Like most people at the peak of COVID, our newly created learning design team of 5 were working reactively to navigate the changing digital education landscape. We learnt many lessons and channeled them into developing a common learning design practice that was both scalable and flexible in its application. Central to this process was adoptingContinue reading “A shared reflection approach to learning design”
Category Archives: praxis
Making education better is not a nice to have: Why Business Schools need to engage in and value pedagogical research part 2
In part 1 of this blog, I made the case that pedagogical research is a third space for academic activity, one that enhances the quality of education and generates rhizomatic connections between faculty, institutions, and critical forms of scholarship in Business Schools. In this second and final part, I will explore the benefits that BusinessContinue reading “Making education better is not a nice to have: Why Business Schools need to engage in and value pedagogical research part 2“
Making education better is not a nice to have: Why Business Schools need to engage in and value pedagogical research part 1
Pedagogical research has a challenged and often undervalued place in Business Schools, with its worth to the mission of the School and the individual academic diminished by perceptions that it lacks academic rigour (Norton, 2021), focuses on arcane or abstract theorisation of practical actions (McDonald et al., 2012) or is a form of scholarship forContinue reading “Making education better is not a nice to have: Why Business Schools need to engage in and value pedagogical research part 1”
Can poster assignments improve the student learning experience? Benefits for students and educators
Recent years have seen increased emphasis on developing the student learning experience in business school education. In addition to understanding how students engage with learning materials in their respective units of study, attention has turned to how students develop insights about themselves and their own personal development in the learning process (Dixon, 2022; Bovil, 2020).Continue reading “Can poster assignments improve the student learning experience? Benefits for students and educators”
Making space for connected learning: an ecosystem approach to designing teaching spaces in higher education part 1
This two-part blog post explores the complexities and affordances of using space to make connections. The first part interrogates the structural rigidity that emerges from physical classroom design and argues that connected learning requires a different design and emotional response from teaching spaces to be successful. Studies of teaching and learning spaces and their relationshipContinue reading “Making space for connected learning: an ecosystem approach to designing teaching spaces in higher education part 1”
Are we forgetting why we teach? The importance of reflecting on one’s ‘calling’
Teaching academics face a perfect storm, whether it is the precarious work environment or the increasing administrative burdens (e.g. online teaching). In addition, teaching has historically been perceived as a poor cousin to research. In this perfect storm, I believe that proactively and critically reflecting on one’s calling allows the educator to find meaning amongstContinue reading “Are we forgetting why we teach? The importance of reflecting on one’s ‘calling’”
Promoting Connectedness through Peer Mentor Support
During the lockdown of 2020, promoting connections and a sense of belonging became challenging. Leading in a Post-Covid World (LPC) was an intracurricular initiative run fully online in Semester 2, 2020, at the University of Sydney Business School. The program provided opportunities for students to develop their leadership and team skills during the COVID-19 lockdownContinue reading “Promoting Connectedness through Peer Mentor Support”
Dynamic Pictures to Support Learning in Business Analytics
The recent move to online learning prompted academics teaching business analytics to find ways of explaining concepts that maintained some of the advantages of face-to-face teaching and learning. This included inventive ways of rigging up iPads and WACOM tablets to serve as digital whiteboards – to demonstrate analytical tools or to step through or annotateContinue reading “Dynamic Pictures to Support Learning in Business Analytics”
Growing student learning communities through peer learning
The Covid-19 pandemic has increased feelings of social isolation and stress that some students, especially international students, can experience during their university studies (Sadasivan, 2021). Research shows that teaching strategies that make use of peer learning (Boud, 2001) not only benefit student learning outcomes, but also have positive impacts on student well-being and engagement (RientiesContinue reading “Growing student learning communities through peer learning”
What do we mean when we talk about scale? Towards a definition of ‘at scale’ in higher education – part 2
Designing and delivering education at scale effectively is a challenge faced by many higher education institutions (Kagan & Diamond, 2019). This challenge is both an economic one, where the costs of magnifying and multiplying education offerings needs to be matched and exceeded by the revenue, and a pedagogical one, ensuring the quality of the teachingContinue reading “What do we mean when we talk about scale? Towards a definition of ‘at scale’ in higher education – part 2”