4D -
Tracks
Track 4
| Wednesday, July 10, 2024 |
| 1:45 PM - 3:10 PM |
| Room E2 |
Speaker
Dr Sean Perera
The Australian National University
1:45pm - 2:10pm University students’ views of transdisciplinary curriculum content
1:45 PM - 2:10 PMFinal abstract
Background & Focus:
Students come to university wanting to learn how to ‘save the world’ by applying their knowledge to complex and messy problems (Tiller et al., 2021), but the specific content of their learning interests is not well understood. The university in which this research was conducted is reforming its curriculum to enable all undergraduate students to participate in transdisciplinary problem solving. The purpose of this research was to investigate undergraduate students’ views about transdisciplinary curriculum content, what they would find engaging, and the content they would like to see in a new curriculum.
Description & Method:
Focus groups and individual interviews were conducted with 45 current undergraduate students and recent alumni. A dimensional sampling plan (Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2011), was used to ensure divergent perspectives were included. Evidence comprised interview transcripts and thematically analysed data.
Evidence:
The evidence indicated three distinct categories of students: 1. Informed student perspectives; 2. Uninformed student perspectives; and, 3. Serendipitous perspectives. Overall, students clearly communicated preference for transdisciplinary content that resisted resolution attempts by single disciplines. They included real-world issues; namely, climate change, education, economy, environment, health, inequality, innovation and national/global security. These ‘wicked’ problems, the respondents agreed, needed transdisciplinary interventions which acknowledged their multiple facets and were sensitive to their complexity (see, Whitchurch, 2012).
Contribution:
It was a challenge to communicate to the university community the multiple disciplinary perspectives of comprehension and resolution that underpinned the participating students’ preferences. The main contribution of this presentation is to demonstrate how a multidimensional framework offered by the United Nations (2015) Sustainable Development Goals accurately represented the inherent complexity and contextualised the student views within transdisciplinary spaces of resolution.
Engagement:
The audience at HERDSA 2024 will be invited to reflect how transdisciplinary content preferences of undergraduate students could challenge their personal disciplinary boundaries.
Students come to university wanting to learn how to ‘save the world’ by applying their knowledge to complex and messy problems (Tiller et al., 2021), but the specific content of their learning interests is not well understood. The university in which this research was conducted is reforming its curriculum to enable all undergraduate students to participate in transdisciplinary problem solving. The purpose of this research was to investigate undergraduate students’ views about transdisciplinary curriculum content, what they would find engaging, and the content they would like to see in a new curriculum.
Description & Method:
Focus groups and individual interviews were conducted with 45 current undergraduate students and recent alumni. A dimensional sampling plan (Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2011), was used to ensure divergent perspectives were included. Evidence comprised interview transcripts and thematically analysed data.
Evidence:
The evidence indicated three distinct categories of students: 1. Informed student perspectives; 2. Uninformed student perspectives; and, 3. Serendipitous perspectives. Overall, students clearly communicated preference for transdisciplinary content that resisted resolution attempts by single disciplines. They included real-world issues; namely, climate change, education, economy, environment, health, inequality, innovation and national/global security. These ‘wicked’ problems, the respondents agreed, needed transdisciplinary interventions which acknowledged their multiple facets and were sensitive to their complexity (see, Whitchurch, 2012).
Contribution:
It was a challenge to communicate to the university community the multiple disciplinary perspectives of comprehension and resolution that underpinned the participating students’ preferences. The main contribution of this presentation is to demonstrate how a multidimensional framework offered by the United Nations (2015) Sustainable Development Goals accurately represented the inherent complexity and contextualised the student views within transdisciplinary spaces of resolution.
Engagement:
The audience at HERDSA 2024 will be invited to reflect how transdisciplinary content preferences of undergraduate students could challenge their personal disciplinary boundaries.
Biography
Dr Sean Perera is the Academic Sub Dean and Program Convenor of the Graduate Studies Unit at The Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra. He is a transdisciplinary scholar, with international expertise in cross-cultural communication. His research explores STEAM communication with culturally and linguistically diverse teachers and learners.
Sean holds a First Class triple-major in microbiology, chemistry and zoology (2000), and a master’s degree in agriculture (2004). He worked as a research scientist in South Asia before earning a PhD in science communication from ANU (2010).
Among his significant achievements are the ANU College of Science Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning, ANU Vice-Chancellor's Award for Public Policy and Outreach, Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy UK, and the Inspiring Australia Recommendations report to the Federal Government to develop an evidence ease for science engagement in Australia. Sean serves on the Australian Academy of Science Library and Achieve Committee.
Mrs Robyn Barallon
The University of Melbourne
2:15pm - 2:40pm Tracing the influences that shape higher education curriculum across the academic disciplines of Chemistry, Engineering and Literary Studies
2:15 PM - 2:40 PMFinal abstract
Focus
This paper presents the results of research that has explored what influences the construction of curricula across three academic disciplines: Chemistry, Engineering and Literary Studies.
Background/context
Academic disciplines are defined by conceptions of knowledge and practices that often predate the mechanisms in place in the Australian HE sector to assure the quality of curriculum across all disciplines. These mechanisms, often informed by Biggs’ (2014) constructive alignment model, filter down into institution-based practices which staff enact in various ways (Trigwell and Prosser, 2014). Yet the nature of what the curriculum is that such mechanisms are contributing to is slippery, making it unclear what form the curriculum might take when it reaches students.
Description
Focusing on the ways people go about their ‘curriculum’ work at a large Australian research-intensive university, this research traces the influences that shape the various forms curricula take in the institution. Questioning the wide acceptance of outcomes-based curriculum design in Australia (Hammer, Ayriss, & McCubbin, 2021), this study challenges this acceptance by highlighting the contingencies underpinning this dominant approach.
Method(s)
Observational, interview and documentary sources were analysed, drawing on Laclau and Mouffe’s (2001) discourse theory to map different discursive constructions of curriculum produced across different parts of the institution.
Evidence
The analysis highlights that the way curriculum is described, negotiated, documented, and interpreted in different ways leads it to take on a polysemic and polymorphous character, presenting a challenge for quality assurance processes that rely on a fixed conception.
Contribution
The results contribute to HE learning and teaching scholarship by elaborating on the tension that exists between the character of HE curriculum and the practices designed to evaluate its quality.
Engagement
The showcase will conclude with a reflective question inviting the audience to consider how their own conception/s of curriculum might be influencing practice in their institutions.
This paper presents the results of research that has explored what influences the construction of curricula across three academic disciplines: Chemistry, Engineering and Literary Studies.
Background/context
Academic disciplines are defined by conceptions of knowledge and practices that often predate the mechanisms in place in the Australian HE sector to assure the quality of curriculum across all disciplines. These mechanisms, often informed by Biggs’ (2014) constructive alignment model, filter down into institution-based practices which staff enact in various ways (Trigwell and Prosser, 2014). Yet the nature of what the curriculum is that such mechanisms are contributing to is slippery, making it unclear what form the curriculum might take when it reaches students.
Description
Focusing on the ways people go about their ‘curriculum’ work at a large Australian research-intensive university, this research traces the influences that shape the various forms curricula take in the institution. Questioning the wide acceptance of outcomes-based curriculum design in Australia (Hammer, Ayriss, & McCubbin, 2021), this study challenges this acceptance by highlighting the contingencies underpinning this dominant approach.
Method(s)
Observational, interview and documentary sources were analysed, drawing on Laclau and Mouffe’s (2001) discourse theory to map different discursive constructions of curriculum produced across different parts of the institution.
Evidence
The analysis highlights that the way curriculum is described, negotiated, documented, and interpreted in different ways leads it to take on a polysemic and polymorphous character, presenting a challenge for quality assurance processes that rely on a fixed conception.
Contribution
The results contribute to HE learning and teaching scholarship by elaborating on the tension that exists between the character of HE curriculum and the practices designed to evaluate its quality.
Engagement
The showcase will conclude with a reflective question inviting the audience to consider how their own conception/s of curriculum might be influencing practice in their institutions.
Biography
Robyn Barallon is currently a PhD student at the University of Melbourne within the Faculty of Education. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and draws on over 15 years in tertiary education in her current work as a Learning Designer at Deakin University where she collaborates with teaching teams to create engaging learning experiences for students across Arts and Education disciplines. Her doctoral research is focussed on the different ways curriculum is conceptualised and practiced in higher education and her broader research interests also include the role of educator presence in influencing student activity and engagement and the pedagogical affordances of Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL).
Dr Hanoku Bathula
Professional Teaching Fellow
The University of Auckland
2:45pm - 3:10pm Future17 education project: Developing global leaders through UN SDG Lens
2:45 PM - 3:10 PMFinal abstract
Focus:
The QS and the University of Exeter co-founded an innovative programme, the Future17, to promote SDG capabilities and increase students’ employability readiness (Quacquarelli Symonds, 2022). Students and business partners across the globe collaborate on addressing pressing social and business problems. Forming into multidisciplinary and multi-national teams, students analyse and propose solution by an oral presentation and a written piece format. Our showcase will discuss the impact and implications for higher education.
Background/context:
Called upon the UN, several universities contribute to achieving these goals through, for example, appropriate learning activities and assessments. The Future17 project platform brings several stakeholders to use the SDGs for problem resolution.
Description:
The presentation session will provide an overview and growth of the project including the learning outcomes, challenges, and future directions. As mentors, we will share our experience of participating in the innovative global programme. It provides experiential learning context (Kolb, 2015, Morris, 2020) with a focus on work-integrated learning (WIL) to improve students’ workplace readiness (Jackson, 2015).
Method:
We use a combination of case study (Harland, 2014) and collaborative autoethnography (Lapadat, 2017) to investigate the programme and its delivery that draws different stakeholder to a common platform (Cheng et al., 2022).
Evidence:
By participating in the Future17 project, students develop 21st century skills of critical thinking, cross-cultural collaboration, problem solving and project management. The projects in 2023 covered all the 17 SDGs and improved students' skills in many areas.
Contribution:
We aim to present the main feature of the innovative global education programmes and share our insights on how it can help develop contemporary SDG skills.
Engagement:
We will engage the audience through Future17 photos and short surveys initially to set the scene. After sharing the main findings, we will request audience to share their pedagogical responses and critique of the programme.
The QS and the University of Exeter co-founded an innovative programme, the Future17, to promote SDG capabilities and increase students’ employability readiness (Quacquarelli Symonds, 2022). Students and business partners across the globe collaborate on addressing pressing social and business problems. Forming into multidisciplinary and multi-national teams, students analyse and propose solution by an oral presentation and a written piece format. Our showcase will discuss the impact and implications for higher education.
Background/context:
Called upon the UN, several universities contribute to achieving these goals through, for example, appropriate learning activities and assessments. The Future17 project platform brings several stakeholders to use the SDGs for problem resolution.
Description:
The presentation session will provide an overview and growth of the project including the learning outcomes, challenges, and future directions. As mentors, we will share our experience of participating in the innovative global programme. It provides experiential learning context (Kolb, 2015, Morris, 2020) with a focus on work-integrated learning (WIL) to improve students’ workplace readiness (Jackson, 2015).
Method:
We use a combination of case study (Harland, 2014) and collaborative autoethnography (Lapadat, 2017) to investigate the programme and its delivery that draws different stakeholder to a common platform (Cheng et al., 2022).
Evidence:
By participating in the Future17 project, students develop 21st century skills of critical thinking, cross-cultural collaboration, problem solving and project management. The projects in 2023 covered all the 17 SDGs and improved students' skills in many areas.
Contribution:
We aim to present the main feature of the innovative global education programmes and share our insights on how it can help develop contemporary SDG skills.
Engagement:
We will engage the audience through Future17 photos and short surveys initially to set the scene. After sharing the main findings, we will request audience to share their pedagogical responses and critique of the programme.
Biography
Hanoku Bathula is a Professional Teaching Fellow at the University of Auckland Business School.
Dr Dan Tisch
University of Auckland
Co-presenter
Biography
Dan Tisch is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland Business School
Mr Andrew Patterson
University of Auckland
Co-presenter
Biography
Andrew Patterson is the Deputy Dean at the University of Auckland Business School.
Chair
Abigail Lewis
Senior Lecturer (clinical Education)
Edith Cowan University
