International Journal of Art and Design Education, 2024
This multiple case study aimed to investigate how digital reflective practice (DRP) influences th... more This multiple case study aimed to investigate how digital reflective practice (DRP) influences the creative process of textile design students. Interviews were conducted with textile design instructors, heads of department, and students from four higher education textile design departments in Pakistan. The main themes elicited from the four case studies were teachers' and students' perceptions of DRP, challenges to its implementation, and prospects for DRP in the context of textile studio design. Digital technologies can improve students' creativity and comprehension of tasks in textile design studio courses through reflection. Furthermore, teachers can play a crucial role in helping students to utilise digital reflection technologies through mentorship.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-... more This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
The integration of blockchain technology in educational institutions is gaining momentum due to i... more The integration of blockchain technology in educational institutions is gaining momentum due to its promise to improve the graduation system and the process of verifying educational qualifications. However, little research exists on the social aspects of incorporating blockchain technology in an educational environment. This study aims to evaluate the social impact of blockchain technology on internal and external stakeholders of a higher education institution, including educational leaders, management, graduates, and external organisations. Using the Social Impact Assessment methodology, this study reveals that the integration of blockchain technology can have an overall positive impact on industrial and alumni relations and resource optimization. This study also contributes to the literature on Social Impact Assessment by presenting a methodological model for the integration of blockchain technology in the context of a higher education environment.
Although the advent of VLEs (Virtual Learning Environments) has promised more flexible and indepe... more Although the advent of VLEs (Virtual Learning Environments) has promised more flexible and independent learning, concerns have also been raised about the quality of their pedagogical effects. This article presents the results of a study aiming to explore the relation between approaches to learning and studying, and perceptions of use of a VLE in a module taught at a British Higher Education College. Literature review focuses on the theory of approaches to learning and studying, which advocated that students' positive perceptions of the academic environment are linked to desirable learning outcomes and proposed the existence of three distinct approaches to learning: the deep, the strategic and the surface approach. The results of the study are presented and the relation between approaches to learning and use of the VLE is explored. The article consequently investigates the requirements for appropriate design of the online environment. Recommendations are aiming to highlight the importance of specific elements in the design and delivery of online courses through VLEs. Reflection, inquiry, analysis and synthesis are key characteristics that play a crucial role in the demonstration of desirable approaches in an online learning context.
Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 2019
The paper reports the results of a phenomenographic study on academics' conceptions of e-assessme... more The paper reports the results of a phenomenographic study on academics' conceptions of e-assessment. A cohort of twenty-one academics from seventeen disciplines participated in semi-structured interviews exploring their experiences of using web-based technologies for formative and summative assessment purposes. Through iterative analysis of the interview transcripts, the study identified four qualitatively different ways in which academic teachers understand e-assessment; e-assessment was seen as a means of: (a) efficiently managing and streamlining the assessment process (b) facilitating dialogue and student engagement (c) enhancing student learning, and (d) developing (digital) identity and the community. Six interrelated dimensions of variation were also established: the benefit of e-assessment, the role of the assessing teacher, the role of the assessed student, the role of the medium, the purpose, quality and level of collaboration, and, finally, the relationship between e-assessment and teaching and learning. The results thematise how university teachers relate to technology-enabled assessment and represent incrementally expanding levels of agency within relatively recent, often hybrid assessment milieus. More importantly, the reported dimensions of variation can be utilised to inform which aspects of e-assessment warrant further attention for the improvement of formative and summative assessment design and practice.
The development of doctoral students as university teachers has received substantially less atten... more The development of doctoral students as university teachers has received substantially less attention compared with their development as researchers, with a similar deficit extending to research on how they experience and understand university teaching. This article reports the results of a phenomenographic study of education doctoral students' conceptions of teaching in higher education. Using samples from two education departments in England and Sweden, we conducted interviews to identify variation in doctoral students' experiences of university teaching. Analysis of the transcripts produced six qualitatively different conceptions of teaching: doctoral students conceptualised university teaching as a means of (A) transmitting knowledge, (B) presenting contrasting concepts of education, (C) communicating and engaging with students, (D) enabling students to apply knowledge and skills, (E) enabling students to interpret and compare concepts of education, and (F) promoting personal, professional and societal development and change. While in broad agreement with previous studies on university teachers' conceptions of teaching, the study offers a unique insight into how the subject of education is understood by doctoral students who teach. The findings also underline the need to introduce common frameworks of academic development for academics and doctoral students alike that prioritise ways of representing and engaging with the structure of the subject, rather than the acquisition of teaching skills.
This paper explores undergraduate students' conceptions of what constitutes excellent teaching. T... more This paper explores undergraduate students' conceptions of what constitutes excellent teaching. The analysis of semi-structured interviews with students at two English universities yields five qualitatively different conceptions of excellent teaching. In contrast to the current intense policy focus on outcome factors (e.g. graduate employability), students predominantly discern process factors as conducive to excellent teaching: how the subject matter is presented, what the lecturer brings to the teaching process, how students' personal understanding is supported, and to what extent the questioning and transformation of disciplinary knowledge is facilitated. More importantly, this study demonstrates that an expansion of students' awareness of the nature of teaching is internally related to the expansion of their awareness of the nature of disciplinary knowledge.
This article reports the results of a multiple case study that sought to understand how textile d... more This article reports the results of a multiple case study that sought to understand how textile design students engaged in Digital Reflective Practice (DRP) and how such engagement related to creativity. Theoretically informed by symbolic interactionism and constructivism, the study incorporated the views of textile design teachers, heads of departments and students in four different higher education institutions in Pakistan. The findings suggest that the use of digital tools for reflection in textile design studio courses can enhance students' creativity, selfconsciousness or awareness, and understanding of tasks and concept development. The creative process also entailed new possibilities of expression, presentation and meaning making by revisiting their work.
Inequalities in the educational achievement of minoritised students in higher education (HE) appe... more Inequalities in the educational achievement of minoritised students in higher education (HE) appear in a wide range of national contexts (Richardson, 2018), and are often attributed to structural inequalities. In the UK, research literature and public records alike point to persistent inequities before, during and after university life for students of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) backgrounds. Previous education and socioeconomic status may affect attainment in HE (Smith, 2017). However, when factors such as age and entry qualifications are controlled for, the attainment gap still exists, pointing to the role of students’ experiences of the curriculum, teaching, learning or assessment (Smith, 2017; Richardson, 2015) in the outcomes they achieve.
This study, supported by BERA’s Small Grants Fund (SGF), stems from an acknowledgement that the experiences of Black students in HE in the UK have been under-researched and under-theorised. In the study, a cohort of 20 students from various disciplines within a single HE institution participated in semistructured interviews exploring their experiences of academic support. The results highlight that renewed focus is required on how curriculum design, teaching methods and assessment may affect how Black students succeed in their studies.
International Journal of Art and Design Education, 2024
This multiple case study aimed to investigate how digital reflective practice (DRP) influences th... more This multiple case study aimed to investigate how digital reflective practice (DRP) influences the creative process of textile design students. Interviews were conducted with textile design instructors, heads of department, and students from four higher education textile design departments in Pakistan. The main themes elicited from the four case studies were teachers' and students' perceptions of DRP, challenges to its implementation, and prospects for DRP in the context of textile studio design. Digital technologies can improve students' creativity and comprehension of tasks in textile design studio courses through reflection. Furthermore, teachers can play a crucial role in helping students to utilise digital reflection technologies through mentorship.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-... more This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
The integration of blockchain technology in educational institutions is gaining momentum due to i... more The integration of blockchain technology in educational institutions is gaining momentum due to its promise to improve the graduation system and the process of verifying educational qualifications. However, little research exists on the social aspects of incorporating blockchain technology in an educational environment. This study aims to evaluate the social impact of blockchain technology on internal and external stakeholders of a higher education institution, including educational leaders, management, graduates, and external organisations. Using the Social Impact Assessment methodology, this study reveals that the integration of blockchain technology can have an overall positive impact on industrial and alumni relations and resource optimization. This study also contributes to the literature on Social Impact Assessment by presenting a methodological model for the integration of blockchain technology in the context of a higher education environment.
Although the advent of VLEs (Virtual Learning Environments) has promised more flexible and indepe... more Although the advent of VLEs (Virtual Learning Environments) has promised more flexible and independent learning, concerns have also been raised about the quality of their pedagogical effects. This article presents the results of a study aiming to explore the relation between approaches to learning and studying, and perceptions of use of a VLE in a module taught at a British Higher Education College. Literature review focuses on the theory of approaches to learning and studying, which advocated that students' positive perceptions of the academic environment are linked to desirable learning outcomes and proposed the existence of three distinct approaches to learning: the deep, the strategic and the surface approach. The results of the study are presented and the relation between approaches to learning and use of the VLE is explored. The article consequently investigates the requirements for appropriate design of the online environment. Recommendations are aiming to highlight the importance of specific elements in the design and delivery of online courses through VLEs. Reflection, inquiry, analysis and synthesis are key characteristics that play a crucial role in the demonstration of desirable approaches in an online learning context.
Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 2019
The paper reports the results of a phenomenographic study on academics' conceptions of e-assessme... more The paper reports the results of a phenomenographic study on academics' conceptions of e-assessment. A cohort of twenty-one academics from seventeen disciplines participated in semi-structured interviews exploring their experiences of using web-based technologies for formative and summative assessment purposes. Through iterative analysis of the interview transcripts, the study identified four qualitatively different ways in which academic teachers understand e-assessment; e-assessment was seen as a means of: (a) efficiently managing and streamlining the assessment process (b) facilitating dialogue and student engagement (c) enhancing student learning, and (d) developing (digital) identity and the community. Six interrelated dimensions of variation were also established: the benefit of e-assessment, the role of the assessing teacher, the role of the assessed student, the role of the medium, the purpose, quality and level of collaboration, and, finally, the relationship between e-assessment and teaching and learning. The results thematise how university teachers relate to technology-enabled assessment and represent incrementally expanding levels of agency within relatively recent, often hybrid assessment milieus. More importantly, the reported dimensions of variation can be utilised to inform which aspects of e-assessment warrant further attention for the improvement of formative and summative assessment design and practice.
The development of doctoral students as university teachers has received substantially less atten... more The development of doctoral students as university teachers has received substantially less attention compared with their development as researchers, with a similar deficit extending to research on how they experience and understand university teaching. This article reports the results of a phenomenographic study of education doctoral students' conceptions of teaching in higher education. Using samples from two education departments in England and Sweden, we conducted interviews to identify variation in doctoral students' experiences of university teaching. Analysis of the transcripts produced six qualitatively different conceptions of teaching: doctoral students conceptualised university teaching as a means of (A) transmitting knowledge, (B) presenting contrasting concepts of education, (C) communicating and engaging with students, (D) enabling students to apply knowledge and skills, (E) enabling students to interpret and compare concepts of education, and (F) promoting personal, professional and societal development and change. While in broad agreement with previous studies on university teachers' conceptions of teaching, the study offers a unique insight into how the subject of education is understood by doctoral students who teach. The findings also underline the need to introduce common frameworks of academic development for academics and doctoral students alike that prioritise ways of representing and engaging with the structure of the subject, rather than the acquisition of teaching skills.
This paper explores undergraduate students' conceptions of what constitutes excellent teaching. T... more This paper explores undergraduate students' conceptions of what constitutes excellent teaching. The analysis of semi-structured interviews with students at two English universities yields five qualitatively different conceptions of excellent teaching. In contrast to the current intense policy focus on outcome factors (e.g. graduate employability), students predominantly discern process factors as conducive to excellent teaching: how the subject matter is presented, what the lecturer brings to the teaching process, how students' personal understanding is supported, and to what extent the questioning and transformation of disciplinary knowledge is facilitated. More importantly, this study demonstrates that an expansion of students' awareness of the nature of teaching is internally related to the expansion of their awareness of the nature of disciplinary knowledge.
This article reports the results of a multiple case study that sought to understand how textile d... more This article reports the results of a multiple case study that sought to understand how textile design students engaged in Digital Reflective Practice (DRP) and how such engagement related to creativity. Theoretically informed by symbolic interactionism and constructivism, the study incorporated the views of textile design teachers, heads of departments and students in four different higher education institutions in Pakistan. The findings suggest that the use of digital tools for reflection in textile design studio courses can enhance students' creativity, selfconsciousness or awareness, and understanding of tasks and concept development. The creative process also entailed new possibilities of expression, presentation and meaning making by revisiting their work.
Inequalities in the educational achievement of minoritised students in higher education (HE) appe... more Inequalities in the educational achievement of minoritised students in higher education (HE) appear in a wide range of national contexts (Richardson, 2018), and are often attributed to structural inequalities. In the UK, research literature and public records alike point to persistent inequities before, during and after university life for students of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) backgrounds. Previous education and socioeconomic status may affect attainment in HE (Smith, 2017). However, when factors such as age and entry qualifications are controlled for, the attainment gap still exists, pointing to the role of students’ experiences of the curriculum, teaching, learning or assessment (Smith, 2017; Richardson, 2015) in the outcomes they achieve.
This study, supported by BERA’s Small Grants Fund (SGF), stems from an acknowledgement that the experiences of Black students in HE in the UK have been under-researched and under-theorised. In the study, a cohort of 20 students from various disciplines within a single HE institution participated in semistructured interviews exploring their experiences of academic support. The results highlight that renewed focus is required on how curriculum design, teaching methods and assessment may affect how Black students succeed in their studies.
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Papers by Mike Mimirinis
This study, supported by BERA’s Small Grants Fund (SGF), stems from an acknowledgement that the experiences of Black students in HE in the UK have been under-researched and under-theorised. In the study, a cohort of 20 students from various disciplines within a single HE institution participated in semistructured interviews exploring their experiences of academic support. The results highlight that renewed focus is required on how curriculum design, teaching methods and assessment may affect how Black students succeed in their studies.
This study, supported by BERA’s Small Grants Fund (SGF), stems from an acknowledgement that the experiences of Black students in HE in the UK have been under-researched and under-theorised. In the study, a cohort of 20 students from various disciplines within a single HE institution participated in semistructured interviews exploring their experiences of academic support. The results highlight that renewed focus is required on how curriculum design, teaching methods and assessment may affect how Black students succeed in their studies.