Australian universities are a part of an internationally recognised
community of higher education and as such have, in common with
their international peers, a particular responsibility to create,
preserve, evaluate, interpret and transmit knowledge. While other
institutions in society also contribute to these same objectives,
it is a special responsibility of universities to foster and preserve
the scholarly values of search for truth, of curiosity, integrity
and critical appraisal, and to nurture these values in their students.
The AVCC sees diversity in functions, organisation and teaching as one of the chief strengths of the Australian university system. This is supported by the widely differing curricula offered in Australian universities. Effective teaching practice is sensitive to particular curricula in fostering those scholarly values.
The AVCC sees teaching as a creative activity designed to foster students' learning, their ability and desire to undertake scholarly work, and their development as a whole person. Teaching draws on professional and disciplinary expertise of staff and is continually revitalised by research, scholarship, consultancy, or professional practice.
The AVCC believes that the promotion of effective teaching should be a matter of highest priority for each university and that each institution needs to develop a coherent set of policies and practices which demonstrate that the institution values above all else the education of its students and the contributions that academic staff make to the enhancement of student learning.
The Guidelines for Effective University Teaching are based on research into teaching and learning, on good practices in institutions, and on criteria used in teaching awards, and in tenure and promotion procedures. The Guidelines set achievable goals, and government, institutions and academic staff are urged to implement them. The Guidelines focus on the responsibility of institutions, academic units and academic staff, as they are accountable for providing education in an environment conducive to learning. But underlying the Guidelines is the acknowledgment and expectation that students are active participants in the learning process and are central to the mission of every university.
1. |
THE UNIVERSITY TEACHER
|
University teaching is a profession and a scholarly activity which draws on a high level of competence and expertise in the discipline and/or relevant professional experience together with highly developed communication and interpersonal skills.
As professionals, university teachers need to be appropriate role models and exhibit to their students a commitment to scholarly values, to life long learning, to professional and personal growth through critical reflection and self-evaluation, to accountability for their own professional activities, and to a responsible and ethical practice of their profession.
As university teachers, staff need to acquire and develop knowledge and understanding of a wide range of teaching and assessment methods and of the principles which underlie student learning.
They should work to instil in their students a respect for their discipline and for learning generally, the need for personal progress towards competence and maturity, and a commitment to maximise the opportunities that each graduate will have to contribute to society.
As scholars university teachers need to contribute to their disciplines or at least be in touch with current research and scholarship, and to integrate into their teaching the knowledge and understanding which they or others create.
Students expect and value their university teachers' competence in the subject areas they teach; effective communication of their knowledge and experience; interest in and enthusiasm for their subject; concern and respect for students as persons, and a commitment to facilitate learning for each individual student.
Indeed, all university teachers have a professional responsibility to teach their subjects in such a way that all students, regardless of their background or characteristics, have an equal opportunity to learn and to demonstrate that learning, in accordance with the aims of the subject. This means that good teaching practices vary in relation to:
| a) | the context in which particular components of the course are offered, e.g., co-operative education, clinical teaching, laboratory teaching, skills training, or distance education; |
| b) | the disciplines and their particular concerns; |
| c) | the students, e.g., school-leavers, special admission students, mature-age students, part-time students, students with disabilities, students from non-English speaking backgrounds; |
| d) | the level and standards commonly agreed to, e.g., first year undergraduate, Honours, graduate level. |
However, despite the diversity in effective teaching practice, there are some common aims and principles. Generally, university teaching aims to enable students to reach their highest possible level of learning during their time of enrolment, and to prepare them for life-long learning. In practice this means that staff collectively are responsible for ensuring that the design, management and teaching of their subjects facilitate effective learning by their students.
1.1 |
Student Learning |
| 1.1.1 | provide students with opportunities to be involved in the structuring of their own learning experiences, and encourage them to take control of their learning; |
| 1.1.2 | develop students' confidence by setting assignments which are challenging and relevant to subject aims, and by providing constructive and timely feedback; |
| 1.1.3 | develop students' analytical and critical thinking skills by demonstrating these skills; and providing students with tasks appropriate to the development of these skills; |
| 1.1.4 | provide learning experiences that will enable students to develop both individual initiative and the skills needed to work co-operatively with their peers; |
| 1.1.5 | assist in the development of students' communication skills by providing opportunities for oral, graphic and written presentations and for feedback on their performance; |
| 1.1.6 | encourage and enable students to evaluate their own and each other's work critically; |
| 1.1.7 | make time available for giving advice to and for supervising individual students. |
1.2 |
Teaching and Assessment |
Teaching encompasses a wide range of activities including one-to-one consultations, postgraduate supervision, classroom teaching, supervising students' practical experience in laboratories, clinics, schools and industry, supervising projects, advising students, assessing students' work, preparing teaching and course materials for on-campus students, and contributing to course design and improvement and to curriculum development.
Assessment provides an evaluation of the students' competence in meeting specified objectives. But it is also an essential part of the teaching and learning process. Properly selected assessment tasks signal the importance of particular content, concepts and skills, influence approaches to study and help students to allocate their time appropriately. Constructive and timely feedback on assessment helps students to gain a sense of achievement and progress, an appreciation of the performance and standards expected in a particular discipline area, and to learn from their endeavours.
| 1.2.1 | select from a range of teaching approaches and teaching media those which will help students to meet subject and their own learning objectives most effectively; |
| 1.2.2 | select from a range of assessment methods for each subject, a combination of methods which meets the criteria of validity, fairness, and appropriateness for subject goals and specify these clearly and unambiguously; |
| 1.2.3 | provide constructive and timely feedback on each students' achievement and progress; |
| 1.2.4 | communicate to students their enthusiasm for the subjects they teach and arouse students' curiosity and creative interest in the subject; |
| 1.2.5 | draw on students' life and work experiences in their teaching and, wherever possible, make the subject relevant to students' career goals and link theory with professional practice and societal concerns; |
| 1.2.6 | keep abreast of developments in their disciplines, and/or profession, and in higher education teaching and learning, ground their teaching in their own insights from and experiences in research and consultancy, and revise their subjects and teaching accordingly. |
1.3 |
Subject Management |
| 1.3.1 | select content, skills and learning experiences in the subjects they design or teach which will foster students' intellectual and personal growth, and meet the requirement of the relevant profession; |
| 1.3.2 | express subject aims and objectives in the context of what students should expect to gain from their overall learning experience; |
| 1.3.3 | before enrolment, make available to students the aims and objectives of the subject, as well as assessment methods and timing, and the relative weight and number of assessment tasks so that students have guidance in subject choice and, once enrolled, can monitor their own progress towards the achievement of aims and objectives; |
| 1.3.4 | organise subject content coherently and at a level appropriate to the student group and level of study; |
| 1.3.5 | where appropriate, integrate field work and other off-campus activities such as industrial placements into the curriculum and organise them to enhance student learning; |
| 1.3.6 | liaise with colleagues teaching pre-requisite and subsequent subjects to ensure coherence in the course; |
| 1.3.7 | make use of other expertise, where appropriate, to provide breadth of course content; |
| 1.3.8 | discuss with colleagues, particularly part-time staff, who are teaching in the subject, the aims of the subject and how teaching and assessment are designed to help students to realise subject aims; |
| 1.3.9 | encourage part-time staff teaching in the subject to make use of available professional development opportunities; |
| 1.3.10 | monitor teaching and assessment by part-time staff teaching in their subject; |
| 1.3.11 | make sure that all resources which students are asked to use for effective learning in a subject are available, e.g., library books, computer terminals, audio-visual materials, laboratory equipment, and placements; |
| 1.3.12 | review regularly the content and focus of a subject, make revisions as required, and reflect critically upon their own teaching using feedback from a variety of sources to ascertain to what extent they are being successful in helping students realise their own as well as subject aims. |