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Welcome from the editorial team...

3 Affective outcomes in the medical undergraduate course – an emotive topic

The theme of this edition of Akoranga is ‘Values in Higher Education’. As Akoranga is a periodical devoted to learning and teaching we are, of course, most interested in questions such as ‘what values underpin teaching and learning in higher education?’ It is then difficult to avoid the particular issue of ‘how values are addressed in higher education’ and to be more specific ‘is it a legitimate role for university teachers to support student development of particular values?’

Joy Rudland, Director of the Faculty of Medicine’s Faculty Education Unit

4-5 Can, and should, university statistics-teaching be neutral or ‘value-free’?

John A. Harraway, Mathematics & Statistics

We are, of course, in the contested territory of affective learning: values, attitudes, dispositions and behaviours (contestation, perhaps making this such an interesting theme to explore). We provide no trouble-free definition of teacher, teaching and values.

We offer no benchmark against which the term ‘legitimate role’ can be measured. We earnestly hope that this periodical will provide no answers, and in saying that we must be aware that we, the editorial team, are expressing elements of our own teaching and learning value-set (for although we would disappointed if this periodical did not support learning by its readers, we emphasise here an essentially anti-foundational1 pedagogy).

6-7 Teaching and learning values in popular musical performance contexts

Robert Burns, Music

8-9 Should teachers try to influence students’ values?

Members of HEDC invited university teachers from selected departments in all four divisions to comment on this question. Here are the responses.

So where to start? Why not turn to the central pages to discover how a selection of Otago’s teachers responded to the question “Should teachers try to influence students’ values?” After that you could jump either to John Harraway’s exploration of ‘value-free’ teaching (page 4), or to Joy Rudland’s description of the Faculty of Medicine’s attempts to embed values-based outcomes in their programme (page 3), arguably opposite ends of the teachingvalues spectrum. Then perhaps you will be in the mood for some discipline-specific challenges. Robert Burns (page 6) describes how the Music Department helps its students to learn the professional skills and attitudes that are necessary for survival in the contemporary music industry. Helen Nicholson (page 12) and Leehe Vardi (page 13) provide complementary (teacher and student) views on the development of medical students’ attitudes towards cadaveric dissection, death and bereavement. Mark McGuire and Swee-Kin Loke (page10) add an eLearning and design perspective to ask us to consider how the design of educational processes, and structures, constrain teaching and learning and impose builtin value-sets. Finish with Rob Aitken’s narrative (page 15) on how our Business School is addressing calls for it to produce graduates who will practise business ethically after they graduate. Then, please turn back to the central pages and ponder the diversity of university teachers’ views on this contested aspect of higher education.

10-11 Not neutral: virtual learning environments and embedded pedagogy

Mark McGuire, Design & Swee-Kin Loke, HEDC

12-13 Attitudes and anatomy Helen Nicholson, Dean, Otago School of Medical Sciences

13-14 Dissecting learning values in documentary making

Leehe Vardi, 5th year medical student, Dunedin School of Medicine

15 Doing the right thing

Rob Aitken, Marketing, Chair of the School of Business’s Undergraduate Advisory Group

Confused? Let’s hope so. (But please do send comments to us via hedc.akoranga@otago.ac.nz) Kerry Shephard, Ayelet Cohen, Swee Kin Loke and Candi Young

We welcome submissions to Akoranga from staff and students at Otago. The theme of our next issue is Assessment. Please contact us if you would like to contribute. We also welcome your views, feedback, or letters on any of the items featured.

Drop us an e-mail at: hedc.akoranga@otago.ac.nz

Akoranga is produced by the Higher Education Development Centre (HEDC) at the University of Otago for all University staff.

Printing: Southern Colour Print.

This periodical is printed on recycled paper.

Copyright: We welcome reprinting if permission is sought.

We would like to acknowledge and thank all contributors to this newsletter.

1Dewey

(1910) argued that thoughtful deliberation begins with a situation where learners have to “endure suspense and to undergo the trouble of searching… to sustain and protract [a] state of doubt’’ (p. 16). Dewey, J. (1910). How we think. Boston: Heath.

2

Affective outcomes in the medical undergraduate course – an emotive topic Joy Rudland, Director of the Faculty of Medicine’s Faculty Education Unit

Joy Rudland, Director of Medicine’s Faculty Education Unit, offers personal views on affective outcomes (values, attitudes and behaviours) in medical education, and stresses that they are not necessarily the views of the wider faculty!

“Science rests on reason and experiment, and can meet an opponent with calmness; but a belief is always sensitive”. This quote

by Froude emphasises the complex nature of medicine, including elements of both art and science. However, there is a passionate debate raging in the undergraduate years of Otago’s medical programme regarding the balance of the cognitive biomedical science elements and the affective components of the course. In the medical programme many of the undergraduate outcomes include all the components of Bloom’s taxonomy (cognitive, affective and psychomotor learning domains).

Consider the context of the film on human dissection featured elsewhere in this publication: through dissection the students learn not only the anatomy of the human body (cognitive outcomes) but they also learn about their own responses to the dignity or indignity of death, about the sacrifice of those who donate and possible empathy with those who have lost their loved ones (affective, values-based outcomes). On the way they learn a range of manipulative (psychomotor) skills. The cognitive, psychomotor and affective components are important and all components will be experienced simultaneously in many, if not most, of the interactions medical students have with patients.

The affective components can be loosely defined as those elements that define professionalism. They relate to issues like the patient-doctor relationship, including attributes like empathy and compassion

and also issues of cultural competency and ethical behaviour. The issue of balance has been discussed globally over the last decade and continues unabated. It is not that one domain is more important than the other, but rather the emphasis that an undergraduate medical course should place on these aspects and when, and how, they should be introduced, taught and learnt.

The undergraduate medical programme is attempting to define the core student outcomes through an Outcomes Database. Six broad programme Domain areas have been devised: • Clinical and communication skills • Underpinning biomedical science • Ethical, professional and legal issues • Research skills and information literacy • Hauora Maori • Population health Many of these Domain areas include cognitive, psychomotor and affective outcomes with the associated defined level of learning in the distinct phases of the undergraduate curriculum. Within the affective domain of learning, students are expected, for example, to • use empathetic reflection • demonstrate qualities such as integrity, respect, compassion, responsibility, courtesy and sensitivity • demonstrate respect for person and a commitment to work with patients to optimise their health and wellbeing • adapt communication according to differing patient knowledge and expectations and differing doctor-patient relationships.

In recent curriculum developments, many 3

of the outcomes associated with professionalism have been introduced into the earlier years of the course. While this early introduction of professional development is a global trend, as is the early introduction of practical clinical skills, it reduces the time available to the more traditional biomedical science components. Whilst the concept of vertically integrating some of the biomedical science into the later stages of the course was anticipated, this has yet to be realised, and understandably can leave exponents of the importance of biomedical science a little frustrated.

If staff perceive tensions between the value of certain outcomes, or perhaps, more importantly, the amount of time dedicated to them in the curriculum, the students will only amplify this tension. The healthy debate regarding the balance of biomedical knowledge and the more affective attributes of professionalism will continue, and we hope that the developing Outcomes Database will continue to provide a focus for this academic discourse. The least and the most we can hope for is that staff from each camp maintain their respect and dignity for/with each other as they evolve the landscape of the undergraduate programme.

The Faculty of Medicine’s developing Undergraduate Curriculum Outcomes Database is available via https://outcomes.facmed.otago.ac.nz/

Can, and should, university statistics-teaching be neutral or ‘value-free’?

John A. Harraway, Mathematics & Statistics

Statistics is now taught throughout our school curriculum and in many university disciplines: at the introductory level, the advanced undergraduate level and the postgraduate level.

There is amazing diversity in the backgrounds of students who do study statistics at university and in their reasons for doing so. Many come to see the benefits of statistics as a discipline after they commence research. For others, statistics is an element of their first year programme, taken out of necessity to meet programme requirements. Some come to university to study statistics as a discipline in its own right. This diversity presents challenges to the lecturer whatever the level of teaching, although the greatest challenge usually arises at first year.

To be successful, the teacher must develop courses that motivate students to learn. I believe this motivation comes when students see data and examples in the context of their own disciplines, and lives. The examples should deal with “authentic” data sets, perhaps generated from current disciplinary research, rather than small artificial data sets developed to illustrate technique.

Teachers need a variety of examples for different classes. For example, business students may not be interested in the use of infrared thermography to identify swine flu at Auckland airport, or whether there are side effects from the use of a cholesterollowering drug, as health sciences students might. They are more likely to be interested in the different profiles of visitors to New Zealand from Australia, Japan and Germany, or the way house prices have changed on the North Shore, Auckland, over the last eight years, including the recent property crash.

Some of the examples I use in lectures deal with controversial issues, and the context of these studies motivates students’ interest. Sometimes the data is confidential or

restricted for ethical reasons, and in these cases I do need to construct equivalent anonymous data sets. Much of my teaching material comes from research-based collaborations that I have with colleagues from around the university and beyond.

The famous statistician John Tukey said, “The best thing about being a statistician is that you get to play in everyone’s backyard.” I concur with this, but in addition it is often the case that university-level research benefits from collaborative interactions with statisticians. I also find it personally motivating to work with colleagues in other parts of the university.

Dr John Williams from the Department of Marketing provides my first case study useful for teaching statistical principles for anyone working in social sciences research.

I thank John for allowing me to give my students access to his data from a major survey of Dunedin residents about attitudes to the Dunedin Stadium. The data from 2248 respondents is freely accessible. I discuss the formulation of an appropriate survey question to be asked, describe questionnaire design, describe the development of a non-biased sampling procedure, discuss data collection and talk about the implications of response rate and non-response follow up. Initial analyses, using cross tabulations and proportion estimation, identify attitudes of city residents to the use of public funds to construct a stadium costing 198 million dollars.These ideas are particularly relevant in first year statistics, but at second year it is possible to introduce the ideas of stratified sampling and multinomial regressions that take all aspects of the data into account, including sex, age, household income, education and ratepayer status among other factors.

The original study was controversial, arous4

ing strong opinions and extensive media coverage. It was highly relevant locally and consequently a motivational learning example for students that I enjoy talking about. When I first used the study, I was very careful to remain neutral on the issue, deliberately not taking sides as I discussed the results and their validity. I believe in such situations it is important for the statistics teacher to remain neutral and to focus on the data. It seems inevitable that detailed examination of a data-set like this will contribute to a student’s development of a personal stance on the issue. But my focus is to ensure that students address the issues from the data (which of course the students are able to do using techniques covered in lectures).

I was surprised to learn afterwards that some students thought I was anti-stadium, pointing out that I remarked at one stage in the College of Education Auditorium that the stadium was “being built over the back fence”. I was, of course, making only a geographical reference. This caused me to reflect on what I had said, or what had caused students to feel that their teaching was somehow biased on a socially important issue. Remaining neutral is difficult, and this was just a stadium!

I also teach life sciences students and again seek relevant research to motivate student learning. This second example is based on the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Study and represents analysis carried out by Dr Nigel Dickson from the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine. For ethical reasons, the data presented to the students were simulated to produce the same results as those obtained from the actual data that Nigel analysed.

The question addressed is whether childhood circumcision reduces the risk of ac-

quiring genital herpes. Students are able to analyse the data for themselves. At first year level the data are summarized by cross tabulation, and this shows an increased risk of acquiring herpes if not circumcised. But information is also recorded on numbers of sexual partners young men report to have had by age 26. When allowance has been made for the number of sexual partners (which in statistical terminology is called a confounder) there remains no evidence of a link between circumcision and herpes.

This study is only an observational study, which can always be subject to confounding problems, an important point to make in discussion during lectures.This idea leads on to the need for designed clinical trials, such as those in Africa, which investigate whether circumcision is protective against HIV. These designed experiments are free of the confounding problems associated with observational data. These are important statistical concepts and they are best taught in situations where students are motivated to learn them. Motivation here is achieved by using examples that are relevant to students’ lives as well as to their studies, and in this case important social issues are addressed, on which I again do my best to remain neutral. (As an aside, I have frequently been asked after lectures about the meaning of circumcision. In this case I refer the student to the dictionary).

Some rather controversial ideas develop but the data must be allowed to speak.

As the person teaching statistics, I do my best to remain completely neutral, leaving students to arrive at their own conclusions about the social and moral issues that may arise.

I stress in these three examples how hard I try to remain neutral in relation to the issues that I know contribute a motivational context to learning about statistics. Of course, I do not remain neutral on statistics issues, and students will be in no doubt about my approaches to data analysis. But whether I like it or not, it is a challenge for the statistics lecturer to remain neutral in highly controversial issues such as HIV Aids, genital herpes, circumcision, sexual morality, alcohol consumption during pregnancy and the design of clinical trials, and I cannot discount the possibility that students will perceive that I do have personal values and attitudes about them. If statisticians dealt only with numbers, disconnected from their real world values, we would not need to be concerned with such things… but statistics is not like that, and neither can learning be.

“But whether I like it or not, it is challenging for the statistics lecturer to remain neutral in highly controversial issues...”

My third example involves my own work with colleagues in the Departments of Marketing and Human Nutrition. The research, funded by the Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand (ALAC), investigates the profiles of New Zealand women of child bearing age who would consume alcohol when pregnant. In class, we discuss the collection of data to reflect the profile of the New Zealand population, using web assisted telephone interviewing. A typical data set for 1254 respondents is presented for students to analyze. The data is randomized for confidentiality reasons (and also because the actual data belongs to ALAC).

Factors investigated in this study are ethnicity, age of respondent (between 16 and 40 years), education background, social features, smoking and whether the mother has been a prior consumer of alcohol. At first year level it is possible to explore the data and arrive at some important conclusions about practice in New Zealand society, thus identifying the segments of our society that may be at risk of participating in alcohol consumption during pregnancy. At higher levels more sophisticated modeling procedures are used to analyse the data.

I have described three examples currently used in my classes. Videos discussing the first two of these examples have been developed by colleagues in the Higher Education Development Centre, and can be viewed at www.maths.otago.ac.nz/video/ statistics, where Dr John Williams and Dr Nigel Dickson can be observed discussing their case studies. There are sixteen other video presentations that I have not discussed here, but which are used in lectures as well. They cover issues such as iron deficiency in New Zealand infants, cockle biomass in Papanui Inlet, takahe breeding programmes, adjustment to living at high altitude and factors influencing youth motor accidents in New Zealand, among others. These videos have been made available for use in New Zealand schools as a way of enriching the teaching of statistics in schools. I am always on the lookout for new case studies to enrich the teaching of statistics at all levels. The school curriculum in mathematics is changing at all levels in our schools to now include large statistics components, and this, along with use of appropriate statistical software, will in the near future impact on the university.

(This photo was taken in Dunedin on January 31, 2009 by Leigh Blackall cc Attribution 5 2.0 Generic)

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Traditional direct instruction appears to be out of place in helping students develop professional values and ethics.â&#x20AC;?

6

Teaching and learning values in popular musical performance contexts Robert Burns, Music

The Music Department at Otago has been teaching the contemporary music performance degree since 2000. While pop, jazz and rock degrees have become commonplace in tertiary institutions in the northern hemisphere, the institution of such a programme was a departure for Otago at the time, given its reputation for classical performance teaching in the southern hemisphere. The notion of being a professional musician in the popular music genre outside Auckland or Wellington is, however, likely to prompt the question “but what do you really do for a living?” Dunedin has a small but industrious group of musicians, who are often music teachers and who work very hard to keep local music thriving, although in order to generate national and international professional status, I often find myself encouraging my own students to move overseas. Indeed, the Music Department now has many former students, living in the UK and Australia, who are establishing themselves as performers and as music business operatives. But what does it take to do what established professional musicians do?

To become professionals within the music industry, music performance graduates are not merely expected to perform at a high level, given that technical mastery is taken for granted by record producers. There are other professional skills and attitudes that are necessary for survival in an industry once renowned for being operated by unskilled or dishonest management.1 It is this aspect of professionalism, and the ethical behaviour surrounding it, that is at the core of what we teach in contemporary music performance. Career longevity in the professional world relies on peak performance at all times (as one professional told me in my early years, “you are only as good as your last recording session”).

On the other hand, the old adage “it’s not what you know but whom you know” still has currency, and carries with it all of the human resource issues that the saying implies. With this in mind, the Music Department has included what I call “lifemanship” in performance and music industry papers.

It remains difficult for the passionate performer to achieve success without knowledge of the music industry, and Robert Wolff laments how numerous competent players and singers continue to ignore this fact of life.2 Following the initiatives of Brunel University and Thames Valley University, the Otago Music Department has offered papers in music industry studies since 2001, with the aim of making students aware of the complexities of freelance musical life and the possibility that success can be promoted through industry-specific social and ethical behaviour.3 The learning outcomes include the abilities to distinguish between different aspects of the music industry as a professional musician, to appraise different methods of promotion and distribution and to demonstrate an advanced understanding of the employment area of their choice, within the context of a musical career. These outcomes are couched within several of the Otago graduate attributes, such as critical thinking, ethics, global perspective, self–motivation and workplace– related skills. To succeed in these papers, students need to negotiate the tensions between viewing music as a service industry (primarily serving social activities) as well as a product industry (in which they are expected to market their own tangible outputs).

But how do we teach such professional views and attitudes? Traditional direct instruction appears to be out of place in helping students develop professional values and ethics. Reid at al. recommend the integration of practitioners’ experiences as a way to increase the relevance of pre-professional curriculum, and this approach is important to us.4 It is in problematic professional situations (e.g. in stressful situations when the arts and financial issues meet), described by an experienced performer and actively explored by learners, where a values-based curriculum gains relevance.

Tackling these professional dilemmas in active class discussions, performance staff often use personal and anecdotal evidence to offer students guidance on self–management and on the ethical management of others in the music business.

Such a move does imply the presence of teaching staff with a high level of experiential knowledge: the contemporary music performance teaching team consists of active professional musicians with national and international experience. Being active professionally in an ever-changing industry (e.g. navigating the recent digital revolution that has levelled the playing field of songmaking) forces us to exhibit the dispositions of lifelong learning and to demonstrate daily the ethical behaviours related to communication, teamwork, self–promotion, and people-handling that are paramount in bands, orchestras, and recording studios.

And it is only by including these skills and attitudes as part of a performance teaching programme that we develop work-ready graduates who are valued by the professional community of musicians.

I say ‘once’ because it could be argued that many contemporary industries are poorly managed, and not many occupations offer a position for life (so much for the ‘get a proper job’ argument put forward by my parents many years ago).

1

2

Wolff, R. (2004). How to make it in the new music business: lessons, tips and inspiration from music’s biggest and best. New York: Billboard Books.

MUSI 185 Music Industry provides the student with an outsider view of the various personnel roles and business mechanisms of the industry; MUSI 285/385 Music Profession is constructed around an insider view that assumes that the student is creating an employment niche for him/herself.

3

4

Reid, A., Dahlgren, L. O., Petocz, P., & Dahlgren, M. A. (2008). Identity and engagement for professional formation, Studies in Higher Education, 33(6), 729–742.

7

Should

teachers

try to influence students’ values

?

“Of course. That’s the foundation of a higher education, and university lecturers will do this whether or not they want to, and even when they are not conscious of it. Furthermore, we should not just be concerned about values around knowledge, learning or the discipline; values are the defining concept of how we are in the world as we make constant choices for better or worse. Despite the fact that universities do stand for a set of values, explicit value-conversations are rare, and because values are not innate and can be learned, this could be seen as both paradoxical (in an institution focused on learning) and as a serious omission from contemporary academic life.”

“Of course! Isn’t that the point of higher education? Getting students to think critically (our ultimate goal) surely challenges and thus affects their values. Of course, there is a world of difference between ‘influence’ and ‘indoctrinate’, but if we have no effect we might as well go home.”

“I think that teachers cannot help but influence students’ values with their teaching style.

Mentoring relationships inherently reveal how much a teacher respects and values their material and students. Receptive students will be influenced by these values. Teachers should therefore think about how to influence students’ values in a positive way.

I guess ‘positive’ relates to agreed upon values amongst teachers/departments, similar to socially acceptable norms of behaviour, like showing students the same respect one would like to be shown. Another might be showing a passion or enthusiasm for one’s work. Even so, I realise that positive values are somewhat subjective. But these could be debated and agreed upon and instilled in teachers by the likes of heads of departments or course conveners. Teachers need to be aware that through their teaching behaviour they are passing along more than information, but a way of interaction, and their style can either inspire others to achieve worthy goals or not.”

“It is inappropriate for teachers to push their own personal values (e.g. political or religious beliefs) onto their students. That assumes that there are ‘correct’ or ‘superior’ values in these areas, which is often doubtful. And even if it were the case, why would teachers’ values necessarily be superior to the students’? But it is appropriate for teachers to convey the content of consensus views (e.g. that torture is immoral), and to encourage students to think about values (e.g. by exposing them to different values, and asking thought-provoking questions). It is also appropriate for teachers to model certain values (e.g. respect for the environment, respect for diversity) in their own lives.”

“I view my role as helping students recognise and reflect on the values they hold which are relevant to the issues I address in my disciplinary area. What are the values, what is their foundation, and, on reflection, do those values provide a secure basis for future action? I don’t push particular values, I do encourage critical appraisal and questioning.

But of course I operate within a set of values that affect how I select, frame and explore issues, so there will always be some level of implicit transmission of values in my teaching. But the students should still apply the thinking tools to those anyway, not blindly adopt those values because I’m such an iconic person..... ;)” “I don’t think teachers should influence students’ values, but I feel quite strongly that they should influence students to develop and be able to articulate values.”

8

“Absolutely! University is designed to enrich a student’s knowledge base, challenge their perceptions (and values) and teach them how to become critical thinkers. In addition, they are taught by teachers who are at university because they are passionate about their subject(s). How can you not influence a student’s values when you are passionate about the topic that you are teaching?”

“It is unavoidable! John Dewey urged teachers to view education as a moral enterprise, and this imperative is still alive and well in the 21st century.

Our values are rarely explicitly stated to our students, rather they are embedded in our teaching practice (Fitzmaurice, 2008). Even in higher education, teaching must be responsible as well as effective.

Fitzmaurice, M. (2008). Voices from within: teaching in higher education as a moral practice. Teaching in Higher Education, 13(3), 341-352.”

“There is no doubt that teachers do influence students’ values, and in certain situations we should be encouraging this. The values that I am referring to here are those that are integral to what it means to have a higher education, and include notions such as academic freedom and respect for knowledge.

Within a particular course, e.g. genetic engineering or sustainability, teachers will also have a particular point of view. In these situations, it is important that teachers are able to bracket their own beliefs and present them, as such, in an open and contestable way.

They should not be expected to present ‘both sides of the argument’ – this is unrealistic and unfair.

If an issue is raised and it is not relevant to a particular paper, I think that, as University teachers, we should encourage students to be reflective and to explore their reasons for adopting their particular position. We should not try to influence them per se.

I am still exploring my thoughts on this issue, but I would like to thank the folk at HEDC for providing a forum to start these discussions. “

“Tertiary education is a privilege, as are ethical positions. University graduates are likely to combine this privilege with both influence and choice in their working and social lives. Students should be encouraged to develop their values and link them with their education, and to see themselves as educated citizens with responsibilities towards the world, which would also strengthen higher education as a public good. I think University teachers should try to influence values in this sense.”

“Firstly, if students are, as we hope, learning at university how to think critically, then lecturers should voice their opinions and pit their arguments against students in order to stimulate thought. However, this has the following provisos: they should make it very clear that the ideas or values they are transmitting are their own, and that there is no obligation on the part of the student to share those values.The lecturer must assure the student, and also ensure, that the student in no way suffers either formally, if purveying different (or unconventional) ideas in assignments, or informally, by getting off-side with the lecturer.

I am however, more ambivalent about this question as it relates to teacher education. On the one hand, we want teachers to be representative of the range of cultures, classes etc. that comprise New Zealand. With this comes a diversity of values that we are obliged to respect. On the other hand, we are enculturating people into an educational community that holds some values dear and others at arm’s length! How would we cope with student teachers who hold racist, sexist, classist or other intolerant values? Can we ‘let them loose’ on classes of children?

If we say ‘no’ to this question, we must ask ourselves whether it is even possible to influence the values of others.

We see too many signs of people adamantly rationalising unconventional values, or worse - those values becoming entrenched.

And what are values anyway?

We mostly acknowledge as teacher educators, that we cannot alter dispositions. So we deliberately use selection processes to choose those who possess the dispositions we value in teachers. Similarly we may use those same processes to screen out those candidates who hold values we see as unsympathetic to children. Which is preferable: selecting only those who hold the same values we hold, or trying to influence or change their values once they are in our programmes, or permitting all/any values to permeate New Zealand classrooms?”

“How else will students become competent disciplinary practitioners or members of professional groups? These bodies are defined by values, as well as by skills and knowledge and experience. Perhaps we should be asking ‘which values’ and ‘how should teachers set about influencing them?’ ”

“Teaching is about inspiring students (of all ages) so, yes, if you can inspire someone then you will influence them.... but you always have to remember that students have minds of their own and not be upset if they don’t see things the way you do.”

9

Not neutral: virtual learning environments and embedded pedagogy Mark McGuire, Design, & Swee-Kin Loke, HEDC

Commenting on the effect that architectural design has on the end users, Sir Winston Churchill once observed that “[w]e shape our buildings, thereafter they shape us” (Shapiro, Benjamin, & Hunt, 1995, p. 157). The design of a building reflects the philosophies, interests and priorities of the architect and the client, as well as the cultural and societal norms that are dominant at the time. The activities of those who use and inhabit a finished building are enabled and constrained by the physical results of design decisions that reflect a set of underlying ideas, beliefs and practices.

A school that is composed of a number of classrooms of a given size, separated by solid walls, predetermines the size of class groups and their physical relationship to one another and to the external environment.The relative placement of administrative offices, and the provision of space for a library, assembly hall and other specialized functions, signal what kind of activities are meant to happen where, and with whom.

The architectural language, selection of materials and the type and placement of furniture and equipment all provide further direction about what students are expected to do, and the nature of the relationships that they are encouraged to form with other students, and with teachers and administrative staff. These relationships, and the activities they support, are clearly communicated in built form. The first lesson is contained within, and expressed through, the design of the building and its various interior spaces and furnishings.

Although a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) or online Course Management System (CMS) is less constrained by the material limitations that we associate with physical schools and universities, this does not mean that these electronic environments are necessarily more open, more flexible, or more learner-centred. As in the physical

world, the designers, owners and managers of spaces for online learning embed their assumptions, philosophies and familiar practices into their digital constructions. A shift from a physical to a digital site does not necessarily mean that a shift has been made in the teaching and learning philosophy of educational institutions and those who work in them. We can leave the bricks behind when we build online, but we take our established institutional values, cultural assumptions and teaching practices with us.

The authors of a report on the early experience of five universities in the UK that implemented online learning environments highlighted several common issues. They commented on the tension that developed between the academic staff, who wanted the flexibility to modify the system to suit their teaching practices, and the technical staff, who wanted to ensure that the system (Blackboard, in most cases) remained stable. They note that as the institution’s reliance on the online system increases, its reputation becomes intertwined with the system’s dependability and performance, which takes priority over flexibility and experimentation (Ingraham et al., 2002).

When a learning management package is adapted campus wide, the teaching staff must adjust to a system that has to be stable, predictable and risk-averse. Almost by necessity, the VLE becomes institutionalcentred rather than student-centred.

The UK study also points out that another serious risk in adapting a third-party VLE is that “it may tend to limit academics to its inherent pedagogical model, rather than empowering them to create models that suit their own demands” (Ingraham et al., 2002, p. 35). Drawing on John Daniel’s discussion of the distinction between the US models of pedagogy and those that are more commonly followed in the UK (Dan10

iel, 1998), the authors explain the problem as follows: The traditional North American model is one in which a tutor presents a body of information to a group of students for their consideration, while the tradition in the UK is actually one in which a student presents information to a tutor for their mutual consideration. The former model relies heavily on information propagation and testing for its acquisition; the latter is underpinned by reflective discursive interaction in which assessment is embedded. The former is easily supported by computers and existing learning environments, but computer support for the latter is currently less well developed (Ingraham et al., 2002).

Digital technologies, being insentient, have often been thought to be devoid of values.

For example, CMSs such as Blackboard may be construed as ‘shells’ in which the teacher is able to interact with students in his or her preferred ways. However, by assuming that these environments are completely neutral, we are denying that educational technologies could embody what Lisa Lane (2009) describes as a “built-in pedagogy”.

Lane notes that, although a system might have many advanced features buried deep in the interface, instructors who are not very familiar with online teaching tools are content to use the default settings and options, which typically assume a traditional, instructive pedagogy based on presentation and assessment. She observes that instructors are encouraged to simply upload their resources into the pre-existing content categories, rather than find ways of incorporating their individual pedagogical style into the online environment.

Online learning environments, like other screen-based multimedia experiences, make extensive use of visual and linguistic metaphors.These help us to make sense of new settings and experiences by leveraging what we are already familiar with from past

experience. However, as Ingram, Ou and Owen (2007) point out, metaphors rely on a broad sense of identity and experience that can differ from one culture to another.

For example, visual icons that a designer assumes are more or less universal may have different meanings for people from different cultures, or no particular meaning at all, rendering them useless as onscreen aids to navigation or the completion of specific tasks. Furthermore, although metaphors can enable quick and easy interaction in electronic environments, they can also constrain the user by suggesting that what is possible is bound by what is already familiar. VLEs may contain tools and technologies that allow participants to engage with one another, and with learning resources, in exciting new ways that can enhance the experience of the teacher as well as the learner. However, by using metaphors that suggest objects, places and practices from a physical context, a VLE promises an experience that cannot be effectively delivered online, and misses an opportunity to provide something substantially different that exploits the affordances of the medium. For example, why is the focal point of Blackboard’s “Virtual Classroom” still the whiteboard? Why do all of Blackboard’s “Tests” assume known and uncontestable answers?

Educators who consciously employ tools and techniques that support their teaching style are critical of the widespread adaption of particular technologies that seem to work against their own pedagogical objectives. One teacher, commenting on the current craze for interactive whiteboards in the classroom, suggests that although they are “a tangible representation of innovation that can be shown off to supervisors and parents,” they “do little more than reinforce a teacher-centric model of learning” (Ferriter, 2010). Although some teachers might consider interactive whiteboards to be nothing more than very expensive overhead projectors, others might find that they suit their teaching practice, at least for some of what they do. The problem is that by investing in one costly technology and rolling it out across an institution, options to provide other technologies that support different teaching and learning styles may be limited.

David Hung (2002) describes an inclusive, pragmatic approach that does not privilege one pedagogical style over all others. He argues that different models of learning, including behaviourism, cognitivism, constructivism and social constructivism, are not mutually exclusive, and he supports a balanced approach in which a distinction

is made between learning paradigms and instructional approaches. He believes that teachers should be able to choose from a mix of technologies that suit their pedagogical goals. These could range from individual practice and feedback applications to environments that support the social construction of knowledge.

All technologies are value-laden, and virtual learning environments, like other educational tools, are embedded with particular pedagogical ideas and assumptions. If educators seek to transform their pedagogy, they should question whether technologies that promise new ways of teaching and learning are hampered by metaphors that limit what is possible and perpetuate old teaching practices. They should also be suspicious of any technological solution that limits a teacher’s flexibility, either because the money or time required excludes other alternatives, or because the institution may be compelled to focus on its stability and reliability at the expense of experimentation and change. A wide range of technologies and support should be available within an institution so that teachers have the freedom to assemble the tools that they need to support the diverse range of work that they do. Above all, teachers should be able to choose technologies that support their own instructional approaches and that resonate with their own teaching philosophies.

Daniel, J.S. (1998). Mega-Universities and Knowledge Media: Technology Strategies for Higher Education. London: Kogan Page.

Ferriter, B. (2010). Why I Hate Interactive Whiteboards. Teacher Magazine. Retrieved Sep 6, 2010, from http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2010/01/27/tln_ferriter_whiteboards. h t m l ? t k n = Y RY D E K z U r t y m a J l P 3 E p g m V 7 / EJJnOlU2JGFS&print=1 Hung, D. (2002). Theories of Learning and Computer-Mediated Instructional Technologies. Educational Media International, 38(4), 281-287.

Ingraham, B., Watson, B., McDowell, L., Brockett, A., & Fitzpatrick, S. (2002). Evaluating and Implementing Learning Environments: A United Kingdom Experience. Educational Technology Review, 10(2), 28-51.

Ingram, A., Ou, C. M., & Owen, J. (2007). CrossCultural Issues in Online Education. Journal of the Research Centre for Educational Technology, 3(1), 23-43.

Lane, L. (2009). Insidious Pedagogy: How Course Management Systems Affect Teaching. First Monday, 14(10).

Shapiro, A. S., Benjamin, W. F., & Hunt, J. J. (1995).

Curriculum and Schooling: A Practitioner’s Guide.

Palm Springs, CA: Etc Publications.

11

“Digital technologies, being insentient, have often been thought to be devoid of values.”

Attitudes and anatomy Helen Nicholson, Dean, Otago School of Medical Sciences

Body donation would not be the obvious topic for a programme that achieved the highest ratings for a TV3 documentary in 2009, and one would have to ask who in their right mind would contemplate making such a programme? Certainly when Paul Trotman, a practising doctor and film maker, called in to ask if the Department of Anatomy & Structural Biology would be interested in making the documentary, he did not expect the answer to be yes! Paul’s request was timely; the Department had instigated an annual thanksgiving service a few years before as a way of remembering the donors and their friends and families, and this had highlighted how little was understood about the process. Furthermore, discussions with funeral directors had alerted us that the lack of information was making the grieving process difficult for some families.

So our initial motivation in producing the documentary was to provide an accurate explanation to the public of what happens when someone leaves their body to medical science. This would also be a resource that could be provided to potential donors so that they and their families could make an informed decision whether to donate their bodies. However, during the process of making the film, it soon became clear that we were also developing a useful educational resource. As a reviewer of the film for the Journal of Anatomy commented: It is my fervent hope that this film can be exported to other countries but, at the very least, all deans of medical schools and medical educationalists should be sat down to view it in order to appreciate how important anatomy is to health care studies and practice, beyond just the factual basis of the discipline.

Donated to Science follows 2 donors and their families from before their death through their time in the dissecting room.

It also follows a group of medical students during the 2 years that they spent learning

anatomy. We were surprised by, and grateful for, the willingness of donors, families and students to take part in this project, which was carried out with permission from the Inspector of Anatomy, under the Human Tissues Act, and with approval of the University’s Human Ethics Committee. Of the many students who volunteered, we chose around 20 who reflected the breadth of students’ views, and semi-structured interviews with these students were filmed at various stages during the 2 year period.

Attitudes and values are an important domain of learning in the health professional courses. The Department of Anatomy & Structural Biology has a long history, instigated by Prof. Gareth Jones, of trying to provide an ethical framework for the use of cadavers, and to prepare our students for working in the dissecting room. The Human Tissues Act states that anatomical examination must be conducted in an orderly and decent manner, and the Department hopes to foster the appropriate professional behaviours and attitudes in the students during their time in the dissecting room. Students receive a lecture outlining how the cadavers are obtained and their responsibilities in working with these very special gifts, and, of course, staff are expected to model appropriate attitudes and behaviour. The preparation includes a whakawatea, “clearing of the way” ceremony, which is held at the beginning of each academic year to facilitate our Maori and Pacific Island students working in the dissecting room.

So what did the film show us? Most importantly, it highlighted the quality of our students – something we perhaps don’t always value. We received only positive feedback from the public after the showing of the documentary, and this feedback invariably mentioned how impressed they 12

were by the students, their compassion and respect.

For many students, entering the dissection room was the first time that they had come face to face with death. For some this was a difficult emotional experience, and for those students taking part in the film, at least, it resulted in them contemplating what death meant to them. Exposure to cadaveric material over a 2 year period did help students come to terms with death and feel more confident about being able to face this when they progressed to the later years of their training.

As might be expected there were a variety of responses to how students perceived the cadavers.These ranged from the body being a learning tool, “just a body”, someone’s loved one to a surrogate patient. Interestingly some students’ perceptions of the body changed over the 2 year period,but all of them valued the opportunity to learn using human tissue.

One of the most significant findings that came to light was the importance to the students of hearing that they had the donors’ permission to undertake dissection.

Indeed, following screening of the documentary, several doctors, who had been qualified for many years, expressed how they had struggled with anatomy because they did not understand that they had the donors’ permission.Towards the end of the filming process, we showed the students the interviews with the donors that we had filmed prior to their death. Understanding the unselfish generosity of the donors and their families, and realising that the students were carrying out the donors’ wishes, played a significant role in helping students come to terms with what could be considered a macabre activity.

We were aware that entering the dis-

secting room and working with cadaveric material is not an easy process for some students. What we discovered during the filming, and after showing the documentary to the whole class, was how many students found the process challenging. However, they often did not express their difficulty to others or staff because they thought all their peers were coping. This has led us to change our curriculum slightly. Students will still receive a lecture about body donation prior to going into the dissection room, but will now be shown the documentary after their first exposure to the cadavers. This will be followed by a small group session, where students will be encouraged to talk about their reactions and be provided with details of where help can be sought.

For many years, the debate has raged re-

garding the best way for students to learn anatomy. Should they be involved actively in cadaveric dissection, is access to cadaveric prosections sufficient, or do they need to be exposed to human bodies at all? This film does not answer these questions, but it does highlight how the appropriate use of human cadavers can contribute to the professional development of our health professional students.

So what next? The success of Donated to Science has meant that TV3 are interested in a sequel. So, with funding from the Faculty of Medicine and New Zealand on Air, we are following the same group of students during the final 3 years of the medical programme, to explore how exposure to clinical practice affects their attitudes and values.

The film ‘Donated to Science’ was directed by Paul Trotman and co-produced by Paul and Helen. It was funded by TV3 and New Zealand on Air. It exists as a 45 minute TV documentary and a full length feature film. The documentary was first shown in November 2009 and was one of 3 documentaries short-listed for the Qantas Television awards. The full length film was premiered at the 2010 NZ International Science Festival. The medical library has a copy of the film and it is also on sale at UBS and Marbecks. The research that underpins these developments is currently being prepared for publication.

Dissecting learning values in documentary making Leehe Vardi, 5th year medical student, Dunedin School of Medicine

“Thanks to theory I know, thanks to practice I feel. Theory enriches the intellect; practice colours feelings, trains the will”.

Janusz Korczak

The anatomy of the human body is beautiful, inspirational and almost perfect; whether you believe in evolution or creation, I am sure we can agree that we are all intelligent, well-made and complex physical entities with astonishing emotional capacity and social skills! Well, some of us, at least.

But of course, you shouldn’t be surprised to hear this from a medical student. I am one of the students who had the honour to be part of the documentary Donated to Science, which was broadcast on TV3 late last year. It is a documentary about the anatomy of life, and of teaching, learning and humanity in medical education. The film followed our group during the second and third years of our medical training, years in which the knowledge of human anatomy is taught and learned by dissection of donated human cadavers. The story is told through the donors, prior to their demise, the anatomy lecturers and us, the students.

I am sure you can appreciate that it would be easier to distance myself from the experience and tell you how the documentary was made, however I chose the winding road – to share with you the effect it had,

and still has, on me.

Dissection of human cadavers has been part of medical education and training for many years, but remains controversial. Advocates for abandoning dissections argue that dissection of cadavers is expensive, time consuming and emotionally disturbing for some students . Nonetheless, the value of dissection cannot be viewed narrowly in business terms because it has proved its value by withstanding the ultimate test of time. It was, and hopefully will remain, the most direct, tangible and hands-on form of learning with which we, as medical students, are confronted during early training.

It equips us with skills and knowledge that enable us to cope with and overcome future challenges. It enables us to become more than familiar and comfortable with the human body, fulfil our role and benefit patients.

Dissection, I believe, introduces us to illness and death, and, by so doing, it opens our minds and souls to the concept of our own mortality and the limits of our role as doctors in healing and saving patients’ lives.

The way in which we learn from it is the first step in our life-long process of acquiring and integrating practical skills, as well as emotional and cognitive abilities, which will make us competent doctors.

This long prologue intended to shed some light on to the concept of dissection, and the importance of this unique opportunity given to us thanks to the generosity of the 13

donors and their families. This is the context in which the documentary was made.

For 2 whole years the filming crew documented our every breath, word and action during anatomy and dissection sessions. The filming was complemented by interviews which gave us the opportunity to reflect on what we did, how we did it and how we felt about it. Only now, more than a year after shooting is over, can I fully appreciate the difficulties and the benefits associated with taking part in this process.

It was mentally challenging to maintain a professional manner suitable to, and expected from, a medical student, while sometimes all I really wanted was to be left alone to think, to cry - to simply feel.

However, have no doubt that maintaining a respectful and dignified approach toward our cadavers posed no difficulty or burden.

It was the very least we could do to show our gratitude to the people who gifted us knowledge. The respect and privilege we felt is hard to express in words, and thus it was paramount to demonstrate it in our actions and attitude.

Dissection is a personal, emotional and mentally challenging experience rarely discussed in our families and communities, or between medical students. Therefore sharing this private individual experience in the documentary was frightening, but also exciting. Our interviews took place intermittently during the 2 years, and aimed to explore our emotions, actions and experiences with dissection and to uncover our

individual source of fire - that thing that makes us do what we do. The process gave us an opportunity to reflect on our reactions, as well as on our personal progress in terms of emotional endurance, knowledge and aspirations.

Medical students are a varied group, but on the whole we are a competitive, highachieving, focused bunch who appreciate structure and order, and like to remain in control of our emotions, actually as well as visibly.This is a generalisation, of course, but it may help you develop some appreciation of how the filming of my every move, facial twitch and word made me vulnerable, overly aware and cautious. Me, with triple emotional guards to maintain: those of a medical student, of a mature student, who feels out of place more often than not, and, most significant of all, those of an immigrant being scrutinised within and by a culture not originally my own.

In my view, dissection involves an intimate relationship between a cadaver and a few individuals. It starts with a cautious, superficial exchange of knowledge and introduction, and progresses into a deep, enriching, almost dependent relationship. The camera was there for all of this. However, as uneasy and intrusive as I may make it sound, I gained a lot from it. I learned some things about myself. I opened myself to you, the audience, in a way I could never have imagined, and I have redefined my personal challenges and inner strength.

“ Dissection, I believe, introduces us to

& death, opens minds & souls illness

it

and, by so doing, our

to the concept of our own

mortality

and the limits of our role as

If you have seen the documentary already (or are planning to see it now that you have gained some insight into one personal story behind it), I hope you will notice the process of change in each of the students.

I believe these beautifully documented moments are the ultimate demonstration of the important role of dissection in our personal and professional development toward becoming medical practitioners. As the quote from Korczak says so simply and beautifully, “Theory enriches the intellect; practice colours feelings, trains the will.”

doctors in

healing

and saving patients’ lives.

As the process drew to a close, I began to feel proud to be part of the project.

The documentary captured my passion, as well as my appreciation and gratitude to the donors and their families, and it is able to touch audiences from all walks of life.

Moreover, thanks to this unique documentary, the altruism of people who donate their bodies to science will be forever remembered and publicly acknowledged.

14

”

Doing the right thing Rob Aitken, Marketing

Maybe one good thing that can come out of the recent (and continuing) financial meltdown is a conscience call for Business Schools to examine what they teach and see what they do, if anything, about addressing the ethical values that underpin business practice.

Ethics and values are inseparable, but who is to say which are right and which are wrong.

Well, it seems pretty clear to me that business practice that falsifies accounts, exaggerates returns, underestimates risk and eschews responsibility is wrong. Neither is it condoned by the majority in society, so there is the normative ethical position - don’t do it!

What about practices that are perfectly legal, but which result in exploitation, or lead to environmental degradation or waste, or are just part of the inexorable cycle of production and planned obsolescence? How are undergraduates expected to respond to business imperatives that lead to companies like Cadbury or GlaxoSmithKline allegedly failing to honour their brand promises, and compounding their public shame by failing to ’fess up to their ‘mistakes’?

Was the direct and sharp decline in sales the reason for subsequent retractions, or a genuine realisation that companies should behave with integrity? Did BP really skimp on safety measures in the Gulf and know that a ‘leak’ (a leak seems a strangely ineffective and trifling word for the flood of oil that gushed into the ocean) was not only predictable but imminent? How stringent were the US authorities in enforcing mandatory standards of compliance?

How rigorous will New Zealand be in protecting its marine environments in the increasingly likely event of an escalation of drilling around our pristine coasts? And, anyway, just how pure is 100% pure in advertising terms? For many people, answers to these and similar questions may well be

clear and straight forward, but how do we approach them as teachers?

Last year, on the day before graduating, a group of MBA students at Harvard took an oath to behave ethically in their future careers (and, presumably, in their lives outside of work!) These graduates did not perceive what they saw around them as typical business behaviour and wanted to make a difference. Advocates saw this as a business version of a doctor’s Hippocratic oath or a lawyer’s pledge to uphold the principles of the United States constitution.

It was, for the signatories, a commitment to a professional code of conduct based on honesty, trust and integrity that would make a small, but perfectly formed, step towards encouraging long-term systemic change to business practice. Business professor Rakesh Khurana commented that Harvard’s original aim, when it founded the MBA programme one hundred years ago, was to produce better managers and a better society. In his book, From Higher Aims to Hired Hands, Professor Khurana laments the loss of lofty ideals and reproves the move towards untrammelled profits and untroubled conscience. While it might be said to be an indictment of society in general, and business graduates in particular, that they have to swear not to lie, cheat or steal, at least it is a step in the right direction, and clearly not a path trodden by the likes of Bernie Madoff or Jeff Skilling.

Here in the School of Business we don’t have an oath of allegiance to a particular code of ethical conduct, but we do have a newly burnished (but not yet adopted) B.Com graduate profile that makes it clear that an awareness of, and a familiarity with, ethical issues related to business practice is fundamental to what we teach and what we stand for. Our undergraduate core is sprinkled (in some cases 15

strewn) with ethical issues and concerns that range from applications of the Fair Trading and Customer Guarantees Acts, through Socially Responsible Investing, past Whistle Blowing legislation, to tangling with the power relations in No Logo and the deleterious effects on consumers, and society, of excessive doses of materialism and the untreated symptoms of affluenza.

We are also concerned to understand the different ways in which Maori do business, and to understand the underpinning belief systems that privilege intergenerational wealth creation and distribution, and which promote alternative approaches to ownership.

What we want from such involvement and awareness is for students to question their own values and beliefs as they encounter and engage with those of others. Having an informed opinion is what we expect of a critical thinker and one who is able to cast a critical eye over the business practices that they experience. So, what advice would I expect our graduates to give companies like Firestone, Merck or Dominoes Pizza, all of whom have been embroiled in one consumer controversy or another?

It would be to follow the golden rule.

Rob currently chairs the School of Business’s Undergraduate Advisory Group

AK AKORANGA KORANGA

THE PERIODICAL ABOUT LEARNING AND TEACHING FROM THE HIGHER EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT CENTRE

ISSUE 6: October 2010