Newsletter 01-02, May 2002




TEACHING AND LEARNING NEWSLETTER 1-02, May 2002
 
INTRODUCTION

Thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter. As Chair of the University Teaching and Learning Committee I intend to provide updates on Committee activities throughout the year, via similar email newsletters. Please feel free to pass this information on to interested staff in your area.

In addition to distributing the Newsletter by email, the Newsletter will also be posted on the Teaching and Learning website (see below for details).

The Committee's projects described below are intended, variously to -
  • enhance the quality of the teaching and learning environment by providing information to identify good practice and areas needing improvement, as well as supporting processes to achieve greater quality.
  • identify the features of teaching and learning practice that ensure new directions in teaching and learning continue to provide a high quality experience for students.
  • focus attention on the distinctive qualities of the teaching and learning experience in a university, such as ours.
 
1. TEACHING AND LEARNING WEBSITE

A Teaching and Learning Website has been established, linking directly off the University homepage - see under ABOUT The website address is: http://www.uq.edu.au/teaching_learning/

The website will provide information for the internal and external community about teaching, learning and assessment policies relevant to both staff and students, matters currently under consideration by the Teaching and Learning Committee and the Assessment Working Party, Teaching Awards schemes and Award winners, and quality enhancement activities and outcomes. Future editions of this Newsletter will also be available on the T & L website.

2. TEACHING AND LEARNING COMMITTEE ACTIVITIES

A. Report of the Working Party on Graduate Attributes and Curriculum Review: In February 2002, the Academic Board adopted the Report of the Working Party on Graduate Attributes and Curriculum Review, a copy of which can be found at: http://www.admin.uq.edu.au/AcadBoardOffice/policy/Curriculum_Review.pdf

The Report outlines
  1. a staged process for mapping graduate attributes to programs and courses, so that the process by which graduate attributes are developed and the location of their development is transparent.
  2. a three-phase process for curriculum review, defined as the process of reflecting on and evaluating the quality, scope, focus and outcomes of programs offered and of assuring their ongoing improvement as a result of the review process.
Faculties have already completed the required identification of "programs" or "sequences of study" (i.e., defined areas of study within a disciplinary framework) that will provide the bases for curriculum review and graduate attribute mapping.

Ai. Graduate Attribute Mapping: The development of graduate attributes occurs at both the program/sequence of study and course levels. Key milestones in the graduate attribute mapping process are:

By end of semester 1, 2002:

Schools, through their School Teaching and Learning Committees or Boards of Studies, will have -

  • identified graduate attributes relevant to each program/sequence of study, and, where relevant, specific extra professional competencies and attributes
  • prepared profiles providing a clear statement of the attributes developed in the program/sequence of study and their relative importance in the program/sequence of study

Chairs of School T & L Committees/Boards of Studies will have reported to the Executive Dean through the Head of School on the mapping of graduate attributes to programs/sequences of study.

Some Schools will already have begun this exercise and no doubt would be willing to share their knowledge and experience.

TEDI is currently developing a series of workshops to assist Faculties and Schools with the program/sequence of study mapping process, and will be corresponding separately with Faculty T & L Committee Chairs, in the first instance. Faculty lists of programs/sequences of study have been forwarded to TEDI to assist with workshop planning.

By end of semester 2, 2002: Course Coordinators will have -
  • identified for all programs for first year courses: graduate attributes developed in assessment items or other learning activities;
  • identified for professional programs for first year courses: discipline specific graduate attributes developed in a course.
  • reviewed and amended all first-year course profiles to include summary reference to graduate attributes developed across the course and the manner in which they are developed.
Aii. Curriculum Review: A three-phase curriculum review process - involving annual program/sequence of study monitoring, triennial program/sequence of study review, and culminating in the existing septennial school and discipline review process - has been introduced from 2002. Details of the review process are contained in HUPP statement 3.20.8 available at: http://www.uq.edu.au/hupp/contents/view.asp?s1=3&s2=20&s3=8

Following feedback from Faculties, the Teaching and Learning Committee has amended its implementation timeframes included in the Working Party Report (Recommendation 3 refers) to establish the following key milestones in the curriculum review process:

By September 2003: Schools, through their Teaching and Learning Committees/Boards of Studies, will have submitted the initial set of Annual Program/Sequence of Study Monitoring Reports to the Head of School.

B. The Course Profile: Senate in March 2002 approved a HUPP entry 3.20.9 summarising minimum requirements to be included in the Course Profile - see http://www.uq.edu.au/hupp/contents/view.asp?s1=3&s2=20&s3=9 Course Coordinators are not expected immediately to revise their Course Profiles to meet the requirements of the HUPP entry; however, when the Profile is next revised for publication to students that revision is expected to conform with HUPP requirements. The requirement to map Graduate Attributes to courses (cf section 2.3 of the policy) will be achieved in line with the timetable included in the Report on Graduate Attributes and Curriculum Review (see item 2Ai. in this Newsletter). A Course Profile template is available for downloading from the TEDI website: http://www.tedi.uq.edu.au/new.html

C. Academic Guidelines for Flexible Delivery: The Academic Board on 29 April adopted a set of academic guidelines for flexible delivery, developed as a series of objectives and checklists to prompt individuals at all levels about the issues that need to be addressed in developing flexible learning initiatives. The guidelines are intended to provide a planning framework for developing flexible learning, and to encourage staff to seek out assistance. In August 2001, the Teaching and Learning Committee had adopted a statement of principles for flexible learning: together, the statement of principles and the academic guidelines provide a description of flexible learning and ways to incorporate it in teaching and learning. The statement of principles and the guidelines are available at: http://www.admin.uq.edu.au/AcadBoardOffice/Flexible_Learning_Guidelines_April_2002.pdf

D. TLEP Review: The Teaching and Learning Committee has appointed a working party to undertake a scheduled 2002 review of the Teaching and Learning Enhancement Plan 2000-2004. The working party includes myself in the Chair, Professor Jenny Strong, Ms Denise Chalmers, Associate Professor Doune Macdonald, and Mr Simon Ross.

The working party aims to reconceptualise the TLEP, to re-establish its close links with the University's Strategic Plan, and to provide a framework for both University-wide and Faculty strategies and priorities in the teaching and learning area. The TLEP will represent a vision for the University over the next five years - 2002-2006. The working party will be seeking contributions from the University community to the development of that vision through facilitated workshops.

3. ASSESSMENT WORKING PARTY ACTIVITIES

The Assessment Working Party of the Teaching and Learning Committee has been -
  • undertaking a major review of the Assessment Rules, with a focus on achieving some uniformity across the University in the application of supplementary and special examination provisions. It is expected the Working Party will submit recommendations through the T & L Committee to Academic Board in July.
  • examining what quality assurance in assessment mechanisms are in place in Schools and Faculties and will be proposing a Model for Quality Assurance in Assessment.
  • undertaking a comprehensive review of the "Advice to Examiners" to ensure currency, to focus on the application of criterion referenced assessment, and the need for assessment to be linked to course goals. The Assessment Working Party is chaired by Professor Jenny Strong.
The Assessment Working Party is chaired by Professor Jenny Strong.

4. TEACHING AND LEARNING INDICATORS AND MIS REPORTAL

A T & L working party has been developing a core suite of performance indicators to be used to facilitate processes such as curriculum review, including the septennial school and discipline review, and teaching quality appraisal (TQA). Agreement on a suite of T & L indicators would ensure that there is common material informing these processes, although the indicators would not replace qualitative material in the assessment of quality teaching and learning.

The Directors of Planning and Management Information in conjunction with the Management Information Section are nearing finalisation of a web-accessible portal - The Reportal - through which staff will be able to access the range of core performance indicator data. The Reportal will obviate the need for individual Schools to draw out these data. When The Reportal is operative, TEDI and MIS facilitated workshops will be held to explain the concept, functions, access and security issues associated with The Reportal and, most importantly, to assist with interpretation of the data.

5. STUDENT EXPERIENCE SURVEYS

A series of surveys intended to gather feedback from students about their experience of teaching and learning and the University environment was sent to first year students, final year and honours students and postgraduate coursework students in September 2001. Members of the survey design team are now analysing the data, and discussions about the process for ensuring feedback to improve outcomes and experience are continuing. The Survey outcomes will be available on The Reportal in due course (see item 3 in this Newsletter). Students will also be provided with a summary.

Professor Margaret Gardner
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) and
Chair, Teaching and Learning Committee
 

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