Professor Ian Macdonald
Research Interests
The learning process is complex, and to a certain extent individual. My interest is in the way people approach their learning. My masters and doctoral research involved helping students in their final years of secondary school know more about their learning and make better decisions about the best way to achieve their learning goals, commonly called metacognition. In the process I have learned a great deal about the issues that promote and obstruct good learning. Theories relating to metacognition, constructivist philosophy, reflection on practice, and the concept of the informed decision maker all guide my work.
The collaborative and social nature of learning has supported the concept of students being a part of a learning community if they are to be successful learners. I am interested in models of learning communities that improve the interaction of students with their peers and the substantive content of their learning programs. Curriculum and teaching practices that promote the development, and support the continuation, of learning communities are also of great importance.
The Shell Learning Centre, based in the Hague in the Netherlands, uses a particularly effective teaching approach with its industry learning units that blends online learning through a learning management system, and face to face workshops. As many of these units are accredited into the Master of Technology degree I managed, I worked closely with the Learning Centre staff to maximise the effectiveness of the approach, while maintaining accreditation with the university. Regular visits to the Learning Centre, and instructor access to all accredited units, has allowed intimate involvement with this powerful approach. The potential transfer to university learning, and the radical changes to how universities operate that flow is exciting. At UNE I have championed this approach, and helped to create a pilot project in Urban Planning. See paper about Shell experience .
In some part based on the PEEL model of teacher professional development in secondary schools, I have refining a model for an integrated approach to education at the university level. Teaching Communities are a multi-dimensional approach to improving curriculum, teaching methods, teacher professional development, and ultimately improved student learning at the University level. Teaching Communities are professional Learning Communities which are the implementation of the research into all of the above interests. These have been successfully implemented at Monash Faculty of Computing, at Victoria University Psychology Department, and at Swinburne University in Engineering and in the School of Information Technology.
Quality teaching.
Promoting high quality learning is a difficult art. Defining quality teaching inevitably references an understanding of quality learning. In collaboration with colleagues at Monash University and in particular the PEEL collective, I am interested in developing and implementing teaching strategies that create a rich, supportive learning environment that maximises the chances of students engaging in high quality learning. This is an almost infinitely complex field with multiple dimensions.
Professional development of teachers - secondary school and university academics.
Good learning environments are dependent on teachers understanding their role, and having the knowledge and skills to create suitable learning environments. In the same notion as the student being an Informed Decision Maker, the teacher must also learn to be a more expert professional. I am interested in all manner of methods to engage teachers in reflection on their practice, gain new knowledge and implement continuous improvement to their professional work.
Offshore teaching.
Exporting education has become a significant part of the Australian economy. Australian Universities are going beyond offshore institution partnerships, and are building their own branded campuses in other countries. Delivering the same degree programs at similar quality in these very different environments is an immense challenge. There are a wide range of issues to consider, from student learning difference, the recruitment and retention of academic staff, funding and managing campuses, the most effective teaching and learning strategies, and the most efficient and effective means of supporting (and controlling) programs from afar. All are major research issues in their own right. see paper on this work.
Secondary to university transition.
The change from secondary school study to university study is proving a very difficult hurdle for many students. I have been involved in research studies that have sought to identify the problems, and develop programs to assist students move into the new learning situations. This involves the development of less confronting first year programs at the university, and in helping prepare students for the change and assist them during it.
Rural and Remote Students.
Rural students, and those from remote locations, are badly under-represented at university. With a grant from the Swinburne Equity Office I was able to research the particular issues facing rural students in Victoria. A preliminary study identified a series of problems faced by students (see paper), and a follow up multiple case study lead to significant insights into transition issues they faced, and ways to address them. The latter work was unfortunately not written up, as Swinburne suffered a funding crisis, closed the research centre, and I ended up in Vietnam....
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