Centre for Academic Practice

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://eresearch.qmu.ac.uk/handle/20.500.12289/29

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Academic practices and the disciplines in the 21st century
(Routledge, 2012-01) Trowler, Paul; Saunders, Murray; Bamber, Veronica; Bamber, Veronica; Saunders, Murray; Trowler, Paul
Against the Grain: E-Assessment in the Physical Sciences
(Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press, 2009-03) Court, Scott; Bamber, Veronica; Bamber, Veronica; Knight, Peter; Saunders, Murray; Trowler, Paul
An evaluation of a framework for facilitating and assessing physiotherapy students' reflection on practice
(Informa Healthcare, 2007-03) Donaghy, Marie; Morss, K.
Reflective practice is promoted in the health care professions as a developmental process leading to competent and effective practice, although the link between reflection and enhancement of physiotherapy practice remains speculative and conjectural. This article provides evidence that reflection can influence developing practice based on the evaluation of a reflective framework for students on clinical placement. The evaluation explored, in depth, students' experiences and perceptions of its benefits and limitations. Thematic analysis of response data from five focus groups (n = 43) representing three student cohorts resolved significant outcomes-related themes: personal insight, linking reflection to the physiotherapy process, and learning and personal change. Process-related themes focused on strengths and weaknesses of the framework and associated issues. Evidence supports the effectiveness of the framework in facilitating reflection and in linking reflection to higher order cognitive processes such as gaining new insights and understandings, facilitation of systematic enquiry, problem solving, and decision making. Feedback from students indicated that the experience was meaningful and valuable in preparation for practice because they were guided to question themselves and could see the relevance and value of that for their practice. We recommend that educators consider this approach to facilitating reflection in physiotherapy undergraduate education.
An institutional programme - a national model for evaluation?
(Routledge, 2010-08-30) Bamber, Veronica; Stefani, L.
Approaches to APEL in France and the UK: Holism versus Empiricism?
(Staffordshire University, 2005) Pouget, Mireille; Oberski, Iddo
The APEL (Accreditation/Assessment of Prior Experiential Learning) systems in the UK and France are probably the best developed in Europe, but they are underpinned by different conceptions of learning and experience. In this article, we attempt to understand the two different approaches to APEL within the framework of Goethe's 'natural phenomenology', which essentially attempts to understand phenomena in their own right, without analysing them into parts. An initial analysis would suggest that in the UK the APEL process reflects a conception of experience and learning as being built up of a number of smaller units. In France, on the other hand, the process involves instead a more holistic approach to the evaluation and understanding of experience and learning
Carrots but no Sticks: Resource-led Enhancement
(Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press, 2009-03) Mason, C.; Laidlaw, A.; Humphris, G.; Bamber, Veronica; Bamber, Veronica; Knight, Peter; Saunders, Murray; Trowler, Paul
Challenging Students: Enabling Inclusive Learning
(Routledge, 2015-07) Bamber, Veronica; Jones, Anna
Contemplation & Mindfulness in Higher Education
(Springer, 2014-11-09) Oberski, Iddo; Murray, Sue; Goldblatt, Joe J.; DePlacido, Christine
This chapter presents initial observations of a pilot that introduces mindfulness meditation into teaching and university life. Short meditations were offered at the start of Year 1 and 2 lectures, besides weekly drop-in sessions. The purpose was to enhance the student experience through the affective domain, identified by Thomas 2012 as a key factor in improving retention. Contemplative practices (CPs) consist of enhancing awareness of the 'here' and 'now', characterised by the foregrounding of 'being' and 'living', rather than 'doing' or 'knowing'. Thus, it could be argued that CPs have the potential to enhance the affective dimensions of the student experience and thus, indirectly, impact positively on retention. Students and staff perceived benefits that applied to learning and teaching specifically, but also to broader dimensions of their personal life. Overall there was enthusiasm from both students and staff for the innovation and a request to continue and expand current provision.
Critical Health Psychology, Pluralism and Dilemmas: The Importance of Being Critical.
(Sage, 2006-05) McVittie, Chris
Hepworth (this issue) argues for critical health psychology (CHP) to move on from binary opposition to mainstream health psychology (MHP) and to engage with other researchers in projects of common interest. In doing so, CHP can take up Murray and Campbell's earlier 'call to action' and avoid the risk of isolation. However neither action nor cross-subject collaboration are necessarily appropriate strategies for all elements of a pluralistic CHP that encompasses a diversity of epistemological positions. Conducting research on others' terms also holds risks for the development of work that remains critical. The potential contributions of a pluralistic CHP, by way of action or otherwise, might usefully be judged in relation to both the distal and proximate contexts of health issues.
Developing e-learning provision for healthcare professionals' continuing professional development
(IDEA, 2006-05-15) Peacock, Susi; Dunlop, G.; O'Donoghue, John
This book enumerates the difficulties in implementing technology within the educational curriculum in the context of institutional policy and procedures--Provided by publisher
Digital identities in ePortfolios: the first-year experience in a higher educational institution
(2008-10) Murray, Sue; Peacock, Susi
Introduction ePortfolios have the potential to promote learning and encourage personal development and digital identity by supporting (a) the learning process, (b) the product of learning and(c) the transition of learners at various stages of the lifelong and life-wide journey -(Barrett & Carney 2005; Ward & Grant 2007; ISLE 2005). This presentation outlines a new study, which explores first-year learners' experience of using ePortfolios with the aim of providing grounded guidelines to support institutional implementation and assist effective student engagement, in order to develop digital identities.
Discipline-based academic development through a tripartite partnership
(Routledge, 1998-11) Morss, K.; Donaghy, Marie
This paper describes a discipline-based academic development project based upon a tripartite relationship between departmental staff, work-based practitioners and the central academic development unit which took place over one academic year within the Department of Physiotherapy, Queen Margaret College, Edinburgh. The purpose of the project was to discuss and debate the concept of the 'reflective practitioner', to develop strategies for enabling undergraduate students to be reflective, and to devise a framework for assessment of reflective practice in clinical work-based learning. The outcomes of the project, most important of which was a change in the learning experience for students, demonstrate that academic development can be valuable and productive when undertaken as a partnership and placed in a disciplinary context. The authors identify key elements important to the success of the academic development process which should be applicable in similar situations and which could serve as guidelines for the planning and delivery of staff development through similar kinds of partnerships.
E-learning in physiotherapy education
(Elsevier Science B.V. Amsterdam, 2007-09) Peacock, Susi; Hooper, Julie
This paper reports the findings of a 1-year research project into the role of e-learning as a mechanism to support and enhance the learning environment for pre- and post-registration physiotherapists. The findings reveal tutor and student perceptions about what study entails, the anticipated respective roles of individuals in the learning process and how those individuals believe learning should occur when supported by e-learning in a tertiary education institution. Critical differences between the two groups of students, at different stages of their professional education, and their different uses of virtual learning environments are highlighted. This study raises some key issues that need to be addressed by educational institutions deploying e-learning in order to prepare students to engage with such a learning medium, which is likely to be unfamiliar to them at the outset of their undergraduate studies. In addition, physiotherapists need the skills, time and resources to regularly access and actively participate in the online environment. These points are essential if online communities such as interactiveCSP (www.interactivecsp.org.uk) are to be sustainable. Employers have a crucial role in promoting the professional development of staff by supporting such initiatives and ensuring that they are inculcated into an organisational culture which promotes the sharing of expertise and practice that is evidence based.
Effective use of VLEs in supporting staff to implement E-Learning
(2005) Peacock, Susi
Engaging staff and students in the development and deployment of a departmental website : a review
(Australasian and New Zealand Association for Medical Education, 2004-11) Peacock, Susi; Adamson, S.; McKenzie, Jane; Williams, K.
Introduction: This paper discusses the development, deployment and evaluation of a website for an academic department, built around a customised webtemplate. We draw upon a two-year, co-ordinated initiative between the Dietetics, Nutrition and Biological Sciences Department and the Centre for Academic Practice at Queen Margaret University College. Initially we provide a brief overview of the issues involved in using web-based technologies from the student and staff perspective. We then describe the process of setting up the site and present the results of the evaluation. Results and Conclusions: We address the emergent issues raised by the project. For staff these include ease of use and the provision of a variety of support mechanisms. These are critical for long-term engagement and sustainability since they reduce the risk of distancing staff from their materials and encourage ownership of the website. Students use the website for preparation for lectures, as signposts for further research and reflection. Key barriers relate to access, systems stability and commitment of support departments. To address such concerns an institutional approach is proposed to provide long-term support.
Enhancing Learning, Teaching, Assessment and Curriculum in Higher Education
(Open University Press, 2009-03) Bamber, Veronica; Knight, Peter; Saunders, Murray; Trowler, P.
Higher education is a particularly complex site for enhancement initiatives. This book offers those involved in change a coherent conceptual overview of enhancement approaches, of the change context, and of the probable interactions between them. The book sets enhancement within a particular type of change dynamic which focuses on social practices. The aim is to base innovation and change on the probabilities of desired outcomes materializing, rather than on the romanticism of policies that underestimate the sheer difficulty of making a difference. Following a theoretical introduction to these ideas, there are case studies (from the UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Norway) at the national, institutional, departmental and individual levels, illustrating the argument that enhancement is best achieved when it works with social practices in real institutional and organizational settings. In a final section, the authors link the case examples and theoretical frameworks, inviting readers to consider their own enhancement situations and apply the 'frameworks for action' offered in earlier sections of the book. The book doesn?t offer quick-fix solutions but aims to support change with practical examples, conceptual tools and reflexive questions for those involved in change at all levels. It is key reading for higher education lecturers, managers, educational developers and policy makers.
Enhancing student engagement and learning through programme redesign: experiences from undergraduate and post graduate radiography programmes at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh
(TESEP, 2007) Meikle, D.; Blyth, Christine; Cockbain, Margaret; Morss, K.; Bovill, C.; Peacock, Susi
Evaluating learning and teaching: institutional needs and individual practices
(Taylor & Francis, 2012-03) Bamber, Veronica; Anderson, Sally
Rather than a rational, technical activity, evaluation reflects the socio-political dynamics of the evaluative context. This presents a challenge for universities and the individuals within them, who may assume that plans or policies for evaluation will result in straightforward outcomes. This small-scale study in one institution looks at the tensions between institutional evaluative needs and individual evaluative practices. The results indicate that for staff in the institution, evaluative activity is largely autonomous and self-driven, rather than following institutional policy. A discretionary framework for the evaluation of learning and teaching was developed which may be a useful tool for educational developers in their analysis of evaluative practice.
Evaluation of the Angus Gold Project (a partnership approach to digital education and social inclusion) RF 8/2008
(Queen Margaret University, 2008-10-24) Ward, Richard; Ferguson, Julie; Murray, Sue; Scottish Government
This Research Findings provides a brief summary of findings from an evaluation of Angus Gold, (a digital inclusion initiative allied to a broader programme of health education and improvements by engagement with services of the 50+ population) piloted in Angus between March 2004 and late 2007. It identifies lessons learned.
Evaluative practices and outcomes: issues at the institutional level
(SRHE and Open University Press, 2011-06) Bamber, Veronica; Bamber, Veronica; Saunders, Murray; Trowler, Paul