scholarly journals Research into the diversification of university careers in learning and teaching and intentionally closing-the-loop on graduate employability

Author(s):  
James Arvanitakis ◽  
Madelaine-Marie Judd ◽  
Shelley Kinash ◽  
Trina Jorre de st Jorre ◽  
Trish McCluskey

 Universities are both a source of employable graduates and careers. This paper examines universities as developers and employers of their own graduates from the perspective of employees and recruited positions. Research questions were: what do learning and teaching careers look like at universities, and; what are the occupational patterns, satisfactions and concerns of the staff in those careers? An autoethnographic account of employees’ career journeys (all of whom were employed in learning and teaching or closely related areas) from five different universities were shared, compared and contrasted. Two of these universities are profiled as having a large proportion of students from target equity groups and therefore have intentionally recruited learning and teaching staff to widen student participation. A desktop review of six months of university employment vacancies from these two universities was conducted. A consistent theme across the autoethnographic stories was a feeling of being an outsider. The authors’ hypothesis is that this is related to haphazard preparation for learning and teaching positions. Of the 322 university vacancies, 84% were for professional staff, 23% of which were in learning and teaching, with the most prevalent role being Coordinator. Fourteen per cent were for academic staff, 64% of which involved learning and teaching, and the most prevalent title was Lecturer/Senior Lecturer. Key takeaways include recommendations for universities to intentionally enhance the employability of graduates who pursue learning and teaching positions within universities, and for prospective university learning and teaching staff to enhance their employability.

Author(s):  
Debbi Weaver ◽  
Christine Spratt ◽  
Chenicheri Sid Nair

<span>Many higher education institutions have implemented a learning management system (LMS) to manage online learning and teaching, with varying levels of support provided to staff and students, but often there is little subsequent investigation into the quality of the online sites or the use made of the support structures provided. This paper presents findings from an institutional survey investigating the use of </span><em>WebCT</em><span>by academic staff and students in their learning and teaching at a large Australian university. It was expected that student feedback would relate to technical and infrastructure issues, but instead, the survey elicited responses primarily on how </span><em>WebCT</em><span> was used in teaching and learning, indicating that quality control is a major issue for the University. Student opinions appear to reflect more the use of the technology made by teaching staff - students who have experienced a well-designed unit rich with resources, timely feedback and good interaction with staff reported a positive experience with the technology. Staff responses are more focused on the technical and administrative aspects of using </span><em>WebCT</em><span> rather than teaching issues. The findings in this paper have implications for quality teaching and learning with technology, and the way in which tertiary institutions support academic staff.</span>


bit-Tech ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Winny Purbaratri ◽  
Moedjiono Moedjiono ◽  
Moch. Fajar Purnomo Alam

STMIK Insan Pembangunan is a College that was established in 1990, located in Tangerang Regency. Supported by 41 Lecturer staff. Lecturers have the position as professional staff at the higher education level who are appointed in accordance with the laws and regulations. Lecturers are educators who provide a number of knowledge to students in universities or universities. The best lecturer selection system is used to support learning and teaching activities in the campus so that students are competent in the field of concentration taken. So it is needed teaching staff or lecturers who are competent in their fields, in this case to meet the criteria of the competent lecturer is needed a system that supports in this case deciding which lecturers are considered the best. The process of selecting the Best Lecturers in the current system is that there is a shortage that takes a long time to process the results of the questionnaire data and only uses one of the criteria of the Tridarma of Higher Education, namely Education and Teaching. So that the resulting decision is not yet valid. In this study a Decision Support System (DSS) will be made where the decision support system can help a person in making accurate and well-targeted decisions. The method used is AHP to calculate the weight of each criterion and TOPSIS to rank each alternative based on each criterion. The results obtained in this study are a system that is able to produce the best rank of lecturers in STMIK Insan Pembangunan.


Author(s):  
Jolita Horbacauskiene ◽  
Evelina Jaleniauskiene

In higher education (HE), the emerging global phenomenon of English medium instruction (EMI) has brought huge opportunities for both students and teaching staff as universities are increasing the number of English-medium programmes. A number of studies have been conducted to explore EMI policies and practices, implications for pedagogy, as well as challenges for educators and students, including learners' academic skills, learning styles, level of content knowledge, academic practices, and varying ethical standards. Some issues under analysis are considered to be the main problematic questions faced in multilingual and multicultural classrooms. As noted by Dearden, the change in the learning and teaching language may deeply affect not only students but teachers as well. The current study seeks to answer the research questions of how university teachers conceptualize EMI and what possibilities and challenges this practice offers.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Secker

See RECORDING. This keynote is both a practical and strategic view of information literacy from my perspective as a Senior Lecturer in Educational Development at City University, London and Chair of the UK’s Information Literacy Group. I’ll reflect on the experiences I have had since leaving the library profession and moving into the field of educational development, which involves working with faculty to enhance teaching and learning and to develop their curricula. Since taking on this role I have had rich conversations with academic staff about all aspects of information literacy, often under other guises. I’ve recently undertaken a small-scale study to understand their approach to thinking about the related concepts of digital literacy and open practice and I’ll discuss some findings from this research. Faculty express concerns about how to create independent learners in the age where information is abundant, but knowledge is still scarce and privileged. Those who complete my module on the same topics have reflected on the plethora of terms and frameworks which are designed to support them which in fact sometimes leave them further confused. I’ll also draw on a recent chapter I wrote (Secker, 2018) on the trouble that terminology can cause, when we try to collaborate with both academic staff and with colleagues in other areas of learning support. The second part of my keynote will focus on the efforts of the UK’s Information Literacy Group (ILG) to broaden the definition of information literacy and to try to get the concept recognised outside the library. In many ways there are parallels between the work I do at an institutional level and the efforts of the group to raise awareness of information literacy more broadly. In April 2018 the ILG launched a new definition of information literacy and much of the efforts of the group have been to build links with organisations and people outside of the library sector. For us to achieve true universal information literacy, as Paul Zurkowski first envisaged, (Zurkowski, 1974) I will argue information literacy needs to become an ongoing concern or everyone who works in education, government, the media or who cares about social justice. I’ll end by considering the challenges and opportunities that collaboration presents whether it is librarians, academics and other professional staff in education or policy makers and other organisations working with those outside the library world. Collaboration is vital for information literacy to become truly embedded into all aspects of formal and informal learning and to achieve the goal of universal information literacy that Zurkowski first envisaged. However, we still have a big task ahead of us to achieve this. I will attempt to consider the lessons I’ve learnt from working in this field for over 15 years, and advocate for a vision of information literacy that extends far beyond the library community. I’ll draw on the work and the framework in developed in 2011 (Secker and Coonan, 2013) to explore how we can rethink information literacy and provide a framework for supporting learning in the digital age.  


Author(s):  
Tina Acuna ◽  
Jo-Anne Kelder ◽  
Glenn McDonald ◽  
Amanda Able

The national Learning and Teaching Academics Standards statement for agriculture (AgLTAS) defines the nature and extent of the discipline; and provides threshold learning outcomes (TLOs) that define what a graduate should know, understand and do at graduation. The AgLTAS standards are endorsed by the Australian Council of Deans of Agriculture and can be used to communicate to potential and current students the minimum standards of their degree, but can also be used to inform curriculum design. While the AgLTAS document provides explanatory notes to assist educators to further understand the intent of the TLOs there are no exemplars on how the AgLTAS standards can be implemented. This paper presents two case studies of how academics at the University of Tasmania and the University of Adelaide used the AgLTAS to map their respective agriculture curricula. Curriculum mapping was used to evaluate the links between the curriculum and the target learning outcomes, and to identify gaps and areas for improvement. Results include the curriculum maps but also a survey of academic staff and their reactions to the TLOs, plus a reflective commentary on what we believe are the next steps and implications of the AgLTAS for curriculum development, industry engagement and graduate employability in the agriculture discipline.


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 49-62
Author(s):  
Lisa Thomas ◽  
◽  
Kathryn Harden-Thew ◽  
Janine Delahunty ◽  
Bonnie Amelia Dean ◽  
...  

The higher education (HE) sector in Australia is in a state of flux due to a range of social, political and economic factors. Increased competition, greater student diversity, tautening of industry exigencies, reduced funding, and rapid technological advances are key drivers of change in this environment. Within this period of transformation, HE institutions remain steadfast in maintaining quality teaching and learning practices. Challenges are therefore presented on the traditional role and function of the teaching academic, creating opportunities to explore how staff can be better prepared to teach into the new era of HE. Professional development for learning and teaching is one approach that can support staff to enhance teaching practice. Professional development programs however that fail to meet the contemporary needs of HE or consider the academic’s professional requirements, may be at risk of becoming extraneous. A move towards a more flexible approach to professional development may be necessary to meet these requirements to provide appropriate, timely support for teachers. This paper problematises approaches to professional development which adopt a ‘one-size-fits-all’ model and introduces a new, innovative program Continuing Professional Development (Learning & Teaching) (CPD [L&T]) at the University of Wollongong . The CPD (L&T) model supports the professional development of all teaching staff – from casual teacher to professor level, academic and professional staff. The model is externally referenced and features self-nominated activities for accreditation. CPD (L&T) enables multiple, ongoing methods of engagement across a professional’s teaching career, supporting a new, You-topic vision of professional development in learning and teaching.


2019 ◽  
pp. 172-176
Author(s):  
Otegbulu M. I. ◽  
Ezeagu A. Agbo ◽  
Agbo Genevieve N.

Security is pre-requisite for the development of human beings and the society. It is a pre-condition for the survival, development and advancement of individuals and groups. The school is an organization that needs to have a planned safety rules and regulations to protect it components so that the culture of learning and teaching is enhanced. Security threat within the school environment could hamper the peaceful atmosphere in the school, and disrupt academic exercises and panic among the personnel in the school. The government, security agents, parents, school administrators and the community has a lot of role to play to make school environment safe and conducive. However, security gadgets and apparatus should be provided to nip these issues in the bud, as well as train the teaching and non-teaching staff on security issues.


2009 ◽  
Vol 33 (104) ◽  
pp. 45-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Ann Chelin ◽  
Jason Briddon ◽  
Elspeth Williams ◽  
Jane Redman ◽  
Alastair Sleat ◽  
...  

This article outlines research carried out with students and academic staff at a large UK university library on how e-books are being used for learning, teaching and research. It was discovered that e-books are meeting many of users' needs, especially in terms of accessibility, but there are still concerns about subject coverage and the impact on students' learning. There are various reasons why e-books are beneficial in developing an academic library collection, most particularly for reference materials and essential readings, but librarians need to work closely with academic staff to integrate use of e-books effectively into learning and teaching, taking care that licence and access implications are better understood. The drivers to the use of e-books appear to be outweighing the barriers, although the latter will require considerable effort on the part of librarians within their institutions and also in terms of communicating concerns to e-book providers.


Author(s):  
David I Lewis

The world of work is changing rapidly, with an increasing global demand for employees with higher-level skills. Employees need to have the right attitudes and aptitudes for work, possess work-relevant skills, and have relevant experience. Whilst universities are embedding employability into their curricula, partnerships outside of the taught curriculum provide additional, largely untapped, opportunities for students to develop these key skills and gain valuable work experience. Two extracurricular partnership opportunities were created for Bioscience undergraduates at the University of Leeds, UK: an educational research internships scheme, where students work in partnership with fellow students and academic staff on on-going educational projects, and Pop-Up Science, a unique, student-led public engagement volunteer scheme. Both schemes generate substantial benefits for all. They enhance student’s skills and employability, facilitate and enhance staff-student education practices and research, and engage the public with research in the Biosciences. Collectively, they demonstrate the extraordinary value and benefits accrued from developing extracurricular partnerships between students, staff, and the community.


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