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BACKGROUND/CONTEXT

Traditionally, decisions about assessment processes in higher education have been the domain of the lecturer or the course designer. However, university educators have been challenged to partner with students in the early stages of assessment design (Boud & Molloy, 2013). By engaging students in a collaborative process with their university teachers to prepare and create assessment guidelines and rubrics, there is a greater potential for students to take ownership of and be accountable for their own learning.

THE INITIATIVE/PRACTICE

The aim of the research project was to investigate the innovative and collaborative use of assessment rubrics, in partnership between students and academic staff, in order to develop a model of collaborative rubric practice for application in higher education contexts which includes guidelines on rubric co-construction processes that engage both students and teachers.

The project was conducted across six cohorts of undergraduate students in three higher education institutions and their teachers from five different disciplines and degree levels. The varied contexts provided a range of settings, each of which represented multiple cases to explore across multiple sites.

METHOD(S) OF EVALUATIVE DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

The project approach adopted a four-phase, mixed-method design across a two-year period, which included a systematic literature review, use of the Delphi technique and multi-site case studies. Students and teachers provided feedback about rubric co-construction processes via questionnaires, interviews and focus groups.

ISSUES REGARDING RUBRIC CO-CONSTRUCTION

The teaching-learning partnership established by the rubric co-construction initiative may present some challenges and changes to traditional assessment processes, especially in relation to issues such as pre-semester planning of course documentation, sharing the responsibility of assessment design between teachers and students and negotiating with groups of students about assessment and rubric design. Because rubric co-construction does represent a change in the way assessment rubrics are typically designed, the practical ramifications of this collaborative example of curriculum design may introduce institutional challenges that need consideration. However, the initiative also presents opportunities for developing a shared understanding by teachers and students about the purpose of assessment and the quality of learning in higher education.

INTENDED OUTCOME

By the end of this Showcase presentation, the participants will be familiar with a set of research-informed recommendations to engage students and academic staff in the collaborative process of designing and using assessment rubrics to promote learning. Participants will also be provided with details of how to access the project’s website, Owning the rubric, which includes the Model of Collaborative Rubric Construction and Use.

OVERVIEW OF WORKSHOP

During this workshop, the characteristics of effective rubrics will be shared with participants, based on an extensive literature review and consultation with a panel of assessment experts. These characteristics will then be used as the basis to critically analyse a collection of assessment rubrics from varied higher education disciplinary contexts. Based on experiences of lecturers and students who participated in the project, protocols will be presented for how to engage students in the process of co-constructing assessment rubrics with their lecturers. Lastly, a model for collaborative rubric co-construction will be shared with workshop participants who will then be encouraged to reflect on how the model, or aspects of it, could be applied to their own contexts.

TARGET AUDIENCE

This workshop has been designed for university educators including lecturers, tutors and education designers who are engaged in the processes of course design, assessment design and rubric construction. The workshop activities and resources are not discipline-specific.

INTENDED OUTCOMES FOR PARTICIPANTS

By the end of the workshop, it is anticipated that participants will be able to:

• identify effective rubric characteristics from literature and assessment experts;
• critically analyse rubric examples using effective rubric characteristics;
• describe methods used to facilitate teacher-student co-construction of assessment rubrics; and
• based on an analysis of a model of rubric co-construction, reflect on how some aspects of this model could be applied to your teaching context.

WORKSHOP PLAN:

Activities and discussion:

• Introduction to the workshop. Overview of activities and intended outcomes (whole group).
• Effective rubric characteristics. Brainstorm and share effective rubric characteristics (in pairs/ whole group)
• Sample rubrics. Participants evaluate rubrics (in pairs, mixture of disciplines). Consideration of evaluation findings in relation to courses and assessment tasks that do and do not require rubrics (whole group).
• Co-construction protocols. Facilitators share rubric co-construction protocols (whole group). Discuss limitations and opportunities for co-construction, and how to overcome challenges in online and on-campus courses.
• Model of collaborative rubric construction and use. Presentation of model with considerations of application in practical contexts.
• Guided reflection. Reflection on own practice and goal setting (individual, partner from same discipline).

Questions to trigger discussion:

• What are the qualities of an effective rubric?
• What value is there in engaging students in assessment design and rubric construction?
• What institutional barriers exist when implementing rubric co-construction processes?
• How can these institutional barriers be overcome?
• How does the co-construction of rubrics impact on student learning and/or students’ learning intentions?

Time: 2.5 hours + 30 minute break

This research is a case study based on the “lived experience” of two not-for-profit organisations wanting to create synergies and efficiencies in back office operations and to increase the offerings of services to existing clients by joining together as one business unit. This research has followed the different stages of the proposed merger or acquisition from the initial signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), to the strategic planning for the new entity including the potential organisational structure, board structure and executive team recruitment. The negotiations have varied from the rejection of a takeover, to the proposal of a merger, to the eventual decision for the larger organisation to “acquire” the smaller organisation. These decisions were deliberated at great length by both organisations, but the clear driver in all negotiations was TRUST. Trust that at all times the outcomes should benefit clients, trust that the new Board would be represented in equal parts by both of the organisations and trust that the new senior executive team of the single entity would utilise the efficiencies gained to sustain the organisation. But this trust also became an inhibitor at times, where trust was used as an excuse to not carry out all due diligence governance processes (DDGP). This lived experience has shown that Trust is indeed an important factor in any proposed merger or acquisition but will never replace DDGP. In fact DDGP enhanced trust, and enabled for more transparent decisions to be reached by both parties at the negotiation table. The not-for-profit sector can learn a great deal from this case study that shows the benefits of societal needs of their clients in aged care, disability and transport by a merger or acquisition. It should be used by other not-for-profit organisations to put into practice strategic merger and acquisition processes to create an organisation that is run efficiently and for the benefit of their clients, with a combination of trust and DDGP.

BACKGROUND/CONTEXT

Like academics in most other disciplines, accounting academics work in a context that is constantly changing with multiple challenges. Some aspects of their lived experience have been reported elsewhere (e.g., Cappelletto, 2010; Guthrie, Evans, & Burritt, 2014; Pop-Vasileva, Baird, & Blair, 2014) but the study reported in this Showcase aimed to gain an understanding of the accounting academic’s lived experience as a whole, using the lens of role theory.

THE INITIATIVE/PRACTICE

Through a consideration of accounting academics’ lived experiences as well as the expectations placed upon them by students and university administrators, role theory (Bess & Dee, 2007; Schulz, 2013) was used as the theoretical framework of this study which guided the examination of how role strain from role conflict and role ambiguity may arise from the accounting academics’ perceptions of the requirements of their role.

METHOD(S) OF EVALUATIVE DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Using a phenomenological methodological design to investigate the lived experiences of accounting academics, a multi-methods approach was used that primarily used qualitative methods. Interviews and questionnaires were administered to eight Australian University Accounting Academics from five universities in Australia.

THE ISSUE

This paper reports on the particular phenomenon of role strain that was identified in the project’s findings which affected the accounting academics, specifically in terms of role conflict and role ambiguity.

INTENDED OUTCOME

The findings of this study have given a voice to accounting academics and suggest recommendations for how they can adapt to the ever-changing environment of the Australian university system while also finding value and enjoyment in their role. Academic staff from other disciplines may also find these recommendations relevant to their context. The TRAC (Teaching, Research, Workload, Curricula) framework of expectations was developed to document the various expectations that impact on the role of the accounting academic.

This study specifically targets research done in the area of the Accounting Academic. A search of the literature has shown that there are many challenges faced by Accounting Academics in this environment of change. These challenges have been narrowed down into the top four most discussed themes of teaching, research, workload and curricula design. The University Accounting Academic environment is not unlike an ecosystem of interacting organisms or stakeholders which impacts in a variety of ways. These create pressure points that Accounting Academics experience and which they value, are challenged by, or affects their outlook. Accounting Academics are frequently not fully informed about these changes, and may not fully understand them and, as a consequence of not having the power to hold back these changes, Accounting Academics have little option other than to adapt. These changes challenge the traditional perception of a university accounting academic, which can cause role conflict. The traditional accounting academic role then may not align with the expectations of the role held by other parties such as university administrators, accrediting bodies or students. A review of the literature suggests that Accounting Academics are under much pressure from stakeholders to produce quality research, teach larger classes with up to date curriculum all the while trying to balance workload. The challenge ahead is how Universities will manage these workloads of Accounting Academics in the University of the future.

Introduction: There is a need for efficacious lifestyle interventions that promote the mental health and emotional wellness of both healthy and clinical cohorts. Evidence regarding the usefulness of adding human support (i.e. guidance) to improve the outcomes of web- and mobile app-based psychological interventions for clinical populations is mixed,^1-3 however little is known about healthy cohorts.

Methods: 458 self-selected participants registered to join a 10-week, web- and mobile app-based, multimodal lifestyle intervention. The participants were randomised into three groups, differentiated by support mode: standard, who received automated emails only (S); standard plus personalised SMS messages (S+pSMS); standard plus online group discussions (S+OGD). At pre- and post-intervention, the participants completed the following measures: the ‘mental health’ and ‘vitality’ sub-scales from the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36); Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS-21); Satisfaction With Life scale; and Flourishing scale.

Results: 320 participants (S, n=103; S+pSMS, n=114; S+OGD, n=103) completed the study. Significant within-group changes were recorded from pre- to post-intervention in all groups for every outcome measure (PP=0.77), vitality (P=0.65), depression (P=0.93), anxiety (P=0.25), stress (P=0.57), satisfaction with life (P=0.65) or flourishing (P=0.99). Attendance at the weekly online group discussions was poor, but those who attended seven or more of the ten sessions experienced significantly better outcomes than those who attended less than seven.

Conclusions: The web- and mobile app-based, lifestyle-focused, mental health intervention enhanced measures of mental and emotional wellbeing among a healthy cohort, irrespective of the mode of human support. Supplementing a psychological intervention with an online group discussion might improve outcomes, when attendance is optimised.

1. Purpose. This paper sets out to further evaluate the ability of university level students to write and to suggest some strategies to address this area.
2. Design/methodology/approach. An online questionnaire was circulated to 808 accounting academics in Australian universities of which 162 useable responses were received. These responses were followed up with semi-structured interviews of a smaller group of eight academics from five different universities to further explore key issues raised in the questionnaire.
3. Findings. Accounting academics believe that students are not prepared to study accounting at university level with deficiencies in several areas, where writing and communication is one such shortfall.
4. Implications. The research brings to the fore the poor writing ability of university accounting students and lays stress on the need to train and more clearly guide the development of these business related skills. Training may require curriculum adjustment to accommodate additional courses of study.
5. Originality. There is a paucity of material related to the writing skills of accounting and business students and this paper attempts to assist in bridging this gap.
6. Limitations. The study needs to be replicated in other settings.

This paper argues that firstly, there is a need to understand that Christian, including Adventist, mission must include ministering to the social needs of humanity as an activity in its own right. Secondly there is a need to ensure that our humanitarian, or development activity, does indeed have a mission.

This paper will evaluate current Adventist mission practice, with a special focus on both Avondale and the South Pacific. It will describe the most notable strengths and gaps of Adventist mission, the world in which the Church operates, and explore opportunities, strategies, and the role of Avondale to understand the basis for Avondale's greater vision.

Introduction: Mental health is in global jeopardy and devising effective preventative and curative solutions are vital. Lifestyle interventions have been shown to be efficacious for improving mental health; however, in a progressively digital culture, face-to-face (F2F) interventions are being replaced by online and mobile options.¹ While online delivery can overcome ‘hurdles’ of inaccessibility and may also be more ‘scalable’, it poses unique challenges, as decreasing levels of human support can affect adherence to lifestyle interventions and associated outcomes.^2,3,4 Research is needed to better understand the importance of human support in online interventions and the type and dosage of human support required to optimise adherence and outcomes.⁵

Aim: To determine the influence of graded levels of human support on the adherence to and outcomes of an online, multimodal lifestyle intervention targeting mental health.

Methods: The online intervention will be administered to a total of 360 participants who will be randomised into three equal groups: standard (S) which includes automated emails and helpdesk support; standard plus personalised SMS support (S+pSMS); and, standard plus a weekly online group discussion via videoconferencing (S+OGD). Measures of mental health, including the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS-21), the ‘mental health’ and ‘vitality’ sub-scales from the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) and the ‘Flourishing’ scale, will be taken at baseline, ten weeks and twenty weeks. Outcome measures will be compared across each ‘arm’ and stratified analysis will be utilised to explore the influence of demographic variables. Adherence will be explored through mixed methods.

Outcomes: The proposed study will provide a better understanding of the influence of human support on the adherence to, and outcomes of, online lifestyle interventions, which will inform best practice for the design of online interventions