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Concurrent Session VII
Friday, June 13, 4:15–5:00 PM
The Power of Knowledge Management in Higher Education
Tarkan Gurbuz: Middle East Technical University, Turkey
Higher education institutions will find more applications for knowledge management than the other organizations since higher education institutions focus on three core duties that are knowledge management intensive: (1) scientific research related to the creation of knowledge, (2) teaching that involves the sharing of knowledge, and (3) institutional activities that affect the use of knowledge for decision making. All the above tasks are well within the boundaries of Knowledge Management, which drives the need for better and faster decision-making tools and methods. This session will enable participants to learn fundamental concepts of knowledge management; it will encourage participants to construct and maintain an outstanding, sustainable, knowledge-management environment for education and research organizations.
Integrating Quality Assurance in Competence-Based Education
Riko van Dijk & Vanessa Geers: University College Lessius Antwerp, Belgium
Quality assurance continues to rise in importance in higher education, not only on the management level but also on the educational level. Of ever greater importance is the quality of education and that the different forms of education are assured. Therefore it is only logical that a direct link is made between quality assurance and education. Elements of quality assurance can be used in educational programs to increase participation and quality.
Exploring Generational Influences on Teaching and Learning
Megan M. Palmer & Terri A. Tarr: Indiana University—Purdue University Indianapolis, USA
Four generations are now populating our campuses, with each cohort having their own unique life experiences, social norms, and views of the world. This has an impact on the teaching and learning environment. The purpose of this session is to provide the tools necessary to offer workshops on this same topic. A summary of the literature and its implications regarding this topic will be provided. Although some information will be shared regarding generational differences in several countries, the focus of this session is on how generational differences in the United States influence teaching and learning.
External Funding Agencies—Drivers of Distinctive Models of Academic Development?
Clair Hughes, Merrilyn Goos, & Ann Webster-Wright: The University of Queensland, Australia
Central agencies whose mission is to enhance teaching and learning in higher education have been established in many parts of the world. Such agencies appear to promote the development of an institutional model of academic development which effectively combines elements of both top-down and bottom-up approaches. This presentation draws on two case studies of externally funded projects at an Australian university to investigate significant dimensions of this approach to academic development. It concludes that externally funded models display distinctive characteristics and influence not only the way in which academic development is conducted but also the professional lives of those involved.
Changing Institutional Identity in a Changing Era: An Imperative for Chinese Higher Education Institutions
Zhou Zuoyu: Beijing Normal University, China (PRC)
Higher education changes as its social-economical environment changes, which is a common theme internationally. This presentation considers Chinese higher education institutions as complex organization in order to precisely examine their structural, behavioral and cultural changes as China has gone through drastic change in its higher education system in the last three decades. The presenter will lead a discussion on the increasing importance of market forces and their strong influence on higher education, the changing trend of entrepreneurship within institutions, new initiatives taken by the government and universities, and how they impact on institutional identity. To survive and thrive in a changing context in China, colleges and universities have to become learning organizations in order to adapt to change, and accordingly, change their institutional identity.
Building Faculty Cultural Responsiveness: Interviewing Diverse Students in Their Homes
Mary Anne Prater, Carol Solomon, & Barbara Smith: Brigham Young University, USA
For several years faculty members at Brigham Young University have actively recruited culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students preparing to be special education teachers. The program now admits more CLD students than non-CLD students. However, all of the special education faculty members represent the majority culture and language. The faculty members needed to learn more about the students and their cultures. In order to determine students’ perceptions of what university course and program strategies facilitated or hindered their learning, faculty members interviewed CLD students in the students’ homes. Preliminary results will be presented and implications for university programs explored.
All for One: An Integrated System for Student Support
Linda D. Smith: Walter Sisulu University, South Africa
At Walter Sisulu University, serving mostly disadvantaged students and experiencing a high drop-out and failure rate, no integrated program existed to provide an early-warning system for individual intervention. To address this problem, monitoring teams consisting of lecturers and peer educators began to meet monthly to discuss progress of individual students and identify academic and social/behavioral problems. A specific intervention for each “flagged” individual is drawn up, implemented during the following month, and then reported on. Students have been divided into groups receiving different interventions to establish which combinations are most effective. This session presents preliminary results and invites comment and comparative research.
Enhancing the Teaching-Research Nexus
Simon Hoult: Canterbury Christ Church University, UK
This session explores how a new university has enhanced its research culture through establishing funded department-based research into teaching and learning. Projects with an emphasis on enhancing research-based and research-informed teaching have been encouraged and supported centrally by a combined Teaching-and-Learning Unit and Research Office. Fifteen projects are established, and this session will exemplify their natures and impacts on teaching, learning, and research publication. The session seeks expertise from delegates to explore the drivers and barriers to such research-based and research-informed teaching in order to share successes, enhance strategy, and embed such practice.
The Power of Our Assumptions: Getting the Dog to Wag the Tail
Andrew S. Gibbons & Russell Osguthorpe: Brigham Young University, USA
The assumptions we make about learning and instruction are so subtle that we are normally not even aware of them, but they have enormous influence on how we plan and carry out instructional events. This presentation-discussion will make explicit the most basic structural, social, and epistemological assumptions that lie hidden in the designs and plans of virtually every instructor and instructional designer—and which strongly influence the surface forms and textures of our teaching. How can we change the face of teaching? By deliberately reversing the assumptions built-in to our designs and plans. This session will present things any instructor can do.