Calvin Douglas Smith

Beyond mapping and embedding graduate attributes: bringing together quality assurance and action learning to create a validated and living curriculum

With increasing importance being placed on the development of generic skills in higher education, institutions are espousing, as part of their mission and objectives, which generic skills their graduates achieve, and teachers are being required to document how their courses and programs support the development of those skills and attributes. The mapping of opportunities for development of graduate attributes in the planned curriculum thus plays an important role in relation to quality assurance and reporting processes, and embedding these opportunities in curricula may ensure alignment between the espoused curriculum and the taught curriculum. But are these processes enough to ensure that what is espoused and enacted through the curriculum is aligned with what students experience and learn? This issue is addressed here through a case study of a team of university teachers at one Australian institution who went beyond the mapping and embedding of graduate attributes in their courses of study, and engaged in a process of action learning to create a valid and living curriculum for the development of graduate attributes.

Evaluating the Quality of Work-Integrated Learning Curricula: A Comprehensive Framework.

There are many different forms that work-integrated learning (WIL) takes and variants go by a range of different names. Based on current literature, key dimensions, shared by the various and disparate forms of WIL curricula, were identified and operationalised in a measurement model. The key dimensions identified were: authenticity, integrated learning supports (both at university and the workplace), alignment (of teaching and learning activities and assessments with integrative learning outcomes), supervisor access and induction/preparation processes. It is suggested that variations in the way that WIL courses or subjects are designed within these dimensions are the basis for different expressions of the quality of such courses. A latent construct measurement model was developed and validated with a sample of Australian and UK students. This paper presents the model and discusses the results of the validation study. It is proposed that the measures validated in this study will be useful for evaluating a wide variety of WIL curricula.

Academic developers: an academic tribe claiming their territory in higher education

In this paper we review the current debate regarding the work of academic developers in higher education and their rightful “place” in higher education, particularly with regard to notions of the discipline, research and scholarship of teaching. We describe and compare the work of discipline academics and academic developers and argue that the two are more similar to each other than different. We acknowledge the challenges and tensions that exist in the overlap between the domains of expertise of discipline academics and academic developers, and attempt to articulate sources of these tensions in a conceptual model. Ultimately we defend two propositions: (1) that academic developers are, by the nature of their work, academics, and (2) that the discipline that academic development is a part of, namely the discipline of higher education, is a legitimate academic discipline in its own right. The consequences of these two propositions are explored.

Building effectiveness in teaching through targeted evaluation and response: connecting evaluation to teaching improvement in higher education

This paper describes the development of a model for integrating student evaluation of teaching results with academic development opportunities, in new ways that take into account theoretical and practical developments in both fields. The model is described in terms of five phases or components: (1) the basic student evaluation system; (2) an interpretive guidance system that helps lecturers understand and interpret their results; (3) a longitudinal reporting system that initiates opportunities for staff to engage in personal and professional development in the context of a learning community; (4) a structured professional development programme that builds a faculty learning community, in which the members utilise extended cycles of evaluation based on (5) a comprehensive evaluation model designed to develop and encourage the collection of evaluation data from a variety of sources concerning the quality and impact of teaching: the teacher; student learning outcomes; student experience; and the teacher’s peers.

Assessment literacy and student learning: the case for explicitly developing students ‘assessment literacy’

In this paper, we report on a study to quantify the impact on student learning and on student assessment literacy of a brief assessment literacy intervention. We first define ‘assessment literacy’ then report on the development and validation of an assessment literacy measurement instrument. Using a pseudo-experimental design, we quantified the impact of an assessment literacy-building intervention on students’ assessment literacy levels and on their subsequent performance on an assessment task. The intervention involved students in the experimental condition analysing, discussing and applying an assessment rubric to actual examples of student work that exemplified extremes of standards of performance on the task (e.g. poor, excellent). Results showed that such a procedure could be expected to impact positively on assessment literacy levels and on student performance (on a similar or related task). Regression analyses indicated that the greatest predictor of enhanced student marks (on the assessment task that was the subject of the experiment), was the development of their ability to judge standards of performance on student work created in response to a similar task. The intervention took just 50 minutes indicating a good educational return on the pedagogical investment.

The Relationship between Epistemological Beliefs and the Propensity for Lifelong Learning.

The characteristics of lifelong learners have been extensively discussed in the literature and generally encapsulate two broad dimensions; skills and abilities related to learning, and beliefs about learning and knowledge. This study examined the factors that may predict such characteristics and thus an individuals propensity to engage in lifelong learning in a sample of university students. Together, openness to experience, change readiness, approaches to learning, self-efficacy and epistemological beliefs significantly predicted lifelong learning characteristics. In particular, the unique contribution of epistemological beliefs to the profile of a lifelong learner was supported. Results indicate that these beliefs may be a key predictor of lifelong learning.

'Men don't do this sort of thing': A case study of the social isolation of househusbands

Prior research has found that househusbands suffer alienation and ostracism from a variety of sources. Based on in-depth interviews with eleven househusbands, this article builds on such research by outlining and analyzing some of the mechanisms of this alienation and some of the adaptations these men made to deal with these experiences. Of particular interest are the problems the men report having with being seen by others as legitimately involved in child care and (to a lesser extent) housework. These data strongly support the idea that the mens sex category overrides other positionings that may be relevant, such as “competent housekeeper” or “full-time househusband and child carer.” Put differently, hegemonic conceptions of who ought to be minding the children and the house subvert or thwart these mens attempts to validate themselves and these practices. The consequences are a feeling of illegitimacy on one hand and social isolation on the other.

Unpacking the Learning-Work Nexus: "Priming" as Lever for High-Quality Learning Outcomes in Work-Integrated Learning Curricula.

This paper describes the impacts of work-integrated learning (WIL) curriculum components on general employability skills – professional work-readiness, self-efficacy and team skills. Regression analyses emphasise the importance of the ‘authenticity’ of WIL placements for the development of these generic outcomes. Other curricula factors (alignment of learning activities and assessments with integrative learning, and the provision of supportive environments) also impact on generic outcomes. We explore three competing hypotheses for explaining the relationships between learning outcomes and authenticity on the one hand and the alignment of learning activities and assessments with integrative learning outcomes on the other: overlapping, proxy protective factor and mediation. We conclude that mediation is a plausible explanation for the observed relationships, based on an invocation of ‘availability heuristics’ and ‘priming’ to explain how these factors work together. Findings will have implications for the design and management of WIL curricula in universities.

Systematic review methodology in higher education

Systematic review methodology can be distinguished from narrative reviews of the literature through its emphasis on transparent, structured and comprehensive approaches to searching the literature and its requirement for formal synthesis of research findings. There appears to be relatively little use of the systematic review methodology within the higher education sector. This paper outlines the systematic review methodology, including variations, explores debates regarding systematic reviews from the educational literature and describes particular issues for its application within higher education. We conclude that thoughtful use of the systematic review methodology may be of benefit to the sector.

Design‐focused evaluation

In this paper an approach to the writing of evaluation questions is outlined and developed which focuses attention on the question of the effectiveness of an educational design for bringing about the learning it is intended to facilitate. The approach develops from the idea that all educational designs rely on instructional alignment, implicitly or explicitly, and succeed or fail to the extent to which the implementation of that alignment is effective. The approach to evaluation that is described, design‐focused evaluation, utilises students’ experiences of instructional designs and strategies and focuses questions on students’ awareness of the effectiveness of those strategies for facilitating the intended learning outcomes. Detailed advice is given on the construction of items that fit with the approach described and that maximise the generalisability of the approach to most if not all educational settings and designs.