Natalie Brown

WIL[ling] to share: an institutional conversation to guide policy and practice in work-integrated learning

Teaching in universities can be a solitary pursuit, with academics designing and delivering learning and teaching experiences, and even units, in relative isolation. Even course design can involve only a small, discipline‐specific team that rarely extends to colleagues outside their specialisation. The challenges and possibilities provided by introduction of work integrated learning (WIL) to universities offer an unprecedented opportunity for staff to share knowledge and experience across disciplines to enhance student learning. This paper focuses on an opportunity for such cross‐discipline collaboration on the issues of WIL through a roundtable event at the University of Tasmania. The roundtable allowed staff from across the institution to share successes, challenges and resources and then to make recommendations to address identified issues.

Professional development for teaching in higher education

Due to the changing nature of learning and teaching in universities, there is a growing need for professional development for lecturers and tutors teaching in disciplines in the mathematical sciences. Mathematics teaching staff receive some training in learning and teaching but many of the courses running at university level are not tailored to the mathematical sciences. This article reports on a collaborative research project aimed at investigating the type of professional development that Australian tertiary mathematics teachers need and their preference for delivery modes. Effective teaching promotes effective learning in our students and discipline-specific professional development will enhance outcomes for teachers, students, and mathematics.

Knowledge, use and perceived relevance of a profession's Competency Standards; implications for Pharmacy Education

To determine the extent of use and perceived relevance of the National Competency Standards Framework for Pharmacists in Australia (NCS). Based on these findings, to suggest approaches for the enhancement of pharmacy education for the profession locally and globally.

Educational Research and Professional Learning in Changing Times

Educational Research and Professional Learning in Changing Times reports three dimensions of a longitudinal Australian study with the ultimate aim of improving the mathematics learning outcomes for all middle school students in preparation for the quantitative literacy requirements of the 21st century. It was also hoped to improve the prospects for students with the interest to study further mathematics. The project provided professional learning opportunities for teachers, carried out case studies in individual schools, produced well-documented classroom activities in line with the aims, and measured teacher and student change over three years. The three main sections of the book cover the formal data collection and analysis, the qualitative analysis of the case studies, and some of the professional learning activities for teachers. The final section reports the reflections of the authors, especially in relation to the changing educational environment in which the project took place. Many other countries are experiencing similar educational change. The book will supplement other resources for graduate programs for pre-service and in-service mathematics teachers by modeling both a realistic approach to quantitative and qualitative research and a range of practical classroom activities. It will also assist those providing professional learning for teachers in the field, unrelated to formal research, as two thirds of the content is based on classroom experiences with mathematics.

What can you learn in three minutes?: Critical reflection on an assessment task that embeds technology

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to critically examine an assessment task, undertaken by pre‐service science teachers, that integrates the use of technology (in this case digital video‐recorders and video‐editing software) whilst scaffolding skill development. The embedding of technology into the assessment task is purposeful, aiming to address a recognised need for teachers to gain the necessary pedagogical knowledge, technical competence and, importantly, confidence to implement productive technology‐based tasks in their classrooms.Design/methodology/approach – A Wisdom of Practice Scholarship approach has been adopted to critically analyse an aspect of teaching and learning in which the author has been engaged. The evaluation draws on student reflections of the task and student evaluations from two successive cohorts. These data have been analysed against the learning outcomes of the unit, broader principles of assessment design and the extent to which modelling a technology‐based task was seen b...

Turning Good Ideas into Quality Research

Often the good ideas and questions that beginning researchers wish to explore are influenced by extensive professional or personal experiences and well established views about the fields of study (Holbrook & Johnston, 1999). It is, therefore, important that subsequent educational research projects not only honour those views, to maintain motivation and interest, but also positions the views within a scholarly frame.

Policy and Curriculum Research in the Context of Change

There is continual change in the education landscape in response to both public and political agendas. In the early 1990s, Simon Marginson noted that “the politics of education are changing and volatile, with little consensus on some issues” (1993, p. 3). This remains the case, with education policy highly politicised, and the results of this playing out in inevitable cycles for state-funded education systems, and other education stakeholders.

Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge

This chapter has three major sections. In order to illustrate the importance of teachers’ knowledge of students in relation to teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), the first section analyses one part of the initial teacher profile. In this part teachers were asked how their students would solve a fraction problem, both appropriately and inappropriately. They were then asked to explain how they would address the inappropriate answers. Their responses are then discussed in relation to students’ actual performance on the fraction question. The initial characterisation of teachers’ PCK is described in the second section based on the Rasch analysis carried out. Four hierarchical levels of ability are summarised. The final section discusses the analysis of teacher change in aspects of PCK from the initial to the final teacher profile for various subgroups of teachers who took part in the professional learning program.

Developing Proportional Reasoning with Ratios

Proportional reasoning has been recognised as a crucial focus of mathematics in the middle years and also as a frequent source of difficulty for students (Lamon, 2007). Proportional reasoning concerns the equivalence of pairs of quantities that are related multiplicatively; that is, equivalent ratios including those expressed as fractions and percents. Students who do not learn to reason proportionally are unequipped to learn mathematics topics such as similarity, scaling, and trigonometry. Proportional reasoning is also essential to understanding rates and hence many science concepts such as speed, density and molarity.

CPD Aligned to Competency Standards to Support Quality Practice

As medication experts, pharmacists are key members of the patient’s healthcare team. Pharmacists must maintain their competence to practice to remain responsive to the increasingly complex healthcare sector. This paper seeks to determine how competence training for pharmacists may enhance quality in their professional development. Results of two separately administered surveys (2012 and 2013) were compared to examine the reported continued professional development (CPD) practices of Australian pharmacists. Examination of results from both studies enabled a focus on how the competency standards inform CPD practice. In the survey administered in 2012, 91% (n = 253/278) pharmacists reported that they knew their current registration requirements. However, in the survey administered in 2013, only 43% (n = 46/107) reported utilization of the National Competency Standards Framework for Pharmacists in Australia (NCS) to self-asses their practice as part of their annual re-registration requirements. Fewer, 23% (n = 25/107), used the NCS to plan their CPD. This may be symptomatic of poor familiarity with the NCS, uncertainty around undertaking self-directed learning as part of a structured learning plan and/or misunderstandings around what CPD should include. This is supported by thematic analysis of pharmacists’ social media comments. Initial and ongoing competence training to support meaningful CPD requires urgent attention in Australia. The competence (knowledge, skills and attributes) required to engage in meaningful CPD practice should be introduced and developed prior to entry into practice; other countries may find they are in a similar position.