Education Commons^™

Tuning Into Podcasts: Collaborative Research Into The Value Adding Nature Of Podcasts In Teacher Education, Maria T. Northcote, Linda Marshall, Eva Dobozy, Paul Swan, Paula Mildenhall

Maria Northcote

Digital pedagogy has become an increasingly viable, popular and effective component of higher education teaching and learning at Edith Cowan University and elsewhere. Components of digital pedagogy are diverse with new examples, such as podcasts, regularly being created, released for use and adopted in educational, recreational and business contexts. Consequently, university students use much of this technology both in their employment and recreational lives. This study explored processes of using and developing the students’ existing technological skills within their university studies. This paper documents the processes and findings of a collaborative research project that was implemented across six units of …

Underachieving Gifted Students: Two Case Studies, Hannah Bennett-Rappell, Maria T. Northcote

Maria Northcote

Almost half of all gifted students do not achieve according to their exceptional potential. Though significant research has investigated identifying characteristics of underachieving gifted students, current research is yet to fully employ the established theoretical knowledge to determine practical strategies for the reversal and remediation of underachievement in gifted students. This study utilised a specifically designed Creative Writing Program and adopted a part-time withdrawal strategy to explore the impact of particular teaching strategies on reversing the underachievement of two gifted students. Through the two case studies, qualitative data were gathered from multiple sources and perspectives. These data were analysed using …

Threshold Concepts And Attitudes In Mathematics Education: Listening To Students' Past, Present And Projected Stories, Maria T. Northcote

Maria Northcote

The process of becoming a skilled and confident mathematics teacher can be strongly influenced by the teacher's attitudes to both mathematics and mathematics teaching. Investigations into the attitudes of pre-service teachers have shown that teachers' attitudes directly influence their teaching practices and, subsequently, their students' learning experiences. Teachers' understanding of mathematical content and concepts also impact on the quality of teaching. Hence, the identification of threshold concepts and attitudes associated with teaching mathematics can be beneficial to pre-service teachers and their students. By understanding the concepts associated with teaching mathematics to young children, pre-service teachers come to transcend their lack …

The Lived Experience Of Online Educators: Insights From Construction Management, William Sher, Anthony Williams, Maria T. Northcote

Maria Northcote

Academics in higher education institutions often experience the conflicting demands of teaching, research and administration. With the growth of online education these staff are frequently required to design, develop, teach, facilitate and, in some cases, administer online courses. Cumulatively these additional tasks challenge academics, not only in terms of the personal professional development but also in accommodating the range of tasks expected of them. This paper reports the findings of a study which investigated the lived experience of construction management academics teaching at universities in Australia. The study adopted a lived experience research approach that enabled the lives of construction …

The Impact Of Integrated Movement-Based Activities On Primary School Aged Students In The Classroom, Melissa Nalder, Maria T. Northcote

Maria Northcote

Movement-based activities can have benefits for children from informal early childhood settings to more formal education contexts in primary schools. Integrated movement-based activities (IMBAs) are activities involving physical movement that are used to teach subjects other than physical education in the primary school curriculum. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact that IMBAs have on primary school aged students. The study was conducted in lower and upper primary classrooms. The data was collected from the perspectives of students, teachers and a researcher using self-reflection journals, numeracy tests, self-rating scales of concentration levels, teacher interviews and researcher observations …

The Researcher's Little Helper: The Design Of An Enabling Online Resource For Postgraduate Students And Their Supervisors, Maria T. Northcote, Anthony Williams

Maria Northcote

The question of how to support postgraduate students and their supervisors, especially neophyte supervisors, is a challenge faced by many higher education institutions. This paper outlines the early stages of a research study which incorporated a design-based research methodology to inform the planning and development of an online, self-paced resource for postgraduate students and their supervisors. Once the needs of these two groups were identified through regular focus groups, the findings from these collaborations, along with literature review findings, informed the structural framework of an online resource known as The Researcher's Little Helper.

Teaching With Technology: Up, Up And Away With Parachutes In Primary Mathematics, Maria T. Northcote

Maria Northcote

In a teacher education institution just north of Sydney, a lecturer asked her students about their most vivid memories of learning about mathematics in their primary school years. By far, the most easily recalled positive experiences of mathematics involved some form of physical activity or the use of hands-on resources:

One day the teacher organised for us to have a pizza party. The pizzas were divided into even pieces and we learned about fractions.

I loved the way my teacher got us to use the things she found around her house in the classroom - . She'd bring them into …

Teaching With Technology: Step Back And Hand Over The Camera! Using Digital Cameras To Facilitate Mathematics Learning With Young Children In K-2 Classrooms, Maria Northcote

Maria Northcote

Maria Northcote explores the use of digital cameras as a tool for handing over control of a mathematics lesson to the children. While the children were very young, the results were extremely impressive!

Teaching With Technology: Mathematics On The Move: Using Mobile Technologies To Support Student Learning (Part 1), Catherine Attard, Maria T. Northcote

Maria Northcote

Catherine Attard and Maria Nort hcote explore the use of mobile technologies as part of our digital repertoire for teachingmathematics. If you are thinking mobile technologies means calculators then this article will provide food for thought!

Selecting Criteria To Evaluate Qualitative Research, Maria T. Northcote

Maria Northcote

While the evaluation of quantitative research frequently depends on judgements based on the “holy trinity” of objectivity, reliability and validity (Spencer, Ritchie, Lewis, & Dillon, 2003, p. 59), applying these traditional criteria to qualitative research is not always a “good fit” (Schofield, 2002). Instead, educational researchers who engage in qualitative research have suggested various sets of alternative criteria including: transferability, generalisability, ontological authenticity, reciprocity, dependability, confirmability, reflexivity, fittingness, vitality and, even, sacredness and goodness (Creswell, 2002; Garman, 1996; Guba & Lincoln, 1989; Patton, 2002; Spencer et al., 2003; Stige, Malterud, & Midtgarden, 2009). While over one hundred sets of qualitative …

Supporting Construction Management Education: Examining The Impact Of Leadership, Management And Staff Development, Willy Sher, Anthony Williams, Maria T. Northcote

Maria Northcote

Universities in Australia face a range of challenges as they renew curricula. Several of these arise from the federal government’s compliance monitoring entities which focus on academic standards and quality assurance. In addition, the sector is experiencing increased emphasis on research performance and postgraduate education. Against this backdrop, this paper examines academic leadership, management and staff development, and considers the implications of these processes on construction management higher education. This paper draws on data gathered from surveys, interviews and focus groups with leaders in construction-related academic disciplines across Australia, and provides a critical review of their attitudes and concerns. The …

Research-Informed Guidelines For The Development Of Adaptively-Released Assessment Feedback (Araf) Strategies In Higher Education, Lindsay Morton, Alexandra Johnson, Anthony Williams, Maria T. Northcote

Maria Northcote

Assessment feedback has the potential to significantly impact on learning; this can be in the form of quantitative or qualitative feedback, or both. While assessment feedback is intended to provide students with insight into how their learning has progressed against learning outcomes, exploratory research into the impact of assessment feedback has found that students pay more heed to numeric grades than qualitative comments, despite the latter having more potential to positively impact learning. This paper reports on a project, funded by the Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT), to determine the impact of feedback strategies on students’ learning. Academic staff …

Professional Development Of Research Supervisors: A Capacity-Building, Participatory Framework, Kevin Petrie, Gina Lemke, Anthony Williams, Brett G. Mitchell, Maria T. Northcote, Malcolm Anderson, Kayle De Waal

Maria Northcote

The professional development of supervisors of higher degree research students is growing in importance and undergoing change, based on the demand for timely completion of higher degrees and the Australian federal government’s quality agenda driving improvement of practice. Research has informed the design of research supervision frameworks within large universities (Carton & Kelly, 2014; Luca et al., 2013) but smaller institutions face different issues, including the challenge of developing an active research culture.

This paper reports on the outcomes of an institution-wide project that was conducted in a small, private higher education institution involving the development and …

New Metaphors For Teaching And Learning In A University Context, Maria T. Northcote, Tony Fetherston

Maria Northcote

University teachers and university students often explain their beliefs about teaching and learning by using metaphors and, in a research sense, these metaphors have often been interpreted as indicators of individuals’ educational beliefs. Critical reflection of these metaphors, provides insight into beliefs behind the practices of university teachers and students. This recent University study has uncovered some different metaphors from those commonly reported, which has provided the impetus for this paper. This paper aims to augment and extend existing research about the use of metaphor with investigative insights into individuals’ beliefs and conceptions of teaching and learning. Two groups of …

Role-Playing As A Tool To Facilitate Learning, Self Reflection And Social Awareness In Teacher Education, Peter W. Kilgour, Daniel Reynaud, Maria T. Northcote, Marion Shields

Maria Northcote

Meaningful learning in the tertiary sector benefits from the inclusion of a variety of teaching and learning techniques including active learning. Role-plays are one type of active and participatory learning activity that creates interaction between students and a simulated scenario. This reality can serve to open the minds of participants to issues they need to be able to deal with in their chosen careers. This paper reports role-plays in four different learning applications: the first was in a multicultural education class and simulated a microcosm of society where students took on the roles of minority groups. The second reports on …

Pre-Service Teachers' Reflections On Critical Incidents In Their Professional Teaching Experiences, Peter W. Kilgour, Maria T. Northcote, Wendi Herman

Maria Northcote

Pre-service teachers typically engage in a series of professional development experiences throughout their teacher education courses. These periods of learning enable them to develop as reflective practitioners under the mentorship of experienced school teachers. After these periods of intense learning, sometimes characterised by pedagogic epiphanies, they frequently report extreme experiences of success or failure which influence perceptions of their future teaching career. This study aimed to capture final year pre-service teachers' reflections of critical incidents in their past professional experience by especially focusing on their worst lesson experience. The qualitative research approach incorporated elements of critical incident research design from …

Lighting Up And Transforming Online Courses: Letting The Teacher’S Personality Shine, Maria T. Northcote

Maria Northcote

Affective aspects of learning have been shown to influence cognitive aspects of learning (Russo & Benson, 2005; Salmon, 2004) and online educators are increasingly aware of the role played by emotions in online learning. To encourage a well-rounded online learning experience for students, online course designers have long been encouraged to provide students with opportunities to express their own personality and identity (Palloff & Pratt, 1999). Such design features have been linked with improved learning outcomes and decreased attrition rates (McInnerney & Roberts, 2004). However, a comparable discussion about the value of teacher personality in online courses has yet to …

Instructional Design Partnerships Across Universities: Motivations, Methods And Measures, Maria T. Northcote, Amanda Kendle

Maria Northcote

This paper explores and documents a learning partnership that has developed between two instructional designers employed at two different universities in Perth, Western Australia. The value of this crossinstitutional partnership is initially investigated in terms of the benefits involved for the professional careers of each instructional designer. The context of the university faculty in which the instructional designers operate is appraised. Also, the wider consequences of this partnership are considered in terms of the influence it has on other Australian tertiary education providers. The analysis of the partnership will be built upon an appropriate constructivist theoretical framework.

Navigating Learning Journeys Of Online Teachers: Threshold Concepts And Self-Efficacy, Maria T. Northcote, Kevin P. Gosselin, Daniel Reynaud, Peter W. Kilgour, Malcolm Anderson

Maria Northcote

Higher education institutions are developing more and more online courses to supplement and augment the courses they offer in on-campus modes. In fact, some universities now offer the majority of their courses through online contexts. However, for academic staff who design and teach these courses, the transition from teaching on-campus courses to teaching in online learning environments is not always speedy or smooth. Academic teaching staff require support, mentoring and professional learning programs to develop their existing capacities and apply them to an online context.

This paper reports on Phase 2 of a research project, which takes into consideration the …

Informal Online Networks For Learning: Making Use Of Incidental Learning Through Recreation, Maria T. Northcote, Amanda Kendle

Maria Northcote

Contemporary tertiary students require a different set of skills from the population of students who attended university campuses even just a decade ago. The modern student is expected to be comfortable and often proficient with both printed and digital resources. Such a level of expertise is necessary not only so students can access study materials, but to also enable them to efficiently filter information, communicate using diverse methods and store relevant resources within practical and logical systems. Many university courses now include components which provide opportunities for students to develop digital information competencies and such skills are almost essential to …

From Small To Large Hits: Spreading The Online Message To Academic And Administrative Staff Via Strategically-Targeted Development Activities, Maria T. Northcote, Gail Huon

Maria Northcote

This paper reports on how a university is implementing a capacity-building academic staff development program using a three-pronged approach that draws on adult learning, social learning and capacity-building literature. This approach was designed to enable staff to provide engaging and pedagogically sound online experiences for the students at the University of Newcastle, NSW Australia. Data have been gathered throughout the implementation of this program to evaluate its impact and to inform future refinements of the program. The paper concludes with reflections from staff facilitating the program about the challenges, successes and future of the program.

Engaging In Deep Cultural Learning Through The Intersection Of Multiple Contexts, Maria T. Northcote, Peter W. Kilgour, Daniel Reynaud, Phil Fitzsimmons

Maria Northcote

The type of learning that takes place in teacher education courses typically results in pre-service teachers developing a mixture of knowledge, skills and values that enable them to become effective teachers in schools in the future. During their journey to become qualified teachers, pre-service teachers typically engage in coursework and experiential-based learning.

By engaging in coursework experiences, an overseas practicum and an overseas study tour, students experienced a range of reflection-promoting activities and contexts during which they broadened and deepened their understanding of cultures other than their own.

Using a cross-case analysis approach, the data gathered in these three cases …

For The Technologically Challenged: Four Free Online Tools To Liven Up A Mathematics Classroom, Maria T. Northcote

Maria Northcote

This article focuses on the use of a handful of free online tools that can be used to liven up and support mathematics learning in lessons and activities that take place inside or outside the primary mathematics classroom. While some of these tools have been purposefully developed for use in mathematics learning contexts, others have been developed for different purposes, quite apart from mathematics. Tools such as the interactive number board (http://www.abcya.com/interactive_100_number_chart.htm) and virtual chance tools such as virtual dice (http://www.curriculumbits.com/mathematics/virtual-dice/) and virtual spinners (http://www.mathsisfun.com/data/spinner.php) are examples of online tools that have been purposefully …

Engaging Students In The Use Of Technologies For Assessment Within Personal Learning Environments (Ples): The Development Of A Framework, David Bolton, Paula M. Mildenhall, Kwong Sim, Lynnette Lounsbury, Maria T. Northcote

Maria Northcote

Higher education students use a wide range of information and communication technologies for personal and study purposes, collectively known as a Personal Learning Environment (PLE). The ways in which students use technologies to prepare and complete assessment tasks, however, has not been researched as much as their general use of technology. This paper reports on the process adopted to develop a research-informed framework to engage higher education students in the use and evaluation of technologies for assessment purposes within their PLEs. The method used to construct the framework is presented alongside recommendations for how the framework may be used by …

Higher Education Student's Use Of Technologies For Assessment Within Personal Learning Environments (Ples), Lynnette Lounsbury, Paula Mildenhall, David Bolton, Maria T. Northcote, Alan Anderson

Maria Northcote

Higher education students' use of technologies has been documented over the years but their specific use of technologies for assessment-related tasks has yet to be fully investigated. Researchers at two higher education institutions recently conducted a study which sought to discover the technologies most commonly used by students within their Personal Learning Environments (PLEs). A specific aim of the study was to determine which of these technologies the students used when they complete and submit assessment tasks such as assignments and examinations. Results from questionnaires, focus groups and mapping exercises are reported and the implications of the findings for developing …

Development Of An Evidence-Based Professional Learning Program Informed By Online Teachers' Self-Efficacy And Threshold Concepts, Kevin P. Gosselin, Maria T. Northcote, Daniel Reynaud, Peter W. Kilgour, Malcolm Anderson, Chris Boddey

Maria Northcote

As online education continues to expand across varied educational sectors, so does the demand for professional development programs to guide academic teaching staff through the processes of developing their capacities to design and teach online courses. To meet these challenges at one higher education institution, a mixed methods research study was implemented to identify the professional learning needs of academic teaching staff for the purposes of developing a tailor-made professional development program. The principles of self-efficacy and threshold concepts were used to inform the design of the study. Data were systematically gathered from the participants to determine self-efficacy, concerns, and …

Devising Strategies For Enhancing Quality Staff Development In Embedding Ict In Teaching And Learning, Charles Juwah, Maria T. Northcote

Maria Northcote

Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) have huge potential and can add value to the quality of university teaching and learning. However, to fully exploit the potential of these innovative technologies, it is imperative that teaching staff are well informed about how to embed ICT in the curriculum in a way that is underpinned by sound pedagogy. Professional development programmes can enable staff to acquire appropriate skills to effectively facilitate technology-supported learning.The teaching staff from The Robert Gordon University and Edith Cowan University, are facing similar staff development challenges. Both universities provide online and distance education courses to their local and …

Dreams, Hiccups And Realities: What Happens When Lecturers And Students Co-Design An Online Module?, Maria T. Northcote, Beverly J. Christian

Maria Northcote

Negotiating curriculum design with students for students involves incorporating both the students’ needs and the lecturers’ requirements into the course structure, learning activities, resources and assessment tasks. In 2012, two lecturers and a group of first year undergraduate students worked together to design an online module within an on-campus course for a second year teacher education degree. During the semester when the online module was conducted, data were gathered from the lecturers and students in the course. Findings from analyses of these data are presented in this paper in terms of: 1) the lecturers’ and students’ initial dreams and plans …

Cross-Continental Research Collaborations About Online Teaching, Kevin P. Gosselin, Maria T. Northcote

Maria Northcote

Increasingly, faculty academics are required to teach and design online courses. However, in many cases, faculty members report having low levels of confidence, self-efficacy and competence to teach in online environments. Although their professional learning is often enhanced by institutional support strategies such as workshops, online instruction and mentoring systems, many faculty academics learn through “just-in-time” rather than “just-in-case” strategies. This paper reports on the findings from a cross-continental research project between researchers in two higher education institutions in the United States and Australia. The project was initiated to: 1) determine the learning needs of faculty members who teach online …

Does The Type Of Assessment Feedback I Give Make A Difference?: The Impact Of Qualitative And Quantitative Assessment Feedback, Maria T. Northcote, Anthony Williams, Phil Fitzsimmons, Peter W. Kilgour

Maria Northcote

Feedback provided to postgraduate students about their assessment tasks influences the way in which they reflect on their learning and themselves personally. In particular, the nature of the feedback and the way in which its dissemination is sequenced and timed can further impact how students incorporate, or don't incorporate, assessment advice into their future learning, a process referred to by Duncan (2007) as "feed-forward". Despite the value placed on assessment feedback by academic teaching staff, it often has minimal impact on students' learning (Sadler, 2010).

Past research into the impact of qualitative and quantitative feedback on student learning established that …