Repository logo
 

Centre for Academic Practice

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

Browse

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 39
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Evidencing the value of educational development: Charting a course on the waves and winds of change
    (Michigan Publishing, 2023-12-18) Groen, Jovan; Hoessler, Carolyn; Ives, Carolyn; Bamber, Veronica
    Across higher education, educational developers and theirsupporting campus communities are being called upon to scale up evidence-informedpractices, to enhance student experiences, and to document the changes. Thisarticle builds on the work of scholars who have taken up this evaluativechallenge, by examining varied aspects of the evidencing process using anadaptation of Saunders’s (2000) RUFDATA framework for evidencing value.Reflections on emerging patterns and tensions in the evidencing of educationaldevelopment are subsequently discussed. We argue for making evidencing value apurposeful and intentional process, and we chart a path forward for creatingand implementing a vision for the age of evidence.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Taking stock of critical information literacy
    (CILIP, 2023-06-06) Smith, Lauren; Hicks, Alison
  • Item
    From student representation to student partnership
    (Wonkhe Ltd., 2023-04-18) Bamber, Veronica
    Roni Bamber reflects on a 20 year journey through quality enhancement in Scotland.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    An exploration into the importance of a sense of belonging for online learners
    (Athabasca University, 2020-04-30) Peacock, Susi; Cowan, John; Irvine, Lindesay; Williams, Jane
    Online learning provides flexible learning opportunities but with it come notable issues. Fostering a sense of belonging and a personal connection is seen as fundamental by many educational researchers regardless of the learning environment. For online learners, nurturing a sense of belonging may present a way of improving their experiences and attainment as well as reducing attrition rates. Limited research has explored specifically sense of belonging and online learning. This article addresses that gap and reports a small-scale exploratory study using qualitative data collection and analysis methods to investigate its importance, or not, for postgraduates’ online education, by exploring the origins and nature of their lived experience of online learning and their sense of belonging therein. Our initial findings emphasise its importance for them as online learners and has identified three significant themes: interaction/engagement; the culture of the learning; and support. These early findings highlight the importance of their role in promoting a sense of belonging and in ensuring that there are opportunities for meaningful group and peer interactions and will be of interest to all engaged in online education
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Supporting staff transitions into online learning: A networking approach
    (Edinburgh Napier University, 2018-09-05) Peacock, Susi; DePlacido, Christine
    As online programmes in higher education continue to grow in number, the literature identifies emerging areas of concern. Whilst appreciating the flexibility and accessibility of online learning, learners often experience challenges in balancing their professional and personal lives whilst studying. In addition, such students have complained that their online educational experiences may be irrelevant and inappropriate, with tutors having limited presence or interest. Online learners’ experiences are contingent upon the skills and characteristics of the tutors, who face the challenges of changing and developing practices, such as taking a more student-centred approach in order to provide opportunities that foster deep learning. Current, familiar practices may no longer be appropriate. There is a need to support tutors as they develop and expand their practices, facilitating familiarity and confidence with the opportunities afforded by a range of technologies. Research indicates that communities of practice as a form of staff development may assist tutors in this transition. This paper shares the early experiences of a recently formed Network for online tutors at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, Scotland. This community of practice was based upon an adapted Community of Inquiry Framework (Peacock & Cowan, 2016). The Network, endorsed by management, was launched in 2017, with two co-leads, one from an educational development unit and one from the School of Health Science. Sub groups, all led by members of the Network, were subsequently developed to look at specific aspects of online delivery and development within the University. The purpose of the Network and the successes achieved in the first academic year are outlined. The challenges arising in the early stages of implementing the Network are reported, and proposals for progress in the next academic year are discussed. Finally, suggestions are offered to those embarking on a similar endeavour.
  • Item
    Learning and Teaching in the Disciplines: Challenging Knowledge, Ubiquitous Change
    (Routledge, 2012-01) Bamber, Veronica; Bamber, Veronica; Saunders, Murray; Trowler, Paul
    The 'tribes and territories' metaphor for the cultures of academic disciplines and their roots in different knowledge characteristics has been used by those interested in university life and work since the early 1990s. This book draws together research, data and theory to show how higher education has gone through major change since then and how social theory has evolved in parallel. Together these changes mean there is a need to re-theorise academic life in a way which reflects changed contexts in universities in the twenty-first century, and so a need for new metaphors.
  • Item
    Learning and Teaching, Disciplines and Social Practice Theory
    (Routledge, 2012-01) Bamber, Veronica; Bamber, Veronica; Saunders, Murray; Trowler, Paul
  • Item
    Academic practices and the disciplines in the 21st century
    (Routledge, 2012-01) Trowler, Paul; Saunders, Murray; Bamber, Veronica; Bamber, Veronica; Saunders, Murray; Trowler, Paul