Teaching & Learning Newsletter
Welcome by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Teaching & Learning) - Professor Deborah Terry
As the inaugural Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Teaching & Learning), I am committed to UQ becoming internationally recognised for the quality of its teaching and learning. The teaching and learning environment is in constant change, whether it comes from the new ideas and innovations of staff and students through the application of new teaching and learning methodologies or technologies, or external factors such as changes in government priorities and performance funding. My appointment signals UQ’s strong focus on teaching excellence and the importance we place on improving the UQ student experience. Read more...
New Student Initiatives
Over the course of 2008 a range of new initiatives have been developed around student recruitment. These include:
- New Student Scholarships - In addition to the existing equity scholarships offered at UQ, from 2009, UQ will be awarding 300 new academic scholarships annually, to high achieving Queensland and interstate school leavers commencing a Bachelor degree across a range of study areas. Read more...
- Bonus Ranks - UQ is aiming to enhance our graduates’ competitive edge in the global workforce by introducing a new bonus scheme for current school leavers who have studied a foreign language, Maths C, or university-level studies during senior secondary school. Read more...
- Summer Research Internship Scholarships - These scholarships will support opportunities for undergraduate students from UQ and other Australian institutions to undertake a research internship over the summer semester. Read more...
UQ Teaching and Learning Strategic Grants - 2008 Winners
We received another very strong and competitive response to the second round funding for UQ Strategic Teaching and Learning Grants. Eleven Large Grant and 61 Small Grant proposals were received, of which five Large Grant and 30 Small Grant proposals were funded.
Congratulations to the following applications and project teams who were successful in receiving funding in the second round. A full list of winners is available here.
Australian Learning and Teaching Council Update (ALTC - formally Carrick)
- Name Change - The Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education has been renamed the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC). Read more...
- ALTC Grants - 2008 Winners - UQ has once again been successful in securing funding for teaching and learning initiatives in the 2008 round of the ALTC Grants Scheme. Three UQ-led projects were funded under the Priority Project programs in 2008:
Associate Professor Julie Duck — Faculty of SBS and Professor Susan Hamilton — Deputy President of the Academic Board: Reviewing the impact of assessment policy on practice: A case study to improve policy and to inform processes of policy review and development.
Professor Doune McDonald — School of Human Movement Studies: An integrated system for online clinical assessment of practical skills (eCAPS) for web-based courses.
Associate Professor Nancy Pachana — School of Psychology: Taking clinical psychology postgraduate training into the next decade: Aligning competencies to the curriculum.
UQ staff members have also been involved as project team members on successful proposals led by other institutions. Read more... - 2009 ALTC Grants Guidelines and Applications - The ALTC will again offer all three funding programs in 2009: Priority Projects; Competitive Grants; and Leadership for Excellence in Learning and Teaching. The 2009 Grants scheme guidelines have been released, along with a summary of changes from the 2008 guidelines. Read more about the 2009 application process...
- 2009 ALTC Fellowships Guidelines and Applications - Fellowships are targeted at staff members with a strong history in academic leadership. The fellowship allows educators to undertake strategic, high profile fellowship activities in program that explores and addresses a significant educational issue. Read more about the 2009 application process...
- Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning - A number of UQ staff have been successful in receiving ALTC Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning. Each winner receives $10,000 as recognition for their achievement. Congratulations to all of the nominees and winners.
Dr Clair Hughes – For enhancement of assessment practice through effective and sustained institutional leadership and educational support of academic teachers and leaders.
Dr Mehmet Kizil - For outstanding teaching, dedicated commitment and leadership in innovative curriculum development through successful national and industry collaboration in mining engineering.
Dr David Jenkins – For sustain excellence in teaching exercise science to large undergraduate classes with a focus on social and professional engagement.
Dr John Steen – For excellence in business strategy case study teaching and coaching, resulting in exceptional performance by the University of Queensland in the Australasian BCG strategy competition.
Associate Professor Sylvia Rodger, Dr Gail Woodyatt, Dr Julie Marinac, Dr Pauline Watter and Associate Professor Jenny Ziviani – For sustained excellence in provision of innovative learning experiences for allied health students in promoting inter-professional knowledge, practice and teamwork.
- Australian Awards for University Teaching - UQ has submitted a number of nominations to the ALTC Awards for Teaching Excellence and Awards for Programs that Enhance Student Learning. UQ has a proud history in these national teaching awards, winning more honours than any other university since their inception in 1997. 2008 winners will be announced at an awards ceremony to be held in Canberra on 25 November 2008.
UQ Awards and Citations
Nominations have now closed for 2008 UQ Awards for Excellence in Teaching (AET), Awards for the Enhancement of Student Learning (AESL), and Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning. AET and AESL winners will be announced during Teaching and Learning Week at a ceremony to be held at Customs House on Monday 27 October.
TLEP Implementation
The Implementation Plan for the Teaching and Learning Enhancement Plan was approved by the T&L committee on 18 June 2008. The plan outlines the three TLEP goals, and under each of these, the higher level strategies, the targets and the specific actions. The plan has yearly targets to ensure the continuing relevance. The implementation plan is now available in the Teaching and Learning website.
Curriculum and Teaching Quality Appraisal (CTQA)
For 2008 a new amalgamated Curriculum and Teaching Quality Appraisal (CTQA) process will be introduced. The new process is streamlined, and focuses on the strengths and weaknesses of a school’s teaching programs and its plans for enhancement.
The yearly process is to be completed by the end of September. This will ensure the previous year’s data are available and the outcomes of the school-based CTQAs can contribute to faculty operational planning. The revised processes should be conducted by School Teaching and Learning Committees, and overseen by Associate Deans (Teaching & Learning), through the Faculty Teaching and Learning Committee.
To facilitate this process, a CTQA dashboard has been developed.
Read more about the new process...
Centre for Educational Innovation and Technology
UQ is set to establish Australia’s first dedicated centre to the scholarship of technology-assisted teaching and learning with the Centre for Educational Innovation and Technology. The Centre will be headed by internationally renowned e-learning innovator, Professor Phil Long, who comes to UQ from his role as Director of Learning Outreach for Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s iCampus.
Read more about Professor Long’s appointment and the new Centre in UQ News.
New Advanced Concepts Teaching Space (ACTS) - GPN4
The new teaching spaces in the General Purpose North 4 Building opened on the 21 July 2008. The 1800 sqm2 of new teaching spaces include the Advanced Concepts Teaching Space (UQ ACTS), a Collaborative Teaching and Learning Space, a lecture theatre and 3 seminar rooms. The 100-seat lecture theatre (ACTS) will enable students to give instantaneous feedback, so a teacher can know immediately if a student is struggling to grasp a concept or is losing interest. Funding for the work was provided from the University’s Teaching and Learning Performance Fund.
In addition to state-of-the-art teaching facilities, the building has been designed to incorporating a wide array of environmentally sustainable features. Read more about these innovations in UQ News.
Teaching and Learning Week October 27th - 31st 2008
This year’s Teaching and Learning week promises to have full program activities across the week. The current program is in draft form but is likely to include sessions on: improving scholarship in T&L; and workshops on ALTC and internal T&L Grant schemes, student mobility, graduate attributes, assessment, and e-Learning or blended learning. As in previous years, a highlight of the week will be the UQ Awards for Teaching and Learning Excellence ceremony, held on the Monday night at Customs House.
The full program will be available through the UQ Update and the Teaching and Learning website in October.
Blended Learning Conference
The Blended Learning conference held on the 18th of June 2008 was another truly international event spanning three continents and three Universities. The University of Hertfordshire began the Blended learning conference in 2006 and this year, using online technology, extended the conference to include the University of Queensland and the Canadian eLearning Conference at the University of Calgary. Combined, over 500 delegates participated in the conferences. Read full details...
Teaching and Learning Space Update
- Abel Smith Lecture Theatre - The new 366 seat Abel Smith Lecture Theatre opened for classes again following a $1.5million dollar refurbishment. Read more...
- Enhanced Student Charge Projects - A number of the teaching space projects funded under the University’s Enhanced Student Charge Teaching Space refurbishment Program were completed in time for classes at the beginning of 2008 or will be constructed over the summer vacation 2008/09. Completed projects included the Chemistry Building Learning Podium, upgrade of teaching spaces for Collaborative Clinical Teaching Ipswich campus, and construction of the Science Learning Centre, Priestly Building.
- Learning and Teaching Performance Funds projects - The University committed in 2007 $3.2m of the Learning and Teaching Performance Funds towards upgrading teaching laboratories. Read more...
- Enterprise Lecture Recording - The implementation of Phase 1 of an Enterprise Lecture Recording System involving the installation of the system in 12 Lecture Theatres at all campuses was completed in time for semester 1/2008. The system worked well during the semester with over 85,000 hits being made on the site by the time Examinations commenced. Further details on lecture recording at UQ can be found on the ITS website.
eLearning Update
- ePortfolios - On the 20th of May, The Office of Teaching and Learning and the eLearning Sub-Committee sponsored a half-day workshop called ‘The Many Faces of ePortfolios’. This workshop was designed as a starting point for the dialog, within UQ, needed to establish a coherent approach to the characterisation and implementation of ePortfolios. In particular it sought to develop a shared understanding of the potential of ePortfolios for students and to begin developing a working model for ePortfolio development and implementation at UQ. Read more...
- Second Life (Virtual Worlds) - The University of Queensland would like to encourage the exploration of alternative educational environments like those offered by virtual worlds such as Second Life. Second Life is a virtual world created and owned by a private company called Linden Lab. Linden Lab has allocated virtual space within Second Life to a consortium of universities and colleges called New Media Consortium. Read more...
- Visit by New Media Consortium (NMC) - New Media Consortium is a not-for-profit consortium dedicated to the exploration and use of new media and new technologies. The University of Queensland recently became an NMC member joining over 260 member organisations globally. Read more...
- Wimba (online collaboration tools) - The Wimba suite of online collaboration tools (including voice tools) was implemented as a pilot in Semester 1 and is in the process of being launched to the general academic community. Read more...
Assessment Update
- Moderation of assessment - Assessment Sub-Committee is currently looking at the development of guidelines relating to the moderation of assessment. Members are also examining a set of draft guidelines relating to oral assessment.
- Exemption from release of examination papers - Members of Assessment Sub-Committee are currently reviewing the policy relating to exemption from release of examination papers
- Follow up from the Assessment Workshop - On 3 June 2008, a Teaching and Learning Committee Workshop of school and faculty teaching and learning committee chairs and representatives from the UQ Union was held to facilitate the provision of feedback on a number of assessment policy issues.
It had been agreed that further workshops for the Chair of Teaching and Learning Committees be held and suggested topics include:
- feedback on assessment
- evidence of the minimum amount of assessment
- failures in intra semester assessment
- supplementary assessment
- roles and responsibilities of Chairs and School Teaching and Learning Committees
- use of external examiners
The Chair of the Assessment Sub-Committee intends to establish an email network for Chairs of Teaching and Learning Committees for discussion of assessment issues.