Search

Tertiary educators may seek innovative ways to meet the needs of their learners. However, due to the conservative environment of most universities, innovative tertiary teachers often find themselves facing dilemmas: situations in which they must decide between apparently contradictory objectives. This paper reports findings from thematic analysis conducted as part of a study investigating the dilemmas faced by innovative tertiary educators. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 successful innovative tertiary teachers. Initial analysis had identified eleven dilemmas directly related to the process of innovation. Thematic analysis of interview data revealed four themes: empathy for students; the need for persistence and resilience; love and hate responses from students; and, passion and enthusiasm aid in selling and diffusing innovation. These themes suggest that innovative teachers face a dilemma between emotional engagement and emotional neutrality. The dilemma shapes decisions made throughout their innovation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The assessment-related activities of academic development units (ADU) are driven not only by institutional initiatives and the pursuit of particular research interests but also by less predictable factors including the emerging needs of faculty members and external funding opportunities. When not located within a strong classification framework, institutional initiatives and the activities of ADUs can be experienced as fragmented and episodic events, a situation that denies participants and other stakeholders a sense of striving towards and achieving substantial goals. This paper proposes two classification frameworks - one for the organisation of the types of initiatives that universities commonly undertake in encouraging enhanced assessment practice and another for the functions of the ADU. Application of the two organisational frameworks offers a systematic approach to the development of institutional assessment plans and informs the ways in which the resources of the academic development unit can be deployed most strategically in their operationalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective dissemination is crucial if innovation and development in teaching and learning in higher education are to lead to sustainable changes in practice. In 2003, King used an agricultural metaphor to challenge innovators to understand the purposes behind their dissemination aims. Similar to the way that seed can be spread, one could choose to widely scatter the information, and hope it grows wherever it lands; one could actively direct the scattering; or one could nurture and propagate future adoption in an ongoing manner. A recent investigation into dissemination strategies used in Australian teaching and learning innovation grants shows that certain dissemination strategies might make the ground more fertile and receptive to the seeds sown. To those engaged in funded projects grappling with translating project outputs and outcomes to sustainable changes in practice, this paper offers a framework and tools designed to help prepare the soil and cultivate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has long been acknowledged that the beliefs of university teachers can have a significant impact on the success of flexible learning innovations in tertiary settings (Errington, 1985, 2001; McDiarmid, 1990; Pajares, 1992; Calderhead, 1996; Richardson, 1996; Hofer & Pintrich, 1997; Tatto, 1998). The infrastructure for the adoption or rejection of such innovation exists as much at the level of beliefs as it does on any physical resources plane. The consequence of this assumption is that what teachers believe is possible within their learning arenas, and what they actually manage to do/achieve, are factors subject to a range of beliefs, central to which are beliefs about teaching and learning per se. This paper discusses the impact of teachers' beliefs on flexible notions of teaching and learning; extricates the issues and challenges facing academic developers and, finally, explores practical ways by which the author and colleagues are currently attempting to address these challenges with their own staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the initiatives of the government in Taiwan in promoting the development of electronic learning. It cites the International Collaboration on e-Learning Project which aims to promote Taiwan's electronic learning research and industry to expand the international influence of all electronic stakeholder in the country. Moreover, it adds that Taiwan's strategies and goals aim to strengthen influence in the global information society so that high-quality digital content can be used in electronic learning contexts.

Emerging from recent mobile technologies, mobile learning, or m-learning, is beginning to offer 'stunning new technical capabilities' in education (DiGiano et al., 2003). This new genre of learning is viewed as a revolutionary stage in educational technology. However, ubiquitous computing technologies have given rise to several issues. This article revisits the relevant definitions and provides a conceptual framework of ubiquitous knowledge construction in light of contemporary research and theory. The framework can be used to assist educators and researchers who are examining the specific implications of mobile learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Successive governments in the UK have increasingly stressed the need for a more enterprising society. Much of the emphasis has been placed upon educationalists to introduce more elements of enterprise into the school curriculum at all levels, and new and innovative ways to initiate the subject matter is increasingly being sought. This article describes a summer school that is part of this initiative. It stresses the difference between Traditional and Enterprise modes of learning and contests that compared with traditional methods of teaching and learning, enterprise education requires a different pedagogical approach and aims to qualitatively change the educational experience. It is suggested that traditional teaching is better suited to the needs of the 'old' economy with the enterprising approach being more conducive to the needs of the new flexible market economy. While providing an explanation, description and analysis of the workings and operations of an entrepreneurial life skills summer school, the article also provides a systematic and rigorous exploration not only of the summer school itself but also of the policy and regional development context. It describes how the methodology and approach adopted is rooted in the framework and context that shaped and informed the venture as well as contributing to the article itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]