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Enrolment numbers in online higher education courses have continued to increase over the last decade. The challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic have further accelerated the growth in online and blended course offerings. The development of institutional support services, however, does not reflect this growth. Many students are not equipped with the skills or given adequate support to engage and succeed in their courses, leading to student disengagement and attrition. This study investigated the perceptions of students in online and blended subjects, regarding both the academic and institutional support they were provided. The research team collected interview data from 41 online and blended-learning students and then analysed these data using an iterative thematic analysis approach. This article introduces the key findings with two models: one presenting support strategies at multiple levels within this university; the other presenting three key elements of subject-level teacher support, which were identified by the interviewees as the most significant, effective, and relevant support mechanism in this context. The findings will inform higher education institutions who aim to engage and support online and blended students better, through an improved understanding of how support is perceived by this student cohort. This study was conducted at one Australian university; however, the findings are relevant to higher education institutions in other countries that strive to bring about positive experiences and enhance retention rates for online and blended students.

The 3P (presage, process, product) model was introduced as a conceptualisation to underpin research into students’ approaches to learning (SAL). This paper proposes the refocusing of the 3P model b...

Umbrella action research projects link together a number of small action research projects under a common organizational and thematic umbrella. This article provides an example of an umbrella action research project, which aimed for teaching quality enhancement. There are two mechanisms by which teaching quality can be enhanced. The first of these is through the improvements initiated in the small projects, which are normally conducted by teachers in the courses they teach. The second mechanism is that of the collective reflective discussions of the whole project team. The collective umbrella that over-arches the individual projects provides a mechanism for participants to collectively transform their understanding of the common thematic issue. There is, therefore, the possibility of an emancipatory transformation, so that the whole achieves more than the sum of the individual projects. This article substantiates the impact of umbrella action research projects by presenting case studies from an overall project that focused on online learning. The cases highlight our reflective discussions on promoting student engagement in online learning. They show how our collective understanding of engagement in online learning was advanced and some of the means tried in the small projects to encourage student engagement. As there is evidence of teaching quality enhancement through the umbrella action research project, we discuss the possibility of redirecting some of the resources currently devoted to quality assurance to quality enhancement through encouraging action research projects.

As higher education has made the transition from elite to mass enrolments, the student body has become more diverse and online and blended learning have become more common. This study aimed to examine the impacts on attrition of admitting a more diverse student body with the shift towards online and blended learning. A hypothesised path model of attrition was tested with structural equation modelling. The model contained four presage variables related to the changed demographic of the student body and alternative modes of study; attendance mode, admission basis, remoteness and socio-economics status. There were two intervening variables; age and year of study. The two outcome variables were dropout and GPA value. The model was tested against a large sample of data from a student record system of a regional Australian university. The model showed a good fit to the data predicting that the expansion of higher education, along with the increasing use of online and blended learning, will impact on attrition.

Interviews were conducted with 29 part-time taught postgraduate (TPg) students to determine forms of teaching and curriculum which motivated their learning. The study was conducted in an open exploratory manner to investigate the aspects of pedagogy or curriculum design which particularly motivated the TPg students which were in any way distinct from typical undergraduate teaching. As most of the TPg students were mature professionals working in a field connected to the course they had enrolled in, they were able to identify relevant knowledge, skills and abilities which ought to be included in the content or curriculum. This distinguishes them from typical undergraduate students. The TPg students appreciated in-class discussion so that they could share experiences and expertise. The interviewees preferred assessment tasks that related to their professional practice. Teaching and learning for TPg students should recognise the expertise of the students and draw upon it as a valuable learning resource.

Purpose: Problem-based learning (PBL) students report uncertainty on the depth and breadth of learning required, and this is a significant stressor and challenge. Student-generated MCQ questions were trialled and evaluated as a way to support depth and breadth of learning. Methods: Students set MCQs relating to specified learning issues, and an analysis and evaluation of setting and answering the MCQs were performed. The Revised Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F) and final written examination scores were correlated to question setting and answering. Students were asked to rate the impact of the MCQs on their learning in PBL. Results: A total of 147 questions were created and 2373 answered. Students reported challenges with setting questions, although these made them think more deeply and helped their learning and affirming their learning progress. MCQs authored indicated significant associations with Understanding, and examination scores were associated with MCQs authored. Students reported a moderate response to how the MCQs supported their depth and breadth of learning. Conclusions: While MCQ setting was perceived as a useful learning exercise, students engaged to different levels and experienced challenges. Students were uncertain whether the MCQs helped clarify the depth and breadth of learning in PBL, as they were not clear whether the questions set by their peers were relevant to the required learning outcomes.

The aim of this study was to help universities promote graduate attributes by investigating mechanisms for promoting the development of cognitive, social and affective attributes which could impact upon all undergraduate students. Small group interviews were conducted with 90 final year students at a university in Hong Kong. Interview transcripts were coded for statements relating to 13 attributes. Five categories of mechanism existed: subject-independent teaching and learning activities, which provide practise in the use of the attribute; immersion in a rich campus environment; holding a value; subject-dependent mechanisms; and, participation in an overseas exchange. These five mechanism categories were then cross-tabulated against the 13 attributes, ranked in order of student perceptions of their development. Subject-independent learning activities were the most effective mechanism, followed by exposure to a rich campus environment. For a wide range of attributes to be nurtured effectively, the curriculum and co-curriculum need to be regarded holistically.

Two mechanisms for engaging in critical reflective dialogue are discussed and compared: face-to-face meetings and asynchronous online discussion. The context is an umbrella action research project, with over 20 participants, which aimed to improve practices in online teaching and contribute to the development of graduate attributes. The article compares discussion using the two modes (face-to-face and online) of the nature of and development of problem-solving and other graduate attributes. Face-to-face discussion was wide ranging and quite loosely structured, so divergent aspects of a topic were uncovered. The asynchronous nature of online discussion, however, permitted topics to be explored more thoroughly. The two modes worked well in conjunction with one another, if aspects of face-to-face discussion topics were posted online as discussion threads. The asynchronous online discussions then allowed each thread to be explored in depth, so that collective understanding of a given topic could be en...

What is an appropriate structure for reporting a study of designing a short course to develop the writing skills of EAL university students to cope with the university assignments when following the interpretive and critical paradigms and adopting action research methodology?

The chapter describes the voyages of discovery as an examiner and supervisor which led me to question the suitability of the conventional thesis structure, devised for the scientific method, for research students in the social sciences, who generally eschew the scientific method. These personal voyages of discovery eventually became a collective voyage, as many research students and supervisors shared similar concerns about the conventional thesis structure and had explored alternatives. The voyages led to the formation of four research questions. These are introduced in the chapter as they are explored through the book. (1) Why do examiners often find theses hard to read when research students in non-scientific disciplines adopt the conventional structure of the scientific method? (2) Why do students in non-scientific disciplines struggle to write up the outcomes of their research in the conventional structure? (3) What alternative thesis structures can be devised which better suit the wide range of methods, theories and paradigms commonly followed in education and the social sciences? (4) What range of methods, theories and paradigms are commonly adopted by education and social science students and what issues do these pose when students write their theses?

What is an appropriate structure for reporting a study of Indigenous Knowledge and place based education, following the critical paradigm, and adopting participatory action research?

What is an appropriate structure for reporting a study exploring Chinese international students’ decision-making to undertake regional Australian higher education, following positivist and interpretivist paradigms, and utilizing convergent mixed methods?

As the book is quite novel we feel it would be helpful if we explained the guidelines we have given to authors and the processes we incorporated in developing the book. We asked the past and current research students to describe their own voyages of discovery to capture some of the tensions researchers go through as they struggle to find a methodological approach to tackle their project. This is often initially perplexing as research students in the social sciences usually come from a background of professional practice and wish to research a complex issue of interest or concern from that practice. To present both their solution to the methodological, paradigmatic and theoretical issues and the way they accordingly presented and structured their thesis, we asked the authors of the 32 example chapters to use a common template. This asked them to explain: what the thesis was about; the methods, paradigms and theories drawn upon; and, the resulting structure of the thesis. The template ensures that the important common elements are present in each chapter, but still provides authors with sufficient flexibility to accommodate very different voyages of discovery and resulting thesis structures.

The book contains an extensive set of chapters which explain why a research student’s thesis has used a structure differing from the conventional one developed to suit the scientific method. The researchers explain how their findings, methodological approaches, paradigmatic leanings and the theories utilised guided their alternative structures. A common characteristic is that none of the research students use the scientific method, which is why the conventional structure was unsuitable. In this chapter, we reflect on the scientific method to see why it is unsuited to social science research (and indeed not adopted by much scientific research) and the alternative directions which have been taken. We define the scientific method as a linear positivist approach which proceeds from a well-defined question or hypothesis, substantiated by a literature survey, which is then tested. The problem with this positivist approach for the social sciences is that research in these disciplines deals with complex ill-defined issues, which are often so messy that research students find it difficult initially to formulate research questions. Their research, therefore, takes the form of a voyage of discovery. Interpretive researchers recognised the limitations of the scientific method and moved towards more naturalistic forms of research. In the early stages, at least, this tended to imply movement from quantitative to qualitative research. The chapters in the book suggest that over time there has been a degree of shift in interpretive research aiming to derive novel theory, grounded in the data, to interpret a limited case. Many of the researchers in this collection interpret their results in terms of well-established theories.

This chapter draws out some of the lessons which have been learnt about structuring the thesis by analysing and synthesising across all the example chapters in the book. As social science research normally adopts an inductive approach to deal with a complex ill-defined issue, the conventional thesis structure has been shown to be generally inappropriate. Many of the research students reported that their inductive research took the form of a journey of discovery, which was often accompanied by a personal transformation of research perspective. It seemed important to include accounts of these voyages in the thesis; and the chronological timeline often helped to frame the structure. Plans of the structure often germinated at the time strategies were developed for tackling the analysis. Organisation around main emerging themes was a common strategy. The traditional comprehensive literature review as Chapter 2 was regarded as inappropriate for inductive research, which explored an ill-defined topic. There was a need for a relatively short initial literature review to frame the study. The bulk of the literature was then dispersed through the thesis, as findings were presented in an organised framework and compared to the literature. As the alternative structures were adopted, it was considered important to detail the structure of the thesis and provide an explanation for its form.

This study examined the pace and degree of adaptation of study behaviour and personal epistemological beliefs between school and university through interviews with 110 final-year university students. The study took place in Hong Kong, where the highly competitive school system encourages remembering modelling answers for the public examinations; hence, students appear to hold naive epistemological beliefs on entry to university. Developing more sophisticated beliefs appeared to be a pre- or co- requisite to adopting study behaviour more appropriate for university study. The pace and degree of adaptation varied between disciplines and appeared to be influenced by both the nature of knowledge within a discipline and the type of pedagogy adopted. The influences are discussed in terms of a two-by-two framework, ranging from well-established to contested knowledge, and didactic teaching to active student engagement. Cases are given to illustrate each quadrant as well as progressive development. Perceptions or ...

There is a need for a questionnaire designed specifically to evaluate taught postgraduate (TPg) awards for quality assurance or enhancement purposes. Comparison of undergraduate and TPg awards suggests that as the former have broadened their ambit to better nurture generic graduate attributes, TPg awards have concentrated on advanced specialised knowledge and skills. Those enrolling in TPg programmes are often mature part-time students working in a field associated with the subject studied. A set of interviews with TPg students revealed that they had clear expectations of the knowledge and skills they were expected to acquire from their studies and were able to comment critically on curriculum design. This made it clear that instruments designed for undergraduate degrees would not be suitable. Therefore, a TPg questionnaire was designed based on a model derived from a qualitative study, which adopted a grounded theory approach to collect views from 21 part-time TPg students from seven programmes offered b...

Many students enter university with naive epistemological beliefs and study approaches incompatible with the goals of higher education or the display of attributes such as critical or creative thinking. This study examines whether a first year experience can promote the formation of effective learning communities, which in turn can provide a mechanism for nurturing a range of graduate attributes. The curriculum encompasses initiatives to assimilate students into the university, prompts the adaptation of appropriate university study behaviour, and contains a general education component to broaden the student experience. The impact of the first year experience was examined by collecting quantitative data which measured students’ perceptions of the effectiveness of assimilation, adaptation of study behaviour, the impact of the broadening component, and the nurturing of attributes. The data were analysed with structural equation modelling. A model in which the curriculum elements impacted on the development of graduate attributes showed a good fit to the data. Effective learning communities played a key role both in assimilation into the university community and the adoption of appropriate study behaviours.

The study looks at issues around the power of the hidden curriculum of assessment and its effects on student behaviour. The assessment regime at school level has an impact on study approaches at university level, and if we are to help students to make the transition from school to university, then it is important that we understand the beliefs and behaviours involved. The study looks at changes in behaviour in the light of beliefs about knowledge and their understanding about knowledge, that is, their epistemological beliefs, which are a pre- or co-requisite to learning in a manner consistent with the requirements of a discipline. Drawing on the literature from the transition from school- to university-level study, focus group interviews were conducted with 110 final-year students at two universities in Hong Kong in order to look at the adaptations made by students used to a particular assessment regime at school level and who, like students in all cultures, need to become more independent in their learning and to develop confidence. For students to successfully make the transition, first, they had to be exposed to issues or problems with multiple positions. Second, there needed to be active engagement through learning activities with the problems or issues.

I started working in Hong Kong in 1987. David Watkins arrived at the University of Hong Kong shortly after. At the time there were some very negative perceptions of the way Chinese students approached learning tasks, but little in the way of credible research into the topic. This chapter tries to tell the story of how a better understanding was gained of the body of research which was often referred to as the ‘paradox of the Chinese learner’. Chinese students were perceived as employing learning approaches which had been associated with poor learning outcomes in Western research. Yet international comparison studies showed Chinese students performing very well.

There has been a substantial rise in the number of students enrolling in part-time taught postgraduate awards. This study investigates the reasons or motivation for students to spend significant amounts on tutorial fees and find time alongside work, family and social commitments to take a taught postgraduate award. Data were gathered through interviews with 21 part-time students in taught postgraduate programmes in Hong Kong. Students all held several motives for studying, so the outcome was a framework for explaining multiple interacting motives. Main categories of motivation were related to qualifications, current career, potential future career, interest, perpetual students and professional and social networks. Individual students displayed varying degrees of these motivations and the sub-categories of them. Students were able to specify their needs in terms of advanced specialised study, so enrolment satisfied a need for continuing professional development. The rise in taught postgraduate enrolments, ...

A motivational orientation framework for higher education has previously been derived from interviews with 36 undergraduate students in an elite university system. The framework consists of six interacting facets of motivation represented by continua labelled: compliance, individual goal setting, sense of belonging, interest, career and university lifestyle. The aim of this study was to see whether the framework also applied to entrants to a community and vocational college sector, the emergence of which has boosted participation to mass higher education status. Individual interviews were conducted with 25 students in five colleges in Hong Kong. Analysis identified main themes and referenced these against those of the previous study. The data were consistent with the facets of the original framework. A fuller understanding was reached of the less motivated ends of the continua, as these were more commonly displayed than by the undergraduate sample in the previous study. There was evidence of avoidance goa...

Comparisons of large samples of course and teaching evaluation questionnaire data show consistent disciplinary differences. The current study examined the disciplinary differences in a theoretical model positing the impact of the perceived nature of teaching and learning environment on the development of generic capabilities by testing of (1) whether a common model of good teaching operated across disciplines and (2) the extent of deployment of teaching variables and their impact on learning outcomes. The sample consisted of 3,305 first and third year Chinese undergraduates of a university in Hong Kong, divided into four broad disciplinary groupings. Multiple-group structural equation modelling analysis showed configural invariance of the hypothesised model, suggesting a common model of good teaching across disciplines; and significant differences in the magnitude of structural paths and latent mean values across the four disciplinary groups were obtained reflecting differences between disciplines in the extent to which elements within the teaching and learning environment were brought into play. Possible reasons in terms of the epistemological nature of the disciplines were given to explain for the disciplinary variations.

Governments are aiming to expand the intake to higher education, so it is important to understand what motivates students to enter university and choose a particular programme. The aim of this study was to see whether a motivational orientation framework, developed to explain motivation to study, could also be applied to motivation to enrol in a selected university programme. Data were collected through individual open interviews with 36 undergraduate students at three universities in Hong Kong. Analysis used a grounded theory approach. The motivational orientation framework consists of six continua, labelled: compliance, individual goal setting, university lifestyle, sense of belonging, career and interest. It was possible to interpret data on decisions to go to university and to pick particular programmes with the framework. Students could be allocated to a position on each continuum, which then characterised their initial motivation for study.

Hong Kong has moved from elite to mass post-secondary education in a very short space of time and at little cost to the Government. Most of this spectacular expansion in participation has come through enrolments in 2 year associate degrees in recently founded community colleges, which have self-financing status. The achievement has been clouded by complaints from associate degree graduates that the articulation envisaged by the government is not working; so they are unable to obtain places for undergraduate degrees in UGC-funded universities. The value of an associate degree as a suitable terminal award for employment in a knowledge-based economy is yet to be clearly established. There must be doubts as to whether students will continue to enrol in associate degrees if they provide stepping stones to neither employment nor places in undergraduate degrees in UGC-funded universities. In an attempt to deal with the lack of articulation, some community colleges, in conjunction with overseas universities, have started to offer top-up degrees to enable associate degree graduates to convert the award to a degree. However, the resulting qualifications are seen as inferior to undergraduate degrees from the UGC-funded universities.

There are few available instruments that assess students’ perceptions of university teaching and learning environments and can be used to provide diagnostic feedback, at the degree or program level, on the quality of the environment. This article describes the development, testing and application, for quality assurance purposes, of a suitable instrument. The final version of the questionnaire includes scales seeking students’ feedback on nine facets of the teaching and learning environment. There are also scales seeking students’ perceptions of the influence of the environment on the development of eight generic capabilities. The 17 scales have been shown to be reliable. Validity has been established by the use of faculty panels to select appropriate generic capabilities and by testing, by structural equation modelling, of an underlying model of the nurturing of capabilities by the environment. The questionnaire has proved to be highly diagnostic when used for quality assurance purposes. A case is given showing how the questionnaire identifies strengths and weaknesses, which can lead to action plans for quality improvement.

This article reports findings from a study which interviewed 36 undergraduate students about aspects of the teaching and learning environment which motivated or demotivated their study. It was found that students were motivated by a teaching environment characterized by eight main elements. This article reports in detail on the element of establishing relevance, as this seemed very important to the interviewees. The interviewees found that teaching abstract theory alone was demotivating. Relevance could be established through: showing how theory can be applied in practice, establishing relevance to local cases, relating material to everyday applications, or finding applications in current newsworthy issues. The traditional building block curriculum, which devotes substantial parts of initial courses to basic theory, could demotivate students if they could not see how the theory was applicable to the discipline or profession. The problem could be alleviated by a course which revealed a curriculum map showing the application of basic material in more advanced courses, or by early periods of exposure to professional practice in professional programmes. Professional programmes faced a double-edged sword with respect to relevance in that it could be established by demonstrating that material was relevant to a future career. However, students could easily become demotivated if they could not see the relevance of theoretical material, since they had chosen a professional programme in the expectation that it would prepare them well for their future career.

Many academics see themselves primarily as experts in their discipline and hold content-oriented conceptions of teaching. It can then be difficult to persuade them to adopt forms of teaching incorporating active student engagement, even though there is evidence for the effectiveness of such forms of learning. This article describes a university-wide initiative to promote student-centred forms of teaching and learning. The campaign included: models of good practice from award-winning teachers, compulsory teachers training courses for new junior teachers and teaching assistants, projects funded by teaching development grants, a diagnostic programme-level survey accompanied by counselling over results and programme reviews. Evidence of impact comes from the overall university-level results of the programme survey, which showed marked increases, over a 2 year period, on each of the nine scales used to obtain feedback on the quality of the teaching and learning environment.