Abstract: This paper seeks to re-conceptualize the research supervision relationship. The literature has tended to view doctoral study in four ways: (a) as an exercise in self-management, (b) as a research experience, (c) as training for research, or (d) as an instance of student-centred learning. Although each of these approaches has merit, they also suffer from conceptual weaknesses. This paper seeks to harness the merits, and minimize the disadvantages, by re-conceptualizing doctoral research as a “writing journey.” The paper utilizes the insights of new rhetoric in linguistic theory to defend a writing-centered conception of supervised research and offers some practical strategies on how it might be put into effect.

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Abstract: This is a study of 57 graduate students and 229 undergraduate students in classes preparing them to be teachers. The survey extended over a period of five years, involving 14 classes in a college of education. Using the Personality Research Form scales to compare the psychological aspects of undergraduate and graduate college of education students, t-test results indicated that graduate students scored higher on Achievement, Harmavoidance, Understanding, and Desirability. All other comparisons were not significant using the present criteria.

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Abstract: Qualitative research methods were used to develop a deeper understanding of how nine Black female graduate students described and understood the pedagogical practices they perceived as enhancing their visibility in the learning environment. Framed through Ralph Ellison’s concept of invisibility, a modified grounded theory analytic approach was used to capture the complexity in the data. The findings from this study provide insight to educators for enhancing student visibility in the learning environment.

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Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a student-centered faculty development model on the conceptions of teaching of participating US Arts and Sciences faculty members. “Student-centered learning models are widely accepted as catalysts for improved learning and psychosocial outcomes, and their use is especially important in the critical early years of an undergraduate education” (Miller, Groccia, & Miller, 2001, p. xv). In 2007-2008, Widener University implemented a pilot program to investigate student-assisted teaching, an instructional process where undergraduates are given responsibility by faculty for portions of their fellow undergraduates’ learning experience. This Learning Assistant Program (LAP) investigated a faculty development model that could improve educational effectiveness by increasing student involvement in course design, student learning, and pedagogy. In this study, two faculty collaborated with three student learning assistants (LAs), under the direction of two pedagogy coaches to redesign courses and monitor progress of those courses during one semester. Findings from this qualitative study indicate increased satisfaction of faculty with their course designs, accompanied by increased knowledge about course design strategies and pedagogical teaching methodologies; a broadening of both the faculty and LA conceptions about teaching and learning; and the development of an academic collaborative culture. The success of this program has initiated a LAP in the University’s School of Human Service Professions and another iteration was implemented at a local community college.

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Abstract: Currently little is known about how students use podcasts of exercise material (as opposed to lecture material), and whether they perceive such podcasts to be beneficial. This study aimed to assess how exercise podcasts for phonetics are used and perceived by second year speech and language therapy students. Eleven podcasts of graded phonetics exercises were produced and made available to the 36 students in the cohort, who then took part in two voluntary surveys. Surveys were completed by 26 and 30 students respectively. Responses show that students tend to listen to the podcasts on a computer at home, rather than on an mp3 player when on the move. Many students also listen to the podcasts with family and friends. Students report that they found the exercise podcasts very useful for their learning. They liked the ability to repeat the recordings many times and felt that there was improvement in their confidence in transcription and in their test scores due to using them. For this subject they would prefer exercise podcasts to recordings of lectures.

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Abstract: Reality-Based Learning, RBL, is a teacher-driven initiative introducing the core business administration subjects to first-year business students by means of making business plans. This paper empirically accounts for the development of RBL over three years. RBL is scrutinized for pros and cons by a proposed education development framework. When the educational change is dissected and related to prevailing teaching contexts, areas prone to further development are identified. Results indicate that RBL has been developed by a few teachers, both in spite of and due to the lack of longterm pedagogical strategy and development incentives at the department and school levels. This paper concludes with the suggestion that the education development framework is apt for both exante design stages and ex-post evaluation of course parts, courses and entire programs.

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Abstract: The aim of this paper is to develop a conceptual model which allows for an understanding of the general and discipline specific support needed by academics new to the profession. The approach taken is qualitative in nature and centers around a series of semi-structured interviews carried out with new academics and senior managers in two research-intensive business schools in the UK. The research suggests that there are four crucial dimensions to successful career support for new academics: managing expectations, career management, mentoring, and professional development. While it is important to offer good practice in each of these dimensions, this paper argues that it is the relationship between them, which determines the quality of career support offered. This paper offers a number of original insights into this issue and contributes to both the scant literature on career support for new academics and to practice with a model that may have applicability across a number of different settings.

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Abstract: Many Canadian Educational Psychology classes currently emphasize and model constructivist teaching practices in addition to integrating the notion of connectivity and Web 2.0 into educational theory. This study examines ‘Moodle1’ as a technological tool to further enhance participation and performance in addition to the regularly used ‘semiotic tools’ and social-dialogical activities found in a teacher education program. Similarly, discourse and narrative are described as a mode of thinking, as a structure for organizing our knowledge, and as a vehicle in the process technology and higher education. How can a program of learning be assisted with structuring the delivery and organization of knowledge?

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Abstract: Reflective practice has become a mainstay in many inquiries into teaching and learning, presenting reflective practitioners with the challenge of accounting for their own institutional positions when interpreting student performance in the binary teacher-student configurations of most classrooms. This study analyzes the perspectives of TAs cast as mentors to students in a unique trinary configuration of instructor-mentor-student. During four semesters, TAs in English mentored firstyear university composition students by attending all classes alongside them, conducting intake interviews, and following up with numerous out-of-class conferences during the semester. Using standardized end-of-term evaluations by mentors supplemented by focus group transcripts and administrators' field notes, analysts determined that mentors' ranges of actions in the classroom and course enabled them to "think through" the perspectives of both instructor and student to develop "positional reflexivity." That is, mentors incorporated the factor of institutional position into reflexivity about teaching and learning to gain insight into such issues as interpretations of student performance, power dynamics that inflect students' senses of agency, the challenges of transitioning to college, mentors' own professional goals, and more. Implications are drawn for leveraging this unique form of TA training to enhance learner-centered approaches to teaching when TAs later find themselves teaching their own courses.

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Abstract: This paper identifies a number of problems with the mechanism by which teachers give feedback to students and reports the findings of a unique self-assessment activity aimed at countering these problems. The activity, based on the principles of Learning-Oriented Assessment (Carless, 2007), involved tutors providing written feedback but withholding grades on assignments submitted by a cohort of 2nd and 3rd year History students. Giving consideration to supplied assessment criteria and grade descriptors as well as the feedback they received, the students were then required to award themselves a grade and write a 100-word justification, which was submitted to the tutor. Analysis of the grades awarded by the students and tutors, and an evaluation of the exercise administered by an anonymous and non-compulsory questionnaire, revealed a high degree of grade agreement, and that students became much more motivated to read and heed the feedback they received. Moreover, the students reported gaining a greater understanding of the assessment criteria, the work required to attain a particular grade, and the means for improving their written work. Drawing particularly on the research of David Carless and David Boud, the paper concludes by discussing options for improving the feedback mechanism, such as the use of self-assessment rubrics.

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Abstract: Students’ evaluation of faculty and courses continue to be the most often used gauge in higher education of how well courses are taught. Faculty are particularly concerned that student ratings are highly associated with the grades students expect to receive. However, newer research on student engagement suggests that it is students’ own interaction with the course material that determines their evaluation of the course. The purpose of this study then was to examine (1) whether the grades students expected in the course affected the overall evaluation of the instructor, (2) whether the students’ quality of engagement in the course affected the overall evaluation of the instructor, and (3) whether students’ quality of engagement moderates the relationship between expected grades and overall evaluation of the instructor. Results indicate that students’ engagement with the course material significantly moderates the relationship between expected grades and overall rating of instructor.

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Abstract: The purpose of this study was to compare the characteristics of teaching performance in accordance with the opinion of students of different academic fields and curriculum stages in a Mexican state public university. The sample was composed of 729 randomly-selected courses, distributed over four semester periods. Descriptive and comparative statistical analyses were made. The results determined significant differences when natural-exact sciences were compared with administrative sciences (p = .003), and engineering with administrative sciences (p = .022) in the overall ratings and by dimension. Moreover, differences were found in the ratings by dimension between the curriculum stages. The study concludes in favor of considering the particularities of the pedagogical context in the interpretation of ratings, and of using them as a source of information when designing strategies for improving teacher training.

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Abstract: This study addresses the question of how undergraduates with an opportunity to serve as teachers, or “peer facilitators”, at the college level think about and approach teaching. Peer facilitators in the “Gateway Science Workshop” Program at Northwestern University serve in a teaching role for one to two years, leading weekly, small group workshop sessions for students in their first year “gateway” science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses. The research took place within a large, funded intervention aimed at reducing the gap in performance and retention between undergraduate minority and majority science students. The study found that the sample of 19 peer mentors conceived of and approached their teaching task in distinctly different ways, adopting a teaching-centered or a learning-centered framework that changed over time with gains in experience. The developments documented over the course of their teaching experience have important implications for understanding how undergraduates think about learning and how they understand teaching.

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Abstract: Dialogue is “at the heart of the e-learning experience” (Littleton & Whitelock 2004, p.173). It is the means to building mutual understanding, encouraging the construction of personal meaning and ensuring engagement. Inquiry requires dialogue. If we value processes of inquiry, then it is at our peril that we ignore the complex issues and aspects of designing and facilitating in online environments for inquiry processes. How do we design online learning experiences that encourage dialogue and a process of inquiry? A phenomenological inquiry using student postings, student interviews and survey data from an online undergraduate course is undertaken to explore the dynamic interrelation between design, facilitation, tools and learning. As part of the analysis, a heuristic device was developed – the Map of aspects of dialogical inquiry. In this article, this device and the dynamic interrelation between design, facilitation, tools and learning are discussed, and implications for practitioners teaching in online environments are explored.

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Abstract: This paper reports the rationale, design, implementation, and outcomes of a strategic diversity course for developing the intercultural capability of academic staff at an Australian university. The interactive workshop called “Engaging and Building Alliance across Cultures” aims at developing awareness of and practical skills in facilitating the inclusion of culturally and linguistically diverse students in the classroom, while also engaging local students in internationalization at their home university. This paper reports the participating academics’ workshop ratings, as well as their learning reflections regarding curriculum development, strategies that they intended to apply to engage their culturally diverse classes, and the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the workshop. Implications for the potential use of cultural diversity training to internationalize learning and teaching in a higher education environment are discussed, along with suggestions for future research.

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Abstract: If you talk with international students about their experiences in U.S. universities, many of them will tell you that they feel there is a disconnect between what the literature suggests is “good practice” in accommodating international students and the reality of what is actually happening on U.S. campuses. Research suggests the importance of establishing relationships with international students so that other “good practices” may occur. After conducting an extensive review of the literature and current good practices, the authors concluded that United States (U.S.) institutions of higher education are not “practicing what they preach” when it comes to meeting the needs of international students. They are not using the research to drive practice in accommodating international students. This article reflects on the literature that describes what is considered good practice in U.S. international educational programs, and makes recommendations for improving those practices based on this review of the literature.

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