higher learning

As I approach a new role as a senior academic manager I’ve been reflecting upon my time spent as an academic developer within a previous higher education institution. In particular I have been considering what academic leadership means to me. This article is my opportunity to share that reflection.

As I approach my new role as a manager, I notice a change in my thinking. I have to consider the size of the new challenges and think about how I can coordinate and delegate the tasks required to initiate changes in practice. I am resigned to the fact that these activities will take time. I need to win over new colleagues, and chase the progress of numerous projects. I will probably have to describe how the projects are conducted, so that they harmonise with my way of working. But I’m looking forward with a new-found invigoration. The challenges are achievable and energising, the prospects are enticing and enthusing. Read the rest of this entry »

Lately I’ve been thinking about the arrogance of academia, specifically with regard to the teaching of ‘international’ or ‘outside of the EU’ learners. Academics seize the idea of ‘critical thinking’ and give it a large emphasis as part of the UK higher education experience. We tell our learners that they must be seen to think (and evidence their thinking) critically, and we offer rules for referencing and citation to ‘avoid plagiarism’. Critical thinking is often assumed to be needed, without justification. We assume that it is ‘part of higher education’ and offer no explanation as to why. We encourage students to question, yet not the need of the subject itself. Why would a learner not question its relevance? Read the rest of this entry »

Abstract

This paper describes the collaboration between Sheffield Hallam University and an International IT Consulting organisation to develop an innovative postgraduate curriculum that combines intensive, vendor-specific certification training together with a challenging enquiry-focused educational experience. Employers prefer to ‘benchmark’ potential applicants against industry certification standards, yet also desire the qualities of a postgraduate’s enquiring mind. Using research and ‘open enquiry’ as principle values, a curriculum has been created that facilitates exploration of a wide range of practical and theoretical topics in order to support the development of a highly skilled, autonomous ‘Technical Consultant’. A key aspect of this approach is to provide guidance for learners to explore their own development paths, whilst also exposing them to an established vendor specific platform in order to gain sufficient practical experience before seeking employment.

Awarded Best Paper at the 10th Annual ICS Conference, Kent 2009.

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My new curriculum is very simple. Twelve sessions, each of 2 hours. No lectures (nobody turns up). No scheduled activities, no tutorial plan. All that exists is a set of learning outcomes and an end of module assignment. You won’t find the learning outcomes written in quite the same way as the official documentation. In fact I’ve spent a considerable time re-writing them to make them more meaningful, both to the learners and to me. Hopefully they are better aligned with the assessment task. Read the rest of this entry »

Abstract

Learners who `strategically’ engage with information systems and computing curricula are becoming more prevalent in Higher Education institutions. Increasingly they demand more prescriptive advice from teaching staff to achieve particular grades and often fail to demonstrate the learning outcomes that the curriculum originally intended to deliver. The use of Biggs’ Constructive Alignment (Biggs 1999) to revise the curriculum has presented new opportunities to reflect upon the learning activities that need to be undertaken, and can result in a focus on teaching process rather than how to achieve a product. This paper presents a case study of how a business process modelling module has been developed over six years to progressively align the assessment tasks with learning activities and Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO). Early indications were that the explicit declaration of ILO made the learners appear more strategic. This shift provided new challenges for the teaching staff, particularly in terms of designing appropriate summative assessment, and presenting the ILO to learners in a meaningful and justifiable way. The use of form templates is described to assist the communication of ILO, as well as supporting the thinking necessary to build a constructively aligned curriculum. Such a curriculum places more emphasis upon the dynamics of learning interactions, and should explore what learners achieve outside of the timetabled curriculum. Finally this work is evaluated in the context of qualitative responses to open questions asked at the end of each iteration of the module.

Final publication can be found here.

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Looking back over the first year, of a two-year secondment as a part-time academic developer, I have observed several things. First of all I have changed my own practice as an academic lecturer. Secondly, I have also seen changes in the practice of some of my academic colleagues. Thirdly, the experience has sparked my enthusiasm for institutional change. Finally I have realised that this is very hard work! This is my story about some of the trials and tribulations when charged with the responsibility of leading change in an academic institution. Read the rest of this entry »

As educators we agonise over how best we can assess learners. Exams only take a snapshot of what someone can remember at a particular point in time. Coursework may in fact be somebody else’s work. But do either really demonstrate what has been learned? Read the rest of this entry »