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How well do Canadian distance education students understand plagiarism?
Full text linkThis project ascertains how well students taking online, distance education courses at a Canadian university recognize plagiarised material and how well they paraphrase. It also assesses the types of errors made. Slightly more than half of 420 psychology students correctly selected plagiarised phrases from four multiple choice questions. Only a minority was able to rewrite a phrase properly in their own words. A more diverse sample of university students also had difficulty recognizing plagiarised passages from multiple choice options. The poor ability of students to identify plagiarised passages may suggest poor understanding of the concept. Students may benefit from training to improve their understanding of plagiarism
On the Design of Social Media for Learning
Full text linkThis paper presents two conceptual models that we have developed for
understanding ways that social media can support learning. One model relates to the
“social” aspect of social media, describing the different ways that people can learn with
and from each other, in one or more of three social forms: groups, networks and sets. The
other model relates to the ‘media’ side of social media, describing how technologies are
constructed and the roles that people play in creating and enacting them, treating them in
terms of softness and hardness. The two models are complementary: neither provides a
complete picture but, in combination, they help to explain how and why different uses of
social media may succeed or fail and, as importantly, are intended to help us design
learning activities that make most effective use of the technologies. We offer some
suggestions as to how media used to support different social forms can be softened and
hardened for different kinds of learning applications
Leading Pedagogical Change
No full textTechnological advancement has a dramatic effect on every-day life in contemporary society and its many social institutions, from the workplace to entertainment. Higher education is not immune to these changes, but the exact impact, nature and scope of changes is still unclear (Gumport & Chun, 2005). According to Keller (2008), changes in many things including technology “constitutes [sic] the most consequential set of changes in society since the late nineteenth century, when the nation went from a largely domestic, rural, agrarian mode of living to an industrial, international, and urban economy” (Preface xi). Consequently, for higher education, “this set of circumstances is going to force all academic enterprises to rethink their place and purpose not just in philosophical terms but in very pragmatic ways as well.” (Beaudoin, 2003, p. 520). In the past two decades, higher education has, if not embraced new technology, reached out to utilize the Internet and other forms of technologically-mediated learning. This has transformed interaction opportunities among students and between student and faculty, particularly through online learning.
Online learning offers the opportunity to examine and rethink the teaching and learning enterprise in education broadly. Online learning can be conceived of as the new pedagogy, where strategies such as interaction and dialogue are introduced back into the higher education model. Regardless of education delivery mode – face-to-face, online, distance or some combination through blended learning – teaching (and learning) is changing. Key to this change is the new ways of being as a teacher in higher education – a central part of the role of faculty member in universities. The additional duties, responsibilities, and changing role of faculty can create a high level of dissatisfaction, particularly if they feel they are not well supported (Satterlee, 2010).
As education is changing, so, too, are our notions about leadership. How will we take strides to make things happen in education – who takes the lead, doing what? Leadership in academia is often different from leadership in other contexts. As Ramsden (1998) says, similar to good teaching academic leadership is not telling or transmitting information and ideas; it is a sort of conversation aimed at helping people to change and develop. Gibbs, Knapper & Picinn (2007), confirm that leadership plays an important role in creating teaching excellence. This paper presentation will consider examples of leadership for learning from the Canadian and Swedish higher education context.
We present an argument which rests on three interrelated premises regarding pedagogical change in higher education. The first is that the phenomenon of blended and online learning is dramatically effecting faculty roles in higher education, whether faculty are engaged in teaching with technology or not. The second is that the role of faculty member is saturated with requirements and adding a teaching process that requires advanced teaching expertise in relation to technology, and additional time commitments, will not fit into the current role of faculty; this is so for blended and online learning. Finally, we suggest that leadership strategy which will resolve this issue, and afford students the benefits of such new pedagogies, will take an embedded, distributed leadership approach.
At the same time technological advancement is imposing itself, either because of it or in addition to it, we are currently experiencing the most consequential set of changes in society since the late nineteenth century, when nations went from largely domestic, rural, agrarian mode of living to industrial, international, and urban economy (Keller, 2008, preface). These ubiquitous changes are having significant impact on many things, including higher education institutions and the faculty who work in them. Challenges that faculty experience based on these changes and the effect on teaching must be considered by those leading higher education and responsible for its effectiveness. We recommend a new way of positioning the teaching element of faculty roles and discuss the leadership strategies that will support teaching in this new era.
The opportunity for faculty, and their practice as teachers, to remain the same and not change, is not available. This imperative to change and other challenges in education have emerged because “neither the purpose, the methods, nor the population for whom education is intended today bear any resemblance to those on which formal education is historically based.” (Pond 2002, n.p.). Such change makes it increasingly difficult for education to operate in insular ways; attention to changing demographics, global economies and new social mores is required (Keller, 2008). The reach of information and communication technology via the Internet is pervasive, and has changed society and education institutions in “the way we organize ourselves, our policies, our culture, what faculty do, the way we work, and those we serve” (Ikenberry, 2001, p. 63). In the midst of these developments, new ways of teaching and learning have emerged.
These changes, then, provide the focus for updating the academy, indicating what changes are on the way or at the door step, and what is not or will not work because of these changes. Common institutional challenges fall under the headings of economics issues, changing demographics, the demand for accountability, new teaching and learning models and emerging technology. Net-based educational opportunities, the result of the last two of these institutional challenges listed here, emerged in the early 90s, most often with a promise of ameliorating problems within education, but also as an educational revolution. This revolution is in response to demands for education reform, particularly in reference to teaching and learning (Kanuka & Brooks, 2010). This reform can begin with faculty role change and careful attention to the structure and process of leadership activities to support it.According to Keller (2008), changes in many things including technology “constitutes [sic] the most consequential set of changes in society since the late nineteenth century, when the nation went from a largely domestic, rural, agrarian mode of living to an industrial, international, and urban economy” (Preface xi). Consequently, for higher education, “this set of circumstances is going to force all academic enterprises to rethink their place and purpose not just in philosophical terms but in very pragmatic ways as well.” (Beaudoin, 2003, p. 520). As education is changing, so, too, are our notions about leadership. How will we take strides to make things happen in education – who takes the lead, doing what? Leadership in academia is often different from leadership in other contexts. As Ramsden (1998) says like good teaching academic leadership is not telling or transmitting information and ideas; it is a sort of conversation aimed at helping people to change and develop. Gibbs, Knapper & Picinn (2007), confirm that leadership plays an important role in creating teaching excellence.
Administrators, teaching development staff, leaders and faculty in higher education are invited to review a comparative case study of current pedagogical changes in select Canadian universities, in comparison to the transformation underway at The Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Sweden. Their development plan states that KTH will house a virtual campus as effective and prestigious as its place-based campus by 2027. KTH’s strategic plan and leadership functions will be described in reference to similar and disparate Canadian examples
Counsellor and Practicum Supervisor Critical Incidents in the Development of Multicultural and Social Justice Competency
No full textThe purpose of these two presentations was to highlight some of the outcomes of an Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada funded research project designed to answer the following questions: 1. How well are graduate counsellor education programs doing in preparing practitioners for working in multicultural contexts and addressing social justice issues? 2. What are the most influential learning contexts, processes, or activities in the development of multicultural counselling and social justice competency?
The two presentations funded through this A&PDF award focused on the critical incidents in development of multicultural counselling and social justice competency identified by three groups of research participants: graduate students, counsellors, and practicum supervisor. One of the central differences across the groups was that, unlike current counselling students, most counsellors and practicum supervisors had little or no training in these areas as part of their graduate education. They were educated in a context and within a particular theoretical model that did not embrace the importance of cultural diversity to counselling in the way most programs currently do. They developed competence through their interactions with diverse clients, their own self-study, and consultation with others in the field. Current students, on the other hand, had considerable exposure to multicultural issues in their programs and noted, in particular the importance of experiential, consciousness-raising, and applied practice learning activities. However, their learning experiences seemed to impact attitudes and knowledge more profoundly than specific skill acquisition. In particular, they noted deficits in skills for advocacy and other forms of social justice action. Students also noted that most of their learning emerged from one course on multicultural counselling, rather than being integrated across all courses.
There are a number of important implications of this research, particularly given the increased support in the counselling literature of both the need and the ethical imperative of competency in these areas:
1. Current practitioners and practicum supervisors may lack competency in these areas, unless they have been exposed to, and motivated towards self-study, by the cultural diversity of their clients.
2. These existing practitioners and supervisors are role models for new practitioners and practicums students, which suggests that continuing education and professional development opportunities may need to be provided to match their awareness and competency to current professional expectations.
3. The importance of exposure to diverse clientele during graduate counsellor education training also suggests that university programs may need to take a more active role in both ensuring appropriate role modeling and diversity of clientele in student practicum placements.
4. There is a need to increase learning opportunities that foster the development of skills competencies for multicultural counselling and, more particularly, social justice action.
5. The integration of theory and practice and the infusion of multicultural and social justice competency development across all courses in graduate counsellor education programs offer the best hope of optimizing student competency development.
These presentations have now been published in the following journals:
Collins, S., Arthur, N., Brown, C. (2013). Counsellor and practicum supervisor critical incidents in the development of multicultural and social justice competency. International Journal of Social Sciences, 2(2), 16-32.
Collins, S., Arthur, N., Brown, C. (2013). Critical incidents in graduate student development of multicultural and social justice competency. Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 2(9), 105-115. doi:10.5901/ajis.2013.v2n9p105In many countries, counselling psychology has increasingly attended to the diverse needs of clients within multicultural societies. In North America, emphasis has been placed on nondominant populations, whose experiences of discrimination, cultural oppression, and social, economic, and political marginalization, have a significant impact on psychosocial wellbeing. Counsellors are expected to engage in social justice action, with or on behalf of clients, to effect change in organizations, communities, or broader social systems. The purpose of this study was to examine how well counsellor education programs in Canada are preparing counsellors for both multicultural counselling and social justice. Most research has focused on curriculum content; less attention has been paid to how that content is taught and the efficacy of those learning processes in facilitating competency. The critical incident technique was used to solicit examples of effective and less effective learning processes from graduate students. The qualitative data was analyzed to isolate, cluster, and relate emergent concepts; a critical lens also highlighted missing constructs. The most common learning contexts were the multicultural counselling course and the applied practicum. Four themes emerged that reflect current research: fostering of self-awareness, application of theory to practice, engagement of affect through experiential exercises, and exposure to diversity. Infusion of multicultural and social justice competency throughout curricula is also widely advocated, but was reflected in only four percent of the critical incidents. Engagement in social justice roles and activities was also missing. Enhancements to both curriculum content and process are required to support the social justice agenda
From Burnout to Engagement in Project Managers.
No full textWorkplaces are hypercompetitive and stressful environments. Stress and burnout affect bio-psycho-social-spiritual aspects of quality of life and the spillover effects disturb home and workplace dynamics. Project managers are not immune to burnout. Project managers are pressured to deliver projects on time, within budget and to changing client expectations on scope (often due to over optimism, inexperience or greed).
This paper bridges the psychosocial and management domains by describing a study designed to apply a burnout and work life instrument to project management. Burnout in project managers is an under researched topic. The proposed instruments for the study are well-known and based on research by Maslach and Leiter. The paper will discuss the literature on burnout and engagement as well as the limited research evident on stress in the project management field. The paper will also discuss the concept of care in management and its relevance to fostering and engaged workplaces. The mixed methods design involves surveys and interviews to gather information on how project managers cope with burnout.
Burnout consists of exhaustion, cynicism and professional inefficacy. In contrast, energy, involvement and professional efficacy comprise engagement. The areas of worklife span workload, control, rewards, community, fairness and values. The proposed benefits will contribute to employee well-being, healthier work environment and improved project success, thereby enhancing organizational productivity.
The paper will discuss the study design as well as the challenges of cost-effectively gathering data. Techniques to enhance response rates will also be discussed. The survey research questions focus on the predictive values of the six areas of worklife categories on each dimension of burnout. Sample questions follow: I feel emotionally drained from my work (burnout); I do not have the time to do the work that must be done (areas of worklife). The qualitative part of the study will involve interviews. Sample questions follow: What makes worklife more engaging (meaningful, important)/less engaging to you? How do you cope? Aspects related to grounded theory methodology including using software such as Atlas TI will also be highlighted.
Burnout is a societal challenge and presents opportunities for prevention and intervention. Knowing what may increase engagement could forestall burnout in project managers. This mixed methods study proposes to examine burnout and engagement self-perceptions and the social context of project work
Equity, Opportunity and Inclusion for all – including those with multiple disabilities
No full textWith sufficient imagination and some modest financial investment, even many or most individuals with multiple and severe disabilities can enjoy a reasonable quality of life. Various techniques for facilitating this quality of life are described in this presentation ranging from how to create tasty meals specialized to accommodate swallowing difficulties to various methods for maintaining and enhancing mobility to ways to provide toileting access even in the absence of upper body control.The presenter will share many practical ideas for helping people who have both cognitive and severe physical challenges to do more and communicate better than they thought they could. One part of the presentation will be about a wheelchair with a built-in lift and commode unit which allows individuals with no voluntary control of their limbs to develop and maintain toileting skills despite bathroom and care giver limitations, even when traveling
A Framework for Interaction and Cognitive Engagement in Connectivist Learning Contexts
Full text linkInteraction has always been highly valued in education, especially in distance education (Moore, 1989; Anderson, 2003; Chen, 2004a; Woo & Reeves, 2007; Wang, 2013; Conrad, in press). It has been associated with motivation (Mahle, 2011; Wen-chi, et al., 2011), persistence (Tello, 2007; Joo, Lim, & Kim, 2011), deep learning (Offir, et al., 2008) and other components of effective learning. With the development of interactive technologies, and related connectivism learning theories (Siemens, 2005a; Downes, 2005), interaction theory has expanded to include interactions not only with human actors, but also with machines and digital artifacts. This paper explores the characteristics and principles of connectivist learning in an increasingly open and connected age. A theory building methodology is used to create a new theoretical model which we hope can be used by researchers and practitioners to examine and support multiple types of effective educational interactions. Inspired by the hierarchical model for instructional interaction (HMII) (Chen, 2004b) in distance learning, a framework for interaction and cognitive engagement in connectivist learning contexts has been constructed. Based on cognitive engagement theories, the interaction of connectivist learning is divided into four levels: operation interaction, wayfinding interaction, sensemaking interaction, and innovation interaction. Connectivist learning is thus a networking and recursive process of these four levels of interaction
‘It’s not only what we say but what we do’: Pay inequalities and gendered workplace democracy in Argentinian worker cooperatives.
No full textIn a study conducted by the author in 2006 of five mixed-sex, worker-led cooperatives in Buenos
Aires, all of the workers in each of the coops were paid exactly the same. Five years later, only
two of the worker cooperatives – both dominated by women – came even close to maintaining
the same pay for everyone. The other three cooperatives, all dominated by male workers, had
instituted hierarchical pay scales which paralleled a concomitant decrease in workplace democracy.
An increase in pay inequities and a decrease in worker democracy went together; moreover, the
two paralleled an increasingly inhospitable workplace for women. This article addresses two,
interconnected, questions: How did this intertwining of pay and worker democracy happen, and
more specifically, how was this process gendered
Mutual Caring-Resolving Habituation through Awareness: Supporting Meaningful Learning from Projects
Full text linkThis study used Grounded Theory methodology and developed an emergent theory of Mutual Caring. The main concern was Habituation to ineffective lessons learned sharing practices. Habituation is resolved through Mutual Caring, a socially and psychologically
adaptive process. Mutual Caring involves comfortable conversations, engaging /
sharing, and developing self-confidence,
resulting in an enhanced wisdom pool. This
paper extends the emphasis on tangible
knowledge-sharing mechanisms. Mutual Caring could lead to better outcomes, such as more accessible and usable knowledge, a project management wisdom pool, and criteria for improved dyadic relationships to enhance project learning.Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Athabasca Universit