scholarly journals Implementing a Communities of Practice model to enhance learning and teaching at a transnational university in China.

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (13) ◽  
Author(s):  
Henk Huijser ◽  
James Wilson ◽  
Dawn Johnson ◽  
Jianmei Xie

In this paper, we present a case study of a communities of practice (CoP) model (Lave & Wenger, 1998) to enhance learning and teaching at a transnational university in China. A communities of practice model was chosen as an alternative to a centrally designed workshop model, whereby academic staff attend a series of workshops on offer and their attendance is ‘ticked off’. A communities of practice model was seen as a potentially more organic and ‘bottom-up’ approach to professional development and learning, as opposed to a more centralised and ‘top-down’ approach. This case study reports on the conceptualisation and initial implementation phases of this model at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, a joint venture between Xi’an Jiaotong University in China, and Liverpool University in the UK.

Author(s):  
Simon Lygo-Baker ◽  
Stylianos Hatzipanagos

The chapter reports work that investigated the use of e-portfolios developed by teaching practitioners as part of an award-bearing academic development programme in the UK. The project aimed to enable teaching practitioners to access and gain familiarity with pedagogically sound e-portfolio opportunities. The project was designed to foster a reflective approach, promote critical thinking focused on learning and teaching, and enhance continuing professional development. The outcomes of this project are discussed in terms of an appreciation of e-assessment by the teaching practitioners involved, recommendations for an e-portfolio environment that uses technology enhanced learning resources to foster a reflective approach that can enable and enhance continuous professional development for academic staff.


2014 ◽  
pp. 1706-1727
Author(s):  
Simon Lygo-Baker ◽  
Stylianos Hatzipanagos

The chapter reports work that investigated the use of e-portfolios developed by teaching practitioners as part of an award-bearing academic development programme in the UK. The project aimed to enable teaching practitioners to access and gain familiarity with pedagogically sound e-portfolio opportunities. The project was designed to foster a reflective approach, promote critical thinking focused on learning and teaching, and enhance continuing professional development. The outcomes of this project are discussed in terms of an appreciation of e-assessment by the teaching practitioners involved, recommendations for an e-portfolio environment that uses technology enhanced learning resources to foster a reflective approach that can enable and enhance continuous professional development for academic staff.


Author(s):  
Rafi Davidson ◽  
Amnon Glassner

The goal of this chapter is to present a theoretical and practical frame for PD of teachers at the digital age. The main question we ask is how to develop life competencies and skills of teachers in order to change their learning and teaching in a way that enables school graduates to acquire relevant skills for life. The chapter inquires this issue by a qualitative methodology case study. The case is an online course for teachers' professional development. The chapter presents evidence from reflective diaries, interviews and scripts of students' and teachers' discussions, focusing on identification of the effects of the course's learning environments on the development of the teachers' self determination learning and skills. The findings indicate the useful effects of the combination between LMS environments and social media, such as Web 2.0 tools. The conclusions suggest new directions for teachers' professional development that encourage the design of a flexible fractal net which enable fostering teachers' leadership and innovation.


2017 ◽  
pp. 715-746
Author(s):  
Rafi Davidson ◽  
Amnon Glassner

The goal of this chapter is to present a theoretical and practical frame for PD of teachers at the digital age. The main question we ask is how to develop life competencies and skills of teachers in order to change their learning and teaching in a way that enables school graduates to acquire relevant skills for life. The chapter inquires this issue by a qualitative methodology case study . The case is an online course for teachers' professional development. The chapter presents evidence from reflective diaries, interviews and scripts of students' and teachers' discussions, focusing on identification of the effects of the course's learning environments on the development of the teachers' self determination learning and skills. The findings indicate the useful effects of the combination between LMS environments and social media, such as Web 2.0 tools. The conclusions suggest new directions for teachers' professional development that encourage the design of a flexible fractal net which enable fostering teachers' leadership and innovation.


2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 603-623 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARGARITA GELEPITHIS

AbstractIn pension systems characterized by low or moderate state benefits, reliance on voluntary private pensions creates a dualism of access to adequate retirement income. This dualism is expected to persist over time. Yet while some private-heavy pension systems continue to rely on dualising voluntarism, since the 1980s most have introduced regulatory reforms to make private pensions more encompassing. This paper uses fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis to identify three paths to the regulatory extension of private pension coverage – collective self-regulation, top-down regulation in Continental Europe, and top-down regulation in Anglophone countries. A case study of the UK then shows how it is that unions have been able to bring about more encompassing private pensions in Anglophone countries, despite strong employer opposition, weak formal influence in policymaking, and a weak institutional capacity for collective self-regulation.


Author(s):  
Nataliia Vinnikova

Nowadays, higher education is not only an essential condition for the spiritual and professional development of the individual, but also a decisive factor in socio-economic transformation.Taking into consideration changing nature of learning and teaching at higher education institutions, the need for professional development of teachers is increasing. The main purpose of the thesis is to highlight the problem of professional development of academic staff, its relevance and importance for improving learning and teaching. There will be presented a model of teachers’ skills improvement implemented at Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University (Ukraine), as well as new approaches to the organization of training for higher school teachers that combine different training strategies for their development.


2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Underwood ◽  
Arne Dahlberg ◽  
Simon FitzPatrick ◽  
Malcolm Greenwood

The STILE Project (Students' and Teachers' Integrated Learning Environment) is one of 76 projects set up under the UK Government's Teaching and Learning Technology Programme (TLTP) initiative sponsored by the British Higher Education Funding Councils (HEFCs). The STILE Project uses hypermedia to provide greater opportunities for independent and flexible modes of learning both in a campus situation and for distance learning. The approach is resource-based. STILE provides a mechanism for both tutors and learners to discover and access relevant resources when they need them, together with facilities that enable users readily to use and re-use existing materials, to integrate them together, and to add further materials of their own in a way that seems natural to them (see Ruggles et al, 1995). The result is not a closed and finished product,but a set of tools and services and a continually developing resource base. The effect is to ease the load on academic staff in maintaining and supporting student access to resources, and to enrich the set of resources available to both staff and students.DOI:10.1080/0968776960040205


2014 ◽  
pp. 1301-1318
Author(s):  
Alan Hurst

Despite the progress made in the development of policy and provision for disabled students in Higher Education since the issue first received attention in the UK in 1974, there is still some way to go before a state of genuine inclusion is reached. The key to further improvement and enhancement of quality is seen to lie in training for staff. After presenting evidence showing the need for more and better training, a number of issues relating to initial training and continuing professional development are discussed. A number of sample tasks for inclusion in staff development sessions are described.


1998 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Landman ◽  
Judith Buttriss ◽  
Barrie Margetts

AbstractObjective:To describe how the Nutrition Society developed public health nutrition as a profession between 1992 and 1997, and to analyse the influences propelling on this professionalization.Design:Qualitative case study.Setting:Britain.Results:The Nutrition Society of Britain consulted with various stakeholders (such as dietitians, researchers, professionals and practitioners and educators from the UK, and latterly from mainland Europe) to build a consensus about the definition, roles and functions of public health nutritionists and the need for, and scope of, this new profession. Building on this consensus, the Society developed a curriculum in line with British national nutrition policy. Analysis shows that the design and philosophy of the curriculum is explicitly international and European in orientation, in keeping with the tradition of the discipline and the Society. The curriculum is designed in terms of specialist competencies in public health nutrition, defining competency so that registered public health nutritionists are advanced practitioners or leaders: this is in keeping with contemporary trends in professional education generally and as expressed by the UNU/IUNS and at Bellagio, in nutrition in particular.Conclusions:Despite a unique relationship with British state and policy, this case of professionalization contributes to contemporary international inter- and intraprofessional debates about the nature of public health nutrition and is consistent with professional educational theory.


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