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Freehand sketching is an important part of the design process that allows one to communicate in a quick and gestural way the first ideas about new concepts and is a medium for graphic thinking. It is important for architects and designers because it is a mechanism of representation, conceptualization, and abstraction for the communication between the creators and their audience. All academic courses related to industrial design include subjects aimed at acquiring skills in the use of manual tools of graphic representation, recognizing their importance in the integral training of the designer. However, sometimes the methodologies implemented in some subjects fail to develop adequately the skills of the students, who finish their studies with shortcomings in the field of graphic representation. This paper describes exercises that are part of a methodology designed to help students of industrial design acquire the skills to make an agile and effective use of freehand sketching. Through different uses of the elements of formal expression, the exercises address topics such as shape analysis, composition, light, color, and descriptive illustration. The methodology is applied experimentally in a subject of the bachelor’s degree in industrial design and product development engineering at Universitat Jaume I, introducing the students to different instruments and techniques of sketching and proposing various enriching ways of direct observation of the objectual reality that surrounds them. The paper concludes by evaluating the positive impact of the implemented methodology.

This article endeavors to present a skill-based pedagogical method that facilitates the process of architectural film/animation making, a creative practice that has already become part of the curricula of several architecture schools. Through a series of pedagogical experiments conducted in an under graduate design studio, architecture students, together with the author, attempted to design a practical filmmaking framework that focuses on communicating architectural qualities through the moving image. In the studio, students were provided with proper analysis and design tools to inform an effective architectural filmmaking matrix. This paper discusses how this pedagogical approach affected the journey of students during the studio, and, as a result, the skills of students to effectively employ film, animation, or any kind of time-based media, such as VR, to articulate qualitative and atmospheric aspects of architectural spaces.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential use of formal research procedures in design research. Formal research procedures refer to the conventional approaches currently undertaken when conducting research in academic disciplines such as science and the humanities. This paper uses the phenomenography method by Hasselgren and Beach as the basis of its research design. This paper employed eight-step analysis process adopted from Creswell (2013) to analyze the interview transcripts of the participants. Focusing on visual communication studies at undergraduate level, this paper is a documentation of development and implementation of the formal research procedures on eighteen design research proposals. It shares the insight on how students experience, interpret, perceive or conceptualize various aspects of design research to capture the different ways in which design research is conceived by them. The study resulted in the identification of three conceptions defining the variation in the ways in which formal research procedures is understood: process conception, meaning conception and journey conception. The findings have affirmed aspects of formal research procedures and represent a first step in explaining the different ways in which visual communication students conceive design research.

In post-disaster settings and in countries undergoing economic transition, architects have largely been disassociated from social development and the wider concerns of reconstruction. In these situations, equity and diversity concerns have been too frequently overshadowed by private sector interests. Researchers of architecture and architecture education have noted these failings and have called for architects to engage more strongly with epistemological and ethical questions in education and practice. This paper argues for the inclusion of `active learning' modules within the architecture discipline which integrate the technical and practical education of undergraduate students in post-disaster risk management and reconstruction. The growth of university-community service-based learning modules that link architecture schools with NGOs in post-disaster and development settings offer educational opportunities that can equip young architects with the skills they need to operate as global citizens. This paper provides practical recommendations for a more socially engaged architecture, placing the emphasis on architects as future mediators and educators. It offers an effective means of rethinking architectural practice and education, challenging the master narrative of architecture and raising important questions about the relevance of architectural design in a development context.

Field based teaching for tertiary institutions are not a new phenomenon. This paper reports on school-based partnerships and onsite professional development as a way to enhance pre-service students understanding of music teaching and learning. The paper situates itself across two continents forming part of my wider ongoing study into the attitudes and perceptions of arts education students, while preparing culturally responsive teachers across two continents (Australia and South Africa). The onsite visits to schools provides a rich opportunity for tertiary educator and student to reflect in-and-on the teaching and learning experience. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis to analyse and codify the interview data of music lecturers and students, I offer a platform for a discussion of the benefits and limitations encountered. By providing students with school-based partnerships as a form of onsite professional development within teacher education courses, we enable them to expand their ways of engaging in music and in pedagogy as they develop an initial repertoire of teaching competencies. Through such opportunities they continue to gain comprehension of the various dimensions of music experience and to understand student learning. The onsite teaching and learning in this study was a demonstration of a worthwhile experience that could be beneficial across other learning areas in teacher education.

Today’s emerging technological achievements seem to be moving towards the realization of ubiquitous learning as described by Weiser (1991). Nevertheless, ubiquitous learning is not preconceived or a priori; the number of possibilities offered by such learning can only happen “if breakthrough strategies and practices are implemented that reconceptualize the content, processes and human relationships of teaching and learning” (Cope and Kalantzis, 2008:582). Bearing the previous in mind, the aim of this paper is to report on the findings from a doctoral thesis on pupils’ learning experiences of and through museum-based multiliteracies. Drawing from the literature, analysis and evaluation of the qualitative research methodology this paper addresses how engagement with an online educational tool such as webquests impacts upon pupils’ multiliteracies learning experiences, and what kind of multiliteracies pedagogy approach can support ubiquitous learning. To facilitate understanding a learning framework developed for the purposes of an educational intervention, the Museum Multiliteracies Practice (MMP) is presented in brief. Following this, the findings of the intervention are discussed in the context of the case study undertaken with a group of primary aged students to determine the extent to which the intrinsic characteristics of ubiquitous learning could be served by the affordances of the webquest method and multiliteracies pedagogy.

Policy, communication, and education efforts to influence any social or health outcome are more effective if based on an understanding of the underlying behaviors and their determinants. This conceptual paper outlines how behavioral theory can help design interventions for one healthy eating behavior, eating breakfast. More specifically, the paper illustrates how a prominent health behavior theory, the Reasoned Action Approach, can be used to guide formative research to identify factors underlying people's decisions. Select findings are presented from three studies of beliefs underlying eating breakfast: online surveys with 1185 undergraduates from a large university in Indiana; in-depth interviews with 61 adults from four Indiana worksites; and 63 in-depth interviews with students from three middle schools in rural Indiana. Analyses of data from the undergraduates demonstrated the role of self-efficacy. Analyses of data from the working adults revealed the importance of normative beliefs about what employers believed. Analyses comparing consequences perceived by adults with those perceived by middle school students found that both groups believed that eating breakfast would provide energy but only middle school students believed that eating breakfast would improve alertness. For each finding, the theory is presented, the finding is described, implications for interventions are suggested, and the need for additional research is outlined. In sum, theory-based behavioral research can help develop interventions at intrapersonal, interpersonal, and environmental levels that are warranted to encourage healthy eating.

Using cross sectional data of Sub-Saharan African countries from 2006-2009, this paper studies the relationship between food crisis, and child education outcomes. Although the study finds a significant and negative direct impact of food crisis on primary completion rates in the region, the same cannot be said for primary enrolment rate, and gender disparities. Even the highest food inflation countries have achieved a slowly progress in primary enrolment in the food crisis period. The results show that children enter schools, but parents may find it so costly to send them, and never complete the primary level. The paper also finds that other factors such as per capita income, student expenditure, and government expenditure can be helpful in explaining the child education outcomes in the region. At the same time, our findings are sobering: In sub-Saharan African countries, international educational goals are unlikely to be reached by 2015, and poor child education outcomes are frequently widespread, in the context of tight government budgets, there is an urgent increase in international financial support needed to help the region to attain quantum and quality of human capital.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the scholarly literature on the adoption of technology in education in order to identify the key considerations for designing, delivering, and evaluating a professional development (PD) program to support the use of Apple Inc.'s iPad technology by higher education teachers. Scholars who have studied the adoption of technology in educational settings indicate the need for PD in order for success. Even with hyped technology, such as the iPad, providing access alone is not enough for successful adoption. I begin by examining the literature on the use of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in educational contexts and how it might influence a PD program. In the following five sections of the paper, I examine five elements that I have identified as crucial to successful technology adoption: technology, time, individual beliefs, organizational structures, and evaluation. Finally, I summarize the key considerations identified throughout the literature review. Based upon my review, a professional development program should: 1. Benefit both pre-adoption and post-adoption learners. 2. Include a learning intervention that aims to increase pre-adoption learners' perceptions on usefulness and ease-of-use. 3. Integrate both product technology and idea technology. 4. Demonstrate useful apps with workflow in a context that learners understand. 5. Begin with familiar activity before challenging beliefs. 6. Seek out stakeholders and idea leaders to provide context and champion the program. 7. Provide ways to share the re-inventions of idea technology at regular intervals. 8. Provide multiple training interventions spread out over time. 9. Use post-adoption learners to encourage change in beliefs of pre-adoption learners. 10. Mitigate pro-adoption bias by evaluating individual's perceptions using the TAM. 11. Evaluate impact by measuring the individual's impact of a lost device. 12. Repeat evaluations over various time frames to measure the change in the organization.

Much of what is called quality management is imposed on teachers from above. This paper adopts the argument that if we accept the mantra of student-centred learning (however we might define that), we should be willing to apply it to teacher professional development, assuming the needs and existing expertise of the teacher to be central to the process. In short, such an approach seems to ignore what many believe to be central to effective learning, in this case, professional learning. Much current teacher professional development is imposed on teachers, with little acknowledgement of the expertise, experience and professional knowledge they bring to their work. Such is likely to undermine teacher confidence and leave teachers feeling disempowered, which would appear to be contrary to an enhancement of their work. The paper proposes some elements of teacher professional development that are designed to build community among teachers, and to provide a safe forum in which they can experiment and take risks. © Common Ground, John Buchanan.

As with other major developed cities, the sub-tropical and fastest growing Australian capital city of Brisbane has adopted policies designed to increase residential densities and meet the liveability and sustainability goal of decreasing car dependence and greenhouse gas emissions. This goal hinges on a pedestrian friendly environment and walkable proximity to satisfy everyday needs. While older people are particularly attracted to sub-tropical urban environments, there has been little empirical evidence linking liveability satisfaction and perceived and actual use of older people’s urban neighbourhood. Using qualitative (diaries and in-depth interviews) and quantitative (Global Positioning Systems and Geographical Information Systems mapping) liveability research data this paper explores whether high density supports liveability and is sustainable for older people living in a sub-tropical urban environment. This paper links satisfaction and perceived use of the sub-tropical urban Brisbane environment with actual mapped characteristics and use. Linking the two methods (both quantitative and qualitative) is important in obtaining a greater understanding of human behaviour and the lived world of older urban Australians and in providing a wider picture of sub-tropical urban neighbourhoods for a significant population group within those neighbourhoods. What emerges from the research is an uneven standard of design, provision of amenities and maintenance of the public realm which negatively impacts on local neighbourhood participation by older urban Australians. By highlighting these issues this research furthers the understanding of design factors which make the sub-tropical urban neighbourhood more liveable and sustainable for older people and will inform actionable and implementable policies, programs and designs.

When designing games with learning purposes used in a classroom, there often occur problems about the lack of learning content or the lack of game contents. Other disadvantages of existing educational games are the difficulty to provide a continual balance between the challenge and the pupils’ skill to control and solve the given task. In this paper we suggest three different perspectives that need to be communicated across in order to design a useful educational game: teachers, pupils and game designers. It is our intention with this paper to suggest some design principles for educational games, and to integrate teachers, pupils and game designers needs and requirements. To set up these design principles for educational games we have used a holistic perspective. This means that the design principles must be seen in coherence within the social and physical environment. The design principles relate to the world in which the game is going to be used. This involves integration of thinking, feelings, perceiving, behaving, culture and context from game designers, teachers and pupils. The most important point in developing design principles for educational games may be that good games engage both pupils and teachers, and the interplay between game play, pupils and teachers creates some dynamic learning opportunities.

Online classroom instruction is an exciting technology and continues to draw the attention of students, instructors and administrators working or studying in educational settings. Large numbers of faculty are currently involved in teaching online or hybrid courses within their educational institutions. At the present time, “very large” online classes are usually defined as 150 students and above. Many instructors are now experimenting with making online learning options available to even larger audiences and online class sizes are increasing rapidly. This paper presents guidelines for managing large online courses. Among key elements important in meeting the needs of the distant learner through large online course design are: effective communication, use of teaching assistants andmultiple sections, teaching techniques successful in large online sections and professional practice in the online classroom. This paper will discuss these elements and corresponding suggestions for the instructors of large to very large online courses.

Studies have found that the use of professionals and industry representatives can enhance students' confidence and their self-belief (Subramaniam & Freudenberg, 2007). Self-efficacy is an important measure of an individual's capacity to cope with learning and performing, whether at university or in the workplace. Bandura's social cognitive theory defines self-efficacy as 'beliefs in one's capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments' (Bandura, 1997, p.3). The importance of a person's efficacy cannot be underestimated as it can influence the courses of action they choose to pursue as well as how much effort they will expend in given situations. Prior studies have found that a student's self-efficacy is correlated with various outcomes including self-regulatory behaviour (such as awareness of learning approach used and time taken), motivation constructs, and academic performance (Collins, 1982; Zimmermann, et al., 1992; Pajares, 1994; Keef and Roush,1997; Christensen, Fogarty and Wallace, 2002). In terms of improving and developing self-efficacy, studies indicate that self-efficacy can be enhanced in various ways, which includes work integrated learning (WIL) (Tucker & McCarthy, 2001; Subramaniam & Freudenberg, 2007). This paper reports how a Professional Development Program (PDP) with WIL characteristics was developed and integrated into an undergraduate degree to allow for the development of students' self-efficacy through mastery experiences, modelling, social persuasion and physiological states. This paper details the procedures that have been developed, and provides preliminary evidence on the impact of the PDP in the 1st year of delivery and compares this with a control group from another campus without this program. We argue that the WIL program in an undergraduate degree in partnership with industry has assisted students in gaining a greater understanding of 'self' and improved their self-efficacy.

This paper reviewed the contemporary literature to identify and document the benefits that an undergraduate student might expect to acquire as a result of participating in university group-work activities. The benefits associated with student group-work projects were partitioned into three distinct types of student capabilities — experiential, personal and skills related. Experiential capabilities were found to be holistic in nature, tending to shape student persona and allowed the student to derive benefits that embodied elements of socialisation, role playing and interactive learning. The personal capabilities noted to be derived from group-work participation allow the individual to develop as an independent entity, whilst practically acquired skills embodied important elements of activity that potentially enhanced student collaboration, resource and time management, leadership and conflict resolution. The paper is an important contribution to the literature noting and documenting the benefits of group-work and segmenting these benefits into distinct areas of student capabilities

Based upon research undertaken by the author and her professional concerns as a Senior Lecturer in Social Work at a post-1992 university in England, this paper explores an aspect of post-compulsory education where challenges and barriers to higher education entry may be experienced; namely, for black minority ethnic students enrolled on further education ‘Access to Social Work’courses in England. Underpinned by principles of social justice, Access Courses endeavour to promote widening participation to higher education to students who have previously underachieved academically and who are generally from less privileged social backgrounds. Drawing upon theoretical ideas relating to social reproduction, critical race theory, feminist theory and life span development principles, the paper examines the education and career choices open to ‘Access to Social Work’ students, exploring whether their decision-making is influenced by any key ‘turning points’ linked to ideas and factors ideas. The paper ultimately identifies whether these students ambitions are realisable or are being thwarted by more stringent entry requirements for social work education introduced in 2003, and concomitantly the increased emphasis placed upon key skills development by Government and the social work profession’s regulatory body. The paper also briefly explores the influence of learning cultures and gender on education and career decision-making and, manifestly, examines issues of intersectionality in the aforementioned areas with regards to race, gender and social class.

IDS PAPER CONSIDERS the problem of public school under-achievement. It . employs a qualitative critical case study method of analysis informed by a critical theoretical framework The paper focuses on data from the Victorian Auditor-General's Report (VAGR): Literacy and Numeracy Achievement (2009). A significant component and aim of this paper is to illustrate and explain in some detail, broader social, economic and political interactions that work to influence public school outcomes in terms of student achievement. The paper is in three sections. The first discusses the theoretical standpoint of the paper. The epistemological foundations of the argument within the paper are made in this section reflecting a critical Constructionist theoretical perspective. This part of the paper refers to the interpretative nature of research inquiry and includes a short explication of critical theory and its relevance to matters of educational interest. It also includes a short discussion on the case study approach illustrating its usefulness to the question and problem under consideration. Section two focuses on the problem of student under-achievement and examines the specific case of numeracy within an Australian context, the State of Victoria. The specific case of numeracy' is worth particular consideration. The argument in this section refers to the correlation between socio-economic status (SES) and individual learning outcomes. In general terms, low SES correlates to lower academic achievement. The VAGR suggests that students from low SES backgrounds significantly underperform in numeracy when compared against their higher SES counterparts. This is a surprising finding in some respects, taking into consideration recent attempts at intervention, including efforts to alter classroom instruction.

Relational capital (RC) represents the knowledge and learning capabilities embedded in relationships external to an organization. The primary goal of this paper is to report preliminary findings through qualitative in-depth interviews collected from 35 senior executives in relation to their perceptions of RC in building knowledge and enhancing learning capability in 22 Australian nonprofit organizations. The findings revealed that RC was valued as the concept perceived to be able to assist nonprofit managers to conceptualize the development of knowledge and learning capabilities in external stakeholder relationships. However, the understanding and application of RC were substantially different to those contained in the literature. Scholars suggest that a balanced view of RC is essential when establishing external stakeholder relationships. The nonprofit managers often adopted a more focused relationship with key external stakeholders, which also happened to be primary fund providers for the organizations. Research implications of this theory-practice divide are discussed. Research limitations and future research direction are presented in the paper.

Climate change research has focused on the economic and health impacts of changes in temperature and precipitation. This paper represents an early formal review of the likely impacts of climate change on education and the educability of primary and secondary children. Climate is likely to impact on education through three principle pathways: through the impact on the economy and health, and directly, either by impeding students' ability to attend school, or through biometeorological or psychometeorological impacts on either children or teachers. This study reviews existing evidence suggesting that climate will also impact on education through a number of other less immediately obvious pathways. Finally, the paper suggests a model that predicts that climate change will differentially impact on poor, rural, female students and teachers.

This paper looks at creating legitimate thinking spaces for teachers to explore their pedagogical beliefs and practices through collaborative writing. Based upon a project from a post compulsory Initial Teacher Training programme in the UK it will describe the process of working with teacher educators towards writing as part of a critical professional development process. Writing collaborativley for publication, a companion to a student research journal, has become significant not just for producing a useful resource but as a highly valued space for thinking and discussing teaching and learning. Teacher educators teach others to reflect, to be critical and to value their professional independence, yet there is little space for them to do this themselves. One participant in a recent writing day exclaimed it was the first space he had to think for years, whilst another said it was a vital space to reconnect with educational beliefs and pedagogical practices with others. This paper will explore using writing as a framework to support critical thinking, reflection and collaboration for professional development. It provides a case study to explore if using this method supports relevant, contextual and authentic professionial developmnent both for self development and and as a site for resistance to the overwork and deprofessionalised culture in post-compulsory teaching.

The ‘citizenship issue’ has become a major source of media and political debate as we grapple with the complexities of living in a diverse and globalising social form. This paper problematises citizenship in education at the level of lived experience, noting that specific debates around the citizenship of those in post compulsory educational systems are muted. Greater air space is consumed by engagement with the liberal, ‘safety-first’ approach in response to anxious discourses such as that of ‘integration’, institutionalised through school curricula. Drawing on findings from a collaborative project, we consider our explorations of the ‘problem’ of citizenship with some of our undergraduate students. These took students and staff into a variety of educational settings including schools, colleges and a ‘free’ school. In each, different models of citizenship prevail, and different kinds of citizens are produced and are productive of citizenship communities. This paper examines the difficulties of our students moving from commonsense understandings of citizenship to an informed and critical engagement. It elaborates on the ways in which this leads to a questioning of, and transformations in, the roles of, and the relationships between, staff, students, the university and sociology. The paper concludes that the problem of citizenship can be understood as one of praxis. In particular, it notes the power of the sociological imagination in its defamiliarisation, reflexivity, and contestation, to disrupt citizenship relations in the university and beyond. The picture painted of citizenship in this study is of uncertain, complex becomings in which ‘citizens’ fall into cross cutting, and diverse groupings. Whereas the dominant agenda in citizenship education in the UK suggests adherence to a traditional pluralism, we found that in the praxis of doing citizenship, the liberal model is unhinged by the diverse identities and concerns of situated citizens.

The elephant population in the Kruger Trans-frontier Park is currently seen by many nature conservationists as beyond sustainable levels. Wild-life supporters are of the view that the elephant population should be sustained. Ecologists warn that over-population of the elephant population is putting too much stress on the environment, which may make it impossible to sustain other plant and wild life forms in the long run. The paper has as its main aim to evaluate Environmental (Ecological), Cultural, Economic and Social dimensions of sustainability using Economic Impact Analysis to appraise different options of managing the elephant population in the Kruger Trans-frontier Park. The authors believe that this research would contribute greatly to the debate in other parts of the world. If not managed properly, an overpopulation of elephants often leads to environmental degradation. Such degradation could lead to a loss in ecosystem function (indirect use value), which not only implies a loss in ecosystem productivity and resilience, but also the need for ecosystem restoration. The sometimes irreversible damage, such as the extinction of other animal and plant species caused as a result of overpopulation of elephant, is a direct cost to the environment and society. This cost is not reflected in, for example, the value an international tourist derives from viewing elephants in the park or protected area where the damage-causing specie lives. Studies undertaken thus far, are mainly based on an economic valuation of the elephant in relation to economic variables that are quantifiable, and also mainly under very limited assumptions. These are but some of the important issues considered in this paper in order to derive Best-Practice appraisal methodology. Although the authors suggest a cost-benefit analysis, it only offers very limited appraisal and the authors therefore argue in favor of a much more rigorous partial equilibrium analysis.

This paper intends to explore student perspectives of engagement in an accounting decision-making course (Acct 102). The paper initially describes the context within which the action research takes place, including the nature of the course, its learning objectives and its educational philosophy. Using Cardno/Piggot-Irvine (1994) research model, three stages of action are documented, namely, reconnaissance, intervention and evaluation. Relevance, an identified key theme in the reconnaissance stage, is used to address the problem of student re-engagement in an introductory university course, with references to appropriate interventions and literature. An evaluation of the implemented interventions follows and the paper concludes with suggestions for further research.

As the world's population ages there is a growing interest in the lives of older people. Older people may be parents, grandparents, members of extended families neighbourhoods and countries. This paper will focus on one particular role, that of being a grandparent and its role in sustaining families, including those where the grandchild has a disability. In the past grandparents were integral to the success of societies. Often respected and revered. Grandfathers, in particular held much of the power and control within families and were responsible for the distribution of the land and property amongst their kin. Grandmothers were seen as the custodians of the family rituals and the development of kinship relationships. In the 21st century, grandparents do not have the same status or position they once had but many contribute to sustaining the family. This may be by way of instrumental support such as the provision of housing, clothing child-care, school fees and in some cases assuming the full time caring role of the grandchild. Others may assume a more symbolic role, providing an environment which is stable, where the child feels safe and unconditionally loved and where the grandparent is seen as a role model, responsible for the transmission of wisdom and knowledge including the families history and traditions. This paper adds to the dearth of literature in this area by presenting a comprehensive picture of the contribution (both past and present) grandparents make in sustaining families.

Success in a modern world requires more than just technical skills, with employers requiring graduates with a range of skills which can be critical for job performance and career advancement (Cohen, 1999; Tucker & McCarthy, 2001). An important graduate attribute is good communication skills (Usoff & Feldmann, 1998), with self confidence a key its development (Reinsch & Shelby, 1996). The literature also demonstrates that the use of professionals and industry representatives can enhance students' confidence and their self-belief (Subramaniam & Freudenberg, 2007). It is on the basis of these findings that a full day Student-Industry Conference involving first to third year students in a number of related undergraduate financial planning courses was developed. The conference provided opportunities for these students to come together and present research papers that they had worked on in their courses. These student presentations were attended by not only other students, but also industry representatives who were involved in the assessment process. Furthermore, students had the opportunity to listen to a number of relevant industry speakers on current topics and research in the field. This also included discussions about the overall direction of the industry and the graduate recruitment process. Through this and other mechanisms, the Student-Industry Conference was designed to allow for the improvement of students' self-efficacy through mastery, modeling and verbal persuasion. This paper details the empirical evidence as to whether students' participation in this Student-Industry Conference improved their self-efficacy, particularly in terms of their communication skills. Data from a questionnaire of participating students indicates that the students perceived greater self-efficacy as a result of this initiative. With such improved self-efficacy students may be able to enhance their careers in the future.

The main aim of the paper is to observe how blogging affects self-reflection. The application of blogs is discussed, based on the case study from a Year One module. A process of implementing and delivering this method throughout a period of one semester is analysed from a practical and theoretical point of view (Burge, EJ & Haughey, M (2001) Using Learning Technologies, Routledge: Falmer). The quality of students’ interaction online is evaluated alongside pedagogical effects of blogging employed as part of formative assessment. The main finding of the paper regards the independent approach of the students, which can be developed without direct instructions from the tutors. It has been observed that the students can take responsibility over their own learning, if the structure of the assessment permits flexibility and agility. It is argued that blogging enables the students to become self-reflective at a very early stage of the learning process and secondly, that assessments’ structure determines the approach to learning. However, it has been indicated that even advanced bloggers can relapse to a non-reflective stage and that self-reflection is impossible to be structured without imposing power. In a constructivist environment of online interaction, the relation to others has appeared to be the most influential and liberating factor enhancing critical ability. Therefore, emdedding interaction in a curriculum design becomes a pedagogical priority, but it has to be followed by integrating the formative assessment in the teaching mode. Otherwise, as this case study shows, the students detach from the interaction and the standards of teaching are not consistent across the cohort. Finally, the paradox of the ‘structured freedom’ becomes unavoidable, but reflecting on it brings about a change in thinking.

This paper takes as its starting point an “exemplar” of Religious Studies education in the Ontario Secondary School System where students curated a museum exhibition of a religion. Taking the inherent implications of “museum” culture using Benedict Andersons’ Imagined Communities, this investigation imagines the death and rebirth of Religion in University education in a global world. The argument dissects the divisions and obvious exclusion of living religions from the more secular public space of learning and integration, and challenges the nature of this curriculum by proposing a grounded and centered application of religious knowledge at the post-secondary level as a natural concomitant to understanding the profoundly religious construction of the secular “mansion”, and its applicability in a world where boundaries have been eradicated by the Internet and other forms of telecommunications. While a curriculum and research fully integrates religious content, especially in the Social Sciences and literature, there remains a sense of remoteness. Finally, the paper concludes that the mansion model differs substantially from the “museum” of labels, glass cases, and disembodied scholarship into religions.

This paper will draw on a two-year case study of postgraduate use of online blended learning resources. The paper will illustrate the contradictory and often counter-intuitive patterns of student use of technology in the production of academic knowledge. The paper explores four key analytical themes: the use of technology in the management of the postgraduate student identity, the role oftechnology in configuring existing identities and practices, the contradictions embedded in students understandings of their own technology use and the ways in which technology is implicated in the (re)construction of academic work. Thepaper concludes by highlighting the materiality of technology use and by suggesting that an empirical understanding of student identity and the cultural contexts in which learning takes place enables us to deconstruct the student as ‘user’, to trace complex and shifting processes and patterns of use and to gain an understanding of how students can benefit from technology in Higher Education.

This paper demonstrates some pedagogical strategies for developing Open Educational Resources (OERs) using the knowledge mapping tool Compendium. It also describes applications of Knowledge Maps to facilitate meaningful learning by focusing on specific OER examples. The study centres on the OpenLearn project, a large scale online environment that makes a selection of higher education learning resources freely available via the internet. OpenLearn, which is supportedby William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, was launched in October 2006 and in the two year period of its existence hasreleased over 8,100 learning hours of the OU's distance learning resources for free access and modification by learnersand educators under the Creative Commons license. OpenLearn also offers three knowledge media tools: Compendium(knowledge mapping software), MSG (instant messaging application with geolocation maps) and FM (web-based videoconferencing application). Compendium is a software tool for visual thinking, used to connect ideas, concepts, arguments, websites and documents. There are numerous examples of OERs that have been developed and delivered by institutions across the world, for example, MIT, Rice, Utah State, Core, Paris Tech, JOCW. They present a wide variety of learning materials in terms of styles as well as differing subject content. Many such offerings are based upon original lecture notes, hand-outs and other related papers used in face-to-face teaching. Openlearn OERs, however, are reconstructed from original self study distance learning materials developed at the Open University and from a vast academic catalogue of materials.\ud Samples of these “units” comprise a variety of formats: text, images, audio and video. In this study, our findings illustratethe benefits of sharing some OER content through knowledge maps, the possibility of condensing high volumes of information,accessing resources in a more attractive way, visualising connections between diverse learning materials, connecting new ideas to familiar references, organising thinking and gaining new insights into subject specific content.

Teacher/Student engagement enriches learning experiences beyond the specifics of communicated information by encouraging connectivity and the fostering of learning communities. This paper is an analysis of student engagement in a postgraduate online-mediated learning environment, and considers how engagement may be an important factor in building communities of learning in conjunction with improved learning outcomes. This paper is informed by the conceptual framework for effective e-learning outlined by Garrison and Anderson (2003) as necessary for higher order knowledge building by students as part of skills development for participation in knowledge economies. Data collected through a pilot study infers that a correlation exists between the development of small groups of significantly contributing students within wider online student cohorts and the learning outcomes of all students within the cohort. The findings indicate that a number of small events have increased student engagement and motivation, and resulted in improved learning outcomes.

Teachers may change their pedagogical approach in order to engage male students in the upper years of primary school, such as the use of group work, outdoor or hands-on strategies and negotiated curriculum. Such action is based on an assumption that disengaging students have the capacity to respond positively – to move from a pattern of resistance to a new ‘negotiated’ role of engagement. This paper presents case study research from two Grade 5/6 classes in regional Australia. Teachers used pedagogy that allowed students to make choices about what and how they learn. Teachers and students were observed and interviewed. Students also used an online recording space where they could make reflective journal entries, post work samples and comment on their perceived behavioural, emotional and cognitive engagement. The paper reports how students characterised making choices about their learning against the background of past patterns of educational disengagement; choices the students made; and the impact of these choices on the norms of school life.

This paper aims to provide empirical support for the use of the principal-agent framework in the analysis of public sector and public policies. After reviewing the different conditions to be met for a relevant analysis of the relationship between population and government using the principal-agent theory, our paper focuses on the assumption of conflicting goals between the principal and the agent. A principal-agent analysis assumes in effect that inefficiencies may arise because principal and agent pursue different goals. Using data collected during an amalgamation project of two Swiss municipalities, we show the existence of a gap between the goals of the population and those of the government. Consequently, inefficiencies as predicted by the principal-agent model may arise during the implementation of a public policy, i.e. an amalgamation project. In a context of direct democracy where policies are regularly subjected to referendum, the conflict of objectives may even lead to a total failure of the policy at the polls.

This paper discusses an interpretive project based on online management education experiences and concludes that the teacher's task in relation to hermeneutics contains elements that contradict the implied sense of ease the simplified hermeneutic ideal presupposes. In the study of these problems, the struggle of theory with practice, this paper presents an applied perspective of the translation oftheory into practice that may assist practitioners and theorists alike. The aim is to contextually critique hermeneutics in a terse but constructive mannerfor those involved in online management education and related fields.

Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City, many countries including Australia and Malaysia have been able to justify the use biometric devices such as finger print scans, retina scans and facial recognition for identification and surveillance of its citizens and others in the name of national security. In addition, biometric devices are increasingly being used worldwide by organizations to keep track of their employees and their productivity, leading to concerns of privacy, the safety, reliability, abuse and misuse of the data collected and violations of civil liberties. Taking the critical theory perspective, this paper will analyse the data collected and report on the findings of a survey carried out in Australia and Malaysia, with respect to the responses provided and opinions expressed to the survey s open ended and other questions by individuals as to their current use, experiences, preferences, concerns about the devices and the situations in which they think biometric devices should be used, including in their workplaces. This descriptive study uses both quantitative and qualitative data to examine what Australians and Malaysians think about the use of biometric devices in everyday situtions and compare them as to their similarities and differences. The paper will then critically examine the ethical and civil liberties issues involved in the use of biometric devices in everyday life and argues that regulatory and legal measures should be taken to safeguard the rights of citizens while maintaining national security and productivity, in order to avoid the situation of Michel Foucaults Panopticon becoming an unpleasant everyday reality, which could negatively irifluence socialjustice and create social change due to its effects on individuals in two multicultural societies. The paper will argue about the need to educate the general public as to the issues of surveillance and privacy involved in the use of biometric devices in everyday situations.

This paper explores the experiences of a group of Chinese people who graduated with UK Business degrees in the late 1990s. It presents data about their perceptions of the influence of their studies on their ensuing lives and work. The paper briefly reviews literature about the changing role of education in China, commenting on developments following late twentieth century reforms. It also reflects on the practical management, teaching and learning issues inherent in transnational educational partnerships. The primary research draws on material from a longitudinal study begun in 1998/9 and ongoing. The research data is presented as excerpts from oral histories, where participants discuss their experiences in education and work and the implications of their educational choices on personal identity. The main conclusions are that: the impacts of transnational education on men and women in China may differ; graduates value aspects of the learning experience extrinsic to the subject of study more than disciplinary knowledge over time; structural issues in China affect both the motivation to study on and utility of overseas degrees after graduation; and that the transnational experience impacts on cultural and personal identity in ways that may influence graduates integration into the mainstream of Chinese society.

‘Mathematical literacy’ is soon to be introduced as a subject in South African schools. This has generated numerous debates in various educational arenas, such as tertiary institutions and professional bodies. This paper looks at the differences between mathematics and Quantitative Literacy (QL) and examines the implicit QL demands and conventionalized QL practices in Higher Education curricula. Although certain practices are highly valued, they are not necessarily explicitly taught to students, especially those from non-dominant or disadvantaged positions in the power structures of the university and the society. This paper explores ways in which the implicit Quantitative Literacy demands can be made explicit and can be used to provide a rich environment to facilitate mathematical and statistical concept acquisition. We look at conventionalized practices in academic disciplines (focusing our analysis on the use of charts) and propose a number of principles of curriculum design.

Although the positive affordances of screencast feedback for student learning have been identified, the Higher Education (HE) system remains tied to electronic written (text) feedback. One factor in this stasis is the lack of robust evidence regarding the relative effectiveness of screencast feedback. This paper addresses this research gap. A systematic review of empirical research examined the effect of the medium of feedback (screencast vs. text) on student learning in HE. Fifteen of 502 studies were selected for analysis. Eleven studies indicated overwhelming positive perceptions of screencast feedback highlighting that it is more personal, supportive, detailed, helpful, and easier to understand in comparison to text feedback. Lecturers also offered overwhelming support for this medium stating that it was more engaging and impactful because it offered more detail, more teaching opportunities and increased the connection between the student and lecturer. Despite these positive perceptions, seven studies employing direct measurements of student learning presented inconclusive evidence to warrant adopting screencast feedback in HE.

Natural disasters can occur unexpectedly with devastating effects as attested by recorded history documents. They have caused immense suffering and destruction. In recent years, natural disasters have increased due to climate change. Further, the need for public awareness of catastrophic events has also increased, along with the media push to prepare for these events. Disaster preparedness has reduced loss of life and property, and children have demonstrated that they have the capacity to be actively involved in disseminating important and useful disaster information and the ability to assist with disaster preparedness in their families. Therefore, disaster preparedness is now an established part of the school curricula. However, while the topic of natural disasters is increasingly being included in school curricula, teachers may still feel uneasy introducing students to this topic. If they have not experienced a natural disaster and are not aware of the severity of disasters, teachers may lack the necessary information to best educate and support children. Further, teachers may need to tread a fine line between transmitting facts and shocking students with the emotive results of disasters. This is further exacerbated by media reporting. Arising from a document study of children's drawings from the 2006 Cyclone Larry natural disaster in tropical north Queensland, Australia, and research into cyclones, this paper presents strategies, including a poem, for teachers to introduce natural disasters to students in the upper primary school years. It may help to facilitate understanding about natural disasters and preparedness for these occurrences.

© Common Ground Research Networks, Criss Jones Diaz, Liam Morgan, Andrew Chodkiewicz. This paper presents the results of a yearlong study within an Aboriginal playgroup on the outskirts of Western Sydney. Using a methodology that was collaborative and iterative and gathering data through a participant ethnographer who was herself Aboriginal, enabled a clear view of the impact of literacy strategies that were implemented in consultation with mothers and the playgroup leader. It was found that Aboriginal texts, stories, songs, and dance, arranging for children to experience various Aboriginal cultural events, as well as talking about and modeling language interactions, led to increased and regular child and child-adult literacy interactions. Longer-term impacts relating to home literacy practices and transition to school were also reported.

Equipping students with scientific reasoning skills (SRS) is an important mission of twenty-first-century education and part of the national curriculum in Flemish secondary schools. Therefore, we need to gain a better understanding of ways in which the development of these skills can be promoted. To date, empirical research on learning environments to foster SRS is scarce. In the present study, a quasi-experimental intervention study on SRS was designed and conducted with a sample of eleventh grade behavioral and social science students. Because of the complexity of SRS, two experimental conditions were compared with a control group. The experimental conditions were either analytic (five classes, N = 87) or integrated (five classes, N = 101) and are both based on the cycle of scientific inquiry, OPIRR (orientation, preparation, implementation, reporting, and reflection). In the analytic condition, on the one hand, SRS were trained in a fragmented way using unrelated exercises. In the integrated condition, on the other hand, a holistic approach was used whereby all the tasks were based on two authentic scientific papers. In the control group (two classes, N = 55), teachers applied their existing methods in order to teach SRS. Results of this study show that participants in one of the experimental conditions developed significantly stronger SRS skills than participants in the control condition. There was no significant difference in SRS posttest results between both experimental conditions. ispartof: International Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Learning vol:26 issue:1 pages:1-19 status: published

Contemporary sociocultural theory argues that learning can be understood as identity shift as a result of participation in communities of practice (Wenger 1998). This process is not a straightforward, linear route. Rather, people enter a new community and bring with them their identities that have developed over time and place and so the new community and its practices are experienced and evaluated in terms of their past and their present preoccupations. It therefore follows that learning is idiosyncratic as it is constructed through the interaction of a multiplicity of personal meanings. Such theoretical understandings challenge institutional approaches which impose rigidity of practice and which identify student needs through stratification by social label such as “international student” or “mature student.” In this paper we will present data from interviews and observations with diverse undergraduate and postgraduate students from a range of UK higher education institutions and demonstrate that what all students need is flexible practices in order to enact their identities and make enabling interpersonal and learning relationships which allow for successful study. Our findings contest models that call for focus on artificially constructed social groups that assume homogeneity in identity, which, in reality, do not exist.

Transformative learning has been identified as contributing to the success of education programs in engendering sustainable behaviour in the built environment. In professional degree programs such as architecture, what impact does the nature of the learning experience of students have on the opportunities for transformation? Transformative learning is supported by opportunities for critical reflection, increased self-awareness of learning, and visible demonstration of progress. The teaching of design in architecture includes many of these elements, but in other core teaching, such as culture and science, the learning experience tends to be more transmissive in its nature. This paper will explore examples of alternative methods of architectural education which include experiential learning learning by doing as a way of developing understanding and making meaning and integrated curriculum – using the information and skills learnt in one subject to explore ideas in another. By investigating the learning experiences as a system, and considering the different contexts in which learning can take place, an ethno-methodological approach will be used to identify and document key elements of the transformative learning experience. The findings from this investigation will inform the development of a pedagogical framework for environmental education, such as architecture. Key Word: Architecture, Education, Transformation, Learning, Pedagogy

Relevant to the study of people’s attitudes towards public transport use is the consideration to the role of technology as part of the travel experience. Technologies aim to enhance daily tasks but tend to change the way people interact with products and can be perceived as difficult to use. This is critical in the context of “public use” where products and services are to be used by the population at large: adults, children, elderly, people with disabilities, and tourists. From different perspectives, the topic of users and the use of technologies have been studied in the social sciences and human computer interaction fields; however, earlier approaches fail to address the ways in which experiential knowledge informs people’s interactions with products and technologies, and how such information could guide the design of future technologies. This paper describes a pilot study, part of a larger ongoing exploratory research that investigates people’s experiences with infrastructure, systems, and technologies in the context of public transport. The methodological approach included focus groups, field observations, and retrospective verbal reports. At this stage, the study found that four context led factors were the primary source of reference informing participants’ actions and interactions; they are: (i) context >> experience, (ii) context >> interface, (iii) context >> knowledge, (iv) context >> emotion.

Arts education is an important area of learning for young children. The arts allow children to explore and make meaning of the world around them. It is also a time when children start to develop domain-specific knowledge about the arts. This paper explores the development of domain-specific knowledge about the arts in kindergarten classrooms in Queensland, Australia. It explore the way the teacher embeds domain-specific knowledge about the arts in her kindergarten classroom. Findings suggest the teacher is an important part of learning about domain-specific knowledge. Young children are challenged by the teacher to develop greater clarity and thought about the arts. If the teacher is not there to support and challenge ideas, while children are creative and masters of their own play, their development in the arts is limited.

The arts are an important learning area for young children. The arts provide a medium for children to explore, make sense of and communicate about the world around them. As yet, few studies have explored current arts practice in Australian early years classrooms and the development of the associated domain-intrinsic knowledge with each of the arts. This paper explores the daily routines of arts practices in the first year of formal schooling in Queensland, Australia through interviews with six early childhood teachers. The focus is to determine if the arts are a supplemental tool or a developmental tool. Findings provide information about the way arts education is currently being embedded into early childhood programs, and the types of domain-intrinsic knowledge that is being taught to children aged three and a half years. Findings highlight that the early childhood teachers did not feel confident teaching the arts as a developmental

This article thematically analyzes graffiti found in the lecture theatres of the Education, Humanities and Law Faculty at Flinders University, South Australia. Through close examination, it is concluded that lecture theatre graffiti presents a previously unrecognized but valuable discourse concerning students’ perceptions of their educational experiences. This paper interpreted these left messages and considered how they might inform the practice of lecturers.

Understanding the important concepts necessary to undertake the preparation of consolidated financial statements has proven challenging for many accounting undergraduate students. As a result, the development of multimedia modelling concepts such as acquisition analysis, business combination valuation entries, reacquisition entries and intragroup transactions were embedded within an e-learning environment. The principle of modelling, derived from social cognitive theory, was applied to the design of the multimedia. A study was conducted to gauge the effectiveness of the approach and consider student perceptions with regard to learning through this approach. Quantitative data were collected from accounting undergraduate students (n= 464) enrolled across three different cohorts including international campuses (n=386), an Australian campus (n=49) and a distance education cohort (n=29). Analyses were undertaken to show significant differences between these cohorts. This research paper presents findings that indicate a positive and significant association between the number of times the videos were accessed, and the assignment score (p

In the last decade increasing attention has been drawn to the successful orientation and engagement of first year students in higher education in Australia. Such attention has been influenced in part by growing concern with increasing student attrition across universities nationally. This concern has been shared internationally, with significant research being undertaken in the U.K. to determine cogent methods for engaging first year students in higher education. This paper reports on the work currently undertaken at Griffith University, Australia and four institutions based in the U.K., with a focus on institution-led approaches to the first year experience. Each institution's method of engaging and attending to the diverse needs of the first year cohort is discussed with a primary focus on common trends across each institution. First year student engagement data drawn from Griffith University is presented to lend support to the various initiatives examined.

The University of Hawaii's John A. Burns School of Medicine developed a professional development program and virtual learning materials to assist high school science teachers become familiar with laboratory techniques prior to engaging in authentic molecular biology research. The purpose of this paper is to provide an evaluative overview of the program with emphasis on the virtual materials that were designed to employ a blended learning approach to augment offline classroom learning. The virtual learning materials provide a unique sphere for scientific learning in which skills can be reproduced in an offline environment. Twelve high school science teachers participated in the training program and were given full access to the online materials. After participation in the program, teachers filled out a final survey and completed a final written reflective statement as a form of evaluating the program and online materials. Thematic analysis was used to code participants' responses. Results showed that teachers recounted meeting the scientists as a valuable experience, teachers were grateful to learn real-world application of current research, and teachers described the importance of learning skills to prepare students to succeed in higher education. Additionally, results showed teacher's intent to use the virtual learning materials as homework tools and in classroom lessons.

The contemporary American schoolyard remains an under-utilized opportunity for experiential learning. Contemporary public schoolyards are often designed in response to perceptions of liability and a limited interpretation of child development. This paper examines a design proposal for an un-built, natural learning landscape through two lenses: epistemology and form. First, we propose that designers of school landscapes embrace artistic research as a humanities mode of knowledge. We illustrate an artistic research process using the design of an experiential schoolyard. Second, we present an un-built, primary grade schoolyard design as an exemplar for natural play and learning. Beginning with literature review of research on play and experiential learning, the proposed design layers child development, humanities, and landscape architectural knowledge to form a provisional understanding of how form and space may affect the child’s play experience.