Robert Cannon

Helping Students Learn

The focus of this book so far has been on improving and broadening the range of teaching skills. Though we have assumed that the aim of doing so is for the ultimate benefit of the students, our emphasis has been on the personal development of the teacher. In this chapter we will introduce you to ideas which are not as widely- represented in the teaching literature as those in other sections of the book. Nevertheless, we believe they have provided valuable new insights to us and to many of our colleagues. Thus, this chapter may appear to be more theoretical than previous ones but we include it without reservation because of the fundamental challenge it provides to the more traditional views of teaching. Several reviewers have suggested this chapter is so fundamental that it ought to be read first.

The Professional Development of Australian University Teachers: An Act of Faith?.

Teaching is the major professional activity of academic staff in Australian universities. Much disquiet about the quality of this teaching has been expressed by governments, committees of enquiry, students and by academics. There have been several attempts to improve the quality of university teaching, all of which have been considerable acts of faith. The persistence of disquiet, however, suggests that past efforts to improve the quality of university teaching have not been completely successful.An analysis of universities as organizations, of the characteristics of academic staff, and of the change process in universities leads to a number of conclusions about why past attempts to improve teaching may not have been as successful as hoped.First, the problem of improving teaching is extraordinarily complex. Complexity is inherent in the organizational character of universities and in the characteristics of academic staff and their work. Second, the attempts made to deal with the teaching problem are novel: the major responses to improving teaching did not come until the early-mid 1970s. Third, there was - and still is - a weak theoretical and knowledge base for action and, finally, the focus on developing individuals may not have been the best focus for teaching improvement strategies.

A “muddled arrray of models”: theoretical and organisational perspectives on change and development in higher education

Understanding the change process in higher education requires the development of adequate theory. Theories are characterised by propositions which guide thinking, research and professional action. These propositions are a starting point for research, one goal of which is a contribution to the development and refinement of theory. Theory enables explanation, prediction and well-guided action to take place. An end-point to this is better understanding and influence over the change and development process in higher education.There is no general theory of change in higher education. So, what theories guide our action? This question is explored, together with a consideration of the role of theory in the process of individual and organisational change.The paper comprises two contributions, one by Cannon on theory development, the other by Lonsdale which is a reaction to and extension of Cannons arguments, especially as they relate to organisational change.

Improving the Quality of Teaching and Learning in Indonesian Universities: Issues and Challenges

ABSTRACT Academic leaders in Indonesian universities share a concern about the quality of teaching and learning in common with their colleagues in Western universities. Attention to the reform of teaching immediately raises questions of strategy. Short courses in teaching skills and curriculum development have been conducted in the past but it is argued that the continuation of these alone will not have the desired impact on quality in Indonesian universities in the short‐term. A distinctive and profoundly unsatisfactory feature of universities around the world is that the majority of teaching staff have no training or qualifications in teaching. Means of addressing this issue, and the university culture that supports it, include the creation of educational development centres to provide a continuing focus for development and change, a reconsideration of what it means to be an Indonesian academic, and the careful linking of institutional needs, planning, and change with the professional development of all...

The impact of training and education in Indonesian aid schemes

This paper sets out to understand the impact that training and education programmes have had on institutions and on individuals in Indonesia and to identify theoretical and practical approaches that appear to be effective in bringing about planned change. An analysis was made of evaluation and research studies that included significant components of training and education. The evidence of longer-term impacts does not support the belief that development and change will automatically follow from training. The studies show that the absence of systemic and institutional commitment and the absence of sustainable links in a complex chain of institutional arrangements are impediments to the goals of development. For trainees, the outcomes derived from overseas training are a complex mix of professional, affective, cultural and career advantages mediated by the nature of the work environment. Although most graduates believe in the advantages of overseas training there are also important disadvantages, such as difficulties with re-entry, work relationships, and the development of appropriate professional networks. The studies identify several input and contextual factors that have had a significant influence on longer-term change.

Teaching in a Problem-Based Course

Until recently the vast majority of medical teachers were working in traditional medical schools and unlikely to be challenged by alternative teaching methods which were to be found only in a small minority of radical, and usually new, medical schools. However, a dramatic change has occurred. Many conventional and well-established medical schools, including our own, have undertaken curriculum reviews and have decided to change to ‘problem-based learning’ (PBL). However, experience has shown that when this approach has been introduced its effectiveness has often been undermined by a lack of understanding of the purpose and process of PBL. This chapter aims to give you guidance if faced with teaching in a problem-based course.

The Design, Conduct and Evaluation of a Course in Lecturing.

Abstract One important way in which the Advisory Centre for University Education works towards achieving its aims is to conduct courses on university teaching methods for academic staff. As a deliberate strategy, lecturing was chosen as the focus for one major series of these courses. The lecture techniques course design is characterised by the following features: (i) a small group organisation; (ii) course processes as models; (iii) direct personal learning about teaching in a supportive microteaching environment; (iv) continuous evaluation and feedback. One important characteristic of the course is evaluation, both during and after it. The evidence of three years’ experience suggests that the course meets the needs of the university teacher as well as having desirable academic, social and personal benefits. Recent developments have been to focus on the small group structure and processes of the course (to illustrate small group teaching methods) and to more actively assist course participants in the tra...

Learning Spaces for Higher Education

Effective teaching and learning in higher education are often restricted because of the nature of available learning spaces. Both the planning and the use of learning spaces needs careful attention. Contributions from architects, users, educationists and students can be helpful in formulating decisions regarding the physical facilities for presenting information, for teacher‐student interaction and for other learning activities considered desirable in higher education.

Improving quality in education: dynamic approaches to school improvement, by Bert P.M. Creemers and Leonidas Kyriakides

books targeted to postgraduate students emphasise thesis and dissertation writing, Study skills for international postgraduates could usefully be recommended to students at orientation or coursework stages of postgraduate degrees. It has been well designed to scaffold students towards thesis or dissertation work. Davies mostly avoids temptation to present complex issues rather simplistically – an occupational hazard of the study-advice genre overall. There is no misrepresentation of the level of analysis and length of time and attention to detail that academic writing might demand. By the end of the book I realised that if Davies had included the usual academic adviser caveats throughout (‘it depends on the discipline’, ‘check with the lecturer’ etc.), the book would have been twice as long and much less useful for its readers. The book could have been more accessible if the text had been broken up, as the layout is in places rather crammed and text-heavy. The book would have benefited from shorter preambles and greater use of more white space to avoid overwhelming the reader. A good model in this respect is another book in the Palgrave Macmillan series, Stella Cottrell’s Study skills handbook, which is focused towards undergraduate student needs. If the book is re-edited it would be good to amend occasional messages that frame international students as somehow more ‘problematic’ than their local peers. In Chapter 15 ‘The final polish: editing and proofreading’, for example, there is the overstatement, ‘native speakers who have no trouble in writing often make mistakes. Most would never fail to edit and proofread’ (p. 228). In terms of academic writing having ‘no trouble’ is rare, and failing to edit and proofread is legion among students (and their lecturers) of all stripes. Lecturers and tutors of postgraduate students could also consult this text for ideas for in-class activities to help students develop academic literacies. Particularly useful sections are writing a critical review, annotated bibliography, literature reviews and the argument analysis in the chapter ‘Critical thinking’. Overall, the book contains many useful strategies that are, in fact, relevant to both international and local postgraduate students. Let’s hope that all students see themselves as the ‘international’ target group and benefit from the study advice.

A teacher's reflection book: exercises, stories, invitations, by Jean Koh Peters and Mark Weisberg

This excellent book should be part of every teacher’s professional library. It is a book pitched at all teachers in higher education and, through the processes of reflection, a book that advances important principles of good teaching practice that are usually introduced all too briefly in the basic texts on teaching in higher education. It is a book that simultaneously challenges and then guides us to be better teachers through the process of reflecting where ‘teachers remain learners, learning from their rich experience with students, with the academy and with their scholarship’ (p. 26). Several descriptive words come to mind when reading this book. It is a polite and gentle book. Politeness is revealed in the book’s sub-title – ‘Exercises, stories, invitations’. It is the idea of invitation that characterizes much of the book. It is not didactic but rather invites us to use the book and the processes described in it in ways that work best for us. It does this through questions and inductive approaches to reflection. Through these approaches and the careful use of real-life examples, we are gently invited to explore the perspectives presented in the text and apply these to our personal and professional lives. It is also an accessible book. Most refreshingly, it is not burdened with unnecessary technical jargon and convoluted language that sadly cripples too much writing in education today and makes learning inaccessible to many, particularly for those readers whose first language is not English. The authors, Jean Koh Peters and Mark Weisberg are both Professors of Law, she from Yale and he from Queen’s University in Canada. Both have a strong, practical interest and commitment to teaching that is well demonstrated throughout the book, not the least from accounts of reflection retreats they have led for university teachers. It is in these retreats that this book is grounded and from which it has drawn its inspiration. The six chapters are designed to help teachers construct for themselves ‘miniretreats’ for reflection that they can work into their own lives. The book follows a clear, logical sequence that is firmly anchored in teaching and students rather than in the concept of reflection itself. I found this focus on teaching and students one of the most appealing characteristics of the book and one that leads to its very practical and relevant character. Chapter 1 addresses the question ‘How does a teacher say hello?’ The authors point out that the many hellos we say – when we set the stage for teaching or when we meet students – send out clear signals of welcome or impatience, engagement or apathy or of simply getting down to the business of learning. To help the reader with the importance of saying hello in teaching, the book then provides examples of hellos and helps us, through a series of questions, to reflect on the messages we send in our hellos.