UWA Education Futures project Report to the Teaching and Learning Committee.

UWA Education Futures project

Report to the Teaching and Learning Committee

Outline

• UWA Futures

• UWA Education Futures Vision

• Feedback

• Making movies

• Potential outcomes

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UWA Futures

Vice Chancellor Paul Johnson, August 2012

Proposals to strengthen UWA’s educational, research and community activities

Context – Expanded undergraduate numbers– NC2012 (professional degrees at postgraduate level)– Changing technology– Changing provision of tertiary education (MOOCs)– Changing expectations of students– Increasing demands of workplace

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UWA Education Futures Working Party

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• Honourable Doctor Elizabeth Constable

• Winthrop Professor Grady Venville

• Winthrop Professor Brendan Waddell

• Winthrop Professor Denise Chalmers

• Winthrop Professor Phil Hancock

• Winthrop Professor Helen Wildy (Project Director)

• Ms Ye’elah Berman (Executive Officer)

UWA Education Futures: Vision

• Transformative teaching

• Evidence-based teaching

• Experiential learning

• Integrated research experiences

• Optimised resources

• Vibrant campus environment

• Global citizenship and leadership

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Feedback from staff

• Teaching is undervalued at UWA; focus is on research

• Technology

– increases social isolation of students– increases dependency (all information will be provided online)– decreases student engagement in learning and in campus life

• Fears that using technology decreases opportunities for – teamwork– building peer relationships– building staff-student relationships– cross disciplinary knowledge generation

• Demands of students most of whom have jobs

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Feedback from students

• UWA only cares about research not teaching

• Students want– stronger emphasis on ‘tutorials’ as opposed to lectures– better and more feedback – skills required for industry (not lecturer’s interests)– other students to be prepared for, and engaged in, classes

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Feedback from external stakeholders

• Attention to values and ethical practice

• Emphasis on leadership development

• Engagement with industry

• Experiential and supported learning

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Movies• Why make movies?

– Initial motivation: to show UWA’s innovative teaching

• ClassMovies– started 2003 – 5000+ movies in 5 countries by 2013– brings together film and education sectors– modest costs– empowers movie makers– uses professionally trained film makers– makes the private act of teaching visible for discussion

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Process of selecting movie makers

• Teaching and Learning Awards

• SURF scores

• Student nominations

• Staff nominations

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20 movies

• Teaching innovations linked to the vision statement

• All 7 faculties

• All stages of career (Levels B to E)

• Focus on – large undergraduate classes– professional courses at postgraduate level

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Example: Using ICT

• Assistant Professor Kate Offer (Law School)

– Title: The Role of the Lecturer in the Modern University– Use of social media in lectures

• Winthrop Professor Wendy Erber (Head of School, School of Pathology and

Laboratory Medicine)– Title: Large class, small group, high-tech teaching– Pathology lab with ground breaking technology

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Example: Integrating research and teaching

• Associate Professor Nicki Mitchell (School of Animal Biology)

– Title: Embedding Real Science in First Year Biology– Students analyse data collected by citizen scientists and write a

paper for publication

• Winthrop Professor Shaun Collin (WA Premier’s Research Fellow, UWA

Ocean’s Institute)– Title: The research-teaching nexus: Discovery-based learning in

marine neuroecology

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Example: Meeting the learning needs of postgraduate students

• Assistant Professor Leo Langa (Accounting and Finance)

– Title: Will let you know the name in a few days– Contrasts his first year accounting unit with his masters

accounting unit

• Winthrop Professor Sharon Parker (Management and Organisations)

– Title: Launching MBA students to new leadership heights– LAUNCH – an optional unit in the MBA, focusing on personal

development

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Example: Small groups within large undergraduate classes

• Associate Professor Marco Ghisalberti (Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering)

– Title: Team Based Learning in an Undergraduate Setting– Small group work in Engineering

• Dr Michael Champion

(Classics and Ancient History)– Title: In Medias Res: Learning Latin in Small Groups– Latin in small groups. Alternating students take on the ‘teacher’

role

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Plans for using the movies

• Available through a website

• Annotated links to Vision statements

• Discussion Board inviting commentary

• Leading to workshops on applications of teaching strategies

• Launched with the Vision on 12 May 2014

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Use of movies by faculties, schools, staff

• Staff to reflect on and review their teaching, and to promote their units, courses

• Schools and faculties to reflect on and review their teaching and to promote courses, research, links with other disciplines

• The university to promote its innovative teaching and to demonstrate to staff and student that teaching matters

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Potential outcomes of making movies

• reflecting on teaching strategies by academics

• collaboratively reviewing innovation

• sharing teaching approaches across disciplines

• promoting units, courses, fields of study, disciplines

• stimulating research about teaching

• enhancing the status of teaching within the institution

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