Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

Lunchtime Seminar Series

In 2010 the ITL is not running a seminar series. The ITL’s 2009 Lunchtime Seminar Series aimed to complement our existing programs by providing an alternative forum for cross-disciplinary discussions of university teaching and learning. The Seminar Series was part of the ALTC-funded Promoting Excellence Initiative, and involved informal, collegial discussions sparked by short talks from invited speakers. The seminars were open to all, but were of particular interest to participants in, and graduates of, the Graduate Certificate in Educational Studies (Higher Education) and to those seeking to reconnect to teaching as an intellectual and practical endeavour of vital importance to society.

The seminars were held from 12:30-1:30pm on select Fridays, in Room 360 of the Carslaw Building. The co-convenors of the seminar series were Cynthia Nelson and Tania Gerzina

Past seminars - Semesters 1&2, 2009

16 October

Educating the Net Generation

Abstract
This seminar is one of a series of seminars being held in universities across the country to disseminate the findings of 'Educating the Net Generation', a project funded by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council. The project examined technology-facilitated learning and teaching across a range of institutions and disciplines, with a view to sharing emerging good practice.

We will discuss some key findings in relation to the following questions: What are the implications of having 'digital natives' and 'digital immigrants' among the students and staff of Australian universities? What insights can be derived from projects at various universities in which students used web 2.0 tools to create subject content? What might social software websites and tools mean for teaching and learning in higher education? Recent findings from a study at the University of Sydney will also be presented and discussed.

Speaker
Karl Maton is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology & Social Policy at the University of Sydney. He has been researching curriculum, pedagogy and higher education for the past 14 years and completed his PhD at the University of Cambridge in 2005. Karl has an established international reputation in research into higher education in Australia and the UK, and brings an extensive understanding of educational theory and higher education to the project.

Sue Bennett is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education (Information Technology in Education) at the University of Wollongong. She has 15 years experience as a university teacher in a broad range of disciplines including education, information technology, physics, and engineering. Sue has a strong, applied research background in the areas of ICT integration in higher education and the design of learning resources.

Since 2006, Maton and Bennett have developed a research agenda focusing on the digital technology experiences of university students and staff. Together they have conducted studies of: pre-service teachers' conceptions of digital technology (2006-2008); everyday technologies used by students and teachers across disciplines ($8K, UOW Small Grant, 2007); and student opinions of digital publishing ($3K, USyd Strategic Development Grant, 2007). They also lead the UOW part of the Carrick Institute-funded study, 'Educating the Net Generation' ($177K, 2006-2009).

5 June

Learning to Teach: Mentoring Programs for Early Career Academics
Duane Roen, Professor of English and Head of Humanities and Arts, Arizona State University; Former Director of the Center for Learning and Teaching Excellence, Arizona State University

Abstract
When hiring early career academics, universities assume responsibility for providing support that will enhance the potential for these new colleagues to experience success in teaching, research/creative activity, and service. Their success is crucial because it benefits students, colleagues, the institution, the professional fields, and the general public. Focusing on success in teaching, Duane Roen will describe several mentoring programs for early career academics, including the following: "rookie camps", week-long summer workshops, peer teaching reviews, formal assignments of multiple mentors for multiple purposes. After briefly describing and discussing such mentoring activities, Duane will encourage participants to describe their experiences with mentoring and/or their wish lists for mentoring.

Speaker
Duane Roen, Professor of English, is former Director of the Center for Learning and Teaching Excellence, which serves university teachers in more than twenty colleges on the four campuses of Arizona State University (ASU). He has also served as president of the academic staff senate at ASU. He currently serves as Head of Humanities and Arts in the School of Letters and Sciences. In addition to more than 200 chapters, articles, and conference presentations on a range of teaching and learning topics, Duane has published eight books on teaching writing and learning to write. He has also conducted hundreds of workshops on diverse topics related to teaching, learning, and professional development.

22 May

Student perspectives on university teaching
Mr Noah White, President of the Students’ Representative Council (SRC)
Ms Rashmi Kumar, President of Sydney University Postgraduate Representative Association (SUPRA)
Mr Ruchir Punjabi, President of the University of Sydney Union (USU)

Abstract
Three of the student leaders at the University of Sydney will present their perspectives on what students want their teachers to know about student learning. What makes engaged learning happen? What makes critical thinking happen? What doesn't? What does it mean to be a life-long learner and how does a teacher inspire this skill in a student? Student learning styles are an important consideration when designing teaching resources and different instructional methodologies adopted by the teacher in the learning environment engage differently with different styles.

Listen to the presentation below

8 May

Teaching focused positions: Teaching excellence ...or... it's only teaching?
Associate Professor Simon Barrie (ITL)

To download this seminar's trigger papers please click here.

The debate about the place of teaching in academic work has a long history in Western universities; however it has re-emerged in several Australian universities in recent times in the particular context of discussions about teaching focused roles and in some cases, teaching focused appointments for academic staff. While the issues are not new, they are complex, yet the debate in Australia appears to be largely fuelled by opinions rather than research.

This ITL seminar will bring together insights contributed by some of the emerging and established international thinkers on this topic and use these insights as triggers for an open discussion exploring possible implications of separating teaching from other aspects of the (currently) familiar academic role. It is hoped the seminar will provide another opportunity for members of the university community to discuss and explore some of the pros and cons relevant to this issue.

24 April

Survey fatigue: Making the best use of student feedback
Professor Keith Trigwell (ITL)

Abstract
A recent audit of student surveys at the University of Sydney made note of the dangers of survey fatigue in the student population. In addition to a range of research and one-off administrative surveys, the Institute for Teaching and Learning provides administrative support for six different forms of quantitative feedback from current and recently graduated students. Should we be using such an array of questionnaires? What are the purposes of data collection on this scale?  How can you best use these data? This seminar will address these questions as well as providing time for discussion on other related questions.

Speaker
Keith Trigwell became Director of ITL and Professor of Higher Education in October 2006. He was previously Director of the Oxford Centre for Excellence in Preparing for Academic Practice, a Fellow of Kellogg College, and Reader in Higher Education at the University of Oxford. He has a PhD in chemistry, university teaching experience in chemistry and education, has had seven joint ARC research grants and has published over 100 journal articles, conference papers and books, including Understanding Learning and Teaching: The experience in higher education, which is a summary of 10 years of learning/teaching research. His research work in Oxford and Sydney focuses on investigations into qualitative differences in university teaching and in the students’ learning experience, on teaching-research relations and the scholarship of teaching generally.  In the last few years he has given invited addresses on teaching-learning research in Spain, Slovenia, Switzerland, Finland, USA, Canada, Belgium, Ireland, Iceland and the UK. He is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Oxford and a Visiting Scholar at the University of Iceland, Co-president of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Higher Education Special Interest Group Co-ordinator for the European Association for Research in Learning and Instruction, and in 2005 was appointed a co-ordinating editor of the international journal Higher Education.

3 April

Interprofessional education: The present and the future
Professor Jill Thistlethwaite, Director of the Institute of Clinical Education at the University of Warwick. Formerly, Jill was a member of the Office of Postgraduate Medical Education here at the University of Sydney.

Abstract
Interprofessional education takes place on“occasions when two or more professions learn together with the object of cultivating collaborative practice” (CAIPE, 1997)thus providingopportunities for learning across professional boundaries.  That is the educational promise of IPE. Ian Coulter, Vice Chancellor of Charles Sturt University, in strongly supporting interprofessional health education remarked that in this educational process “ the discipline silos of traditional health education  can be made more ‘porous’ through curriculum, pedagogy, work experience or structural arrangements”.   What is the evidence supporting interprofessional education?  What is the future for this form of educational reform?  What have been the effects of IPE on teaching “as we know it”? In this seminar, Jill Thistlethwaite will explore these questions… and more!

Speaker
Professor Thistlethwaite is Director of the Institute of Clinical Education at the University of Warwick, Professor of Clinical Education and Research and a general medical practitioner and the current President of InterEd, an international organization for promoting and evaluating Interprofessional Education (IPE) (see www.interedhealth.org).  She is associate editor of the Journal of Interprofessional Care, and ison the editorial advisory board of the Clinical Teacher and Work Based Learning in Primary Care. She is also a member of the World Health Organisation supported IPE study group, exploring the scope and practice of IPE and defining national and international learning outcomes.  Her interests are consultation/communication skills training and assessment, shared decision making, professionalism, portfolio-based assessment and interprofessional learning. Recent grants include an Australian Learning and Teaching Council Discipline Based Initiatives grant with University of Technology, Sydney on a national approach to building interprofessional learning capacity within the higher education sector. She has published in a variety of education and clinical journals and is co-author of three books on consultation skills (for the Royal College of General Practitioners in the UK), professionalism and working with simulated patients.

March 27

The consequences, costs, and challenges of standards-based assessment
Professor Margaret Price (Oxford Brookes University)

Abstract
What problematic aspects of university assessment systems are often accommodated without question? What are the implications for student learning of such ?actions?? How might such systems be re-conceived? In this seminar, Margaret Price will look at some of the issues that have made assessment such a hot topic in the last 10 years. The seminar will include time for discussion and debate.

Speaker
Professor Margaret Price is Director of the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, ASKe (Assessment Standards Knowledge Exchange) at Oxford Brookes University UK. She is working with a team of colleagues to build a learning community centred on assessment, in order to encourage innovation and foster evidence-based assessment practice within the Higher Education sector. Professor Price is recognised internationally for her expertise on criterion referenced assessment, social constructivist approaches to sharing knowledge of assessment standards with students, and the effectiveness of sharing knowledge of standards within marking teams.