Student Led Learning National Symposium

Teaching for Transitions: A review of teaching for transitions related teaching and learning activity and research

11th June 2015Dr. Bettie Higgs, UCC

1: Provide a snapshot of existing national and international scholarship on ‘Teaching for Transitions’.

Project aims

• Scoping exercise

• Annotated bibliography

• Focus groups: report on activities and emerging research

• Synthesise into review document with specific commentary on impact of various initiatives

• Benchmark with international practice

• Align research with other Forum projects

• Align with other concepts, ideas and frameworks

Work plan

Learning to learnLearning online

Transitions into HE

First year experienceTransition out of HE(workplace/ abroad)

Disciplinary practice(especially STEM)

Diversity & widening participation

Pedagogies for transitionsAcademic writing

Supporting staff transitionsDigital campus

Review of Teaching for Transitions

Learning to learnLearning online

Transitions into HE

First year experienceTransition out of HE(workplace/ abroad)

Disciplinary practice(especially STEM)

Diversity & widening participation

Pedagogies for transitionsAcademic writing

Supporting staff transitionsDigital campus

Review of Teaching for Transitions

Scholarship of TEACHING FOR TRANSITIONS

“How can this knowledge base be utilised effectively across the sector to enhance learner transitions in Irish Higher Education?”

Focus of Project

a “big tent where there is space for small-scale efforts aimed mostly at local improvement as well as more ambitious,

sustained work of a larger scale”(Hutchings 2010)

Categories of transition (Tate and Hopkins, 2013)

Scholarship of T4T

Transitions In

Conceptual Frameworks

Transitions Through

Transitions Out

Systematic review

Step 1

• Selection of databases on EBSCO platform• Development of search string

Step 2Step 3Step 4

Systematic review

Step 1

• Selection of databases on EBSCO platform• Development of search string

Step 2Step 3Step 4

Example of Search StringS3 TI ( transition or "transitional program*" or tranformation* or adjustment or adaptation ) OR AB ( transition or "transitional program*" or tranformation* or adjustment or adaptation )ANDS2 TI ( Teaching N5 (approach* or method* or style* or strateg* or instruction) ) OR AB ( Teaching N5 (approach* or method* or style* or strateg* or instruction) )AND S1 TI ( Education N5 (academia or college or higher or undergraduate or postgraduate or post-graduate or postsecondary or post-secondary or "post secondary" or tertiary or "third level" or universit* ) OR AB ( Education N5 (academia or college or higher or undergraduate or postgraduate or post-graduate or postsecondary or post-secondary or "post secondary" or tertiary or "third level" or universit*)

Systematic review

Step 1

• Selection of databases on EBSCO platform• Development of search string

Step 2

• Exclusion criteria applied to returned papers• Export to reference manager (remove duplicates)

Step 3Step 4

Systematic review

Step 1Step 2

• Exclusion criteria for returned papers

Step 3Step 4

Exclusion criteria Peer-reviewed articles Papers written or translated in English Papers available in full text Papers published between 2000 and 2015

Systematic review

Step 1

• Selection of databases on EBSCO platform• Development of search string

Step 2

• Exclusion criteria for returned papers• Export to reference manager (remove duplicates)

Step 3

• Preliminary read of returned papers• Annotation of the bibliography

Step 4

Systematic review

Step 1

• Selection of databases on EBSCO platform• Development of search string

Step 2

• Exclusion criteria for returned papers• Export to reference manager (remove duplicates)

Step 3Step 4

Country Discipline Pedagogy Keywords Check category

Systematic review

Step 1

• Selection of databases on EBSCO platform• Development of search string

Step 2

• Exclusion criteria for returned papers• Export to reference manager (remove duplicates)

Step 3

• Preliminary read of returned papers• Annotation of the bibliography

Step 4

• Export to data visualisation platform (Viewshare)• Analysis of bibliography using selected fields

Data visualisation: ViewShare

Snapshot in time generated from the main database

Keyword search

in 47%

through33%

out 18%

Teacher 2%

What % retrievals per category?

UK35%

USA32%

Australia 10%

Spain 3%

Canada3%

The Netherlands2%

New Zealand2%

Isreal2%

China2%

Hong Kong2%

Sweden1%

Ireland1%

Belgium1%

Denmark1%

Germany1%

Slovenia1%

What % retrievals per country?

Key authors missing from Irish retrievals

e-learning19%

work-placement

15%

Mentoring 14%

Collaborative learning 8%curriculum design 7%

Peer-learning6%

Capstone courses 5%

Problem-based learn-

ing 5%

fieldwork4%

active-learning3%

COPs 3%

social networking3%

interdisciplinary3%

refective practice3% competancy-based

2%

apprenticeship2%

vocational guidence2%

research-led teaching1% role model

1%role play

1%

What % retrievals per pedagogy?

e-learning22%

work-placement

18%

Mentoring 17%

Collaborative learning

9%

curriculum design

8%

Peer-learning7%

Capstone courses 6%

Problem-based learning 5%

fieldwork 4% active-learning 4%

Key pedagogies of transition

1: Very little information retrieved on Irish scholarship

2: Key authors were missing. Why was this? a) Keywords missing? b) Peer-reviewed journals as a search criteria? c) Little recent work in Ireland meeting these criteria? d) Too few databases searched?

3: Little reference to Boyer • scholarship is not a key word (<1%); pedagogy (<1%) • transition (10%); higher education (22%); research (11%)

Findings from systematic review

UK33%

USA30%

Australia 10%

Ireland6%

Spain 3%

Canada3%

The Netherlands2%

New Zealand2%

Isreal2%

China2%

Hong Kong2%

Sweden1%

Belgium1%

Denmark1%

Germany1%

Slovenia1%

Addition of Irish ‘Key authors’

blended learning

work-based learning

reflective practice

group work

peer-learning

fieldwork

service learning

UG research

PBL

Simulations

International

Issues-orientated

Pedagogies of transition: Ireland

Purpose: To enrich our understanding of the impact of scholarship on practice in Ireland.

What will be the drivers of change?

Focus groups

• Transitions is a journey of many small steps …. a continuum• Teacher practice is impacted by national and European reports,

and institutional reports. • Most reports are informed by scholarship• Participants engage with scholarship in their discipline which

influences their approach, attitudes and practice>> This scholarship is not explicitly scholarship of teaching

for transitions • There are disciplinary differences

Focus group insights

Definition of pedagogy• Is teaching resilience and perseverance a pedagogy? • Or do these inform the pedagogies? e.g. ‘learning to learn’: a

pedagogy or influence on teaching approach?

Pedagogies of transition• Problem-based learning• Work-placement • Reflective logs • Fieldwork • Peer-learning

Focus group insights

• Keywords usage • Inclusion of bibliographies in grey literature • Identified pedagogies of transition – focus on these

pedagogies.

• Develop academic standards for teachers who teach transition as advocated by James et al , Australian Study.

• Integrate social and academic pedagogy into first year courses

How to increase impact of scholarship?

Transition in thinking of project team all of UG study is a transition

all learning is transitional transition is life-long learning

Align with other concepts, ideas and frameworks• Same pedagogies are those that have been shown to promote

integrative learning• Publication: ‘Pedagogies of transition’

Next steps?

Dr Bettie HiggsCentre for the integration of Research, Teaching and LearningUniversity College Cork

b.higgs@ucc.ie

Questions?