OLT Learning and Teaching Grants Scheme

The Australian Government has committed $50.1 million in program funding over four years towards the Promotion of Excellence in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (PELTHE). PELTHE is administered by the Office of Learning and Teaching (OLT) in the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR).

2013 Grants Programs

In 2012, the OLT Grants programs comprise (following the link for full program instructions on page length, attachment requirements etc on the OLT website):

• Innovation and Development
• Leadership for Excellence in Learning and Teaching
• Seed Projects
• Extension Grants
• Commissioned Projects 

OLT Budget template (for full proposals and seed projects)

The Office of the DVCA will run an internal endorsement process before submission to OLT. 

In 2013, the OLT will only accept applications based on advice from the institutional contact officer (ICO), Majella Card m.card@uq.edu.au, direct to the OLT. Only those applications notified by the ICO will be receipted by the OLT.

Round 1 of the Innovation and Development and Leadership for Excellence in Learning and Teaching will this year take Expressions of Interest. Round two will only accept full proposals invited from round 1 Expressions of Interest and new Seed Projects.

There are two major OLT closing dates for four of the schemes:

The smaller Extension Grants have different submission date:

Following endorsement by the internal UQ review committee, applicants will then submit proposals through the OLT online portal (see OLT scheme guidelines for instructions).

Requests for letters of support for UQ involvement in submissions led by other institutions should be emailed to m.card@uq.edu.au.

Letters of support from the DVCA also need to be signed by the project leader and/or project members on collaborative projects - please see the attached proformas:

• Proforma for lead institution
• Proforma for partner institution(s)

Requests for DVCA letters for UQ involvement as a partner on projects should be submitted to m.card@uq.edu.au with a copy of the proposal, a draft letter of support addressing the issues in the proforma along with electronic signatures of required team members.

2013 Program Priorities

Innovation and Development Program

• Assessment and promotion of student learning
  Applications should propose an examination of one or more of the following:
  • assessment moderation and benchmarking
  • assessing postgraduate coursework students
  • assessing students in practice settings
  • developmental, diagnostic and summative assessment and feedback to students 
  • developments which build on completed predecessor bodies' projects related to student assessment
  • innovative models of assessment and reporting student achievement
•  Curriculum design
  Applications should propose to design and model contemporary curricula that meet student and employer needs and provide the basis for ongoing personal and professional development for students.
  Curriculum design proposals should integrate content-focussed discipline developments with learning and teaching innovations and address key issues such as:
  • inclusivity
  • promotion of cross- inter- or trans- disciplinary programs and pedagogies
  • re-positioning or re-shaping of discipline-based courses
  • revision of assessment practices in the context of curriculum development
  • the evolution of the teaching model from first to final year
  • the future direction and coverage of programs of study
  • use of information and communication technologies
  • work-integrated learning

While projects may develop new innovations where appropriate, emphasis should be given to the creative application of existing innovations in learning and teaching in higher education and should be of value to the sector, or groups of institutions within the sector. Proposals should include emphasis on the long-term sustainability of the curriculum design process. Applicants should also consider the impact and/or use of free online courseware on the contemporary curriculum.

Projects submitted under this priority could include aspects of the priority Assessment and promotion of student learning.

Projects arising from the work undertaken in the discipline scoping projects are encouraged.

Applicants are encouraged to consider partnerships with employers and/or employer groups.

• Improving tertiary pathways
  Applications should propose to develop and model strategies for:
  • maximising the outcomes for students engaging in transition between the vocational education sector and the higher education sector, or
  • developing and modelling programs that work with schools to improve participation in higher education, or
  • pathways to professional qualifications, to doctoral qualifications, or to other postgraduate study, or research pathways.
• Improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s higher education access and outcomes
  Applications should propose projects which respond to the relevant recommendations of the Review of Higher Education Access and Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People (2012)
• Innovative use of technology in learning and teaching
  Applications proposing the innovative use of technology in learning and teaching must include a onepage design brief (see Section 8.6).
  Applications should propose:
  • creative use of existing innovations in learning and teaching in higher education , or
  • development of use of mobile solutions to support learning and teaching, or
  • a rethinking of teaching and learning in a cyber environment
• Internationalisation
  Applications should propose to develop and model the effective integration of international and/or intercultural dimensions into teaching and learning practice and address key issues such as:
  • assessment practices in the context of internationalisation
  • curriculum design 
  • intercultural competency
  • learning support (including language support)
  • transnational education
• Research and development
  A small percentage of funding will be reserved for applications which address an issue not featured in the other priorities but considered by the Standing Committee to be of national significance or addressing a major concern in a discipline area.
• Strategic approaches to learning and teaching which enhance student access and progression, and respond to student diversity
  Applications should propose to develop and model approaches to learning and teaching which enhance student access and progression, through a direct response to student diversity: applicants should not assume that projects addressing students are, by implication, addressing ‘student diversity’.
  Applications addressing support for students from a low-SES background, or who are first-in-family to attend university, are particularly encouraged.
  Applications addressing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student and teacher support must be submitted under the new priority, Improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s higher education access and outcomes.
   

Leadership for Excellence in Learning and Teaching Program

Applicants should refer to the Leadership Program information for more details about the OLT’s expectations of project outcomes in each priority area. The document is available in the Grants and Projects section of the OLT website.

• Consolidating leadership by building on the outcomes of projects funded in earlier years under theLeadership for Excellence in Learning and Teaching Program.
• Disciplinary and cross-disciplinary leadership to enhance learning and teaching through leadership capacity-building in discipline structures, communities of practice and cross-disciplinary networks.
• Institutional leadership to enhance learning and teaching through leadership capacity-building at the institutional level.
• Leadership capacity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Applications should respond to the relevant recommendations of the Review of Higher Education Access and Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People (2012)

Please note that applications addressing any of the above four priorities must define clearly leadership and leadership capacity building for the purpose of the project. Failure to do so results in a poorly rated application. Please see the Leadership Program documentations for more information, in particular, section 4, Leadership in Higher Education.

Seed Projects

Seed Projects provide for pilot projects which test and evaluate an original idea. Applications can address any of the priorities in the Innovation and Development or Leadership for Excellence programs, or any other topic.

Previous ALTC/Carrick Grants Scheme Recipients

Previous years winners of ALTC/Carrick Grants can be viewed here. 
 

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