Implementing Communities of Practice in Higher Education

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xlv

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2. Profiles of Higher Education Communities of Practice: Case studies

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-2

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   2. Sustaining the Momentum: A Cross-Institutional Community of Practice for Research Supervisors

      • Aileen Cater-Steel, Jacquie McDonald, Peter Albion, Petrea Redmond

      Pages 3-17

   3. The Role of Higher Education in Facilitating Communities of Practice to Support Health Professionals Practice

      • Claire Palermo

      Pages 19-28

   4. Building a Network and Finding a Community of Practice for Undergraduate Mathematics Lecturers

      • Deborah King, Joann Cattlin

      Pages 29-51

   5. Communities Practising Generous Scholarship: Cultures of Collegiality in Academic Writing Retreats

      • Sally Stewart Knowles

      Pages 53-80

   6. Using Technology to Build Engagement in a Global Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Community of Practice

      • Deb Clarke, Lee Partridge, Lesley Petersen

      Pages 81-106

   7. Researcher Preparation for Indigenous Fundamental Research Through Collaborative Participation

      • Puneet Bindlish, Ankur Joshi, Priyanka Dutt, Pawan Verma, Shaveta Arora

      Pages 107-129

   8. Imagining the World: Creating an Artistic Community of Practice in an Academic Environment

      • Suzanne Fegan

      Pages 131-156

3. Communities of Practice—Curriculum Development

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 157-157

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   2. Enabling Stories: Narrative, Leadership, Learning and Identity in a Faculty-Based Teaching Community of Practice

      • Wendy Green, Aaron Ruutz, Luke Houghton, Raymond Hibbins

      Pages 159-181

   3. Choosing Change: Using a Community of Practice Model to Support Curriculum Reform and Improve Teaching Quality in the First Year

      • Mary Heath, Tania Leiman

      Pages 183-204

   4. Communities of Practice: A Practical Approach to Enhance Student Learning at a South African University

      • Shalini Dukhan

      Pages 205-226

   5. A Facilitated Community of Practice: Enabling Student Success in the Blended Learning Environment

      • Clare Power, Lyn Armstrong

      Pages 227-252

   6. A Community of Practice for Blended Science and Engineering Learning and Teaching at UniSA

      • Deb Moulton, Paul Corcoran, Patrick James, Pramila Rathore

      Pages 253-280

   7. Sustainability Focused CoP: Enabling Transformative Education

      • Theresa Ashford, Clare Archer-Lean, Graham Ashford, Jane Taylor, Noni Keys, Dana Thomsen et al.

      Pages 281-302

4. Student Focused Communities of Practice

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 303-303

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   2. A Doctoral Community of Practice: A Spatial Entity Across Social Media

      • Jane Davis, Debbie Prescott, Barry Avery, Hans Oberg

      Pages 305-324

   3. A Student-Staff Community of Practice Within an Inter-University Final-Year Project

      • Dawn Bennett, Sally A. Male

      Pages 325-346

   4. Learning Value and Identity Formation: Social Learning and the Graduate Studies Experience

      • Diane M. Culver, Rachael Bertram

      Pages 347-372

In this edited collection, the authors pick up the communities of practice (CoP) approach of sharing practice in their reflection on the experience of taking their CoP vision from a dream to reality. Their stories articulate the vision, the passion and the challenge of working within and/or changing existing institutional culture and practice. The book discusses strategies that worked and considers the lessons learnt to inspire future dreamers and schemers. The multiple perspectives provided in the case studies will assist higher education leaders, as well as academic and professional staff, in establishing or assessing CoPs. The book offers insights into implementation strategies, practical guidelines and ideas on how CoP theoretical underpinnings can be tailored to the higher education context.

• Communities of Practice
• Higher Education
• Social Learning Theory
• Professional Learning
• Technology implementation
• Learning communities
• learning and instruction

“Religious and theological education readers are likely to glean inspiration, ideas, and implementation strategies that contribute to learning with and from one another in today’s isolating yet interconnected world.” (Anne-Marie Ellithorpe, The Wabash Center Journal On Teaching, Vol. 1 (1), 2020)

• University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Australia

  Jacquie McDonald, Aileen Cater-Steel

Jacquie McDonald has worked with higher education academics designing online and distance-learning courses and professional learning programs for over 25 years. Her experience and research demonstrate the value of communities of practice (CoP) in building the social learning and teaching capacity of educators, and contributing to scholarly practice and publications. Since 2006 she has led the successful implementation of communities of practice at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. This initiative was recognised by a 2009 Australian Universities Quality Agency commendation and 2009 Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) citation. She has led a number of institutional and national fellowships and grants in CoP leadership, implementation and research. She has been invited by national and international universities to facilitate workshops and contribute to CoP projects.

Aileen Cater-Steel is a professor of information systems at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ). Her research interests include IT service management, IT governance, e-learning, and research supervision. At USQ she facilitates a community of practice for research supervisors. Aileen has led two Australian Research Council Linkage projects in the area of IT service management and is an active researcher in the Australian Centre for Sustainable Business Development. Aileen’s work has been published in many top-tier international academic journals. She has published three edited collections of research articles. Aileen is a Fellow of the Australian Computer Society. Prior to her academic career, Aileen held senior IT positions in the public and private sector.

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