On Wednesday morning before the start of the main conference, two sessions of parallel workshops will be provided, added with participation in the general lunch. Below the titles of the workshops listed. Full descriptions will be provided shortly. Delegates who register for the preconference will additionally be asked for their workshop preferences.
Time: 1st session
The workshop is designed both for researchers already using video-observations and for researchers interested in gaining more knowledge and understanding of the method. The workshop provides the participants with the basic information about video methodologies in the research on learning and instruction dynamics in higher education. The workshop proceeds in three phases. Firstly, general information and background concerning the video-observation research methodology is presented and discussed. Also the different methods and tools and the practical execution of video-observation are presented. The second phase of the workshop is more practical as the video-observation method will be practiced through analysing some video-observation cases. The participants have the possibility to test the video-observation method under real-life conditions and to find answers to practical problems. Thirdly, on the basis of the video-observation cases we will discuss the opportunities and challenges of video-observation as a research method. The participants are also encouraged to present examples and challenges of their own video-observation studies.
Jens Siemon is Professor for Education with a focus on Business Education, Media Professions and Vocational Informatics at Universität Hamburg. His research interests lie in the fields of learning and instruction, especially with regard to lessons and video analysis, game-based learning, the transition from secondary education to vocational training and work and the role of vocational education in a knowledge-based society.
Liisa Postareff (PhD, Docent) works as a senior lecturer in higher education at the Centre for Research and Development of Higher Education, University of Helsinki. Her research areas cover teaching and learning in higher education, as well as assessment of student learning and the role of emotions in learning and teaching. She has collected a large data set including teacher observations and video data. She has given international workshops of video observation and qualitative content analysis.
Time: 1st session
This workshop aims at providing a basic introduction to Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) without using mathematical formulas and without going into all the technical specifics, while at the same time staying true to the complexity of the presented analysis. We will start with presenting SEM on a conceptual level. Both the measurement and the structural model (and the combination thereof) will be explained. Subsequently, we will present why and when SEM could be used, what the advantages and disadvantages are in comparison with regression analysis and which different types of models can be analysed by means of SEM analyses.
We will guide the participants through the actual analysis and interpretation of an example using R software (Latent Variable Analysis package, lavaan). Illustrative data, R-script and accompanying text will be provided during the workshop.
In order to get the most out of this workshop, knowledge about basic inferential statistics (e.g., regression analysis) is required. Please bring your own laptop to the workshop and install free R software beforehand (http://www.r-project.org).
Prof. dr. Eva Kyndt is an assistant professor (tenure track) at the Centre for Research on Professional Learning & Development, and Lifelong Learning (KU Leuven – University of Leuven, Belgium). Her research focuses on human resource development including workplace learning, approaches to learning, and the transition from (higher) education to work. She is the former coordinator of SIG4 Higher Education of EARLI (2011-2015), has acted as an assistant editor for Educational Research Review (2010-2014) and is currently the Advisory Editor Education of Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences.
Time: 1st session
“For the students who are the professionals of the future, developing the ability to investigate problems, make judgments on the basis of sound evidence, take decisions on a rational basis, and understand what they are doing and why is vital. Research and inquiry is not just for those who choose to pursue an academic career. It is central to professional life in the twenty-first century” (Brew, 2007)
The argument of this interactive workshop can be simply stated: all Bachelor students in all higher education institutions, should experience learning through and about research. My interest in engaging students in research and inquiry arose through explorations into ways to enhance the linkage between teaching and discipline-based research. The conclusion to arise from that work is that one of the most effective ways to do this is to see them as producers not just consumers of knowledge. Here it is suggested that the key to mainstreaming undergraduate research and inquiry is to integrate it into the curriculum. The workshop will explore the variety of ways in which undergraduate research and inquiry based learning are undertaken using numerous mini case studies from different disciplines, departments and institutions in Australasia, Europe and North America. Participants will explore practical ways of incorporating inquiry based learning into a course and discuss the issues staff and students face in this mode of learning.
Mick Healey is a HE Consultant and Researcher and Emeritus Professor at the University of Gloucestershire, UK. Until 2010 he was Director of the Centre for Active Learning, a nationally funded Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Gloucestershire. He is also a Visiting Professor at UCL, UK; The Humboldt Distinguished Scholar in Research-Based Learning at McMaster University, Canada; an adjunct Professor at Macquarie University, Australia; an International Teaching Fellow at University College Cork and a Visiting Fellow at University of Queensland. He was one of the first people in the UK to be awarded a National Teaching Fellowship (NTF) and to be made a Principal Fellow of the HE Academy. In 2013 he won a Staff and Educational Development Association (SEDA@20) Legacy Award.
Time: 2nd session
The aim of this workshop is to show the potential and implications for social network analysis in the field of higher education. It includes the perspective of its usage on macro levels, a ) moving form looking at higher education institutions alone to studying them as nodes within networked higher education systems, b) studying the connections between higher education institutions in all sorts of ways and c) analyzing social interactions between students, faculty, managers etc. and its implication for HE outcomes.
Inge van der Weijden is a researcher at CWTS from January 2012. She did her PhD in Social Sciences in 2007 and conducts research on the motivation, selection and evaluation of scholars in order to better understand career development of scientists. Special attention is given to the academic gender balance. Also interested in academic leadership. Responsible for the CWTS press communication. More information: https://www.cwts.nl/people/ingevanderweijden
Ingeborg Meijer is a part-time researcher and leader of the working group SURe (Society Using Research) at the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) of Leiden University in the Netherlands. Her research focuses on the societal use of research, especially the development of proxies, tools and indicators, to help in research assessment purposes. The working group takes a data-driven approach (exploring altmetrics) and a qualitative approach investigating researcher and stakeholder visions and values. Ingeborg has a PhD in biomedicine from the University of Leiden, and worked subsequently in a biotech company (Celltech), in health research policy (RGO), and in European science innovation and technology policy evaluation (Technopolis Group) before returning to academia. More information: https://www.cwts.nl/people/ingeborgmeijer
Time: 2nd session
Phenomenographic research is focused on examining variation in the ways in which students or academics experience particular aspects of higher education. In this workshop, you will be briefly introduced to the theory and processes that inform phenomenography. You will then have the opportunity to work in groups to undertake your own phenomenographic analysis. Finally, participants will discuss the possibilities and problems that are faced by those wishing to undertake phenomenographic research in higher education.
Paul Ashwin is Professor of Higher Education in the Department of Educational Research, Lancaster University, UK. Paul’s research focuses on teaching-learning and knowledge-curriculum practices in higher education and their relations to higher education policies. This has included phenomenographic studies of students’ and tutors’ accounts of tutorials and students’ accounts of sociological knowledge. Paul’s book Analysing Teaching-Learning Interactions in Higher Education (2009, Continuum) critically examined different approaches to conceptualizing teaching–learning interactions in higher education.
Time: 2nd session
This workshop aims to give participants the opportunity to explore how (non-subject specific) scenarios can be used to encourage student debate on ethical issues and student reflection on different approaches to tackling ethical problems. Example scenarios will be shared and the features of a well written scenario will be debated.
Ruth Healey is a Senior Lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Chester, UK. She has worked on a range of pedagogic issues from teaching for social transformations to working in partnership with students and staff to enhance the undergraduate curriculum. Ruth has researched, presented and published on engaging students in ethical thinking since 2008. This has included writing her Masters thesis on the subject. She has led an international collaborative writing group discussing ethics in pedagogic research and contributed to one exploring teaching ethics. For more information see: http://www.chester.ac.uk/departments/geography-and-development-studies/staff/ruth-healey.