Participant Information:
Proposed changes to the ITL's Principles and Practice of University Teaching & Learning program (P&P)
As you will be aware, the ITL's P&P program is mandatory for new teaching staff of the University, and is also part of a Semester 1 unit of study in the Graduate Certificate in Educational Studies (Higher Education). The program currently runs 4 times a year, taking in about 70 people each time, over 3 full days of face-to-face sessions.
We now plan to progressively introduce faculty-based development activities instead of the third day of the program. In other words, the ITL will continue to facilitate several programs per year, consisting of two consecutive full days in which all participants will take part. Day 3, however, will be more discipline-specific and more directly related to academics' individual teaching contexts.
Faculties will decide on the activities most appropriate for their respective staff members, but possibilities could include:
Type of activity |
Example |
| Faculty based peer observation of teaching | Participant asks peer to observe and give feedback on one of their lectures |
| Participation in/contribution to faculty teaching & learning events | Participant helps organise and facilitate a workshop for sessional staff |
| Participation in faculty teaching mentoring programs | Participant is mentored within an existing faculty scheme or mentors a more junior colleague |
| Participation in faculty teaching development projects | Participant contributes to developing a TIES grant application |
| Contributing to 'scholarship of teaching' activities in the faculty. | Participant submits an abstract to a Higher Education conference |
We envisage that once the 4 Cluster Coordinators are all appointed within the ITL, they will work closely with the faculties to plan and implement various 'Day 3' activities. For our forthcoming program in June 2008, the Arts & Social Sciences Cluster Coordinator (Susan Thomas) will get the ball rolling by developing such activities in collaboration with the relevant A/Deans.
In this interim period, the ITL will continue to offer a central program as Day 3 of P&P for participants from the other 3 Clusters. In doing so, the ITL will organise those Day 3 activities to reflect the discipline-specific focus of the revised program. For example, in the past the 'micro-teaching' which used to take place on Day 3 was not necessarily discipline-based; participants 'taught' whatever material they wanted. This will now change. Both the group composition and the 'teaching' will be faculty-based, thus making the experience more pedagogically authentic for all participants.
We look forward to discussing these issues further with our faculty colleagues.
Professor Keith Trigwell, Director ITL
Coordinator, Principles & Practice program
16.4.08
