University of Warwick Press: Journals
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Exploring the ‘Invisible’ in GTAs: Reflections on Intuition and Post-Graduate Mentoring
Get PDFPostgraduate researchers who teach (Graduate Teaching Assistants) always navigate their academic spaces among several psychological factors in their routines from both inside and outside. They can often be observed attending to students, advising them on their problems and sometimes even relying on their seniors for various topics. In such situations, practitioner intuition remains a well-known and relied-upon source of GTA\u27s decision-making skills but also an underexplored area of investigation, especially in mentoring and language teaching literature (Ushioda, 2023; Burns & Williams, 2023 & Kumar, 2024). Based on this premise, this reflective paper aims to simplify and understand the GTA\u27s pedagogic intuition towards success and failures in PG thesis writing contexts from peer-mentoring perspectives. The initial sections of the paper, imagining GTA\u27s as mentors and their learners as mentees, establish what GTA intuition can be thought of, how it is related to Vygotsky\u27s ZPD (Zone of Proximal Development) and the potential operations based on an intuitive decision-making model.
The latter part of the paper offers detailed practical insights about these theoretical connections through my own workings of intuition while scaffolding the PG mentees to plan, execute and write their theses. Detailed reflections of both the GTA/mentor and the mentees elicited through think-aloud and discursive puzzling measures are reported extensively. Lastly, the paper advocates for more work towards exploring GTA\u27s intuition in mentoring scenarios (and otherwise), getting more awareness from their cognitions and becoming more intuitive practitioners
Control-Lab-in-a-Box: Bridging the Gap between Control Theory and Engineering Practice
Get PDFTraditional control engineering teaching methods heavily rely on abstract mathematical concepts, often leaving students puzzled about real-world applications. Common simulation tools, such as MATLAB and Simulink provide a good visual demonstration but don\u27t necessarily bridge the gap between theory and application. The proposed ‘lab-in-a-box’ approach offers a tangible method for students to connect control theory with a practical control engineering experience. The literature has observed a shift towards such portable labs, given the advancements in compact computing devices such as Raspberry Pi and Arduino boards in electronics and control teaching. The primary goal of these labs is to deliver an authentic engineering experience with essential hardware. Evaluation of this method, through the student module evaluation questionnaire (MEQ), revealed a significant increase in student satisfaction after its introduction. While the results are promising, challenges remain, such as the initial set-up of the kits. However, the ‘lab-in-a-box’ is found to be a valuable tool in control engineering education, bridging the gap between theoretical and practical understanding. An on-going development includes updating of the kits to match future engineering challenges and needs, e.g., electrification and autonomy of vehicles
Impact of personal values on learning approaches and academic achievements in UK higher education
Get PDFIn the post-Covid era of higher education, blended teaching has become the standard method of instruction. This approach incorporates various modes of delivery, and it is important for students to engage in the diverse form of learning. Considering students’ preferences for learning approaches, especially independent learning, is crucial in the development of blended teaching methods. One of the key factors affecting students’ preferences is personal values, which can influence student’s adoption of learning approaches. This, in turn, affects their engagement in the learning community and their academic performance (Gamage, Dehideniya and Ekanayake, 2021). Personal values vary culturally, and this is particularly relevant when developing blended teaching strategies for cohorts of mixed nationalities. This issue is especially pronounced in the departments and schools across the UK universities, which often have a diverse student body with mixed cultural backgrounds. Our research aims to examine the role of personal values (specifically self-direction values and conformity values) in students’ adoption of independent learning and the impact of these values on their academic achievement in blended teaching context.
Our research was conducted in 2022 through an internship scheme sponsored by WMG. We conducted a Qualtrics survey with the convenient sample of 162 among which 146 from China (including Hong Kong S.A.R.). The results indicated that self-direction values were closely correlated with both independent learning and academic achievement while no significant correlation was found between conformity values and independent learning or between conformity values and academic performance were found. The research results hold considerable importance for educators in design self-directed study for students from varied cultural backgrounds in higher education settings
Advocating for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Postgraduate Pedagogies
Get PDFI have come to the realization that equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) are critical components of a good postgraduate education. However, EDI can be difficult to achieve, especially in postgraduate pedagogies that are frequently characterized by hierarchies and power asymmetries. This review paper explores some strategies and practices that can be employed by postgraduate teachers to advance EDI in postgraduate pedagogies. These include: confronting unconscious bias, privilege, promoting representation and embracing students’ voices, and implementing support structures to address the unique challenges faced by students in postgraduate pedagogies. Furthermore, I will discuss the benefits of implementing an EDI-focused approach in postgraduate education. This will highlight how EDI can foster interdisciplinary collaboration and inclusive education system that will consequently lead to a more diverse and representative academic community, contributing to the development of inclusive practices in various professional fields beyond their institutions. The study uses secondary sources, such as journal articles and focused research findings on the topic. The sources used aim to highlight existing issues in postgraduate pedagogies as related to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion-EDI. The paper concludes by emphasizing the need for concerted efforts from postgraduate teachers to prioritize and advocate for EDI in postgraduate pedagogies, because an EDI-focused postgraduate education can become a catalyst for producing graduates that will contribute to the development of inclusive practices in various professional fields beyond their institutions, and this will truly reflect our diverse and multi-cultural society through the ideals of education
Plurilingual Perspectives, Pluricultural Contexts: A case study on Agence-France Presse news coverage about the plurinational State of Bolivia in Spanish, French, and English
No full textThe present article is concerned with the multilingual news coverage from Agence-France Presse (AFP) about the South American country of Bolivia. Firstly, the theoretical and methodological approaches are outlined in order to characterise the plurality of contexts giving rise to AFP’s coverage of the Bolivian 2020 general elections. Secondly, an analysis is proposed that contrasts these multilingual versions in terms of framing devices and translation shifts, aiming at exploring the ways in which media stakeholders represent the Bolivian reality. Thirdly, the findings of this analysis are contextualised with reference to a cross-linguistic comparison of newspaper corpora. When comparing the Spanish, French, and English versions, the first two are found to be more aligned at the level of discourse patterns. The ultimate purpose of this case-study is to observe the presence of translation in plurilingual news settings, where the role of translators often goes unacknowledged withi
Reduced to a Number: Exploring the relationship between research culture and metrics
No full textIn a recent study carried out by library professionals at the University of Waikato, a small university situated in Aotearoa New Zealand, researchers across a range of disciplines were interviewed to better understand their views on researcher assessment, metrics, and research impact. Beyond discussions about the limitations of bibliometrics, many of the participants also drew attention to structural factors that affect their decision making, attitudes, and the way they work. These included satisfying research assessment, ensuring job security and career progression, cultural labour and tensions for Indigenous scholars, and dealings with reviewers and publishers
A Reconsideration of Imaginative Points of Resistance: 9/11 and surprise attacks
No full textIn this short piece, I want to explore the idea that limits of imagination, that I refer to here as to ‘points of resistance’, can play an essential role in certain imaginative tasks. To show how points of resistance can be carriers of crucial information, I focus here on the analysis of 9/11. Leaving aside personal and political implications, I investigate the possible plausibility of some statements of the US Secretary of the Defense at the time of the attacks, attributing the cause of 9/11 to imagination. I propose that, despite being dismissed as an outrageous analysis of responsibilities involved in the success of the terroristic attacks, there could be a role that a failure of imagination might have played
Narrating Self, Depicting the Other: Self-Realisation and Trauma, Belonging and Diaspora in the Works of Shamsia Hassani and Keyvan Shovir
Get PDFThe American philosopher and gender theorist Judith Butler believes that \u27our capacity to reflect upon ourselves, to tell the truth about ourselves, is correspondingly limited by what the discourse, the regime, cannot allow into speakability\u27 (Giving an Account of Oneself). This review analyses how Shamissa Hassani (b.1988), the first female graffiti artist of Afghanistan, and Keyvan Shovir (b. 1985), the first postrevolutionary graffiti artist of Iran, manifest Butler’s view of giving an account of oneself. I argue that Hassani and Shovir have used their arts as a means of speakability and self-reflection in the restricted discourses of their home countries. I conclude that art manifests the possibility of self-revelation and reclaiming one’s voice beyond the restricted social discourses or diaspora
A Concept of Death in Genus Pan: Implications for Human Evolution
No full textAn understanding of what death and dying entail is termed a concept of death (CoD), and the human CoD is often viewed as one of the characteristics that distinguishes our species. In this research, I identified an analogous understanding of death and dying in our closest living relatives—genus Pan. Linguistic frameworks designed for studying the CoD in human children look for evidence of understanding of several facets of death. I adapted these frameworks for the non-verbal Pan species, systematically analysing written and video recordings of chimpanzee and bonobo behaviours surrounding death within these new behavioural frameworks. I identified compelling evidence for the comprehension of several aspects of death, and thus for the presence of a human-like CoD in chimpanzees and bonobos. This has implications for our own evolutionary story and raises questions about what makes humans ‘human’
