Coventry University: E-Journals
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Coming around: Tutors, orientation, and prolepsis
Get PDFNovice tutors often conceptualize learning how to tutor as a kind of metaphorical journey, one with a compelling, but not fully recognized, destination. Cognitively speaking, they are learning how to tutor while at the same time learning what the activity of tutoring means. This paper seeks to position tutor education within the conceptually rich field of teacher education, especially as it is informed by insights from sociocultural theory (SCT). Using tutors’ reflective narratives, the author illuminates how orientation to task, a fundamental concept in SCT, changes over time through frequent and intensive reflective writing, when carried out in combination with practical tutoring activities. Specifically, the data suggests that proleptic engagement (identifying elements of the future expert self in ongoing novice activity) and affective engagement are important signals of development. The journey is particularly challenging because – to interrogate the metaphor – the novice is trying to build the track while riding the train to the terminus
Review of Write No Matter What: Advice for Academics
Get PDFThis is a review of the book Write No Matter What: Advice for Academics by Joli Jensen (University of Chicago Press, 2017)
Redesigning a Discipline-Specific Writing Assignment to Improve Writing on an EMI Programme of Engineering
Get PDFEnglish-medium instruction (EMI) in higher education presents challenges at many different levels for educators and students. One of the challenges is disciplinary writing, as students typically study disciplinary content through, and also write in, English as a second or a foreign language. The present, exploratory intervention study uses the redesign of a writing assignment in a Master’s level engineering course at a Swedish university to investigate challenges of disciplinary writing in an EMI context. The study describes how collaboration between content and communication staff helped unpack some of the challenges that students faced. The results show that the students’ texts improved and that the redesign helped them to better adjust to a genre partially new to them. The study also underscores the value for programmes to have a clear plan for writing. The planning is likely to benefit from collaboration between disciplinary and communication faculty, as these participants bring different knowledge to the process
‘Once You Get the Threshold Concepts the World Is Changed Forever’: The Exploration of Threshold Concepts to Promote Work-ready Occupational Therapy Graduates
Get PDFIn the current higher education environment, there is a growing expectation that universities ensure students graduate with skills and attributes that enable them to be work-ready, particularly within the health and social care disciplines. One curriculum design approach that has been proposed as facilitating this transformation from student to professional is the threshold concepts framework. A recent study identified ten threshold concepts within the discipline of occupational therapy. These were: Understanding the models and theories of occupational therapy; Evidence-based practice; Clinical reasoning; Discipline-specific skills and knowledge; Practising in context; A client-centred approach; Occupation; The occupational therapist role; Reflective practice; and, A holistic approach. This study aimed to explore whether these threshold concepts were taught within an Australian occupational therapy program. Twelve occupational therapy educators participated in focus groups, and five themes emerged from the data. These were: professional identity; time; the impact of the learning environment; explicit versus implicit content and language; and, the value and understanding of the threshold concepts framework. The study found that the integrated use of threshold concepts may make them unique to the discipline. Findings also indicated that using the threshold concepts framework facilitates the transformation from student to occupational therapist. However, students may not acquire all of the threshold concepts prior to graduation. Practice-based learning was considered pivotal for threshold concept acquisition. This study explores the application of the threshold concepts framework, providing insights for educators who are seeking to produce graduates who are well-equipped for employment in complex healthcare environments
Digital Tools in Academic Writing?
Get PDFThe process of writing has changed due to the increased availability of digital tools that can facilitate the task of writing in one’s first language (L1) or second language (L2). There has been research on the use of tools by students writing in a foreign language, on the impact of digital tools on student writing, and on the use of digital tools for K-12 writing instruction. However, it seems no studies have investigated the use of digital tools by writing professionals. The aim of this exploratory study was to learn about the use of digital tools by writing professionals – researchers and instructors – when writing in first or second language. The results showed that some writing professionals use a variety of tools throughout the writing process, whereas others use very few tools, and that the patterns of use appear to be similar when writing in L1 or L2. The results informed a new categorization of tools, the various types and subtypes classified by purpose. The study offers a fresh perspective on the use of digital tools for writing by writing professionals.DialogueWe invite responses to this study with examples of the use of digital tools for writing and writing instruction. Case studies, short investigative papers and provocations will be collated and published in a future issue of the Journal of Academic Writing, as outlined in the submissions section of the journal. A fuller invitation is framed at the end of this article
A Framing Analysis of the Treatment of Creativity as a Topic or Goal in German Books on Research Writing
Get PDFMany students in Germany undertaking academic writing tasks consult one of the numerous German-language books on research writing. Curiously, these works tend to downplay or ignore creativity, compared to their American counterparts. A hermeneutic and rhetorical study that examines the structure, content, and style of 21 German books on research writing with the help of framing theory reveals that, firstly, the rationale given to readers for learning how to do a research project is usually that it enables them to complete difficult tasks and thus to graduate successfully – the potentially fascinating aspects, such as learning through writing, and the possibility of advancing the field are rarely mentioned. Secondly, when defining good academic research, US books stress exploration and invention based on wrestling with questions, while the German ones mostly emphasize rules, correctness within a fixed system, and the mastery of techniques. Finally, in the 21 works, academic work primarily comes across as a solitary, linear process neatly divided into separate phases, not as a holistic, discursive practice that takes place within the research community. The likely reasons for this phenomenon highlight several crucial challenges German writing teachers and consultants are facing: as the rhetoric/composition and writing consultancy scene in Germany is vibrant but somewhat marginalized at universities and relatively new, there is no tradition of mandatory composition courses influenced by writing studies with a creative component, and most guidebooks on research are not by writing experts but by professors in other fields. Moreover, there is still widespread belief that creativity cannot be taught, and that students’ fascination with their chosen field of study should be taken for granted, so that neither need to be mentioned in primers. Terminology might also play a role; the German term for ‘research (writing)’, ‘Wissenschaftliches Arbeiten’ or ‘academic practice’, already appears to emphasize correctness over discovery
The Best Available Evidence: Assessing the Quality of Nursing Students’ Bibliographies
Get PDFLibrarians and academic staff suggest a relationship between the quality of references which students use in academic assignments and the marks received. This study tested that assertion by using a citation analysis methodology to assess the quality of bibliographies written by undergraduate nursing students at the University of York.Bibliographies from sixty essays across three modules were analysed, noting the types and quantities of references used and whether references were sourced independently or included in the module’s reading list. Each bibliography was given an overall quality rating: ‘Poor’, ‘Average’ or ‘Good’. This rating was compared with the mark the student was awarded for the essay.Results showed that, whilst students demonstrated the ability to locate items independently, the quality of those items was often poor. Generally, quality of selected sources and bibliographies improved as students progressed through the programme. There was an association between higher quality bibliographies and higher assignment marks.The study concludes that critical thinking skills are vital for nursing students to develop academically, as these skills will be tested within a clinical environment once students have completed their degree. A benefit for students is the conclusion that using higher quality sources results in higher marks
Student Self-Assessment Re-Assessed
Get PDFIn a student-centered classroom, learners have to be actively involved both in learning and assessment, which in itself needs to become a learning tool. Therefore, students need to understand and be given the opportunity to apply assessment criteria themselves. Through self-assessment of their writing, they enhance their self-awareness and become autonomous learners capable of self-improvement and meta-cognition (Liang 2014, Nielsen 2012).Self- and peer assessment are helpful tools that have been discussed in the literature, but the reliability of self-assessment is still debated (see for example Birjandi and Tamjid 2012, Matsuno 2009, Poehner 2012). The present study adds to the existing research by offering data that is not based on observation, but stems from a comparison of self- and instructor assessment where both parties used the same specific assessment rubrics. Assigning numerical values to the rubrics allowed for quantitative results. The data was collected in four classes of students in a course called ‘Introduction to Academic Writing’ at Deree - The American College of Greece. The outcome of the study did not confirm expectations with regard to reliability of self-assessment, and recommendations for future rubric-based studies are included. Self-assessment should be used as a formative and diagnostic learning tool, especially for weaker students, to foster development of learner autonomy
Integrating Threshold Concepts and Ways of Thinking and Practising: Supporting Physiotherapy Students to Develop a Holistic View of the Profession through Concept Mapping
Get PDFThe work practices of a health professional involve a complex weaving together of knowing what, knowing how, and knowing why. To help students engage with what is required for practice, educators need to have an expansive view of what it means to be a health professional in the rapidly changing real-world contexts that people inhabit today. Threshold concepts, and the complementary framework Ways of Thinking and Practising (WTP), are educational ideas that can help educators to think in those broad ways about health’s knowledge base, behaviours, and values, and how these appear in the curriculum. This article offers a case example from a pre-clinical entry-level physiotherapy subject to illustrate how threshold concepts and WTP informed what students came to understand about health professional practice. A curriculum that considers threshold concepts and WTP in combination helps both educators and students to engage with learning from multiple perspectives and to develop a connected understanding of their chosen profession. Helping students to articulate the connections between knowledge (e.g. threshold concepts) and how this knowledge is put to use (e.g. through the WTP of the profession) enables them to reconsider practice-related contexts in meaningful ways
Using Telemedicine in Practice: Implications for Workforce Development
Get PDFThe aim of this article is to present a discussion of the impact of telemedicine on professional practice, and the implications for the workforce. Telemedicine, or the use of video-conferencing for remote consultations between clinician(s) and patients, is now a mature technology. Many pilot studies have taken place, generally showing positive benefits to patients. There is emerging evidence that the impact on staff is more mixed; with concerns about changes to job role, skills development, and poor understanding of the organisational benefits. Evidence also highlights enablers of successful telemedicine implementation, including senior leadership, peer motivation, understanding of patient benefits, and time for safe experimentation. Following a review of qualitative data from four case study telemedicine projects undertaken within the authors’ research group, evidence from published literature is discussed. The four projects explore telemedicine services provided between an acute hospital service and nursing homes (remote assessment of swallowing difficulties), an acute hospital service and home (video-link to renal patients undergoing home dialysis), between a specialist teaching hospital service and a district general hospital (fetal abnormalities ultrasound telemedicine clinic), and a survey of mental health professionals across acute and community services within a locality. The introduction of telemedicine at scale requires an organisational and system-level approach that recognises the specific challenges and issues for the workforce. Education and training need to be provided at all levels. In conclusion: there are significant opportunities to realise the benefits of remote consultations, to improve the patient experience and staff productivity, if workforce issues are addressed