Showing papers in "Higher Education Research & Development in 1997"
TL;DR: In this article, the concepts of research tradition, research program, research tool and research orientation are used to clarify the character of phenomenography, and the historical roots and the ontological, epistemological and methodological assumptions of this research specialisation are described and summarised.
Abstract: In this article the concepts of research tradition, research programme, research tool and research orientation are used to clarify the character of phenomenography. Phenomenography is said to be fundamentally a research orientation and to be characterised by the delimitation of an aim in relation to a kind of object. The aim is to describe and the kind of object is a conception. Phenomenographic research also has common characteristics of method of a general kind related to the orientation and these are called a research approach. The orientation and approach together are said to represent a research specialisation. The historical roots and the ontological, epistemological and methodological assumptions of this research specialisation are described and summarised. Lastly, phenomenography is described as a reaction against and an alternative to dominant positivistic, behaviouristic and quantitative research and as making its own ontological, epistemological and methodological assumptions with insp...
495 citations
TL;DR: In this article, it is argued that interjudge reliability, traditionally used within phenomeno-graphy, is an unreliable way of establishing reliability of the results produced, since it does not take into account the researcher's procedures for achieving fidelity to the individuals' conceptions investigated.
Abstract: This article takes up the issue of the extent to which phenomenographic results are reliable. It is argued that interjudge reliability, traditionally used within phenomeno‐graphy, is an unreliable way of establishing reliability of the results produced. First, interjudge reliability does not take into account the researcher's procedures for achieving fidelity to the individuals’ conceptions investigated. Second, and most fundamental, the use of interjudge reliability based on an objectivistic epistemology gives rise to methodological and theoretical inconsistency within phenomenography. Reliability as interpretative awareness, maintained through the phenemenological reduction, is suggested as one way of overcoming the problem of establishing reliability of phenomenographic results.
350 citations
TL;DR: The authors discusses some of the misconceptions held by university teachers and administrators about South-East Asian students studying in Australia and examines them in the light of recent research, and challenges the views that students from South-east Asia are surface learners, passive non-participants in class who prefer the company of other Asian students.
Abstract: International students from South‐East Asia who study in Australia are often portrayed negatively compared to local students in terms of learning and study practices. This article discusses some of the misconceptions held by university teachers and administrators about South‐East Asian students studying in Australia and examines them in the light of recent research. In particular, it challenges the views that students from South‐East Asia are surface learners, passive non‐participants in class who prefer the company of other Asian students. These findings challenge university teachers to reconsider accepted beliefs and practices when teaching all students, but particularly students from South‐East Asia.
295 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a Phenomenography in higher education, which they call Phenomenology in Higher Education Research & Development (PHED), focusing on higher education research and development.
Abstract: (1997). Introduction: Phenomenography in Higher Education. Higher Education Research & Development: Vol. 16, No. 2, pp. 127-134.
277 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors outline principles for teaching based on the body of empirical phenomenographic research and, on the other hand, on an emerging picture of the nature of human awareness.
Abstract: Phenomenographic research has tackled questions concerning the variation in ways in which people experience the phenomena they meet in the world around them. The empirical work directly addressing educational issues has to a large extent focused on describing qualitatively different ways in which particular sorts of students understand a phenomenon, or experience some aspect of the world, which is central to their education, and setting the results into the educational context of interest. Learning is viewed as being a change in the ways in which one is capable of experiencing some aspect of the world and other research has been linked to attempts to bring about such changes by utilising certain approaches to teaching. This article will outline principles for teaching based, on the one hand, on the body of empirical phenomenographic research and, on the other hand, on an emerging picture of the nature of human awareness. The principles will first be drawn, explicated with the help of a number of ...
253 citations
TL;DR: In this article, it is argued that it is doubtful if and in what sense the interview data generated in much of the empirical work within this tradition can be assumed to refer to "ways of experiencing", the core object of research in phenomenography.
Abstract: The article continues a critical discussion of phenomenography by raising some issues on the status of interview data in such research. It is argued that it is doubtful if and in what sense the interview data generated in much of the empirical work within this tradition can be assumed to refer to “ways of experiencing”, the core object of research in phenomenography. In general, it would seem that the data must be understood as indicative of accounting practices — ways of talking and reasoning — that interviewees, for one reason or another, find appropriate when being asked questions. Very little, if anything, is gained in analytical terms by an initial commitment to a position in which the researcher connects utterances to experiences rather than to discourse, since the latter is what is in fact analyzed. It is also argued that in some important respects discursive practices must be seen as preceding experience, and that experiential accounts given by individuals are grounded in discursive patterns.
216 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that five different ways of doing phenomenography can be found amongst the works of Gothenburg phenomenographers: Discursive, Experimental, Naturalistic, Hermeneutic and Phenomenological.
Abstract: This article will argue that five different ways of doing phenomenography can be found amongst the works of Gothenburg phenomenographers: Discursive, Experimental, Naturalistic, Hermeneutic and Phenomenological. Commenting on an earlier version of phenomenography, Jacob Needleman stated that it was “a ‘good‐for‐nothing’ brother of phenomenology”. We will argue that it is not. It is productive research, even if at times the degree of methodological reflection applied by phenomenographers to their work is found wanting. Two of five forms of Gothenburg phenomenography can be developed by recourse to phenomenology.
185 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors use a phenomenographic perspective to interpret and integrate the results of relational research, including phenomenography in particular, in analysing the experiences of teaching and learning in higher education.
Abstract: This article uses a phenomenographic perspective to interpret and integrate the results of relational research, including phenomenography in particular, in analysing the experiences of teaching and learning in higher education. In this analysis the experience is conceived of as temporal and not extended over time. We describe conditions associated with two qualitatively different approaches to teaching which, as suggested by other research results, are associated with differences in the quality of student learning. Such an analysis can help explain the variation in the experience of the same lecturer in different teaching contexts or of different lecturers in the same teaching context.
157 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a case study of a course based on the assumption that students expect to be spoon fed and are only capable of regurgitating information they have been fed, but provide evidence to show that the assumption was not true at all.
Abstract: It is common to hear teachers claim that their students expect to be spoon fed and are only capable of regurgitating information they have been fed. Their curricula reflect this belief and the outcome is a self‐fulfilling prophecy—the students dutifully regurgitate to the best of their ability to fulfill assessment requirements. We present a case study of a course based upon this belief, but provide evidence to show that the assumption was not true at all. When an alternative curriculum stressing independent learning and student‐centred approaches was developed, the students were not only capable of more meaningful learning approaches, they actually preferred them—even if they did at times work harder. We discuss the aspects of course design which contributed to encouraging students to use a deep approach to learning.
88 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe two academic development activities which exemplify how phenomenographic ideas and the results of phenomenographic research can be built into the design of teaching development workshops for staff teaching in higher education.
Abstract: This article describes two academic development activities which exemplify how phenomenographic ideas and the results of phenomenographic research, can be built into the design of teaching development workshops for staff teaching in higher education. The activities focus on two important tenets of a phenomenographic approach to teaching and learning—the experience of variation and relevance to the participant. They are structured in terms of the examination of experience of the participants and their students. They seek to help the participants see variation within the experience as a way of helping them examine their own experience and change their way of seeing teaching. They also set the experience in a context where staff can see the connections between teaching and learning such that the goal of changing teaching to improve student learning appears to the teacher as relevant.
87 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined data from the intercultural experience of Korean students studying in Australian universities, in particular, their difficulties communicating interculturally in academic settings, and identified difficulties of Korean student are discussed in terms of difficulties in language, styles of teaching and learning, and relationships with peers and teachers.
Abstract: This article comes from a study which examines data from the intercultural experience of Korean students studying in Australian universities ‐‐ in particular, their difficulties communicating interculturally in academic settings. The identified difficulties of Korean students are discussed in terms of difficulties in language, styles of teaching and learning, and relationships with peers and teachers. The article explores the significance of different Korean cultural norms in education, such as role expectations, classroom conventions and language use. It also aims to help Australian educators and institutions to contribute towards a better understanding of the difficulties for Korean students involved in the evolving field of intercultural education in Australia. The findings recommend strategies for students, educators and institutions. Such integrated strategies and support programs would enable educators and students to achieve better relationships and greater academic fulfilment.
TL;DR: This article explored the notion of women being lost in space in the phenomenographic outcome space and found that women seem to be literally missing in the majority of phenomenographic studies, and the traditional disciplines of study, the values of which largely determine the structure of the typically hierarchical outcome space, are patriarchal.
Abstract: A critical feature of phenomenographic study is its generation of the “outcome space” which constitutes the results of the study. The central idea underlying this article is that women may be “lost in space" — the phenomenographic outcome space. First, women seem to be literally missing in the majority of phenomenographic studies. These studies have usually been in fields in which women are poorly represented and in research samples in which women have not been present. Second, the traditional disciplines of study, the values of which largely determine the structure of the typically hierarchical outcome space, are patriarchal. Without attention to the hidden as well as the explicit aspects of what learners are coming to know, the understanding that we gain from the outcome space may be distorted. Third, the outcome space tends to be defined in many studies in cognitive terms, excluding or neglecting the affective dimension often associated with women's ways of knowing. This article explores the i...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the meaning of words used by students in describing their approaches to study and conceptions of learning from their linguistic context, and differentiated between students' conceptions of the learning and the highly strategic approach they may adopt under stressful learning conditions.
Abstract: This article incorporates the findings of two studies of student learning at the University of the South Pacific into a discussion of the use of phenomenographic studies in different countries. While similar conceptions of learning have been found in different cultures, different learning styles may be emphasised in different settings. In discussing the analysis of interview transcripts, we examine the importance of deriving the intended meaning of words used by students in describing their approaches to study and conceptions of learning from their linguistic context. We also differentiate between students’ conceptions of learning and the highly strategic approach they may adopt under stressful learning conditions. Finally, we discuss the interplay between culturally preferred learning styles and strategies and the institutional culture of the school system from which students have come.
TL;DR: A short version of Richardson's Approaches to Studying Inventory (ASI) was administered to psychology students at the commencement of the semester of study as discussed by the authors, which seeks to indicate the degree to which students employ a reproducing (i.e., surface) or meaning approach to learning.
Abstract: Richardson's short‐version of the Approaches to Studying Inventory (ASI) was administered to psychology students at the commencement of the semester of study. This inventory seeks to indicate the degree to which students employ a reproducing (i.e., surface,) or meaning (i.e., deep,) approach to learning. Scores for meaning orientation did not predict academic performance in any way, while there was a very small negative relationship between reproducing orientation and academic achievement. The internal reliability of subscales within meaning and reproducing orientation were not satisfactory.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the role of academic department head in Australian universities and examined four discrete roles of the department head: leader, manager, scholar, and academic staff developer.
Abstract: This study of the academic department head in Australian universities continues the discussion explored in the article entitled, “The Role of Department Head in Australian Universities: Changes and Challenges” published in the April edition of HERD, 16(1), 1997. The current article examines the role in terms of the departmental‐specific stress factors of administrative relationships, role ambiguity, administrative tasks, academic roles, and perceived expectations. Four discrete roles of the department head are also examined, namely: leader; manager; scholar; and academic staff developer. Findings indicate a job where the major chair stressors include administrative demands, as well as balancing the needs of scholarship with the everyday responsibilities of chairing a university department. An examination of the tasks chairs perform indicates that the leadership and academic staff development roles take precedence, followed by scholarship and management imperatives. Implications of the findings fo...
TL;DR: In the conventional liberal view, the university is a battleground between two mutually exclusive qualities: government intervention; and academic freedom and institutional autonomy as mentioned in this paper. But the conventional view is seriously misleading, while tensions between government and the academic domain are inherent in the modern university.
Abstract: In the conventional liberal view, the university is a battleground between two mutually exclusive qualities: government intervention; and academic freedom and institutional autonomy. While tensions between government and the academic domain are inherent in the modern university, the conventional view is seriously misleading. Far from being naturally “outside” government, the modern university is a product of government and serves the purposes of government, though it also has other constituencies and purposes. Conventional academic freedom is a state of regulated autonomy in which the freedom of academics in teaching and research is necessary to the discharge of their normal functions, but these functions are exercised within boundaries controlled by government and management. The installation of systems of market competition in higher education extends the terrain of this regulated autonomy, while also highlighting the problem of standardisation in the global environment. It is possible to achie...
TL;DR: In this paper, a brief case study is used to illustrate that these two levels of action should be seen as complementary and that both levels of actions are necessary to support efforts to enhance the quality of university teaching.
Abstract: Educational Development Units (EDUs) exist in most Australian universities and are playing a role in supporting teaching at the institutional level. There is a tension within many such units between working with individual academics at the grassroots level and being more influential at the institutional level. Some writers in the field have been critical of units which operate at the individual consultancy level, suggesting that such an approach limits their overall impact at the institutional level. In this article, a brief case study is used to illustrate that these two levels of action should be seen as complementary and that both levels of action are necessary to support efforts to enhance the quality of university teaching.
TL;DR: A small initial study aimed to find out what values, perceptions and attitudes educators from a sample tertiary faculty (the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia) have towards a group of new and emerging educational technologies as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: A small initial study aimed to find out what values, perceptions and attitudes educators from a sample tertiary faculty (the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia) have towards a group of new and emerging educational technologies. A questionnaire was formulated which was administered as a written survey or telephone interview. The study found that the respondents are most familiar with and have useful knowledge about CD‐ROM technology, and most are also familiar with video‐conferencing. These technologies are seen as the most potentially useful. Lack of knowledge, display/delivery equipment, and the time‐consuming nature of making such educational material are the major barriers which hinder their use of them. The study recommends further inquiry into the barriers that prevent the integration of such technologies into tertiary learning.
TL;DR: The role of academic departmental head in Australian universities has been little explored as discussed by the authors, and a study of the role by comparing key demographic data with a similar American-based study, and examining the role in terms of personal, professional, and organisational variables, and their relationships with the generic measures of role conflict and role ambiguity.
Abstract: The role of the academic departmental head in Australian universities has been little explored. This article reports a study of the role by comparing key demographic data with a similar American‐based study, and examining the role in terms of personal, professional, and organisational variables, and their relationships with the generic measures of role‐conflict and role‐ambiguity. Results indicate differences in the role classified by gender, type of initial appointment, age and willingness to serve (among other variables), and on such dimensions as job satisfaction, work stress, role‐conflict and ambiguity, and publications record. Findings indicate a job where stress appears manageable, satisfaction is in short supply and maintaining an appropriate publications record is an ongoing pressure.
TL;DR: The authors brought together several themes in research on learning in higher education from the perspective of a classroom teacher and made recommendations about evaluation, in which the Course Experience Questionnaire has a place.
Abstract: This article brings together several themes in research on learning in higher education from the perspective of a classroom teacher. The aim is, on the one hand, to show how research translates into classroom practice and, on the other, to enthuse teachers to consult that research literature and make their own translations. These remarks originally focussed on using the results of the Course Experience Questionnaire administered to students graduating from Australian universities, but the lens has been widened here. After distinguishing teaching from learning, the article concentrates on five themes in good teaching. They concern choice, self‐evaluation, variety, workload and feedback. This article makes recommendations about evaluation, in which the Course Experience Questionnaire has a place. It descends from the abstractions of evaluation to offer observations on good teachers as individuals and closes with a perspective on the movement to enhance teaching in universities.
TL;DR: The short form of Entwistle's (1981) Approaches to Studying Inventory (ASI•S) was administered to 503 mature-aged students, most of whom identified themselves as disadvantaged and were returning to study after many years absence as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The short form of Entwistle's (1981) Approaches to Studying Inventory (ASI‐S) was administered to 503 mature‐aged students, most of whom identified themselves as disadvantaged and were returning to study after many years absence. Analysis of the 503 responses showed that internal consistency estimates for the seven subscales of the ASI‐S were generally low, but that confirmatory factor analysis could recover two major dimensions corresponding to deep and surface orientations to learning. To examine the predictive validity of the ASI‐S with this population, results for a mathematics unit which they were studying were regressed on factor scores. Results of the structural analysis indicated that the deep orientation was unrelated to academic progression in mathematics but that high scores on the surface orientation were associated with poor academic performance ( = 0.092). These findings indicate that broad learning orientations are fundamental and can be identified in a group of students returning ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the quality of student learning, by design and through process, can be enhanced through the use of media such as a Subject Learning Plan (SLP) which provides a medium for designing and articulating details of a subject environment and culture having these characteristics.
Abstract: Emerging approaches to achieving high quality learning in higher education emphasise the need for learning to be viewed and facilitated in terms of integrated teaching‐learning elements; a range of linked experiences; clearly articulated processes and expectations; high relevance of material to student experience and the “real world”; student‐centred practice; development of lifelong learning skills; and the teacher as designer and facilitator of the environment, rather than as instructor. The Subject Learning Plan (SLP) provides a medium for designing and articulating details of a subject environment and culture having these characteristics. We contend that the quality of student learning, by design and through process, can be enhanced through the use of media such as a SLP. This position is defended with reference to an account of the genesis, design, implementation and student evaluation of a SLP in a specific context.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the online literacy practices of students in one subject offered at an Australian university and suggested that studies of the contexts and practices of online literacy can provide information which will help instructors to have some idea of what to expect concerning their students' online literacy.
Abstract: The present situation in which students enter tertiary education with different experiences of online literacy poses challenges for instructors of subjects in which content and online literacy are integrated. It is hard for university teachers to predict what can be expected of incoming students in terms of computer experience, or to plan suitable syllabuses. In this article, the online literacy practices of students in one subject offered at an Australian university are examined. These practices are viewed within the context of the subject itself, and in the wider context of tertiary education. It is suggested that studies of the contexts and practices of online literacy can provide information which will help instructors to have some idea of what to expect concerning their students’ online literacy. In turn, this knowledge may make it easier for instructors to plan subject syllabuses which provide for groups of students with mixed online experiences. Areas for further research are also identified.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe a collaborative project, its processes and its products, as well as the dynamics of collective review as they relate to facilitation, organisational change, and comfortable versus critical collaboration.
Abstract: The purposes and practices of student assessment in all sectors of education are contested. So when the members of a university department decide to collaborate in order to integrate their assessment requirements, what they enter into is a program of personal and collective review that begins to unmask the moral and political dynamics of curriculum and professional development. This article describes such a collaborative project, its processes and its products, as well as the dynamics of collective review as they relate to facilitation, organisational change, and comfortable versus critical collaboration.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a Web site review of higher education research and development, focusing on the use of Web sites. But they do not discuss the impact of these sites on research.
Abstract: (1997). Web‐Site Review. Higher Education Research & Development: Vol. 16, No. 2, pp. 253-256.