Building Knowledge Exchange Capacity in a Small UK University

2012 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-263
Author(s):  
Sally Fowler Davis
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Organizational Development ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Knowledge Exchange ◽  
Exchange Capacity ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Initial Survey ◽  
Academic Workforce ◽  
The Uk

The UK's university sector is seeking to improve its participation in the knowledge economy and meet policy and financial imperatives. This paper reveals some of the opportunities and pitfalls in making that objective a reality in the context of a single university. The findings and organizational development resulting from an action research project undertaken in a small learning and teaching oriented university in the UK are outlined. The aim of the research was to facilitate an increased capacity for knowledge exchange and participation in enterprise activity. Action research was undertaken in a single organization and in collaboration with the university's academic workforce. The outcomes of an initial survey and a series of interviews were used to create a strategic proposal for developing knowledge exchange. The data revealed that a predominantly professionally-oriented academic staff was prepared to accept external engagement and was not averse to commercial outcomes for knowledge exchange. In contrast, the senior management was unwilling to establish systems and processes or enable organizational learning for knowledge exchange until a complete system restructure had been implemented; and this resulted in a very senior appointment (Pro Vice-Chancellor) being made, to lead external engagement.

scholarly journals Clinical academic research in the time of Corona: a simulation study in England and a call for action

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amitava Banerjee ◽  
Michail Katsoulis ◽  
Alvina G. Lai ◽  
Laura Pasea ◽  
Thomas A. Treibel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Academic Staff ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
System Level ◽  
Clinical Activity ◽  
Infection Rates ◽  
Community Needs ◽  
Academic Workforce ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

AbstractBackgroundCoronavirus (COVID-19) poses health system challenges in every country. As with any public health emergency, a major component of the global response is timely, effective science. However, particular factors specific to COVID-19 must be overcome to ensure that research efforts are optimised. We aimed to model the impact of COVID-19 on the clinical academic response in the UK, and to provide recommendations for COVID-related research.MethodsWe constructed a simple stochastic model to determine clinical academic capacity in the UK in four policy approaches to COVID-19 with differing population infection rates: “Italy model” (6%), “mitigation” (10%), “relaxed mitigation” (40%) and “do-nothing” (80%) scenarios. The ability to conduct research in the COVID-19 climate is affected by the following key factors: (i) infection growth rate and population infection rate (from UK COVID-19 statistics and WHO); (ii) strain on the healthcare system (from published model); and (iii) availability of clinical academic staff with appropriate skillsets affected by frontline clinical activity and sickness (from UK statistics).FindingsIn “Italy model”, “mitigation”, “relaxed mitigation” and “do-nothing” scenarios, from 5 March 2020 the duration (days) and peak infection rates (%) are 95(2.4%), 115(2.5%), 240(5.3%) and 240(16.7%) respectively. Near complete attrition of academia (87% reduction, <400 clinical academics) occurs 35 days after pandemic start for 11, 34, 62, 76 days respectively – with no clinical academics at all for 37 days in the “do-nothing” scenario. Restoration of normal academic workforce (80% of normal capacity) takes 11,12, 30 and 26 weeks respectively.InterpretationPandemic COVID-19 crushes the science needed at system level. National policies mitigate, but the academic community needs to adapt. We highlight six key strategies: radical prioritisation (eg 3-4 research ideas per institution), deep resourcing, non-standard leadership (repurposing of key non-frontline teams), rationalisation (profoundly simple approaches), careful site selection (eg protected sites with large academic backup) and complete suspension of academic competition with collaborative approaches.

From ‘Posh Pen and Pad’ to Participatory Pedagogies

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl Royle ◽  
Mark Hadfield
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Educational Status ◽  
Role Identity ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
New Model ◽  
Technological Intervention ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Pedagogical Approaches

This paper looks at the implementation of wireless netbooks within two primary schools in the UK for all children at key stages 4 and 5. It looks at current concepts of ematurity and technological implementation and offers a new model based on three interlocking factors, the educational status of the technology, the capacity for innovation of the organisation, groups and individuals and how far the technology can be aligned with the needs and concerns of individuals and teams and their prevailing pedagogical approaches. This model is examined in the light of an action research project and illustrates how pedagogical reframing is important in any technological intervention. It also examines role, identity and practice changes required by both learners and teachers in order to improve the learning experience within a school.

Creating an Authentic Space for a Private and Public Self through E-Portfolios

2014 ◽  
pp. 197-223
Author(s):  
Simon Lygo-Baker ◽  
Stylianos Hatzipanagos
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Continuing Professional Development ◽  
Development Programme ◽  
Technology Enhanced Learning ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
Reflective Approach ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Enhanced Learning

The chapter reports work that investigated the use of e-portfolios developed by teaching practitioners as part of an award-bearing academic development programme in the UK. The project aimed to enable teaching practitioners to access and gain familiarity with pedagogically sound e-portfolio opportunities. The project was designed to foster a reflective approach, promote critical thinking focused on learning and teaching, and enhance continuing professional development. The outcomes of this project are discussed in terms of an appreciation of e-assessment by the teaching practitioners involved, recommendations for an e-portfolio environment that uses technology enhanced learning resources to foster a reflective approach that can enable and enhance continuous professional development for academic staff.

scholarly journals Promoting Intercultural Engagement: Developing a Toolkit for Staff and Students in Higher Education

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marita Grimwood ◽  
Mark Dunford ◽  
Pilar Teran ◽  
Nita Muir
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Global Citizenship ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Intercultural Dialogue ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Cultural Negotiation ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Intercultural Engagement ◽  
Different Levels

This ‘on the horizon’ paper describes and reflects on the development of an intercultural engagement toolkit for academic staff in Higher Education Institutions, for use across a range of disciplines. Higher Education in the UK is continuing to grapple with two aspects of an internationalising sector: increasing numbers of non-UK students (HESA, 2015) and the need to prepare students for a globalised society (Guimaraes-Iosif, 2011). Academic staff are often uncertain about how to engage with these forces in their curricula (Barker, Hibbins, & Farrelly, 2011). While they have different levels of awareness of issues and theories relating to internationalisation of the curriculum, even those with high levels of international experience can be unsure as to how to implement effective changes to learning and teaching. A reflective toolkit to support academic staff was developed with funding from the Higher Education Academy, aiming to support universal processes of cultural negotiation in the context of programme teams and class groups. These resources have been developed following thematic analysis of focus groups and interviews with academics and students across a range of disciplines. Six key areas were identified as being influential: intercultural dialogue, global citizenship, positioning of the academic, design of curricula and assessment, international collaboration and communications. This paper will explore these themes and the theoretical framework which is the scaffolding for the toolkit, including the most recent literature (Killick, 2015; Leask, 2015). It also explores successes and frustrations experienced in the process, and ideas for the toolkit’s future development.

scholarly journals Strengthening the evidence and action on multi-sectoral partnerships in public health: an action research initiative

2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 101-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. D. Willis ◽  
J. K. Greene ◽  
A. Abramowicz ◽  
B. L. Riley
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Knowledge Exchange ◽  
Health Agency ◽  
Shared Vision ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
Improvement Strategy ◽  
Research Initiative

Introduction The Public Health Agency of Canada’s Multi-sectoral Partnerships Initiative, administered by the Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention (CCDP), brings together diverse partners to design, implement and advance innovative approaches for improving population health. This article describes the development and initial priorities of an action research project (a learning and improvement strategy) that aims to facilitate continuous improvement of the CCDP’s partnership initiative and contribute to the evidence on multi-sectoral partnerships. Methods The learning and improvement strategy for the CCDP’s multi-sectoral partnership initiative was informed by (1) consultations with CCDP staff and senior management, and (2) a review of conceptual frameworks to do with multi-sectoral partnerships. Consultations explored the development of the multi-sectoral initiative, barriers and facilitators to success, and markers of effectiveness. Published and grey literature was reviewed using a systematic search strategy with findings synthesized using a narrative approach. Results Consultations and the review highlighted the importance of understanding partnership impacts, developing a shared vision, implementing a shared measurement system and creating opportunities for knowledge exchange. With that in mind, we propose a six-component learning and improvement strategy that involves (1) prioritizing learning needs, (2) mapping needs to evidence, (3) using relevant datacollection methods, (4) analyzing and synthesizing data, (5) feeding data back to CCDP staff and teams and (6) taking action. Initial learning needs include investigating partnership reach and the unanticipated effects of multi-sectoral partnerships for individuals, groups, organizations or communities. Conclusion While the CCDP is the primary audience for the learning and improvement strategy, it may prove useful for a range of audiences, including other government departments and external organizations interested in capturing and sharing new knowledge generated from multi-sectoral partnerships.

Thoughts on Why and How to Promote Sustainable Practices in Early Years Education

2020 ◽  
pp. 272-293
Author(s):  
Hazel R. Wright ◽  
Paulette Luff ◽  
Opeyemi Osadiya
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Adult Child ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Environmental Action ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Specific Focus ◽  
Early Years Education ◽  
The Uk

It is important to introduce ideas and practices to encourage young children to act sustainably so that this becomes habitual and continues in adulthood. An examination of global developments for environmental action provides a context for a more specific focus on work in early years contexts, which, it is noted, most commonly originates in Australia and Scandinavia. The UK is active but lagging behind their lead, relying on pockets of activity in certain university and nursery centres. Noting, also, a need to train staff to teach young children sustainable behaviours, how this can be done is illustrated through an action research project that helped a playgroup to establish a wildlife garden where children could learn about and care for plants and animals. Returning to the broader global picture, the chapter concludes by stressing the need for joint adult-child action to protect the planet in/on which all humans live.

Creating an Authentic Space for a Private and Public Self through E-Portfolios

2014 ◽  
pp. 1706-1727
Author(s):  
Simon Lygo-Baker ◽  
Stylianos Hatzipanagos
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Continuing Professional Development ◽  
Development Programme ◽  
Technology Enhanced Learning ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
Reflective Approach ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Enhanced Learning

The chapter reports work that investigated the use of e-portfolios developed by teaching practitioners as part of an award-bearing academic development programme in the UK. The project aimed to enable teaching practitioners to access and gain familiarity with pedagogically sound e-portfolio opportunities. The project was designed to foster a reflective approach, promote critical thinking focused on learning and teaching, and enhance continuing professional development. The outcomes of this project are discussed in terms of an appreciation of e-assessment by the teaching practitioners involved, recommendations for an e-portfolio environment that uses technology enhanced learning resources to foster a reflective approach that can enable and enhance continuous professional development for academic staff.

scholarly journals Visualizing Inclusive Leadership: Using Arts-based Research to Develop an Aligned University Culture

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 117
Author(s):  
Virginia L. McKendry
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Organizational Development ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
University Management ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
Inclusive Leadership ◽  
Arts Based Research ◽  
University Culture ◽  
Administrative Leaders ◽  
Teaching Learning

Values of exclusive leadership characterize the administration of the neoliberal university, but are incongruous with values of inclusive leadership often enacted in the work of teaching, learning, and research. This article explores how an action research project to advance inclusive leadership at Royal Roads University adapted a visual data elicitation method and used metaphor analysis to reveal opportunities to align espoused, communicated, and enacted values. Images evoke metaphors (Mumby & Spitzack, 1983; Vakkayil, 2008) that enable researchers engaged in their own organizational development to elicit creative possibilities that are “covered up by the familiarity of everyday experience” (Koch & Deetz, 1981, p. 13). By eliciting desired qualities associated with inclusive leadership (Rayner, 2009), we have been able to make visible and model inclusive messages, structures, behaviours, strategies, and actions as the building blocks of a culture built on the value of inclusivity and collaboration, and the principles of diversity and interdependence. One key insight of the research is that arts-based action research effectively equips academic and administrative leaders to transcend deficit-based problem solving and the reductionism associated with neoliberal university management and to approach organizational development with the creative energy that arts-based research inspires.

scholarly journals Enhancing Entry-Level Physiotherapy Student Learning in Interpreting Radiology – An Action Research Project

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Courtney Clark ◽  
Andrea Bialocerkowski
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Student Satisfaction ◽  
Approaches To Learning ◽  
Clinical Placement ◽  
X Rays ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
Research Project ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Entry Level

Purpose: In Australia, the ability to interpret orthopaedic x-rays is an entry-level skill for physiotherapists. Yet there is a paucity of evidence in the literature which details effective learning and teaching methods to optimise confidence and competence in x-ray interpretation. The aims of this study were to describe the content contained in an orthopaedic radiology module within an Australian 2-year graduate entry Master of Physiotherapy degree; approaches to learning and teaching used in this module; student satisfaction associated with this module over a 2-year period. Method: The University’s framework for quality assurance, which is based on the Plan-Implement-Review-Improve underpinned this action research project. The content of the radiology module was reviewed and feedback was gained from a student focus group and standard university course data. Data were analysed using descriptive content analysis and descriptive statistics to identify areas for improvement. Changes to the module were then developed and implemented, and the effect of these changes were evaluated using a custom-designed survey. Results: It was found that didactic methods of teaching were used in this module that encouraged surface level learning. Students reported feeling stressed during the radiology examination due to the learning tasks and assessment being disconnected, and often reported difficulty transferring knowledge into the clinical placement setting. Constructive alignment was undertaken of learning activities and assessment tasks. An additional non-compulsory tutorial was added to the radiology module, where scaffolding and cooperative learning techniques were used to teach students x-ray interpretation. Students reported that the revised curriculum increased their confidence in interpreting x-rays. Students’ competence in x-ray interpretation also increased based on a significant increase in score on their radiology examination. Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study the addition of a tutorial that focused on interpretation of x-ray films to supplement radiology teaching improved entry-level physiotherapy students’ confidence and competence in interpreting x-rays and their perceived preparedness for clinical placement in a small entry-level physiotherapy cohort at a single Australian University.

scholarly journals Faglig og språklig utvikling hos studenter med norsk som andrespråk i Akademisk språkkafé – praktisk medvirkningsbasert aksjonsforskning

2020 ◽  
pp. 391-417
Author(s):  
Hjørdis Frisnes ◽  
Beate Lie Sverre ◽  
Marit Gjone Sandsleth ◽  
Anne Stenhammer ◽  
Liv Helene Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Nursing Students ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Cultural Learning ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
Linguistic Development ◽  
Action Research Approach

In this chapter, we present a practical participative action research project. The context of this study is the bachelor’s program in nursing, which, like other higher education programs in Norway, has increased the proportion of students from different age, linguistic and cultural backgrounds. This is a resource in the universities, but on the other hand it is necessary to understand the challenges these students may have with studying in a foreign language. In the article, we have explored Norwegian and international research and found a need for new initiatives that can strengthen the academic and linguistic development of nursing students with Norwegian as a second language. Based on socio-cultural learning theory and principles of action research in our own organization, the purpose of this chapter is to show how students, academic staff and university librarians collaborated through cyclic learning and research processes to develop learning activities that can enhance academic and linguistic development in students with Norwegian as a second language. In the meta-reflections, we found that the combination of linguistic and professional learning and collaborative relationships was of significant importance in the learning processes. The predictable and cyclical structure of the action research approach strengthened the development of practical knowledge.

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