1. Issue 8 of SaMnet’s monthly newsletter
~NEW FORMAT~ Newsletter also
available in audio as a podcast. Click
here to download.
Tell us if you are engaged
in -- or formulating a proposal for -- an OLT project or a project funded internally
by your university.
We can help you to make
connections or share findings (e.g., selecting advisory panel members or identifying
key projects to reference).
We can arrange for reviews of your draft
proposals and reports by people who have received numerous grants.
2. Conferences & publication
This special issue will focus on outcomes and insights from
your SaMnet projects.
Abstracts are due 18 January 2013. Follow the link for PDF
Call for Papers.
Perth
Teaching and Learning Forum 2013 – 7-8 February @ Murdoch University
Early Bird registration for this forum closes on December
20.
3. Connections/Events
@ U of Sydney
Future: Leadership Development Workshops in February 2012
February
4 –
Melbourne workshop @ La Trobe University
February
5 –
Adelaide workshop @ Flinders University
February
6 – Perth
workshop @ Curtin University
February
11 -- Sydney workshop @ U of Sydney
mid-February* -- Brisbane workshop @ Griffith
University. *Watch this space!
2nd Australian Tertiary Geosciences
Teaching workshop
January 16-17, 2013 @ James
Cook University
Match up: Jessica Vanderlelie* (Griffith)
ought to have coffee with Gwen Lawrie* (UQ). You both are investigating the
impacts of student videos, and you are both in Brisbane. Also, reconnect with Karma Pearce of UniSA
(*Recent
additions to the SaMnet Scholars network)
4. SaMnet activity
Project
Updates – Poster & Letter to Your Dean
Members
of your action-learning team have received, or will soon receive, a poster we
formulated on your SaMnet action-learning project. It describes the project and outcomes to
date.
We
want your input on a draft letter – update and subtle congratulations -- to be
sent to your dean. When you ‘look good’, we all ‘look good’. Any questions? Contact us!
Leadership
Development Workshops – February 4, 5 and 6 in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth,
respectively. Also Sydney (11th) and Brisbane! See you there!
5. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)
Getting results: small changes, big cohorts and technology - Jacqueline L. Kenney (HERD,
2012). Kenney found that one can achieve
learning gains when ‘constructive alignment’ is specifically fostered by modest
online support in the form of voluntary weekly tasks, feedback, lecture
participation, and research skill acquisition.
Who Succeeds at University? Factors predicting
academic performance in first year Australian university students – Kirsten McKenzie & Robert Schweitzer (HERD, 2001).
Is prior
performance or university experience more influential?
6. Leadership insights
Highly
recommended by SaMnet steering committee member Marjan Zadnik. The book includes sections on “Making a
difference as an effective teacher”, “building an effective research track
record” and “Strategic advancement in academic settings”. Personal stocking
filler?
What
leading with vision really means – Erica
Anderson, Fast Company magazine
This article underlines the notion
that leading involves articulating a vision clearly so that others can see it.
We introduced that idea in SaMnet's workshops early in 2012.
7. Team in Focus: Intensive mode delivery vs traditional delivery: Evaluating and implementing change in teaching strategies,
Michelle Power, Marie Herberstein, Marina Harvey, Kelsie
Dadd, Macquarie University.
In this project we are evaluating learning and
teaching strategies in a biology unit offered as an intensive block over 3
weeks during Macquarie University’s shorter session 3. Evaluation of data from
the first offering of the unit has informed some changes in the teaching
strategy to overcome limitations associated with time that may be detrimental
to the learner experience. This change, the introduction of one day on campus,
a month prior to the intensive session, also aims to establish a more
collaborative learning environment for online aspects of the unit that occur
prior to the intensive. It was clear from the data that the collaborative
learning strategy was of benefit to the learner during the intensive session. A
second round of data, that includes additional questions, will be gathered in
the upcoming session 3 beginning mid December 2012.
A series of department teaching seminars/workshops
have been instigated, and talks have been given to the wider university community,
including a workshop -- comparing teaching strategies applied in intensive mode
teaching -- during Learning and Teaching Week. The aims of these seminars are
to promote communication and establish a network of teachers associated with
delivery of units in compressed offering. A reflective paper was presented at a
teaching conference in Vienna, Austria in February 2012. The team was also
awarded a Faculty Learning and Teaching grant to support the SaMnet project.
This award enabled employment of Michael Wilson, a program research and
development officer, to undertake a literature search to evaluate the extent of
intensive mode offerings in the Sciences. We are currently evaluating this
literature to compose a literature review. Looking towards 2013, we can expect
lots of data analysis and preparation of publications. Members of the group
also received L&T awards, including Vice Chancellor’s award for early
career teacher, Vice Chancellor citations for mentor programs, and an OLT award
for programs that enhance learning and teaching.
Michelle Power –
Senior lecturer in the department of Biological Sciences. Research interests
are in the area of host-parasite interactions, particularly in examining these
relationships to investigate human impacts on fragile ecosystems and endangered
wildlife.Marie Herberstein – Associate Professor and head of the department of Biological Sciences. Research addresses the behavioural ecology of invertebrates, including the study of spiders and insects within an evolutionary framework.
Marina Harvey – A lecturer in Academic Development with the Learning and Teaching Centre. Her learning and teaching research interests include leading a national project on sessional staff standards, being a team member on a national project on distributed leadership and several projects that focus on reflection for learning.
Kelsie Dadd – Associate Dean Learning and Teaching, also Associate Dean of International in the Faculty of Science. Research includes the volcanology, geochemistry and tectonics of ancient and modern volcanic rocks in eastern Australia and the surrounding oceans. She is also the recipient of multiple L&T grants and awards.
8. Classifieds
Seeking
volunteers to review OLT proposals before submission.
A
proposal needs to be seen by 10 readers before it is submitted. These reviews help the writers to address the
wide range of perspectives, and questions, that the grant’s assessors might
have. Reviewing others’ proposals helps
you to see flaws to avoid and strategies to use in your own proposals.