Sessional Staff Traversing Diverse Learning Spaces: A Review

Prue Gonzalez,* School of Environmental Sciences, and Phillip Ebbs, School of Biomedical Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Australia

Abstract

Sessional academic staff are employed in a number of academic roles, from lecturing to field trips to course improvement. What distinguishes them from other academic staff is that they are employed on a short-term, contract basis, much like adjunct faculty in the United States. Today they are a dominant feature of the global higher education workforce whose contributions over the past 20 years have been significant.
It is conservatively estimated that sessional academics deliver more than 40% of university teaching in Australia, where the authors live and teach. While the higher education sector’s reliance upon these staff is expected to increase, our knowledge and understanding of these staff is poor. This compromises the development of policies, strategies and programs designed to engage, support and improve the high quality contributions of the sessional academic workforce over a sustained period. A more informed approach to sessional academic engagement, support and quality improvement is an essential component to operating effectively in a modern higher education sector. This paper reviews the challenges associated with the effective and sustainable engagement of the Australian sessional academic workforce.

Keywords:

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Design and Practice of Presentation Training in Open Situation for University Students

Aya Inaura,* & Hirotaka Uoi, Department of Digital Games, and Hiroshi Yokoyama, Department of Games & Media, Faculty of Information Science and Arts, Osaka Electro-Communication University, Japan

Abstract

In recent years, some colleges and universities in Japan have put effort into Presentation Training. Such training may concern not only presentations in class, but also competitions, contests, and workshops. At the Osaka Electro-Communication University, we designed a workshop for presentation training and practice that has been offered since 2012. It differs from other universities’ practices in featuring more varied audiences and presenters than customary. We believe that if we can supply presentation training in open situations for students, we can bring their presentation skills to a higher level.

Keywords: presentation training, workshop

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CSU Thinkspace: Using Media Articles within the Blogspace to Enhance Discourse in Accounting Education

Jahanzeb Khan,* School of Accounting and Finance, & Pamela Roberts, Division of Student Learning, Faculty of Business, Justice, and Behavioural Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Australia

Abstract

This paper examines the potential of blogs to instil professional skills and perspectives that undergraduate accounting students require to become competent professionals in a global economy. Blogs provide a compelling platform for engaging teachers and students in discourse on media articles that examine real world accounting challenges, fallacies, and questionable practices. Blogs are an effective online learning technology that encourages critical thinking, reflection and formative feedback. Making use of CSU Thinkspace as a learning platform in an undergraduate accounting subject, preliminary evidence regarding the effectiveness of blogging for developing professional understandings and higher order thinking skills, is discussed.

Keywords: accounting, blog, professional ethics, distance learning

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Reflection on Action: A Scholarly Activity to Ensure Quality in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: The Case of Universidad de La Serena

Pamela Labra,* Rodrigo Fuentalba Jara, Ana María Vera, Jorge Fernández Labra, José Enrique Novoa, Jorge Pizarro Guerrero, Erika Zuñiga Fuentes, Claudia Toledo Robles, Oscar Robles González, Patricia Cortés Maldonado, Eric Troncoso Riquelme, Hernán Guiñez Guiñez, Luis Cortés Estrada, Moises Villablanca Villanueva, Ana María Villagrán Barrios, & Erico Wulf Betancourt, Universidad de La Serena, Chile

Abstract

Improving professional development in higher education is of vital importance, especially when seen in the context of (a) the increase in the number of students entering the university system in Chile who are insufficiently prepared for their studies, and (b) the increase in the number of higher education faculty hired to teach for the first time. The present study aims at summarizing the experience of the Teaching Center at the Universidad de La Serena in providing faculty with institutional
support to reflect on their teaching, i.e., to undertake a scholarly examination of the teaching-learning process in higher education.
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The Applicability of Speech Act Analysis to Course Evaluation: A Small-Scale Pilot Study

Alison Devine, Edge Hill University, UK

Abstract

The current paper has both a substantive and methodological focus. Substantively, it finds that the online discussion board postings of students enrolled on a postgraduate certificate in teaching and learning display evidence of students’ applying course studies in their workplace, but that these displays are mostly limited to comments regarding their own physical activities and (affective) approaches, rather than any attempt to disseminate their learning any more widely. Methodologically then, this paper argues that speech act analysis (SAA) can be of partial use to the course evaluator who is seeking evidence of an impact on practice as one means of triangulating data, but that there are three types of evidence of impact on practice apparent in the students’ online postings and a detailed understanding of these types can aid in enhancing student learning.
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Models for Success Initiative: Evidence Based Learning in a Latino Community

Edith Esparza-Young, Texas A&M University, USA

Abstract

This paper examines the use of evidence-based learning to adapt and modify teaching practices to best serve the needs of pre-service teachers during the induction period. Research has shown that the attrition and retention rates of teachers during the first four years are at odds. The data collection consists of archived self-reflections by the participants along with university personnel, public school officials, mentoring teachers, and professors.
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The Art and Science of Design Education in a New College of Architecture

Christina Joy Hoehn & Hans Peter Wachter, University of Oklahoma, USA

Abstract

Educating today’s design students goes beyond the standard walk and talk of the traditional classroom. Environments that nurture and promote collaboration and integration of technology are becoming a standard, critical for students emerging from the design academy. This paper will discuss the design of a college of architecture at the academy that must promote and foster the concepts of interdisciplinary collaboration, teaming and technology integration. A well-conceived facility creates an environment that will generate students that are ready to enter the design industry at a competitive level after graduation. Creative facility design promotes and enriches inclusive learning in a technologically-based educational discipline.
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historia.scribere: Publications from the Ivory Tower for More Quality in Student Papers and Better Occupational Perspectives

Eva Pfanzelter, University of Innsbruck, Austria

Abstract

historia.scribere is an online journal project of three historical institutes at the University of Innsbruck. The journal works with editorial peer review, including both BA-/MA- and PhD- students and faculty from the three departments in the review process. One of the goals of the project is to improve the quality of seminar papers using the extensive feedback students receive. The main focus of the project, however, is to involve students in the scholarly publication process so that they can acquire essential online publication skills, thus qualifying them for the primary job markets for historians: journalism and publishing.
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Re-Engineering the Teaching and Learning Process with Specific Reference to Management Education

Lakshmivarahan Ramasubramani, Acharya Bangalore B School, India

Abstract

More often, the decision makers from the industry are not all that delighted when they visit management education institutes for placement. The industry, the institute, and the students can be treated as sides of an equilateral triangle. All three are equally responsible for this kind of scenario. The author proposes a thorough revamp of the entire process, which would start with reverse communication from industries to institutes and meaningful participation from industries. The author also proposes more fun and humor-filled teaching. An attempt is made in this paper to study in detail the various re-engineering practices that can be adopted to change the way we look at management education, especially with respect to the Indian scenario.
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“Please Sir, I Want Some More” – MORE! Oliver Twist in the 21st century

Andrew Sackville Edge Hill University, UK

Abstract

Are resources for learning really diminishing? Where does most of our learning take place? What are the resources we actually use? This paper questions the conventional views of “diminished resources”, “learning” and “resources” and argues for the recognition of the learning that takes place both within and outside the workplace. Using two small case studies from very different areas – clinical education and heritage learning – the paper focuses on the learning that takes place within both the workplace and the broader area of “leisure time” activity. It presents a challenge to all teachers: to review their learning facilitation strategies.
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