Jill Scevak

Engaging university learning: the experiences of students entering university via recognition of prior industrial experience

In this study, the academic experiences of 33 male students from an industrial background were investigated as they completed a two‐year education degree. The purpose of the study was to investigate the quality of student adjustment to an academic environment following extensive industrial training and experience. Students completed a series of questionnaires relating to learning as well as a series of open‐ended questions relating to academic and social adjustment. Data indicated that while students had developed a positive learning profile, a continued belief in the structural simplicity of knowledge appeared to have a significant diminishing effect on the quality of adjustment and on the quality of learning outcomes. Open‐ended responses revealed patterns of academic adjustment consistent with the restricted understanding of the nature of university learning. Implications of these data for both recognition of prior learning (RPL) entry and ongoing support are broached.

Enhancing Students’ Motivation to Learn: achievement goals in university classrooms

Abstract A two‐part study was undertaken with students enrolled in a first year university subject (development psychology). The theory of achievement goals formed the framework for the study. The first part of the study was designed to delineate students’ perceptions of the motivational ‘climate’ of the subject and to relate these perceptions to other theoretically relevant variables, including reported use of effective learning strategies and a positive approach to learning. To do this, students completed two questionnaires, one half‐way through the year and another at the end of the year. The second part of the study was an examination of students’ reactions to one aspect of the subject (the major assignment) that was structured specifically to enhance students’ mastery goal orientation. Aspects addressed included the nature of the task, evaluation procedures, amount of control given to students, and the option of working collaboratively or independently. In addition to questionnaire data, 54 students ...

Learning from Texts and Visual Aids: a Developmental Perspective

The aims of this research were to investigate the ways in which students in primary and secondary schools process texts and accompanying visual aids and to ascertain any developmental patterns. Think-aloud protocols were gathered from 119 Grade 5, Grade 7 and Grade 9 students while they read and studied grade-appropriate History and Science materials which contained both text and visual aids (tables, diagrams). Analyses of the think-aloud protocols yielded over 50 different processes, subsumed under 10 major categories. While the History results showed no reliable grade differences in the 10 think-aloud categories, the Science results showed developmental differences. Older students demonstrated a more diverse array of strategies, and explicit linking of text and visual aid information was not as evident in the younger students. ANOVAs following cluster analyses showed weak relationships between cluster membership and outcomes. Implications for instruction are discussed.

School Leadership Preparation and Development in Kenya: Evaluating Performance Impact and Return on Leadership Development Investment.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the quality of the current provision for school leadership in Kenya, the extent to which they have an impact on student outcomes and the return on school leadership preparation and development investment. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws from educational leadership, management and administration courses delivered by universities and other institutions to aspiring and practising educational leaders in Kenya. It employs a method for evaluating return on leadership development investment first articulated by Eacott (2013). Findings – While there is growth in provision, consistent with international trends, this provision is more recognised for its standardisation than points of distinction; there is minimal attention to identified dimensions of leadership leading to higher student outcomes which raises questions regarding the universality of school leadership preparation and development curriculum; and the high course costs of current provision ...

The response of pre-service teachers to a compulsory research project

This paper draws on 159 survey responses of fourth year Education students as they embark on a research project based in their internship school. The project explores predisposition to research and the level of preparedness to undertake a research project. The students who met most frequently with their supervisor and showed higher research self-efficacy were also most likely to want to undertake postgraduate study and reacted positively to good personal support and a feeling of belonging to a research “community”. Many felt they were “unconnected” to a learning community, and specifically to their supervisor. They were generally positive about their ability to do the tasks, such as finding and writing up literature, even though they were concerned about managing the overall commitment. Despite this they were optimistic about completion. Only 5% were sure they would undertake postgraduate study in the future, and 65% were sure they would not do so. In an environment where there is commitment to promoting research skills consistent with the needs of a knowledge society and drawing on evidence to inform practice, the findings not only raise the question of how best to support and give meaning to early research endeavours of preservice teachers, but also highlights the challenge of achieving this against a high level of disinterest in further tertiary study.

The effects of strategy training on high school students’ learning from science texts

This research examines the effects of a reciprocal teaching intervention aimed at providing high school students. with a repertoire of strategies to integrate text and visual aid information (graphs, diagrams) while learning in science. Experimental subjects received an hour of instruction each week for 7 weeks using SLIC (Summarise, Link, Image, Check) strategies to integrate the written word with the visual aid while Controls were taught under normal class teaching methods using the same materials. Post test ANOVA’s with Treatment (Experimental, Control) and Reading Ability (Average, Below average) as the factors showed superior recall of details by average ability students in the Experimental group but no significant differences in main idea recall nor on comprehension questions. All Experimental students included a graph in their recalls and they also significantly included more linking information in their texts on the graphs. The quality of their recall graphs was superior to those of the Control group. The results of a far transfer test showed no effects of training on transfer. Implications for future research and for teaching are discussed.

PhD candidate expectations: exploring mismatch with experience

This paper identifies the nature of initial expectations of PhD candidates, the prevalence and type of mismatch between expectations and experience, and to what extent mismatch is reflected in satisfaction with candidature. The data were drawn from telephone interviews with a sub-sample of 104 PhD candidates from an initial online national survey of 1,374 candidates at Australian universities. Based on the interviews, eight categories of initial expectations coalesced into three dimensions: the doctoral ‘Task’, the ‘University’ (including supervision), and ‘Personal’ factors. The relationships between candidates’ initial expectations and subsequent experience were examined, with specific reference to mismatches that were positive, neutral, or negative (most being negative). Where there was mismatch, this was primarily in relation to what was involved in the ‘Task’ and the associated emotions. The negative mismatch codes were consistently related to candidate satisfaction with supervision, with department/university provision, and with their own preparation for the degree. Further analyses of experience indicated that negative mismatch caused candidates to question, not necessarily productively, their preparation, purpose, fit, and persona.

Levels of Processing Effects on Learning from Texts with Maps.

Abstract Two studies are reported in which high school students were forced to process a text containing a geographical map. In Study 1, 86 students read the materials under one of four different conditions in which levels of processing of the text and accompanying map were varied: Question Mapcue (the materials contained adjunct questions and cues to inspect the provided map); Question Map (the materials contained adjunct questions but no cues to inspect the provided map); Question (the material contained adjunct questions and no map was provided); and Text (the materials contained no adjunct questions and no map was provided). A number of recognition and recall tests showed no significant differences among the conditions. A map task showed superior performance on recalling information related to the events in the text by Question Mapcue students of high reading ability. Study 2, with 94 students, employed a deeper directed or forced processing condition in which students were required to actually draw o...

Doctoral candidates as learners: a study of individual differences in responses to learning and its management

A national cohort of doctoral students (n = 1390) completed a suite of metacognitive questionnaires indicating management of affective, intellectual and contingency demands in learning. Responses to the questionnaires were analysed for evidence of individual differences in reported metacognitive behaviours. Three patterns of metacognitive response to doctoral learning were identified through cluster analysis: Constructive Engagement, Struggling to Engage and Disengaged. Central to these clusters was the quality of each students underlying epistemic framework, and the appropriateness of that framework for doctoral study. Cluster membership was broadly independent of demographic and candidate factors. It is concluded that interventions (supervisory or institutional) need to focus on more than technical aspects of candidacy, and give explicit support to underlying epistemic growth.

Older Women, Deeper Learning, and Greater Satisfaction at University: Age and Gender Predict University Students' Learning Approach and Degree Satisfaction.

The present study explored the interactive effect of age and gender in predicting surface and deep learning approaches. It also investigated how these variables related to degree satisfaction. Participants were 983 undergraduate students at a large public Australian university. They completed a research survey either online or on paper. Consistent with previous research, age was a positive predictor of both surface and deep learning. However, gender moderated this age effect in the case of deep learning: Age predicted deep learning more strongly among women and not among men. Furthermore, age positively predicted degree satisfaction among women but not among men, and deep learning mediated this moderation effect. Hence, older female students showed the greatest deep learning in the present sample, and this effect explained their greater satisfaction with their degree. The implications of these findings for pedagogical practices and institutional policy are considered.