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1. Issue 11 of SaMnet’s monthly newsletter
Listen to the newsletter? Now available in audio as a podcast.
This month's question:
We are receiving requests to joint SaMnet.
Who would you nominate to join? Send
us names.
2. Conferences & publication
ASERA2013 – 2-5 July 2013
The
Australasian Science Education Research Association Conference for 2013 will be
held at Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington, New Zealand. Abstracts are due 26th
April.
Past: Leadership Development Workshops in February 2013
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
February 15 -- Brisbane workshop @
Griffith University.
Each workshop
featured a 1-hour session:
Changing the Game – the ACDS
National Centre for Teaching and Learning for Science and Mathematics
– Liz Johnson, OLT Fellow, La Trobe Uni.
EOIs for submission of
experiments were due 25 January 2013
Registrations for everyone were due 5
March 2013
PDF flyer for the workshop
ASELL Schools Science
Workshop –
26 April 2013 at SHORE School, North Sydney, NSW
Know a high school teacher interested in improving
science experiments and lab experiences for their students? Pass on this information about the 2013 ASELL
Schools Science Workshop.
EOIs for submission of
experiments were due 15 February 2013
Registrations for everyone due 5 April
2013
Match up: When did you last contact your project’s critical friend?
They are eager to hear from you ... Critical friends tell us it is one of the
most rewarding things they can do - sharing from their experience.
4. SaMnet activity
SaMnet members
are publishing on leadership:
Champions or Helpers:
Leadership in Curriculum Reform in Science, Journal
of University Teaching and Learning Practice (UoW) – Liz Johnson (SaMnet
steering committee member), Fiona Bird, Jeanette Fyffe, and Emma Yench (SaMnet
Scholar).
So is SaMnet
HQ:
Did
you click on the link last month to view our article in the Australian Journal of Education in Chemistry? It explains how your SaMnet engagement helps
to develop the future for Australia’s university teaching in science and
maths.
5. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)
Six steps to making positive
change in your teaching – Maryellen Weimer
Weimer
comments, “There are some fairly straightforward principles that give any new
teaching strategy, technique or approach a much greater chance of success.”
What steps do you imagine that she suggests?
Getting Started with
Quantitative Methods in Physics Education Research – Lin Ding &
Xiufeng Liu
Latest
addition to the “Getting Started in Physics Education Research” collection.
A
useful guide not only for those from a physics persuasion, but also applicable
to other science disciplines.
6. Leadership insights
Take One
Small Step – Natalie Houston
The Chronicle of Higher Education - Applying behavioural psychology to support
small steps to develop a habit of completing challenging tasks and, in our
case, leading change.
How
to create workplace change with cupcakes and enthusiasm
– Ashley England, Belinda Tiffen & Kim Williams
A light hearted Prezi presentation
with amusing insight into workplace politics.
7. Team in Focus: Embedding Fast and
Personal Feedback, Danny Liu, Matthew Pye, Hannah Power, Tom Hubble, Dale Hancock, Graham
Hendry and Adam Bridgeman.
The objective was
to adapt an online rapid feedback system that has been used successfully in
Chemistry1 to be used in other disciplines.
Semester 1, 2012, was dedicated to adapting
the feedback system to the needs of the School of Molecular Bioscience (SMB)
and the School of Geoscience.
In semester 2, 2012, the system was
implemented in the SMB units in a diagnostic mode, rather than the traditional
summative mode as a diagnostic test in relation to chemistry and maths ability.
The feedback system was also implemented in a number of Biology units (Concepts,
Living systems) and met with the enthusiastic approval of both students
and staff.
The diagnostic tests are to be used again in
Molecular Biology units in 2013.
The project team are in the process of
collating and reporting on the results from the different implementations
with a view to sharing insights and approaches to feed into system development.
1Bridgeman, A.J. & P.J. Rutledge, 2010. “Getting
personal: feedback for the masses”, Synergy 30: 60-68..
Danny Liu is an Associate Lecturer in the School of Biological
Sciences
Matthew Pye is also an Associate Lecturer in the School of
Biological Sciences
Hannah Power is a lecturer in the School of Geosciences. Her
research interests are in the area of coastal geomorphology and processes. She
looks at wave height evolution in the surf zone and over reefs.
Tom Hubble is an associate professor in the Engineering and
Environmental group. He is also Pro-Dean in the Faculty of Science. His
research involves marine and riverine site investigation including a major
regional geomorphic and sediment mapping project on the Hawkesbury-Nepean River
for Sydney Water.
Dale Hancock is a Senior Lecturer with the School of Molecular
Bioscience. Her research interests focus on the role of microRNAs in the
regulation of gene expression in adipocytes, particularly in obesity.
Graham Hendry is a Senior Lecturer with the Institute for Teaching
and Learning. He is the program coordinator for the Graduate Certificate in
Educational Studies (Higher Education) and the Principles and Practice of
University Teaching and Learning program. His research interests include
teaching and student learning in higher education, and academic staff
professional learning.
Adam Bridgeman is
an Associate Professor and the Director of First Year Studies in the School of
Chemistry, as well as the Associate Dean for Learning and Teaching. His
research interests include computational inorganic chemistry, bond order and
the nature of the chemical bond, and using electronic resources in chemical
education.
8. Classifieds
SaMnet Scholars may want to consider applying for
the 3M Eureka
Prize for Emerging Leader in Science. e.g.,
Jessica Vanderlelie, Chris Thompson, Sarah-Jane
Gregory
Description: The 3M
Eureka Prize for Emerging Leader in Science is awarded to a scientist who has used
their leadership skills to create impact inside their institution, amongst
their peers, within their discipline or in the wider community.
Prize: $10,000
Judging Criteria: Entries
should specifically address how the work entered meets the following:
1. Evidence of a clear vision
2. Skills in mobilising others
3. Proof of commitment, energy and passion
4. Demonstration of leadership impact
Conditions of entry: To be
eligible you must be 35 years or younger or be no more than five years since
being awarded your PhD, at the closing date of entries.