Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Mini-Lab

This project seeks to further build the awareness and understanding of Scholarly Teaching and Scholarship of Learning and Teaching among colleagues in the School of Education. Linking to a key problem this Mini-Lab is seeking to address, online student engagement and retention, a series of professional development workshops are organised. The following topics are covered:

• What is scholarly teaching and how do we teach scholarly?
• What does Scholarship of Learning and Teaching look like in my teaching area?
• What are the strategies we can use to enhance online student engagement and to promote online students’ sense of belonging?
• What evidence can we collect to reflect upon and inform future teaching practices?
• How can we use this evidence and reflection to publish empirical research?

This project seeks to adapt and validate an evaluation tool based on the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework (Garrison et al., 2000). The CoI framework is an established and comprehensive theoretical framework relevant to online learning contexts. It explains the interactions among three distinct types of presence that are critical to positive learning experiences: cognitive, social and teaching presence. As part of its central construct, the CoI framework includes a 34-item survey, which translates each of its interdependent elements (cognitive, social and teaching presence) into observable indicators. To date, there is limited research adapting this framework for the Australian higher education context, which has unique course structures and learner characteristics. This proposed project will fill these gaps by adapting the survey tool to the Australian context and testing the adapted tool using a number of statistical methods.

In EDU202 Planning for Positive Behaviour, this semester we trialled Padlet as the main interactive tool for online discussions. In this unit, we recognise the importance of social interactions and peer support in achieving positive experiences and a sense of belonging among online students. In the past, discussion boards have been used to facilitate this interaction and collaboration. We observed mixed responses from students regarding the effectiveness of discussion boards. This semester we trialled an alternative tool, Padlet, for the first time for this purpose. Early observations indicate that Padlet’s ability to upload materials/contributions in different formats is welcomed by students. The design of topics in Padlet is important in maintaining active student engagement throughout the semester.

Like many mixed delivery units in the Bachelor of Education program EPR270 Design and Technologies has had mixed results when seeking to engage online learners and to develop a combined study community between online and face-to-face students. In semester one 2023, we have trialled starting each week with a non-compulsory Padlet task. These tasks were divided into three categories: social engagement (aiming to enhance a sense of belonging and encourage continuous engagement in the unit), supplementary guidance (a unique way to convey important considerations) and critical thinking (develop a shared experience of critical thinking). To aim to increase the number of responses, this trial emphasised an approach which was not assessed to avoid placing students under duress. Early indicators, supported by an anonymous poll in Mylo conducted in week six, are positive with eighty three percent of those who responded enjoyed the Padlet tasks. Padlet also lends itself to other creative tasks within the unit and these need to be explored further.

1. The use of video note in MyLO to enhance relationality with students. Video note is a feature of mylo that can be used to provide response posts in discussion boards and as announcements. My hope is that these provide students with a more personable and engaging learning space.
2. Asynchronous tutorials that are carefully aligned with assessment tasks, discussion boards and weekly learning to enhance the possibility that students make connections between content, assessment and their professional contexts.

In EMT521: Teaching Primary Mathematics, this semester, we trialled the use of awards and badges to encourage participation and engagement. Awards and badges can be accessed through MyLO (LMS) and awarded to students for completion of targeted activities and experiences. For example, students received badges for completing quizzes, posting and replying to discussion threads, and accessing weekly content. The lecturer nominates the targeted activities, and the badges are awarded automatically when the activity is completed. Students receive notification when they receive a badge, and the lecturer can see how many badges each student has earned. Students who earned 15 badges received a certificate of engagement which they could use as evidence in their portfolio. Early observations indicated that the badges served as motivation for some students to complete activities, while other students earned less than 5 badges. Feedback indicated that the badges were a ‘good idea’ but that their effectiveness would be maximised if they were assessed in some way.

EDU106 Academic Literacies is a large unit which uses whole-cohort discussion boards for general questions about the unit content and assessment, and collaboration on the provided essay topics. Informal Zoom sessions are offered as a way for online students to connect. To address the issue of connection for students who cannot study at the provided synchronous time, ad create a space for posting in a smaller group, discussion groups of 10 students were created in semester 1 as the teaching initiative. However, as these were a student-directed space, many did not know what to post about, and the boards were largely unused. This suggests that prompts are needed to help students foster connection through a shared purpose. This initiative will be implemented again in semester 2, taking this into account. Instead of doing an introduction post to the whole cohort, the small group boards have been used and students encouraged to do a video note introduction post to their group of 10.

Paul Albinson is a current PhD candidate based in Hobart. His research project is entitled: Blended Learning Practices that Promote Student Learning and Autonomy in Higher Education.

Hester Garner has just completed her PhD study on the topic: Investigation of an Informal Personalised One-to-One Teaching Method for Adult ESL Students in the Online Learning Context.

Robert Ceperkovic is a current PhD candidate. His research project examines: Cultural and conceptual influences on approaches to online teaching in Korean universities in a post-COVID era.