Program

Yvonne Davila
University of Technology Sydney
@whydee13

Elaine Huber
University of Technology Sydney
@enm181

Jorge Reyna
University of Technology Sydney

Peter Meier
University of Technology Sydney

Catch this session

Monday 4 December, 1.30pm - 1.50pm
Stream 2
Room R113

Abstract

Flipped Learning (FL) is a student-centred pedagogical approach where new content is introduced prior to class which permits more time during class for active learning. Despite the growing body of evidence of the effectiveness of FL, many educators are reluctant to adopt this approach to teaching or are unsure of how to implement FL in their classes. Many students are uncertain of how to adapt their approaches to learning to a FL curriculum. In response to these challenges and calls for a robust framework to guide the design and implementation of FL, we developed the Flipped Teacher and Flipped Learner (FTFL) Framework based on the pedagogical literature. This paper reports on the use of our FTFL framework in the redesign of a large first year science subject from a traditional delivery to a FL delivery. We evaluated the efficacy of the redesign using a mixed methods approach with data on students’ interactions with FL activities, and student and educator experiences. Findings from two iterations of the redesign indicate successful implementation of FL through high student engagement with online and class materials, and positive feedback from students and academics. Using the FTFL framework to guide the design and integration of FL, with an emphasis on clear communication, is key to our successful FL intervention and support of student learning.

About the authors

Yvonne Davila

Dr Yvonne Davila is a Lecturer in Higher Education Learning Design in the Faculty of Science at the University of Technology Sydney. Yvonne collaborates with academics to develop curricula that motivate and enhance student learning of key scientific concepts and skills. Her work focuses on how best to use blended learning innovations to support science students in higher education, particularly in their first year of university. Yvonne has led FYE and T&L projects and is a long-term member of the UTS First Year Experience Strategy team. In 2016 Yvonne was awarded a UTS Teaching and Learning Award for her work on developing and supporting academic and professional communication skills in first year Science through an embedded, student-centred, flipped learning approach.

Elaine Huber

Elaine Huber works at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia. She is a senior lecturer in Higher Education Learning Design and works with academics in the Faculty of Science to help them innovate their teaching curriculum. She has a passion for integrating technologies through blended approaches such as the flipped classroom. Elaine is also investigating the praxis of evaluating small-scale learning and teaching projects in higher education for her PhD in Education.

Jorge Reyna

Jorge Reyna is a Lecturer in Higher Education Learning Design in the Faculty of Science at UTS. Jorge is focused on using digital media as an assessment tool to foster deep learning and digital media literacy. Additionally, his area of interest includes flipped classrooms, development of desktop recording lectures that are interactive and engaging for students and inclusive design applied to online learning.

Peter Meier

Associate Professor Peter Meier is the Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning) in the Faculty of Science, UTS. Peter has over 20 years of academic experience including subject coordination, program directorship and leadership roles at Faculty level. Peter has overseen the Faculty wide curriculum review whereby all Science subjects were redesigned to align with the university’s learning.futures initiative. Most recently, Peter led the UTS chapter of the ‘WIL in Science: Leadership for WIL’ Lighthouse Project, which developed an integrated Faculty strategy to extend work-integrated learning (WIL) activities in science and related degrees through curriculum renewal, scaling and development of individual placement programs.

Online global collaboration: Affordances and inhibitors

Full paper

Julie Lindsay
Charles Sturt University
@julielindsay

Petrea Redmond
University of Southern Queensland
@plredmond

Catch this session

Wednesday 6 December, 11.30am - 12pm
Stream 2
Room R113

Abstract

New teaching and learning approaches are emerging through the use of technology including online global collaboration. Educators involved in global collaboration forge external relationships with others beyond their immediate learning environment. They modify and adapt the curriculum to include global learning opportunities for their learners. Global collaboration provides opportunities for rich global, cognitive, social, cultural and life-changing experiences to their students. Online global collaboration broadly refers to geographically dispersed educators that use online technologies to learn with others beyond their immediate environment to support curricular objectives, intercultural understandings, critical thinking, personal, social and ICT capabilities. This paper will report some preliminary findings from an investigation into the perceptions of K-12 educators who facilitate global collaborative learning. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews that were then themed to identify the key affordances and inhibitors to online global collaboration. The paper will provide recommendations for global collaboration in teacher education.

About the authors

Julie Lindsay

Quality Learning and Teaching Leader (Online) for the Faculty of Arts and Education, Adjunct Lecturer in the School of Information Studies at Charles Sturt University.
Julie is a thought leader in online learning for both K-12 and Higher Education. She has a 30+ years career in schools including fifteen years as an educational technology leader in international schools across Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Her passion is for online global collaboration and as Founder and CEO of Flat Connections she designs and manages projects and customizes professional learning experiences for educators. More recently her work at Charles Sturt includes designing improved pedagogical approaches to online learning and teaching. She has a Master of Arts in Music (La Trobe), and a Master of Arts in Education and Human Development - Educational Technology Leadership (George Washington) and is completing a PhD at the University of Southern Queensland with a research focus of online global educators and pedagogical change. Her most recent book, ‘The Global Educator: Leveraging Technology for Collaborative Learning and Teaching’ (ISTE, 2016) shares practices, pedagogies and case studies on how to learn and collaborate online.

Petrea Redmond

Associate Professor - Educational Technology, School of Teacher Education and Early Childhood, University of Southern Queensland
Petrea Redmond is an Associate Professor of Educational Technology in the School of Teacher Education and Early Childhood at the University of Southern Queensland. Her research is situated in interrelated fields of educational technology including: blended and online learning and teaching; online collaboration; online communities of inquiry; online mentoring; gender and STEM (with a particular focus on technology); community of inquiry; Makerspaces, and the integration of technology to enhance learning and teaching in the school and higher education contexts. She has published and co- published in a number of international refereed books, journals and conference proceedings. Petrea has received 6 outstanding conference paper awards at international conferences; faculty and university awards for research and teaching, along with the 2009 Ascilite Fellow Commendation Award (Early Career). She also participates as a mentor in the Ascilite mentoring program and is a Section Editor for Australasian Journal of Educational Technology (AJET).

Key success factors to implementing an active learning platform

Concise paper

Megan Duffy
Griffith University
@MeganDuffy09

Jenny James
Griffith University

Chris Campbell
Griffith University
@chrissie

Jude Williams
Griffith University

Catch this session

Tuesday 5 December, 11am - 11.20am
Stream 3
Room L206

Abstract

This study reports on the key success factors when introducing a new lecture capture platform, Echo360 Active Learning Platform (ALP), at an Australian University. This is an interactive platform, designed to actively engage students in their courses including in lectures (online and/or face to face) through a range of interactive tools. A trial of ALP, which is known within the University as the Echo360 ALP Early Adopter Program, was conducted in Semester 2, 2016. The purpose of the Echo360 ALP Early Adopter Program was to identify the key success factors required for implementation of Echo360 ALP at the enterprise level. The study reports data on students’ experience of the interactive tools in Echo360 ALP. In total, over 1250 students, seven academics from across seven courses, Blended Learning Advisors from within each of the University’s four academic groups, and support staff participated in the Echo360 ALP Early Adopter Program. The results of the study show that students were engaged when using Echo360 ALP and with support from professional staff this program can be successfully implemented by academics. Thus, the key success factors to this implementation include the academics themselves and the support staff involved in the implementation. A further success factor was the vendor themselves.

About the authors

Megan Duffy

Megan Duffy is a Project Manager working within the Centre for Learning Futures at Griffith University. Her role is to work in collaboration with learning and teaching support staff, technical support staff, academic stakeholders and decision makers across the University, to pilot and implement educational technologies. In this position Megan coordinates and facilitates various aspects of the project, including user training, communications and support; consultation and engagement strategies; governance and approvals; and vendor relationship management. Megan has a background in learning management systems administration, implementation, change management and training, while working in various roles at organisations across the education sector.

Jenny James

Jenny James is a Blended Learning Advisor in the Griffith Business School (GBS) at Griffith University. Her role is to work in collaboration with the GBS Learning and Teaching Team and academic colleagues within GBS, to increase the uptake and usage of appropriate information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the delivery of learning and teaching to improve the student's learning experience. Prior to her current role, Jenny was an Educational Designer in the Centre for Learning Futures at Griffith University. In this position Jenny designed and developed educational learning experiences delivered via multiple modalities and provided expertise, professional training and development in the design and delivery of a variety of learning experiences both online and in-person.

Chris Campbell

Chris, works at the Centre for Learning Futures at Griffith University where she teaches into the Graduate Certificate in Higher Education. In her specific field of Digital Technologies Chris is an emerging research leader who has been involved in numerous grants and projects around digital technologies and mobile learning. Her skills in implementing and trialing new technologies are documented in over 50 publications where she has conducted research in online tools in educational settings, including LAMS, Second Life and Assistive eXtra Learning Environments as well as research in technology integration, mobile learning and augmented reality. In 2016, Chris was a Queensland-Smithsonian Fellowship holder she investigated the Smithsonian Learning Lab and implications for teachers. Chris has a keen interest in MLearning and has published various papers pertaining to TPACK and mathematics education.

Jude Williams

Dr Jude Williams is a Senior Consultant (Learning & Teaching) in Learning Futures at Griffith University. Her role is to provide leadership and consultancy to support academic staff in advancing teaching and program quality. Jude has experience as a teacher, research and administrator in secondary schools, Vocational Education and Training as well as Higher Education. Regardless of the sector, she has applied learning centred pedagogy to her work. Prior to her current role, Jude was the Assistant Director (Academic) in the Centre for Educational Development at Republic Polytechnic in Singapore. This was a unique institution in that all courses, across all disciplines, were taught using problem-based learning. It was while Jude was at the Polytechnic that she was awarded her PhD in Education. Her thesis explored the transition of academic staff from teachers in traditional classrooms to facilitators of active learning. Jude also has a Masters of Education (Curriculum Development).

A learning analytics pilot in Moodle and its impact on developing organisational capacity in a university

Concise paper

Jean-Christophe Froissard
Macquarie University
@jcfroissard

Danny Liu
Sydney University
@dannydotliu

Deborah Richards
Macquarie University

Amara Atif
Macquarie University

Catch this session

Monday 4 December, 1.30pm - 1.50pm
Stream 3
Room L206

Abstract

Moodle is used as a learning management system around the world. However, integrated learning analytics solutions for Moodle that provide actionable information and allow teachers to efficiently use it to connect with their students are lacking. The enhanced Moodle Engagement Analytics Plugin (MEAP), presented at ASCILITE2015, enabled teachers to identify and contact students at risk of not completing their units. We discuss a pilot using MEAP in 36 units at a metropolitan Australian university. We use existing models for developing organisational capacity in learning analytics and to embed learning analytics into the practice of teaching and learning to discuss a range of issues arising from the pilot. We outline the interaction and interdependency of five stages during the pilot: technology, policies, skills, culture and leadership. We conclude that one of the most significant is developing a culture and behaviour around learning analytics.

About the authors

Jean-Christophe Froissard

Jean-Christophe Froissard is a Senior Learning Designer in the Faculty of Arts at Macquarie University with a Masters in Education. His passion is to blend education and technology to improve learning and teaching. He believes that change happens when a small group of passionate people, with a common dream of a better future, work together.

Danny Liu

Danny is a molecular biologist by training, programmer by night, researcher and academic developer by day, and educator at heart. A multiple national teaching award winner, he works at the confluence of learning analytics, student engagement, educational technology, and professional development and leadership to enhance the student experience.

Deborah Richards

Deborah Richards is a Professor in the Department of Computing at Macquarie University. Following 20 years in the ICT industry during which she completed a BBus (Comp and MIS) and MAppSc (InfoStudies), she completed a PhD in artificial intelligence on the reuse of knowledge at the University of New South Wales and joined academia in 1999. While she continues to work on solutions to assist decision-making and knowledge acquisition, for the past decade, her focus has been on intelligent systems, agent technologies and virtual worlds to support human learning and well-being.

Amara Atif

Amara Atif is a PhD candidate in the Department of Computing at Macquarie University. Her research interests include learning analytics, technology acceptance, and knowledge management.

Knowing when to target students with timely academic learning support: Not a minefield with data mining

Concise paper

Elizabeth McCarthy
University of Southern Queensland
@elzbthmccrthy

Catch this session

Monday 4 December, 1.50pm - 2.10pm
Stream 4
Room L209

Abstract

The strategic scheduling of timely engagement opportunities with academic learning support, targeting specific student cohorts requires intentional, informed and coordinated planning. Currently these timing decisions appear to be made with a limited student focus, which considers individual course units only as opposed to having an awareness of the schedule constraints imposed by the students’ full course workload. Hence, in order to respect the full student academic workload, and maximise the quantity and quality of opportunities for students to engage with learning advisors, a means to capture and work with the composition and distribution of student full workload is needed. A data mining approach is proposed in this concise paper, where public domain information accessed from the back end HTML language of course unit information webpages is collected and consolidated in graphical form. The resulting visualisation of the students’ academic learning activities provides a quick and convenient means for academics to make informed scheduling decisions. The case study presented describes the implementation of the data mining in the context of discipline specific academic learning advisors at the University of Southern Queensland servicing three campuses under the ‘One-University’ model.

About the Author

Elizabeth McCarthy

Elizabeth McCarthy is a learning advisor, specialising in mathematics skills, and an academic in the mathematics and engineering disciplines with experience of 10 years. She is a mechatronics engineering, machine learning and mathematics enthusiast who is currently working towards her PhD project. For fun, she enjoys coding data science apps and tools to improve access to data for decision making purposes.

Recipes for institutional adoption of a teacher-driven learning analytics tool: Case studies from three Australian universities

Full paper

Lorenzo Vigentini
The University of New South Wales
@l_vigentini

Elsuida Kondo
The University of Melbourne
@ElsuidaKondo

Kevin Samnick
The University of Sydney
@Kevin_Samnick

Danny Liu
The University of Sydney
@dannydotliu

Deb King
The University of Melbourne
@fyimaths

Adam Bridgeman
The University of Sydney
@adambridgeman

Catch this session

Monday 4 December, 11am - 11.30am
Stream 5
Room C204

Abstract

The changing landscape of higher education is putting increasing strain on educators, leading to a diminishing ability to provide pedagogical and pastoral support to ballooning and diversifying cohorts. Learning analytics promises solutions to these challenges for educators, including by personalising learning support and experiences, streamlining data capture and analyses, and providing teachers with new, efficient teaching approaches. However, reports of these impacts, or widespread adoption of learning analytics, or even examples of cross-institutional collaboration are sparse. We argue that this may be because of a lack of educator-driven learning analytics tools that meet their felt needs, and present case studies from three Australian universities that have collaborated to implement such a tool. This tool, the Student Relationship Engagement System (SRES), empowers educators to collect, collate, analyse, and use student engagement and success data that they consider meaningful for their particular contexts. Developed by unfunded educators and widely adopted through collegiate recommendations, the SRES enables personalisation and targeting of student learning and support using relevant data, fostering positive student-teacher relationships and enhancing student engagement. Using the three case studies as a backdrop, we present a revised learning analytics adoption framework focussing on strategy, structure, support, and impact, and use this framework to systematically evaluate the adoption and implementation of the SRES at the three institutions to derive ‘recipes’ for adopting an educator-focused learning analytics platform. We also discuss three core themes emerging from the case studies, around the needs of academics, the role of academic and educational developers, and flexible and agile information technology practices.

About the authors

Lorenzo Vigentini

Lorenzo is the Academic Lead Educational Analytics in the portfolio of the Pro-Vice Chancellor Education at UNSW Sydney. Lorenzo’s background is in Psychology, Learning and Teaching in the Higher Education sector and have a lot of experience in IT/e-learning development. His expertise is into quantitative and qualitative investigations of learning processes at the crossing between cognitive psychology, differential psychology, education and human-computer interaction. His main interest is about technology, its use, its evolution, its interaction with learning and the interface between human and machines (also physical using computer vision, brain activity monitoring, the ‘quantitative self’ and IoT).

Elsuida Kondo

Elsuida is the Developer of Learning and Teaching for the Faculty of Science at the University of Melbourne. Elsuida’s background is in analytical chemistry, mathematical modelling, and Learning and Teaching development. In her current role her main interest is in learning analytics evaluation, student engagement and interactive learning development.

Kevin Samnick

Kevin is a dedicated and lifelong proponent of the value of learning. He has a background in pharmaceutical research, STEM education, and educational technology. His approach to education is fuelled by practical and tangible connections to holistic outcomes for learners and educators in their lives both in the classroom and beyond. Kevin has worked in pharmaceutical research in industry and in a University context supporting research in cancer, tuberculosis, and pulmonary drug delivery. Later he taught science, chemistry, and biology in secondary schools before moving into elearning support in the tertiary environment. Currently he is part of a team managing the migration to a new learning management system at the University of Sydney.

Danny Liu

Deb King

Deb has a PhD in mathematics and has worked at The University of Melbourne since 2002. She is the Associate Dean (Undergraduate Programs) in the Faculty of Science and Director of Teaching in the School of Mathematics at the University of Melbourne.
She leads the FYiMaths network, a national initiative to support professional development of tertiary mathematics educators and encourage innovation in education. She has been awarded institutional and national teaching awards, and has led two national mathematics education projects; Mathsassess, investigating assessment practices in tertiary mathematics and FYiMaths.

Adam Bridgeman

Adam is Director of Educational Innovation at the University of Sydney and holds a PhD in Inorganic Chemistry from University of Cambridge. He was awarded the RSC Higher Education Teaching Award in the UK in 2004. In 2006, Adam moved to the University of Sydney as Director of First Year Studies in the School of Chemistry. He became Associate Dean of Learning and Teaching in 2012 for the Faculty of Science. As well as receiving institutional and national awards for teaching in Australia, he became an Australian National Teaching Fellow in 2015. In November of 2015, he finally escaped Chemistry to take up this new role in the DVC Education Portfolio at Sydney. In this role, he is tasked with invigorating and changing the learning and teaching culture through a focus on blended, collaborative and interactive learning styles.

Me in a minute: A simple strategy for developing and showcasing personal employability

Concise paper

Trina Jorre de St Jorre
Deakin University
@trinajorre

Liz Johnson
Deakin University

Gypsy O'Dea
Deakin University

Catch this session

Monday 4 December, 1.30pm - 1.50pm
Stream 5
Room C204

Abstract

Graduates require evidence of employability beyond marks and grades to differentiate themselves in the highly competitive labour market. Universities cannot guarantee employment, but they can engage students in learning and recognise achievement that is relevant to employment. Here, we share preliminary insights from interviews investigating student perceptions of an extra-curricular video strategy designed to develop and showcase graduate employability. The Me in a Minute video strategy provides students with support to film a one minute video pitch aimed at potential employers. Student perceptions of the strategy suggest that in addition to providing an individualised artefact that can be used to showcase achievement, the strategy engages students in reflection that helps them to better understand and articulate evidence of their achievements relevant to employment. Furthermore, students value the learning associated with pitching, more than the video itself.

About the authors

Trina Jorre de St Jorre

Dr Trina Jorre de St Jorre is a Lecturer in Graduate Employability at Deakin University. She is interested in pedagogies that engage and empower students and her research focus is on assuring graduate capabilities, improving employment outcomes and incorporating the student voice into curriculum development.

Liz Johnson

Liz Johnson is Pro Vice Chancellor, Teaching and Learning at Deakin University where she leads the Deakin Learning Futures, the central divisional team that supports learning and teaching. Liz is a National Teaching Fellow with research interests in work-integrated learning, curriculum renewal and building capability for learning and teaching. Liz is also Director of the Teaching and Learning Centre of the Australian Council of Deans of Science, leading a number of national projects to enhance university teaching in science.

Gypsy O'Dea

Gypsy O’Dea is a Psychology student, Writing Mentor, and Research Assistant at Deakin University. As a Writing Mentor, her focus is on strategies that empower students to become self-directed and independent learners, with a view to improving graduate outcomes. Her current research is with the Australian Temperament Project Generation 3 study, investigating intergenerational predictors of child development.

Student generated multimedia for supporting learning in an undergraduate physiotherapy course

Full paper

Susan Coulson
Discipline of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Sydney

Jessica Frawley
Design Lab, Faculty of Architecture, Design & Planning, The University of Sydney

Catch this session

Wednesday 6 December, 12pm - 12.30pm
Stream 3
Room L206

Abstract

Outside the university, rapid authoring tools and ubiquitous technologies have fueled a rise in user-generated multimedia and participatory culture. The educational equivalent, digital student-generated content, has been heralded as one approach for supporting active and student-cantered learning. This is especially relevant for tertiary education, where multimedia is currently used mainly as a method for content transmission. Though student-generated multimedia may seem pedagogically ideal, especially in applied areas such as Health Sciences, the diversity of adoptions and limited literature in the area make broad claims to its efficacy difficult to support. This study uses mixed methods to assess the outcomes of a student-generated multimedia assignment within a third-year university physiotherapy subject. Findings from this study demonstrate that all students were able to complete the assessment task in a way that demonstrated key disciplinary learning and professional communication despite many not having prior experience of this kind of assessment. Student survey data demonstrated that students were able to navigate between new tools and methods to achieve a complex task. While multimedia gave students new and creative ways through which to engage with practitioners, patients and the profession, attitudes varied in accordance with student self-efficacy and confidence. While more work has to be done in this area, the self-directed nature of the task proved both an opportunity and challenge. These findings contribute further to our understandings of implementing student-generated multimedia projects and extend this to the health sciences’ discipline.

About the authors

Susan Coulson

Dr Susan Coulson is a clinical and academic physiotherapist whose main area of interest is in assessment and treatment of facial nerve disorders. Her Doctoral and Masters research were at the University of Sydney, where she currently holds an academic position. For more than 20 years, her clinical and research work has focused on assessment and treatment facial nerve disorders including 3-D motion analysis, reliability of grading systems, reviews and intervention studies. Susan is currently working on projects in telerehabiliation as well as student-generated digital media for use as a student assessment tool.
Susan is a founding member of Sydney Facial Nerve Service, a multidisciplinary clinic of practitioners with extensive clinical and research experience in facial nerve disorders. http://sydneyfacialnerve.com
Researcher ID:http://bit.ly/2xL8DEQ

Jessica Frawley

Dr Jessica Frawley is a lecturer and academic developer at the University of Sydney where she works in Educational Innovation. With a disciplinary background in HCI and design computing, she is an Honorary Associate of the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning. Her research interests focus on Educational Technologies, specifically mobile learning with an emphasis on human computer interaction, design and social methods. Jessica is Co-President of the Australian and New Zealand Mobile Learning Group (anzMlearn) and a regular contributor to Teaching@Sydney.

OER based capacity building to overcome staff equity and access issues in higher education

Concise paper

Carina Bossu
University of Tasmania
@carinabossu

Julie Willems
RMIT University
@julie_willems

Catch this session

Tuesday 5 December, 11am - 11.20am
Stream 4
Room L209

Abstract

Open educational resources (OER) have already impacted educational systems around the world. In higher education more specifically, it has benefited learners and educators and influenced strategic plans and policies. OER have the potential to overcome existing equity considerations for academic staff in their ongoing continuing further education, and as part of their academic professional development. This paper examines the potential of OER to build capacity of academic staff in higher education, in particular to overcome some equity and access issues. It will also examine existing activities and strategies for professional development and provide some recommendations for the academics, developers and the sector.

About the authors

Carina Bossu

Dr Carina Bossu is a Lecturer, Learning & Teaching (OEP) with the Tasmanian Institute of Learning and Teaching at the University of Tasmania. Her current work and research are primarily focused on Open Educational Resources (OER) and Open Educational Practices (OEP) in higher education, more specifically issues related to learning, teaching and professional development. Previously, she was a Research Fellow with the Distance Education HUB (DEHub) at the University of New England.

Julie Willems

Dr Julie Willems holds qualifications in Nursing, the Humanities, and Education. She has worked across the Australian education sectors, and since 2004, has specialised in higher education. Her current position is as a Senior Lecturer in RMIT University’s Learning and Teaching Academy. Julie’s research interests include the promotion of educational and digital equity as social justice issues, in addition to the media and technology of formal and informal learning (including social media). She was a recipient of the auDA Foundation's national 2011 research grant for the i-Survive Project investigating the use of ‘back channel’ communications via mobile technologies and social media during Australian emergencies and disasters. Julie has a community focus and has actively served on a number of committees and boards over the course of her career, and is currently in her second term on the national Executive for ASCILITE (since 2015).

The changing nature of student engagement during a digital learning task

Full paper

Paul Wiseman
University of Melbourne
@pauljwiseman

Jason Lodge
University of Melbourne
@jasonmlodge

Amaël Arguel
Macquarie University
@AmaelArguel

Gregor Kennedy
University of Melbourne

Catch this session

Wednesday 6 December, 11.30am - 12pm
Stream 1
Room H102

Abstract

The construct of student engagement has been useful in understanding student's motivation in digital learning environments where they are required to show increased autonomy and independence in learning. Increasing clarity around this construct has allowed researchers to more accurately describe the nature of student engagement and the context in which it is being investigated. At a task-level, psychological states of engagement have been shown to be beneficial for student's positive learning experience, and performance. Despite this, we still lack knowledge of how these engaged states unfold or sustain during a learning task. In this paper we report on a qualitative study that investigated undergraduate student's experiences of psychological states of engagement in a digital learning task. Findings revealed that the three dimensions of engagement - cognition, affect, and behaviour - changed in intensity, with the subject experiencing both times of engagement and of not being engaged through the course of a digital learning task.

About the authors

Paul Wiseman

Paul Wiseman is a PhD Candidate with the Melbourne Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne, working within the Educational Technology Research Group at MCSHE, and is affiliated with the ARC funded Science of Learning Research Centre, and the Melbourne Science of Learning Research Hub.
Paul's research is focused on psychological engagement in digital learning environments. His research is aimed at furthering our understanding of students' motivation in digital and online learning in higher education, and offering insight into motivational research as well as instructional practice and learning design in digital and online learning environments.
Paul teaches for the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Melbourne where he is the subject coordinator for Management Consulting, a third year level capstone work-integrated learning subject.
Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education (MCSHE)
Science of Learning Research Centre (SLRC)
Department of Management and Marketing, FBE, University of Melbourne

Jason Lodge

Dr Jason Lodge is a Senior Lecturer in Higher Education and an experienced educator in psychology and higher education. He is also Convener of the University of Melbourne Science of Learning Research Hub and is currently serving as an associate editor for AJET. Jason's areas of expertise are in the learning sciences, educational psychology, higher education and educational technology. His research focuses on the cognitive and emotional factors that influence student learning and the student experience in adult educational settings. He is currently investigating misconceptions, misinformation, uncertainty and conceptual change in digital learning environments. Jason is part of the Educational Technology Research Group within the Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education at The University of Melbourne. In collaboration with Dr Rachel Searston, he produces and co-hosts the Beyond the Lectern podcast.
Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education (MCSHE)
Science of Learning Research Centre (SLRC)
Melbourne Science of Learning Research Hub

Gregor Kennedy

Gregor Kennedy is Pro Vice-Chancellor (Teaching and Learning) at the University of Melbourne and Director of the Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education.
Gregor is an international leader in educational technology research and development, particularly in the context of higher education. He has longstanding research interests in contemporary learning design and emerging technologies, educational technology research and evaluation, interactivity and engagement in digital learning, 3D immersive virtual environments, and the use of learning analytics in digital learning environments. He has published widely in these areas and is a regular keynote and invited presenter at local and international conferences.
As Pro Vice-Chancellor (Teaching and Learning) Gregor leads the University's strategy in teaching, learning and assessment, curriculum innovation, and the use of learning technologies and learning analytics.
Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education (MCSHE)
Science of Learning Research Centre (SLRC)

Amaël Arguel

Dr Amael Arguel is a psychological scientist, based at Macquarie University, specialised in learning from new technologies. Besides of teaching Cognitive Psychology and Statistics, his previous research topic was on the learning of procedures (e.g., first aid techniques) from multimedia presentations. He is now a research fellow at the Science of Learning Research Centre (a Special Research Initiative of the Australian Research Council), and a member of the research group on understanding confusion in digital environments. His current researches focus on the use of behavioural and physiological data for building predictive models of the occurrence of confusion in digital learning environments.
Department of Educational Studies, Macquarie University.
Science of Learning Research Centre (SLRC)