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ISSN 0157–1826Volume 33 No. 2 September 2011

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The annual conference took place at the Radisson Resort on the Gold Coast in early

July. Over 400 delegates enjoyed perfect Queensland winter weather in attractive surroundings. All conference activities were conveniently located in the Radisson.

The conference was organised by a committee composed of representatives from all Queensland universities chaired by Professor Kerri-Lee Krause from Griffith University.

Pre-conference workshops covering a variety of topics were held on the first day, Monday 4 July. The conference commenced in the late afternoon with a welcome from the HERDSA President, Geoff Crisp, who also launched three new HERDSA publications, which are described elsewhere in this issue. Delegates were then welcomed by the Vice-Chancellor of Griffith University, Professor Ian O’Connor. They then had the privilege of hearing an address by Professor Denise Bradley who gave an insight into the new world of higher education with particular reference to the new standards authority, TEQSA.

A welcome reception by the pool gave delegates a chance to relax and

From the Editor 2

Prizes and Awards at the Conference 4

Impressions of the Conference 7

TATAL @ the Conference 8

HERDSA PRESiDEnt’S ADDRESS 2011ALTC, ERA and TEQSA: Where to from here?By Geoffrey Crisp 9From the New PresidentShelda Debowski 11

Welcome to the New Executive 12

HERDSA Branch News July 2011 17

Report on Council of Australian Directors of Academic Development WorkshopBy Peter Ling 19Post Conference Workshop for Academic DevelopersBy Denise Chalmers 20New HERDSA Publications 21

Good Vibrations: A Consultant’s Impressions from Southern CaliforniaBy Kim McShane-DeBacco 24Thoughts on the Collegiate Learning Assessment Generic Skills TestBy Mike Prosser 26intERnAtionAl Column ExCHAngE HERDSA/PoD/StlHE nEwSlEttERS

Dear Mr. PresidentBy Arshad Ahmad 27QUT Faculty of Science & Technology – second annual “Science Educators Symposium”By Stephanie Beames 28tHE PHiloSoPHERS Column

On KindnessBy Ann Kerwin 29MeanderingsBy Robert Cannon 31Higher Education in the Headlines By Peter Kandlbinder 33A PoEm

Success in academia: Findings from an international research project with early career academicsBy Kathryn Sutherland 34

to renew contacts with colleagues and forge new links.

The next morning started early with the New Members Breakfast, which once again proved successful in establishing contacts between new and old members. This years breakfast included members who had joined since the last conference as well as those joining at this year’s conference.

The first Plenary session of the day began with a welcome to country and some skillful didgeridoo playing by John Briggs, followed by the official conference opening and welcome by Kerri-Lee Krause. Professor Ann Austin from the USA then gave the first keynote addresses “The changing professoriate: on the edge of peril or possibility.” Videos of the keynotes and slides of the presentation are now available on the conference website http://conference.herdsa.org.au/2011/

www.herdsa.org.au

Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia Inc

news

Higher Education on the Edge. The 2011 HERDSA Conference

Welcome to Country by John Briggs

HERDSA NEWSSeptember 2011

From the Editor

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HERDSA Executive

President Shelda Debowski WA

Vice President Stanley Frielick NZ

Treasurer Deb Clarke NSW

Occasional Publications EditorAllan Goody WA

Journal EditorBarbara Grant NZ

HERDSA News EditorRoger Landbeck QLD

Executive MembersMarcia Devlin VIC

Susan Jones TAS

Peter Kandlbinder NSW

Robert Kennelly ACT

Coralie McCormack ACT

Rachel Spronken-Smith NZ

Glyn Thomas QLD

Iris Vardi WA

HERDSA Office

Jennifer Ungaro (Office Manager)

PO Box 27, Milperra NSW 2214

Phone: +61 2 9771 3911

Fax: +61 2 9771 4299

Email: [email protected]

Website www.herdsa.org.au

HERDSA News

Editor Roger Landbeck

28/242 Parklands Bvld, Currimundi, QLD 4551

Phone: +61 7 5438 2789


Editorial CommitteeMaureen Bell and Peter Kandlbinder

Issue Dates: April, September, December

Contributions for the next issue must reach the editor by Monday 21 November 2011. They should be sent to Roger Landbeck at the above address.

Advertising rates. Please contact the HERDSA Office.

Views expressed in HERDSA News are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of HERDSA. Written material from HERDSA News may be reproduced, providing its source is acknowledged.

Desk top publishing by Donna Bennett, Office Logistics, Brisbane

Printed by Instant Colour Press, Canberra

From the Editor

Three New HERDSA Publications

see pages 21 – 23

be available in digital form as well as hard copy. The new Executive will be looking into the development of e-publications. The other two publications were two more Guides, which continue to enjoy good sales. The Guide on Lecturing is a revised version of one of the early Guides and is still a topic of importance in teaching and learning in higher education today.

Authors will find some useful material in the article on resources for authors. I was very pleased to learn there was so much help available.

Although HERDSA members are found mainly in Australia and New Zealand they are also scattered across the world. Mark Minnott, who was awarded a HERDSA Fellowship at the conference, works in the Cayman Islands. Kim McShane moved from the University of Sydney to the University of California in Santa Barbara and she writes in this issue about her experiences of staff development there.

A few months ago a new website, “The Conversation”, was established where academics write short articles about topical issues. Recently there have been articles about journal ratings, academic publishing and one calling for the abolition of examinations! Subscribers to the site receive by email about six articles each day from Monday to Friday. Some of these articles find their way to the HERDSA weekly Email News. HERDSA members might consider contributing to this useful commentary on topical issues. The URL for the website is http://theconversation.edu.au/

Roger Landbeck

The September issue has become one devoted mainly to reporting on the annual conference and so

this time we have an extensive coverage of the conference with articles and pictures. Those who were unlucky to miss the event can still benefit through the website where videos of the keynote addresses are available together with a transcript of Carol Nicoll’s inspiring address. Eventually as with previous conferences the full papers will be available and this will be notified in the Weekly Email News.

The election of a new President and Executive was ratified at the AGM held during the conference. Only three members of the previous Exec remained so the next few months will be a learning curve for the new members. Each member of the Executive has provided a profile and picture in this issue so that HERDSA members can know something about their elected representatives.

It is some years since the Executive devised a strategic plan for the society and this will be undertaken in early November at a two-day face-to-face meeting in Sydney. One of the most important tasks of the committee will be to manage the recently ALTC funded project which will be a new experience for the society. HERDSA will, through this project, “facilitate advocacy for learning and teaching and organising opportunities for learning and teaching leaders and practitioners to meet and discuss ways to influence educational practices through outputs from ALTC and subsequent DEEWR funded projects”. (quote from the HERDSA submission to the ALTC).

Three new publications were launched at the conference. The HERD anthology will be the first HERDSA publication, which will

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Following morning tea the first of the concurrent sessions got underway and then a lunch there were HERDSA Branch lunches, which gave members a chance to meet up with their branch colleagues. There was also an ALTC Program Leaders lunch.

Concurrent sessions continued through the afternoon culminating in the Poster Session accompanied with drinks and snacks. Delegates took the opportunity to meet poster presenters and to vote on the best poster using the red dot provided on their name badge.

In the evening the HERDSA Fellows met for a workshop and a dinner.

The second full day began early again with breakfasts for HERDSA Branch Presidents and HERD Associate Editors. Following morning tea there was a Q & A Session on higher education with a panel drawn from several sectors of the community, chaired by Dorothy Illing from the Australian Higher Education Newspaper.

During lunch the HERDSA AGM was held and the new Executive and President were confirmed. The budget for the coming year was approved. The afternoon closed with the second keynote address by Paul Trowler talking about “Beyond boundaries and edges in conceptualising disciplines.”

The day ended with the highlight of the conference-the dinner. A 1970’s theme was chosen and many delegates rose to the occasion with fantastic costumes.

Even the retiring President, Geoff Crisp, became transformed in an unexpected way!

The band was terrific and people so enthusiastically entered into the dancing that even the band was overawed!

On the final day after morning tea the retiring HERDSA President delivered the annual address, which is reprinted in this issue. Then Carol Nicholl, CEO of the ALTC, gave an inspiring address in which she urged us to stop grieving over the closure of the ALTC and to share her dreams for the future. She received a standing ovation from the audience.

Then it was time to award some prizes, to thank those who had organised the conference so well and finally to look forward to 2012 when we were welcomed to come to Tasmania enticed by some beautiful pictures, by Natalie Brown the next conference convenor.

Higher Education on the Edge. The 2011 HERDSA Conference

from page 1

HERDSA Fellows Dinner

Conference Dinner Dancing

Geoff Crisp & Kerri-Lee Krause having fun


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4. The University of Sydney, Institute for Teaching and Learning (ITL) Creative Presentation AwardThis award is open to all full-refereed papers and showcase sessions and recognises and encourages excellence in the scholarly communication of knowledge in a conference presentation. The purpose of the award is to foster engaging and innovative presentations at the HERDSA conference.

For the second year running the prize was awarded to Linda Bowden and Kathryn Sutherland for their presentation of: Students’ perceptions of the development of critical thinking skills, or “Mrs Cleaver goes back to school”

and reflection as they produce outcomes typical of quality performance.

The award comprises a certificate and prize of $1,000 and it is awarded to the paper, which in the opinion of a panel of judges makes a significant contribution to knowledge about authentic learning environments in higher education.

The 2011 Award went to Deborah Peach and Judy Matthews, Queensland University of Technology, for their paper Work Integrated Learning for Life: Encouraging Agentic Engagement. Their paper together with all other conference papers will eventually be available on the HERDSA website. Members will be notified by the Weekly Email News.

3. HERDSA Travel Award for a Postgraduate StudentAn award of up to $1,000 is available to provide support for a postgraduate student to attend and participate in the annual conference of HERDSA.

No award was made this year.

Prizes and Awards at the ConferenceThere are four awards and prizes associated with the annual conference. The details of these can be found under the section “Awards and Prizes” on the HERDSA website.

1. Taylor and Francis Prize: Best Paper by a New ResearcherThe purpose of the award is to foster original research by encouraging new and less experienced researchers. A prize of AUD$1,000 will be awarded to the paper written by a new researcher (or researchers) which makes a significant contribution to research in the field of tertiary education.

No award was made this year.

2. Edith Cowan University Authentic Learning AwardThe purpose of the award is to promote the development of authentic learning environments in all facets of university teaching and learning, and to support the dissemination and publication of good practice associated with these environments.

An authentic learning environment can be described as one where activities represent the types of complex tasks performed by professionals in the field, rather than decontextualised or contrived activities. Students have access to supporting resources and engage in collaboration, articulation Kathryn Sutherland and Linda Bowden

Posters have been displayed at the conference for a number of years. In recent years organisers have set aside time in the programme for delegates to spend time examining the posters and interacting with the authors. To encourage this activity drinks and snacks are provided. This year organisers went further and asked delegates to vote on the best poster using a red dot affixed to their name badge. The poster with the greatest number of dots won first prize.

First place: The Griffith PRO-Teaching Project: Sharing Ideas to Develop Capabilities with Peer Review and Observation of Teaching. Steve Drew, Griffith University.

Second place: Indigenous students and accessibility. Roslyn Sackley and Judith Booth, Macquarie University.

Third place: Moving Forward - A widening participation initiative for primary aged

pupils Carole Nairn and Lesley-Anne Holder, University of Chichester, UK.

A description of the project, which won first prize appears on the next page. It is hoped that descriptions of the second and third placed posters will appear in the December issue of HERDSA News.

Finally at the conference dinner Sally Purbrick-Illek and Glenn Harrison received prizes for the Best Seventies Costumes.

Poster Awards

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The Griffith PRO-Teaching Project: Sharing Ideas to Develop Capabilities Using Peer Review of Teaching

A goal of my research Masters in Higher Education was to develop a course that better engaged students

with learning. After several action research cycles it was apparent that there was only so much that curriculum design could do in that regard, so further ideas were also needed for me to effectively improve my teaching. Coming from a “closed-door” ICT teaching culture, a research oriented discipline area, without ready access to education development help, this was a challenge. Taking part in a newly formed university wide community of practice around scholarship of learning and teaching I was able to briefly interrupt the educationalists’ (always interesting) discussion to form a project team to address an interest in promoting developmental peer review of teaching. With the project team defined by a balance of experience and need in this area, we rapidly agreed on a set of project requirements and an initial peer review process design. After initial consultation with literature and ALTC project dissemination, the “Peer Review and Observation of Teaching Project” was created, dubbed “PRO-Teaching” (literally: FOR teaching) as a developmental resource for academic colleagues.

A successful project needs to be tuned to the particular operating context and some of our design constraints and imperatives may resonate with the reader. There is a historical conception that peer review of teaching is judgmental and this deters academics from participating. Some academics distrust management so ethical principles need to be applied to ownership and access to data. Many development projects are not designed around measurable outcomes or success metrics that typify

Peer Observation Project wins poster prizeThe HERDSA Conference on the Gold Coast invited delegates to vote for the three best posters. First prize went to Steve Drew from Griffith Institute for Higher Education for his poster Research Basis for the PRO-Teaching Project. The poster showed all the hallmarks of an effective poster - communicating information quickly and efficiently, catching the attention, a simple graphic that told the story, a well-ordered and obvious sequence, and succinct scholarly information.

Steve Drew

most research projects. Observation notes from “buddies” are often not acceptable to senior promotions committees as evidence. Support for a project that affects academics’ work practices needs to be obtained from all levels of line management and relevant L&T portfolio holders. For an academic or any other stakeholder to invest their time and involvement in a project it needs to have a strong value statement for each of them. Many senior academics, as community leaders, can be resistant to L&T development activities so creative ways of promoting their involvement need to be considered.

A pilot design for the process was refined in the Education Faculty to produce a collaborative, developmental peer review process, using protocols designed for the project that engage academics in two action learning cycles at least two weeks apart. Academics undertake experiential training prior to their engagement that demonstrates the instruments used and the supportive and collegial atmosphere that should be generated. Thus armed the project was launched into the Science, Environment, Engineering and Technology (SEET) disciplines after attracting an internal, GU L&T grant. Work is ongoing and data is being entered into a database to provide some insights into how those faculties might focus their L&T development dollars most effectively. Project evaluation to improve the peer review process is undertaken each semester using a PIRI cycle to collect data from participant experiences, student perceptions of effect, and project reference group input.

There was an initial goal to observe at least 40 SEET academics through the four semesters of the grant. After three semesters there have been 32 SEET academics observed, involving academic staff from across each discipline group in the university. So far 75 academics have taken part in 110

observations and have contributed extensive qualitative and quantitative data. I believe that this is a significant vote of confidence in the personally sensitive approach and design of the project. A friendly, personal approach to engaging academics’ involvement and to deal immediately with their questions and remove perceived roadblocks to their participation is of paramount importance.

What has this success meant? Increasing numbers of participants indicates an increasingly “open door” teaching culture. Project development has coincided with a sector wide focus on L&T quality and now the move of TEQSA towards the development of standards. These have influenced the inclusion of peer review of teaching within different organisations’ operational plans to help meet strategic goals. Within this facilitating context, several teaching focused communities of practice have adopted the peer review of teaching model as part of their regular activities. Outcomes include use of peer review generated evidence to support successful ALTC awards, promotion applications, and job applications. Dissemination of practice has been invited widely within the organisation and thanks to the HERDSA conference well beyond.

There is still much to achieve with this project and not every academic’s experience has been entirely positive. Work is under way to ensure the project continues to improve and that it can be embedded sustainably within the university’s operating context. As far as academic participation is concerned we have only just scratched the surface. Oh yes, and I did eventually get my own teaching observed. J

Steve Drew [email protected]

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Associate Professor Marjorie Diane Kibby Dr Marjorie Kibby is Associate Professor, and Head of the Discipline of Film, Media and Cultural Studies at the University of Newcastle, NSW. She is currently on secondment to the Centre for Teaching and Learning, working with them on a number of strategies designed to improve the student experience. She was one of the early adopters of online teaching in Australia and is an evangelist for the use of hybrid modes of teaching to facilitate effective learning. Her research is in the areas of online culture, including ARC funded research into the impact of the internet on music consumption. She has received several awards for her teaching, including an ALTC citation in 2009 for “engaging students in effective, innovative, online learning activities that facilitate situated cognition.”

Evaluation: Also noteworthy is Marjorie’s commitment to innovation and her authentic and appropriate use of technology to support her students’ learning.

There is also some nice evidence of a commitment to collecting and using appropriate student feedback and, more broadly, to a reflective approach to practice.

Dr. Mark A. MinottDr. Minott is an Associate Professor, co-programme developer and Teaching Practicum Coordinator in Teacher Education at the University College of the Cayman Islands. He has over twenty-four years of teaching experience at the Primary, Secondary and Higher Educational levels. He is passionate about reflective teaching and in aiding teachers in their quest to become reflective practitioners.

Aside from teaching, his eclectic work experience includes the role of Ministry Associate, Regional Dean and Lecturer at the International University of the Caribbean-Cayman Campus, and Lecturer and summer school Programme Coordinator at the School of Music, Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, Jamaica.

He has made academic and non-academic presentations in the United Kingdom, Guyana, Jamaica, Antigua & Barbuda, Trinidad and Tobago and the Cayman Islands. He has published extensively in the areas of Teacher Education, Reflective Teaching, Instructional Communication Technology in the Classroom, Higher Education and Church Music and the Arts in Education

Evaluation: His philosophy is grounded in theory and practice. Mark’s use of reflective practice was clear and it was apparent that his view of the key elements of excellent teaching related to addressing cognitive needs, active engagement and supporting students’ emotional and mental health.

Dr Susan BoltAs an early career academic, Dr Susan Bolt participated in the HERDSA Fellowship scheme because she wanted to be part of a relevant national higher education community of scholars and peers. She is the Academic Mentor Coordinator at Curtin Business School (CBS), which enrols approximately 16,000 students. As a Promoting Excellence Initiative (PEI) faculty mentor, she developed and implemented strategies to enhance the recognition of excellence in teaching, assisting academics in their applications for teaching and learning awards. Susan chairs the Curtin University Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Committee and is also Manager of the CBS Staff Experience, leading a team of researchers investigating quality teaching practices in CBS.

Evaluation: Susan submitted an exemplary portfolio. One of her assessors described Susan as: “... clearly a high-performing dedicated professional. Her passion for her vocation is clear and expressed in a variety of ways. Her drive and capacity for leadership is impressive and her openness and readiness to reflect and change is commendable. She is a credit to her institution and has maintained an impressive level of excellence.”

HERDSA Fellowships awarded at the Conference DinnerThree HERDSA Fellowships were awarded during the conference dinner. Unfortunately Mark Minott from the Cayman Islands could not be present to receive his award. The citations and brief biographies follow.

The HERDSA Weekly E-News

Posted every Wednesday

To subscribe go to

http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/herdsa

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Judy MullenUniversity of Wollongong

I attended the HERDSA conference for the first time this year based on the recommendation of a work colleague who had attended the previous year. She suggested that the conference would provide me with the necessary inspiration to further my research and teaching methods and to gain insights into the importance of teaching as an academic professional. She was right!

The HERDSA organising committee was overwhelmingly helpful, supportive and friendly with my registration needs. I was fortunate enough to attend two pre-conference workshops Leadership in Transnational Education: Strategies for balancing quality assurance with staff and student needs and Writing higher education differently. The first workshop facilitated by Shelley Yeo, Beena Gridharan and Peter Ling gave me a better understanding about the development of leadership responsibilities in transnational education and the internationalisation of higher education; and the second workshop facilitated by Helen Sword, expounded principles of academic writing which I intend to readily share with my higher degree students and fellow academics.

Throughout the proceedings I was amazed and humbled by the diversity of erudite academics who attended the conference from seventeen different countries. I enjoyed the conference presentations which dealt with the poignant and pressing issues of student engagement, leadership, and teaching/student evaluations. I found that the conference provided a supportive environment which was encouraging,

in because you are “Competing against the smartest people in the world who are willing to work themselves to death for free”. We hope this competitiveness also means a future of committed teachers and role models who can meet managerial objectives whilst inspiring students to learn.

Admittedly, much of the discussions focused on criticism and uncertainty, but we did find some things were being done well. For example, parental leave schemes in the higher education sector are more generous than those offered by other sectors. There are research and initiatives designed to support new academics. For example, Kathryn Sutherland’s session on early career academic development made us think about how we are encouraged by more experienced academics and university structures to be strategic about our research and teaching.

The weather, resort and catering were great, but we were too busy working to really make the most of the location. Being the nerdy types that we are, we sought additional resources - we were excited to pick up a couple of the new HERDSA guides and eagerly await the release of the e-copy of the HERD anthology. Presenting a poster and a paper between us, we enjoyed the questions, advice and discussions about our work. We expected to learn a lot but were delighted to contribute too! HERDSA delegates valued the knowledge of others (even novices!). Hearing the keynotes, especially Denise Bradley, motivated us to get back to work so we could start achieving. It also helped to make us aware of the big picture, and consider the future challenges facing universities, where “It won’t be safe, but it won’t be boring either”.

It was brilliant to be introduced to HERDSA and meet academics who have mastered the art of simultaneously being scholarly and collegial. To those of you who were able to attend, thank you for such a warm welcome. We look forward to seeing you all again in Tasmania.

Impressions and highlights from our first HERDSA conferenceBy Kate Thomson & Melanie Nguyen (University of Sydney)

At the HERDSA conference, Mel and I were fortunate to meet academics whose ideas and work we had read about and respected. A new level of reverence developed as we discovered they were interested in our PhD work, and surprisingly into music and dancing!

Talking to staff from the University of Trinidad and Tobago at the New Members’ Breakfast, we learned that other universities and countries were experiencing similar issues to our own. Attending their session re-emphasised the importance of supporting students as individuals even when we have to think more creatively about how to do so within the current structures. We also decided that our university should be able to organise its faculties, if other universities could manage 15 governments. At this breakfast, Robert Kennelly promoted the HERDSA fellowships ... the mentoring that comes with this fellowship sounds very attractive!

Ann Austin stated that staff are the heart of an institution, and throughout the conference, we observed many incredibly dedicated colleagues. Higher Education is a sector with endless possibilities and sufficient “people resources” or, to quote Andrew Vann, a difficult sector to work

Impressions of the ConferenceEach year two or three participants who are first time attendees at the conference are asked to write a short report of their impressions of the conference. These are the stories in 2011.

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and roundtables that considered issues pertinent to the ACTh.

The delegates at HERDSA 2011 readily included this “new boy” in the discussions, exemplifying the cooperative and collaborative spirit that exists among Australian higher education institutions endeavoring improve the quality of their teaching and learning activities.

The conference organisers did a marvellous job in their choice of venue, selection and organisation of papers, and gaining support from all the Queensland universities. The staff from Plevin and Associates and the Radisson were always most friendly and helpful.

All in all, I believe every delegate will have felt they were carefully considered and that their experience was truly meaningful. Having come to “the Edge”, I trust we are better equipped to “fly high” through what appears to be an uncertain and probably turbulent near future. I hope we will all land safely in Hobart at HERDSA 2012.

Dr Ken Wade, Quality ManagerThe Australian College of Theology

H E R D S A 2011 was the first HERDSA conference I, or anybody from my institution, has attended. The Australian College of T h e o l o g y (ACTh) was constituted in 1891 and is now a self-accrediting private higher education provider offering a range of courses from diploma to research doctorate levels which are delivered by seventeen independent Christian theological institutions across Australia and one in New Zealand.

I was attracted to HERDSA 2011 by the workshops were relevant to practices at the ACTh (Moodle, Moderation), the keynote speakers were addressing relevant and timely topics, and there were many papers

collaborative and relaxed. The invited symposium presentations were exceptional, as were the concurrent paper and poster sessions. I especially enjoyed the newly introduced “roundtable” discussions which were innovative forums that allowed free flowing, engaging and fruitful discourse on a range of important issues in academia.

One of the highlights at the conference was that I met many like minded academics. Sharing experiences with them during both the formal proceedings, as well as the social conference events, has opened my eyes to the myriad of possibilities and challenges that lie before me as an academic. It was heartening to listen to other academics, who like myself, recognise the complex issues that confront pedagogy in the higher education sector.

In short I had a great time and I learnt a lot. I also established many new relationships and rekindled old friendships that I have had for many years.

Thank you HERDSA for the opportunity and I will be back.

TATAL @ the ConferenceEditors Note. The format of this conference workshop introduced an innovation to the programme which others might consider following. It began with a three hour Pre-Conference workshop and then participants continued to meet for a session on each subsequent day of the conference. After the conference the group will continue to work together on their teaching through online contact. Participants thus had the opportunity of developing an issue in depth throughout the conference and forming a community of scholars. It would be useful to evaluate the effectiveness of this kind of format in a conference.

The HERDSA Branch of the ACT region facilitated a HERDSA TATAL at the Annual conference on the Gold Coast in early July. TATAL is Talking about teaching and learning. The program commenced on Monday 4th July 2011 with a pre conference workshop and continued on each day of the conference. The facilitators were: Coralie McCormack, Robert Kennelly and Thea Vanags from the University of Canberra.

The participants were from QUT, Avondale, Sydney University, University of Queensland and UWA.

TATAL workshops seek to develop cohorts of reflective practitioners who meet regularly to enhance their teaching and the learning of their students and to develop a teaching philosophy statement.

In the Pre-conference workshop facilitators and participants established a safe collaborative environment in which to investigate the challenges and successes of teaching and learning. Participants then began to construct their teaching philosophy statement by free writing their response to the questions: Why is being a teacher important to me? What personal experiences inform/motivate my teaching today? Why are these experiences important enough for me to remember them today? Participants shared, reflected and rewrote responses to the questions above and moved on to: What do I believe

about teaching? What do I believe about learning? Why do I hold these beliefs? How are your beliefs about learning and teaching played out in your teaching context?

At the end of this process participants had the notes necessary to begin to articulate a personal teaching philosophy statement.

Following the conference the HERDSA TATALers will continue to meet on Moodle with the initial aim of collaboratively completing on Teaching Philosophy statement.

HERDSA TATAL participants at the preconference workshop FR Glyn Thomas, Tony Succar, Kate Thomson, Josie Healy and Maria Northcote. BR Maria Avdjieva, Thea Vanags, Lee Partridge, Robert Kennelly, Iris Vardi, Annette Cook and Coralie McCormack.

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Minh in setting up Moodle and registering the participants and especially to the participants of HERDSA TATAL who rose to the occasion and found 7.5 hours in a busy conference program to talk about their teaching and learning.

For further information please contact [email protected]; [email protected]; or [email protected]

References

McCormack, C., & Kennelly, R. (2010). Talking about Teaching and Learning (TATAL) – The sequel. HERDSA News. 32, 3, 8–10.

McCormack, C., & Kennelly, R. (2009). Talking about Teaching and Learning (TATAL). HERDSA News, 31, 18–10.

McCormack, C., & Kennelly, R. (2011). “We must get together and really talk…”. Connection, engagement and safety sustain learning and teaching conversation communities. Reflective Practice, September (in press).

The facilitators look forward to providing the Organisers of the 2012 Tasmanian conference organisers with a proposal to run a similar program. The Authors wish to acknowledge Roger Landbeck for his continued support of TATAL groups and advertising for this group in particular, the 2011 conference organisers, previous TATALers who gave us the confidence to have a go, the HERDSA executive who have supported and assisted financially in the running of TATALs, the work of

By Geoffrey Crisp

ALTC, ERA and TEQSA: Where to from here?

HERDSA PRESiDEnt’S ADDRESS 2011

Introduction

The past 12 months since the last HERDSA conference in Melbourne has been an interesting

time for those involved at the scholarly end of educational practice. International colleagues will be looking with interest to recent developments in the Australian higher education sector, including the demise of the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC), the publication of the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) journal rankings, and the establishment of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA). There have been variations on these themes happening in other countries around the world, and higher education has found itself having to more frequently justify the level of public funding in education in the face of the global financial crisis and an increasing number of tragic natural disasters.

We can reflect on the impact that these human induced and natural disasters have on the public perception of increasing or even maintaining current funding levels for higher education teaching and research and whether competing priorities unduly influence decisions that ultimately are long term in their impact, such as the raising

of the general level of formal educational attainment of a population or expanding the pool of basic knowledge from which we will one day draw to find solutions to future problems and needs.

This short paper will reflect on three recent events in Australian higher education, the demise of the ALTC, the rise of ERA and the establishment of TEQSA and draw some observations of how these events might impact on HERDSA as we move towards the future.

Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC)The ALTC has without a doubt had a significant influence on learning and teaching in universities in Australia and beyond. The level of ALTC funding was modest compared to many other activities funded in the university sector and so the influence to cost ratio has been quite high. Although many people expected changes over time to ALTC programs and activities, few would have expected the overnight decision earlier this year by the Australian Government to obliterate such a successful and well entrenched part of the higher education sector. The

sector responded with incredulity to the decision and to the rationale given by the Government; that funds were needed for national reconstruction projects and the ALTC was an obvious candidate to sacrifice for the additional funds required. Although no one denied that significant funding was required to rebuild devastated parts on the country, the meagre crumbs that would be contributed by removing the ALTC were so insignificant that many people wondered if the Government had mixed up its press releases when the announcement was made! When funding for learning and teaching activities has been reduced in the past a small protest might be heard from a few dedicated individuals, but this time the reaction from the sector was quite different. It is this point that is worth reflecting on as it may represent a change in approach for many academics when dealing with the political realities that inevitably confront universities. Although long and learned protest articles where written to newspapers and magazines explaining why the closure of the ALTC was counterproductive, there were two actions that changed the way academics brought their message to a more influential audience. Professor Peter Goodyear from the University of Sydney showed how the web and social media might

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Specialist Studies in Education 1303

Organic Chemistry 0305 Law 1801

Total 314 41 1167A* 6 2% 5 12% 50 4%A 45 14% 3 7% 152 13%B 108 34% 13 32% 320 27%C 156 50% 19 46% 636 54%

be used to influence political decisions and focus attention on an issue. He initiated the GetUp! campaign (http://www.getup.org.au) that saw over 1100 supporters voice their concerns on a public website. This public discussion of why the ALTC was so important to the higher education sector helped bring out suggestions that lead to the next action that was to have a direct impact on the ultimate decision to retain much of the funding allocated to ALTC (although still closing the ALTC and simply moving the majority of the funding into a Government agency). Academics experience firsthand the power that can be wielded by independent politicians and minority parties when the Government is dependent on their support to stay in power. Academics lobbied their local members and targeted the independents and minority parties in parliament to retain the ALTC or at least maintain the activities that had been so successful for the ALTC. This strategic use of the political process was new for many academics and highlighted how we might think about working in the future.

What of HERDSA and the demise of the ALTC? A key role of the ALTC was to assist the Australian higher education sector develop communities of practice and to promote the sharing and adaptation of learning and teaching resources. These objectives have been realised with many active networks now functioning with a strong foundation of collaboration in order to promote teaching excellence. ALTC made a modest but strategically significant investment in establishing and building these communities and it is important that the momentum and goodwill already established by these networks is not allowed to dissipate. Various national groups, including HERDSA, should work to continue to provide a high level of visibility and support for collaborative engagement around learning and teaching

in higher education. HERDSA can assist in this process by actively supporting regional networks through local HERDSA branches and by funding local events that bring together key players and participants involved in enhancing educational practice.

Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA)Governments are always keen to find accessible ways to demonstrate to the public that their taxes are being put to good use. Although the public is likely to accept the premise that fundamental research is likely to be a good thing and that advances in health, well-being and prosperity are dependent on the new ideas generated by such fundamental research, the issue of how we determine the quality of outputs from research funding while waiting for their use in a more visible context is a matter of ongoing discussion. The Australian Government has borrowed and melded approaches from other parts of the world to implement the ERA process. A component of this process involves ranking scholarly journals as they are the repositories for much of the output from research funding in Australia. There is nothing more likely to foster intense discussion amongst academics than a process that assigns a quantitative measure to the quality of journals in which the academics have papers.

The ranking of scholarly journals has a direct impact on the behaviour of researchers looking to publish their output; it also has a direct impact on institutional internal processes associated with the promotion of academics, the allocation of funding for research support and conference attendance, and the division of workload within a School or Discipline. The basic fact is journal rankings matter because they impact on the day to day decisions in a university. From the perspective of the Government, the ranking of journals allows them to

justify funding decisions using a perceived quantitative measure of quality. This will make the decisions of the Government appear more reasonable in the public arena; this is despite the fact that different journals have different audiences and different reasons for existing. If the aim of ranking journals is to encourage academics to only publish in A or A* journals, then many of the important outputs that influence practices in numerous disciplines will be diminished. We are all aware that not every piece of research warrants being published in an A or A* journal, but much of the type of the research published in journals with a B or C ranking will influence the understandings and practices of those in the disciplines and so advance the pool of knowledge from which we may draw when seeking solutions or inspiration.

This is not a plea to stop journal rankings, nor is it a plea that all journals should be equal. It is stating the obvious; that different journals have different purposes and while it may be reasonable to use journal rankings for some purposes, universities and governments should give recognition to the diversity of purpose of dissemination pathways for scholarly activity. The use of journal rankings for purposes for which they were not intended will adversely impact on the long term pool of knowledge from which scholars will draw into the future.

Higher Education Research and Development (HERD), the HERDSA scholarly journal, has an A ranking at the present time. This has been determined through the ARC protocols and will no doubt be subjected to review along with all the other journals during the next phase of ARC consultations. HERD belongs to the Field of Research code 1303, along with 313 other journals. There are many experts who have analysed the journal rankings looking for patterns, but one particular pattern that may interest HERDSA members is the

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that HERDSA and its members have a part to play in national debates on strategic issues and has a history of providing opportunities for collegial exchanges of ideas and approaches. The scholarly approach to educational research is a fundamental principle upon which HERDSA functions, and the TEQSA agenda provides a significant opportunity for HERDSA, through its journal, conference and branch activities, to contribute quality data and analysis so that appropriate decisions can be made in relation to the adoption and use of standards.

Relevant linkshttp://www.altc.edu.auhttp://www.arc.gov.au/era/era_journal_

list.htmh t t p : / / w w w . d e e w r . g o v . a u /

HigherEducation/Policy/teqsa/Pages/TEQSALegislation.aspx

http://suggest.getup.org.auGeoffrey Crisp is Dean of Learning and Teaching at RMIT University. He served as President of HERDSA from 2009 to 2011.

Contact: [email protected]

higher education providers, monitor quality and set standards. It is this final role that is attracting the attention of the discipline areas at the moment as we grapple with the issue of defining standards for student learning outcomes across all the diverse disciplines that make up higher education. Few would argue against the premise that students are entitled to a high quality education, irrespective of the particular provider. Yet we all know that the quality of the student learning outcomes can vary within an institution, as well as between institutions. A fundamental question is whether quality can be regulated through an agency; it can certainly be monitored or at least investigated, but the difference between standards and standardisation has been highlighted throughout the discussions associated with the setting up of TEQSA.

What is the role of HERDSA in the TEQSA agenda? HERDSA gathers together scholars who are able to provide an evidence-based approach to investigating the issue of standards in relation to student learning outcomes and the quality of teaching. This is not to imply HERDSA is the sole source for this investigation; it simply highlights

percentage of journals that fall within each band. In the table below, two other Field of Research codes are compared to 1303; 0305 is Organic Chemistry, with a relatively small number of only 41 journals, and 1801 is Law with a large group of 1167 journals. The percentage of journals falling within the A*/A, B and C bands is roughly similar; the largest variation being in the A* category, which is probably not too surprising. What is obvious from this small data subset is that approximately 80% of scholarly output is published in non A/A* journals. Changes in the behaviour of academics publishing in B and C ranked journals will have an enormous impact on the pool of scholarly output from which future researchers will draw.

Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA)

The Australian Government has established a new national regulatory and quality agency for higher education, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA). TEQSA will be different from any of its predecessors, with powers to regulate university and non-university

From the New President – Shelda Debowski

I am delighted to have returned to the role of HERDSA President after two years away. Geoff Crisp has made

the process particularly easy, given his careful stewardship of the Committee and HERDSA’s management during his term of office. He and his committee have continued to refine and tighten various elements of HERDSA’s operations. I would like to acknowledge the work of the departing committee and the contribution they have made to HERDSA’s ongoing development.

This is certainly a time of growth and opportunity, with the new committee and HERD editorial team getting established. There are many ideas to be included in the new strategic plan – drawing on the advice of the previous committee and the input from the HERDSA community. The committee will also be very active in developing and implementing a new project that has been funded by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council for the

coming 2.5 years. The project is directed toward facilitating advocacy and leadership to enhance learning and teaching in the higher education community – continuing the good work undertaken by the ALTC. HERDSA will also be strongly linked to other networks that have successfully bid for different elements of the ALTC activities, so that we preserve the legacy that the ALTC has generated.

HERDSA is also located within a broader higher education landscape. As a member of the International Consortium for Educational Development (ICED), it is active in promoting quality enhancements to higher education here and across the world. There is considerable potential to build more collaboration across the different national networks and to support the development of higher education in emergent nations. Australia and New Zealand are particularly well placed to build stronger partnerships with their Asian neighbours, and we hope to build a

stronger profile of key sources of expertise to encourage that interchange.

These are just a few preliminary ideas. If you wish to input into the new strategic plan, please email me at [email protected], so that your ideas can be integrated. Your committee is keen to support your needs as best it can. Your ideas would be greatly appreciated. I look forward to your email and encourage you to share the priorities you would like to see enacted so that HERDSA reflects your needs and ongoing development.

With best wishes

Winthrop Professor Shelda Debowski

President, Higher Education Research and Develpoment Society of Australasia and

Winthrop Professor (Higher Education Development)

University of Western Australia



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Welcome to the New Executive

The newly elected Executive Committee took office at the recent Gold Coast Conference. They have

written profiles about themselves so that HERDSA Members can learn more about their elected representatives.

At the first meeting of the new Executive the following officers were elected:

Vice President: Stanley Frielick (New Zealand).

Executive Officer: Iris Vardi (WA).

Treasurer: Deb Clarke (NSW).

Shelda Debowski, PresidentShelda is Winthrop Professor (Higher E d u c a t i o n D e v e l o p m e n t ) and Director of Organisational and Staff Development Services at the University of Western Australia. Since commencing at UWA in 2003 she has directed a broad range of activities relating to academic development, including teaching and learning for three years. In recent years, she has focused on building new approaches to academic leadership support, organisational change and researcher development. She will be undertaking a Churchill Fellowship in 2012 to explore international strategies that assist the developmental needs of researchers and is currently writing a book for new academics, to be published by McGraw Hill / Open University Press in 2012.

Shelda spent many years lecturing in teacher librarianship and human resource management before moving to her current role. She has previously served HERDSA as its President (2005 – 2009) and was also President of the International Consortium for Educational Development (ICED) from 2008 – 2010.

Deb ClarkeDr Deb Clarke is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Human Movement Studies (SHMS) at Charles Sturt University, (CSU) Bathurst NSW. She is the course coordinator of the Graduate Certificate in University Learning and Teaching (GCULT), and teaches in both this course and in the Bachelor of Education (Health & Physical Education) secondary course. Deb currently supervises six PhD students and three Honours students whose theses relate to pedagogy, leadership, curriculum design, discourse analysis and communities of practice. Her own research is in the area of practice-based education, curriculum design and authentic assessment.

Deb has been the recipient of an Australian Learning & Teaching Council (ALTC) Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning (2008), a NSW Prime Minister’s Teaching Excellence Award (2004), a Vice Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence Award (2003 & 2006) in two tertiary institutions, a CSU Faculty of Education Teaching Excellence Award (2006), and an Australian College of Educators’ (ACE) Quality Teaching Award (2004). Deb is currently CSU’s ALTC award and grants facilitator and was the Project Leader of the ALTC Promoting Excellence Initiative (PEI) during 2009–2010. She has been the secretary of the Australian Teacher Education Association (ATEA) 2008–2011, as well as a member of the conference organising committee in 2004 and 2009. Deb’s research and teaching has now shifted to the field of Higher Education and she wishes to serve this community in assisting early career researchers to engage in the scholarship of teaching.

When there are a few spare minutes Deb spends time working on her property with alpacas, sheep, ducks, chooks, and five dogs (the fluffies!) as well as training for dragon boat regattas.

Marcia DevlinI currently hold the Chair in Higher Education Research at Deakin University in Victoria, Australia. Previously, I was Associate Professor and Director of the Teaching and Learning Unit in the Faculty of Business and Economics and Deputy Director of the Centre for the Study of Higher Education, both at The University of Melbourne. As a qualified psychologist with a PhD in higher education, my research involves theoretical, conceptual and practical investigations into contemporary higher education, pedagogy, curriculum, policies and practices. I have worked in the sector for just over 20 years. I am currently a Chief Investigator on an Australian Research Council (ARC) grant examining federal migration policies and their impact on international students and director of a national Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) grant on effective teaching and support of university students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. I am also a team member on a second ALTC grant on leadership in teaching and learning. I sit on several Advisory and Editorial Boards, including the Inaugural Editorial Board of the Australian Journal of Indigenous Education and the Inaugural Advisory Board of the International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education. A broad and extensive record in the higher education field incorporates more than 200 publications on higher education policy, interdisciplinarity, equity, academic development, university teaching and student engagement and learning. I also write regularly for the United Kingdom-based Society for Research into Higher Education as one of

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their international column contributors and am frequently interviewed and quoted in the national media in Australia. I believe HERDSA has a critical role to play in maintaining and extending the work undertaken by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council, in promoting high quality research into higher education, in supporting branches to develop and deliver to members in regionally relevant ways and in proactively encouraging members to contribute to the sector in various ways. I am very excited about, and grateful for, the opportunity to contribute to HERDSA’s role through being a member of the Executive.

Stanley FrielickStanley Frielick (PhD MA BA(Hons) HDipEd(PG) BA) is Director of Learning and Teaching at AUT University in Auckland – a central role in a network of staff, students and enabling technologies that increases the capability of the university for educational development and innovation. His career spans a range of activity, including Associate Dean (Undergraduate) in the Faculty of Health & Environmental Sciences at AUT, Director of e-Learning at NorthTec, and lecturer in the Centre for Professional Development at the University of Auckland. Before coming to New Zealand in 1997 he worked as a lecturer in the Academic Development Centre and the department of African Literature at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

His PhD research is in the area of academic development where he developed a new ecological model of university teaching and learning, and applied this to the development of post-graduate certificates in higher education and e-learning. His current research interest is in how ecological / biological understandings of cognition interrelate with the affordances of social media to create new modes of learning, and what these might mean for the future of higher education. He has over 50 papers and publications and contributes as a referee for HERD, IJAD, and HERDSA and other conferences. Stanley is @enactivist

on Twitter and has a blog at www.enactivist.net.

Stanley joined HERDSA in 1998 and has served continuously on the NZ branch committee since then, holding the office of Secretary (2000 – 2004, and 2010 – present) and Chair (2006 – 2009). He was on the HERDSA conference committee for the NZ conferences in 1998, 2003 and 2008. He represents HERDSA on the Northern Regional Hub of Ako Aotearoa and the NZ Government Tertiary e-Learning Reference Group.

Along with Tony Harland and Kathryn Sutherland he co-founded the annual Tertiary Education Research in New Zealand (TERNZ) conference in 2002, which since 2007 has become the annual conference of the HERDSA NZ branch. He maintains the HERDSA NZ branch website at www.herdsa.org.nz

Stanley’s ideas for HERDSA include:

• Preserve and extend the mission of HERDSA in fostering a scholarly approach to the advancement of higher education.

• Encourage more local activities in regional networks by increasing the use of web and social media tools to enhance communication across the members.

• Continue to develop closer links with agencies such as Ako Aotearoa in NZ (and structures that may replace ALTC in Australia) to ensure that government places a high priority on the support of higher education research and development.

Sue JonesSusan (Sue) Jones is Professor and current Head of the School of Zoology at the University of Tasmania. She is also ALTC Discipline Scholar for Science, and has very much enjoyed the challenge of working on the ALTC Learning and Teaching Academic Standards (LTAS) Project. Through a collaborative process, the LTAS Science Project has developed national threshold learning outcomes for bachelor-level science graduates.

Sue’s personal contributions to university teaching have recognised by several major awards, including the 2008 ALTC National Award for Teaching Excellence ((Biological Sciences, Health and Related Studies) and a Carrick Citation. She is proud to be a HERDSA Fellow, having renewed her fellowship in 2009.

She has a BSC (Hons) in Zoology from the University of Tasmania, and a PhD from the Australian National University. She ran the Endocrinology Laboratory at the Royal Hobart Hospital for three years before taking a career break to have her children. She has worked at the University of Tasmania since 1987, beginning as a casual laboratory demonstrator. She currently teaches first, second and third year Zoology students, as well as supervising higher degree candidates. Her disciplinary research interests are in reproductive endocrinology and physiology of terrestrial vertebrates. Her research group works primarily on viviparous lizards and marsupials., with a particular focus on the evolution of the placenta.

Peter KandlbinderPeter Kandlbinder is a Senior Lecturer in the Institute for Interactive Media and Learning at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). He has worked for a number of other universities in Australia and the South Pacific in more than 20 years of working the field of academic development. Like many others Peter came to academic development from secondary school teaching after an earlier career in the printing industry. He has experience in supporting academics in developing their capabilities in digital media, assessing student learning, problem-based learning, postgraduate supervision and other forms of small group learning. His broad research interest is in using the research traditions from the arts and humanities to investigate questions in higher education teaching and learning. This research has made a significant contribution to understanding how the field of higher education developed and achieved credibility, including the concepts which frame the curriculum of Graduate Certificates in Higher Education

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Teaching and Learning courses in the UK, Australia and NZ.

Peter has been a member of HERDSA since 1996 and an Executive member since 2009. He is a regular contributor to HERDSA News, which he co-edited with Maureen Bell in November 2008. He is a regular reviewer for Higher Education Research and Development and is an Associate Editor, Opinion Pieces and Research Notes for the International Journal for Academic Development. Peter was also a co-editor of oral histories for the HERDSA oral history project which was published as “Make a Place: An Oral History of Academic Development in Australia”. More recently he compiled and edited the “Higher Education Research and Development Anthology” with Tai Peseta.

Robert KennellyRetired and Adjunct at University of Canberra, ACT.

I am an inaugural HERDSA Fellow and have been a member of the HERDSA Executive since March 2006 investing my time in the development of the HERDSA fellowships and raising the profile of the ACT Branch. My goal in my final 9 months with the executive is to advise and support the new Fellowships committee with the development and improvement of the Fellowships scheme in particular the renewal process and preparations for the external review of the scheme. I have a particular research interest in the development of reflective teachers, and value the importance of HERDSA members maintaining a portfolio of their teaching and learning in a collaborative supportive environment.

In retirement I continue to research in the discipline of management and marketing at the University of Canberra. My practically oriented research is more into my teaching than it is to my discipline. I continue to support a discipline support program for mainstream second language students (EAL) studying Introduction to Management.

In 2004 and 2005 I worked as the academic developer at Trinity College in Dublin. My main activities were:

1. Delivering Introduction to Teaching and Learning for new academics

2. Pioneering Trinity’s first program on Teaching Portfolios with Reflective Practice.

3. Running developmental activities for new Heads of Departments, and

4. Running of workshops for Teaching Assistants on a departmental basis.

With the cooperation from colleagues of different ACT universities we have been able to resurrect the HERDSA ACT Branch with a program of seminars which includes the development of groups of reflective practitioners. The groups known as TATALs, Talking About Teaching and Learning, are designed to encourage and support the collaborative reflection on an academic’s teaching and learning. Apart from improving student learning in our universities it gives staff an opportunity to be better prepared for promotion, ALTC awards, grants and HERDSA Fellowships. Coralie McCormack (a new executive member from the university of Canberra) Thea Vanags and myself piloted a HERDSA TATAL at the conference on the Gold Coast this year. Please read the article elsewhere in this newsletter.

My teaching philosophy is learner centred, interactive and based on the belief that students take a deep motivated orientation to learning where their an interest has been engaged.

Coralie McCormackI am an Associate Professor in the Teaching and Learning Centre (TLC) at the University of Canberra with a background of fifteen years in academic development. Teaching has always been part of my life whether as a secondary geography teacher, computer programmer, literacy volunteer, coach or academic developer. In the TLC I specialise in capacity building for leadership in learning and teaching through institutional and national teaching awards schemes, programs for early career academics and staff new to the role of higher degree by research supervisor and teaching and learning communities of practice. This includes convening the Graduate Certificate

in Tertiary Education, a shared vision of the four participating universities (University of New England, University of Central Queensland, University of Canberra and Edith Cowan University) to provide a high quality qualification in tertiary teaching and learning to lecturers in their institutions.

I am also actively engaged in higher education research. As a narrative inquirer I believe learners and teachers construct and reconstruct knowledge through stories. Narrative approaches to teaching and research are my passion. Current individual research projects focus on the impacts of formal award courses for university teachers and of teaching award schemes; evaluation of higher degree by research supervision, and research and teaching communities of practice. I am also a member of two ALTC collaborative projects: Internationalisation at Home: Enhancing Intercultural Capabilities of Business and Health Teachers, Students and Curricula and Bringing peer review of teaching out of the closet: A project to encourage and support greater participation in peer review of teaching at the University of Canberra.

I have been an active member of HERDSA for over ten years but until now I felt I didn’t have time to be an active and effective Executive Member. I now have that time. So I am keen to apply my knowledge to build leadership capacity within the HERDSA community, to explore professional development for fellowship portfolio assessors and to establish a community of practice for HERDSA Fellows, and to contribute to an investigation of new publication opportunities and creative opportunities to add value to existing publications.

Two recent activities have provided a strong base to work in the HERDSA Fellowships portfolio. In collaboration with HERDSA ACT I initiated (with the president of ACT HERDSA) TATAL (Talking about Teaching and Learning), a network of ACT region learning and teaching leaders. TATAL has established three cohorts of reflective practitioners. Each cohort works together over a year to produce a teaching philosophy statement and a teaching portfolio and, each cohort has sustained its activities beyond the initial year. Two of the groups include members who are working towards submission of a HERDSA fellowship application. Others have built on their TATAL learning to prepare successful

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national and institutional teaching award applications. In addition, as manager of the University of Canberra teaching awards scheme I work with institutional and national teaching award applicants to improve their teaching by enhancing their understandings about teaching and learning and their understandings about themselves as teachers. Working in this way to prepare a teaching award application, as our evaluation of the TATAL groups has also shown, can change the way teachers interact with their teaching.

I think this is a particularly “interesting” time in the higher education sector and believe it is essential that HERDSA is an active member of the sector engaging with learning and teaching issues, even the difficult ones.

Rachel Spronken-SmithAssociate Professor Rachel Spronken-Smith (PhD Geography, PGDip Tertiary Teaching) is Head of the Higher Education Development Centre (HEDC) at the University of Otago. She works as an academic staff developer, with higher education research interests in aspects of the student experience, learning through inquiry, and the teaching-research nexus. Her teaching includes contributions to professional development workshops for academic staff and postgraduate students, the postgraduate programmes in tertiary teaching, and undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in geography. She also has responsibility (joint with Human Resources) for Women’s Professional Development at Otago.

Prior to her Otago position, Rachel lectured for nine years in Geography at the University of Canterbury. Her research was focused on micrometeorology and air quality. Her teaching was recognised with a University of Canterbury Teaching Award in 2002 and a nomination for a National Award for Teaching Innovation in 2003.

Outside of work, Rachel is married and has two children, two hairy mutts and a cat. She still plays netball and enjoys reading, walking and ski-ing.

Rachel has been a member of the HERDSA New Zealand committee since 2004. She is looking forward to working with the HERDSA Executive to ensure members are well served, and to promote the field of Higher Education throughout Australasia.

Glyn ThomasGlyn Thomas has worked in a wide range of educational contexts including: schools, not-for-profit organisations, small business, and higher education. Currently, he is a Senior Lecturer with the Teaching and Educational Development Institute with the University of Queensland. His research interests include from facilitation, facilitator education, experiential education, outdoor environmental education, and most recently the widening participation agenda in higher education. He is currently one of the editors for the Journal of Experiential Education and was the editor for the Australian Journal of Outdoor Education between 2004–2010. I am keen through my role at UQ, and with the HERDSA executive, to continue to raise the profile of research and scholarship in higher education. I am particularly interested in the intersection of equity and teaching and learning issues.

Iris VardiDr Iris Vardi is Manager of the Learning and Teaching Centre at Curtin University of Technology in Western Australia. She has had over 20 years experience in education having worked as a secondary teacher, lecturer, tutor, academic skills adviser, manager, academic staff developer and educational consultant.

Her research interests lie in the areas of tertiary literacy, approaches to teaching and their impact on learning outcomes, assessment and feedback, the first year experience, and critical thinking and problem solving.

She has been actively involved in HERDSA since 2001 through her involvement on

the WA HERDSA executive and the 2006 HERDSA conference committee. In both 2008 and 2009, she undertook the role of President of HERDSA WA reinvigorating the state executive and branch. In 2010 she stepped back to be Vice-President of the WA branch which remains a highly vibrant branch. She joined the national executive in 2009 and undertook the role of Chair of the Membership Portfolio for her two year term of office. During that time she was also Guest Editor for a Special HERD edition on the Scholarship of Teaching which was published in 2011.

She is looking forward to working with the new executive and undertaking a new role on the HERDSA executive in her next two year term of office.

In addition to the elected members of the Executive there are three ex officio officers: Allan Goody, Chair of the Occasional Publications Committee, Barbara Grant, Executive Editor of HERD and Roger Landbeck, Editor of HERDSA News and Moderator of the Weekly Email News. Here are their profiles.

Allan GoodyOriginally from central Queensland, I started in academia as a senior tutor in agribusiness at Muresk Institute (Curtin University) in the early 1980s after a short career as an accountant. I was told I was not boring enough to be an accountant (no offence to my accounting friends!) but I quickly found that teaching was what I enjoyed. I also realised that I had no idea what I was doing. During my 29 years as an academic, I have been fortunate to live and work in North America, Sweden and Australia, travel the world and meet countless people. These collective experiences and conversations guide my work and add to my understanding of what teaching and learning is all about. My work is also influenced by a deep personal and professional commitment to social justice, equity and diversity within and beyond higher education. I became involved in academic development while studying in the USA and much of my work has focused on the preparation of academics to teach in higher education. I have come full-circle and currently work part-time

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across into academic staff development, with a strong interest in tutor (small group teaching) preparation, supervision practice and academic writing productivity.

Alongside the teaching, Barbara completed both an MA and a PhD with a higher education focus. Her writing and research interests are framed by post-critical theories of higher education and focus on graduate supervision, research identities and academic development – although she has written on other aspects of higher education as well (such as lectures) and on social science methodologies (with her colleague, Associate Professor Lynne Giddings).

Barbara has been a Co-Editor of the International Journal for Academic Development since mid-2009 – a role which showed her the pleasures and opportunities of editorial work. Anticipating a move from academic development to higher education made applying for a similar role on Higher Education Research & Development a logical step – thereby following through on a plan that had been discussed with colleagues in NZ the last time the position became vacant. In taking up the role of Executive Editor of HERD, Barbara is lucky to have the companionship and support of a team of five other diverse yet like-minded and lively colleagues.

At the end of July this year, Barbara leaves CAD to take up a position as Associate Professor in her University’s Faculty of Education. In this role she will develop courses on tertiary/higher education and work with colleagues to establish a stronger

higher education research presence in the Faculty.

Roger LandbeckI have been Editor of HERDSA News since 1998 after I retired from being Director of the Centre for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching at the University of the South Pacific (USP) from 1992 to 1997. In 2002 I also took on the role of Moderator of the HERDSA eList which has since become the Weekly Email News with around 1950 subscribers at present. While at USP I collaborated with France Mugler, a linguist, in a research project into how students learn in the South Pacific which resulted in a number of publications. In 2005 I was honoured to become a Life Member of HERDSA, which I first joined back in 1975.

I am married to Margaret and live on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland where I enjoy riding my bike. I also am compiling a scrapbook with Margaret for each of our four sons. We are both members of the Buddies Refugee Support Group seeking to contribute towards a humane and just outcome for refugees and asylum seekers. Until recently I was an active member of the Light Horse Troop in Maleny but unfortunately riding has now become more difficult for me.

at Curtin contributing to teaching and learning development and scholarship. In a private capacity I also undertake a range of consultancies including work in Singapore. I have been the Convening Editor of the HERDSA Guides series since 2002 and in that time we have published 12 Guides with four in development. The Guides make a significant contribution to HERDSA not just financially but in disseminating the good practice of our members. The authors give their time and knowledge freely so that others can share in their good work and develop their own practice. As an editor my own knowledge is always expanding. On a personal note, I love to travel and that is where I have found my life balance; some might say tipped a bit too far on the travel side!

Barbara GrantBarbara Grant is currently a Senior Lecturer and academic advisor in the Academic Practice Group/Centre for Academic Development at The University of Auckland (Aotearoa/New Zealand). In this capacity she has worked with either students or staff at the University for over 25 years. Barbara came to university teaching from several years of primary school teaching and was initially part of a small team that set up the Student Learning Centre. After 10 years of student-focused work, she moved

Third place: Moving Forward - A widening participation initiative for primary aged pupils Lesley-Anne Holder and Carole Nairn, University of Chichester, UK.

Poster Award Winners

Second place: Indigenous students and accessibility. Roslyn Sackley and Judith Booth, Macquarie University.


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HERDSA Branch News July 2011

New ZealandChair: Tony Harland

HERDSA NZ members Stanley Frielick and Rachel Spronken-Smith have now joined the

HERDSA executive.

HERDSA NZ is holding a new Research Development Symposium on 15th and 16th September and the HERDSA-TERNZ annual conference will take place on 23rd to 25th November at Victoria University, Wellington. Professor Stephen Rowland and Gille Bolton will be at the conference. TERNZ is New Zealand’s annual national higher education conference.

Contact Tony Harland: [email protected]

Hong Kong Chair: Anna Siu Fong KWAN

A one-day symposium Engaging Undergraduates in Research And Inquiry: A Scholarly Dialogue was held in May. This event was hosted by the Center of Enhanced Learning and Teaching, the Hong Kong

University of Science and Technology, with HERDSA (Hong Kong) as a co-organiser.

The event was a great success. The introductory address Nature and Development of Undergraduate Research and Inquiry: Mapping the Territory by Professor Mick Healey was inspiring. The participants were actively involved in the group discussion to share their experiences and views on Undergraduate Research, Capstone Projects/Final Year Projects and Problem Based Learning). During this event, the HERDSA brochures and the HERDSA (Hong Kong) leaflets were distributed to participants to promote HERDSA.

An Executive Committee Meeting was held in June to plan for activities in the coming year and beyond. The next activity will be a dinner dialogue on Teaching Assistant Programme in October and Work-Integrated Learning in March 2012. It was also proposed to hold a HERDSA Conference in Hong Kong in the future.

HERDSA Hong Kong invites HERDSA members who are working or will be working in Hong Kong to connect with

us. We would really like to meet with them in our coming activities. Please visit our website for more details.

Contact Anna Kwan: [email protected]

HERDSA HK website: http://herdsahk.edublogs.org/2010/09/

South Australia Chair: Dale Wache

A tri-institutional event was held at UniSA City West with the first meeting of academic developers who work at the three South Australian universities. Fourteen participants shared ideas about contextualised practice at the three centres and the event was a good networking opportunity.

In August the second Tri-institutional event will be held at Flinders University and on 28–30 September there will be a HERDSA SA Panel at the ERGA Conference: Transformations at the University of Adelaide. The third event will be in November at Adelaide University.

HERDSA Hong Kong branch symposium HERDSA Vic executive: Joan Richardson, Elizabeth Santhanam, Judy Lyons, Yvonne Hodgson, Di Waddell, Liz Levin, Robyn Benson, Jan Schapper. Absent: Catherine Lang, Susan Mayson, Peter Ling, Muyesser Durur.


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Contact Dale Wache: [email protected]

Victoria Chair: Dianne (Di) Waddell

The 12 member executive of the Victoria branch have met twice this year to reflect on activities from 2010 and plan the agenda for 2011. The first event was co-hosted by HERDSA Vic branch together with the Victorian Educational and Academic Development (VEAD) network. The meeting was held in April at Deakin University and began with the popular HERDSA network lunch sponsored by the Victoria Branch, providing a great opportunity to reacquaint and meet others from across the sector. The meeting was addressed by Professor Colin Mason, Director, Teaching and Learning at Deakin; Deakin’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Jane den Hollander; Professor Mason, a former secretary of the Scottish Higher Educational Developers (SHED) and Associate Professor Dianne Waddell, president of HERDSA Vic. The theme of the day was Transition to Teaching and Early Career Foundations for Career Development. Discussion related to existing resources, cross institutional collaboration, and the potential of cross-institutional cohorts of cognate discipline-based staff in learning teams.

The branch has adopted a theme Networking for Education Research. Events will provide a springboard for research, opportunities for networking and hence development of research opportunities. The most recent branch event, Changing landscape in higher education: Research opportunities? Took place in July and presenters including Emeritus

Professor John Rickard who offered the Private Provider perspective and Dr Leone English who provided the TAFE perspective. This event built our engagement with TAFE and Private Providers; supported the development of an understanding of current issues in post secondary education; and set up an environment to foster research. There has been great interest in this event from educators across the tertiary sector.

Contact Dianne (Di) Waddell: [email protected]

West Australia Chair: Rashmi Watson

HERDSA WA has had an active first half of 2011. In April the first HERDSA Scholarship Profiled seminar series titled Engaging students, and lecture attendance, in a changing world was presented by one of our committee members, Rob Phillips, at Murdoch University. We had excellent attendance and great networking conversations during and after the session. The seminar proceedings can be accessed from the HERDSA WA web page.

In May, we held a half-day special event workshop on Maximising Teaching Effectiveness through an Appreciative Inquiry Approach by Nicholas Holton, Kirtland College, Michigan, US. Nicholas was highly engaging and kept the group active throughout the session. There were many positive comments about the value of the workshop and its practical application. In June, Anne Tierney from The University of Glasgow presented a seminar Teaching in the biosciences: development of networking events for postgraduates and postdoctoral fellows. During the session, Anne explained the

utilisation of their postgraduate students as tutors in many of their courses and the need to support them in their teaching practices. Again, this was an interesting seminar and one where we were reminded of our commonalities related to teaching and learning support in higher education on an international level.

In July HERDSA WA hosted a session with Mick Healey, Emeritus Professor at the University of Gloucestershire, UK on Issues in developing an inclusive curriculum for all our student”. Mick will be running several workshops during his time in Perth. The second half of the year will be just as busy with the national conference and further WA events. We look forward to seeing you soon at one of our WA events.

Contact Rashmi Watson: [email protected]

HERDSA WA branch website: http://our.murdoch.edu.au/Educational-Development/ALTC-funding-and-awards/HERDSA-WA/

NSWNSW-based members of HERDSA met at the HERDSA conference on the Gold Coast to discuss possibilities for future events and activities and the formal establishment of a HERDSA branch. It is planned to hold an event at the University of Sydney in September/October. Following the format of the April relaunch of HERDSA NSW at UNSW, this will likely consist of a late afternoon event consisting of a main speaker, followed by some discussion of HERDSA topics, including the fellowship programme. Meeting attendees expressed enthusiasm for the shift from AUQA to

Professor Jane den Hollander addressing the VEAD network NSW HERDSA members meet at the HERDSA conference


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presenters had the opportunity for a trial run.

This year the branch will again be holding a symposium with ALTC award winners, ALTC project leaders and HERDSA Fellows celebrating teaching excellence at the ANU as in previous years. Three TATALs are now operating with the HERDSA TATAL meeting on line. The first of the TATALs (2008) is now writing a HERDSA guide Using Stories in Teaching.

Contact Robert Kennelly:[email protected]; [email protected]

[email protected] and ask to be on this email list.

Contact Shirley Scott: [email protected]

ACT Chair: Robert Kennelly

ACT Branch facilitated a successful HERDSA pre-conference workshop entitled Talking about teaching and learning. Prior to the conference the branch held a preconference seminar at which three

TEQSA as a topic of relevance and interest to all members. Alison Kuiper, University of Sydney, has also undertaken to investigate video-conferencing or skype as a way of facilitating participation by those outside the Sydney area.

The new branch plans to establish an email list of NSW HERDSA members who would like to be kept informed of future activities. This will be on an opt-in basis. NSW members who would like to be informed about HERDSA NSW activities please email Peter Kandlbinder: peter.

By Peter Ling

Report on Council of Australian Directors of Academic Development Workshop Professional Development for Academic Developers Gold Coast 7 and 8 July 2011

Editors Note. I asked two participants to write a report of the workshop. The first is by Peter Ling and the second by Denise Chalmers, one of the organisers of the workshop.

With 70 participants, attendance at this event doubled the usual turnout at CADAD meetings.

The forum was open to new and experienced academic developers as well as the directors of academic development units. The plan was to provide an overview of the big issues in higher education with a focus on implications for academic development and to provide academic developers with opportunities for networking and professional development.

Professor Denise Chalmers chaired the event.

Two key contributions set the scene and drew out issues for academic development. Professor Paul Trowler, speaking from his UK and European experience, spoke of a neo-liberal context and a “new managerialism” with the prospect of

heightened performance management. Many could see the applicability of this to the Australian situation. Professor Kerri-Lee Krause – maintaining her work rate after chairing the HERDSA conference and leading the social activities – provided a great insight into the drivers for teaching and learning standards in Australian higher education and the scope and processes envisaged. Issues included reference to minimum standards for teaching and learning against the rhetoric of excellence in research, and the TEQSA focus on risk management and quality assurance against DEEWR’s quality improvement agenda. Kerri-Lee distinguished between teaching standards and learning standards and for the latter suggested means of assessing learning standards alternative to use of the CLA (the USA Collegiate Learning Assessment), which is currently proposed. Peer review and inter-university moderation were possibilities.

Professor Lorraine Stefani of the University of Auckland provided a New Zealand perspective. As Director of the Centre for

Academic Development she is responsible for an array of educational support functions, which facilitates integration of academic development with student support, flexible and distance learning and educational media. She pointed to the need to demonstrate agility in adapting to changing university expectations.

Over the two days the CADAD event provided workshops on the field of Higher Education teaching and learning, leadership in e-learning, the development of academics and higher education futures, measuring teaching quality in higher education, and leadership development. Participants involved in foundations programs also took the opportunity to meet in a session conducted by Allan Goody.

Peter Ling is a Project Officer attached to the Chancellery at the Swinburne University of Technology.


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By Denise Chalmers

Post Conference Workshop for Academic Developers

Following the very successful HERDSA 2011 Conference, 65 members of the academic development community

from over 20 universities in Australia gathered for a one and half day professional development program which was supported by the Council of Australian Directors of Academic Development (CADAD) and the ALTC. The program began with a focus on the ALTC strategic priority project “Identification and Implementation of Indicators and Measures of Impact of Teaching Preparation Programs in Higher Education” <www.catl.uwa.edu.au/projects/tpp_impact>

Following a keynote address by Professor Paul Trowler, University of Lancaster, on Evaluation of Academic Development, and an introduction by members of the project team, attendees were invited to engage with the Draft Effectiveness and Impact Indicator Framework and consider nominating for participation in the trial.

Discussions in the small group sessions were very lively and provided the team with valuable feedback which will be used to inform the next stage of the project.

On Friday morning we were delighted to have a presentation from Professor Lorraine Stefani, University of Auckland, on the question “How does academic development make a difference in the 21st century university?”. Lorraine drew on cases in her recently published book to demonstrate the directions she saw for academic development.

Professor Kerri-Lee Krause, Griffith University, focused our attention on the recent discussion paper from DEEWR on Teaching and Learning Standards and TEQSA, and implications for universities and academic development.

This was followed by a lively discussion that continued over morning tea.

Participants were then able to select from a number of concurrent sessions, all of which were highly relevant to the work of academic development and engaging us in discussion. The two main themes to emerge from the

concurrent sessions were the directions and challenges of academic development today and leadership and academic development. Within the first theme discussion focused on how academic developers might manage not only the academic development demands of their institutions, but also their own development as academics; how academic developers might think about demonstrating the efficacy of their work; and the future directions of the Foundations Colloquium which was established in 2003.

Around the second theme, participants were challenged to explore the notion of distributed leadership within the context of leadership in elearning; consider the importance of quality management in relation to elearning and their role in this; identify key strategic directions and enabling technology innovations in elearning as a prelude to developing their own action plans; and explore the idea of “Playing to Learn” and “Learning to Play” by using games and artefacts in leadership development programs.

Feedback on the Forum from the participants was very positive and accompanied by the request we continue to offer them into the future to meet the needs of academic developers for professional development and networking with colleagues.

CADAD is very grateful for the support provided by the ALTC, the presenters who so generously gave of their time and expertise, the participants who came and engaged with the program and their colleagues, and CADAD members for their support. Details of the program and presentations can be found at the CADAD website <http://www.cadad.edu.au/ >

Denise Chalmers is President of CADAD and Director of the Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning at the University of Western Australia.


Paul Trowler

Lorraine Stefani

Kerry-Lee Krause

Small Group Discussions


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New HERDSA Publications

ISBN 0 908557 86 8June, 2011, 312 pagesAUS$40.00

Higher Education Research and Development Anthology

Edited by Peter Kandlbinder & Tai Peseta

www.herdsa.org.au

Digital version coming soon: Free access to current HERDSA members

University teachers studying teaching and learning are usually expected to read the literature to help them understand the key concepts in the field. The HERD Anthology provides an excellent introduction to the conceptual development of the higher education teaching and learning. A chapter is devoted to each of the 5 main concepts discussed in Graduate Certificates in Higher Education Teaching and Learning in Australasia and the UK.

1. Reflective practice 2. Constructive alignment 3. Approaches to learning 4. Assessment for learning 5. Scholarship of teaching

Each chapter has a brief introduction to the main tenets of the concept and how it has evolved over time. This is followed by a re-print of the three high impact Higher Education Research & Development articles focused on the concept. The selected articles are followed by suggestions for further reading designed to provide a guide to university teachers wishing to pursue their own research in these areas.

The HERD Anthology includes two new chapters:

Reading to change higher education teaching and learning by Peter Kandlbinder

Exploring an identity as an academic writer by Tai Peseta

Peter Kandlbinder is a Senior Lecturer in the Institute for Interactive Media & Learning at the University of Technology Sydney

Tai Peseta is a Senior Lecturer in the Curriculum, Teaching and Learning Centre at La Trobe University

Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia Inc

About the editors

Available from: Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA)PO Box 27, Milperra NSW 2214 Australia • Fax: +61 2 9771 4299 • Email: [email protected]

Three new publications by HERDSA were launched on the opening night of the conference. They were a HERD Anthology and two new Guides. Details of the Anthology can be seen on the flyer below and information about the guides are on page 23. One important feature of this publication is that a digital version is available free to all HERDSA members. Members should logon to

the Members section in www.herdsa.org.au and follow the link to the Anthology.


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HERDSA News Book Review

Following closely on the heels of the introduction to HERDSA members of the new HERD Editorial Team, this latest edition of HERDSA NEWS celebrates the launch of the Higher Education Research & Development Anthology at the HERDSA conference held in July on the Gold Coast.

This publication arose out of a review published by its two editors in 2009 of the key concepts taught in Graduate Certificates in higher education1. In this research Course Coordinators of Graduate Certificates in the UK and Australasia were asked about key concepts taught in their programs. Out of the data collected arose five key concepts that were found to be commonly taught in introductory subjects related to teaching and learning in higher education:

1. Reflective practice2. Constructive alignment3. Approaches to learning4. Assessment for learning5. Scholarship of teaching

The Anthology targets university staff enrolled in Graduate Certificates in Higher Education. It is designed “to help people relatively new to the field of higher education make sense of the key concepts of higher education teaching and learning” (p. 8). It also addresses a broader audience – those staff that design and/or teach in teacher preparation programs (TPPs) or university staff working within their disciplinary contexts that seek to locate their teaching and learning practice within the wider field of higher education teaching and learning.

The structure of the Anthology is designed to support in-depth understanding about each of the five key concepts. Each concept is explored in an individual chapter divided into three sections, with each section identified by a particular icon:

1. introduction to the concept;

2. a reprint of three high impact journal articles related to the concept chosen from the HERDSA journal Higher Education Research & Development (HERD) based on the results of citation analysis; and

3. further reading. In this last section annotated articles selected from three other journals influential in the field of higher education – Studies in Higher Education, Higher Education, and Teaching in Higher Education – provide readers with suggestions for further investigation. The annotations provide busy readers with a brief yet targeted overview of the arguments put forward in the particular article.

In addition to the five chapters noted above, the editors have each written a chapter to “top and tail” the text. In the initial chapter “Reading to change higher education teaching and learning”, Peter Kandlbinder discusses some of the challenges found by new academics when they first read the higher education literature. He highlights the characteristics of writings that offer something significant to higher education and goes on to focus on the dominant research traditions in higher education teaching and learning. In his conclusion he addresses the benefits of reading the higher education literature related to teaching and learning. Perhaps the biggest benefit particularly for those new to the discipline of higher education teaching and learning is the value that a reading of the literature adds to an academic’s thinking about the everyday issues that arise in teaching practice (p. 17).

In the final chapter “Exploring an identity as an academic writer” Tai Peseta focuses on challenges faced by staff new to the field of higher education teaching and learning scholarship and inquiry. She identifies issues faced by staff as they seek to develop a “writer’s voice” in researching university learning and teaching, then

draws on recent and relevant literature that offer frameworks that can assist staff to see themselves as “researchers and writers”. In the last paragraph of the chapter she calls on staff new to the field of higher education teaching and learning research to “act creatively” as writers to take the field beyond where it currently stands (p. 310).

The Immediate Past President of HERDSA, Professor Geoffrey Crisp in his forward to the Anthology describes this new publication as a “unique collection of influential past papers that chronicle the emergence of higher education research and development as a field of unique scholarship” (p. iii). There is little doubt that this publication will be seen is an immensely valuable resource by its target audience - staff studying Graduate Certificates in higher education as well as by those responsible for designing and teaching in teacher preparation programs. The editors, Peter Kandlbinder and Tai Peseta, deserve commendation for taking their 2009 research to this next stage and for their practical and scholarly approach adopted throughout the Anthology. HERDSA’s support for this publication should also be recognised. Indeed, for the first time with a publication of this nature, HERDSA members will be receiving a digital copy of the Anthology. This reviewer hopes that in the near future the Anthology can also become available as an e-book to facilitate direct access to chapters from online study guides and resource repositories for Graduate Certificate programs.


Endnotes

1. Kandlbinder, P. & Peseta, T. (2009). Key concepts in Graduate Certificates in higher education teaching and learning in Australasia and the UK. The International Journal for Academic Development, 14(1), 19–31.

Higher Education Research & Development Anthology

Edited by Peter Kandlbinder & Tai Peseta Published by Higher Education Research & Development Society of Australasia (Milperra, NSW) ISBN 0 908557 86 8 (2011).

Reviewed by Associate Professor Gail Wilson, Southern Cross University, Chair, HERDSA Publications Committee 2009–2011

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Lecturing For Better Learning

3rd Edition

Robert Cannon & Christopher Knapper

In this Third Edition of his popular HERDSA Guide on Lecturing, Bob Cannon in collaboration with Christopher Knapper from Queen’s University, Canada, notes that although nothing much has changed in our understanding of lecturing since the last edition of Lecturing in 1992, a great deal has changed that affects our work as tertiary teachers. In particular, the growing body of research on student learning forces us to think hard about the way we teach in higher education and in particular how and when to use lectures for maximum learning effectiveness. This revised Guide still focuses on the lecture as the most popular method of large group teaching, but introduces a subtle shift of focus in challenging the reader to ensure that their major goal is always to help students learn more effectively.

Lecturing has been written with two audiences in mind. The primary audience is the beginning, or inexperienced academic teacher looking for straightforward advice and ideas on ways to plan and deliver lectures. The second audience is much larger and embraces all those more experienced academics who may be seeking ideas on lecturing more effectively, or to making the task of lecturing more personally rewarding and less stressful.

The Guide is structured around five chapters: The Effective Lecturer, Lecture Preparation Lecture Presentation, Lecture Evaluation and Moving from Teacher Telling to Student Learning in Lectures; plus a list of recommended readings.

Teaching students who have English as an additional language A handbook for academic staff in higher education

Katie Dunworth & Carmela Briguglio

This HERDSA Guide provides practical advice and strategies for academic teaching staff who work with students who have English as an additional language (EAL). Its primary focus is on identifying ways in which students can be encouraged to develop their English language skills and knowledge within the context of their disciplinary studies. The Guide includes ways in which students can identify their language development needs, strategies they can use themselves to help progress their English language proficiency, and ideas for staff to promote and facilitate their students’ language growth. The Guide also discusses some of the challenges that EAL students face during their tertiary studies, as identified by students themselves in quotations within the text, and explores the ways in which the learning environment can be made more inviting for those who do not have English as their first language. The ideas within the Guide are intended to be accessible to staff from any academic discipline and require no specialised knowledge. Many of the suggested activities, once implemented, may reduce staff workloads as they will lead to a greater level of clarity for students about the requirements of their courses, higher levels of student autonomy and increased student facility with the language of their discipline.

Ordering the Publications

Each of the publications may be ordered on-line through the HERDSA website, http://www.herdsa.org.au/?page_id=9

Resources for AuthorsThinking of submitting an article to HERD? There are some useful resources available to help you.

First go the HERD page on the HERDSA website www.herdsa.org.au

Here you will find details of how to submit a manuscript and the criteria for reviewers. There is also a link to the publisher of HERD, Taylor and Francis, who provide some excellent resources for authors for example:

Introduction to article preparation

Writing your article: guidance notes

Why articles may be rejected

Publishing your Ph.D.

Frequently asked questions

The link to the website is http://journalauthors.tandf.co.uk/preparation/index.asp

There is also a short list of Research Tools for different academic disciplines.

Taylor and Francis also have a Facebook page, which also has useful information.

HERDSA Guides

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By Kim McShane-DeBacco

Good Vibrations: A Consultant’s Impressions from Southern California

Hello Douglas,

I just wanted to check in with you again after our conversation here almost a week ago. Did the situation with the difficult student resolve itself or get resolved in some way?

Feel free to drop by any time to reflect on your teaching. I’d be happy to discuss your syllabus and assessment practices, and together we could invent or redesign aspects of those.

Kim.

Hi Kim

Thanks for thinking of me. I had hit one of my periodic fits of exasperation when I visited you. The potentially problematic student is hanging in. I managed to give her a “D” on her second paper and she appeared at two of the three discussion sections on the take home final, as well as during an office hour. She is an accident-prone type, informing me that she had gotten in an auto accident in the interim and had been obliged to rent a car to drive up from L.A.

It’s very difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of what I am doing. Sometimes I feel the incomprehension and resistance, other times I feel that they are getting the point. I am curious to see the comments on the evaluations. Maybe I’ll bring them in to show them to you. But the comments are always the same. Some appreciation and some claims that they know what Sociology should be and I am not teaching it.

Douglas.

Douglas (pseudonym) is a senior faculty member in the Humanities here at UC Santa Barbara. He is one of number of colleagues who occasionally drop by my office to vent and fume and reassemble their teaching selves. I’m heartened that some colleagues see my office is a safe space where they can unload their teaching concerns, and in those conversations we jointly construct a new way of understanding and

planning what they will do differently next time. Granted, our work is not therapy, as Stephen Rowland (2000) has pointed out, but I am starting to see that the heart of academic development work could well be the same in every university on our globe: to serve, support and sustain tertiary teachers and (indirectly) learners, be that through our conversations, collegial projects, workshops, and research on teaching and learning.

Given the size and cultural diversity of the USA, it’s virtually impossible for me to comment and generalise about life, work and study in “American universities”. What I can do is give you a snapshot of one Californian university in 2011 that may be indicative of similar universities in California.

In 2007 I applied for an interesting-sounding position as an Instructional Consultant at UC Santa Barbara (UCSB). After a day-long interview (a series of meetings, presentations, lunch, and several interviews!), the committee made two appointments to the position: local alumnus, Dr Lisa Berry, and myself.

One of our consultant predecessors had been in the same role 35 years! That’s typical of not just UCSB but I suspect universities throughout the state. Many UCSB faculty came to Santa Barbara in the late 60s and never left. The California Dream was good while it lasted, but the state has been in debt for a number of years now, and creative solutions are being exhausted. Baby-boomer academics are also now retiring in large annual swathes. However, due to severe budget cuts since 2009, most retirees are not being replaced.

UC Santa Barbara is part of The University of California state university system (http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/) – a system comprising ten (now partially) state-funded research universities across the state of California. This loose and very decentralised network, called fondly “the

UC’s”, also includes some very famous institutions such as UCLA, UC Berkeley (in San Francisco), UC Irvine, UC Davis, and UC San Diego.

UCSB – yah, cool! Take Ventura Highway (“in the su-unshine”) 90 minutes north out of LA. Follow the coast around into a magical east-west landscape with a microclimate that resembles northern NSW – the sunshine and warmth in winter is a blessing! UCSB is a university with its own beaches, and so it’s not uncommon to have to dodge students in swimsuits or wetsuits balancing their boards precariously while skateboarding or biking across campus, wending their way to Coal Oil Point to hit the waves. The neighboring beachside suburb Isla Vista (“IV”) is a student hub of activity, nay frivolity, and I swear Annette Funicello is still partying and jiving down there on IV main beach, heels in the sand. It should come as no surprise to learn that UCSB continues to hold a long-term ranking as one of the top “party universities” in north America!

UCSB runs on 10-week quarters in Fall, Winter and Spring. During Summer Sessions (June-August), an expanding suite of compressed (intensive 2, 4 or 6-week) courses enable students to make up for failed courses or complete their degree more quickly. Nevertheless, the proximity to sun, sand and waves can have some bearing on attendance!

An undergraduate degree typically demands four years. Freshmen study General Ed courses addressing a range of requirements that ensure breadth, before they then go on to declare their major usually in their second, or Sophomore year. At the third year, Transfer students enter the undergraduate stream armed with 2-year Associates degrees conferred in the community college system. All undergrads start to focus their major studies at the Upper Division (3rd and 4th year) level.

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with a destabilising economy and notable budgetary pressures, some early signs of top-down managerialism are emerging. Corporate practices, coupled with the centralising tendencies of administrative and pedagogical information technology, are beginning to shift the power bases and identities of those eccentric characters who have always run the university.

One obvious example of this trend to managerialism is a controversial project running out of the University of California Office of the President (UCOP, based in Berkeley). The UCOP Online Instruction Pilot Project initiative is supporting the design, development and roll-out of 25-30 undergraduate courses over the coming eighteen months, with more coming on line beyond that. It was originally announced that the courses would be entirely distance education-based and designed to cater for enrolments of thousands or tens of thousands! In reality, many of the initial courses will comprise smaller that anticipated numbers (eg. 40, 60, 100) and they will blend face-to-face and online teaching activities and environments.

Over the past 12 months, the project managers and instructional designers consulting on the project (including myself ) have been defining and debating new notions (?) such as student learning outcomes, and criteria for quality learning in the UCs. The project has been viewed with a mix of interest in the higher education media (watch for articles in the US Chronicle of Higher Education) and with suspicion and scepticism on the part of many faculty out on the campuses. You can read more about the initiative at: http://groups.ischool.berkeley.edu/onlineeducation/

By becoming an instructional consultant in California I have taken up the opportunity to experience academic development from the perspective of “hands-on” practice, though I do keep my eye on a longer term, more subtle goal of threading our work with more theoretical and scholarly perspectives. I have had to become familiar with how to participate in the appropriate opening banter, as well as negotiate a huge corpus of “taken-for-granted” language, terminology and assumptions at local and institutional meetings. While there was some culture shock and adjustment at the beginning, it’s been professionally refreshing to move to my new country and bring with me new

areas. I do a lot of portfolio editing, and it’s a pleasure!

We consultants also oversee annual grants and activities that make up our TA Development Program. We facilitate topical workshops at the start of each quarter for TAs, and we organise and run orientation programs in August and September each year for TAs and for departmental lead TAs (who run their disciplinary programs for TAs). What we do at UCSB in terms of TA development is not exceptional but very typical and, all in all, I am thoroughly impressed by the way in which graduate students (future faculty and academics) are all exposed to a range of stimulating and reflective experiences to develop their teaching.

Each Spring Quarter I work with 35–40 summer teaching associates (or “adjuncts”) – grad students who will teach for the first time during the intensive summer session periods, as responsible “instructors of record” when their tenured colleagues and supervisors are typically off campus, on vacation, and doing their research.

Working with faculty is a different ballgame (to use a US sporting metaphor). As my Director emphasised to Lisa and I the day we started as consultants, “We are not faculty developers; we are not developing faculty”. Rather, we are here to be consulted. And so, we run regular lunchtime brownbags and networking events for faculty, such as our up-coming instructional innovation Expo (iX) and an annual Faculty Dinner Forum in the Faculty Club at which colleagues present and discuss their instructional innovations and attempts to improve student learning in their courses. These efforts will be familiar to many developers the world round. I am often asked by former colleagues, “So what’s it like working in a US university?” As you can see, I can say, “Well, it’s the same and it’s different!”

The challenges facing California’s universities in 2011 are familiar too. Intriguingly, the professorial Academic Senate in each of the UC’s still holds the power at the heart of each institution. As a case in point, the Academic Senate at UC San Diego has refused to approve policy and practices related to online (distance) education! For this Antipodean, the seemingly “old-fashioned”, slow, arcane, academic culture at UCSB was very appealing after the often exhausting, performative constraints of Australian and UK universities. Yet,

Undergraduate student issues must be similar the world round! Instructors tear their hair out at students who don’t do the reading before coming to class; many students feel a strong sense of entitlement and will challenge their course grade aggressively if it falls below an A. There is a lot of pressure on students to maintain a high “Grade Point Average” (or GPA - scored out of 4) for the scholarships, grants, and other awards that many need to pay for soaring university fees and living costs. Housing and rental costs in Santa Barbara are amongst the highest in the nation, due to the region’s splendid climate, rich local culture (this area was once Spanish territory) and beautiful environment: mountains and streams, off-shore islands, state parks, vineyards, as well as orchards and orchards of avocadoes and lemons!

Postgraduate students, or “Grad Students” are typically poor, struggling souls who juggle many responsibilities: the PhD first and foremost, being a teaching assistant (TA, ie. tutor), holding down an extra job (or two), and keeping up with family and childcare responsibilities. Grad students do it really hard here! They are a cadre unto themselves, notably young and ambitious, focused on forging their identities and their future in an increasingly narrow, competitive academic world. I meet many grad students who decide to develop their teaching skills and portfolios with the goal of working in a so-called liberal arts college where the emphasis is more on teaching rather than research. Thus one important role I undertake is advising and assisting graduate students who decide to take out a UCSB Certificate in College & University Teaching (CCUT) with their PhD. The CCUT is a reflective portfolio comprising five reflective and evidence-based requirements:

• being a TA (including workshop attendance, being taped and consulted on their teaching);

• undertaking a course in teaching;

• reflecting on their teaching via the lens of a new technology they integrate systematically into one of their courses;

• assuming responsibility for teaching and assessing a course as “instructor of record” with a faculty mentor, and

• compiling and submitting a comprehensive portfolio that demonstrates their experience and growth as a teacher in each of these five

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By Mike Prosser

Thoughts on the Collegiate Learning Assessment Generic Skills Test

On the 20 January, the Australian reported the results of a US study, by the New York-based Social Science Research Council, of the Collegiate Learning Assessment generic skills test. It showed that after 2 years in College, American students had shown no appreciable gains in measures of critical thinking, complex reasoning and writing skills. While on the surface this seems a damning indictment of American education, I think it needs some unpacking.

There are a number if issues which need careful analysis. First of all, is a generic test of generic skills an appropriate outcome measure for higher education? Secondly, are the generic skills listed an appropriate set of generic outcomes – what about quantitative reasoning, team work collaboration etc? Thirdly, and very importantly, is the emphasis over recent years on retention and engagement at the cost of achievement?

While there is some acknowledgment that discipline and professional knowledge are important outcomes in higher education, the strong impression is that the generic skills are what higher education is about. When I go to a surgeon, I care little about his / her generic skills – I am more concerned about his /her surgical skills. I am not concerned about how the surgeon performed on a generic test of critical thinking etc but about his /her problem solving skills in surgery. I am not aware of any substantial body of research which shows that having good generic skills is meaningfully associated with discipline or professional specific knowledge and skills.

How meaningful is a test of students’ ability to analyse a newspaper column to their ability to perform the duties of a surgeon. That is, it is not good enough to assert that the generic skills manifest themselves in discipline and professional specific activities, we need evidence over a range of disciplines and profession to show this. Otherwise we are in danger of reducing out focus on the discipline and professional specific knowledge and skills - and emphasising more general skills.

I am continually amazed that rarely in discussion of generic skills are mentioned more mathematical and quantitative reasoning skills. I believe it can be argued that such skills are as important as writing and other skills. Indeed the CLA test used in the study seems to be heavily biased towards the sorts of generic skills developed in more arts related programme than in sciences and engineering programmes.

Over the last decade or so, there has been an increasing emphasis on retention - particularly in first year. Issues of engagement often related to ways of engaging students so that they do not drop out. Indeed the NSSE – or in Australia – AUSSE – has a clear focus on engagement for retention. There has been a decreasing focus on engagement for achievement. The recent discussion in Australia about moving from the Course Experience Questionnaire – with specific focus on those aspects of courses we know to relate to achievement – to AUSSE – with its focus on engagement and retention is just one example.

Finally, if a test such as the CLA is appropriate as an outcome measure of higher education – why do we select students for entry based upon discipline specific achievement? If the CLA is appropriate for an outcome measure, surely a similar test of student’s ability rather than prior achievement is appropriate for selection. Indeed, if the CLA were to be adopted as an outcome measure, and institutions were rated or ranked on such a measure, then institutions should select students on the basis of their prior generic abilities and then train them in ways to achieve generic outcomes. Indeed in an outcomes-based perspective on education, it would almost be mandated that the training should relate to the outcomes and therefore have a greater focus on generic abilities rather than discipline or professional knowledge. Of course, this is not a position for which I would argue.

So, while I agree that there has been too much of a swing away from discipline and professional achievement towards social and cultural engagement for retention, I do not see the use of generic tests such a the CLA as the solution. Far better to work within the disciplines and professions and ensure that their assessment practices include assessment of discipline and professional related critical, analytical and communication skills.

Michael Prosser was the Executive Director and Professor in the Centre for the Enhancement of teaching and Learning, The University of Hong Kong.


perspectives on old issues on this campus and in this amazing community.

And indeed, as my email interaction with Douglas shows, the work is reassuringly similar, the conversations familiar, the connecting and networking and, more recently, the institutional politics are all very much the same!

Kim welcomes your feedback and comments: [email protected]

ReferenceRowland, S. (2000). The enquiring university

teacher. Buckingham, UK: Society for Research in Higher Education/Open University Press.

Dr Kim DeBacco is an Instructional Consultant at the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB), California, USA. Kim’s research interests centre around blended teaching and

learning, and ethics and reciprocity in

developer-faculty and faculty-student

relationships. Prior to her current

appointment, Kim was an academic

developer in the Institute for Teaching

and Learning at The University of Sydney

(2001–2008), and in the Academic

Development Unit at La Trobe University,

Melbourne, Australia (1998–2001).

27


By Arshad Ahmad

Dear Mr. President

intERnAtionAl Column ExCHAngE

HERDSA/PoD/StlHE nEwSlEttERS

Would you, as president of this university, have made the following statement in your keynote address to the two-day workshop, which recently took place in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Transforming Undergraduate Education? I quote: “The recent experiences of many university Presidents and senior administrators has been a frustrating one, when the collective university membership lost its way… As an administrator, I have mainly managed crises, juggled loaves and fishes, raised funds, and learned alchemy. Is this my legacy?”

Would you have followed it up with this: “Canadian Universities are tied at the hip to Canadian communities in an aspirational, experiential, and consequential way. This need not be our narrative’s exclusive focus but its foundation. All the rest emanates from this. And this foundation rests on the quality of the undergraduate student experience.”

The keynote speaker, Dr. Robert Campbell, of Mount Allison University was brutally honest when he said just that. Intense discussion, brainstorming sessions and questions followed. The leading question was how university leaders can affect changes students can actually experience. I left wondering what we at the Society for Teaching & Learning in Higher Education can do to help define a new student-centered covenant in Canadian Higher Education.

If you, as President, were to genuinely refocus your leadership efforts, what kinds of questions should we ask to help you raise the quality of student learning? How do you instill an institutional culture committed to student-centered thinking? How do efforts to improve educational quality count in defining the prestige and reputation of the institution? What aspects of good teaching should be made public

within the institution, with students and with their parents?

Here are six affirmations to improve the quality of the student experience that might move this important conversation forward.

1. Listen to your students and parents. Very few Presidents’ do. Students want more contact with faculty [1]; Students learn more outside the classroom [2]; Students have pragmatic suggestions about emerging technologies. Engaging them in policy decisions is necessary. As for parents, they tend to rely more on the media and especially magazines that rank universities. Parents would be better served if they knew more about student learning.

2. Identifying institutional learning goals can drive deep approaches to learning. More and more students are getting by with superficial approaches to learning. These are reflected in the assessment of student abilities in successive courses they take and upon graduation. Entwistle & Ramsden [3], Trigwell & Posser [4] amongst others link surface, strategic and deep approaches to learning with qualitative differences in learning outcomes.

3. Teaching effectiveness measures must be more comprehensive than those currently in use. A well-designed rating instrument by itself provides inadequate evidence to measure teaching effectiveness. Separating formative and summative measures help teachers to improve and students to participate in their learning. Woods [5] suggests dozens of additional measures that one can select including Teaching Dossiers, Lancaster Approaches to Studying,

Perry inventory, King & Kitchener’s Model of Judgment, Peer Evaluation, and Exit Surveys.

4. Embrace and champion a broader definition of scholarship. Boyer’s (1990) Scholarship Reconsidered [6] has been a landmark contribution in helping leaders to think differently about academic work. His work has sparked major contributions from Shulman [7], Palmer [8], Hutchings [9], Kreber & Cranton [10], and Healey[11] who conceive the work of faculty in a broader set of overlapping areas of scholarship. This conception is inclusive and critical to student learning compared to the traditional hierarchy of research followed by its two poor cousins - teaching and service.

5. Globalisation demands inter-disciplinary approaches to teaching & learning. The tendency to specialise and departmentalise subject matter, knowledge and skills disintegrates education. Huber et al. [12] point to the building of necessary skills for integrative teaching. Innovative programs that integrate curricula co-taught by teachers with different disciplinary views need encouragement and recognition from Deans.

6. Institutional prestige has little or no relationship to the quality of education. Research publications by themselves do not increase the quality of education unless students are involved deliberately in producing, interpreting and disseminating knowledge (Terenzini & Pascarella [13]).

Dear Mr. President. Indeed there is much we can do, especially if we work and plan together. Invite us to your office for a cup

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The Journal of Higher Education 71 (4), 476– 495.

[11] Healey, M. (2003). The scholarship of teaching: Issues around an evolving concept. Journal of Excellence in College Teaching, 14(1/2), 1–22.

[12] Huber, M. T., Hutchings, P., Gale, R., Miller, R., & Breen, M. (2007). Leading Initiatives for Integrative Learning. Liberal Education, 93(2): 46–51.

[13] Terenzini & Pascarella (2005). How

College Affects Students: A Third

Decade of Research. Jossey Bass.Arshad Ahmad is President, Society for Teaching & Learning in Higher Education. He is an Associate Professor of Finance at Concordia University, Canada & is a 3M National Teaching Fellow


Learning. McMaster University. Address to Oklahoma State University.

[6] Boyer, E. L. (1990). Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate.

[7] Shulman, L. S. (1993). Teaching as Community Property. Change, November/December, pp. 6,7.

[8] Palmer, P. (1993). Good Talk About Good Teaching: Improving Teaching through Conversation and Community. Change, NovemberlDecember, pp. 8–13.

[9] Hutchings, P. (1996). Making Teaching Community Property: A Menu for Peer Collaboration and Peer Review. Washington, DC: American Association for Higher Education.

[10] Kreber, C., & Cranton, P. (2000). Exploring the Scholarship of Teaching.

of coffee. We promise to ask good questions and give good advice.

References

[1] Chickering, A. W., & Gamson, Z. F. (1987). Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. The Wingspread Journal, 9(2), Special Section.

[2] Light, R. “Making the Most of College: Students Speak Their Minds”. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press

[3] Entwistle, N., & Ramsden, P. (1983). Understanding Student Learning. London: Croom Helm.

[4] Trigwell, K., & Prosser, M., (1991).Higher Education, 22(3), 251–266

[5] Woods, D.R. Ideas to Measure & Reward Efforts To Improve Student

QUT Faculty of Science & Technology – second annual “Science Educators Symposium”

By Stephanie Beames

On Friday 1 July, we held the second annual QUT Science Educators Symposium at our Gardens Point,

Brisbane campus. Next year will be the third and final in this series, so please keep Friday, 29 June 2012 free! We had an outstanding lineup of speakers again this year, including Dr James Bradfield-Moody from CSIRO, Stephen Atherton from Apple, along with guest speakers Prof Ross Barnard, A/Prof Simon Pyke, A/Prof Pauline Ross and Dr Will Rifkin. Further information about this unique event, and previous presentations are available online at: www.scitech.qut.edu.au/industry-community/events/conferences/symposium/.

We also published the second “Science Education” special issue of the Journal of

Learning Design, now available online at http://www.jld.qut.edu.au/publications/vol4no3/. Submissions for the 2012 special issue are welcome at any time – please submit your papers to [email protected].

We are looking forward to running this event again next year, and hope to welcome many HERDSA members along. For further information on the QUT Symposium, “BUNSE” network or Journal of Learning Design, please contact [email protected] Beames is the Learning & Teaching Developer in the Faculty of Science & Technology, QUT


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On Kindness

By Ann Kerwin

When the stables were burnt down, on returning from court, Confucius said, “Was anyone hurt?” He did not ask about the horses. Analects

During my second year of nursing school our professor gave us a quiz. I breezed through the questions until I read the last one: “What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?” Surely this was a joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Before the class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our grade. “Absolutely,” the professor said. “In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say hello.” I’ve never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.

Joann Jones

I seem to be inundated by Measures, Scales and Indicators. Charts, graphs and tables of academic achievement infiltrate my inbox. I must fill them out. I must document myself. I have so many, I suspect they are breeding.

Of course, it is only fair I report what I do. Happily, it prompts me to ponder what I value and why. I esteem kindness. Two elegant thinkers and exquisite writers, psychoanalyst Adam Phillips and historian Barbara Taylor, have written a slender volume On Kindness (2010). They posit, “For nearly all of human history - up to and beyond David Hume’s day, the so-called dawn of modernity - people have perceived themselves as naturally kind ... this book shows ... in giving up on kindness - and especially our own acts of kindness - we deprive ourselves of a pleasure that is fundamental to our sense of well-being. “We mutually belong to one another,” the philosopher Alan Ryan writes, and the good life is one that reflects this truth.”’ Phillips and Taylor observe that wealthy productive nations now seem to value independence, self-reliance and competitive achievement over beneficence. The new story goes: kindness is for losers who lack

power to advance in more aggressive ways. Phillips and Taylor insist that we still yearn for kindness; publicly and privately, we lament its lack. Nevertheless, kindness has become covertly cherished, overtly undervalued.

I do not propose to establish focus groups to investigate the authors’ hypotheses, nor campaign for pay rises linked to kindness outcomes. But I note for the record: in all the accountability and achievement measures I am asked to submit, and these seem legion, no one has documented my output of attentive time, thought and care to others. I don’t sense that human nature has degraded in the twenty-first century. Callousness is not the new black. But kindness requires time and attention. Increasingly, we lack time. Our attention is oversubscribed. Ours is an age of relentless documentation coupled to determined advancement. More and more, academic institutions reward labour productive of desired measurable outcomes publicly and, just as publicly, censure insufficiency. Consequently, the rhythms of daily work, the geography and choreography of human interaction, tend to focus more and more on things and less on people. If we have little time, attention, energy and resources to spare from intensive labour, we are less available for random and deliberate acts of kindness. Of course, some will be kind, despite costs. But others, with no mind for unkindness, face daunting task lists. For every to-do checked off, three arise. For every project finished, more await, with meetings, e-mails, meetings, e-mails. In response, many of us find ourselves busier than we would like to be, in circumscribed professional orbits, unwittingly distant and preoccupied. Phillips and Taylor note that kindness derives from the word kin. They claim that humans are not independent atoms. Rather, we are interdependent. Kindness does not bridge isolated units. We are affectively linked, wired for sociality. Interactions form us. The more insular we become, the less available we are to give and receive “sympathy, generosity, altruism,

benevolence, humanity, compassion, pity, empathy and ... open-heartedness,” all synonyms and manifestations of kindness. Yes, institutions affect us. Yes, they mold us. But we also we mold them.

Of course, kindness’ dividends are hard to measure. I concede that institutions lack means to calculate the collective loss should an ethos of kindness wither. It can also be difficult to draw the line between salutary kindness and officious do-gooding. Well-intentioned kindness can smother. Misdirected kindness can offend. And while genuine kindness is no invitation for exploitation, it can be so taken. Conversely, we can immerse ourselves in the lives of others to avoid our own, or our fair share of work. Despite these lived complexities, On Kindness observes, “We usually know what the kind thing to do is. We usually have the wherewithal to do it (kindness is not an expert skill); and it gives us pleasure.” I am not so confident that I am always skilled in my discernment and delivery; however, since I have been asked, perhaps cynically, to suggest what values my educational unit ought to espouse and effect, I humbly suggest: authentic kindness. At the HERDSA Conference in July 2011, I heard that Australasian higher education will change, will re-form in the face of top-down imposition of values, practice and responsibilities. I am wondering not what will happen to kindness in any new order, but what we will do about it. Insofar as we choose what we prioritise, where will kindness fit into academic work?

According to Phillips and Taylor, we have come to accept egoism as our social fable. Egoists, such as Thomas Hobbes and Thomas Malthus, assert that humans are, by nature, self-interested. We privilege independence to pursue private interests, agreeing to accept mutually beneficial social constraints only out of self-interest - to protect us from others’ untrammeled egoism. Egoists aver that -when restrained by social contract rules and directed toward

tHE PHiloSoPHERS Column

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achievement - egoism is healthy; it propels personal and public progress. While kindness may be strategic, it is neither natural nor intrinsically beneficial. Phillips and Taylor attempt to revive benevolism, the contrary view that humans are inherently social beings, possessed of innate fellow feeling, formed by social relations, and designed to find beneficence pleasurable. On this account, “kindness enlarges and gratifies our profoundly social nature.” We are diminished, forlorn, without it.

I cannot settle this dispute. I can confirm, however, that egoism appears to be the dominant narrative among my undergraduate business students. I do not say they are selfish. Rather, they write in assignments that, in their institutional lives, they expect to give and receive little in the way of social affection. The hyper-individualist model they accept as “the way of the world” marginalises kindness, reserving compassion and generosity for kin in the narrow sense. Most students would like to give and receive more kindness, they write; yet they accept “what is.” In this context, and in the context of education as big business, I find On Kindness timely. Much of the social progress I have witnessed in my life - and despite concurrent atrocity and perfidy, this has been considerable - derives from action in accord with simple goodness. It is time, I think, to ponder alternatives both to corporate governmentality and rugged individualism. To increase shopping options, as it were, and counterbalance Gradgrindianism, we can re-view ancient writers who extolled philosophies of kindness in distinctly unkind times.

In Eastern and Western classics, character and kindness underpin social philosophy.

Confucius praises the good person whose achievement and adornment is ren - benevolence or humaneness. Buddhism prizes compassion. Principal Greek and Roman philosophers affirm that humans fulfill our shared potential for excellence (also translated virtue) by living in accord with the best in our nature. Cultivating kindness is essential life work, intrinsic to the “good life” life. Arising from a well-honed character, dispensed in accord with practical wisdom, habitually kind living brings deep happiness (eudaimonia). Happiness is not a fluctuating emotional state dependent on transitory pleasure. Rather, it is “flourishing,” an abiding sense of fulfillment earned when, consistently, living matches design potential. Kindness makes communities humane. It makes them worth living in.

These ancient sages were not naive utopians. They endured globalisation, greed, status, slavery and exploitation, hypocrisy, corruption, expansionist and ethnic wars, tyranny and torture - endured and deplored them. Hence they urged that the apparent impersonality of professional, institutional, commercial and societal work is no excuse for ignoring links between what we do and whom we affect. Rather, kindness is the optimal response to impersonality. On Kindness affirms our inherent sociality. “... it is not that real kindness requires people to be selfless, It is rather that real kindness changes people in the doing of it, often in unpredictable ways.” In other words, beneficently aiming to transform another’s situation is often positively self-transformative. On TED.com psychologists, such as Martin Seligman and Daniel Goleman, concur, as do my students who, when they experiment, note unexpected benefits. On Kindness reminds that “The pleasures of kindness were well

known in the past. Kindness was mankind’s ‘greatest delight,’ the Roman philosopher-emperor Marcus Aurelius declared.” For Seneca, kindness was “man’s duty but also his joy.” Some thinkers

had claimed that a man sought friends for purely instrumental reasons, “for the purpose of having someone come and sit beside his bed when he is ill or come to his rescue when he is hard up or thrown in chains.” But Seneca knew better. A wise man wanted friends “so that he may have someone by whose sickbed he himself may sit, or whom he may release when that person is held prisoner by hostile hands” ... People need other people, not just for companionship or support in hard times, but to fulfill their humanity.

Benevolence is more than other-directed self-interest, of course. Nevertheless, as change is upon us, we owe it to our own humanity to consider costs of (even inadvertently) reducing kindness in education and the workplace - for to both we, and our kin, give much of our lives.

BibliographyPhillips, A., & Taylor, B. (2010). On

Kindness. New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux.

Ann Kerwin was the HERDSA Visiting Scholar in 1994. Ann migrated from the U S.A. to be Philosopher-in-Residence at Auckland University of Technology. New Zealanders may know her as Resident Philosopher on Radio New Zealand National, Nights with Bryan Crump, where she speaks on philosophy and philosophers.

Contact:[email protected]

2011 HERDSA Conference photos

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By Robert Cannon

Meanderings

Critical Thinking in Higher Education is the theme of a recent Special Issue of Higher Education Research and Development (Volume 30, Number 3, June 2011). In his introduction to this Special Issue, Guest Editor Martin Davies notes the alarming evidence of very poor outcomes in critical thinking skills among university graduates and the evidence that few courses actually improve these skills.

This makes me wonder if this deficiency in critical thinking might reflect a worrying proposition presented by Postman and Weingartner in their book Teaching as a Subversive Activity (Penguin, 1969). The proposition is that influential elements of society wish certain ideas and institutions to be free of criticism and change and their interests conserved at any cost.

Postman and Weingartner propose the intellectual ability of “crap detecting” as a solution. They say this should be a central function of educational institutions. They argue that one of the continuing struggles throughout history has been against the veneration of “crap” – the lies, the superstitions, the faulty assumptions and the misconceptions that exist in society. Clearly, their recommendation has not caught the eye of those who have written the extensive lists of graduate abilities that can be found on many university web sites. Maybe things would have turned out differently if such writers had been paying attention, as evidenced by the extraordinary incidence of crap and humbug today. I am sorry to have to say this, but far too many articles in academic journals demonstrate this phenomenon. In my opinion, crap detection should be a key graduate attribute!

There is much evidence from the daily deluge in our press of political claims and counter claims and from advertising that this intellectual skill is essential in the modern world. Nearly 40 years after Postman and Weingartner wrote, this clear educational objective – expressed in such unequivocally crude terms that I hesitate to write about it at all – has been taken up by other writers

such as Harry Frankfurt in his essay On Bullshit (Princeton University Press, 2005). This is a serious essay – Frankfurt is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Princeton.

Frankfurt begins by constructing a theoretical understanding because “One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit… (but) the phenomenon has not attracted much sustained inquiry. In consequence, we have no clear understanding of what bullshit is” (p.1).

In his analysis, Frankfurt considers related ideas such as humbug, hot air, misrepresentation and lying. He makes the particularly useful distinction between lying and bullshit –all politicians please take note –that liars deliberately misrepresent the truth whereas bullshitters misrepresent what they are up to. In other words, both the liar and bullshitter represent themselves falsely in communicating the truth. But whereas it is impossible to lie without knowing the truth, bullshitters have no central concern with truth or falsehood at all, but only in using the facts, either true or false, for their own particular purposes. Perhaps this is what we academics do sometimes when we “cherry-pick” the literature to suit our own particular agendas – just as I am doing right here in this column!

“Humbug is not quite the same as bullshit,” writes Robert Dessaix in his book On Humbug (Melbourne University Press, 2009, p. 7), both of which he notes are “rampant” in the twenty-first century. “Humbug is a kind of bluster, with a casual disregard for whether something is true or not … it seeks to play tricks with everyday reality rather than deceive anybody with false information, the semantic weight of humbug being pretty much zero.

So the evidence on critical thinking outcomes among graduates is telling us that those lists of graduate attributes fit this definition of humbug very nicely, as do the multitude of claims we encounter daily like “we are the fresh food people”, “your call is important to us”, “our graduates are recognised world-

wide for their intellectual skills” and “we aim to exceed your expectations every time you fly”. I am sure you will recognise the various corporate culprits here!

Dessaix agrees with Frankfurt by asserting that “… bullshit shares humbug’s irreverence for the truth, its semantic negligence, but is uttered in the hope of concealing some other, usually pernicious, truth: the bullshitter’s actual enterprise” (p.12).

On the theme of academic humour, one that this column has visited several times in the past, I unearthed two books by Ronald A Berk (yes, seriously!) that many university teachers will find helpful in evidenced-based and practical ways. One reader contacted me recently to point out that academic humour is actually an oxymoron. Perhaps, but Berk has made sterling efforts in his publications to suggest that it is not.

The two books are Humor as an Instructional Defibrillator: Evidence-based Techniques in Teaching and Assessment (Sterling, Virginia, Stylist, 2002) and Professors are from Mars, Students are from Snickers: How to Write and Deliver Humor in the Classroom and in Professional Presentations (Sterling, Virginia, Stylist, 2003). The titles of both books give a reasonably succinct statement of what they are about but this list of chapter headings from the latter book is even better: Why Use Humor? Types and Forms of Humor, Sources of Humorous Material, Delivering Humor Effectively, Using Humor in the Classroom, Using Humor in Professional Presentations, and Using Humor in Publications and Communications. Using humour in the assessment of student learning is covered in four chapters in Humor as an Instructional Defibrillator, an area that many academics may have overlooked. There is much to think about in these two books and some good, sound advice. However, I did find quite a lot of the humour in these books rather irritating and some too specific to the US context to have much appeal in this part of the world. This flaw demonstrates with unintended clarity that all users of humour

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Bert Newton or Jerry Seinfeld. Similarly, Seinfeld can get away with certain forms of Jewish humour that, say, Shazia Mirza could not.

If you want the joke, turn to page 11 in the book. I decided against reproducing it here as I see a potential risk of offending somebody by doing so (a complex issue, I agree). As Ron Berk says in Professors are from Mars, Students are from Snickers (p. 23), “Offensive humour shuts down communication and erects barriers to learning”. I would not wish to take that risk here.

Robert Cannon is an education consultant who has worked in Indonesia with the University of Indonesia, the Asian Development Bank, AusAID, The World Bank, UNICEF and USAID,). He was Director of the Advisory Centre for University Education at the University of Adelaide from 1977 until 2001.


The book contains 167 jokes. Twenty teachers and students from six schools joined this humour project. Perhaps we could all learn from this and set some humorous assignments for our own students. Berk’s books can assist in this task. At the very least, it may make the tedium of marking a more pleasant experience and yield a benefit for teachers as well as students!

Issues around humorous and serious discourse and between humour and offensiveness are explored in Beyond a Joke: The Limits of Humour, edited by Sharon Lockyer and Michael Pickering (Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2009). One of the paradoxes of writing seriously about humour is that humour makes a mockery of seriousness but there are many very serious and complex issues around the use of humour. As an example, they present a joke, attributed to a female Muslim comic Shazia Mirza, and arguably “acceptable” because she is making a humorous point about her own religion and her own culture, that would be quite unacceptable if told by a western male comedian such as

need to be conscious of their audience. And when that audience includes substantial numbers of international students, as they do in Australasian universities, academic teachers need to be super-careful. I wish Berk had been more careful himself in this regard.

To further illustrate the point that academic humour is not an oxymoron, this timely report appeared in the prestigious Indonesian language newspaper, Kompas, on 16 June 2011, page 24.

“Teachers and Students Publish Book on Jokes

Teachers and students in Central Java’s Borobudur sub district have collaborated to write a book on jokes collected from classrooms and a special workshop was held for them by a local publishing house, TriBee Press, established by writer Dorothea Rosa Herliany. The book has been published, titled Guru Itu Lucu (Teachers Are Funny). The jokes are what they commonly hear, said Wicahyanti Rejeki, a teacher in Magelang city.”

2011 HERDSA Conference photos

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By Peter Kandlbinder

Higher Education in the Headlines (July 2011)

A summary of the top stories on higher education from the last 4 months of the Australian Higher Education Supplement (www.theaustralian.news.com.au), Times Higher Education (www.thes.co.uk) and the Chronicle of Higher Education (chronicle.com) found that university regulation dominated the higher education press. Other themes included: course demand, university funding, for-profit universities, international students, academic careers and students on US campuses.

University regulationsIn March the Times Higher Education reported that HEPI called for alumni to take governance roles. In April the Australian Higher Education reported that the Vice-chancellors were cool on the government’s research paper and in May it reported that the MyUni web site would be ready to test in July. Meanwhile, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported a crisis of confidence threatened colleges and the Times Higher Education reported fears that off-the-cuff remarks by the Minister will leave debate on higher education in limbo. In June, the Times Higher Education reported disquiet as the government’s sector-wide vision turned into “numbers control” encouraging elite universities to consider GPA instead of the current grading system although most courses will fail KIS data demands over lack of salary information. Meanwhile, the Chronicle reported that the 7,000-plus state legislators in America were being investigated to see where they went to college as a reflection of the average American experience while the Australian Higher Education reported that the higher education sector in Australian was primed to drive reform.

Course DemandIn March the Australian Higher Education reported that the Australian Qualifications Framework had identified three ways to be awarded a masters degree. In April the Chronicle of Higher Education reported business majors are often disengaged from their courses while the Times Higher Education reported that the focus on employment will lead to cuts to humanities

courses as Hefce fined 19 institutions for over-recruitment. In May the Times Higher Education reported that almost half of UK courses need cross-subsidy to survive while the Australian Higher Education reported that aptitude tests had some benefit in student admissions. In June the Australian Higher Education reported that universities were looking into new ways to provide niche courses

University FundingIn March the Chronicle of Higher Education reported that colleges were looking for fresh ways to curb the ever-rising costs of health care while the Times Higher Education reported that the Hefce showed how funding cuts will affect universities and the spotlight fell on donations from autocratic countries. Meanwhile in Australia floods in Queensland fuelled fear of funding crisis. In April the Chronicle of Higher Education reported a budget standoff between republicans and a State university. In May the Times Higher Education reported that the employment data could be used to keep a lid on fees while the Australian Higher Education reported mostly good news in budget despite tough times although in June it reported that the public were concerned over university funding.

For-profit universitiesIn March the Chronicle of Higher Education reported that for-profit colleges managed student loan defaults to hide problems from regulators while the Times Higher Education reported that a loans shake-up might benefit private institutions. In April the Times Higher Education reported an ever increasing number of private provider loans while the Chronicle of Higher Education reported that colleges were scrambling to avoid violating Federal-aid limits on student loans and the elite colleges had failed to gain more students on equity grants. In May the Chronicle of Higher Education reported that Faculty at for-profits colleges feel constant pressure to keep students enrolled. In June the Times Higher Education questioned the success of US for-profit providers in the UK, while in the Australian Higher Education the

Global Laureate International Universities established a campus in Adelaide.

International studentsIn March the Australian Higher Education reported that Curtin University may no longer accept IELTS as a test of English language proficiency and soft marking claims against international students in Australia needed follow-up. Meanwhile, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported that the some colleges were exploiting visa loopholes to make millions out of foreign students. In April the Times Higher Education reported that the relying on doubling foreign enrolments was an “unbelievable” aim. In May the Australian Higher Education reported a slump in number of Chinese students and the Times Higher Education found poor English was a key reason for failing to make the PhD grade. In June the Times Higher Education reported growing fears that postgraduate study in the UK will only be for overseas students.

Academic careersIn April the Chronicle of Higher Education reported that being more experienced as a faculty member doesn’t always result in a higher salary. Meanwhile the Australian Higher Education reported that Excellence in Research Australia has prompted a focus on teaching only positions and students want a career in academe. In May the Chronicle of Higher Education asked about the benefit faculty unions provide? In June the Australian Higher Education reported that the Sydney nursing staff’s teaching load was heavier than other disciplines and in the US the Supreme Court took up scholars’ rights.

Students on US campusesIn March the Times Higher Education reported that high numbers of US students start their college degree without finishing and US campuses are providing more rooms for gay students.

Links to individual stories are available at higheredheadlines.wordpress.com


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By Kathryn Sutherland

Success in academia: Findings from an international research project with early career academics

AbstractTo be considered successful, early career academics (ECA’s) need to be good “academic citizens” (Macfarlane,2007) and productive researchers, with well-established research networks, a growing reputation or profile in their discipline or community, and a solid record of winning competitive reseaarch grants. But, academic success is about more than meeting externally imposed standards in research output, reputation and profile, or about generating satisfactorystudent ratings in teaching.It is also about self-fulfilment, enjoyment, autonomy and security. ECA’s are pulled in many directions by the performative demands of promotion and tenure processes, the realities of competitive funding, and their own personal careerand life aaspirations. Where might restricted external constructions of success leave the ECA’s who wish to identify as more or other than researchers? And how can ECA’s balance their own aspirations and personal constructions of success with the demands of their institutions, disciplines, and students? This session presents the findings of a research project on ECA experiences, conducted with nearly 70 ECA’s internationally, and argues for a need to allow space for multiple constructions of “success” in academia.

NOTE. The full paper will eventually be availble on the HERDSA website under “Conference Papers.”

The Poem by Kathryn Sutherland

On The Success Treadmill

Success is a complicated thing to measure

Is it 40/40/20Or 30/30/30 and where’s the other 10?

I won a research medalI have a service awardI like teaching

Success isa funny thing

I feel successful at what I do because I’mHappy, lucky, secure, free, autonomous

I want tomake the world a better placemake a lasting contribution to human knowledgebe a purist in the pursuit of sciencedo what I love.I’ll have the fun bits, please.

It’s equal teaching, research and serviceJust go for the research; it’s all about the researchIt’s not rocket science: do well at teaching,publish,get grants.That’s the long and the short of it.

Being an academic is about getting out thereIt’s about working with peopleemploying post-docsgetting grantshaving students working with youbeing on committeesbeing the DeanIt’s about NOT being the PVC, because that really isan admin job

Teaching is very important for me,

but the currency is your head. So it has to be research. I’ll sacrifice teaching a little bit if it means more research.

We always get told toplay the game, but if you don’t know what the game is,you can’t play it

You sort of spin one plate and then you go on tothe next one and you’ve got three going.You’ve got your researchYou’ve got your teachingYou’ve got your adminThat plate’s starting to slow down.Is it going tofall off?

I never want to be the academic who ruined his life to befamous in his field

I have a hundred publications.I have a job my parents are proud of.I still have a little bit of life left at the end of the day.

Ultimately, if you based your measurement for success on the institution,you’d be off to Oprahto sort your head out.

I just want to be happy.


A PoEmKathryn Sutherland presented this paper at the conference. At the end of the presentation she read a poem that she explained she had constructed entirely from comments made by participants in the research. Afterwards several people suggested that would be a good idea if the poem were reprinted in the News. So here it is by kind permission of Kathryn.

HERDSA Conference 2012“Connections in Higher Education”

Hotel Grand ChancellorHobart, Tasmania

Mon 2 July 2012 to Thurs 5 July 2012

We hope you can join us for HERDSA 2012 and enjoy the picturesque city of Hobart and the many attractions Tasmania has to offer.

Natalie Brown and Susan Jones (Co-Convenors)

For further information visit the conference website:

http://conference.herdsa.org.au/2012/

The sub-themes of HERDSA 2012 are:• Creating and sustaining peer connections• Establishing community connections• Enriching interdisciplinary connections• Connections for student success• Connecting with research

issn 0157–1826 volume 33 no. 2 september 2011 higher ...€¦ · contents issn 0157–1826 volume...

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