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This publication gives an account of University of Southern Queensland (USQ) Library’s services, activities and associated impacts during 2020. Library staff share their stories of achievements and milestones, our challenges, and experiences in contributing to the outcomes of the University’s strategic goals. These narratives also demonstrate the knowledge and information infrastructures by which we enable student achievement and success, and research excellence.

The current work from home scenario due to the COVID-19 pandemic presented an opportune time to examine the epistemic beliefs (EB) of academic language and learning support specialists whose online services have increased in demand. Understanding the EB of these experts may provide insights into ways these may be integrated into professional learning activities to equip a workforce ready to engage with K-20 students having language and learning difficulties. This paper is based on an ongoing qualitative study seeking to illuminate the EB of Learning Support Teachers (LSTs) and Learning Advisors (LAs) given that EB have been reported to bear influence on the actions and roles of pre-service and practising classroom teachers. This presentation focuses on the study's data collection instruments to examine EB as sources of knowledge and domain specific knowledge based on Chinn et al.'s (2011) model of epistemic cognition which expounded on the aims, sources and reliable processes of EB. The paper discusses the survey, interview and self-reflection protocol utilized with LSTs based in the Philippine K-12 system and LAs based in Australian universities. The development of these instruments employed the use of an epistemic structure to inform the data collection to address a gap in EB research where arriving at reliable measures has been a constant challenge and psychometric problems in prior instruments have been found. As such, this paper argues for an alternate set of data gathering instruments which entail self-reporting and reflection on recorded individualized online sessions to analyze the sources of knowledge, epistemic aims, values and virtues of 'third-space' specialists or academic professionals engaged in personalized learning support and dialogic advising.

A growing body of literature critical of ethics review boards has drawn attention to the processes used to determine the ethical merit of research. Citing criticism on the bureaucratic nature of ethics review processes, this literature provides a useful provocation for (re)considering how the ethics review might be enacted. Much of this criticism focuses on how ethics review boards deliberate, with particular attention given to the lack of transparency and opportunities for researcher recourse that characterise ethics review processes. Centered specifically on the conduct of ethics review boards convened within university settings, this paper draws on these inherent criticisms to consider the ways that ethics review boards might enact more communicative and deliberative practices. Outlining a set of principles against which ethics review boards might establish strategies for engaging with researchers and research communities, this paper draws attention to how Deliberative communication, Engagement with researchers and the Distribution of responsibility for the ethics review might be enacted in the day-to-day practice of the university human ethics review board. This paper develops these themes via a conceptual lens derived from Habermas’ (The theory of communicative action. Volume 1: Reason and the rationalization of society, 1984) articulation of ‘communicative action’ and Fraser’s (Social Text, 25(26), 56–80, 1990) consideration of ‘strong publics’ to cast consideration of the role that human ethics review boards might play in supporting university research cultures. Deliberative communication, Engagement with researchers and the Distribution of responsibility provide useful conceptual prompts for considering how ethics review boards might undertake their work.

This publication gives an account of University of Southern Queensland (USQ) Library's services, activities and associated impacts during 2020. Library staff share their stories of achievements and milestones, our challenges, and experiences in contributing to the outcomes of the University?s strategic goals. These narratives also demonstrate the knowledge and information infrastructures by which we enable student achievement and success, and research excellence.

Based on client perception and feedback about Scholarly Information and Learning Services’ (SILS) purpose and effectiveness at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ), a review and realignment of SILS occurred in 2015-2016. As part of this realignment, the position of Learning Advisor Higher Degree by Research (HDR) was created to provide HDR students with dedicated and targeted learning support to better facilitate their needs. As this was a new position operating within a new structure there were no clear indications of HDR student need at USQ or how those needs might best be addressed. In order to provide direction to the newly created role of Learning Advisor HDR this project examined the perceived generic academic skill needs of HDR students across discipline and cohorts at USQ.

There has been an increasing emphasis on the importance of the online environment across many higher education institutions. This means that identifying the language and learning development needs of online students and how they might be best engaged is a necessary step in enhancing student success and extending the teaching and learning opportunities for staff and students. It is also important that the provision of online support to online students is evidence based. This paper reports on the preliminary findings of a mixed-method research project that sought to identify across disciplines the language and learning development needs of online students within the context of a regional university. Previous studies demonstrate that there are many factors affecting student online learning. For example, emotions, such as enjoyment, interest, boredom and frustration are important (Kahu, Stephens, Leach & Zepke, 2015). Feelings of connectedness with instructors and peers (Delahunty, Verenikina & Jones, 2014) and the relationship between peer-to-peer interaction and online student retention (Boyle, Kwon, Ross & Simpson, 2010) are also important factors. Other studies have demonstrated that the opportunity for interaction in learning activities (Kuo, Walker, Schroder & Belland, 2014) and the positive effects of interaction in online courses (Croxton, 2014; Barberà, Layne & Gunawardena, 2014) are significant. These studies have been influential in informing the findings discussed in this paper but their focus is mainly curriculum based rather than co-curricular initiatives. Several co-curricular online resources aimed at developing academic skills have been evaluated and reported on in recent years (Mort, 2012; Nallaya & Kehrwald, 2013). These studies are instructive in communicating good practice in the field and providing an insight into their development. There are several areas, however, that these studies do not address. For example, there is limited investigation of s

The Academic Integrity Working Group (AIWG) was formed to investigate the suitability of Grammarly as a tool to support the academic integrity of student work at USQ. The Working Group comprised of members of the Education Support, Research Support and Student Learning and Development teams within Library Services. The main focus was to evaluate the software’s effectiveness in reducing accidental plagiarism, developing students’ academic writing skills and enhancing students’ competence in information literacy. This was achieved by conducting trials to compare the functionality of different versions of Grammarly and Turnitin software. The findings indicate that Grammarly is not a useful tool for supporting academic integrity. The AIWG recommends that the use of the software should not be further pursued in this context. The software was further found to be limited in its potential as a teaching tool for academic writing.

Scholarly Information and Learning Services (SILS) review and realignment occurred in 2015-2016, based on client perception and feedback about SILS’ purpose and effectiveness. A process for developing a new engagement model was conceived by the leadership team as a key component of implementing the new SILS structure. This process involved a number of consultation and planning workshops, including follow up experiments. These experiments were designed to test particular aspects of the suggested engagement model. A fundamental aspect of the proposed engagement model is the practice of ‘effective handovers’: that clients can contact any part of the organisation and be directed to the relevant section for assistance. Stakeholder feedback at USQ has consistently indicated that accessing appropriate SILS support is challenging. For this reason the effective handover of client enquiries was identified as a potential issue for the SILS engagement model investigation. A mixed methods approach was used based on a literature review, survey data, and a mystery shopper activity. To ensure best practice of client handovers, the following recommendations are provided: SILS to provide staff with a set of guidelines for best practice (see Appendix 2). Staff are encouraged to use handover guidelines as appropriate. As enquiries may differ a universal set of guidelines may not address the full range of scenarios. Staff to continue the positive and effective handover process, where applicable. As effective handovers requires an understanding of the roles of colleagues, staff should develop a knowledge of other departments within SILS. Information provided by other SILS engagement experiments will also inform this process.

Meet-Up is a peer-assisted learning (PAL) program and is one of the suite of co-curricular services offered by Student Learning and Development and Library Services. Meet-Up provides opportunities for students to enhance or develop their academic learning skills and their understanding of discipline concepts through engagement with peers and peer leaders, both in a discipline-based context and in a general study enquiry mode called Meet-Up Student Community (MUSC).

LAPs have been empirically shown to contribute to student success through opportunities for academic development and personal growth. But this success is a shared responsibility between administrators, academics, professional staff, and the students themselves. The Learning Centre builds upon a holistic and integrated service model to improve student outcomes through quality learning support initiatives and strong collaborative networks This support applies to both staff and students Together, we can work to maximise student success at USQ and beyond.

Studies of Chinese modernisation have tended to make use of binary oppositions such as traditional versus modern. Although this paper recognises the relevance of such models, it seeks to take a more nuanced approach. This approach examines notions of identity, within the context of Imperialism and modernisation, which take into account the convergence and integration of traditional and modern Chinese identities during the period 1900 to 1935. Specifically, the paper demonstrates how the revival of traditional Chinese boxing at this time involved the construction and maintenance of both modern and traditional identities that utilised aspects of a traditional China from the past as well as elements derived from new cultural movements influenced by foreign imperialism. Rather than being in binary opposition these emerging identities represented hybrids of both old and new, traditional and modern, foreign and indigenous in an attempt to resist and negotiate with foreign imperial pressures at the time.

Due to advances in military technology and changing social attitudes and conditions, at various points in history a number of traditional Western martial pursuits have fallen out of embodied practice. Many however, have remained in the Western consciousness in the form of myths, legends and historical writings. Since the early 1970s, groups of medieval enthusiasts have sought to revive and reconstruct these lost arts. This paper seeks to examine the ways in which these myths, legends and historical writings have been used in this re-construction and the significance this has had for practitioners, especially in terms of the construction of identities in response to their modern needs.

In the past, numerous traditional Western martial pursuits practised in military and civilian conflicts and as sports have fallen into disuse. This presentation seeks to examine some of the findings of a study into the history of the modern Australian revival and reconstruction of some of these dormant arts during the period 1969 - 2012 and the significance this movement has had for practitioners, especially in terms of their identity. Specifically, the paper will discuss how the revival of old pursuits and the development of new sports relate to participants’ masculinity and concepts of heritage.