Supporting and Enabling Scholarship: Developing and Sharing Expertise in Online Learning and Teaching
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14297/jpaap.v6i1.323Keywords:
supporting scholarship, communities of practice, landscape of practice, staff development, online learning and teaching, brokersAbstract
In a highly competitive, rapidly changing higher education market, universities need to be able to generate pedagogical expertise quickly and ensure that it is applied to practice. Since teaching approaches are constantly evolving, partly responding to emerging learning technologies, there is a need to foster ways to keep abreast on an ongoing basis. This paper explores how a small-scale project, the Teaching Online Panel (TOP), used scholarship investigations and a bottom-up approach to enhance one particular aspect of academic practice – online learning and teaching. The experiences of TOP are useful for identifying:
- how a scholarship approach can help develop academic expertise
- its contribution to enhancing understanding of staff’s different roles in the University
- ways of developing the necessary supportive network for those undertaking such scholarship
- the effectiveness of staff development which is peer-led rather than imposed from above
- how practical examples can stimulate practice development
- the relevance of literature on communities of practice and landscapes of practice for scholarship
- the important role of ‘brokers’ to facilitate the dissemination of scholarship findings
- the benefits to the brokers’ own professional roles
- the challenges of sustaining such an approach and lessons learnt.
This study has relevance for those involved in supporting scholarship or delivering staff development in Higher Education.
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Kubiak, C., Fenton-O’Creevy, M., Appleby, K., Kempster, M., Reed, M., Salvason, C., & Thorpe, M. (2015). Brokering boundary encounters. In E. Wenger-Trayner, M. Fenton-O'Creevy, S. Hutchinson, C. Kubiak, & B. Wenger-Trayner (Eds.). Learning in landscapes of practice: Boundaries, identity and knowledgeability in practice-based learning (pp. 81-94). Abingdon: Routledge.
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Wenger-Trayner, E., & Wenger-Trayner, B. (2015a). Learning in a landscape of practice: A framework. In E. Wenger-Trayner, M. Fenton-O'Creevy, S. Hutchinson, C. Kubiak, & B. Wenger-Trayner (Eds.). Learning in landscapes of practice: Boundaries, identity and knowledgeability in practice-based Learning, (pp. 13-30). Abingdon: Routledge.
Wenger-Trayner, E., & Wenger-Trayner, B. (2015b). Introduction to communities of practice: A brief overview of the concepts and its uses. Retrieved from: https://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/
Buckley, S., & Du Toit, A. (2010). Academics leave your ivory tower: form communities of practice. Educational Studies, 26(5), 493-503.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/03055690903425532
Cambridge, D., Kaplan, S., & Suter, V. (2005). Community of practice design guide: A step-by-step guide for designing and cultivating communities of practice in higher education. EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI). Retrieved from: https://library.educause.edu/~/media/files/library/2005/1/nli0531-pdf.pdf
Chandler, K. (2016). Using breakout rooms in synchronous online tutorials. Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice, 4(3), 16–23.
doi: https://doi.org/10.14297/jpaap.v4i3.216
Cowan, J., George, J.W., & Pinheiro-Torres, A. (2004). Alignment of developments in higher education. Higher Education, 48(4), 439–459.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:HIGH.0000046722.64326.dc
Edwards, A. (2011). Building common knowledge at the boundaries between professional practices: Relational agency and relational expertise in systems of distributed expertise. International Journal of Educational Research, 50(1), 33-39.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2011.04.007
Eraut, M. (2009). How professionals learn through work. In N. Jackson (Ed.). Learning to be professional through a higher education ebook. Retrieved from: http://learningtobeprofessional.pbworks.com/w/page/15914952/Howprofessionalslearnthroughwork
George, J.W., Cowan, J., & Gibbs, G. (1997). Brilliant Ideas for Tutoring from Region 11, Edinburgh, Open University in Scotland internal paper.
Harteis, C., & Billett, S. (2008). The workplace as learning environment. International Journal of Educational Research, 47(4), 209–212.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2008.07.002
Kirkwood, A., & Price, L. (2012). The influence upon design of differing conceptions of teaching and learning with technology. In A. D. Olufsson, & J. O. Lindberg (Eds.). Informed design of educational technologies in higher education, (pp. 1-20). Hershey: IGI Global.
doi: https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-61350-080-4.ch001
Kubiak, C., Fenton-O’Creevy, M., Appleby, K., Kempster, M., Reed, M., Salvason, C., & Thorpe, M. (2015). Brokering boundary encounters. In E. Wenger-Trayner, M. Fenton-O'Creevy, S. Hutchinson, C. Kubiak, & B. Wenger-Trayner (Eds.). Learning in landscapes of practice: Boundaries, identity and knowledgeability in practice-based learning (pp. 81-94). Abingdon: Routledge.
Price, L., & Kirkwood, A. (2014). Using technology for teaching and learning in higher education: A critical review of the role of evidence in informing practice. Higher Education Research and Development, 33(3), 549-564.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2013.841643
Thorpe, M. (2014). IET Research and Innovation Report: The strategic use of forums on modules and qualifications. Unpublished Internal document, The Open University.
Wenger, E., McDermott, R. A., & Snyder, W. (2002). Cultivating Communities of Practice: A Guide to Managing Knowledge. Boston, Mass., Harvard Business Review Press.
Wenger-Trayner, E., & Wenger-Trayner, B. (2015a). Learning in a landscape of practice: A framework. In E. Wenger-Trayner, M. Fenton-O'Creevy, S. Hutchinson, C. Kubiak, & B. Wenger-Trayner (Eds.). Learning in landscapes of practice: Boundaries, identity and knowledgeability in practice-based Learning, (pp. 13-30). Abingdon: Routledge.
Wenger-Trayner, E., & Wenger-Trayner, B. (2015b). Introduction to communities of practice: A brief overview of the concepts and its uses. Retrieved from: https://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/
Published
2018-04-24
Issue
Section
Reflective Analysis Papers
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