UWA Education Futures project
Report to the Teaching and Learning
Committee
Outline
• UWA Futures
• UWA Education Futures Vision
• Feedback
• Making movies
• Potential outcomes
Teaching and Learning Committee
March 2014
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UWA Futures
Vice Chancellor Paul Johnson, August 2012
Proposals to strengthen UWA’s educational, research
and community activities
Context
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Expanded undergraduate numbers
NC2012 (professional degrees at postgraduate level)
Changing technology
Changing provision of tertiary education (MOOCs)
Changing expectations of students
Increasing demands of workplace
Teaching and Learning Committee
March 2014
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UWA Education Futures Working Party
• Honourable Doctor Elizabeth Constable
• Winthrop Professor Grady Venville
• Winthrop Professor Brendan Waddell
• Winthrop Professor Denise Chalmers
• Winthrop Professor Phil Hancock
• Winthrop Professor Helen Wildy (Project Director)
• Ms Ye’elah Berman (Executive Officer)
Teaching and Learning Committee
March 2014
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UWA Education Futures: Vision
• Transformative teaching
• Evidence-based teaching
• Experiential learning
• Integrated research experiences
• Optimised resources
• Vibrant campus environment
• Global citizenship and leadership
Teaching and Learning Committee
March 2014
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Feedback from staff
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Teaching is undervalued at UWA; focus is on research
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Technology
– increases social isolation of students
– increases dependency (all information will be provided online)
– decreases student engagement in learning and in campus life
• Fears that using technology decreases opportunities for
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teamwork
building peer relationships
building staff-student relationships
cross disciplinary knowledge generation
Demands of students most of whom have jobs
Teaching and Learning Committee
March 2014
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Feedback from students
• UWA only cares about research not teaching
• Students want
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stronger emphasis on ‘tutorials’ as opposed to lectures
better and more feedback
skills required for industry (not lecturer’s interests)
other students to be prepared for, and engaged in, classes
Teaching and Learning Committee
March 2014
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Feedback from external stakeholders
• Attention to values and ethical practice
• Emphasis on leadership development
• Engagement with industry
• Experiential and supported learning
Teaching and Learning Committee
March 2014
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Movies
• Why make movies?
– Initial motivation: to show UWA’s innovative teaching
• ClassMovies
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started 2003
5000+ movies in 5 countries by 2013
brings together film and education sectors
modest costs
empowers movie makers
uses professionally trained film makers
makes the private act of teaching visible for discussion
Teaching and Learning Committee
March 2014
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Process of selecting movie makers
• Teaching and Learning Awards
• SURF scores
• Student nominations
• Staff nominations
Teaching and Learning Committee
March 2014
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20 movies
• Teaching innovations linked to the vision statement
• All 7 faculties
• All stages of career (Levels B to E)
• Focus on
– large undergraduate classes
– professional courses at postgraduate level
Teaching and Learning Committee
March 2014
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Example: Using ICT
• Assistant Professor Kate Offer
(Law School)
– Title: The Role of the Lecturer in the Modern University
– Use of social media in lectures
• Winthrop Professor Wendy Erber
(Head of School, School of Pathology and
Laboratory Medicine)
– Title: Large class, small group, high-tech teaching
– Pathology lab with ground breaking technology
Teaching and Learning Committee
March 2014
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Example: Integrating research and teaching
• Associate Professor Nicki Mitchell
(School of Animal Biology)
– Title: Embedding Real Science in First Year Biology
– Students analyse data collected by citizen scientists and write a
paper for publication
• Winthrop Professor Shaun Collin
(WA Premier’s Research Fellow, UWA
Ocean’s Institute)
– Title: The research-teaching nexus: Discovery-based learning in
marine neuroecology
Teaching and Learning Committee
March 2014
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Example: Meeting the learning needs of
postgraduate students
• Assistant Professor Leo Langa
(Accounting and Finance)
– Title: Will let you know the name in a few days
– Contrasts his first year accounting unit with his masters
accounting unit
• Winthrop Professor Sharon Parker
(Management and Organisations)
– Title: Launching MBA students to new leadership heights
– LAUNCH – an optional unit in the MBA, focusing on personal
development
Teaching and Learning Committee
March 2014
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Example: Small groups within large
undergraduate classes
• Associate Professor Marco Ghisalberti
(Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering)
– Title: Team Based Learning in an Undergraduate Setting
– Small group work in Engineering
• Dr Michael Champion
(Classics and Ancient History)
– Title: In Medias Res: Learning Latin in Small Groups
– Latin in small groups. Alternating students take on the ‘teacher’
role
Teaching and Learning Committee
March 2014
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Plans for using the movies
• Available through a website
• Annotated links to Vision statements
• Discussion Board inviting commentary
• Leading to workshops on applications of teaching
strategies
• Launched with the Vision on 12 May 2014
Teaching and Learning Committee
March 2014
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Use of movies by faculties, schools, staff
• Staff to reflect on and review their teaching, and to
promote their units, courses
• Schools and faculties to reflect on and review
their teaching and to promote courses, research,
links with other disciplines
• The university to promote its innovative teaching
and to demonstrate to staff and student that
teaching matters
Teaching and Learning Committee
March 2014
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Potential outcomes of making movies
• reflecting on teaching strategies by academics
• collaboratively reviewing innovation
• sharing teaching approaches across disciplines
• promoting units, courses, fields of study, disciplines
• stimulating research about teaching
• enhancing the status of teaching within the
institution
Teaching and Learning Committee
March 2014
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