore the possibilities for implementing a strengths based, capacity building approach to behaviour support in schools. The conference theme reflects a key aim …

Murwillumbah Communities For Children Initiative: Baseline Community-Level Survey Results, Sallie Newell, Anne Graham

Professor Anne Graham

This report summarises the results from the baseline community-level surveys collected as part of the evaluation of the Murwillumbah Communities for Children initiative. The information from these surveys gives an impression of how families and early childhood workers were feeling in the early stages of the initiative – in relation to the main goals described below. Similar surveys will be collected towards the end of the initiative to allow an assessment of if, and how, things have changed for families with young children in and around Murwillumbah. About

Parent Support Project: Evaluation Report, Anna D. Huddy, Sallie Newell, Anne Graham

Professor Anne Graham

What is the Parent Support Project? The Parent Support Project (PSP) was a pilot project developed by the Northern Rivers Division of General Practice (NRDGP), with funding from the Early Childhood – Invest to Grow arm of the Australian Government’s Stronger Families and Communities Strategy. This 12-month project involved expanding the parenting support services delivered through the NRDGP’s Family Care Centre, in Lismore. Planned activities included: compiling a directory of locally-available resources and services to support early child development; developing a PSP web page for inclusion on the NRDGP website; producing age-specific parenting newsletters; developing and running training sessions for …

World Youth Day Pilgrimage: Evaluation Report, Chris White, Sallie Newell, Anne Graham

Professor Anne Graham

Importance of Pilgrimage Pilgrimage is important for Christians. It was a central feature of both the Old and New Testaments. It is practised by many of the great religions of the world. Pilgrimage is based on a strong attachment to place in the spiritual lives of people. It fulfils a human desire to see and feel a person’s faith origins. Pilgrimage sites offer stories both of saints and of God interacting with ordinary people. It also draws the pilgrim into an atmosphere of corporate spirituality, while allowing scope for individual response to God. At a pilgrimage site, a grace is …

Communicating With Kids About School Issues: Seminar Report, Sallie Newell, Adam Biggs, Anne Graham, Lyn Gardon

Professor Anne Graham

This seminar took a strengths-based approach to examine the challenges facing parents/carers and young people as they attempt to negotiate school-related, relationship and behaviour issues. Two initial discussions explored and compared the audience’s and the students’ thoughts about factors worrying young people and factors worrying parents. Both groups nominated similar issues as concerning young people – peer pressure, bullying, study pressures, living up to others’ expectations, etc. However, there were quite different perceptions about the issues concerning parents – with the audience expressing concern about a broad range of issues, most not directly related to their children themselves, whereas the …

Lismore Communities For Children Initiative: Interim Evaluation Report, Sallie Newell, Anne Graham

Professor Anne Graham

This report aims to give an overview about the planning, development and implementation (as at May 2007) of the Lismore Communities for Children initiative, overall and in relation to each of its strategies. It also presents results from the relevant community-level and strategy-specific evaluation activities – as at May 2007. As this is only an Interim Evaluation Report and limited followup data have yet been collected, most results are presented simply and with minimal interpretation. However, all data will be explored and critiqued in more depth in the Final Evaluation Report.

Goonellabah Transition Program 'Walking Together, Learning Together: Interim Evaluation Report, Sallie Newell, Anne Graham

Professor Anne Graham

Rationale & Background National and international evidence Extensive national and international research from many different fields has consistently demonstrated the critical importance of children's early life experiences and circumstances on their subsequent development and wellbeing throughout their lives. There is clear evidence that well-founded, well-implemented prevention and early intervention programs, starting early in life, can improve young children’s cognitive, social and emotional functioning. This results in a positive influence on their readiness to learn in the school setting and improves educational, social, emotional and health outcomes throughout their lives. Cost-effectiveness analyses have shown that such programs more than pay for …

Goonellabah Transition Program: 'Walking Together, Learning Together': Final Evaluation Report, Sallie Newell, Anne Graham

Professor Anne Graham

Extensive national and international research from many different fields has consistently demonstrated the critical importance of children's early life experiences and circumstances on their subsequent development and wellbeing throughout their lives. There is clear evidence that well-founded, well-implemented prevention and early intervention programs, starting early in life, can improve young children’s cognitive, social and emotional functioning. This results in a positive influence on their readiness to learn in the school setting and improves educational, social, emotional and health outcomes throughout their lives. Cost-effectiveness analyses have shown that such programs more than pay for themselves, by reducing the later need for …