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Concurrent Session III
Friday, June 13, 8:30–9:45 AM
China Higher Education International Forum: Leadership Roles in Chinese Higher Education During a Changing Era
Guo, Dacheng: Beijing Institute of Technology; Fu, Anzhou: China University of Geo-Science; Li, Mingshun: Ching Women’s University; Zhou, Zouyu: Beijing Normal University; Yang, Tao: Harbin Institute of Technology; Chu, Zuwang: China University of Geo-Science; Li, Kang (Hugo): Michigan State University
Chinese higher education has undergone unprecedented changes and expansion over the last few decades. It has successfully transformed itself from elite education to mass education. Not surprisingly, this highly centralized educational system often initiates changes and innovations through top-down push and governmental intervention, as evidenced in the merger and acquisition spree that happened at the end of the 20th century. Institutional leaders are in the middle of dealing with outside pressures and addressing institutional needs. In this symposium, institutional leaders from Chinese universities will discuss how they promote and sustain meaningful organizational changes, what challenges and opportunities they face in their institutions, and how their universities explore and maintain institutional identity in a changing era.
Fashioning Global Scholarship as an Emerging Context
Claudia Igbrude: Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland
Highlighting Ireland as an emerging identity in educational development, this session considers whether countries (like Ireland) should look to contexts with a more defined history to fashion a global scholarship of educational development. Or, should they forge a unique scholarship based upon their distinctive perspectives, skills, and approaches? This session will draw from the particular contexts of session participants, highlight the Irish example of an educational development network (EDIN) that embraces cross-institutional collaboration, provide possible theoretical frameworks sensitive to peer collaboration in educational development, and invite participants to consider the possible contributions of such networks/emerging identities to a global scholarship of learning and teaching.
Threshold Concepts in Educational Development
Helen King: Consultant, USA
Students often experience difficulty in grasping particular concepts, which can result in an apparent ‘blockage’ in their learning. With some concepts, clearing the mental blockage can have a significant impact, with the resulting insight opening up a whole new way of thinking about, or practising in, a discipline. These ‘threshold’ concepts might be considered portals leading the learner to a previously undiscovered way of thinking (Meyer & Land, 2006). This session will introduce the notion of threshold concepts, identify what these might be for our ‘students’ (faculty members and academic staff), and consider the implications for educational-development practice.
Towards a Global Language of Educational Development
David Baume: FSEDA, UK
Difference (not disagreement, just difference) is a common feature of developers’ work, for example: difference of country, practice, institution, language, educational philosophy, discipline. How can we find a common language in which to discuss our varied work as educational developers across our various worlds? And, to the extent that we may find a common language in which to talk about our work, can we find a productive framework within which to articulate the main dimensions of difference? This session will suggest such a framework with the strong intent to use participants’ expertise to test and improve the framework.
Key Concepts in Graduate Certificates in Higher Education Teaching-and-Learning in Australasia and the UK
Peter Kandlbinder: University of Technology, Sydney, Australia; Susan Wilcox: Queen’s University, Kingston: Canada
This session describes the outcomes of a survey designed to determine the concepts considered key to an introductory subject on teaching-and-learning in higher education. An email survey was sent to 147 course coordinators of postgraduate certificates in higher education teaching-and-learning. Each coordinator was asked to identify the 5 key concepts taught in their core teaching-and-learning subject. Responses were categorized, aggregated, and ranked by frequency. The results from Australia and New Zealand will be compared with those in the UK. A number of issues common to the purpose of postgraduate certificates more generally will be teased out.
Improving College/University Teaching: Important Lessons Learned
James Eison: University of South Florida, USA; Yenni M. Djajalaksana: Maranatha Christian University, Indonesia; Jecky Misieng: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Malaysia
This interactive session will synthesize important lessons learned about teaching improvement derived from three sources: (1) the presenters 35 years of combined experiences and professional insights working in post-secondary institutions in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the USA; (2) a number of recent telephone interviews with highly experienced members of the Professional and Organizational Development Network (POD); and (3) the work experiences and professional insights of ICED conferees attending this session.
Responding to Tragedies: Building the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Mathew Ouellett: University of Massachusetts-Amherst, USA; Therese Huston: Seattle University, USA; Michele DiPietro: Carnegie Mellon University, USA
International tragedies, such as the terrorist attacks of 2001 in the USA or 2005 in the UK, or local tragedies, such as the student massacre in Montreal in 1989, are events that a campus will deal with only once, if at all, and (we hope) never again. However, because these are unusual circumstances, instructors have very little experience in dealing with them. In this session, we will present research from a US study about the perception of effectiveness of faculty teaching behaviors following tragedies. We will then have a discussion soliciting international perspectives about the roles developers can play in such situations.
Mentoring as a Medium for Educational Development
Mary Deane Sorcinelli: University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA
Universities across the globe are investing considerable time, effort, and expense to replenish their faculty/staff ranks with a new generation of scholars. How can mentoring help these newcomers juggle the many demands of surviving and thriving in academia? And how can institutions frame mentoring as a broad educational development initiative in which faculty at all stages of the academic career can teach and learn from each other? In this interactive session, participants will explore both traditional and emerging models of mentoring, map out the mentoring networks and resources in their educational development center/university, and share “best practices” for successful mentoring.
Celebrating the Similarities and Uniqueness of Educational Developers Worldwide
Dieter J. Schönwetter: University of Manitoba, Canada
Literature is limited in providing the wide range of professional expectations of an educational developer (ED). First, guided by developmental theories and engaged by various interactive methods such as discussion groups and fishbone exercises, participants will reflect and share significant events leading to a career of ED. Second, participants will consider and impart influential elements in sustaining their careers. Third, participants will reveal important resources that are perceived as necessary to be successful EDs. By capturing these significant experiences, elements, and resources represented at various critical points in their careers, EDs will have valuable tools and resources for success (references provided).
Educational Developers’ Role in Contributing to Change
Kirsten H. Lycke, Tone D. Solbrekke, & Line Wittek: University of Oslo, Norway; Torben K. Jensen, Berit Eika, & Gitte Wichmann-Hansen: University of Aarhus, Denmark
An educational developer is actively engaged in contributing to change. In doing so, she faces a number of dilemmas related to (1) the kinds of activities developers initiate and engage in; (2) the perspectives, values, and orientations developers bring to their work; and (3) the context of educational development. This session will focus on how educational developers can contribute to change, and how their identity is formed through the way they solve dilemmas. Three authentic cases of change at course- , university-, and national-level will be presented and discussed with the participants.