TRANSNATIONAL
TEACHING AT UOW
Anne Melano, Maureen Bell and Ruth Walker
CONNECT:
LEARNING AND
TEACHING
ACADEMIC SERVICES DIVISION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This booklet draws on rich experiences of University
of Wollongong (UOW) staff who have taught,
administered and/or coordinated subjects and
courses across international teaching sites. We thank
and acknowledge their generosity in sharing their
valuable insights and expertise:
UOW Executive – Rob Castle, Joe Chicharo
Faculty of Arts – Chris Barker, Guy Davidson, Philip
Kitley, Mark McLelland, David Marshall, Brian Yecies
Faculty of Commerce – Peter McLean, Gary Noble,
Karin Wells
Faculty of Education – Peter Kell
Faculty of Health & Behavioural Sciences – Angela
Brown, Janette Curtis, Bill Janes, Joanne JoyceMcCoach, Moira Williamson
Faculty of Informatics – Gene Awyzio, Penney
McFarlane, Katina Michael, Anji Phillips, Ian Piper,
Willy Susilo
Faculty of Law – Mark Loves, Judith Marychurch
Transnational Education & Alliances Unit – Bill
Damachis, Amanda Warren
Faculty International Support Unit – Robyn Phillips
Learning Development – Meeta Chatterjee, Kim
Draisma, Bronwyn James, Paul Moore, Alisa Percy
CEDIR – Ric Caladine, Gerry Lefoe
Published by the Centre for Educational Development,
Innovation and Recognition 2012
University of Wollongong
Northfields Avenue
Wollongong NSW 2522
Australia
2
University of Wollongong
CONTENTS
BACKGROUND
How to use this booklet
DURING THE TEACHING SESSION
4
Introduction5
Modes of transnational teaching
6
The qualities of effective transnational teachers
8
How does culture affect classroom interaction?
29
How does culture affect student engagement with
assessment?32
What sort of feedback should I give to students? 35
Staff support services
10
How explicit should I make the assessment
criteria?38
Student support services
11
How can I help my students avoid plagiarism?
40
Preparing and inducting tutors and co-teachers
43
Communicating with tutors and co-teachers
45
Communicating with students
47
What about student support?
48
Learning and teaching using technology
49
Connecting and networking
51
UOW Learning-Teaching-Research Nexus
54
Approaches to evaluation
55
Discussing and sharing experiences
56
BIBLIOGRAPHY
58
PREPARING FOR TRANSNATIONAL TEACHING
What are my students’ academic skills?
12
How does culture affect subject materials?
15
How does language affect learning? 18
Integrating academic skills – a few ideas 21
Preparing for intensive transnational teaching
24
Carrying out quality assurance
27
Transnational Teaching at UOW
3
BACKGROUND
HOW TO USE THIS BOOKLET
This booklet is intended primarily for:
●● University of Wollongong (UOW) academics
who are involved in transnational teaching for
the first time
●● new transnational subject coordinators
employed by partner institutions to deliver
UOW programs.
The booklet does not cover UOW policies, guidelines
or procedures. These can be found on the UOW web
site. Rather, it offers a perspective on the preparation
needed, as well as tips and suggestions for how to
coordinate effective teaching and learning during the
transnational experience.
The booklet will also be of interest to course
coordinators, co-teachers/tutors and others with
a management or support role in transnational
teaching.
Much of this advice has been drawn from interviews
with UOW subject and course coordinators and
co-teachers, located both in Australia and at
transnational locations, as well as the literature on
transnational teaching. The perspectives of students
from a transnational course have also been included.
Co-teachers will be interested in much of the material
in this booklet, particularly the sections on classroom
engagement and assessment. ‘Co-teachers’ is an
inclusive term covering all tutors, casual teachers and
adjuncts – that is, all those teaching in the subject other
than the subject coordinator/lecturer.
In this booklet ‘peers’ refers to all academics, including
subject coordinators and lecturers, whether located at
Wollongong or transnationally. All have a critical role
to play. In particular, co-teachers may often be the
students’ main learning support.
For new transnational course coordinators, a boxed
area at the top of each section provides additional
ideas, including some key issues that might need to
be addressed. Course coordinators should read this
booklet in conjunction with the various procedures at
https://intranet.uow.edu.au/international/overview/
policies/
“I prefer the term
‘transnational’ to ‘offshore’,
which seems like a secondary
thing. ‘Offshore’ is putting
Australia at the centre of the
world.”
— Transnational co-teacher
For new academic staff, it is suggested that this booklet
be read in conjunction with ‘Teaching at UOW’, available
from the Academic Development Unit or on the UOW
web site.
4
University of Wollongong
INTRODUCTION
Transnational teaching involves teaching in multiple
countries. This includes teaching in intensive mode
away from the professional and academic support
of the academic’s own campus. In 2011, University
of Wollongong (UOW) academics taught in Australia,
Dubai, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore.
UOW students have some fundamental similarities
in all locations. They want to acquire knowledge,
pass their subjects and be positively perceived by
their peers and teachers. New students may lack
confidence in their English language proficiency, have
trouble understanding visiting teachers, be uncertain
of the academic expectations of UOW, become upset
by a poor mark or feel isolated. As students progress
they become more adept at writing and critical
thinking, develop their discipline knowledge and gain
confidence in their abilities.
Yet although the fundamentals of learning are
similar across countries, the cultural expressions of
teaching and learning can be very different. Teaching
transnationally therefore involves:
●● exploring cultural dimensions of curriculum
and teaching approaches
●● modifying content, teaching practices and
assessment for a cultural context while
maintaining high academic standards
●● preparing oneself for teaching in different
cultural contexts
A key message is that you don’t have to do it alone.
UOW has many experienced transnational teachers
who are happy to give advice to others.
UOW Learning Development can assist with
assessment design, assessing students’ English
language proficiency and developing learning
activities.
UOW Learning Design Unit can assist with subject
design and online delivery.
“It’s helped my teaching craft. It’s a
marvellous experience to be able to
think about what it is we do and how
we do it. It really brings the pedagogy
to the fore. … And it’s fun. The
classroom is fun, the streets are fun.
Hong Kong is a good place to be what
we are and do what we do.”
— Angela Brown, Subject Coordinator,
Faculty of Health & Behavioural
Sciences
●● a willingness to understand and appreciate
cultural perspectives and customs.
Preparation also involves more than planning
for teaching. Availability and effectiveness of
technologies, tutor support and student expectations
are some key issues a transnational teacher
manages.
Much of the advice in this booklet was sourced from
UOW academics, co-teachers and students who have
kindly shared their experiences and initial struggles.
Some of these have been montaged as ‘cautionary
tales’, while others are offered as examples of good
practice.
Transnational Teaching at UOW
UOW Academic Development Unit can arrange
workshops on teaching transnationally.
Experienced UOW transnational teachers comment
that transnational teaching can be very rewarding
and enjoyable. We hope that you, too, enjoy the
experience, and that this booklet will help you to feel
better prepared for the journey.
5
MODES OF TRANSNATIONAL TEACHING
There is a wide variety of transnational teaching
approaches, with the more successful involving close
collaborative teaching with sister institutions. At
UOW, approaches used may include:
●● subjects and courses delivered by a
transnational partner, quality assured by
Wollongong academics
●● lectures delivered in an intensive teaching
week by a Wollongong academic, supported
by tutorials delivered by the transnational
partner through the session
●● lectures in an intensive teaching week by a
Wollongong academic, supported by elearning
or distance learning through the session.
1 UOW SUBJECTS AND COURSES DELIVERED BY A
TRANSNATIONAL PARTNER (PARTNER DELIVERY: UOW
QUALITY ASSURANCE MODEL)
In this approach, teachers/academics who are
employed at a partner institution or at UOW Dubai
(UOWD) deliver UOW subjects and courses. UOW
academics are responsible for quality assurance.
There are often two academics responsible for the
subject, one in each institution. The UOW subject
coordinator is the academic responsible for the design
and delivery of the Australian subject. This UOW
subject coordinator (or sometimes another UOW
academic) is also responsible for quality assurance at
all locations, including UOWD, and in this role they are
called the ‘Quality Assuror’. Academics in both locations
contribute to the design of any necessary modifications
to the transnational version of the subject. The
transnational partner or UOWD academic carries out (or
supervises) the teaching and marking.
Another possibility is that the subject is unique to the
transnational location. It will then usually be designed
by the transnational partner and/or UOWD subject
coordinator, and reviewed and approved through the
transnational quality assurance procedure (see Policy
link box). A UOW academic is assigned responsibility
for quality assurance.
Both versions of this model are based on partnership.
Academics collaborate across locations on curriculum
design, assessment tasks, case studies/examples and
teaching methods in order to produce both localised
and internationally relevant subjects and programs.
Other guiding principles in this collaborative process
are:
●● equivalence of content, assessment tasks and
learning outcomes across locations
6
●● internationalisation of the curriculum
– ideally, this would extend beyond
choosing case studies and would include
an international perspective in subjects,
international collaboration between
academics and students at different global
sites and rich opportunities for students to
enhance their cross-cultural skills
●● subjects and academic programs which are
constantly scrutinised for their relevance
and applicability not just at the transnational
teaching location but at the main Wollongong
campus of UOW as well
●● mutual respect
●● regular communication and sharing of good
practice between academics at both locations.
2 LECTURES DELIVERED AS ‘INTENSIVES’,
SUPPORTED BY WEEKLY TUTORIALS WITH LOCAL COTEACHERS (INTENSIVES PLUS TUTORIALS MODEL)
This has been the most common UOW experience. It
involves coordinating a cohort of students hosted at a
partner institution in an overseas location. In this type
of transnational teaching, students are enrolled in
UOW programs, and study the same subjects as main
campus students. Typically:
●● the same subject is taught at the both the
main campus and transnationally
●● subject materials, resources, and assessment
tasks are predominantly developed by the
UOW subject coordinator
●● the UOW subject coordinator usually delivers
the core material to transnational students
in an intensive teaching week early in the
session/semester at the transnational
teaching site
●● local ‘co-teachers’ from the transnational
partner institution guide and tutor the
students through the remaining material
during the session, based on learning
activities developed by the UOW subject
coordinator
●● the subjects are supported online via
eLearning, which allows transnational
students to access subject resources and to
interact online with lecturers, co-teachers
and their student peers outside of the
intensive teaching week
●● in some cases distance delivery methods
such as eduStream lectures or activity
handbooks are used to combine distance and
face-to-face teaching.
University of Wollongong
3 LECTURES DELIVERED AS ‘INTENSIVES’,
SUPPORTED BY DISTANCE AND/OR ELEARNING
(INTENSIVES PLUS ELEARNING/DISTANCE MODEL)
This approach is used by the School of Nursing,
Midwifery and Indigenous Health. As with the previous
approach, the UOW subject coordinator has cohorts
of students in Australia as well as at the transnational
teaching location. They offer face-to-face teaching for
the transnational cohort through intensive teaching
weeks at the beginning of session/semester.
In this approach there are no tutorials or local coteachers to support the student through the session.
Instead, more attention is given to supporting
students at a distance, using careful subject design
which makes the best use of eLearning tools for
learning and communication.
This approach is successful where:
●● students are highly motivated, mature
professionals who can study independently
●● teaching activities/assessments are designed
to encourage peer learning and eLearning, and
“Whatever delivery model is used, we need to
think about how the program will support global
learning. How will students at transnational
locations and Australian locations collaborate,
in group projects or discussion groups? Global
learning is now an important part of subject
design.”
— Sandra Wills, Executive Director,
‘Global learning’ has been defined as a studentcentred activity where learners from different
cultures use technology to improve their global
perspectives while remaining in their home
countries (Gibson, Rimmington et al, 2008). For
example, classes or groupwork where students
located in different countries come together online.
●● UOW academics are committed to
communicating with students during the
session and supporting them using eLearning
and other tools.
SUMMARY OF RESPONSIBILITIES
MODEL:
1. Partner delivery:
UOW Quality Assurance
Model
2. Intensives Plus
Tutorials Model
3. Intensives Plus
eLearning/Distance
Model
Subject Coordination
Partner institution
academic working with
Wollongong academic
Wollongong academic
Wollongong academic
Lectures
Partner institution
academic
Wollongong academic
Wollongong academic
Support during
session
Partner institution
academic and tutor
Tutorials by partner
institution co-teacher
Wollongong academic
teaching online through
eLearning, distance
education
Wollongong academic
available for questions,
advice and feedback
(mainly by email)
Marking
Bulk of marking is by
partner institution
academic and tutor
Quality assurance/ check
marking by Wollongong
quality assurer
Transnational Teaching at UOW
Bulk of marking is by
Wollongong academic
Wollongong academic
Some marking eg of
presentations is by
partner institution coteacher
7
THE QUALITIES OF EFFECTIVE TRANSNATIONAL TEACHERS
The experience of transnational teaching inevitably
challenges you to reflect on your role as a teacher.
You may find yourself in situations where the usual
rules do not operate, where assumptions are not
helpful, or where your ability to deal with situations
is diminished by a lack of understanding of local
custom. Transnational teaching may test your beliefs
about teaching and learning and challenge your
flexibility and cultural awareness.
Various writers refer to the key characteristics of
effective international and/or transnational teachers
(Farkas-Teekens, 1997, Leask, 2001, 2006, 2007,
Vulpe et al, 2000). These characteristics involve
teaching skills and approaches, personal attributes,
cultural knowledge and knowledge of policy and
procedures.
TEACHING SKILLS AND APPROACHES
In addition to providing timely and appropriate
feedback on assessment tasks and an enthusiastic
approach to what they are teaching, transnational
teachers also need to:
●● adapt learning activities to suit the needs of
transnational students. This typically involves
including local content (examples and case
studies) in the curriculum
●● make skilled use of multi-media and
communication technology, both to support
communication of concepts and for studentstudent and student-teacher communication.
Transnational teachers themselves need to be
intercultural learners, seeking to increase their
cultural awareness and being open to learn from
new experiences. To be effective, they need to
acknowledge the variety in teaching styles and
different traditions of education that their students
may have experienced.
“Lecturers need induction training in being
culturally sensitive – we need to train lecturers
how to show their interest in and respect for other
cultures and environments.”
— Peter McLean, Faculty of Commerce DISCIPLINE KNOWLEDGE
If a discipline varies across locations, transnational
teachers may need to be aware of any major
departures which could affect students’ prior
knowledge and/or industry expectations.
KNOWLEDGE OF POLICY AND PROCEDURES
Effective transnational teachers are informed
about international standards, issues, practices and
perspectives within their discipline. They are also
informed about the relevant policies, guidelines and
procedures. At UOW these include:
●● the Quality Assurance of Transnational
Education (Offshore) and UOWD Teaching and
Learning Procedure
●● the UOW Graduate Qualities
PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES
Effective teaching in any situation requires flexibility,
patience and collegiality. In addition, in transnational
teaching it is important to be able to:
●● the Academic Integrity and Plagiarism Policy
●● the Code of Practice – Teaching and
Assessment
●● communicate with people of another culture
in a way that engenders respect and trust
●● the Good Practice Assessment Guidelines; the
Teaching and Assessment Policy, and
●● work within the local conditions and
constraints.
●● the Code of Practice – Students.
“It is really hard, there is a huge difference. Even if
they are doing a fantastic job teaching in Wollongong,
it may not work here, they may have to change.”
— Transnational co-teacher
8
CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE
Transnational procedures can be accessed at https://
intranet.uow.edu.au/international/overview/policies/
index.html#Transnational and the other documents
can be accessed at: http://www.uow.edu.au/about/
policy/learning/ Further information regarding
policies and procedures can be sourced by contacting
the Director, Transnational Education and Alliances at
UOW.
University of Wollongong
Within the transnational teaching environment it is
important to be alert for potentially conflicting policies
or practices across institutions, and prepared to
help students, co-teachers and peers at all locations
understand UOW expectations and procedures.
The Australian Vice Chancellors Committee’s
Provision of Education to International Students:
Codes and Guidelines for Australian Universities
(AVCC, 2005b, pp 7-8) contains a number of guidelines
dealing with teaching international students, many
of which apply directly to transnational teaching
contexts. For instance, it stipulates that staff
members representing universities overseas or
delivering programs to international students should
be carefully selected and be:
CRITICAL ISSUES
FOR COURSE
COORDINATORS
•How will new transnational teachers be
prepared for their role – for example,
workshops, mentoring from course
coordinator, mentoring from experienced
transnational teachers? (The Academic
Development Unit can help facilitate a
workshop for your faculty if needed.)
●● sympathetic and clear communicators with
a thorough knowledge of their university’s
courses and procedures, and of the Australian
education system
•How will you encourage teachers to see
the transnational students as part of the
UOW student body (not as peripheral or
ancillary)?
●● sensitive to the culture and customs of the
country they are visiting and/or the students
they are teaching, and aware of historical and
political background and educational systems
•How will you discourage assumptions
of cultural superiority and encourage
cultural openness?
●● knowledgeable, experienced and competent
in the administration of student policy and in
face-to-face dealings with students
•How will you prepare, consult and/
or collaborate with academics and coteachers at different locations?
●● aware of the quality of the partnership
arrangement where the university is engaged
in offshore provision.
Additionally, the AVCC stipulates that Australian
universities should “recognise their on-going
responsibilities for the education and welfare of
international students, and take appropriate account
of the potential cultural and linguistic difficulties that
international students may encounter. Australian
universities should ensure that academic programs,
support services and learning environment offered to
all international students encourage them to have a
positive attitude about Australian education” (AVCC,
2005b, p 4).
Transnational Teaching at UOW
9
STAFF SUPPORT SERVICES
WHICH UOW SERVICES CAN STAFF ACCESS?
Transnational
Education & Alliances
Unit
Advice and procedures for establishing new courses
Annual review procedures
Quality assurance procedures
https://intranet.uow.edu.au/ard/policies/UOW091614.html
Academic Development
Unit
Provides teaching development opportunities for all teaching
staff, including casual teachers. Includes University Learning
and Teaching program (ULT), tips for tutors workshops,
seminars and podcasts, advice on teaching awards and advice
on probation and promotion applications. Offered face-to-face
at Wollongong or online at other locations (unless funding is
availabe for travel).
http://www.uow.edu.au/asd/cedir/academicdevelopmentunit/
Learning Design
Offers assistance with curriculum design and teaching
technology, including assessment task design, use of eLearning
and innovative resource development.
http://focusonteaching.uow.edu.au/learningdesign/
Faculty Service
Agreements
Allocates technical and learning design staff for an agreed
number of hours to help selected academic staff members to
develop innovative teaching resources.
http://www.uow.edu.au/asd/fsa/index.html
Learning Development
Offers advice on curriculum development and embedding
student academic skills and English language skills. Produces
resources and handouts for students.
If funding is provided for travel, a Learning Developer may be
able visit a campus to offer workshop programs and integrated
seminars for students, or a block of individual student
consultations. These arrangements must be negotiated with the
Head of Learning Development.
http://www.uow.edu.au/student/services/ld/ldstaff/
Library
Through the faculty librarians, academics can access facultyspecific advice on developing student research skills as well as
assistance with their own research. The Library also produces
online referencing guides for different Faculties and other
useful online tools which can be incorporated into teaching.
http://www.library.uow.edu.au/resourcesbytopic/UOW026621.
html
Turnitin
Anti-plagiarism software that can be incorporated into subjects
and assessment tasks. Advice should be sought before use.
http://www.uow.edu.au/student/services/ld/staff/UOW022082.
html
10
University of Wollongong
STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES
WHICH UOW SERVICES CAN TRANSNATIONAL STUDENTS ACCESS?
Library
Transnational students have access to e-readings, online databases and e-books
through the UOW Library. In 2010, over 50,000 e-books were purchased by the
Library to enhance access by students, particularly at transnational and regional
campuses. The Library continues to add to the e-book collection.
The UOW Library also provides a number of online tools to assist with research,
including a referencing tool at http://www.library.uow.edu.au/referencing/.
Students also would usually have access to a library through the partner
institution.
Learning Development
Students can access online resources such as the Unilearning academic writing
tool, a range of handouts and guides to academic writing and statistical modules.
Where a student is identified as at-risk and referred by a subject coordinator or
lecturer, online individual consultations can be organised.
http://learning.uow.edu.au/resources/
http://www.uow.edu.au/student/attributes/statlit/
http://unilearning.uow.edu.au/
StartSmart online
modules
An online orientation to academic skills including referencing.
Information technology
All students are given a UOW login and email account. Course administrators
should note that enrolments will need to be notified to ITS by ARD well ahead of
the transnational session so that user names can be created.
http://www.library.uow.edu.au/orientation/
UOW eLearning (subject web sites) is available at every location.
Some technology may need to be negotiated with the partner institution:
●● access to computers
●● student Internet quotas
●● classes held in computer labs
●● specialist software.
Academic advice
Subject advice is given by the subject coordinator.
Course advice is usually provided by the local course coordinator. Students may
also contact the Wollongong sub-dean.
Accommodation
Students can be referred to accommodation service of the partner institution.
Scholarships
Every scholarship comes with eligibility conditions. Some scholarships may be
available to UOW students at any location, but many are restricted. Interested
students should check the UOW scholarships web pages.
Counselling
Students seeking counselling should be referred to the counselling service of the
partner institution.
Grievances
Students at any location can instigate an Academic Grievance Resolution
Procedure. http://www.uow.edu.au/about/policy/UOW058653.html
Transnational Teaching at UOW
11
PREPARING FOR TRANSNATIONAL TEACHING
WHAT ARE MY STUDENTS’
ACADEMIC SKILLS?
WHAT CAN I EXPECT?
You can expect that students at all locations will
be similarly capable of learning. They will generally
be interested in developing deep understandings
and problem-solving skills, consciously seeking
an international outlook, and viewing international
education as a long-term investment in career
advancement (Bell, 2008a, Gatfield and Hyde, 2005,
Pyvis and Chapman, 2004, Rizvi, 2005). However, they
may well have different educational experiences or
training to draw on this capacity for learning.
“Learning styles are similar to any class
anywhere. Students range from highly
autonomous independent learners to dependent
learners. We need to be careful not to
stereotype. It’s a global classroom.”
— Peter Kell, Course Coordinator 2003–2009,
Faculty of Education
It is a good idea to question any assumptions
about the learning capacity of students based on
nationality. For instance, various researchers have
refuted the earlier stereotype of students from Asian
cultural backgrounds as taking a surface approach
to learning (Beasley & Parson, 1999; Biggs &
Watkins, 1996; Chalmers & Volet, 1997; Choi, 1997;
Kelly & Ha, 1998; Kember, 2000; On, 1996). While
students’ earlier educational experiences may have
encouraged particular approaches such as a focus
on memorisation (Ng, 2001), globalisation influences
on educational cultures in Asia are increasingly
emphasising critical thinking skills and active learning
(Bell, 2008b, 2009; Ng, 2001; Mok, 2003; Tan, 2003).
WHAT CAN’T I ASSUME?
You can’t assume that transnational students will
have the same academic skills as students at another
location or from another course, even across groups
that may seem similar. Students may have come
through very different national education systems
and/or prior studies, each with different emphases.
It follows that extra development of some academic
skills may need to be built into the course/subject.
12
HOW DO I FIND OUT IF STUDENTS HAVE SKILLS GAPS?
Consider the level of skill needed to succeed in
the subject/course, in areas such as: independent
research; referencing; literature reviews; essay
writing; critical thinking and analysis; problem solving;
mathematics; computer programming; group work;
presentations; and academic English.
Some possibilities are:
●● talk to colleagues who have previously taught
and marked work from this student cohort
●● if students are entering from an articulated
course ask the course coordinator or faculty
officer to show you the subject outlines and
assessment tasks from prior courses
●● ask for advice from the tutors, co-teachers or
subject coordinator in their country of study,
as they will best know their students
●● consult with Learning Development at UOW,
as they may have previously worked with
similar transnational student cohorts, or can
CAUTIONARY TALE High failure rates in an
undergraduate subject. Students were admitted
to a course based on success in a very different
subject area. When they performed poorly in their
first year the academics were shocked and unsure
how to handle the problems. It took some time to
identify the skills gaps and put support in place.
help you realistically assess the academic
and English language standards of students
●● set an assessment due very early in the
session which can help to identify individual
and group skills issues, and plan to follow up
with support where needed.
“Students coming from NSW high schools come
from a homogenous experience, but this isn’t
the case for people coming to our transnational
campuses. Don’t assume. They are often very
bright students but they don’t have the same
background as our students. Their starting
point can be very different. Get help – it’s a joint
effort, not an individual one. Work with Learning
Development and other colleagues.”
—Rob Castle, DVC(A)
University of Wollongong
WHAT STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO ADDRESS SKILLS GAPS?
Strategies can be grouped into two main approaches:
●● offer extra support outside of class –
‘supplemental support’
●● offer support within the subject – ‘integrated
support’
Supplemental support can include extra tutorials
for struggling students, English language workshops,
handouts or links to learning support resources.
For some courses, a special bridging program may
be effective. This approach is attractive to subject
coordinators as it does not take up valuable class time
during the intensive teaching weeks, draws on existing
learning support material, and can take less time to
develop or access. However, without clear guidance it
can be hard for students to conceptually link generic
advice to their immediate learning needs. Access to
learning resources does not guarantee understanding
or necessarily develop students’ capacity to apply the
instruction to their assessment tasks.
Integrated support is generally considered to be the
better model. An integrated approach is one which
finds ways to develop students’ academic skills at
the same time as they work with subject content.
Language and learning support are most effective
when integrated into course and teaching design
(Percy et al, 2005).
Integrated support has the additional benefit of
ensuring that all students have the same learning
support and avoids the stigma of ‘remedial’ assistance.
Usually integration of academic skill development
is done by modifying learning and assessment tasks
to build skills to the levels needed. For example, you
might:
●● give students tasks in class that model the
approach that will be expected in assessment
tasks
●● provide examples of work that show what is
expected
●● explicitly focus on a particular academic skill
in different assessment tasks
●● incrementally develop academic skills across
assessment tasks
●● make expectations clear in marking criteria
●● if students are unpractised at writing complex
reports or long essays, consider splitting the
assessment into two or more components.
Although it might initially take more time to
collaboratively develop curricula using integrated
learning support, it has the benefit of being
sustainable over time and across multiple deliveries.
CRITICAL ISSUES FOR
COURSE COORDINATORS
•How will you arrive a good understanding
of students’ prior learning, for example are
there articulated courses where you could
examine their previous curricula?
•What are the academic skills needed?
Are there likely to be any skills gaps? For
example, you might compare students’
skills to those of other cohorts you are
teaching (writing, maths, referencing,
research, analysis etc)
•If there are skills gaps, how will you plan
opportunities for students to acquire the
skills needed to succeed in subjects? For
example through orientation programs,
online academic skills modules, and/or the
development of subject-specific integrated
activities and resources. The Library and
Learning Development academics can
help develop these with you.
DOES THE SUBJECT HAVE TO BE TAUGHT IN EXACTLY
THE SAME WAY AT EACH CAMPUS?
No. Diverse teaching strategies can be used to
bring students to the same standard. The Quality
Assurance of Transnational Education (Offshore) &
UOWD Teaching and Learning Procedure states that:
“The content of subjects, textbooks and readings and
the nature of assessment tasks may vary between the
equivalent UOW and offshore and/or UOWD subjects
so as to reflect the pedagogical needs of the student
cohorts at each location, and to reflect particular
requirements imposed by relevant higher education
accreditation agencies.”
All variations must be approved by the faculty as part
of quality assurance of subject outlines.
“The students love to have a Western person bring a
completely different experience to their education.
They love it and they hate it at the same time
because you have different expectations of them
compared to local teachers; you have a different
teaching style; you expect a lot more autonomy and
independence; you tend to have higher expectations
of their performance in the classroom.”
— Transnational co-teacher
Transnational Teaching at UOW
13
GOOD PRACTICE: PROVIDING
EXAMPLES OF PAST WORK –
FACULTY OF ARTS
Hong Kong students in the early intakes of a
transnational BA program reported their ‘culture
shock’ and confusion about the academic
expectations. One returning lecturer decided to
address their concerns by working with Learning
Development to find models of good/poor academic
writing by his main campus students who had
just completed the same assessment task (with
their permission). The Hong Kong students were
delighted with these models and the insights into
their Wollongong peers’ experience, and grew
more creative not only in the selection of research
projects but in their reflection of their local cultural
expectations.
— Mark McLelland, Subject Coordinator, Faculty of
Arts
GOOD PRACTICE: SKILLS
INDUCTION – CENTRE FOR
TRANSNATIONAL CRIME
PREVENTION
WHERE CAN I GET HELP?
1. Talk to your course coordinator for guidance and
assistance.
2. Make contact with your Faculty’s Learning
Development representative (the current list can be
found at http://www.uow.edu.au/student/services/ld/
ldstaff). These specialists are available to help with:
●● embedding academic skills and language
support into a subject
●● developing subject-specific resources or class
activities
●● designing sample exercises to help students
acquire suitable vocabulary, evaluate
research, practice critical thinking etc
●● refining assessment tasks and marking
criteria
●● delivering formative feedback on English
language and writing in an early assessment
task
●● subject to funding approval, in cases of high
need Learning Developers may be available to
accompany you to classes to collaboratively
teach academic skills.
Be sure to give Learning Development plenty of notice
if you are going to need their assistance.
Many students in transnational crime prevention
are police or legal officers who have not been
to university before. To help them understand
expectations and build their academic skills, students
in both Wollongong and China complete a series of
online modules on academic expectations, research,
reading strategies and writing that were developed
by Learning Development and the Library, who also
taught a two-day workshop program of workshops on
campus at Wollongong. See http://ctcp.uow.edu.au/
resources/
While students reported that they referred to the
online modules several times across the session,
they also reported not fully appreciating the generic
workshop program as it was not attached to any
‘real’ assessment task. In 2010, follow-up workshops
were offered immediately before assessment tasks
rather than at the beginning of session, so that
students could immediately see how they could
use the academic skills needed for specific learning
tasks. Additionally, a core subject was redeveloped
to include scaffolded assessment tasks and learning
resources designed to incrementally build students’
academic research and writing skills.
“I worked with Learning Development
to deliver a Wollongong subject to
a different audience. The Learning
Design group helped me as well, and
the Library was fabulous. I found the
university was very supportive of
teaching offshore.”
— Moira Williamson, School of
Nursing, Faculty of Health &
Behavioural Science
— Mark Loves, Course Coordinator, and Judith
Marychurch, FEC Chair, Faculty of Law
14
University of Wollongong
HOW DOES CULTURE AFFECT SUBJECT MATERIALS?
WHAT CAN I EXPECT?
You can expect that your transnational students
will have a basic knowledge of other countries, have
heard of a few very famous international people,
movements and brands, and will be aware of and
have opinions on major global events.
WHAT CAN’T I ASSUME?
You can’t assume that students and teachers from
another country share knowledge that is well-known
in your country, whether of films/TV shows/books,
social movements, brands, companies, historical
events, ideas, technologies, politics, people or
philosophies.
Even in cases where knowledge is shared, it can’t
be assumed that people from other countries
conceptualise or interpret it in the same way.
“The main difference is the experience
and background. What I have with local
teachers here is that we share the same
cultural background and the same
knowledge, so when we mention an
example we are all ‘yes yes that’s the one’.
But with the Wollongong teachers you have
to try to figure out some really common
examples so that we can share together. It
is not just the example that is important – it
is through this example that I get what we
need students to learn”.
— Transnational co-teacher
MY SUBJECT IS GROUNDED IN SOME BASIC
PHILOSOPHICAL OR THEORETICAL PRINCIPLES. HOW
CAN I KNOW THAT THESE ARE SHARED BY STUDENTS
FROM ANOTHER CULTURE?
Sometimes you may be unsure of whether students
hold the same basic philosophical or theoretical
assumptions as those assumed in your subject. For
example, in Australia some commonly held principles,
many of which arguably underlie public policy, include:
●● the individual economic good should be
balanced with the collective economic good
●● individual human rights should be protected
even against the powerful interests of
governments
●● religion is not a matter for the state
●● people should not be discriminated against
because of their gender, race, religion,
sexuality, disability or marital status
●● evolution describes the theory of origins best
supported by science
… and so on.
None of these principles are universally accepted
(even within Australia). Opposing views may be held in
other countries as diverse as the United States, Saudi
Arabia and China. These and other assumptions can
profoundly impact on subject areas as diverse as law,
arts, health, science and commerce.
Transnational Teaching at UOW
Rather than avoiding the issues, it can be beneficial
to make any particular philosophical or theoretical
principles that underlie your subject explicit to
students. One approach is to spell out these principles
in an early lecture, and open them up to discussion/
debate. Another approach is to try and find out about
any areas of difference before teaching begins, so that
points of difference can be clarified to students.
Making your principles explicit and/or engaging in
debate doesn’t necessarily mean you have to change
the subject content or the position from which you
teach. It may mean:
●● spending more class time explaining
principles
●● acknowledging the different perspectives
of students and remaining open to ongoing
dialogue
●● clarifying expectations and ground rules.
This levels the playing field, so that students and
teachers know where they stand, and can respectfully
acknowledge differing positions.
15
HOW DO TEACHERS WORK ACROSS LOCATIONS TO
MODIFY SUBJECT MATERIAL?
In many cases there will be two subject coordinators,
one in each location. One may have developed
the original material for Australia and the other
may be modifying the subject for another country.
Alternatively the subject may be undergoing review so
that it is suitable for delivery in both countries.
In either case, development of the modified subject
will need to be shared and collegial. An initial meeting
will need to be scheduled to discuss broad issues:
●● the aims and learning outcomes of the subject
SHOULD WE REPLACE CULTURALLY-SPECIFIC
EXAMPLES WITH EXAMPLES FROM THE STUDENTS’
OWN REGION?
Yes, if they are illustrative examples — that is, those
added to content to help students understand a point.
Illustrative examples help students by connecting
theory with their existing frame of reference. But
if the example is outside their existing frame of
reference, it won’t have the desired effect. It may even
be confusing rather than helpful.
In many cases examples were originally added to help
the understanding of particular groups of students,
and so are, to some degree, culturally based.
●● the graduate qualities developed in the subject
●● the learning capabilities and prior learning of
the transnational students
●● whether the subject content including
examples and case studies is suitably pitched
to transnational students
●● whether the assessment tasks are suitably
pitched to transnational students (for
example, a large assessment of a type
unfamiliar to transnational students may
need to be broken into several smaller
assessments to support students acquiring
new skills)
●● what learning support will need to be
integrated into the teaching across session
to help students meet the learning and
assessment expectations.
Further meetings may be needed, whether online
using chat tools or Skype video, or through email
exchanges, to agree on and refine:
●● the suggested modifications to the subject
modules for the transnational context
●● if necessary, ways to slightly modify the
assessment tasks so that they remain
of equal weight, but meet the learning
capabilities of the transnational cohort
●● clear, specific marking criteria for the
assessment tasks, to avoid possible student
and tutor confusion.
Both subject coordinators contribute to agreeing on
the modifications needed. The subject coordinator
located in Australia will usually be responsible for
quality assurance. As Quality Assuror, they will provide
comments and may require modifications to any new
material. Both subject coordinators need to aware of
and prepared for these roles and understand that their
decisions need to be collaborative and negotiated.
16
CAUTIONARY TALE: An exam paper contained a
scenario based on the Melbourne Cup, and a short
explanation that it was a culturally significant
horse race was added to the transnational version
of the paper. Many transnational students didn’t
fully understand what this scenario meant and
struggled to answer the question effectively.
No, if they are foundational examples — that is,
those which show critical turning points in an area of
study or practice, or are standard examples known
internationally in the field. Additional explanation may
help if these are from contexts unfamiliar to students.
No, if they are deliberately intercultural — that
is, they were designed specifically to build
intercultural competence in students, for example
involve culturally-specific areas such as Australian
Indigenous studies, or Western legal systems. Part
of the reason for studying a degree offered by an
overseas university/campus is to gain cultural
understanding.
Possibly, if they are professional examples — that
is, those which engage the students by showing how
what they are learning relates to their chosen field.
Graduate destinations and career prospects vary
according to location, and some adjustments may be
needed.
“He actually gave a lot of local movies as examples
and the students were all – ok here is a guy, an
Australian guy, who has seen things in our films
that we didn’t know about, and it is embarrassing
to us, these are our movies! But we learnt about it
through Australian eyes. It is a very good way of
learning – getting to know yourself and your city
through the eyes of someone else.”
– Transnational student
University of Wollongong
DOES THIS MEAN A DIFFERENT VERSION OF THE
SUBJECT HAS TO BE OFFERED IN EVERY LOCATION?
Not necessarily. Some academics choose to design
the subject to contain a mixture of examples drawn
from all of the countries where they are teaching. This
mix of examples is then taught at each site, possibly
with more attention to some aspects more than
others, depending on location.
“We are going over there to integrate our culture,
not to impose our culture. If we don’t do that we will
lose the students. Flying in and saying ‘here is my
wisdom’ and then flying out again is not the way.”
— Penney McFarlane, Degree Coordinator,
Faculty of Informatics
DOES SUBJECT CONTENT NEED BE EXACTLY THE SAME
AT EACH CAMPUS, OR CAN IT BE VARIED?
The core subject content is usually the same at every
location, however:
●● examples and case studies can vary across
locations. Arguably, using examples and case
studies originally designed to help Australian
students may make the subject harder for
others
●● some content may have to be changed for
other reasons, eg to meet local accreditation
requirements.
All variations must be approved by the faculty as part
of quality assurance of subject outlines.
WHERE CAN I SOURCE REGIONAL EXAMPLES AND CASE
STUDIES?
●● If some students already work in the field of
study, they may be able to offer suggestions.
●● Professional organisations in a region often
have ideas for case studies that can also
address concerns of local employers.
●● Peers and co-teachers at the transnational
location are an invaluable source of ideas.
They may also be willing to read through your
subject materials to give advice.
●● Academic journal articles from the region can
be useful.
●● For simple examples, local or international
newspapers and websites can be a good
source.
Transnational Teaching at UOW
CRITICAL ISSUES FOR
COURSE COORDINATORS
•Which subjects are appropriate for the
program? What are the interests and
professional aspirations of the students?
What have they already studied? What
accreditation arrangements will be
sought?
•How will UOW Graduate Qualities be
incorporated into course design, so that
they are explicitly linked to teaching and
learning activities?
•How will you convince new teachers in
the program on the need for cultural
modifications to materials from Australia?
•How will you stay in communication with
teachers and quality assurors as subjects
are modified for delivery across sites?
•Can you negotiate faculty resources, time
or other support for coordinators to modify
materials?
ARE THERE DIFFERENT WAYS OF PRESENTING
INFORMATION AND IDEAS?
It has been suggested that a cultural difference can
occur in how arguments are structured. A traditional
Western discourse may present an assertion and then
expand by providing evidence, examples etc. However
in some East Asian countries the opposite style is
often (but not always) preferred – first lay out related
information, then explore its ramifications to build a
picture or case, and finally finish with the assertion
or conclusion. This is somewhat oversimplified; for
example experiential learning in Western countries
may also explore evidence before drawing out theory.
We can be alert to cultural differences, and aware
that people accustomed to one style may find the
other style cumbersome. It may not be necessary to
change your style, but it can be helpful to be aware of
this as an area of possible cultural difference.
“Chinese students expressed a strong preference
for starting with the big picture ie the driving forces
in the society and area before moving onto concrete
examples. This has been found to have great
importance for both the introduction of new topics
as well as the consideration of actual examples and
scenarios” (Bowering and Lock, 2007, p 3).
17
HOW DOES LANGUAGE AFFECT LEARNING?
WHAT CAN I EXPECT?
You can expect that your transnational students will
have passed an English proficiency test or equivalent
to ensure they meet minimum standards in speaking,
reading, writing and listening.
You can expect that many of your transnational
students will lack confidence in English. A common
anxiety is that ‘I don’t speak/write English well
enough to do well in the assessment tasks’. This fear
may also make new students hesitate to answer or
ask questions in class.
WHAT CAN’T I ASSUME?
You can’t assume that students possess
the vocabulary of the discipline or that their
conversational language skills are sufficient to
immediately perform well in academic English. This
does not mean that the students are not intelligent
or capable of understanding the central themes
or concepts, but it does mean that they may have
difficulty communicating their understanding.
The Australian Vice-Chancellors’ Committee report
on transnational teaching found that pre-entry
English language testing is not sufficient to the
needs of students entering higher education either
on or offshore. The report recommends that ongoing
language and learning support should be planned by
universities (AVCC, 2005a).
IS IT MY RESPONSIBILITY TO ASSIST STUDENTS WITH
LANGUAGE SUPPORT?
Student learning and language support will need
to planned by the course coordinator. Coordinators
and lecturers will need to discuss and plan for this
support across the program and within or parallel to
subjects.
When designing support, it is important not to give
messages to the students that they are ‘in deficit’
or in need of ‘remedial’ assistance – they have been
accepted into the program by UOW as meeting the
entrance requirements of the course, after all, and
may have done very well in their previous studies in
other languages (Doherty & Singh, 2005, p 53).
It is also important to realise that academic language
and literacy is not something that can be simply ‘fixed’
in a generic bridging or pre-entry class or by one-off
supplemental resources – it is context-specific and
‘developed by degrees’ (Taylor et al, 1988 cited in
AVCC, 2005a, p 5).
18
WHAT STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO HELP STUDENTS
UNDERSTAND THE LECTURES?
●● Provide lecture notes or copies of slides ahead
of the class. Students who find lectures hard to
follow or who can’t concentrate on discussion
while taking notes will find this helpful.
●● Explain how and when students can ask
questions. For example, you could let students
know that some class time will be put aside
for questions and to check their understanding
This will prepare them for the opportunity to
engage with the lecture material.
●● Speak clearly at a slower pace than usual.
Speed of delivery is a major barrier to
understanding. Slowing down takes effort and
can be difficult for lecturers, who feel pressure
to impart a lot of content in class time, but is
key to ensuring student engagement.
●● Clearly identify the structure and main
concepts of each lecture, and signal subsidiary
points and topic changes as they occur.
●● Take a plain-English, conversational
approach, rather than reading from formal
notes as a script. Formal notes tend to be
denser with more unfamiliar words and more
difficult sentence structures.
●● Avoid metaphors, or if they are important
explain them. Second language students
frequently misunderstand these, and
misunderstandings can be a more serious
problem than non-understandings.
●● Use redundancy when explaining key concepts,
by repeating points using different words
●● List key points using PowerPoint or whiteboard
●● Use visual aids, but remember that second
language speakers may take longer to
process both spoken and visual messages.
●● Schedule changes in student activity to aid
concentration and memory in longer classes.
●● Summarise at the end of the lecture and
explain context of the topic discussed –
how it relates to the next topic and/or the
assessment task, which readings are relevant.
●● Find links between the readings and the
lecture topics – giving students a strategic
way of approaching the readings can help
them process the information more effectively.
(Flowerdew, 1994, Flowerdew and Miller, 1995, Huang,
2005, Littlemore, 2001, Lynch, 1994, McKnight, 1994).
University of Wollongong
WHAT STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO HELP STUDENTS
LEARN FROM WRITTEN MATERIAL?
●● Check that subject guides are clearly written,
and that the required and recommended
reading lists are organised around topic or
lecture areas. Consider selecting easier
readings to start with so that students move
from more accessible to more conceptually
difficult texts.
●● Limit the amount of reading. Keep in mind
that it takes longer to read in a second
language. A few dense paragraphs may take
as long to read in a second language as an
entire article in a first language.
●● If the readings are very dense, consider
highlighting key passages. It can be difficult
for second-language speakers to determine
the main points.
●● When selecting articles and texts, consider
the linguistic difficulty and complexity. If more
than 5% of terms are unfamiliar to students,
or the complexity is beyond their language
ability, they are likely to give up or seek
shortcuts (Macaro, 2003, pp 65, 130-131).
●● Ask Learning Development to help with
exercises to build vocabulary in the subject
area. Cobb describes a paradox where, to
understand what they are reading, students
need to understand most of the words in a
text, yet to understand most of the words in
a text they need to understand what they are
reading. It follows that reading alone won’t
allow students to develop the vocabulary they
need (Cobb, 2007).
●● Design activities that help students come to
an understanding of key texts. For instance,
ease in with a comprehension reading activity
which walks students through a text while
asking questions that will help them identify
the context, the topic under discussion, the
author’s argument, and the evidence used to
support that argument.
●● Encourage students to discuss the readings
with each other, eg in small groups. This
activity could be in their own language with
a report back to the rest of the class or the
teacher in English.
CRITICAL ISSUES FOR
COURSE COORDINATORS
•What will be the language policy for
tutorials (percentage of English to be
spoken in class)?
•How will you brief new transnational
subject coordinators so they understand
language issues (Learning Development
can help)?
•How will you evaluate the range of
language levels in the student cohort?
•How will academic English support will be
made available to students?
SHOULD I BE CONCERNED IF STUDENTS DON’T SPEAK
ENGLISH IN TUTORIALS AND GROUP WORK?
If the course is advertised as an English language
degree:
●● all tutorials should include English language
learning and teaching
●● all assessment tasks should be conducted
entirely in English.
Whether or not some use of the students’ own
language is helpful is the subject of debate. Some
teachers believe small group work in the students’ own
language is very helpful to learning and encourages
active engagement with the topic under discussion.
Discussion of concepts in students’ first language may
encourage deep learning (Skyrme, 2005).
Others disagree, suggesting that discussion of
concepts in students’ second language requires the
effort of translation in two directions and is not always
successful as concepts may not align and arguments
may not be equally convincing in both languages
(Smith and Smith, 1999). Skyrme suggests resolving
this dilemma by accepting some use of first language
as a natural stage of learning, which students ideally
move past as they gain expertise (Skyrme, 2005).
“I don’t mind what language students use in group work. I just think it’s great
that they’re engaging, and getting involved in the topic. Afterwards, I get them
to report back to the class in English.”
— Moira Williamson, Subject Coordinator, Faculty of Health &
Behavioural Sciences
Transnational Teaching at UOW
19
SHOULD I BE CONCERNED IF STUDENTS DON’T SPEAK
ENGLISH IN TUTORIALS AND GROUP WORK? continued
CAN I PASS STUDENTS WHERE THE LEVEL OF ENGLISH
EXPRESSION IS VERY POOR?
In practice, a local subject coordinator or co-teacher
may be faced with the need to engage students with
difficult subject material and a class of students who
resist speaking in English. Insisting on all-English
tutorials under these pressures may be unrealistic
and undermine both the teacher’s and students’
commitment to the classroom language policy. A lot
depends on the ability of a local subject coordinator
or co-teacher to keep to the agreed language in the
face of classroom pressures. It may be more realistic
to require an agreed section of the tutorial to be
conducted in English.
If explicit marking criteria were distributed to
students in the subject outline and these indicated
marks for correct use of language, marks could be
deducted.
“I designed a role play, and allowed students to do it
in their own language. The freedom to discuss in their
own language was liberating for them.”
— Peter McLean, Subject Coordinator,
Faculty of Commerce
If some students are from different language
backgrounds to the majority then for equity reasons
whole-class interactions should be conducted entirely
in English. It might not be immediately obvious that
students have a different language background – for
instance, mainland Chinese students will generally
speak Mandarin while Hong Kong students will talk to
each other in Cantonese.
It can be difficult to monitor the language of teaching
and learning. However, in an English-language
degree it is essential to provide regular opportunities
to interact in English throughout the session. This
expectation needs to be openly discussed with local
subject coordinators, co-teachers and students.
Usually students wouldn’t fail on English expression
alone, as the marks given to other areas such as
adequate research, credible data, structure and
critical reasoning would be more significant.
If individual students are having problems with
written English, consider referring them to language
or grammar support services available through either
their campus or Wollongong. If expecting students to
use resources on the UOW web site, provide direct
links to pages as students with language difficulties
may not be able to navigate to locate this support
themselves. Be aware that expecting these resources
to dramatically improve language proficiency is
unrealistic – in many cases the most effective
immediate option will be individual consultations
around an assessment task.
If a number of members of the group are struggling,
a more systemic approach may be needed. Learning
Development may be able to offer support delivered
in class time, supplementary seminars or an online
resource.
AM I EXPECTED TO MARK UP PAPERS FOR INCORRECT
LANGUAGE USE?
Academics are not expected to mark up every
grammatical error or spelling mistake, particularly if
these are numerous. It will help the students if you
mark up a few indicative paragraphs and list the key
recurring problems.
WHO CAN HELP MY STUDENTS TO DEVELOP ACADEMIC
LANGUAGE SKILLS?
Learning Development can help subject coordinators
to integrate language skills into subject design.
They can offer practical ideas for building students’
competence in academic English and discipline
vocabulary as they work on tutorial tasks and
assessments.
Support is subject to availability of person and
resources. Contacting Learning Development well
ahead of when the support is required will help.
Separate funding may need to be organised if support
is to involve travel by Learning Developers from
Wollongong to other locations, or if online support is
to be delivered across the session.
20
“We saw the problems students
were having, and organised Learning
Development interventions. Learning
Development worked successfully
with the students and our teachers.
We kept our expectations and
standards high. My advice is to
involve Learning Development from
the start.”
— Philip Kitley, Course Coordinator,
Faculty of Arts
University of Wollongong
INTEGRATING ACADEMIC SKILLS – A FEW IDEAS
WHAT CAN I EXPECT?
You can expect that your students will learn best by
doing rather than being told – and hands-on activities
can break up an otherwise exhausting intensive
teaching period.
WHAT CAN’T I ASSUME?
You can’t assume that students will have the same
access to learning support as students on the
Australian campuses where students can organise
one-on-one consultations with academic writing and
English language advisors, or can attend a series
of academic skills workshops. These services may
not be available to transnational students to the
same level that they are available at Wollongong,
so it is important to factor in an equitable amount of
academic skills development for your transnational
students.
WHY SHOULD ACADEMIC SKILLS BE INTEGRATED INTO
SUBJECTS?
Learning skills are most effectively developed within
a specific context rather than just as generic activities
(Taylor, 2008). Relying on ‘bolt-on’ study skills
resources is “remedial, not inclusive and divorced
from subject knowledge” (Wingate, 2006, p 458).
Making this kind of instruction discipline- or subjectspecific means that you can do three things at the
same time:
●● check on students’ progress with the content
●● develop their academic skills and graduate
qualities
●● prepare students for their assessment tasks.
CAN I AFFORD TO SPEND TIME ON DEVELOPING
STUDENTS’ SKILLS?
Academic skills instruction doesn’t necessarily involve
more individual feedback. You can plan for whole
class feedback, or organise for peer or self-review of
tasks.
Some teachers set up activities for students to do in
the first few days of the teaching period. For instance,
students could be asked by email to pre-prepare
work around a particular reading, which is then used
or presented in class during the first week. This
encourages students to be more active in the first
classes, and guarantees that at least some of the
reading will be done.
Transnational Teaching at UOW
CRITICAL ISSUES FOR
COURSE COORDINATORS
•Who will provide leadership and/
or organise briefings of the subject
coordinators about the strategies needed
to develop academic skills?
•Have you mapped the development of
academic skills across the entire study
program?
•Can you approach the faculty or university
for resources to support subject
coordinators who need time or other
assistance to develop assessments and
activities?
•Has Learning Development been
contacted for academic literacy and
language support?
•Is learning support available at the host
institution?
WHAT ASSISTANCE IS AVAILABLE?
UOW Learning Development may already have
designed learning activities and resources in your
discipline for on campus or distance delivery. They
can also help develop subject-specific activities or
give advice on what might need to be developed
by you to ensure that the students are given the
best opportunity to build up their reading, research
and writing skills to meet your subject’s academic
expectations.
“Being a transnational student is a good way to
practice English because when the teacher is not
from here we cannot speak our language to them.
But language is also a problem because English
is not our native tongue and we cannot use it very
good, especially in our essays.”
— Transnational student
21
IDEAS FOR IMPROVING STUDENTS’ READING SKILLS
Unlike writing, reading is an invisible activity that is
seldom if ever assessed directly. Reading in academic
language may be intimidating to new students.
Additionally, an expectation that students will read
critically might be unfamiliar to some students,
although it is highly valued in Western education.
You can help students develop their reading skills by:
●● preparing a comprehension sheet for the first
readings, with questions to guide students
through the material. After this modelling,
students are more likely to feel confident
tackling other readings independently
●● starting with easier or shorter readings, that
incrementally get more difficult
●● providing key words or terms for the students
to look for, that match the lecture topic and
that will help then focus their reading
●● making a point of discussing readings in class:
students will be more motivated to do the
readings if they see that you care and that
they are expected to contribute to discussion
●● encouraging students to compare readings
and discuss the authors’ intentions or
perspectives, rather than just focusing on
information-gathering.
SAMPLE ACTIVITY: READING COMPREHENSION
This is a sample reading activity from a UOW subject.
A similar sheet was prepared for each of the key
readings in the first half of the program. The subject
began by focusing on referencing skills and gradually
developed a more critical analysis of the readings.
1. Write a reference for the Goubin Yang article,
using the Harvard citation system.
2. In your own words, write what you think this
article is about based on the title.
3. What kind of writing is this? Is it academic or nonacademic? How can you tell?
4. Do you think the author has a particular authority
to write about this subject? Why?
5. Now identify a sentence in the introduction that
you think explains the central argument or point
of the article.
6. The author outlines his research methodology on
p 471. Will this methodology be the same one that
you will use in your report assessment task? How
will your data collection be the same/different?
What implications will this have for your report
findings?
22
SAMPLE ACTIVITY: CRITICAL THINKING STRATEGIES
Before you do this week’s reading, review last week’s
notes. What do you think the following terms mean?
• Macdonaldisation
• dehumanisation
• impersonal
Now read the highlighted passage of the reading
found on pp 41-42. Write a paragraph (5 to 8
sentences) about your own experience of higher
education. Find a way to link your ideas with those
expressed by Ritzer. Use appropriate referencing: ____
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
IDEAS FOR MODELLING WRITING EXPECTATIONS
Providing models of the types of writing expected
IDEAS FOR ENCOURAGING CRITICAL THINKING
Students are told that they are expected to develop
high order critical thinking and analysis skills.
However, often students don’t know what this means.
Plan to factor in some small ongoing tasks.
Strategies to develop competencies in critical thinking
include:
●● model effective reading and critical thinking
strategies by demonstrating them in class
●● give students a short text extract from a
core reading with guided questions that elicit
critical thinking (for examples, see the sample
activities on this page). Then give them
constructive feedback that highlights their
evaluation of key ideas, and their expression
of an argument or a critical opinion
●● give students two short text extracts and ask
them to ‘compare and contrast’.
IDEAS FOR HELPING STUDENTS WITH ACADEMIC
LANGUAGE
Your students may struggle with both English
language expression and disciplinary academic
language. If the expectations for formal and complex
language are too high, then the student anxiety and
temptation to copy better writing increases.
University of Wollongong
SAMPLE ACTIVITY: VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT
Verb
Nouns
Adjective/
adverb
Sample sentence
analyse
analysis
analytic
It is important to critically analyse research
articles
diversity
theoretical
practice
Quick vocabulary quizzes are a good way to get
students more confident in their writing, develop their
language skills and reinforce key terms and phrases.
You could do this as an in-class or online activity.
Ask students to use keywords appropriately in
different grammatical contexts (as a noun, as a verb,
as an adjective). Then ask them to write a sentence
using one of these forms correctly (see sample
activity above).
Paraphrasing the ideas of others in their own
words is also a daunting task for many students.
Encourage students to start processing the readings
and their own research by getting them to do quick
paraphrasing activities in class (see example below).
Include good referencing techniques within the
activity.
SAMPLE ACTIVITY: PARAPHRASING
IDEAS FOR MODELLING WRITING EXPECTATIONS
Providing models of the types of writing expected
is an excellent way to clarify task instruction and
academic expectations. Of course, you would not wish
to hand over a complete essay or report on a similar
topic, as students may overly rely on it for their own
assignments. Instead, you might:
●● show samples of sections or models on a
PowerPoint during class time
●● provide samples of similar types of work but
from a different assignment question.
Another strategy is to give students a chance to see
examples of good and poor work – or even better,
showing them examples from their peers’ successful
writing in an early assessment task. This gives
them an opportunity to process explicit advice into
something that makes sense.
Paraphrasing
A paraphrase is where you re-write a text in your own words, without
changing the meaning and without copying the original words. This
is an important skill as it shows your understanding and helps you to
avoid plagiarism. Start by reading the text. Then rewrite each sentence
using words and phrases that have similar meanings. You can change
the sentence structure, by breaking up long sentences into short ones.
You can change the order of ideas and expression.
Original source: [full extract of passage]
Sentence 1: “As a result of the use of computer technologies to
support the management of health care information, it is essential
that all health care professionals have a solid grounding in health
informatics or information technology (IT)
In your words: ______________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
Transnational Teaching at UOW
Using models of students’ own
writing – rather than generic
examples – can be very powerful,
particularly when discussing issues
such as avoiding plagiarism or
developing critical analysis skills.
An effective class activity might be
to give students examples of poor
student writing, and ask them to:
●● identify what is going wrong
(eg it is not answering
the question, there is
little evaluation of source
material, uses poor
referencing techniques etc)
●● discuss strategies for
improving it.
23
PREPARING FOR INTENSIVE TRANSNATIONAL TEACHING
THIS SECTION APPLIES ONLY TO SUBJECTS TAUGHT
USING THE INTENSIVE MODE.
WHAT CAN I EXPECT?
You can expect that your students will be attentive,
as they will want to make the most of the time you
spend with them.
You can expect that your students may become
very tired, as they are likely to have work and family
commitments, and it might be an additional strain to
keep up with the intensive delivery of the subject in
English.
You can expect to become tired yourself as the
intensive teaching progresses and you find yourself
working at night re-designing tomorrow’s activities in
light of the day’s teaching.
WHAT CAN’T I ASSUME?
You can’t assume that students will be able to absorb
the same amount of knowledge as they would if
the same contact hours were spread over an entire
session.
If students are working as well as studying, you can’t
assume they will be fresh or that they will have time
during the intensive teaching week to do a lot of work
on research or assignments.
You can’t assume that your teaching responsibilities
will finish after the intensive teaching week. In
fact, your preparations should focus on not just the
face-to-face teaching, but on the distance teaching
obligations that will extend across the session. This
will need to be factored into the management of your
workload.
“The majority of students really work hard to try
and meet the standards we set.”
— Joanne Joyce-McCoach, Course Coordinator,
School of Nursing, Midwifery
& Indigenous Health, Faculty of Health &
Behavioural Sciences
24
HOW MANY HOURS OF FACE-TO-FACE TEACHING?
A typical format is 20+ contact hours with students
spread over five to ten days per session, either at the
very beginning or halfway through. Most Australian
universities follow versions of this model, although
there is a trend towards the more collaborative
relationships between affiliated universities, with
shared responsibility for a teaching program.
Ideally, intensive teaching weeks should be broken
by a weekend so that both learners and teacher can
renew their energies.
UOW teachers should be aware that transnational
teaching can be quite exhausting and time intensive.
Consultation with partner institutions, student issues,
meeting with co-teachers and last minute adaptations
of subject material in response to student feedback
– let alone frustrations that can arise sorting out
intercultural miscommunication – are not always
anticipated. Make sure you consider the workload
implications carefully, and how you will manage them.
WHEN SHOULD THE INTENSIVE TEACHING WEEK
BE HELD?
Most faculties will book your intensive teaching week
at the transnational campus into the first few weeks
of session. There are good reasons for having it early:
●● lecturers can clarify expectations and lay
ground rules
●● students gain confidence from being taught
by the lecturer
●● students can gain a sense of the direction of
the subject, and ask questions about subject
structure and assessments
●● planning meetings can be held with coteachers during the teaching visit
●● online communication, which will be
important during session, is more likely to be
used by students if they have previously met
staff face-to-face (Hussin, 2007).
Sometimes, there may be a case for holding the
teaching week later in the semester. For example,
where the latter part of a subject is very difficult and
the lecturer wants to lead this themselves. Advise
your faculty six months ahead if you want to hold
the intensive week at a later stage, as there are
considerable logistical and administrative difficulties
in aligning two institutions with different timetables.
University of Wollongong
WHAT SHOULD THE INTENSIVE TEACHING WEEK
COVER?
It is virtually impossible to effectively cover an
entire session’s lecture materials during the
intensive teaching week. Without time to absorb and
consolidate, students will find it difficult to retain
information. A focus on content delivery alone is not
conducive to student learning.
Selection is therefore necessary. Some options are:
●● cover the core concepts thoroughly, and leave
the detail or subsidiary topics
●● cover the most difficult concepts – those that
students tend to struggle with
●● choose a selection of topics that will allow
you to engage students in the method of
enquiry and analysis that you will expect
throughout the subject
●● if the subject is highly structured and cannot
be delivered out of sequence, cover the early
material
●● enthuse students in the subject and
encourage them to actively participate in their
learning experience.
CRITICAL ISSUES FOR
COURSE COORDINATORS
•How many face-to-face contact hours will
be involved in the program?
•Will these contact hours be comparable
to the hours in competing courses, so
students don’t feel shortchanged when
comparing their face-to-face hours with
those of others?
•Will the contact hours be adequate for the
material to be covered?
•Are your staff aware of the challenges
involved in aligning timetables of two
universities with different sessions? Are
staff planning well ahead so as to avoid
undue pressure on other teaching and
administrative staff including those in the
partner university?
•What workload model will be used for the
subject coordinator role(s)?
The remaining material can then be covered
during session – whether by tutors/co-teachers in
class, or using modules in eLearning, workbooks,
videoconferencing or other tools.
“You have to take one or two areas and drill
down, find ways to keep it interesting for them.”
— Subject Coordinator,
Faculty of Health & Behavioural Sciences
As you prepare the material you will teach in the
intensive teaching period, be aware that unexpected
events or distractions in the classroom may interrupt
your planned flow. It can be helpful to map out the
central or key points that you must cover during the
intensive weeks, what could be covered later by coteachers or by distance delivery, and what you might
need to adapt or elaborate on the spot.
Transnational Teaching at UOW
CAUTIONARY TALE: Students were enrolled in
a subject that they felt excited about studying.
The lecturer delivered the entire session’s
lecture materials over five evenings. There was
a short exercise mid-way through each evening.
Afterwards, students commented that they felt
they had absorbed a fair amount during the first
two evenings, but by the final two evenings were
so overloaded that they remembered almost
nothing. At the end of the week, students’ initial
enthusiasm had gone, and was replaced by a
sense of oppression at the density of the material.
Most were exhausted. Even top students who had
been very attentive were surprised to find how
little they remembered of the last two evenings
when revising a few weeks later.
25
WHICH TEACHING APPROACHES ARE RECOMMENDED?
Variety is critical to keep people learning during
intensive teaching (Scott, 2003). Variety alleviates the
exhaustion and loss of focus that may occur during
intensive teaching. Lectures need to be balanced
with class activities and opportunities for students to
engage with the material.
The following factors are also important in intensive
teaching:
●● planning and preparation, including
distributing materials to students ahead of
time
●● teacher enthusiasm and expertise
●● a relaxed and comfortable learning
environment
●● a collegial atmosphere with student input into
class discussions
●● active student involvement
●● breaks or changes in activities
●● creative group work
●● depth rather than breadth
●● motivating students’ ongoing engagement
with the course
(Leask, 2008; Wlodkowski, 2003; Scott, 2003; Carroll,
2005; Bell et al, 2008; Abdullah et al, 2008).
It is notable that this list largely describes the existing
teaching approaches and expertise of many UOW
academics.
While these factors aren’t specific to intensive
transnational teaching, they can be more critical in
that environment (Scott, 2003).
Finally, a willingness to respect and learn about other
cultures, together with teaching expertise, can be
more important than reworking subject materials
(Bowering and Lock, 2007, p 11). Ultimately the
approaches you use may depend on the nature of your
subject, your personal style and the student group.
INVOLVING CO-TEACHERS
Consider how to teach collaboratively with the coteacher who will be working with the students during
session. Involving the co-teacher during the intensive
teaching week will encourage students to see them
as an integral part of the teaching team:
●● before classes start, you might consider
consulting with your co-teachers about the
subject content and appropriate local casestudies or examples
26
●● ask co-teachers to prepare to teach a section
of this class – either on their own or with you.
This will help them and your students feel
comfortable and engaged with the teaching
team
●● invite co-teachers to the first class. Always
meet beforehand, even if this is just for a few
minutes, to avoid a situation where you may
not recognise your co-teachers or may meet
them for the first time in front of the students
●● if possible, arrive at the classroom together –
this identifies that you are a team
●● If your intensive teaching week is at the start
of the session, formally introduce each coteacher to the students and emphasise their
qualifications and experience. If the teaching
week starts half way through the session, ask
the co-teacher to formally introduce you, and
make sure that they have some details about
your background ahead of time
●● refer to the co-teachers during classes, eg
“Zhou and I will be expecting a very high
standard of research in Assessment 2 ...”
This will emphasise that you and the other
teachers are a team, with a shared approach
and common expectations of students
●● defer to co-teachers on some points if
possible, eg ‘How many minutes are you
expecting from students for their oral
presentations? What will you look for when
you mark the oral presentations?’ This will
help to establish co-teachers’ authority and
credibility
●● factor in opportunities for discussion with coteachers during the intensive teaching week.
As well as discussing the subject, this is also
an opportunity to indicate your willingness to
receive and give feedback about teaching and
learning process. You can also discuss how
you will communicate during session (phone,
email, Skype etc)
●● consider that the intensive teaching week
may offer opportunities for peer-review of
teaching – your own and your co-teachers’
teaching performance. This can be a valuable
exercise for all, and can help develop
documentation needed for promotion. Contact
the Academic Development Unit for more
information and resources on peer review,
and plan ahead. A useful booklet on peer
observation is Bell, 2012.
University of Wollongong
CARRYING OUT QUALITY ASSURANCE
WHAT CAN I EXPECT?
You can expect quality assurance to be helpful in
making improvements to a subject or course.
You can expect it to be a collegial process, in which
peers offers suggestions and the coordinator has
opportunities for discussion and refinement.
WHAT CAN’T I ASSUME?
You can’t assume that peers will just rubber-stamp
your subject outline or exam paper. Allow time for
them to read and comment.
WHY IS QUALITY ASSURANCE IMPORTANT?
Quality assurance is carried out in all UOW programs
to:
●● maintain standards across UOW courses and
subjects
●● ensure that courses, subjects and
assessments are aligned to learning
outcomes and UOW Graduate Qualities
●● verify that assessment tasks are clear, welldesigned and fair to students
●● ensure subjects are well-structured and form
part of a cohesive, well-structured course
●● encourage continuous improvement through
reflection and feedback
●● foster ongoing dialogue about student
learning and teaching.
Teaching at UOW is increasingly seen as a
shared, collegial endeavour. This is different to
a ‘traditionalist’ approach where each academic
operates independently.
SHOULD THE QUALITY ASSUROR AND
TRANSNATIONAL SUBJECT COORDINATOR/TEACHER
COMMUNICATE DIRECTLY WITH EACH OTHER?
Yes, this is strongly encouraged. Communication
should commence before session begins, during
session and after session finishes. Teaching ideas,
insights into student learning at particular locations,
discussions of assessment design, identification
of suitable case studies and examples, sharing of
problems and issues, debriefs at the end of session,
are all helpful to build a shared understanding of the
subject and its students.
Transnational Teaching at UOW
CRITICAL ISSUES FOR
COURSE COORDINATORS
•Are you and your staff familiar with QA
requirements and in particular the “Quality
Assurance of Transnational Education
(Offshore) and UOWD Teaching and
Learning Procedure”. See https://intranet.
uow.edu.au/international/overview/policies/
index.html#Transnational
•Are any additional quality assurance
processes needed, eg to comply
with accreditation processes at the
transnational location?
•Have quality assuror responsibilities and
timelines been identified?
•How will you encourage dialogue and
thoughtful engagement with quality
assurance, rather than a “tick-the-box”
approach? For example, how will you
encourage discussion of learning outcomes
and UOW Graduate Qualities as part of
subject outline checking?
WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE QUALITY
ASSUROR AND THE TRANSNATIONAL SUBJECT
COORDINATOR/TEACHER?
Quality Assurors are not ‘markers’. When assisting a
colleague with quality assurance at any location, the
sensitivities of your colleague and a tactful approach
and openness to discussion is recommended.
Academics at different locations are seen as peers,
each with particular strengths to bring to the teaching
of UOW programs. A collegial relationship of mutual
respect is strongly encouraged.
POLICY LINK
All UOW subject coordinators need to be very
familiar with the UOW Code of Practice – Teaching
and Assessment. See
http://www.uow.edu.au/about/policy/learning/ .
27
WHAT FORMS OF QUALITY ASSURANCE ARE USED AT UOW?
Quality assurance at UOW operates at a number
of levels. Those affecting subject coordinators are
marked in bold and described in more detail:
●● Course approval processes.
●● Subject approval processes – new subjects
are checked for the topics to be covered, their
contribution to the course, learning outcomes,
teaching strategies, assessment methods and
their alignment to UOW Graduate Qualities.
●● Quality assurance of subject outlines –
UOW has procedures to ensure that subject
outlines are checked for: alignment to the
subject learning outcomes of the subject;
design of assessment tasks; and a variety of
other information which is vital for students.
In transnational programs, this process must
include review by the UOW Quality Assuror.
●● Quality assurance of examinations and
tests – every faculty must ensure that all
examinations and tests are: aligned to the
subject learning outcomes of the subject;
at an appropriate level; clear and free from
error; and a reasonable length.
●● Moderation of marking within teaching
teams – every subject coordinator is
responsible for ensuring consistency of
assessment across the subject. Subject
coordinators achieve this using a variety of
practices which may include, for example:
holding teaching team meetings to clarify
approaches to teaching and marking;
providing written guidance eg marking rubrics
to markers; providing sample marked papers
or model answers to markers; preparing
feedback templates for all markers to use;
conducting cross-marking within the team
(including across sites) and/or check-marking
by the coordinator; sharing marking across
sites so that all tutors are marking all
students.
28
●● Moderation of marking across sites – in
transnational programs, this usually means
that a Quality Assuror (usually the subject
coordinator located at Wollongong) will
check some of the marking. This may include
comparing student papers and marks across
locations, recommending scaling of marks
to align standards across sites, or making
other recommendations. The Quality Assuror
provides a report to the Dean, and a copy
is sent to the transnational coordinator for
comment.
●● Review of subject outcomes (student
marks and grades) by Faculty Assessment
Committees – all subject coordinators
submit their marks and a written report
on any variations/problems to the Faculty
Assessment Committee for review. All marks
for all sites are considered. Anomalies are
identified, whether across years or across
sites. Appropriate action is taken, for example
the subject coordinator is invited to comment/
explain. Occasionally, this review will result in
an adjustment of marks or other action.
●● Annual review of all transnational programs
takes place at each partner location
which includes an analysis of assessment,
moderation, student results, progression and
comparability with students at other UOW
teaching locations.
●● Approval processes for amendments to
subjects – changes to the subject must be
approved by the Faculty, for example changes
to textbooks, subject content, assumed
knowledge or prerequisites
●● Major course review (every three years).
University of Wollongong
DURING THE TEACHING SESSION
HOW DOES CULTURE AFFECT CLASSROOM INTERACTION?
WHAT CAN I EXPECT?
You can expect that your teaching expertise is valuable
in any context. Students in all locations will respond
to enthusiasm for the subject, interesting examples
and other strategies you have developed. They will
have opinions and questions, and the ability to think of
examples and critique theories. They will respond to
your clear explanations of what you require from them
and why you want them to engage in particular ways.
You can expect that your students have chosen UOW
because of their perceptions of the value of the type
of education that we offer.
If you are from a different culture to your students,
you can expect that your own and your students’
cultural assumptions will be challenged and that you
and your students may alter your perspectives.
WHAT CAN’T I ASSUME?
You can’t assume that students have had experience
with the teaching methods you usually use, or that
they will easily be able to switch into a different way
of being a student. For example, students’ readiness
to express opinions or work on unstructured tasks
may not be the same as in your home country.
If you are teaching in a Western university for the
first time, you can’t assume that your usual teaching
methods are those expected in the course. Close
communication with the coordinator will be helpful.
You can’t assume that the perspective of your culture
is the only perspective or the correct perspective. As
Carroll (2005, p 27) points out, some teachers do not
see themselves as carriers of culture – they assign
this role only to others. It is easy to take for granted
that there is a correct way to structure an essay, use
research or interact in class. You can help students by
reflecting on your own academic cultural expectations
– this will allow you to offer explicit help to students
who find it hard to pick up the cues about how to
adapt as learners to Western academic culture.
Nor is it safe to assume that all students in your
class will be from one homogenous culture. As Kate
Chanock stresses, ‘whenever we generalise about
culture, we are likely to find ourselves on swampy
ground. Certainly it is useful to learn what we can
about the cultures of students, but what we learn
must serve as a dynamic and shifting background
rather than as stereotypes which guide our practice’
(2003, p 5).
Transnational Teaching at UOW
WHY IS CLASSROOM INTERACTION A TRANSNATIONAL
ISSUE?
The classroom is the primary site where cultures
intersect and where cultural as well as academic
engagement occurs. Some areas to consider are:
SOCIAL RELATIONS
Cultural norms can impact on communication
between students and teachers. Students in one
south-east Asian program have expressed surprise
at how the Australian lecturers kept their distance
professionally, with prescribed contact hours. Their
local teachers often interacted with them socially,
and they expected more out-of-class contact.
CAUTIONARY TALE: At the end of a week of
intensive teaching the lecturer was physically
and emotionally spent, but a line of students kept
forming. She couldn’t understand why, as she’d
already addressed most of the questions they
were asking. Then she realised they just wanted
to interact individually with her. Next time, she
plans to try to factor in some structured one-toone or small group interactions with her students.
In some East Asian and Middle-Eastern countries,
questions of ‘face’ may arise. “The desire to gain
face, to avoid losing face, and to save face when it
is threatened is the powerful social motive” (Ho,
1976, p 883). In Chinese social relations face refers
to both the confidence of society in a person’s moral
character (lian), and the social perceptions of a
person’s prestige (mianzi). A loss of confidence in a
person’s moral character would result in a loss of
trust within a social network, while a loss of the social
perceptions of a person’s prestige would likely result
in a loss of authority.
CAUTIONARY TALE: A number of students in a
class in East Asia were talking among themselves
as the lecture began. The lecturer addressed a
particular student by name, and asked him to
stop talking during the lecture. The student was
humiliated and angry at being singled out and
named. His loss of face was so high that he didn’t
attend the remaining lectures.
29
PARTICIPATION
Educational practices vary. In some countries
teaching is said to encourage passive learning, so that
students may not be accustomed to giving opinions
or participating in student discussion. By contrast,
American-style education is said to favour “student
participation over teacher control” (Slethaug, 2007, p
6). Australian education may sit somewhere between
these models. Of course, these are very generalised
statements and not true of all teachers and students.
Some Australian students, for example, are very shy
or self-conscious, and may be very fearful of speaking
up before a group. Educational policy and practice
also changes, for example Singapore now seeks the
development of an education system that graduates
students who are critical thinkers (Ng, 2001).
“A challenge to me is that the students are used
to didactic face-to-face teaching. I don’t do that. I
use an interactive teaching style. It’s a challenge
but one that I enjoy. I was told not to joke but I’ve
never had a problem with the odd joke.”
— Moira Williamson, Health &
Behavioural Sciences
Australian lecturers sometimes comment on
transnational students being very quiet in class and
not answering questions. However, they noted that in
some countries students would queue up to talk to
them afterwards. The students preferred not to answer
a question in class, to avoid the embarrassment of
a wrong answer, but they were still eager to talk to
teachers. They were disappointed if interaction in class
time was the only place they could talk to the lecturer.
HOW CAN I ESTABLISH CLEAR EXPECTATIONS FOR
CLASS PARTICIPATION?
Because cultural habits might be at odds with how
students are expected to participate in a UOW class,
it is important to clearly communicate expectations to
students from the beginning. Take time to discuss:
●● your students’ previous classroom
interactions
●● how classroom interactions might be
informed by cultural values and traditions
●● what kind of participation will be valued and
encouraged in your classroom.
CAUTIONARY TALE: Insisting on particular
behaviour patterns without explanation may just
make students uncomfortable and shut down
participation even more.
30
WHAT STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO ENCOURAGE
INTERACTION DURING FACE-TO-FACE TEACHING?
●● Remind students from time to time both of
your expectations and your reasons.
●● Factor in class question/discussion time
●● Create an environment where students feel
‘safe’ in participating. For example, begin by
exploring questions for which there is no
wrong answer. One way is to ask about their
experiences, for example by moving from ‘show
of hands’ questions to specific examples: ‘Who
uses an internet marketplace?’ ‘Which internet
marketplace do you use?’
●● To draw students further into a discussion,
move from the particular to the general. That
is, begin by asking questions with concrete
answers and lead to more open ended
questions: ‘Have you ever sold anything
online?’ ‘What did you sell?’ ‘Did you have any
problems?’ ‘What other problems can sellers
have?’
●● For harder or more contentious questions,
ask students to discuss in pairs or small
groups, before reporting back to the class.
The opinions reported are then those of the
group rather than the individual. This will help
with ‘face’ issues in Asian countries, and with
self-conscious or shy students in Australia and
elsewhere.
●● One way to encourage participation is to ask
students to jot down their questions on pieces
of paper, which the lecturer then collects and
selects those they will deal with. Another is
to ask students to write their responses on
pieces of paper, collect them and read them
out or distribute to students to read out.
“When you come here you will
discover that our students have many
strengths in their learning style, a high
level of perseverance and patience.
The biggest thing is highly developed
skills in collaboration, cooperation
and liaison in group work and I think
that it an enormous thing for us. The
students work very well on group
projects without a lot of the conflicts
and personality problems that can
occur in Western contexts.”
— Transnational co-teacher
University of Wollongong
CAUTIONARY TALE A lecturer who was initially
unsuccessful in facilitating class discussion,
responded by eliminating the discussion part of
classes altogether. The students were attentive
throughout, but they didn’t ask questions. Their
lecturer never gained a sense of connection
with the class and could not tell whether the
students were following the argument. When
the essays were submitted, it became clear
that most of the group hadn’t grasped several
important core concepts. The majority failed the
essay.
I’M TEACHING INTENSIVELY. HOW IMPORTANT IS IT
THAT I RETAIN THE CLASS ACTIVITIES?
When teaching intensively, you may think that there
is not enough class time to offer the usual class
activities.
However educational research shows that higher
cognitive learning occurs when students are
actively engaged, regardless of culture (Biggs,
2003; Ramsden, 2003; Laurillard). In addition,
UOW is committed to developing graduates with
UOW Graduate Qualities, including the abilities to
communicate across cultures, work collaboratively
and convey ideas effectively.
“Students, employers and governments are
wanting an English language degree which
is recognised internationally. UOW courses
offer ways of thinking and graduate qualities
that are useful to both local industry and
national development. That’s why we are asked
to operate there. While we can make some
modifications, we do need to engage students in
the UOW style of learning and teaching.”
— Rob Castle, DV-C(A))
Classroom activities don’t have to be identical to
those in your home country; they can be modified to
allow for the different educational culture. You might
seek advice from the course coordinator or other
colleagues who have worked with that cohort, or work
with a local peer or co-teacher, to find ways to engage
students in unfamiliar activities.
On their part, students can also be expected to adjust
to new styles of learning. Explain to students what
the process is that you expect, and why you expect
them to be actively involved in learning.
Transnational Teaching at UOW
CRITICAL ISSUES FOR
COURSE COORDINATORS
•Is it possible to organise training or briefings
for new transnational teachers?
•Will there be opportunities for teachers
experienced with the cohort to offer
teaching strategies and advice to new
transnational teachers?
•Are the teaching team aware of the
expectations around class participation and
engagement?
ONGOING ACTIVITIES
Although most of your attention might be on planning
class activities for the early part of the teaching
cycle, it is also important to plan interactive activities
across the session. This could mean working with or
providing a co-teacher with a bank of suggested class
activities and tasks that follow on from the approach
you’ve already introduced to the students. Or it could
mean taking advantage of eLearning tools to develop
online tasks, activities or even assessment tasks.
Examples of interactive assessment tasks might
be: group discussion threads on a specific topic
(eg critically reviewing weekly readings), or even
collaborative group writing tasks that you might have
started students working on in the early weeks of
session.
UOW Learning Design and UOW Learning
Development can help you develop and support these
activities. It is important to check the kind of access
students will have to suitable technology students
across the session, as the advantages of online
communication will be outweighed by frustration
if the local system can’t easily support UOW’s
eLearning system.
DO CARTOONS AND JOKES WORK?
Students enjoy mild humour which is relevant to the
topic and does not humiliate or denigrate particular
people or groups. However, some cartoons and
jokes may not work as intended — humour is often
very culturally specific. Talk to your peers and coteachers in each country about your sense of what is
humorous.
31
HOW DOES CULTURE AFFECT STUDENT ENGAGEMENT WITH
ASSESSMENT?
WHAT CAN I EXPECT?
You can expect that your students in all locations will
put a lot of effort and many hours of study into your
subject and try to do well in their assessment tasks.
You can expect that the core purposes of assessment
will be the same in all UOW locations: that is, to:
●● support student learning,
●● judge students’ achievement, and
●● maintain the standards of a profession or
discipline (Joughin, 2009).
WHAT CAN’T I ASSUME?
You can’t assume that students have had much
previous experience with the types of assessment
expected, or that they will immediately see the value
of a new approach, or that they will easily be able to
switch into using a new approach.
Even where the tasks appear similar to those
students are familiar with, the expectations of
teachers and the ‘self-judgment’ skills the students
have learned to evaluate their work may differ. For
example, in one educational environment students
may be expected to base oral presentations mainly on
skilfully encapsulating ideas culled from the textbook;
in another, research and multiple sources may be
expected; in a third, reflecting on personal experience
or convincingly expressing an opinion may be more
important.
WHAT ARE THE TRANSNATIONAL DIMENSIONS OF
ASSESSMENT?
In any location, teachers need to understand students’
preexisting expectations and attitudes to assessment
(Joughin, 2009, p 9). If the students and teacher, or
the teacher and marker, are from different educational
backgrounds, there can be a mismatch of expectations
between the student and the university. Unfortunately,
mismatches will often crystallise in assessment tasks.
Subject coordinators need information about students’
previous experiences of assessment. New students
(regardless of level of study) will need support with
transition to an unfamiliar assessment regime.
Transnational teachers will need information about
the expectations of program coordinators. This
can best be achieved by good communication and
discussion before the session begins.
When marking it is also relevant that students have
come from different educational backgrounds. For the
students, the ‘rules of the game’ may have changed
significantly. Their previous experiences of how to
succeed in assessments may not hold true. Explicit
marking criteria and feedback become even more
important than usual.
Maintaining standards of the profession or discipline
may also need additional thought. It is tempting to
assume that students will work in a profession that
is essentially global and similar in every location.
However expectations of local employers, professional
bodies or academic programs may need to be
considered during curriculum and assessment design.
SHOULD THE ASSESSMENT BE DIFFERENT IN
DIFFERENT LOCATIONS?
“Marking criteria are important. I provide these to
make my expectations explicit. I also give students
examples of assignments from previous years. They
really need a visual to understand what you want.”
— Moira Williamson, School of Nursing & Indigenous
Health, Faculty of Health & Behavioural Sciences
Assessment tasks would usually be aligned across
locations. However, examples used in questions may
differ, and tasks may be broken into several smaller
tasks where this would help students.
Sometimes a quite different assessment task may
be justified. An example is where professional bodies
have differing expectations in different countries. Any
substantive differences would have to be approved by
your Faculty’s Education Committee.
Very minor changes to individual assessment tasks
can be undertaken with approval from your Head.
32
University of Wollongong
HOW CAN I DESIGN ASSESSMENTS FOR LEARNING?
Regardless of location, the design of assessment tasks
for learning at UOW relies on the same principles:
●● assessment involves intense student effort
and engages their emotions and motivations.
It needs to be primarily about learning rather
than grading, and should offer a holistic rather
than a fragmented experience (Boud, 2009)
●● students learn more from tasks that engage
them in creating responses, rather than
replicating answers (Joughin, 2009)
●● for students to succeed, they need to develop
a capacity to judge their work which is similar
to that of their teacher – feedback and
opportunities to evaluate samples of work are
critical (Sadler, 2009)
●● encountering unfamiliar assessment tasks
can be a demotivating experience if the stakes
are too high (Dochy, 2007)
●● authentic, real-life problems help students
transform learning into practice and underpin
their transition into professions (Boud, 2009)
●● students need to be active agents in their
own learning. For example, by finding ways to
allow them to initiate aspects of tasks rather
than merely responding to instructions and
prompts (Boud, 2009).
HOW CAN I SUPPORT TRANSNATIONAL STUDENTS TO
SUCCEED WITH UNFAMILIAR ASSESSMENTS?
●● If a member of the teaching team is new to
UOW, ensure there are opportunities for them
to discuss each assessment with experienced
UOW teachers. A shared understanding of
expectations is needed so that all teachers
can give good advice to students.
●● Encourage discussion and give students the
opportunity to ask questions.
●● If the type of task is new to your transnational
students, offer a more detailed explanation
and clearly explain each part of the task.
●● Explain why the assessment task is designed
as it is, how it will help students learn and
what they can gain from putting effort into
the task. This might be a good opportunity
to link the skills learnt to their professional
development and/or UOW Graduate Qualities.
●● Consider breaking the task into smaller
tasks, or asking students to show you their
work as they progress. This will help you and
the students to establish whether they are
meeting expectations.
Transnational Teaching at UOW
CRITICAL ISSUES FOR
COURSE COORDINATORS
•What are students’ prior experiences of
assessment, and how might these differ
from UOW expectations?
•Will the assessments be designed by a
subject coordinator located in Australia
or by a subject coordinator at the
transnational location? Will this be the
same for every subject?
•How will the other institution then have
input into assessment design, for example,
through quality assurance, sign-offs,
discussions?
•How will you find out about local employer
expectations of graduate qualities?
•Will assessment tasks be exactly the
same for all student cohorts regardless of
location, or different at different locations?
•How will assessment be moderated across
locations (for example cross-marking)?
•If there are extra stages involved in
assessment design due to multiple
institutions being involved (for example,
exam paper sign-off), how will this affect
timelines?
•Are subject coordinators aware of both the
UOW faculty’s and transnational partner’s
processes for approving any major changes
to assessment?
●● Discuss the marking criteria. This can help
students see that they are not being judged
solely on the ‘right answer’, but on other
dimensions such as problem definition,
research, and critical or creative thinking.
●● Design tutorial exercises to help students
prepare.
●● Maintain an online discussion group for
each new assessment task, and encourage
students and the co-teacher to participate.
●● Provide examples which show the structure,
writing style and/or depth of analysis
expected. These examples need not relate to
the actual topic or question.
33
WHAT ABOUT ACADEMIC STANDARDS?
THE SAME ACADEMIC STANDARDS SHOULD APPLY,
REGARDLESS OF LOCATION.
You have every right to expect that students in every
location will be marked on their ability to successfully
produce substantial pieces of assessable work that
reflect their level of study.
Sometimes a course will prove more demanding for
students in a particular location, perhaps because of
their previous educational experience. For example,
Australian school leavers may be less prepared in
mathematics than Chinese school leavers. Additional
support may then be needed to help students reach
the required standard (see the ideas listed earlier), but
the standard itself should not be compromised.
WHY ARE STUDENTS ASKING SO MANY QUESTIONS
ABOUT THE ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENTS?
When an assessment is unfamiliar students may
tend to worry that they may be interpreting the
requirements wrongly, so they keep asking questions.
If there are multiple similar enquiries then you can
be sure that other students are having difficulties
understanding the requirements too.
This indicates a need to clarify the task (rather than
simply referring students back to the subject outline).
Even if this seems repetitive to you, repeating the
same information in different ways will help the
students understand the assignment instructions and
produce better work.
One effective strategy to resolve confusion is to give
students models or exemplars. Another strategy
is to design very explicit marking criteria for each
individual assignment, that clearly matches the
instructions.
ARE THERE ANY CULTURAL ISSUES IN PREPARING
ASSESSMENT TASKS?
UOW courses are organised so that they are
moderated across sites, and, as part of this
moderation, a great deal of care is taken to ensure
questions are clearly written and that assessment
tasks are aligned to learning outcomes and Graduate
Qualities.
34
Whether you are located in Australia or you are a
subject coordinator within a partner institution, allow
plenty of time for feedback from your peers at the
other location. If possible, also involve your tutors/coteachers in writing or commenting on assessments
and exams.
Tips for writing across cultures:
●● Plain English is important. In particular, avoid
overly complex sentence structures with
numerous clauses as these are more likely to
be misinterpreted.
●● Plain English isn’t necessarily about using
short words. Verbal phrases such as ‘put
up with’, ‘call it off’ and ‘back him up’ can
be much more confusing to non-English
speaking background students than ‘tolerate’,
‘discontinue’ and ‘support’. Students may
enjoy colloquialisms if they are explained,
but looking these words up one by one in a
dictionary won’t help them
●● Students may not recognise colloquial terms
such as ‘the dole’, ‘in the ball park’, ‘a fair go’,
‘a level playing field’ and the dictionary may
not help them. They may not know about
activities such as the Melbourne Cup or
companies such as BHP.
●● Avoid inconsistent terminology as it can
confuse. A ‘representative’ shouldn’t turn into
a ‘spokesperson’ half way through a question.
●● Diagrams may invoke different conventions
that affect how they are read in different
cultures, for example if they are to be
read from the left or from the right, and
the meaning of symbols. Use arrows or
numbers if reading order is important, or
text equivalents for symbols if their meaning
hasn’t been covered during the course.
Tips for verbal explanations across cultures:
●● Do write/project any critical points on
the board, and repeat any critical advice.
Transnational students may have much
higher written English ability than oral
English listening skills, particularly if they are
still acclimatising to the teacher’s accent.
University of Wollongong
WHAT SORT OF FEEDBACK SHOULD I GIVE TO STUDENTS?
WHAT CAN I EXPECT?
You can expect that students in all locations will be
eagerly awaiting the return of their work, and that
they will value your feedback.
If you are located in a different country to your
students, you can expect that your feedback becomes
even more important. Students who feel isolated by
distance can place a lot of store on individual written
feedback.
WHAT CAN’T I ASSUME?
Even with written feedback, you can’t assume that
all students who have received a low grade will
understand the reasons. Some may have worked hard
on the assessment and may need guidance on how
they can translate that effort into better outcomes in
the future.
CRITICAL ISSUES
FOR COURSE
COORDINATORS
•Has time for written feedback been
factored into staff workloads?
•If you are working across multiple sites,
are there logistical issues around the
return of marked work to students? Eg
do you need to liaise with the partner
institution for a process to return hard
copies, or establish web markup tools?
•Have subject coordinators and markers
been encouraged to consult with UOW
Learning Design about giving feedback to
students online or from a distance?
WHY IS FEEDBACK SO IMPORTANT IN TRANSNATIONAL
EDUCATION?
In transnational education, feedback on assignments
is the main means for students to:
●● judge how well they are progressing and
make adjustments to their learning if needed
(Gibbs and Simpson, 2004-5), and
●● gain a sense of interaction with their teacher.
The provision of feedback plays another important
role in transnational or distance learning as it allows
instructors to increase their students’ sense of
participation in the program (Moore and Kearsley,
2005 cited in Miliszewska, 2009).
CAUTIONARY TALE: A lecturer marked the
student essays but gave no written feedback
other than the marks. Students had been waiting
anxiously for their work to come back and were
anticipating comments, as this was one of
their few interactions with a lecturer located in
Australia. When this didn’t occur, there was a
high level of despondency among students and
feelings of being peripheral and unvalued. This
contributed to falling student motivation and
rising attrition rates.
Transnational Teaching at UOW
WHAT IS FEEDBACK?
Feedback is a core aspect of the teaching and learning
experience. Nicol and McFarlane-Dick (2006, p 205)
define feedback as ‘anything that might strengthen
the student’s capacity to self-regulate their
performance’. Explicit and timely feedback therefore
acknowledges students’ efforts and guides them to a
more acceptable performance.
Feedback should be focused around a subject’s
learning outcomes to help students incrementally
develop academic skills and achieve in their
discipline. Boud emphasises the need for ‘sustainable
assessment’ where students learn to self-assess as a
transferable skill required for lifelong learning (2000).
SUMMATIVE FEEDBACK
Summative feedback is given at the end of an
assessment task, by providing marks and comments
that let students know what they have achieved.
Students like to get and compare marks, to measure
their success and to motivate their performance.
However, feedback on assessments is only one kind of
feedback.
35
GOOD PRACTICE
FORMATIVE FEEDBACK
One subject early in the program had allocated a
lot of marks for a long independent research essay,
which the transnational students in Hong Kong did
not yet have the academic skills to successfully
complete. The subject coordinator, with permission
from their Head of School, adapted this assignment
so that for the same marks, the students completed
a preliminary literature review, got feedback, and
then went on to write a shorter essay. In this way the
students developed and used their academic skills,
and did equivalent work to the main campus UOW
students studying the same subject.
This kind of feedback is given early in the session and
helps students to work out where they are in their
learning, where they need to go, and how to get there.
It is important for students to receive feedback on
their first assignments before they start their next, so
that they can ‘feed forward’ (Taylor, 2008) their skill
and knowledge.
— Guy Davidson, Subject Coordinator, Faculty of Arts
“I always give some immediate feedback during
the intensive teaching week. This will be based
on a learning activity or formative task during the
week. I find it very helpful in assessing the students’
understanding of what has been covered so far, and
their capacity to work towards the assessment task
requirements. It does mean I am working in my hotel,
but it is worth it in terms of the positive outcomes for
students.”
— Ruth Walker, Learning Development
STRATEGIES FOR GIVING FEEDBACK
Because giving feedback can be time consuming,
many subject coordinators become very strategic.
For instance, they might:
●● give detailed individual feedback for the first
assessment task that will help students get
ready for the next assignment, but less for
their final task
●● rather than marking up each assignment,
instead collect together examples of common
problems and good work, and give detailed
feedback about these out to the whole group
●● use individual assessment criteria sheets
with scaled indications of performance (from
excellent to unsatisfactory). This works best
with detailed criteria that are very specific to
the assessment task. If the criteria are taken
from a standardised pro-forma, the risk is that
they may be too generic to make sense to
students and help them to understand what
they are doing well or where they need to
improve
●● a more sophisticated version involves
entering common problems and strengths
on a database, and then cutting and pasting
comments relevant to individual students.
Each student then receives an individualised
printout. This is popular with students and
fast to use once set up. However set up time
makes it more suited to larger classes of
60 students or more or to subjects where a
similar assessment will run for several years.
Whichever approach is used, it is useful to explain
to your students what you plan to do and how they
should interpret the feedback they get. If you plan
to give marks but no other individual feedback for
your students’ final assessment task, make sure that
you reinforce the need for them to refer back to the
formative feedback on earlier tasks to improve their
performance,
36 36
University of Wollongong
MARGINAL NOTES
THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY
For written feedback to be useful, clear guidance
is needed on where students went wrong and what
needs to be improved – remembering that most
people (students or academics!) tend to believe that
what they have written is correct and clear.
Giving feedback to students electronically doesn’t
have to compromise the quality of feedback that will
be helpful to students who want to improve their
performance. Some approaches include:
Marginal notes sometimes identify problems
in language that is too general for students to
understand. Examples:
●● ‘Confusing’
What is confusing? More needed, eg
‘confusing – unclear whether you mean
companies or customers’
●● ‘Reference’
Students who reference poorly usually need
more guidance than this; eg is this ‘reference
– where did you get this data from?’ or ‘you
need to reference each point in this section,
not just at the end of the section’ etc
●● ‘Argument?’
It may be unclear whether this means ‘where
is the argument to support this conclusion?’
or ‘what are you arguing here?’
●● ‘What about the reading last week?’
Tutorial or lecture? Which reading and which
point?
●● ‘Your own words?’
A student who thought it was acceptable
to include quotes would be left wondering
why this particular quote was a problem.
More needed, eg ‘you need to introduce
your quotations by first summarising the
main point in your own words’ or ‘Too many
quotations, not enough of your own writing’.
●● ‘Paragraph structure’
What was wrong with their paragraph
structure? Was it too long, too short or too
uneven? Why is this a problem?
Explicit feedback gives constructive suggestions and
reinforces positive approaches. Examples:
●● ‘Put the main idea first then provide examples
of how the idea would work in practice’
●● ‘Move from describing the situation to
evaluating whether it was a good outcome or
not’
●● Because many students have the same
recurring problems in early assessment
tasks, you might consider setting up a bank
of common feedback comments in Word, that
you can cut and paste into individual essays
or export into a report. This will save time
when delivering necessary but repetitive
commentary, and allow you to concentrate on
more individualised feedback where needed.
●● If students are performing calculations or
other technical tasks, they could be asked
to submit their work in an Excel template or
other software which allows you to build in
some automated checking of their results.
●● Specialist software is available to allow
individualised feedback from markers to
be inserted and reviewed electronically
by subject coordinators prior to release to
students. This isn’t likely to save you time,
but it can provide a way to allocate questions
among markers at different sites, and it offers
a retrievable record of feedback if needed.
●● In some disciplines, there may be online
modules available from third party providers
which have assessment tasks built in (for
example virtual dissections).
●● If students are asked to publish their work
online, this can encourage high expectations
and facilitate peer assessment through
posted comments.
●● UOW Learning Design Unit can assist with
other ideas for assessment design using
technology.
Remember that advances in technology do not
necessarily mean better transnational or distance
courses: “Educational technology is a significant
supplement, but it does not replace the human
element and the qualitative role of the teacher. In all
our programs, there must be a human presence at the
end of the line” (Macdonald, 2000).
●● ‘If you are going to use somebody else’s exact
words, you should have put them in quotation
marks and given a reference to show that
they are not your own and show me where
they came from’ (Carroll, 2005).
Transnational Teaching at UOW
37
HOW EXPLICIT SHOULD I MAKE THE ASSESSMENT CRITERIA?
WHAT CAN I EXPECT?
You can expect that tensions between the need for
measurement/standards and the need to develop and
engage student learning will occur in transnational
programs. Taylor argues that it is important to strike a
balance between assessment for learning (formative)
and assessment of learning (summative) (Taylor,
2008).
WHAT CAN’T I ASSUME?
You can’t assume that students will immediately
understand unfamiliar or generic assessment criteria.
If you are working with the intensive model (lectures
from UOW staff followed by weekly classes with
local co-teachers): You can’t expect co-teachers to
give students good advice on how to prepare for the
assessment unless they receive the criteria ahead
of the submission date and/or have an opportunity
to discuss the assessment task with the subject
coordinator.
In any model: You can’t assume that all teachers will
mark in a consistent way without guidance. If others
are marking some of the ongoing assessment tasks
across the session, make sure that there are explicit
marking criteria for them to work with, and factor in
components that will link that assignment to the next.
WHY ARE CLEAR ASSESSMENT CRITERIA SO
IMPORTANT IN TRANSNATIONAL PROGRAMS?
In any course the instructions you give for assessment
tasks are very important, as they are the way that
students will interpret and make sense of what they
are supposed to do with a subject.
“For most students, assessment requirements literally
define the curriculum. Assessment is a potent strategic
tool for educators with which to spell out the learning
that will be rewarded and to guide students into
effective approaches to study”(James et al, 2002, p 7).
Additional issues arise in transnational programs. It
is often assumed by academics, administrators and
students that assessment systems are universal.
However, there can be significant variations in
different educational cultures, and problems arise
when instructors make assumptions both about
students’ understandings of assessment task
expectations, and their capacity to perform those
38
tasks (Brown and Joughlin, 2007).
These misconceptions can be culturally located, so it
is important in transnational programs to make sure
that all teachers involved in a program are very clear
about expectations.
Be aware that the local teachers may also have
graduated from the same or a similar educational
institution as their transnational students, so would
have similar experiences studying at university.
Without a thorough discussion of the desired learning
outcomes and the expectations for each assessment,
they might not be able to easily clarify the UOW
academic expectations to students.
It is particularly confusing for teachers and students
if on the surface the assessment tasks seem familiar.
Something as seemingly recognisable as an essay can
have very different flavours (eg descriptive, discursive,
polemical). While critical analysis of research is highly
prized in Australian education, it might not be an
explicit expectation in some other academic cultures.
“In the two weeks they are here it is ok, we use
critical analysis, but if we don’t have the same in
the rest of the session we forget.”
— Transnational student
HOW MAY ASSESSMENT CRITERIA SUPPORT STUDENT
LEARNING?
As well as rewarding understanding of a subject area,
assessment criteria can also be used to help students
to develop academic skills, or to focus on a particular
academic skill. For instance, an early assessment
task might have a focus on language use, referencing
techniques and some preliminary evaluation of
research, with students awarded higher marks under
these criteria.
Once students have mastered basic skills, you can
then give emphasis to more advanced academic
skills. For example, in a later assessment task you
might give more marks for critical analysis and the
development of an argument, and less to referencing.
University of Wollongong
WHAT KIND OF EXPLICIT CRITERIA ARE HELPFUL?
Although a Faculty/School may have a standard
assessment criteria sheet, you might plan to expand
on these to develop more explicit criteria for your
individual assessment tasks.
Students usually welcome explicit instruction on:
●● the length of submission (explain that longer
is not necessarily better)
●● the format (what type of writing it is, the
structure expected and the difference between
a report, an essay, a literature review etc)
●● what is being assessed (especially the
percentage of the mark allocated to English
language proficiency)
●● which aspects of the assessment are
compulsory (eg students must use four
academic journal articles) and which are
guidelines or suggestions (eg students might
also draw on their own experiences or nonscholarly online material)
●● what the assessment criteria mean and how
they are applied.
If there are explicit instructions for an assessment,
make sure these are reflected in the criteria. For
example, ‘compare and contrast three journal articles’
in the instructions, and ‘successfully compared/
contrasted three journal articles’ in the assessment
criteria. If there isn’t a clear match, students will
be confused about how they are being awarded
marks in response to a specific assessment task’s
requirements.
HOW CAN I WRITE ASSESSMENT CRITERIA THAT ARE
CLEAR TO TRANSNATIONAL STUDENTS?
Even a statement that seems explicit like ‘ensure your
essay draws on a wide range of sources to support
your argument’ may still leave students baffled
(Carroll, 2005, p 31), as it includes tacit and shared
knowledge. For instance, it assumes that students
understand what an ‘argument’ is, how it works in an
essay, and what might constitute a ‘wide range’.
Strategies for ensuring your criteria are clear include:
●● asking the co-teacher to read and comment
on the marking criteria before finalising and
distributing to the transnational students
●● showing the criteria to a peer who is
experienced in teaching the same cohort
●● testing the criteria with a student from the
same culture, for example by asking them
to paraphrase what they think each criterion
means.
Transnational Teaching at UOW
CRITICAL ISSUES
FOR COURSE
COORDINATORS
•Do your subject coordinators need
assistance or training on how to develop
marking rubrics?
•Will there be a process of checking that
tasks are explicit and explained clearly
and that assessment criteria are clearly
written?
•Will subject coordinators be required
to meet transnational teachers and
students (eg through Skype) before major
assessments, to address any questions
and clarify expectations?
MARKING FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY
Lecturers often worry about whether they should be
marking the level of English language expression of
their transnational students.
Most assessment criteria will have a specific
criterion for good English grammar and expression.
However, lecturers might have different approaches
to assessing their students’ work. Some will deduct
marks for poor English, and others say that they think
this is unfair on a transnational cohort who don’t have
the opportunities to develop their English expression,
and so will award marks if they thought the student
had understood the issues and could communicate
them, despite their imperfect grammar.
Because this is an important issue, it is best to
deal with it directly. Discuss your expectations for
language proficiency with your teaching colleagues
and your students, and make sure that you are
marking consistently across the same program at
all UOW teaching locations.
39
HOW CAN I HELP MY STUDENTS AVOID PLAGIARISM?
WHAT CAN I EXPECT?
You can expect that some new students may need
help in learning how to reference, or may take time to
appreciate the importance of meeting their teacher’s
expectations in this area. It might take some trial
and error before they get it right, as their previous
experience with acknowledging sources might have
been very different.
You can expect that once students have understood
the philosophy and mastered the practice of good
referencing, they will try to meet high standards of
academic integrity.
WHAT CAN’T I ASSUME?
You can’t assume that students have a prior
understanding of the UOW policy on referencing or
the reasons why avoiding plagiarism is important.
Even where a faculty offers a thorough induction or
orientation, some may miss that program through
illness or late enrolment.
You can’t assume that once students have been told
about the rules, this will automatically change their
research and writing practices. Some may think
paraphrasing and referencing is done ‘for a more
scholarly approach’ or ‘for a better mark’ rather than
understanding the principles of academic integrity.
WHY DO STUDENTS PLAGIARISE?
Students, whether in Australia or elsewhere, may
not have learned much about referencing in school.
In parts of Asia, some students’ previous learning
experiences at university and school may have been
mainly exam-based, with a focus on memorisation
rather than on commentary with references (Hayes
and Introna, 2005).
“In high school we were not allowed to change
the words from the textbooks … Our teachers
always wanted us to use exactly the same words
as [the ones] in textbooks.”
— Transnational student
40
The internet has made plagiarism relatively easy. A
study of students in United States universities found
Internet plagiarism has increased, with 40% admitting
to weaving together sentences from different Internet
sources without citation (McCabe, 2005, cited in
Slethaug, 2007).
In parts of Asia, cultural values may affect students’
commitment to referencing (Keenan and Jemmeson,
2006). For example, some students may believe
that copying directly from course notes is a more
respectful approach. Other students may disagree
with Western beliefs about ownership of ideas. In
an Indian context, it has been claimed that ‘lack of
academic integrity’ applies to cheating and has little
to do with referencing, as ideas and words of wellknown writers are considered as part of the collective
bank of knowledge and learners are supposed
to make use of these to learn and develop new
knowledge (Handa and Power, 2005).
Writing using a variety of sources involves high-level
critical thinking and English language skills. Correct
referencing requires good research habits and
practice. Where students have not fully developed
these capabilities, time pressures and lack of
confidence in English can tempt them into failing to
use research sources correctly (Hayes and Introna,
2005).
It follows that developing students’ appreciation for
academic integrity requires more than simply pointing
to a plagiarism policy or relying on a referencing
workshop. It is equally important to develop students
critical reading, note-taking, paraphrasing and
summarising skills so that they can learn to use their
research material appropriately in their writing.
WHY DO STUDENTS NEED TO BE SUPPORTED IN
AVOIDING PLAGIARISING?
●● Many students, including first-language
English speakers, experience ‘information
overload’ at the beginning of their course.
They may not absorb all the critical
information given in orientations and will need
follow-up instruction.
●● Information may contradict students’ previous
experiences. Most people find adjustment
to a new educational culture or new ways
of working difficult and, if they have been
successful in their previous studies, might
resist adapting to new rules.
University of Wollongong
●● To some students, referencing may seem a
bit like formatting or using illustrations – nice
if you have time to do it but not critical. They
may not understand how seriously a lack of
referencing is viewed by their teachers.
●● Understanding a theory can be very different
to putting it into practice. Working under
pressure for an assessment, students
who have not have translated the theory
of referencing into new practices (such as
collecting all relevant citations and marking
out quoted passages correctly) may realise
this too late.
●● Some students seriously underestimate the
time required for accurate referencing.
CRITICAL ISSUES FOR
COURSE COORDINATORS
•How will new students be inducted into
correct referencing, UOW plagiarism policy
and academic integrity?
•Are staff aware that students can’t be
penalised for plagiarism if they have not
been taught the appropriate conventions,
and do they understand the importance of
teaching these conventions (rather than
assuming this knowledge)?
Talk with the course coordinator about how this issue
has been addressed previously.
•How will policies on academic integrity be
communicated to co-teachers/tutors?
WHAT STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO ENCOURAGE
STUDENTS TO QUOTE AND REFERENCE CORRECTLY?
•Who will induct transnational students
on the Library’s StartSmart research and
writing modules?
Provide clear information about what is expected,
reinforced by a written handout and examples (see
http://www.uow.edu.au/about/policy/UOW058648.
html).
Explain the underlying reasons for referencing, for
example:
●● to mark student papers fairly, the teacher
needs to know which parts are the students’
own work
●● intellectual honesty requires that we
acknowledge our debt to the original authors
●● incorrect or incomplete referencing may give
the impression that students can’t tell the
difference between their own thoughts and
those of others.
Other strategies include:
●● lead a student discussion on plagiarism and
ethical research and writing issues
●● model good referencing yourself, in all of
teaching materials (including PowerPoints)
●● organise opportunities for students to
practice good referencing habits, eg in
tutorials.
●● ask students to evaluate good and bad
examples of referencing
●● give students a realistic idea of the effort and
time that referencing can be expected to take.
●● use an early assessment task to identify
inadequate referencing, and include correct
referencing in the assessment criteria.
Allocate a mark that will be significant if
Transnational Teaching at UOW
●●
●●
●●
●●
●●
●●
lost but won’t make it impossible for most
students to pass the subject
construct assessment tasks to discourage
plagiarism. For example, ask students to work
with a case study, evaluate a specific initiative
or resource or write about highly specific or
very recent topics. Change the case studies
and topics each year
tell students where they can get help
with written work if they need it, eg useful
resources, or learning support staff available
for the course
require students to produce evidence
of progress at different stages, such as
literature searches, outlines or drafts
issue a reminder before the due date of
assessment tasks
be explicit. Brief notes such as ‘must
acknowledge sources’ may result in students
just adding a few more author names without
understanding correct practices
make sure your co-teachers and tutors are
fully aware of UOW’s referencing conventions
and understand the plagiarism policy, and are
prepared to remind their students of these at
opportune moments.
(some of the above ideas are drawn from Hussin,
2007; Lim and See, 2001; Carroll, 2007)
41
TURNITIN
CAUTIONARY TALE
A lecturer put information on plagiarism in the
subject outline and referred students to this in
her first lecture. The first assessment was worth
30% and picked up a large number of instances of
plagiarism and over half the students received zero
marks. Most were later found to have not read the
relevant section of the subject guide, understood the
requirements, or been directly instructed at any stage
about correct referencing. After a long and timeconsuming series of complaints, meetings with tutors,
partner institution managers and the sub-dean, those
students had to be given an alternative assessment
so they could have a chance to pass the subject. Both
students and the lecturer were very distressed and
it affected student motivation and learning in the
course.
In recent years, online text-matching software has
become popular as a tool for combating plagiarism.
UOW has a licence for Turnitin, an online tool that
compares student work to web sites, databases and
previously submitted work. Turnitin can provide a
report showing the percentage of a student’s work
that appears to be identical to the material of others.
Some UOW teachers use Turnitin, in its simplest
function, to require students to submit their work to
the program where they will receive a scaled report
about the percentage of their essay or report that
matches or has been copied from other publicly
accessible online sources.
For more information about using Turnitin at UOW,
see: http://staff.uow.edu.au/eteaching/turnitin/
If you do plan to use it, be aware that as subject
coordinator you must set up the parameters of
student use (giving them an access code, determining
whether they can submit their essay once only or
a number of times to self-assess their own use of
research).
It is important to remember that Turnitin alone is not
‘a magic bullet’ (Carroll, 2003 cited in Bretag and
Mahmud, 2009) for preventing student plagiarism,
particularly if it is used as a punitive rather than a
preventative or educative measure. If you use it, plan
to:
●● model Turnitin in classes to show how easy
it is to match student work to copied online
material
●● give students the opportunity to submit their
own work and self-assess their level of copied
material, and re-write where necessary
●● don’t rely on Turnitin’s ‘originality report’
percentages alone to assess the quality
of work: as Bretag and Mahmud point out,
assessing potential plagiarism also requires
nuanced academic judgement based on a
range of subjective criteria, including the
context – both academic and personal –
within which the student is writing (Bretag
and Mahmud, 2009).
42
University of Wollongong
PREPARING AND INDUCTING TUTORS AND CO-TEACHERS
THIS SECTION IS PRIMARILY FOR SUBJECTS TAUGHT IN
THE ‘INTENSIVES + TUTORIALS’ MODE
The role of co-teachers or tutors is often to conduct
most of the face-to-face teaching during the session.
Co-teachers often are positioned to fill the role of
“cultural translator and mediator” (Leask, 2004),
between UOW’s expectations and the students’
understanding. They are expected to offer appropriate
local examples to illustrate principles to help
students succeed in mastering the curriculum.
CRITICAL ISSUES FOR
COURSE COORDINATORS
•Will you and your subject co-ordinators
participate in selecting tutors and coteachers (for example through CVs
submitted for approval by the partner
university)?
•How will policies such as privacy and OH&S
be communicated to co-teachers/tutors?
WHAT CAN I EXPECT?
You can expect that every effort will be made to
recruit skilled and knowledgeable co-teachers for
your subjects. UOW has the same expectations of
minimum academic qualifications and experience for
teachers at all locations.
You can expect that co-teachers will be conscientious
in fulfilling their roles.
You can expect that many co-teachers will have
excellent knowledge of student abilities and learning
styles within the cohort, and can be an invaluable
source of advice for your subject design and teaching.
WHAT CAN’T I ASSUME?
Whether in Australia or any other location, despite
everyone’s best efforts you can’t assume that a coteacher’s or tutor’s expertise will always exactly
match your requirements.
You can’t assume that UOW’s expectations will be
immediately understood by co-teachers. They may
have experience teaching or studying at universities
with quite different expectations.
•How will procedures such as academic
consideration and appeals be communicated
to co-teachers/tutors?
•How will a shared understanding of
expectations be developed across sites – eg
roles and responsibilities of co-teachers/
tutors as opposed to subject coordinators,
what is expected of teachers in the
classroom and for student support?
•How can ongoing communication be
encouraged between subject coordinators
and co-teachers?
•Is there funding for co-teachers and
tutors to attend meetings with subject
coordinators, including initial face-to-face
meetings if possible (whether in person or
via web-cam or videoconference)?
•Who is responsible for explaining the policy
on teacher evaluations to co-teachers and
tutors?
You can’t assume that co-teachers will be familiar
with UOW policies, such as academic consideration or
appeals about marking. Occasionally, tutors may even
have a different understanding of plagiarism.
“Our tutors were good appointments. We worked very closely with them and they
gained an understanding of our expectations of the role. Many taught more than
one subject. It’s best to involve them at every step. Try to budget for meetings
and additional time as their contracts are very lean. Give them an expectation of
reappointment subject to performance. We appreciate our tutors a lot.”
— Philip Kitley, Course Coordinator, Faculty of Arts
Transnational Teaching at UOW
43
WHAT STRATEGIES SHOULD I USE IN WORKING WITH
CO-TEACHERS?
Investing time in mentoring co-teachers can help you
in future years. You are more likely to retain staff, and
you will have more confidence that the transnational
classroom is running smoothly and according to your
teaching approach and UOW policy.
●● Make sure that co-teachers have all the
relevant information they need to prepare.
The timing of transnational programs very
rarely exactly matches the UOW session
schedule. This has implications for the
development and approval of subject guides,
eReading lists, and eLearning sites. Coteachers would prefer to have the draft of the
subject guide and reading lists to work with
before teaching commences, so that they
can feel confident about what the subject is
about, can contribute to discussions and ask
questions to clarify teaching activities and
assessments.
●● Co-teachers are often willing to contribute
by developing examples and case studies, or
suggesting relevant local readings. However,
be aware that their work contract might
not allow them to design more substantive
material, and it will be your responsibility
as subject coordinator to provide them
with relevant teaching resources. In some
cases these may include lecture notes
and PowerPoints as well as handouts and
activities for use in tutorial time.
●● If you are a Wollongong academic who
delivers intensive teaching face-to-face to
the students, find an opportunity during
the intensive teaching week to introduce
the co-teacher to the students, or to teach
collaboratively with them. This will reinforce
the impression that they are a valued part of
the UOW teaching team. (Be aware that not
all co-teachers will be available to attend
classes in the intensive teaching week. They
may have prior commitments or limited work
contracts.)
WHAT TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT IS AVAILABLE
FOR TUTORS AND CO-TEACHERS?
Faculties are responsible for inducting tutors into
UOW policies and procedures and into teaching in
the faculty. Check with your course coordinator as to
what induction is offered.
Subject coordinators are responsible for leading
teaching teams, including communicating
expectations about teaching and assessment and
offering advice and mentoring when needed.
STAFF DEVELOPMENT AVAILABLE TO TEACHERS
LOCATED OUTSIDE AUSTRALIA
The University Learning and Teaching program (ULT)
can be completed through FlexiULT modules and self
study DVDs. For more information, contact UOW’s
Academic Development Unit or see http://www.uow.
edu.au/asd/ULT/
Tips for Tutors or other teaching workshops may also
be available – check with your course coordinator
and/or the Academic Development Unit. If funding
is available, consider engaging the UOW Academic
Development Unit to run workshops on location.
OTHER RESOURCES
A UOW web site for sessional teachers is availabe at:
http://focusonteaching.uow.edu.au/sessionalteachers/
“We have a tutor induction in
Singapore every year, to give new
tutors knowledge of UOW.”
— Willy Susilo, Course
Coordinator, Faculty of Informatics
44
University of Wollongong
COMMUNICATING WITH TUTORS AND CO-TEACHERS
THIS SECTION IS PRIMARILY FOR SUBJECTS TAUGHT IN
THE ‘INTENSIVES + TUTORIALS’ MODE
WHAT CAN I EXPECT?
You can expect your co-teachers to follow the subject
and assessment guides carefully, and ask questions
where needed.
You can expect that more proactive co-teachers will
keep you informed about students’ progress and any
problems that arise.
CRITICAL ISSUES FOR
COURSE COORDINATORS
•Will meetings between subject
coordinators and co-teachers (face-to-face
or Skype) be expected as a normal part of
subject management?
•Will co-teachers be paid for attending
meetings?
WHAT CAN’T I ASSUME?
You can’t assume that you will always receive timely
information about student issues. In any location,
some co-teachers may feel hesitant about raising
issues; they might think that these issues might
reflect badly on their own teaching performance, or
that they need to assume full responsibility rather
than sharing problems which are more properly
resolved by the subject coordinator.
You can’t assume that by staying in touch with coteachers mainly by email you will always have a
good picture of class progress or class issues. In
programs operating in transnational locations, coteachers cannot easily drop in to the faculty to check
on points that are unclear or to share experiences
with academic colleagues. They might seek advice
from other co-teachers or administrators, who may
inadvertently reinforce confusion about academic
expectations and processes.
You can’t assume that co-teachers are familiar
with the standard of student work expected in your
course. Assessments and expectations will need to be
covered thoroughly well ahead of due dates. To give
good advice to students, co-teachers also need clear
marking criteria ahead of the submission date.
“In transnational teaching, you are likely
to encounter a few hurdles. It works if you
can be proactive, provide inductions, stay in
communication with tutors, think about likely
learning problems such as plagiarism ahead of
time and involve tutors in monitoring student
progress. Don’t wait until students are failing.”
WHY IS MAINTAINING COMMUNICATION IMPORTANT?
Some co-teachers will find it difficult to let the subject
coordinator know of any difficulties. If asked how
things are going they may just say ‘fine’. Conversely,
some subject coordinators may be very busy and
may not make much contact with their teaching team
during session.
These communication difficulties can occur in any
subject in any location. However, in transnational
programs the risks of serious outcomes are higher:
●● Transnational co-teachers are embedded in a
different academic culture. They may develop
shared misconceptions with the students
around assessment expectations, plagiarism
policies or core subject concepts, resulting in
increased failure rates and grievances.
●● Transnational co-teachers may feel caught
between the expectations of the university
and the struggles of students to meet these
expectations. Without regular discussions
with the subject coordinator, they may not be
able to help students bridge the gap.
For a transnational program to succeed, information
sharing between subject coordinators and their
teaching team is essential throughout the session.
Establish regular communication, whether this is
in person, by email or phone or within an online
discussion group. Encourage co-teachers to discuss
the weekly topic, the students’ engagement and their
progress in preparation for assessment tasks.
— Ruth Walker, Learning Development
Transnational Teaching at UOW
45
WHAT STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO COMMUNICATE WITH
CO-TEACHERS?
●● If you are located in a different country,
try and arrange at least one face-to-face
interaction before session begins, whether in
person or using Skype. This helps establish
trust and rapport for the entire session.
●● If you are a Wollongong coordinator who flies
to the transnational location for an intensive
teaching week, make efforts to get to know
your co-teachers and establish rapport. Try to
include some social time.
●● Schedule meetings for the co-teachers
to discuss teaching and assessment with
you (preferably face-to-face eg via Skype
or alternatively by phone) at critical points
during the session.
●● Encourage information sharing. Co-teachers
can have invaluable knowledge of their
students’ learning styles and/or cultural
knowledge that can help with choosing case
studies and designing assessments. On your
part, you can share approaches to teaching
and the theory underlying the subject design.
●● During session, regularly email or post
questions on student progress to co-teachers.
●● Even if there is no funding for formal
meetings, maintain contact as much as
possible.
●● Consider establishing a co-teachers’
discussion area within eLearning.
●● When members of your teaching team use
email, be aware that a terse reply could
discourage further contact. Include a friendly
greeting in your email and acknowledge/
thank them for their contribution.
“Everything depends very much on email
communication. Of course one of the issues with
email communication is that we maybe do not
get to know each other as well. And sometimes
a problem is that we have mistaken each other,
say, or take things too seriously. It is hard to
understand the register – perhaps I am joking,
perhaps he is joking. We need to have face to
face communication, as it takes a longer time
by email for us to understand each other well
in order to work it out more easily. It is easier to
talk, frankly.”
— Transnational co-teacher
“Some people tell you that transnational
teaching is just a week out of your life. It’s
not – or if it is, it isn’t quality. There’s a lot of
work involved in communicating with students,
answering emails and providing feedback. You
can’t see transnational teaching as something
you do on the side. Transnational teaching also
involves revisiting our teaching theory. How do
you engage adults who are working full-time
and motivate them to learn? You need to think
about it, realise that transmission isn’t enough
and work out how to approach this model of
learning, even more than at Wollongong.”
— Peter McLean, Subject Coordinator,
Faculty of Commerce
46
University of Wollongong
COMMUNICATING WITH STUDENTS
THIS SECTION IS PRIMARILY FOR SUBJECTS TAUGHT IN
THE ‘INTENSIVES + TUTORIALS’ MODE
WHAT CAN I EXPECT?
You can expect that some students will be pro-active
and will contact you with their questions.
You can expect that most students will leave it to you
to communicate expectations about the assessments
and other requirements.
WHAT CAN’T I ASSUME?
You can’t assume that your students will have similar
responses to students you have taught previously. It is
likely that issues may arise that you didn’t anticipate.
You can’t assume that you will always receive
timely information about student issues either from
Wollongong or a transnational campus, or that by
staying in touch with co-teachers/tutors mainly by
email you will always have a good picture of class
progress.
You can’t assume that students will articulate their
difficulties to you.
WHY DOES COMMUNICATION MATTER?
Regular interaction between students and teachers
keeps the students motivated and on task and
prompts them to maintain their study as a high
priority among competing obligations. Additionally it
is a factor in completion rates (Morgan and McKenzie
2003).
WHAT STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO COMMUNICATE WITH
STUDENTS?
Any student difficulties will usually be first identified
by the tutor/co-teacher. It follows that good
communication with the tutor is essential (see
page 45). To faciliate good communication between
you, the co-teacher and the students, you might:
●● offer clear and detailed handouts,
assessment guides, marking criteria and
sample formats
●● encourage use of online discussion forums,
and participate in these yourself
Transnational Teaching at UOW
CRITICAL ISSUES FOR
COURSE COORDINATORS
•How will you ensure that students
have access to the equivalent of staff
consultation time?
•How will teachers in all locations keep
you informed of student issues they have
identified (particularly important in new
programs, where issues can emerge that
affect the viability of the program if not
addressed)?
●● email the students from time to time, making
it clear that you are interested in students’
progress and that they can ask questions.
In many cultures, the teacher-student
relationship is much closer to a mentoring
relationship than it is in Australia
●● offer an online equivalent of a consultation
time when you are available to students
●● consider visiting (or video-conferencing) each
tutorial two or three weeks before the due
date of major assessments. Alternatively,
you might schedule time when you will be
available online to discuss assessment tasks
(eg using a meeting tool or online chat tool)
●● if you are coordinating from another site,
consider installing a web-cam in your office
and notifying students of consultation times.
This would need the partner institution to
provide students with access to a computer
and web-cam at their location.
“I’ve found it’s important to keep encouraging
students to communicate with me. Students
need to feel there is a place to ask questions and
contribute their experience.”
— Subject Coordinator, Faculty of Health &
Behavioural Sciences
47
WHAT ABOUT STUDENT SUPPORT?
WHAT CAN I EXPECT?
You can expect that your students will have access to
a library and computers at their campus.
In most UOW transnational programs, support is
provided through a teacher located at the partner
campus. This may be a subject coordinator/ lecturer
or a co-teacher/tutor.
In addition, you can expect that there will be a
manager or course coordinator on the transnational
campus who can also help students with problems or
questions about the course.
WHAT CAN’T I ASSUME?
You can’t assume that UOW students will have access
to all services offered by the partner university, such as
learning development or English language support. In
some cases, the contract limits UOW student access.
You can’t assume that the services offered in the
partner university will be equivalent to those offered
in Australia. For example, not all universities have the
same level of assistance for students with disabilities.
WHAT SUPPORT IS AVAILABLE TO MY STUDENTS?
UOW aims to offer an equivalent level of support
to students at all locations. Academic advice and
support from teachers to students should be
equivalent to that offered in Wollongong. Sometimes
this support may be online instead of face-to-face.
Some student services such as Library and eLearning
are provided by UOW across all locations, whether
within Australia or elsewhere. Other services such as
accommodation and counselling are more typically
made available through a partner institution.
HOW DO I FIND OUT ABOUT THE SUPPLEMENTARY
SUPPORT AVAILABLE TO MY STUDENTS?
Academic Program Coordinators/Directors at UOW
will be able answer most of your questions, such as:
●● the extensiveness of the partner’s library
collection for the discipline
“Our program works well because we include
high levels of ongoing student counselling. We
talk to those who fail, we find out their problems
and we advise how they can improve their result.”
— Willy Susilo, Course Coordinator,
Faculty of Informatics
48
CRITICAL ISSUES FOR
COURSE COORDINATORS
•Are support services available to students,
or do you need to negotiate to make these
available?
•If the cohort includes students arriving
from other countries, does student support
include accommodation and other arrival
services?
•Have you assessed the collection at the
on-site library? Will your UOW students
have access to that library, or can this be
negotiated?
•Who will conduct student orientations to:
- the library, computer labs and other
facilities at their home campus?
- UOW Library databases, eLearning, SOLS
and UOW email?
•How will students and staff be informed of
how students can access academic advice,
support services, grievance procedures etc?
•Who will monitor students who are
struggling and how will further support be
provided if needed?
•What career activities will be offered, and
how will these be built into the course?
●● how to request books for purchase and place
books on reserve in the partner’s library
●● whether the partner institution offers
academic skills support to UOW’s
transnational students, such as essay-writing,
critical thinking and academic English
●● what computers, Internet and other
technology available on site to UOW students
●● whether the partner institution offers
counselling, disability or careers services to
UOW students.
WHAT ABOUT PEER SUPPORT?
Students gain from working together, and might form
study groups with or without encouragement. This
can have positive effects. To encourage interaction
amongst transnational students, ongoing group
activities might be structured into assessment tasks.
When setting assessments, explain to students
which parts of the task must be carried out entirely
independently and which parts (if any) can be
discussed or worked on with others.
University of Wollongong
LEARNING AND TEACHING USING TECHNOLOGY
WHAT CAN I EXPECT?
IDEAS FOR TEACHING WITH TECHNOLOGY
You can expect that UOW administration will organise
logins so that transnational students and co-teachers
can access eLearning and library resources.
Online learning can be a way of fostering your
students’ sense of community with their main campus
peers and the university (Hobson, 2009), and will help
to break the psychological distance they might be
feeling. It is also important for students to develop
digital literacies. Some ideas include:
●● technology could be used to record your
lecture series, and the recordings used as
resources for your transnational students
and/or co-teachers. This is helpful where the
students’ first language isn’t English. They
may want to listen to the lecture a second
time or work through it at their own pace
●● where there are distance issues, web cams or
video-conferences can be used to offer faceto-face contact between subject coordinators
and/or between teachers and students
●● online discussion forums, video-conferences
or chat tools could bring together cohorts
from different countries and enhance
students’ sense of being part of UOW
●● it may be interesting to incorporate web sites
and online tools popular in the students’
countries into activities and assessments
●● if you are coordinating from a distance, you
might require your students to complete
an ongoing assessment group task online,
where you can jump in and comment or offer
feedback across the session
●● some UOW teachers have been experimenting
with group assessments with parallel cohorts
of Australian campus and transnational
students. This can be time consuming to
establish, and relies on careful timing and
negotiation, but can have very positive
outcomes.
You can expect that the partner institution will do
their best to provide any specific technology you need
for teaching.
WHAT CAN’T I ASSUME?
You can’t assume that the computers for students use
at the partner university will offer as fast or reliable
Internet connections as at the UOW main campus.
In some locations, connections may be slow and
unreliable. (In others, the networks may be faster
than in Australia.) It may sometimes be necessary to
supplement online resources with CDs.
You can’t assume that students will have access to
the Internet from home or work.
You can’t assume that face-to-face teaching can be
fully replaced by other strategies (Marginson, 2004).
However, face-to-face contact can be supplemented
or facilitated using technology.
THINGS TO CHECK OR ORGANISE:
●● how easy is it for students to access a
computer at their institution?
●● are their Internet connections good enough
(speed and stability) for use of online tools?
●● will all of your students be able to access the
Internet during session, or are some based in
regions with very poor access?
●● have students had any training or induction on
using the UOW online systems?
●● have tutors/co-teachers been introduced
to the UOW systems? Do they have current
logins? If they have let their login lapse, do
they know how to obtain a new password?
●● if students need access to specific software
or technologies, how/where will these be
made available?
●● if you are travelling with technology – laptop,
mobile phone, etc – do you have a power
supply of the correct voltage/amperage for
your destination country? Is the plug on your
power cord the correct one? Do you need an
adaptor and/or surge protector?
Transnational Teaching at UOW
“I had an onshore group and an offshore
group, and set up an online chat
where all the students discussed their
assignment together. Had I been braver I
could have had group projects across the
two campuses. We have to integrate our
communities.”
– Penney McFarlane, Degree
Coordinator, Faculty of Informatics
49
INSTEAD OF FACE-TO-FACE LECTURES, COULDN’T WE
JUST GIVE THE STUDENTS RECORDED LECTURES?
This works well with some mature-aged
professionals, but is not the usual approach.
●● Most UOW transnational teaching programs
use blended learning – that, is using both
face-to-face and technology.
●● Our agreement with the partner institution
will usually specify face-to-face teaching as
an obligation under the contract.
●● The students to whom we are marketing
courses have chosen us based on this
approach. In many countries the face-toface component is a strong element of the
perceived value of the course. Anything less
than 20-22 hours may be perceived to be of
lesser value, especially when compared with
our competitors.
“For most (though not all) students online education
does not substitute for face-to-face programs.
Regardless of their specific interest in ICTs most
students want to interact with teachers and each
other face-to-face. Exceptions are some categories
of working students, some students with young
children, and some in locations too remote to allow
them to attend classes … For most students in the
Asia-Pacific, an online degree accessed from home is
a less attractive form of cross-border education than
a degree acquired in the foreign nation, or in a branch
campus of a foreign university in the student’s own
country.” (Marginson, 2004, p 100)
CRITICAL ISSUES FOR
COURSE COORDINATORS
•What level of computer and Internet access
is available to students in the program?
•Who will induct students and tutors into
UOW online systems (eLearning, eReadings,
Library databases, SOLS, email)?
•Are there identified people on both
campuses who will be the point of contact
for technical issues?
•Will there be a web site for the course, to
give the students a sense of identity and
save them having to negotiate the entire
UOW site?
•Do you need to negotiate for any additional
technologies to enhance communication (eg
webcams for tutors, videoconferencing for
selected classes, community tools for the
students? (The Learning Design Unit or LIFT
unit can help.)
CAUTIONARY TALE
A number of surveys of exiting students have
found a high percentage of exiting transnational
students were disappointed at the lack of
interaction with the Australian campus and
Australian students.
CAUTIONARY TALE: Due to a personal emergency,
a teacher was unable to fly into a particular country
to teach. Instead, he offered a combination of videorecordings and audio-recordings.
The students went as a body to the program
manager to protest, an unusually strong response in
their culture. It emerged that the audio recordings in
particular were not valued as the students wanted
to interact personally with the lecturer.
The faculty now sends a substitute teacher if a
lecturer is unable to travel.
50
University of Wollongong
CONNECTING AND NETWORKING
UOW strives to be equally inclusive of students and
staff regardless of their location.
WHAT STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MAKE MY STUDENTS
FEEL THEY ARE PART OF THE BROADER UOW?
As in most transnational universities, geographical
separation, size differences and structures can
sometimes make this difficult.
●● Talk about your other classes during your
lectures or tutorials.
It follows that those involved in transnational
programs need to actively work to achieve a sense of
belonging in students and staff at all UOW locations.
WHAT CAN I EXPECT?
You can expect that students and staff at the
transnational location will want to feel part of UOW.
They will be keen to become more engaged with the
broader university, and will see you as the subject
coordinator (regardless of your location) as an
important point of engagement.
You can expect that your transnational colleagues will
be friendly and helpful. You can expect that someone
in the partner university will be a point of contact
and have responsibility for helping you orientate to
the new environment. This applies whether you are
located in a transnational location and orientating to
UOW, or whether you are flying in from Wollongong to
teach in a transnational location.
WHAT CAN’T I ASSUME?
You can’t assume that it is someone else’s job to be
the face of the broader UOW. Opportunities for your
students and co-teachers in transnational locations
to interact with Wollongong may be limited. While you
are the academic on location, you are the face of UOW.
You can’t assume that opportunities to interact with
your transnational colleagues will be organised
for you. Sometimes it may not happen unless you
are proactive. If you are located transnationally,
you yourself may need to organise phone or Skype
meetings with your Wollongong counterparts. If
you are flying into a transnational location from
Wollongong, you may need to organise your own
social opportunities or introductions. If you are a
visiting academic and your classes are at night in
particular, there may be very little contact organised.
You can’t assume that the way your culture or campus
does things is better. In all locations, it is important to
convey mutual respect. To complicate things further,
you can’t expect that attitudes such as respect or
friendliness are conveyed in the same way in another
culture as in your own.
Transnational Teaching at UOW
●● Use online discussions that can operate
across locations and cohorts.
●● Design assessment tasks using online
community tools (for example blogs, wikis or
a discussion forum) to bring classes together.
●● If using eduStream or other digital
technologies, it is essential to interact with all
locations in your introduction and conclusion,
and also during questions and activities within
the lecture. For example, in the introduction
a simple ‘Hello to students in Wollongong,
Hong Kong and Bega’ is very effective.
●● Ask students at each centre ‘hands-up’ style
questions such as, How many of you are from
…? How many of you have been to Australia?
To Hong Kong?
WHAT STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MAKE MY COTEACHERS FEEL THEY ARE PART OF THE BROADER
UOW?
●● Include co-teachers/tutors from all locations
in online ‘tutors’ rooms’ within eLearning
(discussion groups marked as ‘hidden’ to
students but which are accessible to teaching
staff)
●● Take an interest in your co-teachers/tutors’
research or studies, if applicable
●● Help them make connections to Wollongong
academics with similar interests.
“Our transnational students want
to know what’s happening with the
Wollongong campus and Wollongong
students. Their whole culture is about
community – once they have taken the
step to join our community they want to
feel like they are part of it.”
— Penney McFarlane, Degree
Coordinator, Faculty of Informatics
51
WHY DOES NETWORKING MATTER?
Academics who spend time interacting with their
international colleagues gain many personal benefits
from the transnational experience. These benefits can
include:
●● enhanced intercultural skills and confidence
●● useful advice on transnational teaching
●● better relationships, to assist future
communications
●● becoming known to those who advise
postgraduate students who are looking for
supervisors in their country
●● developing a network of possible future
research partnerships
●● new friendships, and overall, a more
enjoyable transnational experience.
In some countries, there is a strong cultural
expectation that people will take part in social
interactions. Other teachers in the program will gain a
positive impression of UOW academics who make the
extra effort to involve themselves socially with their
colleagues.
Good communication is essential to the success of
transnational partnerships. Everyone who makes an
effort to develop good connections and rapport while
representing UOW in any location helps ensure a
successful program for other staff and students.
“We have created community connections that
have really helped our program. For example,
we held an open seminar and invited people
from the Polytechnic and started talking to
them. Then we were invited to the Polytechnic
to talk, and from there I became a judge on
one of their competitions. Following these
connections, I was asked to help in commenting
on their subjects. Then after a while we were
invited onto an Education Advisory Board.
These connections have been really helpful
in understanding the local environment and
finding the right sort of educational and
industry partners for teaching and research.”
— Willy Susilo, Senior Academic Program
Director, Faculty of Informatics
52
WHAT STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO CREATE NETWORKING
OPPORTUNITIES?
●● A warm, friendly approach and a readiness
to introduce yourself to others will go a
long way, even where there are language
difficulties, where you have just arrived
in an unfamiliar culture, or where you are
communicating from a distance.
●● When visiting another UOW location, tell your
point of contact that you would like to meet
some of their colleagues, and ask if they
would be free to meet over lunch or dinner
●● Look through the research interests of
academics at the other location, and contact
those with similar interests to your own
●● When visiting another UOW location, email
organisations relevant to your teaching or
research, and organise a meeting.
CAUTIONARY TALE: Several Australians visiting
an offshore program were tired from their trip,
and so declined an invitation to meet socially.
This was misinterpreted by the transnational
partners as arrogance and lack of interest in the
partner’s contribution to the program.
HOW CAN I AVOID SOCIAL ERRORS?
Most people will understand that you are unfamiliar
with local social mores, and will allow for this. If you
aren’t sure what is appropriate, it is usually fine to ask.
The internet is a rich source of social tips for any
country you may visit (although also of misleading
stereotypes). It can also be interesting to read social
tips for your own country. The types of interaction
that others find strange are very revealing of cultural
difference, as in this passage:
“Australian rules of social etiquette are a little
different from most countries around the world. The
rules do not relate to how a fork should be held, or
who should be served first at a dinner table. Instead,
most of Australia’s rules relate to expressing equality.
Basically, as long as you appreciate that Australians
want to be treated as equal irrespective of their social,
racial or financial background, anything is acceptable.”
“Displays of wealth may be seen as signs of superiority
and frowned upon. Likewise, acceptance of generosity
may be seen as a sign of bludging or inferiority.
Likewise, it may be frowned upon. … because
Australians see people as equal, they frequently
offend international visitors who feel a more respectful
attitude is warranted.” (Allo’ Expat Australia, 2010)
University of Wollongong
CAN I DISCUSS LOCAL POLITICS?
Asking questions about or commenting on
controversial political issues within the host country
can lead to awkwardness.
If you are asked about politics while visiting another
country but don’t feel comfortable or competent in
answering, neutral answers such as ‘Yes, I’ve heard a
lot about this, but I am not fully informed’ or ‘This is a
controversial issue, it seems to be generating a lot of
discussion’ are useful.
However, you may decide to discuss political topics
where people want to talk about them or you
know the people well. Keep in mind any diplomatic
sensitivities that relate to your position and those
of your colleagues. You may want to make it clear
that you are speaking as an individual rather than as
a representative of the university when discussing
politically sensitive issues.
ARE THERE LANGUAGE CLASSES TO HELP WITH BASIC
GREETINGS AND PHRASES?
Wollongong academics teaching overseas for the
first time will find it helpful to know a few phrases of
a local language, enough to say hello and thank you,
or to ask for help. Many people travel with a small
phrase book.
There is no expectation that UOW academics should
learn local languages, however it can be rewarding
and will be appreciated by students and colleagues.
Learning a second language also helps build
intercultural understanding (Olsen and Kroeger, 2001.
If you are interested in learning a language:
CRITICAL ISSUES FOR
COURSE COORDINATORS
•How will you lead ongoing communication
and relationship-building with partner
institutions?
•Do you and your staff understand social
mores and how trust and rapport are
developed in the partner culture? Where
can you get advice or training if needed?
•Are there ways of including transnational
students in the broader UOW, through
strategies such as:
- encouraging subject coordinators to
facilitate student communication across
cohorts/locations?
- offering students options to study for a
session in Australia?
•Are there ways to include transnational
tutors in the broader UOW, through
strategies such as:
- adding them to research group email
lists?
- video-conferencing or podcasting selected
events or development opportunities (eg
Tips for Tutors workshops)?
•How will you actively work against any
tendency in your area to see the other
institution or its students as peripheral?
Self-study: UOW Wollongong Library resources
include introductory audio CDs in Mandarin,
Indonesian and other languages. Abbey’s Bookshop
http://www.abbeys.com.au sells self-study resources
across for a wider range of languages including
Cantonese and Malay. The Internet has many free
resources.
Classes: WEA Illawarra offers courses in numerous
languages including Indonesian, Mandarin and Thai.
UOW offers introductory one-session subjects in
Mandarin and Indonesian through the Language
Centre at Wollongong campus.
Transnational Teaching at UOW
53
UOW LEARNING-TEACHING-RESEARCH NEXUS
The learning-teaching-research nexus has many
aspects. It can include research-led teaching; sharing
your own discipline research with students; finding
ways to include students in your research activities;
supporting students to develop the skills to carry out
their research; encouraging students in higher degree
studies; carrying out research into your teaching;
applying research about student learning to your
teaching practice.
WHAT CAN I EXPECT?
You can anticipate that some of your tutors and
co-teachers will be research students or early
career academics with research interests. These
interests may include research into teaching in the
discipline area.
You can expect that some of your students may be
interested in hearing about your research, having
a research experience and/or carrying out original
research themselves.
You can expect that most of your prior research and
reading about teaching in higher education will be
applicable to your transnational cohort. There is also
a large body of literature on transnational teaching in
higher education: see Bibliography on p 59.
Depending on your research interests, you may
look forward to research linkages or transnational
research opportunities in your field. Ideally, the
partnership between the two institutions will
have been developed partly to encourage these
connections.
WHAT CAN’T I ASSUME?
You can’t assume that researching your transnational
teaching will involve the same processes as it
might at UOW. Seek advice from colleagues at the
transnational location about issues such as ethics,
survey questions, data storage and other aspects of
research involving students at that location.
CRITICAL ISSUES
FOR COURSE
COORDINATORS
•How will you build both research and
teaching connections across institutions.?
It is possible that teaching links alone may
not give the depth of experience that the
faculty and/or its partner institution is
seeking from the transnational program.
What capacities are your faculty and
the partner institution seeking to build
through this partnership?
•How will you include transnational
tutors within the research culture of the
faculty? Have you made staff aware that
the lack of connection between teaching
and research for transnational staff has
been a criticism by AUQA of transnational
programs?
•How will you incorporate the UOW
Learning-Teaching-Research Nexus into
course design?
•Who will provide timely information about
further study at UOW for students wishing
to continue on to higher degrees?
POLICY LINK: Do you know about the UOW
Learning-Teaching Research Nexus? It contains a
number of practical ideas. See
http://www.uow.edu.au/cedir/nexus/
You can’t assume that offers to forge research links in
your field will be immediately taken up. Time may be
needed for each group to develop trust in the other’s
commitment, as well as an understanding of the
partner’s capacity and intent.
54
University of Wollongong
HOW CAN I CARRY OUT RESEARCH INTO MY
TRANSNATIONAL TEACHING?
There are many different and interesting
approaches to researching learning and teaching
in a transnational context. The UOW Academic
Development Unit can offer advice. You can also
count a research project towards the University
Learning and Teaching Course (ULT) Unit 3.
Transnational learning is a critical area for higher
education providers. With much work still to be
done and strong interest from academics looking to
improve their cross-cultural success, there are also
good opportunities for publishing.
HOW CAN I INVOLVE TRANSNATIONAL STUDENTS IN MY
RESEARCH?
WHAT ARE SOME STRATEGIES FOR BUILDING
RESEARCH LINKS ACROSS INSTITUTIONS?
●● Make contact with people with interests
similar to your own. Find out which UOW
research groups you can join and encourage
others to join.
●● Plan research-related meetings before
visiting other UOW locations, so that there is
time scheduled.
●● Explore linkage grants schemes (contact the
Research Services Office for details).
●● Take an interest in co-teacher’s/tutors’
research; for example you could mentor them
to understand the research culture and help
them make connections with UOW research
groups.
For ideas, see the Undergraduate Research web site
at http://mq.edu.au/ltc/altc/ug_research/
“We are finding the program works better now that we are combining research
into our program. We have a good name in Singapore because of the research,
and we’ve achieved I2R recognition. Our research has helped us form a good
relationship with the local university and we are achieving greater industry
awareness. It’s also easier to get tutors now than in the early days. Ten of our PhD
students are our local tutors.”
— Willy Susilo, Course Coordinator, School of Computer Science and Software
Engineering, Faculty of Informatics
Transnational Teaching at UOW
55
APPROACHES TO EVALUATION
WHAT CAN I EXPECT?
You can anticipate that a teaching survey will be
available, wherever you are teaching, and that your
tutors/co-teachers will be interested in evaluating
their teaching approach.
You can expect that your course coordinator will be
available to comment on ideas for teaching strategies
and give advice to help you solve problems or improve
the subject, or will be prepared to point you in the
right direction for appropriate support.
WHAT CAN’T I ASSUME?
You can’t assume that your teaching survey results
from UOW partner institutions will be automatically
provided to you. If surveys are conducted, ask for a
copy of survey results.
EVALUATING TRANSNATIONAL SUBJECTS
Evaluation involves collecting information to reflect
on and use to improve teaching or subjects for the
future. It often involves teaching and subject surveys,
but can include other sources of information, such as:
●● how well the students have understood the
core concepts of the subject
●● comparisons of student work and marks –
across cohorts and over time
●● tutor and co-teacher feedback based on their
classroom observations and interactions with
students
●● peer comments on subject design and
curriculum, for example comments you seek
out from the course coordinators, experienced
colleagues, co-teachers and tutors
●● feedback from students, including One Minute
Feedback sheets, emailed comments, formal
or informal discussions with the class etc.
CRITICAL ISSUES FOR
COURSE COORDINATORS
•Do you have multiple ways to ‘take the
pulse’ of the program, such as maintaining
communication with the partner course
coordinator/manager, monitoring grades,
communicating with subject coordinators
and teachers at all loations, conducting exit
surveys (sample survey is available from
the Transnational Programs Unit)?
•What protocols will be established for
teachers to carry out teacher evaluations
and to receive their results?
Keeping the feedback data and documentation of your
reflections can provide useful evidence for a future
probation/ promotion application or a teaching award.
Please contact the UOW Academic Development Unit
for advice if needed.
CAN I ORDER A UOW TEACHER EVALUATION OR UOW
SUBJECT SURVEY?
Yes. UOW Teacher Evaluations can be ordered for
any location by any UOW teacher. Requests are
made to the UOW Centre for Academic Systems and
Resources (CASR). Be aware that they take a certain
amount of time to prepare, so be sure to request the
evaluation forms in advance.
UOW Subject Evaluations are also usually available
for any location by making a request to the Faculty
Education Committee Chair.
All of these sources of information can be tracked over
time to observe improvements or emerging issues.
It is important to avoid over-surveying, so first ask
your Program Coordinator/Director if the partner
institution will also surveying. If so, you can request
access to results and/or wait until the next semester
to implement a UOW survey.
Your educational teaching philosophy or model is
invaluable when using feedback for reflection and
improvement, and provides a conceptual framework to:
CAN I ASK A TUTOR/CO-TEACHER TO SEND ME THEIR
TEACHER SURVEY RESULTS?
●● describe and analyse the learning and
teaching experience
●● develop a response to identified areas for
improvement
●● implement change, and
●● carry out further evaluation.
56
If you are the subject coordinator and you want to
access a tutor’s survey results, you would need to
first check with the Academic Program Coordinator/
Director and ask whether this is appropriate. At
Wollongong, for example, UOW Teacher Evaluation
results are confidential to the teacher surveyed
and are only released to others with that teacher’s
consent.
University of Wollongong
DISCUSSING AND SHARING EXPERIENCES
WHAT CAN I EXPECT?
You can expect that many of your colleagues who
teach transnationally will have had experiences and
anxieties similar to yours.
You can expect that some of your colleagues will be
confident and positive about transnational teaching.
They will see their students as wonderful students,
they will believe their experience to be successful and
they will be happy to share their teaching strategies
with others. Conversely, some colleagues may be
negative about the experience.
WHAT CAN’T I ASSUME?
You can’t assume that your first transnational
experience will be a perfect one. People interviewed
for this booklet have remarked that “the only
way to learn to teach transnationally is to do it”.
This implies a learning process with a gradually
increasing understanding of the culture and learning
environment.
WHAT STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO CREATE GOOD
PRACTICE SHARING OPPORTUNITIES?
●● Subject or course coordinators can organise
briefings, planning meetings, debriefings or
staff development sessions. These usually
include open discussion of issues, practice
sharing and creative problem solving.
●● Any interested teacher can also organise
an informal discussion with colleagues who
are teaching transnationally. Include the
coordinator and administrator if possible –
they can answer questions or take things
further if needed.
●● Practice-sharing between countries can
greatly improve intercultural understanding. If
time permits, arrange discussions of teaching
and learning with transnational colleagues, or
ask to observe their teaching during visits.
Informal mentoring from experienced teachers is
valuable, as it enables specific issues to be addressed
and accommodates the diversity and rapidly changing
circumstances that characterise transational
education settings. In contrast, training workshops
can seem ‘overly rudimentary and generalised’
(Gribble and Ziguras, 2003, p 209).
Transnational Teaching at UOW
CRITICAL ISSUES FOR
COURSE COORDINATORS
•How will you arrange debriefing
meetings or round tables for your subject
coordinators, and others such as course
administrators involved in the program?
•Is it possible to set mentoring
arrangements in place, where experienced
transnational teachers support
inexperienced colleagues?
WHAT FORM OF DE-BRIEFING IS BEST TO HELP
ACADEMICS SHARE EXPERIENCES?
Debriefings can be an effective form of staff
development for people teaching transnationally
(Seah and Edwards, 2006, pp 303-4).
●● Include time for everyone to speak and to
share success stories – things that worked in
the classroom, ways of involving co-teachers,
assessment design and positive feedback.
●● Include time for people to share anxieties –
awkward situations, frustrations, moments of
confusion and doubt.
●● Stay positive. Don’t be too hard on yourself or
others if not everything went to plan.
●● Avoid blame – whether of the administrators,
the course coordinator, the program partner
or the students. Focus on how to improve
things.
●● Invite people from other areas who might
help with solutions. For example, the
Transnational Education & Alliances Unit,
Learning Development, or another faculty.
●● It is about you. It’s your workload. Be clear
about what you can and can’t do.
●● It’s about the students. They are expecting
to have a positive experience, and to succeed
if they work hard. You can raise issues that
affect them, including issues about course
structures. Even if some questions may be
outside your jurisdiction, concerns can be
passed to the course coordinator for the next
formal review.
57
GOOD PRACTICE – FACULTY
OF ARTS
Debriefings were held each session of the
transnational program in Hong Kong. All staff who
were teaching transnationally were invited, as well as
the Learning Developer supporting the program. The
debriefings were led by the course coordinator, and
people had opportunities to comment on program
design, share experiences and raise questions and
issues.
GOOD PRACTICE – FACULTY
OF HEALTH & BEHAVIOURAL
SCIENCES
An afternoon workshop is held each year for
Wollongong academics and others who are working in
the transnational program. Experienced transnational
teachers are invited to give presentations, and
there is plenty of time for questions and supportive
discussion. New transnational teachers are
particularly encouraged to attend.
58
University of Wollongong
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Abdullah, M, Parasuraman, B, Muniapan, B, Koren, S
and Jones, M L (2008), ‘Motivating Factors Associated
with Adult Participation in Distance Learning
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Allo’ Expat Australia (2010), ‘Australian Social
Etiquettes’, retrieved May 2010, from http://www.
australia.alloexpat.com/expatriates_living_in_
australia_tips/social_etiquette_australia.php.
AVCC (2005a), ‘Improving Language and Learning
Support for Offshore Students: AVCC Project
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AVCCFinal100805.pdf.
AVCC (2005b), ‘Provision of Education to International
Students: Codes and Guidelines for Australian
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Bell, M (2012), Peer Observation Partnerships in
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Bell, M (2008a), ‘Beyond the Supermarket: Lost
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Learning in Higher Education (ed A. Reid and M.
Hellstein), Hong Kong, Springer.
Bell, M, Smith, L and Vrazalic, L (2008), ‘International
Outcomes through Groupwork in Transnational
Higher Education’, in Teaching in Transnational
Higher Education: Enhancing Learning for Offshore
International Students (ed L. Dunn and M. Wallace),
New York and London, Routledge.
Biggs, J (2003), Teaching for Quality Learning, Open
University Press, Maidenhead.
Boud, D (2000), ‘Sustainable Assessment: Rethinking
Assessment for the Learning Society’, Studies in
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