Susan Bolt

LeaD-In: A Cultural Change Model for Peer Review of Teaching in Higher Education.

Peer review of teaching is recognized increasingly as one strategy for academic development even though historically peer review of teaching is often unsupported by policy, action and culture in many Australian universities. Higher education leaders report that academics generally do not engage with peer review of teaching in a systematic or constructive manner, and this paper advances and analyses a conceptual model to highlight conditions and strategies necessary for the implementation of sustainable peer review in higher education institutions. The model highlights leadership, development and implementation, which are critical to the success and formation of a culture of peer review of teaching. The work arises from collaborative research funded by the Office for Learning and Teaching to foster and advance a culture of peer review of teaching across several universities in Australia.

Making Consistent Judgments: Assessing Student Attainment of Systemic Achievement Targets

Abstract Making Consistent Judgments (MCJ) was a systemic professional development program designed to increase teachers’ capacity to make consistent judgments about students’ achievement of educational standards in government schools in Western Australia; the MCJ program was in operation from 2004 to 2007 (Department of Education and Training 2007; 2008). The author describes the MCJ program as a case study in the context of the educational environment in which it was implemented and evaluated. Data were collected as a result of participant observation, documentation, and artefacts. Examples are drawn from the English learning area.

The Challenge of Integrating Research, Action and Learning in the Workplace to Affect Organisational Change

Abstract The ability to learn and adapt to the challenges of new contexts was important to organisations, which invested in staff development to implement organisational change and individuals who engaged in learning to satisfy career demands. A review of the literature indicated that change was difficult to sustain and that the majority of change initiatives failed and that adult learning was diverse and complex, yet critical. Typically research into teaching was in the context of teaching children and adolescents and did not reflect the complexity of the adult learning field. This study explored the relationship between adult learners’ professional development and organisations’ change agenda. The adult learners’ perspective was explored through survey research. Interviews with staff provided information about their experiences with organisational change and professional development. Staff responses to a questionnaire provided qualitative and quantitative data about their background, organisational change, and informal and formal learning in relation to their employment.

The delivery of business courses via the African Virtual University: a case study

In this case study the delivery of business courses as a result of the partnership between the African Virtual University (AVU) and Curtin University in Western Australia is described. From 2004 to 2008, degree and diploma business courses were delivered using WebCT in the four AVU partner locations: Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia), Kigali Institute of Science & Technology (Rwanda), Kenyatta University (Kenya) and University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania). In spite of significant hurdles that made delivery of the business courses challenging, 188 students graduated as a result of this initiative. This case study is significant because it describes the outcomes of an AVU Phase 2 initiative.