Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice
This study investigated the impact of two approaches to research-led education on students’ learn... more This study investigated the impact of two approaches to research-led education on students’ learning and their understandings of research in the context of two university courses in international business involving third year undergraduate and graduate students. One approach involved the lecturer using his research as the basis for a case-study assignment involving an intercultural business negotiation. In the second approach students conducted a research project in which they reviewed the academic literature to identify practical implications for business and theoretical gaps as the basis for future research. A questionnaire was used to explore students’ perceptions of the impacts on their learning and understandings of research. Students’ understandings of research were most informed by the research based learning project which was presented to them as an experience of doing research. Students valued the lecturer using his research in the course because of his enthusiasm and his e...
1 Chapter 1 Project Description and Rationale 10 1.1 Focus of the Study 10 1.2 Research Questions... more 1 Chapter 1 Project Description and Rationale 10 1.1 Focus of the Study 10 1.2 Research Questions 12 1.3 Research Design 13 1.4 Thesis Outline 15 Chapter 2 Conceptualising Higher Education Curriculum Decision Making 18 2.1 Changing Definitions and Models of Curriculum 18 2.2 The Role of Influences and Ideologies in Shaping Curriculum and Teaching Practices 23 2.2.1 The influence of teachers’ beliefs on curriculum and teaching approaches .. 23 2.2.2 Making sense of patterns of curriculum decisions as ideologies 25 2.2.3 The importance of knowledge and discipline in the design and differentiation of curriculum practices 28 2.2.4 Summary of curriculum models 29 2.3 The Influence of Research on Teaching and Curriculum 33 2.3.1 Is there a relationship between teaching and research and can it be demonstrated? 34 2.3.2 What do teaching and research have in common? Conceptual analyses of the relationship. 35 2.3.3 What are academics’ beliefs about, and experiences of the relationship betwee...
Teaching in Higher Education, Volume 20, Issue 5, 2015, May 11, 2015
This research is based on an empirical study exploring how academics make curriculum decisions an... more This research is based on an empirical study exploring how academics make curriculum decisions and their perceptions of the influences that shape their decisions. Interviews were held with 20 academics from diverse disciplines, who were both research active and committed to teaching. The higher education curriculum was conceptualised as a field of decision-making shaped by academics’ beliefs about educational and contextual influences. The study identified five distinctive curriculum orientations representing coherent patterns of curriculum decisions aligned with academics’ beliefs about educational purposes. Case studies are presented to elucidate each of the curriculum orientations. Curriculum orientations were also found to shape academics’ responses to educational change. The following higher education change drivers are explored: graduate employability and the skills agenda, teaching–research relationships, changing understandings about teaching and learning, educational technologies and flexible delivery. The findings suggest implications for institutional curriculum change initiatives and academic development programmes.
Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, Volume 8, Issue 2, Article 4.
This study investigated the impact of two approaches to research-led education on students’ learn... more This study investigated the impact of two approaches to research-led education on students’ learning and their
understandings of research in the context of two university courses in international business involving third
year undergraduate and graduate students. One approach involved the lecturer using his research as the basis
for a case-study assignment involving an intercultural business negotiation. In the second approach students
conducted a research project in which they reviewed the academic literature to identify practical implications
for business and theoretical gaps as the basis for future research. A questionnaire was used to explore students’
perceptions of the impacts on their learning and understandings of research. Students’ understandings of
research were most informed by the research based learning project which was presented to them as an
experience of doing research. Students valued the lecturer using his research in the course because of his
enthusiasm and his expertise and mentoring in doing research. However many students developed only
limited understandings of research in the subject area, despite their direct experience of the lecturers’ research.
The implications for the design of research-led education approaches are explored.
This article describes the development and evaluation of The Game of Late Life—a novel education ... more This article describes the development and evaluation of The Game of Late Life—a novel education activity for the psychology of ageing. The game was designed to provide transformational learning where students imagine themselves as older adults and move through late life via a game board, encountering various life events along the way. One of the key features of the game is that several of the life event outcomes (moves on the board) are dependent on the how the player interprets and responds to that event. The activity was evaluated across two semesters. In the first study, playing the game significantly improved students' attitudes towards ageing, but did not significantly reduce their anxiety about ageing. Open-ended responses indicated the discussion students engaged in during the game was an important factor for transformational learning. The second study replicated and extended the first by adding significantly more instruction to the tutors about fostering discussion and including specific questions about group discussion in the evaluation. Again, playing the game produced significantly more positive attitudes towards ageing, and in this second iteration it also significantly reduced anxiety about ageing. The student ratings of their tutor's ability to foster discussion were significantly related to the changes in these variables. Students also had very positive feedback about the game as an interesting and engaging activity. While this version of the game is designed around the psychology of ageing, the premise would be easily translated to any area of gerontological education across many disciplines.
The inclusion of research experiences as core components of undergraduate curricula implies that ... more The inclusion of research experiences as core components of undergraduate curricula implies that students will be exposed to and situated within the research activities of their university. Such experiences thus provide a new prism through which to view the relations between teaching, research and learning. The intentions and actions of academics supervising these activities will be strongly influenced by their beliefs regarding the nature of research, and the relation between research and learning in the undergraduate context. Surveys of academics supervising such experiences reveal a range of intentions, only some of which address the higher order and critical thinking skills associated with research or independent learning. This may indicate a lack of deep reflection on the purpose of exposing undergraduates to research, but may also be due to the predominance of a hierarchical view of the process by which one makes the transition from student to researcher.
Undergraduate research experiences are being incorporated into degree programs with increasing fr... more Undergraduate research experiences are being incorporated into degree programs with increasing frequency. However, there has been little study into their effectiveness in preparing students for research or into the learning gains that students realise from one or ...
Recent studies of undergraduates engaged in authentic research have suggested that students may b... more Recent studies of undergraduates engaged in authentic research have suggested that students may benefit in a range of different ways from such experiences. However, these same studies have also shown significant variation in the extent and universality of these benefits. This article investigates the impact of one potential source of variation in perceived benefits: students' prior expectations of what research experiences might offer. The authors' surveys of students enrolling in a research-immersive undergraduate science degree indicate a range of anticipated benefits from or opportunities within the degree, only some of which address preparation for research or the development of generic research skills. The benefits that students report gaining from their involvement in the program appear to be constrained by these prior expectations. The authors suggest that these constraints may be connected to students' understanding of the nature of science and scientific research.
The inclusion of research experiences as core components of undergraduate curricula implies that ... more The inclusion of research experiences as core components of undergraduate curricula implies that students will be exposed to and situated within the research activities of their university. Such experiences thus provide a new prism through which to view the relations between teaching, research and learning. The intentions and actions of academics supervising these activities will be strongly influenced by their beliefs regarding the nature of research, and the relation between research and learning in the undergraduate context. Surveys of academics supervising such experiences reveal a range of intentions, only some of which address the higher order and critical thinking skills associated with research or independent learning. This may indicate a lack of deep reflection on the purpose of exposing undergraduates to research, but may also be due to the predominance of a hierarchical view of the process by which one makes the transition from student to researcher.
Women now constitute 15% of students in Australian undergraduate engineering courses, but they re... more Women now constitute 15% of students in Australian undergraduate engineering courses, but they represent only 5% of the professional engineering workforce. If engineering industry is to enjoy the benefits of diversity, it is important to retain, as well as recruit, women into the profession. The Careers Review of Engineering Women (CREW) project was undertaken in 2000 to investigate the issues surrounding women's retention, satisfaction, and progression in the professional engineering workforce. All Australian-resident female members of the Institution of Engineers, Australia were surveyed, together with a matched sample of male engineers. The survey found that similar proportions of female and male engineering graduates joined the profession. Differences were found in the nature of the engineering work undertaken by women and men, with more women describing their work as engineering-technical, and more men describing their work as engineering-managerial. Women were more dissatisfied with workplace culture and conditions, they received lower pay and benefits, and were far more likely to experience sexual harassment and discrimination than their male counterparts. The data indicate that women over 30 are leaving the profession, particularly if they are combining career and family responsibilities. This paper examines the implications of these and other results from the CREW study, set in the context of the literature, and suggests strategies to improve workplace retention and satisfaction.
The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Thinking in Higher Education, 2015
What does it look like when undergraduate students practice critical thinking in an authentic sci... more What does it look like when undergraduate students practice critical thinking in an authentic scientific research context? Do we provide such students with opportunities to show their critical thinking in action—or do we, for the most part, leave it hidden? And, if critical thinking can be made visible, how can we recognize and hence develop and assess it? This chapter describes an attempt to reveal the dynamic processes of critical thinking as it happens, before endpoints or conclusions are reached, as students experience the unfamiliar context of scientific research. We start by considering what we might mean by critical thinking in this context. We then describe the processes used to attempt to make visible students’ enacted, contextualized critical thinking. The examples we describe suggest students have opportunities to think critically in a variety of different ways; understanding this variation is crucial to recognizing and scaffolding the development of criticality. Finally, we consider what our data tell us about the nature of critical thinking as practiced by science students; its correlations with developing expertise and confidence; and implications for practice.
Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice
This study investigated the impact of two approaches to research-led education on students’ learn... more This study investigated the impact of two approaches to research-led education on students’ learning and their understandings of research in the context of two university courses in international business involving third year undergraduate and graduate students. One approach involved the lecturer using his research as the basis for a case-study assignment involving an intercultural business negotiation. In the second approach students conducted a research project in which they reviewed the academic literature to identify practical implications for business and theoretical gaps as the basis for future research. A questionnaire was used to explore students’ perceptions of the impacts on their learning and understandings of research. Students’ understandings of research were most informed by the research based learning project which was presented to them as an experience of doing research. Students valued the lecturer using his research in the course because of his enthusiasm and his e...
1 Chapter 1 Project Description and Rationale 10 1.1 Focus of the Study 10 1.2 Research Questions... more 1 Chapter 1 Project Description and Rationale 10 1.1 Focus of the Study 10 1.2 Research Questions 12 1.3 Research Design 13 1.4 Thesis Outline 15 Chapter 2 Conceptualising Higher Education Curriculum Decision Making 18 2.1 Changing Definitions and Models of Curriculum 18 2.2 The Role of Influences and Ideologies in Shaping Curriculum and Teaching Practices 23 2.2.1 The influence of teachers’ beliefs on curriculum and teaching approaches .. 23 2.2.2 Making sense of patterns of curriculum decisions as ideologies 25 2.2.3 The importance of knowledge and discipline in the design and differentiation of curriculum practices 28 2.2.4 Summary of curriculum models 29 2.3 The Influence of Research on Teaching and Curriculum 33 2.3.1 Is there a relationship between teaching and research and can it be demonstrated? 34 2.3.2 What do teaching and research have in common? Conceptual analyses of the relationship. 35 2.3.3 What are academics’ beliefs about, and experiences of the relationship betwee...
Teaching in Higher Education, Volume 20, Issue 5, 2015, May 11, 2015
This research is based on an empirical study exploring how academics make curriculum decisions an... more This research is based on an empirical study exploring how academics make curriculum decisions and their perceptions of the influences that shape their decisions. Interviews were held with 20 academics from diverse disciplines, who were both research active and committed to teaching. The higher education curriculum was conceptualised as a field of decision-making shaped by academics’ beliefs about educational and contextual influences. The study identified five distinctive curriculum orientations representing coherent patterns of curriculum decisions aligned with academics’ beliefs about educational purposes. Case studies are presented to elucidate each of the curriculum orientations. Curriculum orientations were also found to shape academics’ responses to educational change. The following higher education change drivers are explored: graduate employability and the skills agenda, teaching–research relationships, changing understandings about teaching and learning, educational technologies and flexible delivery. The findings suggest implications for institutional curriculum change initiatives and academic development programmes.
Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, Volume 8, Issue 2, Article 4.
This study investigated the impact of two approaches to research-led education on students’ learn... more This study investigated the impact of two approaches to research-led education on students’ learning and their
understandings of research in the context of two university courses in international business involving third
year undergraduate and graduate students. One approach involved the lecturer using his research as the basis
for a case-study assignment involving an intercultural business negotiation. In the second approach students
conducted a research project in which they reviewed the academic literature to identify practical implications
for business and theoretical gaps as the basis for future research. A questionnaire was used to explore students’
perceptions of the impacts on their learning and understandings of research. Students’ understandings of
research were most informed by the research based learning project which was presented to them as an
experience of doing research. Students valued the lecturer using his research in the course because of his
enthusiasm and his expertise and mentoring in doing research. However many students developed only
limited understandings of research in the subject area, despite their direct experience of the lecturers’ research.
The implications for the design of research-led education approaches are explored.
This article describes the development and evaluation of The Game of Late Life—a novel education ... more This article describes the development and evaluation of The Game of Late Life—a novel education activity for the psychology of ageing. The game was designed to provide transformational learning where students imagine themselves as older adults and move through late life via a game board, encountering various life events along the way. One of the key features of the game is that several of the life event outcomes (moves on the board) are dependent on the how the player interprets and responds to that event. The activity was evaluated across two semesters. In the first study, playing the game significantly improved students' attitudes towards ageing, but did not significantly reduce their anxiety about ageing. Open-ended responses indicated the discussion students engaged in during the game was an important factor for transformational learning. The second study replicated and extended the first by adding significantly more instruction to the tutors about fostering discussion and including specific questions about group discussion in the evaluation. Again, playing the game produced significantly more positive attitudes towards ageing, and in this second iteration it also significantly reduced anxiety about ageing. The student ratings of their tutor's ability to foster discussion were significantly related to the changes in these variables. Students also had very positive feedback about the game as an interesting and engaging activity. While this version of the game is designed around the psychology of ageing, the premise would be easily translated to any area of gerontological education across many disciplines.
The inclusion of research experiences as core components of undergraduate curricula implies that ... more The inclusion of research experiences as core components of undergraduate curricula implies that students will be exposed to and situated within the research activities of their university. Such experiences thus provide a new prism through which to view the relations between teaching, research and learning. The intentions and actions of academics supervising these activities will be strongly influenced by their beliefs regarding the nature of research, and the relation between research and learning in the undergraduate context. Surveys of academics supervising such experiences reveal a range of intentions, only some of which address the higher order and critical thinking skills associated with research or independent learning. This may indicate a lack of deep reflection on the purpose of exposing undergraduates to research, but may also be due to the predominance of a hierarchical view of the process by which one makes the transition from student to researcher.
Undergraduate research experiences are being incorporated into degree programs with increasing fr... more Undergraduate research experiences are being incorporated into degree programs with increasing frequency. However, there has been little study into their effectiveness in preparing students for research or into the learning gains that students realise from one or ...
Recent studies of undergraduates engaged in authentic research have suggested that students may b... more Recent studies of undergraduates engaged in authentic research have suggested that students may benefit in a range of different ways from such experiences. However, these same studies have also shown significant variation in the extent and universality of these benefits. This article investigates the impact of one potential source of variation in perceived benefits: students' prior expectations of what research experiences might offer. The authors' surveys of students enrolling in a research-immersive undergraduate science degree indicate a range of anticipated benefits from or opportunities within the degree, only some of which address preparation for research or the development of generic research skills. The benefits that students report gaining from their involvement in the program appear to be constrained by these prior expectations. The authors suggest that these constraints may be connected to students' understanding of the nature of science and scientific research.
The inclusion of research experiences as core components of undergraduate curricula implies that ... more The inclusion of research experiences as core components of undergraduate curricula implies that students will be exposed to and situated within the research activities of their university. Such experiences thus provide a new prism through which to view the relations between teaching, research and learning. The intentions and actions of academics supervising these activities will be strongly influenced by their beliefs regarding the nature of research, and the relation between research and learning in the undergraduate context. Surveys of academics supervising such experiences reveal a range of intentions, only some of which address the higher order and critical thinking skills associated with research or independent learning. This may indicate a lack of deep reflection on the purpose of exposing undergraduates to research, but may also be due to the predominance of a hierarchical view of the process by which one makes the transition from student to researcher.
Women now constitute 15% of students in Australian undergraduate engineering courses, but they re... more Women now constitute 15% of students in Australian undergraduate engineering courses, but they represent only 5% of the professional engineering workforce. If engineering industry is to enjoy the benefits of diversity, it is important to retain, as well as recruit, women into the profession. The Careers Review of Engineering Women (CREW) project was undertaken in 2000 to investigate the issues surrounding women's retention, satisfaction, and progression in the professional engineering workforce. All Australian-resident female members of the Institution of Engineers, Australia were surveyed, together with a matched sample of male engineers. The survey found that similar proportions of female and male engineering graduates joined the profession. Differences were found in the nature of the engineering work undertaken by women and men, with more women describing their work as engineering-technical, and more men describing their work as engineering-managerial. Women were more dissatisfied with workplace culture and conditions, they received lower pay and benefits, and were far more likely to experience sexual harassment and discrimination than their male counterparts. The data indicate that women over 30 are leaving the profession, particularly if they are combining career and family responsibilities. This paper examines the implications of these and other results from the CREW study, set in the context of the literature, and suggests strategies to improve workplace retention and satisfaction.
The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Thinking in Higher Education, 2015
What does it look like when undergraduate students practice critical thinking in an authentic sci... more What does it look like when undergraduate students practice critical thinking in an authentic scientific research context? Do we provide such students with opportunities to show their critical thinking in action—or do we, for the most part, leave it hidden? And, if critical thinking can be made visible, how can we recognize and hence develop and assess it? This chapter describes an attempt to reveal the dynamic processes of critical thinking as it happens, before endpoints or conclusions are reached, as students experience the unfamiliar context of scientific research. We start by considering what we might mean by critical thinking in this context. We then describe the processes used to attempt to make visible students’ enacted, contextualized critical thinking. The examples we describe suggest students have opportunities to think critically in a variety of different ways; understanding this variation is crucial to recognizing and scaffolding the development of criticality. Finally, we consider what our data tell us about the nature of critical thinking as practiced by science students; its correlations with developing expertise and confidence; and implications for practice.
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Papers by Pamela Roberts
understandings of research in the context of two university courses in international business involving third
year undergraduate and graduate students. One approach involved the lecturer using his research as the basis
for a case-study assignment involving an intercultural business negotiation. In the second approach students
conducted a research project in which they reviewed the academic literature to identify practical implications
for business and theoretical gaps as the basis for future research. A questionnaire was used to explore students’
perceptions of the impacts on their learning and understandings of research. Students’ understandings of
research were most informed by the research based learning project which was presented to them as an
experience of doing research. Students valued the lecturer using his research in the course because of his
enthusiasm and his expertise and mentoring in doing research. However many students developed only
limited understandings of research in the subject area, despite their direct experience of the lecturers’ research.
The implications for the design of research-led education approaches are explored.
Careers Review of Engineering Women (CREW) project was undertaken in 2000 to investigate the issues surrounding women's retention, satisfaction, and progression in the professional engineering workforce. All Australian-resident female members of the Institution of Engineers, Australia were
surveyed, together with a matched sample of male engineers. The survey found that similar proportions of female and male engineering graduates joined the profession. Differences were found in the nature of the engineering work undertaken by women and men, with more women describing their work as engineering-technical, and more men describing their work as engineering-managerial. Women were more dissatisfied with workplace culture and conditions, they received lower pay
and benefits, and were far more likely to experience sexual harassment and discrimination than their male counterparts. The data indicate that women over 30 are leaving the profession, particularly if they are combining career and family responsibilities. This paper examines the implications of these and other results from the CREW study, set in the context of the literature, and suggests strategies to improve workplace retention and satisfaction.
Books by Pamela Roberts
understandings of research in the context of two university courses in international business involving third
year undergraduate and graduate students. One approach involved the lecturer using his research as the basis
for a case-study assignment involving an intercultural business negotiation. In the second approach students
conducted a research project in which they reviewed the academic literature to identify practical implications
for business and theoretical gaps as the basis for future research. A questionnaire was used to explore students’
perceptions of the impacts on their learning and understandings of research. Students’ understandings of
research were most informed by the research based learning project which was presented to them as an
experience of doing research. Students valued the lecturer using his research in the course because of his
enthusiasm and his expertise and mentoring in doing research. However many students developed only
limited understandings of research in the subject area, despite their direct experience of the lecturers’ research.
The implications for the design of research-led education approaches are explored.
Careers Review of Engineering Women (CREW) project was undertaken in 2000 to investigate the issues surrounding women's retention, satisfaction, and progression in the professional engineering workforce. All Australian-resident female members of the Institution of Engineers, Australia were
surveyed, together with a matched sample of male engineers. The survey found that similar proportions of female and male engineering graduates joined the profession. Differences were found in the nature of the engineering work undertaken by women and men, with more women describing their work as engineering-technical, and more men describing their work as engineering-managerial. Women were more dissatisfied with workplace culture and conditions, they received lower pay
and benefits, and were far more likely to experience sexual harassment and discrimination than their male counterparts. The data indicate that women over 30 are leaving the profession, particularly if they are combining career and family responsibilities. This paper examines the implications of these and other results from the CREW study, set in the context of the literature, and suggests strategies to improve workplace retention and satisfaction.