Learning and Teaching Committee 1/2016
(A standing committee of Academic Board)
Meeting 1/2016 of the Learning and Teaching Committee commenced at 3.15pm on Tuesday 2 February
2015 in the Sir George Lush Room, 27 Chancellors Walk (Chancellery Building A), Clayton campus.
1
MINUTES
Membership
Resolutions:
Learning and Teaching (LTC) noted that:
1. That Professor Christina Twomey will be the nominee for Professor Chris Davies, Chair of Academic
Board.
2. That Professor Julia Lamborn is the ADE of the Faculty of Engineering.
3. That Dr Christopher Thompson is the ADE of the Faculty of Science.
4. That Mr Ross Hyams is the ADE of the Faculty of Law.
5. That Dr Pamela Salen is the alternate for Dr Kate Tregloan, Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture.
6. The appointment of new student members Ms Sarah Ward (undergraduate) for a term of office from
1/1/2016 – 31/12/2017.
There were present:
Professor Darrell Evans (Chair), Professors Christina Twomey, Julia Lamborn, Ann Nicholson, Marilyn
Baird, Cristina Varsavsky (for Dr Christopher Thompson), Mahendhiran Nair (via teleconference),
Associate Professors Kris Ryan, Susanna Scarparo, Alan Reid, Anna-Mart van Wyk (via teleconference), Dr
David Albrecht (for Professor Tina Overton), Dr Kate Tregloan, Dr Nell Kimberley, Dr Paul White, Ms Lisa
Smith, Mr Mark Hatwell, Mr Mike Scott, Ms Tammy Fitzgerald, Mr Trevor Woods, Mr Ross Hyams, Mr
John Rivett, Ms Sarah Ward.
Apologies:
Professor Chris Davies, Professor Alwyn Louw, Professor Tina Overton, Dr Christopher Thompson,
Associate Professor Angela Carbone, Professor Leon Piterman.
In attendance:
Professor Paula Gerber, Chair of Diverse Genders and Sexualities Advisory Group (for item 5.1) and Mr
Josh Teichman, PwC Australia (for item 5.2), Ms Melanie Koo.
Observers:
Dr Muyesser Durur, Ms Michaela Hill.
2
Arrangement of Agenda and Starring of Items
Members noted that:
- Item 5.1 and 5.2 to be taken immediately after item 3.
- The Committee agreed that all items on the agenda not starred be adopted without discussion, and
that the actions recommended be taken or the information therein noted.
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3
Minutes
Mr Mark Hatwell suggested that the 4th dot point in item 6.2 of the minutes of the previous meeting
should read as follows:
“Academics should notify students via Moodle if a content warning comes up after the unit guide has
been published, and until Semester 2, 2016 when the UGM solution will be ready, all content warnings
should be notified via Moodle”.
In addition, an editorial amendment to the resolution to read as follows:
“Resolution:
The Learning and Teaching Committee:
1.
2.
Approved the recommendations of the working group
Approved the form of the Content Warning pro-forma for inclusion in the UGM from
Semester 2, 2016.”
Dr Kate Tregloan also noted that under item 5.2 that MADA student Robert Janes, had been omitted
from the recipients list for the student recognition prizes.
Action Items
Item
Responsibility Due
1. Amend the
minutes of
meeting 8-16 as
per the
comments
above.
Ms Melanie
Koo
Completed 4/2/16. Minutes of the previous meetings
are available online at the link below:
http://www.monash.edu/execserv/committees/othercommittees/ltc/meetings
3.1 The Minutes of Meeting 8/2015 of the Learning and Teaching Committee, held on Tuesday 8
December 2015, were confirmed subject to the above amendments.
3.2
Schedule of Action Items
Professor Evans updated LTC on the following outstanding action items:
-
With the closure of the Monash Passport Scheme from 2016, faculties will be contacted to ensure all
units previously identified as passport or depth units become regular units of the faculty with faculty
codes.
-
Learning and Teaching Principles and MSA Content Warning Proposals to be discussed by Professor
Ryan at the next LTC meeting.
-
At the last LTC meeting, it was determined that the scope and content of the work done on the
guidelines for opt-out system of lecture recordings had changed and could not progress in its current
guise. Professor Evans also reported that the Campus Community Division is looking at livecaptioning and that this should be incorporated into the work of this working group.
Professor Evans welcomed LTC members to take part in the revitalised working group. The working
group is looking for a new Chair moving forward and new members. Nominations can be made by
contacting Ms Melanie Koo.
Resolution:
The Committee noted the updated schedule of action items.
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Chair’s Business
4.1
Chair’s Report
The Chair reported on a range of items including:
-
Education Performance Standards (EPS) – The new learning and teaching criteria were approved by
the University’s Academic Standards Committee (ASC) late last year, and the full implementation
plan for the EPS project was distributed to Faculties for feedback. It is proposed to bring peer
assessment and the teaching record plans to a future LTC meeting for discussion and would be
scheduled in the calendar of activity.
-
Quality Verification System (QVS) reports – QVS was not run in 2015 due to changes in the Group of
Eight Secretariat, however the QVS reporting will occur in 2016 with some changes to the process
and procedures. Professor Evans reported that this year the QVS would increase from 3 subject
areas to 6 subject areas and faculties would be contacted in due course.
-
Professor David Paganin has written a paper on his reflection on education leadership. This paper is
available to ADE’s only on the ADE Forum GoogleSite: https://sites.google.com/a/monash.edu/adeforum/home
-
Professor Evans recommended the following expectations for papers and presentations to LTC going
forward, in an effort to make the LTC meetings more action-led:
o
Papers and reports to be short and well-directed. Where more detailed information is
required but not part of the actual submission, it will be stored on the new LTC GoogleSite. A
link to the LTC GoogleSite will be included on the agenda where required. The GoogleSite is
available to LTC members at the link below:
https://sites.google.com/a/monash.edu/learning-and-teaching-committee/
o
With papers on items requiring discussion of recommendations and a subsequent decision to
be made, it is expected that appropriate pre-discussions have taken place and that the
stakeholder groups affected have been consulted and their summary views noted in the
paper.
o
To maximise the time in meetings and to allow more time for discussion, where
presentations are simple and expected updates, Professor Evans encouraged members to
use the MicroStudio to create a pre-meeting video or screencast and upload it to the LTC
GoogleSite. Where videos are not possible, short directed briefing papers or illustrative
documents would be acceptable.
However, where the presentation is interactive or a demonstration of a new system, which
would require Q&A throughout, then LTC should continue to have these presentations.
o
A new LTC submission form was tabled at the meeting and is attached separately and also
available online at the link below:
http://www.monash.edu/execserv/committees/other-committees/ltc
This submission form should be no longer than 1 page in length and should be used for all
future submissions to LTC. Any paper or reports should accompany the submission form.
Resolution:
The Committee noted the Chair’s Report.
4.2
-
2016 Calendar of Activity
Members were requested to review calendar of activity so that items are scheduled accordingly in
2016.
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Amendments or comments regarding the calendar of activity to be sent to Ms Melanie Koo before
LTC meeting 2/2016. A reminder will be sent to all members.
5 LTC Key Issues for 2016
5.1
Inclusive Education Guidelines – Diverse Genders and Sexualities (Professor Paula Gerber)
-
The guidelines were developed to provide a safe and inclusive teaching and research environment
for all students. Feedback on the guidelines was invited from ADEs of each Faculty and is now
submitted to LTC for endorsement.
-
Monash University is the lead in developing diversity guidelines in the higher education sector.
-
Professor Evans suggested that the guidelines could be incorporated and developed into CEED
modules and BTBL Bytes in the future.
Action Items
Item
Responsibility
Due
2. Assoc Professors Kris Ryan and Angela
Assoc Professors Kris
As appropriate.
Carbone to liaise with Professor Paula Gerber Ryan and Angela Carbone
regarding incorporating elements of the
proposals to CEED modules and / or BTBL
Byte.
Resolution:
Learning and Teaching Committee endorsed the Inclusive Education Guidelines – Diverse Genders
and Sexualities and work with the Diverse Genders and Sexualities Advisory Group to implement
these guidelines across Monash University.
5.2
Student Futures Platform (Mr Josh Teichman and Ms Tammy Fitzgerald)
-
Mr Josh Teichman and Ms Tammy Fitzgerald showcased the Student Futures Platform.
-
The platform is accessible on mobile devices.
-
Students can add skills to opportunities. Students are prompted to use the Situation Task Action
Result (STAR) method. This can then be exported and copied and pasted into their CV.
-
Students can go back 2 years retrospectively to add skills to opportunities.
-
Staff and students with an Authcate can log into the platform however at this stage, only Monash
Connect staff can edit the opportunities content in the system.
-
After graduation, students have access to the platform until their Monash access ceases.
-
The Student Futures Project was well received by members
5.3
Education Technology Roadmap (Associate Professor Kris Ryan)
-
Associate Professor Ryan has liaised with Faculties and eSolutions, to determine what are the
requirements for technology in education and asked is this the broad direction that Faculties want
to go?
-
The purpose of the education technology roadmap is to improve the educational experience for
staff and students.
-
Proposed projects are included in the report. Some of the projects listed in the roadmap will take at
least 3 years due to the size of the project. Projects may evolve over time.
-
Professor Marilyn Baird noted that FMNHS has increased use of videos in education, and there is
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now an urgent need for storage of these videos. The storage solution should allow flexibility for
videos to be shared across Faculties, whilst taking privacy into consideration.
-
Professor Mahendhiran Nair queried if the education technology roadmap is applicable to
international campuses? Associate Professor Ryan to liaise with Professor Nair offline in detail.
-
Associate Professor Ryan will continue to discuss the Roadmap with all faculties
Resolution:
The Learning and Teaching Committee noted the proposal document and discussed issues arising from
the document.
6
5.4
Continuing Education Excellence Development (CEED) Framework (Professor Darrell Evans)
-
Professor Evans reported that there has been an extensive amount of work and discussion across
faculties regarding CEED. A range of new CEED modules have been developed and pilot CEED
modules have been adapted in response to feedback (Professor Evans thanked LTC members for
providing feedback on modules following the pilot of CEED).
-
A global email regarding CEED will circulated by Professor Edwina Cornish shortly and will contain a
link to a video and brochure which have been developed to introduce CEED.
-
CEED modules are catalogued into 7 themes. Staff must complete 3 modules per year, which can
include 1 express module (recognising what staff are doing to develop their teaching e.g.) attending
an education conference session, outside workshop etc.). Supervisors will be responsible for
monitoring that staff achieve 3 modules per year.
-
Completion of CEED modules are recorded in HR system and currently working with HR to ensure
that Education Performance Standards will be part of new PDO system.
-
Faculty or school-based CEED modules will be developed as appropriate, this would be a joint effort
between OVPLT and the Faculty. Engagement at a faculty CEED module would count as completing
1 module.
-
Faculty modules could incorporated into existing Faculty workshops. Faculty modules must be
interactive and engaging with a focus on active learning.
-
Associate Professor Angela Carbone will be visiting each Faculty to discuss faculty requirements in
further detail.
Updates from LTC Working Groups – 2016 Membership Lists
Should there be amendments required to the working groups membership lists, LTC members were
requested to contact Ms Melanie Koo.
Resolution:
LTC noted the 2016 membership lists for the following LTC working groups listed below:
6.1
6.2
Academic Integrity and Intellectual Property Protection Working Party
Assessment Working Group
*Note: Following the meeting, it was noted that Dr Kathryn James would replace Dr Richard Joyce as the Faculty of Law
representative for the UAWG for semester 1, 2016.
6.3
6.4
6.5
AV Working Group
Copyright Advisory Group
English Language Proficiency Development Working Group (ELPDWG)
*Note: Following the meeting, it was noted that there was a spelling error in the surname of the Library representative
on the ELPWG, the correct spelling should read as Barbara Yazbeck.
6.6
6.7
6.8
Exclusions Procedures Advisory Group (EPAG)
Opt-Out System of Lecture Recordings Working Group
Student Success Working Group
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6.9
7
Unit Guide Manager Steering Group
Policies and Procedures
7.1
Special Consideration Policy (Ms Natalie Mitchell)
-
The Special Consideration Policy was put forward to LTC for discussion and in-principle support.
-
Key principles:
o Highlights the principle that there is one attempt at an assessment task.
o Clarifies the eligibility and criteria for consideration for special consideration.
o Clarifies the outcomes of a special consideration application.
o Sets out the academic requirements for assessment tasks generated as a result of a
special consideration application.
-
Faculty of Arts does not support the inclusion of consideration of a student’s engagement with a
unit as it is difficult to assess. LTC agreed that at this stage the inclusion of the information on
student engagement should be removed.
-
There must be consistency amongst Faculties regarding key academic events. However, Faculties on
occasion, may have specific academic events which are only relevant within their faculty.
Action Items
Item
Responsibility
3. Following discussion and in-principle support Ms Natalie Mitchell and
for the policy, the corresponding Special
Ms Michaela Hill
Consideration Procedures will be submitted
to LTC, together with any revisions to the
policy so that the Special Consideration
Policy and Procedures could be endorsed at
the same time by LTC, at meeting 2/2016.
Due
LTC meeting
2/2016.
Resolution:
LTC discussed the revised Special Consideration policy and provided in-principle support for the
Special Consideration Policy.
7.2
Board of Examiners (BoE) Guidelines (Ms Natalie Mitchell)
- At LTC 8/15, amendments were made to the Special Consideration procedures and the Grading
Scale procedures, which places the responsibility for granting deferred final assessment with
the Dean (or delegate). The Boards of Examiners guidelines were updated to reflect this
change in responsibilities.
Action Items
Item
Responsibility
Due
4. To consider BoE guidelines in alignment with
Malaysia and South Africa campuses.
Ms Natalie Mitchell and
Professor Darrell Evans
To be brought
back to LTC at
a future date if
necessary.
Resolution:
LTC noted the amendments to the Board of Examiners guidelines.
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7.3
Amendment to the Grading Scale Procedures (Ms Natalie Mitchell)
- At LTC meeting 8/15, a question was raised about the requirement to use the WH grade to identify
faculty-based deferred final assessment. It was agree to look into this matter further.
- Ms Mitchell advised that DEF grades could be allocated with regards to deferred faculty-based final
assessment without causing difficulties with the scheduling of centrally invigilated examinations,
therefore, Faculties could continue to use either Withheld (WH) or Deferred Assessment (DEF)
grade.
Resolution:
LTC approved the amendments to the Grading Scale procedures.
8
Faculty Reports
Resolution:
The Committee received and noted the minutes / reports from the:
-
9
Faculty of Education
Faculty of Law
Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
Faculty of Science
LTC also noted that the confirmed minutes are not yet available for the following Faculties (no report
for this meeting) from Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture, Faculty of Business and
Economics, Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Information Technology and Faculty of Pharmacy and
Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Other Business
No other business to report.
10 Next Meeting is scheduled to be held on 22 March 2016 in the Sir George Lush Meeting Room, Ground
Floor, Building 3a, Clayton Campus from 3.15pm.
11 2016 Meeting Dates
LTC meetings will be held on Tuesday at 3.15pm in the Sir George Lush Room, Ground Floor, Building 3a,
Clayton Campus on the following dates:
LTC
Submissions due by
Mon 5.00pm
Meeting, Sir George Lush Room
Tuesday 3.15pm
ADE Forum
Sir George Lush Room
Tuesday
2.00pm – 3.00pm
14 Mar
22 Mar
2/16
22 Mar
2 May
10 May
3/16
-
20 Jun
28 Jun
4/16
28 Jun
1 Aug
9 Aug
5/16
-
12 Sep
20 Sep
6/16
20 Sep
10 Oct
18 Oct
7/16
-
28 Nov
6 Dec
8/16
6 Dec
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