Sally Kift - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Sally Kift
This Handbook has been specifically designed for academic and professional staff responsible for ... more This Handbook has been specifically designed for academic and professional staff responsible for managing first year students and curriculum and co-curricular programs. As well as presenting examples of good practice, the handbook provides a brief overview of QUT's First Year Experience Program, a summary of QUT's First Year Experience Policy and the transition pedagogy that frames both curricular and co-curricular activities. Aims The aims of this resource are to: Promote good practice in curriculum design and support to scaffold and mediate the first year experience. Provide access to the range of resources and checklists developed to support a Transition Pedagogy and the First Year Curriculum Principles (FYCPs). Describe QUT's institution-wide FYE Program to exemplify policy and practice in action. The Handbook is intended to be a practical companion for practitioners working with first year students and for academic and professional managers responsible for ensuring the success and retention of commencing students. Development of the resources and checklists contained in the Handbook has been informed by current first year research, QUT policies, protocols and the significant feedback from, and foundational work undertaken by QUT's first year course and unit coordinators. Full copies of the resources can be found on the Program's dedicated wiki-FYE Wiki.
Sydney VSLE Virtual situated learning environments WEI Work experience in industry WIL Work-integ... more Sydney VSLE Virtual situated learning environments WEI Work experience in industry WIL Work-integrated learning Curriculum renewal in legal education 6 Glossary Experiential learning refers to "the process whereby people engage in direct encounter, then purposefully reflect upon, validate, transform, give personal meaning to and seek to integrate their different ways of knowing. Experiential learning therefore enables the discovery of possibilities that may not be evident from direct experience alone" (Weil and McGill 1989, 248). Internship is defined as "any carefully monitored work or service experience in which a student has intentional learning goals and reflects actively on what is being learned throughout the experience" (Abeysekera 2006, 10). 'Magnet' capstone experiences refers "to capstone experiences that are discipline-specific and that, like a magnet attracting precious metal, pull together the richness of content from the discipline in a summative manner" (Rowles, Koch, Hundley and Hamilton 2004, 13). 'Mandate' capstone experiences refer "to capstone experiences that are organized around meeting the needs of an external constituency, typically when licensure, certification, or other circumstances require that competences be mastered and demonstrated in a summative manner" (Rowles et al 2004, 14). 'Mountaintop' capstone experiences refer to capstone experiences that are interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary in nature (Rowles et al 2004, 13). Practical legal training in Australia refers to "training in the knowledge, skills, and professional attitudes necessary for the performance of legal work. The PLT requirement is additional to the academic requirement for admission" to practise as an Australian lawyer (Butt 2004, 335). The PLT Competency Standards for Entry-level lawyers are available on the LACC website at http://www.lawcouncil.asn.au/lacc/documents/admission_policies.cfm. Problem-based learning refers to a "method of learning in which the learners first encounter a problem, followed by a systematic, student centred enquiry process" (Webb, Mennin and Schwartz 2001, i). This form of learning requires "students [to] assemble and organize the facts of the case and decide how to handle it, through a process of free inquiry, reasoning, and decision-making. Students generally direct their own learning, guided by teachers, the selection and design of the problems, and the program objectives. The problems, not a set syllabus, provide the stimulus and the framework for learning. Knowledge is acquired through self-directed study and small group discussions, rather than through lectures. Problem solving skills are developed, as are communication skills" (Kurtz, Wylie and Gold 1990, 799). Project-based learning refers to a learning practice where tasks are designed to reflect actual practice. It differs from problem-based learning as the emphasis is placed on the development of an end product, rather than the problem solving process. It is common in this approach for actual companies or employers to put forward project ideas, and for representatives from the client organisations to assess the project outcomes in partnership with the university (Bove and Davies 2009). Team-based approaches are typical, and there is often complex interaction with actual workplaces. These are sometimes referred to as 'living cases' in undergraduate law (Kerka 2001, 4).
This protocol represents an attempt to assist in the instruction of teamwork assessment for first... more This protocol represents an attempt to assist in the instruction of teamwork assessment for first-year students across QUT. We anticipate that teaching staff will view this protocol as a generic resource in teamwork instruction, processes and evaluation. Teamwork has been acknowledged as a problematic practice at QUT while existing predominantly in importance amongst graduate capabilities for all students at this institution. This protocol is not an extensive document on the complexities and dynamics of teamwork processes, but instead presents itself as a set of best practice guidelines and recommendations to assist in team design, development, management, support and assessment. It is recommended that this protocol be progressively implemented across QUT, not only to attain teamwork teaching consistency, but to address and deal with the misconceptions and conflict around the importance of the teamwork experience. The authors acknowledge the extensive input and contributions from a ...
fyhe.com.au
... Liz Smith, Sally Kift, Karen Nelson, Judy Nagy and Marcia Devlin Charles Sturt University, QU... more ... Liz Smith, Sally Kift, Karen Nelson, Judy Nagy and Marcia Devlin Charles Sturt University, QUT, Deakin University ... The federal government's response to the 2008 Bradley Review of higher education (Bradley, Noonan, Nugent, & Scales, 2008) sets a clear target for increasing ...
The Australian Government has announced the creation of a new quality and regulatory agency based... more The Australian Government has announced the creation of a new quality and regulatory agency based on recommendations stemming from the Bradley Review of Higher Education. The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) will be established in 2011 and build on work previously undertaken by the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA), but will operate with an extended brief. Of particular interest to ALTA members is that TEQSA is to be charged with evaluating the performance of institutions and their programs of study (such as the LLB) against a range of standards criteria. These criteria will include those set out in the revised Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF), which are to be aligned with the academic standards that discipline communities nationally agree represent the core ‗threshold learning outcomes‘ for their graduates.
Australian Government Department of Education and Training, 2019
This paper argues that using a blended approach to learning design can deliver best practice in o... more This paper argues that using a blended approach to learning design can deliver best practice in online and face-to-face methods. The paper considers how a blended model can also provide a way of reconciling the needs and interests of students and academics in the fast-paced environment of contemporary tertiary education. A particular focus of the paper is on considering how a blended approach to learning design can achieve effective and efficient learning outcomes for students, whilst also providing efficiencies to academics that respond to workload imperatives.
Legal Education Review, 2015
Indigenous peoples in Australia are notably disadvantaged in the higher education context. The te... more Indigenous peoples in Australia are notably disadvantaged in the higher education context. The tertiary education sector must act constructively to increase participation rates and promote successful outcomes for Indigenous students. The Indigenisation of curriculum is a key means by which culturally competent and socially just education programs may be developed. In the legal education context, the incorporation of Indigenous-related content opens an avenue of critique of the Australian legal system and its differential impacts on Australia’s First Peoples. In this article, we review literature relating to the Indigenisation of curricula in four areas; Indigenous issues, Indigenous perspectives, Indigenous law and Indigenous law students. Following this review, we present the findings of our exploratory study, which investigated the extent to which Indigenous-related content and perspectives are incorporated into the XXXX curriculum. We represent the Indigenisation of the curriculu...
This protocol represents an attempt to assist in the instruction of teamwork assessment for first... more This protocol represents an attempt to assist in the instruction of teamwork assessment for first-year students across QUT. We anticipate that teaching staff will view this protocol as a generic resource in teamwork instruction, processes and evaluation. Teamwork has been acknowledged as a problematic practice at QUT while existing predominantly in importance amongst graduate capabilities for all students at this institution. This protocol is not an extensive document on the complexities and dynamics of teamwork processes, but instead presents itself as a set of best practice guidelines and recommendations to assist in team design, development, management, support and assessment. It is recommended that this protocol be progressively implemented across QUT, not only to attain teamwork teaching consistency, but to address and deal with the misconceptions and conflict around the importance of the teamwork experience. The authors acknowledge the extensive input and contributions from a ...
Intentional first year curriculum design as a means of facilitating student engagement: some exem... more Intentional first year curriculum design as a means of facilitating student engagement: some exemplars
Cyber bullying, as a misuse of technology to harass, intimidate, tease, threaten, abuse or otherw... more Cyber bullying, as a misuse of technology to harass, intimidate, tease, threaten, abuse or otherwise terrorise will be discussed in terms of its criminal legal ramifications in Australia for young people. In extreme instances, cyber bullying can constitute criminal conduct on the part of the perpetrator, especially when the behaviour is seriously threatening, harassing or intimidating. Whilst criminal sanctions might seem an extreme response, it is not inappropriate for all stakeholders – young persons, parents, schools, education authorities and psychologists – to be aware of the potential for criminal liability, especially when the consequences of the cyber bullying conduct are serious for the target and/or where there is simply no other basis on which the conduct might be impeached, occurring as it frequently does beyond temporal and physical school boundaries. This paper considers prevention and intervention strategies for cyber bullying from a criminal legal point of view. Cybe...
A blueprint for enhanced transition: Nelson, Kift, Humphreys & Harper – Reviewed Paper 1 a bluepr... more A blueprint for enhanced transition: Nelson, Kift, Humphreys & Harper – Reviewed Paper 1 a blueprint for enhanced transition: taking an holistic approach to managing student transition into a large university.
Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability, 2021
This Special Issue, devoted to micro-credentials and qualifications for future work and learning ... more This Special Issue, devoted to micro-credentials and qualifications for future work and learning in a disrupted world, is a welcome and critically timed contribution to educational theorising and practice internationally. COVID-19 has accelerated Industry 4.0’s pervasive labour market disruption. Digitisation’s efficiencies have been rapidly embraced and broadly up-scaled as a matter of necessity. Many industries and professions have fast tracked digitalisation to transform pre-pandemic business models for current and future sustainability. We have seen all education sectors – Kindergarten to Year 12 (K-12), vocational education and training/ further education (VET/FE) and higher education (HE) – digitise and digitalise to varying degrees in their rapid move to emergency remote teaching (Hodges et al., 2020). Robust evaluation will be needed to assess the efficacy of that pedagogical triaging – our well-intentioned ‘panic-gogy’ (Kamenetz, 2020) – to inform the quality and fitness-fo...
Contemporary heterogeneous cohorts enter higher education with increasingly diverse backgrounds, ... more Contemporary heterogeneous cohorts enter higher education with increasingly diverse backgrounds, experiences, knowledge and skills. Institutions that are serious about the education and retention of commencing students are always looking for effective interventions to deploy in aid of early student learning, engagement, motivation, and success. In this context, the potential for ePortfolio to be utilised as a transition strategy that is inclusive of such entering diversity presents in a variety of exciting ways which this presentation will discuss. These include: harnessing ePortfolio for entering self-assessment of knowledge, skills and attitudes; enabling reflection on personal traits and dispositions; embedding career modules and discipline reflections to mediate endemic course and career uncertainty; and harnessing early motivation and enthusiasm by making connections explicit between subject learning and the attainment of desirable employability skills (the latter as a subset o...
Engaging new students in tertiary study, amidst the storm of their adjustment to university life,... more Engaging new students in tertiary study, amidst the storm of their adjustment to university life, should harness conventional physical as well as new virtual spaces to ensure (as urged by McInnis 2003, p.9) learning opportunities are maximised inside and outside of the classroom. When ubiquitous information, merged technologies, blurred social-study-work boundaries, multitasking and hyperlinked online interactions epitomise generational routines (Oblinger & Oblinger, 2005); positive, rewarding interactions through virtual space "portals" may establish the mode and intensity of on- and off-campus student experience. Conventional modes of curriculum delivery and learning support that hinge on presentation of material according to (for example) scheduled topic sessions, contact times and administrative office hours, do not necessarily fully accommodate these new social realities (James, 2002, p.81), contemporary learning practices or transition-informed curriculum design (Kif...
Imperatives for Legal Education Research, 2019
This paper articulates preliminary findings of participatory action research (Bradbury and Reason... more This paper articulates preliminary findings of participatory action research (Bradbury and Reason 2008; Kemmis and McTaggart 2005) that is exploring how design thinking approaches (Brown and Wyatt, 2010) are informing the practices of curriculum transformation. The participatory action research methodology is supporting a collaborative systematic approach to this inquiry, which aims to simultaneously develop understandings about curriculum design practice and implement improvements to practice.
This Handbook has been specifically designed for academic and professional staff responsible for ... more This Handbook has been specifically designed for academic and professional staff responsible for managing first year students and curriculum and co-curricular programs. As well as presenting examples of good practice, the handbook provides a brief overview of QUT's First Year Experience Program, a summary of QUT's First Year Experience Policy and the transition pedagogy that frames both curricular and co-curricular activities. Aims The aims of this resource are to: Promote good practice in curriculum design and support to scaffold and mediate the first year experience. Provide access to the range of resources and checklists developed to support a Transition Pedagogy and the First Year Curriculum Principles (FYCPs). Describe QUT's institution-wide FYE Program to exemplify policy and practice in action. The Handbook is intended to be a practical companion for practitioners working with first year students and for academic and professional managers responsible for ensuring the success and retention of commencing students. Development of the resources and checklists contained in the Handbook has been informed by current first year research, QUT policies, protocols and the significant feedback from, and foundational work undertaken by QUT's first year course and unit coordinators. Full copies of the resources can be found on the Program's dedicated wiki-FYE Wiki.
Sydney VSLE Virtual situated learning environments WEI Work experience in industry WIL Work-integ... more Sydney VSLE Virtual situated learning environments WEI Work experience in industry WIL Work-integrated learning Curriculum renewal in legal education 6 Glossary Experiential learning refers to "the process whereby people engage in direct encounter, then purposefully reflect upon, validate, transform, give personal meaning to and seek to integrate their different ways of knowing. Experiential learning therefore enables the discovery of possibilities that may not be evident from direct experience alone" (Weil and McGill 1989, 248). Internship is defined as "any carefully monitored work or service experience in which a student has intentional learning goals and reflects actively on what is being learned throughout the experience" (Abeysekera 2006, 10). 'Magnet' capstone experiences refers "to capstone experiences that are discipline-specific and that, like a magnet attracting precious metal, pull together the richness of content from the discipline in a summative manner" (Rowles, Koch, Hundley and Hamilton 2004, 13). 'Mandate' capstone experiences refer "to capstone experiences that are organized around meeting the needs of an external constituency, typically when licensure, certification, or other circumstances require that competences be mastered and demonstrated in a summative manner" (Rowles et al 2004, 14). 'Mountaintop' capstone experiences refer to capstone experiences that are interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary in nature (Rowles et al 2004, 13). Practical legal training in Australia refers to "training in the knowledge, skills, and professional attitudes necessary for the performance of legal work. The PLT requirement is additional to the academic requirement for admission" to practise as an Australian lawyer (Butt 2004, 335). The PLT Competency Standards for Entry-level lawyers are available on the LACC website at http://www.lawcouncil.asn.au/lacc/documents/admission_policies.cfm. Problem-based learning refers to a "method of learning in which the learners first encounter a problem, followed by a systematic, student centred enquiry process" (Webb, Mennin and Schwartz 2001, i). This form of learning requires "students [to] assemble and organize the facts of the case and decide how to handle it, through a process of free inquiry, reasoning, and decision-making. Students generally direct their own learning, guided by teachers, the selection and design of the problems, and the program objectives. The problems, not a set syllabus, provide the stimulus and the framework for learning. Knowledge is acquired through self-directed study and small group discussions, rather than through lectures. Problem solving skills are developed, as are communication skills" (Kurtz, Wylie and Gold 1990, 799). Project-based learning refers to a learning practice where tasks are designed to reflect actual practice. It differs from problem-based learning as the emphasis is placed on the development of an end product, rather than the problem solving process. It is common in this approach for actual companies or employers to put forward project ideas, and for representatives from the client organisations to assess the project outcomes in partnership with the university (Bove and Davies 2009). Team-based approaches are typical, and there is often complex interaction with actual workplaces. These are sometimes referred to as 'living cases' in undergraduate law (Kerka 2001, 4).
This protocol represents an attempt to assist in the instruction of teamwork assessment for first... more This protocol represents an attempt to assist in the instruction of teamwork assessment for first-year students across QUT. We anticipate that teaching staff will view this protocol as a generic resource in teamwork instruction, processes and evaluation. Teamwork has been acknowledged as a problematic practice at QUT while existing predominantly in importance amongst graduate capabilities for all students at this institution. This protocol is not an extensive document on the complexities and dynamics of teamwork processes, but instead presents itself as a set of best practice guidelines and recommendations to assist in team design, development, management, support and assessment. It is recommended that this protocol be progressively implemented across QUT, not only to attain teamwork teaching consistency, but to address and deal with the misconceptions and conflict around the importance of the teamwork experience. The authors acknowledge the extensive input and contributions from a ...
fyhe.com.au
... Liz Smith, Sally Kift, Karen Nelson, Judy Nagy and Marcia Devlin Charles Sturt University, QU... more ... Liz Smith, Sally Kift, Karen Nelson, Judy Nagy and Marcia Devlin Charles Sturt University, QUT, Deakin University ... The federal government's response to the 2008 Bradley Review of higher education (Bradley, Noonan, Nugent, & Scales, 2008) sets a clear target for increasing ...
The Australian Government has announced the creation of a new quality and regulatory agency based... more The Australian Government has announced the creation of a new quality and regulatory agency based on recommendations stemming from the Bradley Review of Higher Education. The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) will be established in 2011 and build on work previously undertaken by the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA), but will operate with an extended brief. Of particular interest to ALTA members is that TEQSA is to be charged with evaluating the performance of institutions and their programs of study (such as the LLB) against a range of standards criteria. These criteria will include those set out in the revised Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF), which are to be aligned with the academic standards that discipline communities nationally agree represent the core ‗threshold learning outcomes‘ for their graduates.
Australian Government Department of Education and Training, 2019
This paper argues that using a blended approach to learning design can deliver best practice in o... more This paper argues that using a blended approach to learning design can deliver best practice in online and face-to-face methods. The paper considers how a blended model can also provide a way of reconciling the needs and interests of students and academics in the fast-paced environment of contemporary tertiary education. A particular focus of the paper is on considering how a blended approach to learning design can achieve effective and efficient learning outcomes for students, whilst also providing efficiencies to academics that respond to workload imperatives.
Legal Education Review, 2015
Indigenous peoples in Australia are notably disadvantaged in the higher education context. The te... more Indigenous peoples in Australia are notably disadvantaged in the higher education context. The tertiary education sector must act constructively to increase participation rates and promote successful outcomes for Indigenous students. The Indigenisation of curriculum is a key means by which culturally competent and socially just education programs may be developed. In the legal education context, the incorporation of Indigenous-related content opens an avenue of critique of the Australian legal system and its differential impacts on Australia’s First Peoples. In this article, we review literature relating to the Indigenisation of curricula in four areas; Indigenous issues, Indigenous perspectives, Indigenous law and Indigenous law students. Following this review, we present the findings of our exploratory study, which investigated the extent to which Indigenous-related content and perspectives are incorporated into the XXXX curriculum. We represent the Indigenisation of the curriculu...
This protocol represents an attempt to assist in the instruction of teamwork assessment for first... more This protocol represents an attempt to assist in the instruction of teamwork assessment for first-year students across QUT. We anticipate that teaching staff will view this protocol as a generic resource in teamwork instruction, processes and evaluation. Teamwork has been acknowledged as a problematic practice at QUT while existing predominantly in importance amongst graduate capabilities for all students at this institution. This protocol is not an extensive document on the complexities and dynamics of teamwork processes, but instead presents itself as a set of best practice guidelines and recommendations to assist in team design, development, management, support and assessment. It is recommended that this protocol be progressively implemented across QUT, not only to attain teamwork teaching consistency, but to address and deal with the misconceptions and conflict around the importance of the teamwork experience. The authors acknowledge the extensive input and contributions from a ...
Intentional first year curriculum design as a means of facilitating student engagement: some exem... more Intentional first year curriculum design as a means of facilitating student engagement: some exemplars
Cyber bullying, as a misuse of technology to harass, intimidate, tease, threaten, abuse or otherw... more Cyber bullying, as a misuse of technology to harass, intimidate, tease, threaten, abuse or otherwise terrorise will be discussed in terms of its criminal legal ramifications in Australia for young people. In extreme instances, cyber bullying can constitute criminal conduct on the part of the perpetrator, especially when the behaviour is seriously threatening, harassing or intimidating. Whilst criminal sanctions might seem an extreme response, it is not inappropriate for all stakeholders – young persons, parents, schools, education authorities and psychologists – to be aware of the potential for criminal liability, especially when the consequences of the cyber bullying conduct are serious for the target and/or where there is simply no other basis on which the conduct might be impeached, occurring as it frequently does beyond temporal and physical school boundaries. This paper considers prevention and intervention strategies for cyber bullying from a criminal legal point of view. Cybe...
A blueprint for enhanced transition: Nelson, Kift, Humphreys & Harper – Reviewed Paper 1 a bluepr... more A blueprint for enhanced transition: Nelson, Kift, Humphreys & Harper – Reviewed Paper 1 a blueprint for enhanced transition: taking an holistic approach to managing student transition into a large university.
Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability, 2021
This Special Issue, devoted to micro-credentials and qualifications for future work and learning ... more This Special Issue, devoted to micro-credentials and qualifications for future work and learning in a disrupted world, is a welcome and critically timed contribution to educational theorising and practice internationally. COVID-19 has accelerated Industry 4.0’s pervasive labour market disruption. Digitisation’s efficiencies have been rapidly embraced and broadly up-scaled as a matter of necessity. Many industries and professions have fast tracked digitalisation to transform pre-pandemic business models for current and future sustainability. We have seen all education sectors – Kindergarten to Year 12 (K-12), vocational education and training/ further education (VET/FE) and higher education (HE) – digitise and digitalise to varying degrees in their rapid move to emergency remote teaching (Hodges et al., 2020). Robust evaluation will be needed to assess the efficacy of that pedagogical triaging – our well-intentioned ‘panic-gogy’ (Kamenetz, 2020) – to inform the quality and fitness-fo...
Contemporary heterogeneous cohorts enter higher education with increasingly diverse backgrounds, ... more Contemporary heterogeneous cohorts enter higher education with increasingly diverse backgrounds, experiences, knowledge and skills. Institutions that are serious about the education and retention of commencing students are always looking for effective interventions to deploy in aid of early student learning, engagement, motivation, and success. In this context, the potential for ePortfolio to be utilised as a transition strategy that is inclusive of such entering diversity presents in a variety of exciting ways which this presentation will discuss. These include: harnessing ePortfolio for entering self-assessment of knowledge, skills and attitudes; enabling reflection on personal traits and dispositions; embedding career modules and discipline reflections to mediate endemic course and career uncertainty; and harnessing early motivation and enthusiasm by making connections explicit between subject learning and the attainment of desirable employability skills (the latter as a subset o...
Engaging new students in tertiary study, amidst the storm of their adjustment to university life,... more Engaging new students in tertiary study, amidst the storm of their adjustment to university life, should harness conventional physical as well as new virtual spaces to ensure (as urged by McInnis 2003, p.9) learning opportunities are maximised inside and outside of the classroom. When ubiquitous information, merged technologies, blurred social-study-work boundaries, multitasking and hyperlinked online interactions epitomise generational routines (Oblinger & Oblinger, 2005); positive, rewarding interactions through virtual space "portals" may establish the mode and intensity of on- and off-campus student experience. Conventional modes of curriculum delivery and learning support that hinge on presentation of material according to (for example) scheduled topic sessions, contact times and administrative office hours, do not necessarily fully accommodate these new social realities (James, 2002, p.81), contemporary learning practices or transition-informed curriculum design (Kif...
Imperatives for Legal Education Research, 2019
This paper articulates preliminary findings of participatory action research (Bradbury and Reason... more This paper articulates preliminary findings of participatory action research (Bradbury and Reason 2008; Kemmis and McTaggart 2005) that is exploring how design thinking approaches (Brown and Wyatt, 2010) are informing the practices of curriculum transformation. The participatory action research methodology is supporting a collaborative systematic approach to this inquiry, which aims to simultaneously develop understandings about curriculum design practice and implement improvements to practice.