"Connecting Through Feedback": Creating an Organisational Culture for Collaboration, Shared Problem Solving and Innovation in ICT

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Venema, Sven
Carruthers, Samantha
Griffith University Author(s)
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2019
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Washington, USA

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The problem: Openness to feedback is an attitude and skill fundamental for the current and next generation of computer practitioners. More and more they are expected to work in interdisciplinary teams, engage in collaborative design processes and take into consideration the moral implications of their work. But where does that openness to feedback come from and what are our academics modelling for our students? This poster presentation describes a long-term organisational culture change intervention in a university information technology department (school). The intervention, “Connecting Through Feedback’, was designed to shift a pre-existing norm of academics avoiding discussing student feedback about their learning and teaching practices, thus creating greater opportunities for collaboration, shared problem solving and innovation. In early 2014, it became evident to a school of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) leaders that the university-wide initiative to implement student success and retention teams were not forming. Team members reported an unwillingness of some colleagues to share feedback about their students and engage in constructive conversations about their teaching practices. In response, the school introduced a school based reflective practice process, known as Connecting Through Feedback, led by a psychologist/ internal consultant (from a central academic development unit) and mid-career academic from the school. This process was designed specifically to shift norms related to how school-based academic staff interact with students, their peers within the school, and faculty and university learning and teaching experts. The process has been running since 2014 and consists of a series of workshops (two a semester) that create an opportunity for colleagues to come together to reflect on their course feedback and student data, support each other to analyse the information and develop a plan for what they would do. It is managed within the school and facilitated by academics. Intervention: The Connecting Through Feedback process extends the scholarly practice of individual critical reflection (Potter & Kustra, 2011) using a group setting to create the conditions for double loop learning (Argyris and Schön, 1974). Wilson (2011) describes double loop learning in scholarly practice as critical reflection which stretches and challenges assumptions and conceptions, in order to improve as well as innovate. As these team based reflective practice cycles continued across semesters, participants reflected on what worked and what needed further consideration. The scholarly teaching cycle repeats as new hot data becomes available. Students participate in each cycle through giving feedback to their lecturers and then receiving information about what is planned in response, (see Figure 1.). Overtime the workshops have evolved to suit the needs of the group, for example the participants may choose to focus on a specific aspect of practice, such curriculum design.

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Technology, Mind, and Society Conference

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Curriculum and pedagogy

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Venema, S; Carruthers, S, "Connecting Through Feedback": Creating an Organisational Culture for Collaboration, Shared Problem Solving and Innovation in ICT, 2019