Student Led Learning National
Symposium
Teaching for Transitions: A review of
teaching for transitions related teaching
and learning activity and research
11th June 2015
Dr. Bettie Higgs, UCC
Project aims
1: Provide a snapshot of existing national and international
scholarship on ‘Teaching for Transitions’.
Work plan
• 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
Review of Teaching for Transitions
First year experience
Diversity & widening
participation
Pedagogies for transitions Disciplinary practice
Academic writing
(especially STEM)
Supporting staff transitions
Digital campus
Transitions into HE
Learning online
Learning to learn
Transition out of HE
(workplace/ abroad)
Review of Teaching for Transitions
Transition out of HE
(workplace/ abroad)
Academic writing
Diversity & widening
participation
Pedagogies for transitions Disciplinary practice
Supporting staff transitions
Transitions into HE
Learning to learn
First year experience
(especially STEM)
Digital campus
Learning online
Focus of Project
Scholarship of TEACHING FOR TRANSITIONS
“How can this knowledge base be utilised effectively across the
sector to enhance learner transitions in Irish Higher Education?”
Scholarship of T4T
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)
Conceptual
Frameworks
Transitions
In
Transitions
Through
Transitions
Out
Systematic review
• Selection of databases on EBSCO platform
Step 1 • Development of search string
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Systematic review
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
• Selection
of databases
Example
of Search
String on EBSCO platform
S3
TI ( transition or
• Development
of"transitional
search stringprogram*" or tranformation* or
adjustment or adaptation ) OR AB ( transition or "transitional
program*" or tranformation* or adjustment or adaptation )
AND
S2 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
• Selection of databases on EBSCO platform
Step 1 • Development of search string
• Exclusion criteria applied to returned papers
Step 2 • Export to reference manager (remove duplicates)
Step 3
Step 4
Systematic review
Step 1
• Exclusion
criteria for returned papers
Exclusion
criteria
Step 2  Peer-reviewed articles
 Papers written or translated in English
 Papers available in full text
Step 3  Papers published between 2000 and 2015
Step 4
Systematic review
• Selection of databases on EBSCO platform
Step 1 • Development of search string
• Exclusion criteria for returned papers
Step 2 • Export to reference manager (remove duplicates)
• Preliminary read of returned papers
Step 3 • Annotation of the bibliography
Step 4
Systematic review
• Selection of databases on EBSCO platform
Step 1 • Development of search string
• Exclusion criteria for returned papers
Step 2 • Export to reference manager (remove duplicates)
 Country
 Discipline
Step 3  Pedagogy
 Keywords
 Check category
Step 4
Systematic review
• Selection of databases on EBSCO platform
Step 1 • Development of search string
• Exclusion criteria for returned papers
Step 2 • Export to reference manager (remove duplicates)
• Preliminary read of returned papers
Step 3 • Annotation of the bibliography
• Export to data visualisation platform (Viewshare)
Step 4 • Analysis of bibliography using selected fields
Data visualisation: ViewShare
Snapshot in time generated from the main database
Keyword search
What % retrievals per category?
Teacher 2%
out 18%
in 47%
through
33%
What % retrievals per country?
Hong
Kong
2%
Sweden Ireland
1%
1%
China
2% Isreal
New Zealand
2%
2%
The Netherlands
2% Canada
Spain 3%
Belgium Denmark
Germany Slovenia
1%
1%
1%
1%
UK
35%
3%
Australia
10%
USA
32%
Key authors missing from Irish retrievals
What % retrievals per pedagogy?
research-led teaching role
apprenticeship
vocational
model role play
refective practice
2% competancy- guidence1%
1%
1%
3%
2%
based
2%
interdisciplinary
3%
social networking
3%
COPs 3%
active-learning
3%
fieldwork
4%
e-learning
19%
workplacement
15%
Problem-based
learning 5%
Capstone
courses 5%
Peer-learning
6%
curriculum
design 7%
Collaborative
learning 8%
Mentoring
14%
Key pedagogies of transition
fieldwork 4%
active-learning
4%
Problem-based
learning 5%
e-learning
22%
Capstone
courses 6%
Peer-learning
7%
curriculum
design
8%
workplacement
18%
Collaborative
learning
9%
Mentoring
17%
Findings from systematic review
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%)
Addition of Irish ‘Key authors’
Isreal
2%
Sweden
1%
Belgium
Germany
Slovenia
1% Denmark 1%
1%
1%
China
Hong Kong
2%
2%
New Zealand
2%
The Netherlands
2%
Canada
3%
Spain
3%
UK
33%
Ireland
6%
Australia
10%
USA
30%
Pedagogies of transition: Ireland
blended learning
work-based learning
reflective practice
group work
peer-learning
fieldwork
service learning
UG research
PBL
Simulations
International
Issues-orientated
Focus groups
Purpose: To enrich our understanding of the impact of
scholarship on practice in Ireland.
What will be the drivers of change?
Focus group insights
• 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
How to increase impact of scholarship?
• 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
Next steps?
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’
Questions?
Dr Bettie Higgs
Centre for the integration of Research, Teaching and Learning
University College Cork
b.higgs@ucc.ie