What are the teaching and learning expectations at Deakin

1
What are the teaching and learning expectations
at Deakin?

• Prof Colin Mason
• Director, ITL

2
Outline

• My background and personal reflections
• An introduction from you
• Who will you be teaching and how some further
  observations
• Removing tension between teaching and research?
• Student-centredness and student engagement
• The key role of assessment and interactivity
• Q A and evaluation

3
Who am I?

• BSc Nutrition, MSc Pharmacology, GCE, PhD
  Anaemia of chronic renal disease
• Lecturer/Senior Lecturer Haematology, Bradford,
  UK
• Secondment (0.5FTE) T L, Bradford, UK
• Head Staff Development St Andrews, Scotland
• Director Teaching and Learning Development St
  Andrews
• Warden UG/PG Halls of Residence, St Andrews
• Dean Teaching Learning, Auckland, NZ
• Director, ITL Deakin

4
Teachers

• Those that can, teach
• Those that cant, teach teachers
• Those that cant, research teaching
• Those that cant, become Professors and Deans
• Those that cant, become heads of internal
  quality assurance
• Those that cant, become Directors of External
  Quality Assurance (eg QAA, UK AUQA, Australia)
• Those that cant, become Ministers for Education

5
In your (table) groups introduce yourselves (5
min)

• Your name
• Your School at Deakin
• Where you were born
• Something completely different about you that
  you think no-one would guess

6
To which Faculty do you belong?

• Arts and Education
• Business and Law
• Health, Medicine, Nursing and Behavioural
  Sciences
• Science and Engineering

7
How long have you been teaching in higher
education?

• gt 5 years
• 2-3 years
• 1 year
• 3-12 months
• Not at all

8
And my gender is

• Male
• Female

9
And my cultural/national origin is

• Australian (indigenous)
• Australian
• European
• Asian
• African

10
Deakins Principles of Teaching and Learning and
the Student Experience

• STUDENTS

• CURRICULA

• Focus on learning outcomes
• Recognise and celebrate student diversity

• Courses that are relevant and future oriented
• Courses that are flexible

11
Deakins Principles of Teaching and Learning and
the Student Experience

• TEACHERS
• Teachers who are innovative and motivate students
  to learn
• Teachers who are scholarly and professional

• LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
• A learning environment that is flexible and
  responsive to student needs
• A learning environment which provides engagement
  with the university community

12
Tensions in Higher EducationWho will you be
teaching and how?
13
Why are lectures still used so frequently in
higher education (best answer)

• So that lecturers can demonstrate how expert they
  are in their subject
• Because they are a very efficient means of
  transmitting information to large numbers of
  students
• To provide a common space where students can be
  enthused by a lecturer exploring key concepts of
  their subject
• Students expect them as part of university
  education and prefer listening to actively
  contributing
• Lectures are easier to prepare than more
  interactive resource-based techniques

14
Model of Flexible Delivery of Learning(Adapted
from Buckingham, 2004)
15
Tension between Research and Teaching
If it wasnt for all these (UG) students I could
do more research
16
Research-Teaching Linkages

• Boyer Commission
• Reinventing undergraduate education A blueprint
  for Americas Research Universities (1998)
• 10 ways to change undergraduate curriculum
• http//naples.cc.sunysb.edu/Pres/boyer.nsf/

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Boyers Ten ways to ..

• Make research-based learning (mini-projects)
  the standard (involve UGs in research process
  mentor for every student internships)
• Inquiry-based first year (curiosity,
  problem-based learning including group
  projects)
• Building in the second year (including
  integration of direct entry)
• Remove barriers to inter-disciplinarity (flexible
  course and/or unit swaps)

18
Boyers Ten ways to ..

• Link communication skills and course work
  (Presentations and writing down as well as
  up)
• Use Information Technology creatively eg
  electronic classrooms (exploit digital
  technology and media)
• Culminate with a capstone experience
  (compulsory project or dissertation)

19
Boyers Ten ways to ..

• Graduate students as apprentice teachers
  (Postgraduate tutors or sessional staff)
• Change faculty reward systems highest standards
  in teaching and research (and reward systems to
  match evaluate teaching look for integration
  of research with teaching)
• Cultivate a Sense of Community (strong social
  as well as academic opportunities see diversity
  as an asset)

20
A model of Research-Teaching linkage in
curriculum design
Griffiths, Brew, Healy 2004-2005
21
Some practical ways forward

• Jenkins and Healey (2005)
• Develop research policies and strategies to
  strengthen the link
• Schools (Departments) are expected to identify
  research policies that support the curriculum and
  underpin teaching (Gibbs, 2003)
• Mason, C, Laidlaw, A, Humphris, G and Bamber, V
  (2009).
• "Chapter 11, Theme 2 Carrots but no Sticks
  Resource-led Enhancement", in Enhancing Learning
  and Teaching in Higher Education Theory, Cases,
  Practices. Open University Press and McGraw-hill
  Education. (In press April 2009 publishing date).

22
Engagement

• Engagement as a right (but with responsibilities)
• Engagement through assessment and interactivity
• Engagement through transdisciplinary skills and
  attitude development
• Evaluating the extent to which teaching engages
  students the coming of the AUSSE

23
Deakins Student Charter

• Preamble
• Student life should be memorable and rich in a
  range of experiences academic and vocational
  development, personal growth and making new local
  and international connections an experience
  that lasts a lifetime
• Expectations
• Treated as an individual rights respected
• Be well prepared for employment and continuous
  learning
• Be engaged as a member of the University
  community
• Responsibilities
• Positively shape their educational experience
• Engage actively in the University environment
• Show and earn respect in relating with others in
  the University and wider community

24
Q. Write down the names of 10 colours

• A.
• 1 Black
• 2 White
• 3 Yellow
• 4 Blew
• 5 Green
• 6 Red
• 7 Orrange
• 8 Indigo
• 9 Broon
• 10 Violet

8.5
7
10
5
Almost any number (0-10)
Score this answer out of 10
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Assessment improving reliability
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Myths about assessment

• Assessment ? measurement
• Problems with summative assessment (Knight 2002)
• Limits of number
• High-precision, high reliability
• Threats to validity
• Representing all aspects of student achievement
• So

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Complex outcomes of learning

• Complex learning outcomes including
• higher order academic abilities (analysis,
  synthesis, evaluation) and
• soft skills or graduate attributes (eg
  teamwork, communication, time management) are
  rarely, and often poorly and inconsistently
  defined.
• Such learning is
• Advanced and difficult to measure
• Slow to develop (100s or 1000s of hours?)
• Fuzzy (precision reliability often only
  possible at the expense of validity).

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Forms (Modes) of Assessment
Reality
Theory
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Shift to Formative Assessment

• Knight, PT (2002). Summative Assessment in
  Higher Education practices in disarray.
  Studies in Higher Education, 27, No.3, 275-286.

Assessment
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A shift in the balance of modes of assessment?

• Low-stakes for formative purposes
• Create informed feedback on achievement in order
  to improve future achievement
• SENLEF Higher Education Academy and Scottish
  Higher Education Developers
• http//www.heacademy.ac.uk/ourwork/learning/assess
  ment/senlef
• REAP, Scottish Funding Council 2005-07 (D Nicol,
  Strathclyde)
• http//www.reap.ac.uk/
• Specifically think about Feed-forward as well
  as feed-back

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How to increase feed-forward?

• Encourage students to submit drafts provide
  feedback and then they re-submit
• First years are particularly vulnerable
• What about having no summative assessments in the
  first Semester (or Trimester)?
• For coursework
• Apply progressive weighting to assignments to
  minimise impact of adjusting to a new environment

32
A model for assignment weightings to improve
feed-forward
Coursework
Examination
Assignment 1
Assignment 2
Assignment 3
40
10
20
30
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Summary

• High-stakes, summative assessment has limitations
  for complex learning
• Reliability precision is expensive
• Low-stakes, formative assessment is good for
  learning
• Low stakes can reach achievements that elude
  high-stakes approaches (eg teamwork)
• Blended assessment preferably planned at course
  or programme level.

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So, what about the first year?

• Induction is a problem for anyone new to an
  institution
• Cultural differences may exacerbate the problem
• What is happening in Australia as well as USA and
  the UK (Scotland)?

35
(No Transcript)
36
Prof Sally Kift First Year and Foremost -ALTC
project

• "The first year of university study is the most
  crucial time for engaging students in their
  learning community and equipping them with the
  skills to persist and be successful throughout
  their degree and for a lifetime of professional
  practice.
• "It's critical that students receive regular,
  formative evaluations (assessment) of their work
  early in their studies to aid their learning
  patterns," she said.

37
Australian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE)

• The Student Experience Questionnaire (SEQ) 6
  scales or dimensions on engagement
• Academic Challenge (AC)
• Active Learning (AL)
• Staff and Student Interactions (SSI)
• Enriching Educational Experiences (EEE)
• Supportive Learning Environment (SLE)
• Work Integrated Learning (WIL)
• Also
• 6 Student Outcome scales (eg Overall
  satisfaction, higher order thinking)
• 100 specific learning activities and conditions

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AUSSE 2008 First Year students
1 Curtin, Griffith, Maquarie, Newcastle, South
Australia, Wollongong
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Teaching that is Research-informed and aligned
with learning outcomes

• Emphasis on Learning experiences
• inquiry-based (develops research skills)
• problem-based (develops critical and creative
  thinking)
• team-based (develops collaboration and
  co-operation)
• project-based (individual and team develops
  self/peer assessment skills)
• work-based (work-integrated learning or
  authentic or real learning tasks)
• Alignment of assessment, learning and teaching
  (Biggs, 1999)

40
On becoming a University Teacher
41
Questions and/or comments
42
Evaluation
43
Entering the university the differentiated
experience of two Chinese international students
.

• Longitudinal study on a single unit and their
  personal experiences to establish an identity
• B. Business Studies, 12 students enrolled, 2004
• 3x semi-structured interviews Semester 1 (
  follow up)
• 2 groups emerged
• Negotiated a pathway for survival
• No obvious headway in new setting

44
A reality check the first test
.. Actually, I have no point about what is the
lecturer want us to catch I dont know which
part I should focus on, should concentrate.
.. The first few weeks of study I have no idea.
I havent read the book and I just attend the
lecture and then listen and no no
comprehension. At home I have read no books
Saul
Mike
45
Mike finds a strategy (how to learn)
.. After the test I thought, oh, the lecturer
just ask us to focus on this .. That is teachers
way to test us which part is important and which
is unimportant.
.. I borrow my friends last years test, I saw
that and, oh, this question relates to the
textbook and my notes and I should read my notes
and text carefully with the lecture notes!
Saul
Mike
46
Both fail the exam but Mike reflects on why
Saul is bewildered
.. You know, I go to every workshop and I go to
every lecture and I take marvellous notes, and
before the tests I used one week to review. I
think whole semester is quite bad
.. I realise when I read the text or books I
think if I understand, I can remember, so I
just general read the books and then actually I
cant remember.
Saul
Mike
47
Authors interpretations

• Both students tried to meet course demands
• Both used methods based on previous experience
• Both were confused
• Both were able to reflect but
• Mike was able to develop new insights and
  developed a sense of self-efficacy

48
Authors interpretations

• Large first year classes were not conducive to
  approaches in previous language learning classes
• So
• Mike recognised the value of reading before
  lectures (and he recognised he needed to work
  harder)
• Saul was pre-occupied with discovering what was
  important or necessary and less with how
  necessary it was to understand (deeply)

49
Authors conclusions

• The institution and staff did not have good
  systems in place to support these students.
• Even for Mike, smaller groups would be necessary,
  with early opportunities to engage with teaching
  staff

Gillian Skyrme Studies in Higher Education, 32,
3, pp357-372, 2007.