This ongoing research project aims to generate knowledge that facilitates effective and inclusive open university teaching, contributing to the development of a well-being community and successful learning pathway. The study focuses on investigating the perspectives and experiences of open university students and part-time teachers regarding engagement, assessment, and inclusion within the university community. 

Universities employ many part-time teachers who are experts in their field but often lack the pedagogical training considered crucial for teaching and assessment. Assessment feedback quality is intrinsically linked to student learning (e.g., Carless & Boud 2018). However, providing quality feedback to students is currently challenging in a context in which universities are increasingly relying on casualized and inexperienced academic staff to assess undergraduate work (Richards et al., 2017). A key factor that affects teachers' assessment conceptions is the prevailing assessment culture (Segers & Tillema, 2011), meaning the beliefs and values that underlie assessment practices and tasks and that guide assessment practices across a community (Deneen & Bound, 2014; Fuller & Skidmore, 2014.) This project seeks to explore and improve open university teaching by examining engagement, assessment, and inclusion within the open university community.

The data was gathered in two separate sub-studies. 

1. Part-time teachers’ (N=50) assessment conceptions & and organizational sense of belonging​
2. Students’ course completion risk factors (N = 295)

Engagement in community-based activities, such as pedagogical design as a team, strengthens teachers' assessment skills (Xu & Brown, 2016).​ Moreover, it is widely recognized that experiences of participation / sense of belonging is linked with job satisfaction & well-being at work (Lindberg & Vingård, 2017).​ Furthermore, university teachers' well-being at work is known to be related to their job performance, teaching quality, and student satisfaction (Gulati et al., 2018)​. Given this, we're studying the link between part-time teachers' experiences of organizational belonging and their assessment views. Despite their growing role in higher education (e.g., Ott & Dippold, 2018), research on part-time teachers is lacking.​

Research questions and focus areas:

Question 1: Is teachers' sense of organizational belonging connected to their views on assessment?​

Question 2: Can fostering a sense of belonging among open university students strengthen their study engagement?​

Question 3: How a sense of belonging, on a broader scale, can be nurtured in open higher education?​ (Upcoming data collection in 2024).

A sense of belonging to the organization emerges as a key factor in promoting well-being within teaching. Quality teaching outcomes have both individual and societal significance, reinforcing the vitality of the open university as an organization. Identifying these key factors supports the enhancement of teaching practices and overall organizational effectiveness. Our research findings hold the potential to inform the creation of pedagogical practices and support services that promote collaboration, communication, and an open and transparent approach. These efforts aim to strengthen motivation, commitment, and alignment with the community's goals and values.

The findings will inform the development of pedagogical practices, support services, and a strong sense of community, ultimately enhancing the well-being and learning outcomes for all stakeholders involved. Open university students and part-time teachers play crucial roles in university operations, yet often function as separate entities, resulting in a lack of community and unity. Therefore, it is essential for the university community to have a clear vision of integrating open university students and part-time teachers into the broader university community. Organizational actors have a crucial responsibility to ensure that sufficient support and resources are available to meet the needs of open university students and part-time teachers. Support for open university students and part-time teachers may include academic assistance, mentoring, counseling, and flexible learning options. Availability of resources like technology, learning materials, databases, and library resources is crucial.

Through a comprehensive approach, the research incorporates literature reviews of relevant previous studies and quantitative research based on collected data. Central to the research objectives is the exploration of practices that enable well-being, community, and inclusion, fostering a respectful and socially sustainable organizational culture, pedagogical encounters, and ethically sustainable actions. Part-time teachers’ (N=50) assessment conceptions were measured via web-based questionnaire with 19 items that included statements created specifically for the present study, and statements used in previous assessment studies (Brown, 2004; Kyttälä et al., 2022). Teachers’ assessment conceptions were measured with 19 items, 6 from the questionnaire of Kyttälä et al. (2022), 2 from the Teachers’ Conceptions of Assessment (COA) III (Brown (2004), and 11 formulated by the research team. Most of these 11 items were modified from the instruments of Kyttälä et al. (2022) and Brown (2004) with these authors’ permission. Statistical analyses were made using SPSS version 28.0, and p values below 0.05 were considered statistically significant. The Mann-Whitney U test showed that pedagogical studies explained about 35% of the variation in conceptions of assessment of teaching and learning. Teachers who had completed teachers’ pedagogical studies (60 credits) reported conceptions of Assessment of teaching and learning, which refers to formative assessment, more often than those who had not. Stagely study engagement risk factors for completing open higher education distance learning courses were examined using an online questionnaire administered to students (N=295) enrolled in the basic studies of Psychology in an open university. Effectively counteracting the study engagement risk factors requires their identification at each stage of study completion. We categorized previously identified risk factors to non-study related (life situation, time availability, motivation), supervision (instructions and feedback before, during and after task completion), and study resources (completion method, course difficulty level, course material and its availability, study environment and course schedule) (e.g., Maunula et al. 2021; Yukselturk & Inan, 2006: Yukselturk et al., 2014). We sent an email questionnaire probing these risk factors and course completion to 1000+ open university students in basic studies of psychology. 295 students, 70 of whom did not complete all courses responded to the questionnaire. Using logistic regression, we modeled the effect of these risk factors on course completion for four stages of distance learning course completion: 1. course completion, 2. failure, 3. abandoning before completion, 4. not initiated.

Our findigs indicate, that cultivating sense of organizational belonging facilitates perceiving assessment as formative. Formative assessment includes self-assessment, peer evaluation, and teacher-conducted evaluation (Keeley, 2008; Black & Wiliam, 2009). Students reflect their own learning, evaluate their competence levels, and adjusting their attitudes and approaches accordingly. In parallel, teachers employ a variety of assessment methods to measure students' progress and utilize these insights to refine their teaching. While the importance of formative assessment in learning is generally recognized, its application in higher education remains less understood. Success isn't solely tied to the choice of assessment; students' learning skills also play a vital role. Within this research, a successful learning pathway is broadly understood as a cycle of positive influence: student participation is facilitated through the personnel's own experiences of participation and a community-based organizational culture, leading to sustainable learning and education. This holistic approach seeks to promote well-being and equip individuals with the skills and abilities necessary to navigate complex and ever-changing conditions responsibly. We found that students’ abandoning the task before initiating was explained by low motivation, inappropriate completion methods, and insufficient time for studies. Failed submissions were associated with poor study skills and poor availability of the learning material. Course completion was the most effectively supported by high motivation level and available time. In open higher education distance learning, the same countermeasures can be used to foster motivation and motivational regulation, design appropriate completion methods, and improve study skills. According to the psychological self-determination theory, study motivation requires fulfilment of the basic needs of competence, autonomy, and communality (Ryan & Deci 2018, 2020). Sense of belonging (and its closely related concept, participation) can be supported through systematic pedagogical choices (e.g. group work, peer assessment, discussion forums).

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