Applying for an Vice Chancellor’s Award
Outstanding Teaching & Research Higher Degree Supervision
DR ALISON KUIPER , SENIOR LECTURER
INSTITUTE FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING 2015
Welcome to this session
Aim: to provide information and support
› Learning outcomes for today
› So you will
- increase your knowledge about making an application for an award
- get answers to questions
- reflect on your teaching
› and be able to
- confidently access whether to make an application
and
- prepare a quality application for an award
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Welcome to this session
Today
› What are your expectations?
› Looking at what’s required for
- Outstanding Teaching and
- Research Higher Degree Supervision Awards
› Changes for 2015 in Outstanding Teaching criteria
› Making a successful application
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› Introductions
- Who and why you are here?
- Which award are you interested in?
- What you would like to take away from this session?
› Questions throughout
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Who does what?
› ITL has support role
- workshops and resources
- individual help - as far as possible
› and administrative role
- including arranging and supporting
selection panels
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Who should apply?
Eligibility
› Outstanding Teaching
› Normally up to 4 awards
- Early career
- OLT definition
- No more than five years’ experience teaching in a higher education setting
- This should be interpreted as five cumulative calendar years
- and includes all tutoring, part-time teaching
- and teaching at other higher education institutions
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Who should apply?
Research Higher Degree Supervision
› Normally up two awards
› Academic staff who have supervised at least 3 Research higher degree
students to completion
› One award available to a supervisor at Level C or below
- Achievements in relation to opportunities and experience taken into account
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Criteria
Outstanding Teaching
› Based on OLT criteria
- Changed this year from 5 to 4
› Research Higher Degree Supervision
- University specific
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Teaching Excellence criteria
› Four criteria which will be given equal consideration by the selection panel
› Approaches to teaching and the support of learning that influence,
motivate and inspire students to learn
› Development of curricula, resources or services that reflect a command of
the field
› Evaluation practices that bring about improvements in teaching and
learning
› Innovation, leadership or scholarship that has influenced and enhanced
learning and teaching and/or the student experience
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Teaching Excellence Criterion 1
Approaches to teaching and the support of learning
that influence, motivate and inspire students to learn
› This may include
- fostering student development by stimulating curiosity and independence in learning
- participating in effective and empathetic guidance and advice for students
- assisting students from equity and other demographic subgroups to participate and
achieve success in their courses
- encouraging student engagement through the enthusiasm shown for learning and teaching
- inspiring and motivating students through effective communication, presentation and
interpersonal skills
- enabling others to enhance their approaches to learning and teaching
- and developing and/or integrating assessment strategies to enhance student learning
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Teaching Excellence Criterion 2
Development of curricula, resources or services
that reflect a command of the field
› This may include
- developing and presenting coherent and imaginative resources for student
learning
- implementing research-led approaches to learning and teaching
- demonstrating up-to-date knowledge of the field of study in the design of the
curriculum and the creation of resources for learning
- communicating clear objectives and expectations for student learning
- providing support to those involved in the development of curricula and
resources
- and contributing professional expertise to enhance curriculum or resources
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Teaching Excellence Criterion 3
Evaluation practices that bring about
improvements in teaching and learning
› Evaluation comprises making judgements about the quality of programs
and activities that are part of the academic, cultural and social experience
of higher education. This may include
- showing advanced skills in evaluation and reflective practice
- using a variety of evaluation strategies to bring about change
- adapting evaluation methods to different contexts and diverse student needs and
learning styles
- contributing professional expertise to the field of evaluation in order to improve
program design and delivery
- and the dissemination and embedding of good practice identified through
evaluation
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Teaching Excellence Criterion 4
Innovation, leadership or scholarship that has influenced and enhanced
learning and teaching and/or the student experience
› This may include
- participating in and contributing to professional activities related to learning and teaching
- innovations in service and support for students
- coordination, management and leadership of courses and student learning
- conducting and publishing research related to teaching
- demonstrating leadership through activities that have broad influence on the profession
- providing innovative learning and teaching for different contexts, including technology
enhanced environments, for large and small class sizes and/or to meet the needs of a
diverse student cohort
- and influencing the overall academic, social and cultural experience of higher education
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Your outstanding teaching application
› will be judged against the
› extent to which the claims for excellence are supported by formal and
informal evaluation
› extent of creativity, imagination or innovation, irrespective of whether the
approach involves traditional learning environments or technology-based
developments
› information contained in references
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Criteria for research higher degree supervision
› Evidence of distinctive, systematic and coordinated strategies used
to manage the supervisory process to achieve timely and successful
completions
› Demonstrated significant and substantial achievements in integrating
students into the research community and in assisting them to achieve
their career goals
› Evidence that effective feedback on students’ progress has been provided
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› Evidence that individual students have experienced supervisory practices
appropriate to their diverse learning needs
› Evidence of a systematic and reflective approach to developing
effectiveness as a supervisor including ongoing evaluation of supervision
› Contributions to enhancing supervisory policy and/or practice beyond the
faculty (e.g. across the University or across a disciplinary community)
› National or international contributions to scholarship in research training
and supervision
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Your research higher degree supervision
› Application will be judged on the basis of the evidence that
supports their claims
- of strategies
- achievements
- provision of feedback
› Appropriate practice for diversity
› Reflective approach
› Wider contributions to practice and scholarship
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Tell your story
6 words exercise
and provide the evidence
in the form of triangulated data
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Sydney Distinguished Teachers
Talk this Friday
› Friday 27 March
1-2pm
› Melanie Nguyen and Ruth Barcan
› http://www.itl.usyd.edu.au/getinvolved/sydneyteachingseminars/dialogues.
htm
› To register
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› First person
› Active voice
› Short sentences
› Easy to read
› But with your own distinctive voice telling your story
› Bringing your teaching character to the fore
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Making the case
› Clear articulation of aims
- What is it that you do?
- What do want the students to be able to do?
- What is the situation?
- What is the claim you are making?
› Description of approaches and strategies
- In the classroom, in assessment, overall
› Account and evidence of achievement
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Providing evidence
› that directly supports your claims
› of supporting student learning over time
› The best evidence is triangulated
- qualitative from surveys, quantitative from student comments, peer review etc.
› Gather as widely and pertinently as you can
› Range of dates shows growth and sustainability
Get colleague or mentors to read and comment
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Quantitative evidence
- USE or other survey data
- Show data for sequential years – evidence of improvement is valuable
- Dates, class sizes and response rates are required
- Comparable data for similar course (discipline, class size, year, program level)
may be useful for benchmaking
- If that’s not available use faculty data
- Use percentages, rather than means which can be misleading
- Reflective comments provide connections between data and your teaching
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Qualitative evidence
- Qualitative
- Comments from USE or surveys
- With name of unit of study and date
- Other student comments
- With name of unit of study and date and benchmarking
- Peer review
- With name of colleague, date source e.g. email etc. and whether solicited or
unsolicited
- Other comments from colleagues, invitations etc.
- With name of colleague, date, source e.g. email etc. and whether solicited or
unsolicited
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Stages in process of making an application
Stages
› 1 Download and read the application form carefully
› 2 Note the requirements
- Cover page
- Application form
- One page overview
- Written statement addressing the selection criteria
- Referee’s statements
- CV
- And for RHDS student testimonials and Dean’s Citation
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›3
Read the resources on the ITL site
- See Writing an award winning application on
- http://www.itl.usyd.edu.au/awards/infosession.htm
›4
Think
• Draft
• Gather evidence
• Find a supportive but critical reader
• Revise
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Resources
› Handouts on the webpages
› http://www.itl.usyd.edu.au/awards/infosession.htm
› http://www.itl.usyd.edu.au/programs/teaching_insights/pdf/insight7_eviden
ce.pdf
› Copies of past successful applications held in the ITL
› People!
› Colleagues, mentors, A/Deans, past winners
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Assessing your application
› Claims and Coherence
- Is there a story or a theme or a thread that ties your application together ?
- This may be related to the types of students and/or the discipline you teach
› Write lots and cut it by at least a third
› Read it out loud
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› Referees’ statements matter
› They should
- provide support of your claims
- Show evidence of impact
Supporting materials (RHDS) need to link and support the
application
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Style
› First person
› Active voice
› Short sentences
› Easy to read
› But with your own distinctive voice telling your story
› Bringing your teaching character to the fore
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Genre: Casting a critical eye
› I view my teaching as an ever-changing endeavour.......
› Knowing that teaching is an ever-changing endeavour......
› .....the processes I used to achieve my success.
› .....the processes that resulted in successful outcomes for the students.
› Teaching Excellence
› What’s the focus? You or your teaching?
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My questions
› What is your story?
› What is the evidence to back this up?
› And your questions……..
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What next
Preferably with partners or in a group
› Clarifying the key features
› Sharing and reviewing each other’s applications
› Consulting past applications
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Frequently Asked Questions
› Do I have enough evidence to apply?
› Will it look bad if I apply more than once?
› How can I get a peer review?
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