SaMnet
Science & Mathematics network
of Australian university educators
CALL FOR ACTION-LEARNING PROJECTS – EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST
What is SaMnet of Australian university educators?
SaMnet is a new national network that brings together university academics to collaborate on
national issues in university science and mathematics education. It is working co-operatively
with discipline networks and universities to develop educational leaders, to foster and spread
best practices, and to promote cultural change in university teaching and learning. SaMnet has
been conceived to provide a coherent voice on policy related to university science, and it
represents a source of expertise for science faculties in areas such as curriculum review. To
support more frequent and productive communication and collaborations, SaMnet is
coordinating regional and online meetings as well as a national website.
Over the next two years, SaMnet will focus on (1) learning and teaching standards for science and
mathematics, (2) dissemination of more effective and efficient approaches to laboratory exercises
and inquiry learning, (3) effective use of learning technologies and new media, and (4) leadership
training for science and mathematics lecturers.
Collaboration
SaMnet is currently funded by a leadership grant from the Australian Learning and Teaching
Council / Learning and Teaching Excellence (DEEWR). It will work closely with the new
Discipline networks:
VIBEnet: Vision and Innovation in Biology Education
Charlotte Taylor (USyd), Pauline Ross (UWS), Sue Jones (UTas), Liz Johnson (La Trobe)
Chemistry Discipline Network
Madeleine Schultz (QUT)
Australian Mathematical Sciences Learning & Teaching Network
Dann Mallet (QUT)
CUBEnet: Collaborative University Biomedical Education Network
Phil Porronik (RMIT), Yvonne Hodgson (Monash), Janet Macaulay (Monash), Susan Howitt (ANU),
Peter Thorn (UQ), Louise Lutze-Mann (UNSW)
Physics Education Network
Margaret Wegener (UQ) Les Kirkup (UTS), Manjula Sharma (USYD), Johan du Plessis (RMIT),
Marjan Zadnik (Curtin), Anna Wilson (ANU)
Inquiry Learning Fellowship Project
Les Kirkup (UTS)
SaMnet Action-Learning Projects
SaMnet offers a model for collaborative teaching and learning projects. The team undertaking
each project are supported by advice, peer review, and leadership training from SaMnet. SaMnet
will assist project participants to disseminate their work and to publish in scholarly teaching and
learning journals. In its first two years, SaMnet will work with at least 25 action-learning
projects across Australia. There are 21 such projects currently under way, and we are seeking
expressions of interest for pursuit of further worthy projects.
SaMnet leaders:
Manjula Sharma (USyd), Will Rifkin (USyd), Stephanie Beames (QUT)
Steering Committee:
Sue Jones (UTas), Cristina Varsavsky (Monash), Andrea Crampton (CSU), Marjan Zadnik (Curtin),
Brian Yates (UTas), Liz Johnson (La Trobe), Kelly Matthews (UQ)
SaMnet of Australian university educators
Contact: Email: samnetaustralia@gmail.com Web: www.samnet.edu.au
2
SaMnet of Australian university educators
Action-Learning Project -- Expression of Interest
Send EOI to SaMnetAustralia@gmail.com by 9 April 2012.
Selection criteria:
A. Emphasis on changing how a collective teaches
B. Rationale and evidence on why the change is needed
C. Potential for impact on applicant, teammates, school, faculty, and discipline
1. Project title: Integrating scientific literacy across core first-year
units
2. Applicant
Team leader – Are you (tick one or more):
x Innovative (or junior) academic - Sees the change that is needed
x Senior Academic - Understands the challenges of creating change
Educational developer, Academic staff developer, or equivalent Knows cases beyond the faculty and relevant concepts from the literature
Associate Dean (Education) or equivalent - Has faculty–wide insight and knows priorities
Name: Andy Broderick
Discipline: Natural Science
E-mail: a.broderick@uws.edu.au
Faculty: Science and Health
3. Project Scope (the collective being addressed)
Target Degree programs, Years of study, and Disciplines Science, Natural Science, Health
Sciences, first year with some flow on to second-year unit
4. Project Description (rationale and evidence)
Aims, Innovation, Rationale, Precedent - What do you want to change (e.g., nature of lab work in
second year) and why Professional skills required by scientists and transition to university are
areas in need of attention in first-year science at universities. I am currently involved in
expanding a professional skills unit, which has proven to improve student retention, to cover all
1000+ students in first-year science in the faculty. Part of the effort involves using integrative
assignments, where what students learn in one first-semester unit is explicitly used in an
assignment in another unit in the same semester. This project -- and the unit on which it focuses
-- builds on previous doctoral research. The effort is already providing engagement with other
lecturers, with documentation of the impact of learning strategies employed.
5. Outcomes (potential for impact)
Expected outcomes if successful (e.g., higher pass rates), why those outcomes, impacting how
many students (estimated) Higher retention rates through a range of factors including
self-efficacy, motivation, improved results and social and academic belonging; improved
3
SaMnet of Australian university educators
student skills so that lecturers in subsequent units spend less time on 'skilling'; students
able to apply what they learn in one unit in other units; impacts on 1,000+ students each
year.
6. Project Implementation
What capabilties you hope to build, what do you want to learn about leading change Balancing
responsibilities -- teaching, admin, leading change.
7. Comments or Questions
•
What do you need to know? Where can you use assistance?
Someone to assist in ramping up
the action-learning element, recording reflections, suggesting evaluation strategies, etc. How to solve the
problem of upscaling and transferring a highly successful unit for 250 students on one campus where detail
and personal attention are critical elements, to a unit spread across more than 1000 students on 3 campuses
covering 17 different courses.
FAQ’s
0. Submitting the proposal
Fill in the blanks. Just a line or two for each blank is sufficient. A full project plan is also welcome –
pasted in or as an attachment. More than one EOI may be submitted from any individual, team,
school, faculty, or university.
1. What counts as an Action-Learning Project / ‘change initiative’?
The Action-Learning Projects are ‘change initiatives’ in that they are a way to address a problem that
you see in your school or faculty. That could be a high dropout rate for majors or heavy emphasis on
final exams. An action-learning project can also be a way to disseminate a teaching strategy that you
have developed or means to implement a new curriculum. For example, do you have a method for
improving feedback to students that ought to be used more widely?
What we are not counting as a ‘change initiative’ is an experiment in teaching that you are not
planning to embed more broadly within your school or beyond. A change initiative takes an idea – an
invention – and turns it into an ‘innovation’ – something that others are taking up.
2. What if I have already started the effort?
It is fine if you have already started. These action-learning projects have been conceived to support
people to do things that they want to do anyway, and to learn through this pursuit via our support.
You are welcome to apply to SaMnet for assistance with a project that is already internally funded.
SaMnet will also support a project funded by the ALTC fellowship in inquiry learning (c/- Les Kirkup)
or a curriculum mapping effort with Beverley Oliver, to name two of many examples.
3. What if my Action-Learning Project has limited success?
Null or negative results are viable options. SaMnet action-learning projects are not premised on your
need to deliver 100-percent success. However, it is important to avoid ‘reinventing the flat tyre’,
failing in a way that experienced hands (and the literature) would readily predict.
Our action-learning projects are meant to increase your understanding of what it takes to lead change.
You can learn to connect with the right people in the right way and to successfully navigate university
politics. You can also learn through reflection on new experiences.
The outcome of your effort is meant to be an increase in the capacity to drive change for you and your
teammates. The record of what you tried, what worked, and what failed to work informs others who
face similar challenges.
4
SaMnet of Australian university educators
4. Can you provide support funding in small, unmarked bills?
SaMnet provides support in the form of leadership development training, coaching, networking, and
mentoring in both management and publication. There is no funding provided by SaMnet for teaching
relief or research assistants. A SaMnet initiative is meant to be part of your weekly investment in
research or administration.
You will be rewarded with increased capability to persuade and lead. You will gain an internal sense
of accomplishment. You will become part of a larger community, a movement to improve university
teaching in science and mathematics in Australia. You will earn ‘points’ with publications. You will
also contribute toward lifting the profile of academics who apply their intellect to improving teaching,
a key objective of SaMnet.
5. Why me?
The culture of teaching in university science and mathematics needs to change. Many people have
developed new and more effective ways to teach and assess. The ALTC and its predecessors have
funded more than 40 projects across the disciplines of science and mathematics. Such individual
initiatives now need to gain traction locally, in your university, to instil sector-wide change.
15/3/12 -- altc nation leadership network in sci & maths \ action learning projects \ prop form \ EOI
5