AkorangaAkorangaA periodicAl About leArning And teAching from the higher educAtion development centre

- do we rewArd good teAchers?- getting students more Active in clAss- how is your lecturing going?- discovering sustAinAbility on cAmpus- fArAh pAlmer And KAtherine rich reflect on leArning- meet the te whAnAKe whAnAu..!

issue 1: June 2007

www.hedc.otago.ac.nz

welcome from the editorial teamKia ora! With the chill of an Otago winter upon us, we’d like to extend a warm welcome to all readers of this first issue of Akoranga, a Mäori word meaning teaching, learning, education – a collaborative effort from the staff at the Higher Education Development Centre (HEDC). In this biannual publication we intend to bring you a varied menu of informative pieces, updates on HEDC projects and, most importantly, ideas to challenge you and enhance your teaching.

This inaugural issue is our first tentative step into the wide world of journalism, but with our connection with the many creative developments happening in higher education, and our commitment to supporting teaching at Otago, we decided the time was right to put our news into the public arena – so to speak. We hope you get as much out of Akoranga as we did out of putting it together.

At the start of 2006, Professor Kerry Shephard took over as director of HEDC, so now, after just over a year in this role, he presents some reflections on his perception of the university’s methods for evaluating the quality of teaching and of rewarding good teachers. Those of you who attended the HEDC debate on evaluation processes last December may remember the diversity of views on this particular topic, but Professor Shephard moves the topic out into the wider arena of how Otago’s system compares with that of other institutions, and questions the extent to which research underpins our system.

Online literacy, sustainability and creativity zones are currently popular topics in the field of education in general. Now as we all know popularity doesn’t necessarily equate with quality or indeed usefulness, but in this issue we will feature a number of enterprises in this area that easily fulfil and supersede the requirements of excellence. Te Whanake Online – a project that combines the skills and knowledge of Professor John Moorfield and the staff of HEDC’s Educational Media – is one such enterprise that we will showcase, along with the Online Literacy Project that involved collaboration with staff from the University of Otago College of Education, Otago Polytechnic and the University Library. We have also unearthed some innovative examples of teaching and learning about sustainability, and focus in this issue on a Geography Department initiative. To keep up with international higher education news we look at one new development in learning spaces, creativity zones – in this case from Sussex University, in the UK.

This issue also features some useful tips for:

~ teachers with students who have literacy issues

~ getting students more active in lectures

~ getting fast feedback from students on how your lecturing is going

~ designing new, or revising old, courses

We also take you down memory lane with Dr Farah Palmer, former captain of the formidable Black Ferns, and – whether you are a National or Labour supporter – we think you’ll be curious to discover a little about Katherine Rich’s Otago experience.

Akoranga is produced by the higher education development centre (hedc) at the university of otago for all university staff.

design: peter scott marketing and communications university of otago

printing: southern colour print

this newsletter is printed on 100% recycled paper

editorial team: nell smith, Kelby smith-han, candi young and lynley deaker

contact details: nell smithnell.smith@stonebow.otago.ac.nz

copyright: we welcome reprinting if permission is sought. contact nell smith

cover photo: is of inQbate, a creativity zone at sussex university – look opposite to read more about this innovative learning space. printed with permission.

the editorial team would like to acknowledge and thank all contributors to this newsletter.

Akorangaissue 1: June 2007

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want to know quickly how your lecturing is going? the use of fast-feedback…So you think your lecturing is going okay but how do you really know? Ideally you should seek feedback after one or two sessions, rather than waiting for a formal teaching evaluation at the end of your lecturing block. This way, by gaining feedback early on, you have time to address any concerns. The ultimate aim is to improve the quality of student learning. Also, fast feedback can be used as evidence in your Otago Teaching Profile – you can file a summary report in your on-call documents and refer to the feedback in your personal statements.

So how can you gain fast feedback? Two common methods are given below:

1) Three best, three ‘worst’ things about teaching

Towards the end of a session, simply ask students to jot down the three best features about your teaching and the three things needing improvement. Collect in, collate and get back to the class in the next session how you will change (or not, with reasons).

2) Muddiest point

This is a simple way to find out the concepts students are finding most difficult to grasp. In the last 5 minutes of a lecture (or tutorial or lab), ask the students to jot down on a piece of paper the concept they are having the most difficulty understanding. Collect them in and analyse. If there are recurring answers, then you should address this concept in future sessions.

Note that fast feedback can be used not only to find out about your lecturing style, but also to explore the academic skills and intellectual development of students, to determine students’ self-awareness of learning skills and to evaluate student reactions to teaching methods, course materials, activities and assignments. Want to find out more? Visit http:// honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/facdevcom/guidebk/teachtip/assess-2.htm or see Cross. K.P. and Angelo, T.A. (1988) Classroom Assessment Techniques – A Handbook for Faculty. Technical Report No. 88-A-004.0 Prepared for the National Centre for Research to Improve Postsecondary Teaching and Learning. This is available for all in the HEDC Resource room (see page 7 of this issue).

Dr Rachel Spronken-Smith

international higher education news briefs

creativity ZonesHigher education, it is claimed, is no longer about passive, spoon-fed consumerism, and some British universities have designed ‘creativity zones’ said to awaken students’ curiosity. Futuristic workplaces, known as InQbate, at Sussex and Brighton Universities include olfactory units capable of pumping out more than 200 smells, multi-coloured lights, theatrical curtains, and plasma screens on the walls that are capable of 3-D viewing. The ‘creativity zones’ are an attempt to free tutors and students from the constraints of the classroom and lecture theatre, and they are said to enable groups to come together in a high technology environment to communicate their ideas and generate their designs. It is hoped that the ‘creativity zones’ will be a focus for interaction between disciplines and foster collaborative, self directed and experiential learning. See the cover of this issue for an illustration of this in action.

Times Higher Educational Supplement and Sussex University

24/7 cultureSome union leaders and academics in the UK are claiming that a combination of rising student numbers, the arrival of corporate style human resource management, and a more customer focused approach to students means that academics have to be constantly available to managers and students, and that this is threatening the traditional freedom and self direction of academic life. The deskbound “presenteeism” approach is thought to be undermining academic flexibility. Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University and College Union said: “Universities are learning environments, not widget factories…academics need to be able to be trusted to get on with their jobs.”

Times Higher Education Supplement

open plan offices for AcademicsIn 2003 Sussex University opened the £10 million Freeman Centre, thought to be one of the world’s leading centres for science policy research. A feature of the new design was open-plan offices said to “set a new standard for others to follow in the creation of collaborative and innovative research environments”. Critics, however, have described it as a “call centre” environment and the design has been blamed for a collapse of collegiality, and it is argued that the open-plan office is just not suitable for academics. Noise distraction and a lack of privacy are given as examples of the problems seen by some of the academics who argue that they must leave their desk to use the phone. The use of space at Sussex University is said to be under “active review” to ensure continued support for academic work.

Times Higher Education Supplement

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HEDC has been involved in a collaborative effort to produce a series of online modules designed to help students to develop their literacy skills. All University of Otago staff have unlimited access to this exciting new online resource which can be used ‘as is’ or tailored to meet the needs of specific courses.

For the last 18 months HEDC’s Educational Media have been working in collaboration with staff from the University Library, the University College of Education and Otago Polytechnic to develop a series of online modules to help students to develop their information literacy skills. The $846k project, funded by the New Zealand Tertiary Education Commission through its eLearning Collaborative Development Fund, is due for completion in June this year.

The first five modules were completed in July last year and are based around real tasks that students typically have to complete as part of their coursework. The modules include writing an essay, preparing an annotated bibliography, writing a business report, writing a science report, and using New Zealand information sources.

Three further modules have just been released and are directed towards specific skills such as searching for information, evaluating information sources and dealing with information ethically.

The project team is very grateful to a number of teaching staff who have provided real student activities and expert input: Nicola Cummins from the University of Otago English department, Gillian MacFarlane from the University College of Education Social Studies department, Emily Keddell from the University of Otago Department of Social Work and Community, Imogen Coxhead from the Otago Polytechnic, Virginia Phillips from the University of Otago School of Business, Rob Wass, Stephen Scott and Kalinka Rexer-Huber from the University of Otago Zoology Department. We also gratefully acknowledge the contributions and support of the University of Otago Library, the Bill Robertson Library and the University of Otago Student Learning Centre.

A central feature of the modules is that in addition to being available “as is” online, they are all available for download and editing by anyone who would like to make use of them. This means the modules can be used as a framework for common tasks and teaching staff can customize them as they wish for specific courses. Editing the downloaded modules does require familiarity with HTML/CSS. For those unfamiliar with editing HTML, an online editor similar to a wiki or blog editor is currently being used by a number of staff at tertiary institutions in New Zealand and Australia who are customising the modules.

There is a significant research component to the project and full details of this are available on the project website (http://oil.otago.ac.nz/oil/index.html) along with links to the modules themselves (http://oil.otago.ac.nz/oil/index/modules.html). All modules are also available to students for self-study through the Student Learning Centre website (www.hedc.otago.ac.nz/hedc/sld/study-guides-and-resources.html).

do you have students who need learning support? we can help!student learning centre (slc) in the isb The Student Learning Centre, which is part of the Higher Education Development Centre, provides learning support, free of charge, to ALL enrolled students. Our services include:

• a workshop programme designed to help students to improve their learning strategies and their generic skills;

• individual assistance with learning issues;

• on-line study skills advice;

• a student-led mentoring programme for new students.

• a conversational English group for students from a non-English speaking background

Our website also has information and a resource page for academic staff. Please visit us at:http://hedc.otago.ac.nz/hedc/sld.html

To contact the Centre, phone 479 5786 or email student-learning-centre@otago.ac.nz

If you would like further information about the Online Information Literacy Project please contact Jenny McDonald (jenny.mcdonald@stonebow.otago.ac.nz) or Tiffany Cone (tiffany.cone@stonebow.otago.ac.nz).

helping students with literacy: An online resource

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otago learning memories: farah palmerDr Farah Palmer was a student at Otago throughout the 1990s whilst also captaining the Black Ferns through three consecutive World Cup victories. She has now retired from the international game and is a lecturer at Massey University.

memories of first classes at otago?I remember being totally nervous as I entered one of the big lecture theatres. I was completely out of my comfort zone. Once I had settled in to a seat (not too close to the front, and slightly to the side of the lecturer so that they didn’t eye ball you!), I found my first few lectures really fascinating. Each lecturer had their own style of teaching, and I was so nervous about missing stuff, that I would write down everything they said in a mad scribble, and try and make sense of my notes that night!

favourite memories of learning?I really enjoyed the way lecturers encouraged us to challenge assumptions and to critically think about the issues and what we observed in the media and in practical situations. I thrived in this environment, and can remember lecturers who did quirky things during their presentations. Humour interspersed with theory and learning helped me to engage with the material, and as time went on I got up the courage to ask a few questions, or to answer some of the probing questions lecturers asked. I enjoyed the interaction, and the thought provoking discussion lecturers encouraged us to have with the material we were learning.

worst memories of learning?I remember getting really frustrated when lecturers didn’t engage with the material they were teaching. Of course there were subjects that I struggled to grasp (like maths with statistics or biomechanics) but I still enjoyed the lectures if the person at the front was passionate about their subject, prepared and engaging. It is not their fault that it doesn’t come naturally

pbrf result bodes well for teachingOtago is proud of its tradition of research-led teaching, and the recent success in the Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF) round suggests that the University’s current researchers are maintaining a solid foundation for their teaching. There is good evidence that the best research universities typically provide the best teaching and learning experiences for their students. However, this idea is frequently challenged (especially in the UK) because research selectivity exercises can drive academics to become research ‘obsessed’ and then neglect their teaching. Some of my own research in the UK has highlighted this very problem (Staniforth & Harland, 1999), and in extreme cases one might not blame an academic for being focused on research when a poor result could mean that their job is threatened.

Yet in the New Zealand context, and at Otago, we seem to have achieved a more ideal academic environment in which it is possible to be both researchers and teachers of high calibre. This balance is always difficult when, at times, teaching and research can appear to be separate and competing activities. Such an outcome has to be related to the individual talents of academics and those who support this work.

The new and emerging researchers at Otago have had remarkable success in PBRF and this bodes well for our future. Boice’s groundbreaking research on new faculty in America suggested that the best indicator of future teaching success was early success in research (Boice 1992).

Associate Professor Tony Harland

Boice, R. (1992) The New Faculty Member. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Staniforth, D. & Harland, T. (1999) The work of an academic: Jack of all trades or master of one? International Journal for Academic Development 4, 2: 142-149.

to me, but if they tried different ways of getting the message to me, in the long run it helped. Learning for me was a little like the Pantene Shampoo commercial - It may not happen over night but it will happen! When I would do research and revision for tests, exams, and assignments I would have a ‘eureka’ moment where the lecturer’s point in class would suddenly make sense.

lasting memories of otago?I enjoyed the tradition that was such a major part of Otago’s culture. I enjoyed the independent learning, and the mix of students you would get in one lecture/tutorial. I enjoyed the interactive laboratories and tutorials, and would often be the last to leave my lab session because I didn’t want to miss out on anything! I have nothing but fond memories of Otago, and it provided me with excellent networks, skills and approach to learning that I still use today. I always try to have the same level of passion and intensity for my subject as the lecturers at Otago had for theirs.

“learning for me was a little like the pantene shampoo commercial …”

After just over a year in post, Kerry Shephard, Director of HEDC, reflects on what he has discovered about the University’s processes for evaluating teaching quality and rewarding good teachers. His understanding of this complex issue was enhanced by his involvement in nine ‘promotion workshops’ run by Human Resources in Dunedin, Christchurch and Wellington, in March and April. Kerry’s role was to explain the Otago Teaching Profile (OTP), but his participation in discussion with academic staff from around the University on the role of the OTP in promotion prompted him to write this commentary.

The University values competent teachers and is prepared to support their development:

• via confirmation

• by providing services to support teachers’ own evaluation of their teaching based on student perceptions

• by supporting teachers’ research into their teaching, by collating feedback from Student and Graduate Opinion Surveys, by utilising periodic departmental reviews

• by providing a wealth of professional development support

• and to recognise and reward their achievements as teachers via merit-based promotion processes that make it clear that only competent teachers will be promoted, backed up by highly developed promotion committees and policies.

These processes also appear to be generally embedded in the Otago way of doing things. There are several interacting events and stages that have been designed to enable all those involved to know their role and to respect the roles of others. Individual teachers, heads of academic departments, senior departmental colleagues, HEDC’s evaluation services and staff in Human Resources, divisional promotion panels and Staffing Advisory Committee appear to operate in cooperation to a generally accepted end point - that of promoting good teachers. Of course, academic promotion depends on other factors as well, but good teaching is seen to be a central element. Promotion committees develop over time a sense of what sustained competence in teaching actually means and how teachers can evidence this. Cross-divisional representation seeks to ensure that criteria used are, by and large, interpreted in different parts of the University in broadly similar ways. The composition of promotion panels, drawn from senior staff who have often themselves come through the system, is also designed to create a sense of fairness and continuity - important factors in an embedded system owned by members of the Otago academic community. And the system is adaptable. Recent changes implemented by Human Resources and Staffing Advisory Committee have changed the promotion

processes for Associate Professors and reemphasised the role of heads of academic departments in the process.

But if the system is so well designed, embedded and functional, why do so many teachers tell me that it over-emphasises students’ perceptions of their teaching and inhibits their creativity? Why did our Academic Audit last year suggest that “It is not clear how effective the analysis and interpretation of data is in assisting improvement in teacher performance”? Why did the 2006 Report of the Working Party to Review University processes single out for special mention, in relation to administrative “overkill”, the processes involved in staff promotion and salary progression? Why do my HEDC colleagues tell me that the processes emphasise judgment rather than development as core values? And most worrying for me in our research-led institution, what research underpins the design, development and continued existence of this system?

In attempting to answer these questions, or at least to categorise them, I need to clarify my motives, and those of others. Mine are actually clearly described in the mission statement for HEDC: “To work in partnership with staff and students of the University to promote, support and enhance the ideals, knowledge and values of higher education.” I own up to being most interested in improving student learning, in a direct way here in Otago, but indirectly, via my research into higher education, all over the world. In some respects, therefore, HEDC’s perspective must look beyond the University of Otago. The University has its own perspective on many of these issues, clearly defined in the policy intent that appears on page 3 of this year’s Academic Staff Promotions HR Policy. “The manner in which the University of Otago bestows academic titles must be of sufficient rigour to ensure that the holder of that title is able to command the respect of their international peers”. The University’s reputation is very important. Improving the learning of our students is part of this but so is international peer-approval of the supporting processes.

In fact higher education institutions around the world are currently struggling with aspects of their operations that relate student learning to professional staff development. In the field of higher education research, ‘evaluation of teaching’ is one of the most intensively researched areas, but a significant concern to those involved is the extent to which good teaching, however measured, equates with good learning (broadly reviewed by Macdonald, 2006; see also general comments about evidence-based practice in higher education expressed by Jackson, 2004). Internationally, a range of processes have evolved in the general area of ‘quality assurance’ to systematise the collection and analysis of data relating to

improving student learning by promoting good teaching?

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student perceptions of the quality of teaching. By any measure, ours is a sophisticated system, but, from an international ‘research into higher education perspective’, it suffers the same criticism as do all systems that are essentially based on the student evaluation questionnaire. It may lend itself to external scrutiny but in the process it may also undermine professional teachers’ responsibility for their own professional development (Johnson, 2000). In addition, if Otago is seeking international peer-approval of our processes, we may need to keep abreast of international developments. Australia’s Carrick Institute is currently supporting a major research initiative to ‘reward and recognise quality teaching in higher education through systematic implementation of indicators and metrics on teaching and teacher effectiveness (Carrick Institute, 2006). Meanwhile, the UK’s Higher Education Academy is working hard to develop professional standards in higher education teaching. Among other things, the standards framework aims to act as “a means of demonstrating to students and other stakeholders the professionalism that staff bring to the support of the student learning experience” (Higher Education Academy, 2006, page 2). It may be that these bodies could learn much from us, but the converse may be also true.

So, from an international learning and teaching perspective, how good is our system? The obvious retort is how would we know? I can honestly enthuse about the Otago Teaching Profile and support its potential contribution to the professional self-development of those Otago teachers who use it, but I cannot in all honesty comment on its contribution to the reward that we promise to good teachers. I do not know how heads of departments and promotion panels make use of the self-evaluation statement and on-call documents. If we collect this information, I have not seen it. I suspect that promotion panels do develop a collective, social understanding of ‘competent teaching’, but I do not know what this is, other than that teachers may evidence it in a variety of areas of activity (described as criteria in the policy document). If we describe this knowledge, I have not seen it. I acknowledge that individual teachers may use student perceptions of their teaching in a developmental way, but their confidentiality surely precludes their effective use in any departmental or programme development. I know that some teachers in some departments make considerable use of student perceptions of courses (or papers, rather than of teachers) but promotion panels do not generally get to see course evaluations, and perhaps as a consequence, their use in the University is anything but universal.

Perhaps most intriguing for me is the extent to which the system has itself influenced the teaching that it is designed to evaluate and reward. What exactly do Otago teachers

perceive to be valued? What influences does this perception have on their teaching behaviour, on their preparation, on their inclination to innovate and on their confidence as teachers? Are we rewarding good teaching or something else? Irrespective of the credentials of the committee that developed it, and of the extent to which the system pervades university life, if our system for rewarding good teaching is not doing what it is designed to do we should change it. Only research into our own practices will give us answers to these questions.

References

Carrick Institute (2006) Teaching Quality Indicators www.carrickinstitute.edu.au/carrick/go/home/pid/370 (accessed April 11 2007).

Higher Education Academy (2006) The UK Professional Standards Frameworkfor teaching and supporting learning in higher education www.heacademy.ac.uk/regandaccr/standardsframework(1).pdf (accessed April 24 2007).

Jackson N (2004) The meanings of evidence based practice in higher education: themes, concepts and concerns emerging through public discussion Higher Education Academy Resources www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources.asp?process=full_record&section=generic&id=392 (accessed April 12 2007).

Johnson R (2000) The authority of the student evaluation questionnaire Teaching in Higher Education 5 (4) 419-434

Macdonald R (2006) The use of evaluation to improve practice in learning and teaching Innovations in Education and Teaching International 43 (1) 3-13.

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It is easy to fall into a trap of tweaking an existing course to fit an inherited timetable, rather than having a complete rethink about the goals of the course and how it is best taught and assessed. The next time you are revising a course or creating a new course try this approach:

Ask yourself the following:

• What are the goals of a University of Otago education? Checking out the graduate attributes at the back of the Otago Teaching and Learning Plan would be a good starting place! While your course is unlikely to meet all of these attributes, you should be targeting several of them.

• Why should students study my course? This gets you to think about how your course fits into the overall degree programme and the development of knowledge, skills and values throughout that programme. Will students have had the opportunity to acquire the desired graduate attributes by the end of their degree?

• What should students be able to do at the end of my course? This gets you to focus on the learning outcomes that you hope students will acquire by the end of your course. Think about knowledge, skills and values that they should acquire in your course and make these explicit.

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• How will I know that students have met the desired outcomes? This relates to the assessment in the course. If, for example, you are hoping students will develop research skills in your course, then an exam is unlikely to assess how well these skills have been mastered. A literature review or a research report might be more appropriate. Remember that much student learning is driven by the assessment regime!

• What might be the best ways for students to learn the desired knowledge, skills and values in my course? Here you need to think about the types of teaching and learning activities you will use in the course. Try not to get too tied to the existing timetable or room bookings. Rather, think creatively about what mix of activities will help ensure students can engage in appropriate tasks and meet the desired learning outcomes.

• How can I estimate the effectiveness of my course? It is always good practice to evaluate your course to find out how students are learning and whether the course is meeting its objectives. Try to gain feedback on student learning from a range of sources such as fast feedback during teaching sessions, talking to tutors, examining examples of students work, and using a formal course evaluation.

Dr Rachel Spronken-Smith

don’t know where to begin with revising or designing a new course?

looking for resources for professional development in teaching, learning and research? then look no further than the … hedc resource room!HEDC has an extensive collection of resources, including books, journals and newspapers on Higher Education and academic practice. The Resource Collection is designed to support academics at Otago in their professional development of teaching and research. The books are available for borrowing and any articles of interest from journals or newspapers can be photocopied for individual research. The Resource Room is run by Kelby Smith-Han and is usually open on weekdays from 9am to 5pm.

Contact Kelby Smith-Han, phone (03) 479-5861, email: kelby.smith@stonebow.otago.ac.nz

where are we? – hedc resource room locationHEDC Resource Room, Room G05, 65/75 Union Place West, Dunedin

otago learning memories: Katherine richNational List MP Katherine Rich was a student at Otago in the mid-1980s and graduated with a BCom (Marketing) and BA (Economics). She is the National Party spokeswoman for Education.

favourite memories of learning? Professor Jocelyn Harris lecturing on Virginia Woolf. Captivating and enlightening. Gunter Mueller-Heumann in full flight on marketing.

Heather Simpson, now 2IC to the PM, delivering entertaining lectures on the law of diminishing marginal utility while wearing gumboots. Victor Gray on strategy. This course changed the way I think. All these lecturers were the best in their subject and they knew how to teach. It was a privilege to be in their courses.

worst memories of learning? Management stage one. A dry subject made drier by a monotone delivery never deviating from written overheads. Torture. Only course I never completed. I doggedly complete things but this course (in the mid-80s) pushed me beyond my tether!

lasting memories and impact of learning at otago? Otago is the best place to study. The quality of courses and the lifestyle offered by a University-focused town was unique. Where else can you live 5 minutes away from your lecture theatre? The Student Association was great at arranging regular gigs and wet lunches for Dunedin bands.

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At the coalfaceTutors and Demonstrators are an important group of people

who contribute significantly to the teaching and learning

environment at the University of Otago. Many are students

themselves. Some are professionals, keen to expand their range

of skills and abilities through teaching. All are eager to share

their knowledge.

The sheer enthusiasm for teaching and learning is one of the

most marked qualities of the many tutors and demonstrators

we have encountered during the workshops we have run

in 2006 and 2007. Many of those who have come to our

workshops are very new to teaching and the workshops have

served to introduce them to broad ideas about teaching and

learning in a variety of contexts.

In our Tutor/Demonstrator programme we offer an

introductory workshop which provides some beginning

insights into the basics of tutoring and demonstrating. In

2007 an additional three special topic workshops were added

to the programme as well as online resources for Tutor/

Demonstrators and for Co-ordinator/HODs.

Resources can be found at:

www.hedc.otago.ac.nz/hedc/asd/tutoring-demonstrating.html

The workshops we run are to complement the support

provided for Tutors and Demonstrators in the Departments

and Halls of Residence, not to replace it. Of course, we are

willing to work with coordinators in the Departments and

Halls to develop customised programmes related to your

specific needs.

As our Tutor/Demonstrator programme is ‘a work in progress’,

we welcome comments and suggestions for improvements and

additions (sarah.stein@stonebow.otago.ac.nz and robert.wass@stonebow.otago.ac.nz).

Dr Sarah Stein

“medical educational group (meg) – the educational network”Medicine, within the Division of Health Sciences, has approximately 240 students per year in its 5 year course. Most students have also completed the Health Science First Year before embarking on the MBChB programme. These students are taught in the three clinical schools as well as in regional placements. This represents a huge learning and teaching investment by the University.

A network of Medical Educational Advisers was instituted in order to support staff in appropriate learning strategies and to enhance educational communication between the areas of learning. This Educational Network came into operation in 2000 and continues to operate between Dunedin, Christchurch and Wellington. The specific role of the advisors is to advise on educational matters, to organise evaluation and ensure staff

development opportunities are made available. The Director of the Network, Joy Rudland (joy.rudland@otago.ac.nz), is an honorary member of HEDC and there are strong links between the Network and HEDC.

The Medical Education Adviser in each of the schools offers one-to-one support of staff when requested through peer review or in an advisory capacity. There are three Medical education Advisers: David Tordoff for the Dunedin School of Medicine (david.tordoff@stonebow.otago.ac.nz): Anthony Ali in Christchurch (anthony.ali@chmeds.ac.nz) and Pamela Hyde in Wellington (pamela.hyde@otago.ac.nz).

More information on the Network and the associated Medical education groups can be found at: www.hedc.otago.ac.nz/meg

“entertaining lectures on the law of diminishing marginal utility while wearing gumboots”

the otago tlei: the relationship between student learning and the training and support of demonstrators

There are approximately 1300 students enrolled in PHSI 191 this year. A major concern of the Physics Department is the level of student understanding of physics and scientific method. Improved physics understandings may lead to an increase in the retention rates of graduates of this paper into Physics at second year level.

The laboratory component of PHSI 191 is being targetted in this project. Twenty (plus) Demonstrators, drawn from third year and postgraduate physics students, teach the laboratories. The introduction of a revitalised programme of training for laboratory demonstrators, as part of this TLEI project, has been identified as a way of achieving relevance for students. We are thus examining the connection between student learning and the support we as a research team give to the Demonstrators in terms of physics teaching development.

unlocking student learning: the impact of teaching and learning enhancement initiatives (tlei’s) on first year university studentsThis project is a Teaching and Learning Research Initiative (TLRI) funded through the New Zealand Council for Educational Research (www.tlri.org.nz/projects/2005/studentlearning.html)

introductionThis national project, which involves staff from academic development centres in all New Zealand Universities, focuses on the provision of academic development support for teachers and its impact on the learning of students in first year courses. At each university, academic developers and the teachers involved in a first year course are working together to develop and implement learning and teaching initiatives that are intended to improve students’ learning. The main purpose of the study is to identify academic development strategies and approaches which are associated with the development of successful initiatives.

Central to the project are the questions:

What impact do teaching and learning enhancement initiatives (TLEIs) developed by academic developers and teachers have on students’ experiences and achievement in large first year classes?

How do academic developers and teachers working together enhance/make a difference to students’ learning experiences and achievement?

backgroundWhile academic development practice is largely aimed at changing teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning and their teaching practices, its ultimate purpose is the enhancement of student learning outcomes. However, research-based evidence that academic development can contribute to the achievement of that purpose is limited in

both quantity and quality. The dearth of such evidence was confirmed in a study, commissioned by the New Zealand Ministry of Education (Prebble, Hargraves, Leach, Naidoo, Suddaby and Zepke, 2004). The study’s authors, who include some of the national team associated with this project, recommended that more research be undertaken on academic staff development and how it makes a difference to teaching and learning in New Zealand .... tertiary institutions be encouraged to use their academic staff development units as centres for research on teaching and learning, as well as for training and development.

This project is a response to those recommendations.

the tleisWithin each of the eight participating universities, a team of academic developers and teachers is involved in the design, implementation and review of TLEIs for a first year course over a period of three years. The design takes into account ‘base-line’ data gathered for the selected course and enhancement goals defined by the teachers and, when appropriate, other members of the Departments or Schools. A succession of iterations of this process is occurring.

This action research approach aligns with the way academic developers and teachers often work together on intensive and sustained TLEIs. Such activities are frequently initiated by disciplinary based staff seeking to enhance their students’ learning experiences and attainments. Normal procedures to develop and implement enhancement initiatives are engagement and dialogue between those staff and staff from the institutional academic development unit. Strategic changes occur on an incremental and ongoing basis over a period of time with academic development staff supporting and advising colleagues within their discipline as to how best to implement change. All of the enhancement initiatives are underpinned by pedagogical research, and can be tracked over a period of time and informed by on-going data-gathering. It is these strategic and incremental development opportunities that are the bases of our research.

The Otago research team is Dr Sarah Stein (HEDC); Dr Terry Scott and Paul Yates (Physics).

This national project is a Teaching and Learning Research Initiative (TLRI) funded through the New Zealand Council for Educational Research (www.tlri.org.nz/projects/2005/studentlearning.html). The lead researcher is Dr Kogi Naidoo, Training and Development Unit, Massey University. In addition to a national research team, institutional research teams are established at each university.

References

Prebble, T., Hargraves, H., Leach, L., Naidoo, K., Suddaby, G., & Zepke, N. (2005). Academic staff development A summary of a synthesis of research on the impact of academic staff development programmes on student outcomes in undergraduate tertiary study: Summary report to the Ministry of Education: Ministry of Education, New Zealand.

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The Te Whanake whänau are animated characters that help to form the stories and activities which are the basis for fifteen online modules pitched at introductory level Mäori language learners.

Launched in December last year, the Te Whanake Online website is attracting a growing number of Mäori language learners, and has been show-cased at several international conferences.

Te Whanake Online is an online resource designed to complement Professor John Moorfield’s Te Whanake textbook series. The project, led by Professor Ka’ai and Professor Moorfield from Te Tumu, School of Mäori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies, received $450k funding from the New Zealand Tertiary Education Commission. It was produced by HEDC’s Educational Media team, led by Jenny McDonald (Academic Director) and Tim Elder (Production Manager) working in close collaboration with staff and students from Te Tumu.

The website comprises fifteen online modules pitched at the introductory level and each is based around an animated story with supporting activities. Students have the opportunity to play a character from the animated story once they have

worked through the module exercises. The original concept for the website and all the animated stories and exercises were created by Te Tumu students under Professor Moorfield’s direction.

In addition to the website, individual modules are available for download and customization by Mäori language teachers from around New Zealand. A DVD with the fifteen animated stories is also available for language teachers to use in their classes.

According to Jenny McDonald, Academic Director of Educational Media, “One especially rewarding feature of the project for us was being able to repurpose work we have done with other language teachers for this project. Mäori Number Practice was originally developed as French Number Practice with Dr Pat Duffy. We hope to incorporate a vocabulary builder originally developed with Alyth Grant from German very soon. Facilitating the sharing of good ideas across the University and applying them in new contexts is a central role for Educational Media.”

You can visit the Te Whanake Online website at (http://tewhanake.otago.ac.nz) and for further information about the project please contact Prof. John Moorfield (john.moorfield@stonebow.otago.ac.nz) at Te Tumu or Tim Elder (tim.elder@otago.ac.nz) at HEDC.

meet the te whanake whanau!

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having trouble getting students active in your lectures? try the following ideas:• When you ask a question, instead of waiting for what can be

a long time and few responses, instruct the class to discuss it with their neighbours (this is known as think-pair-share). Allow a few minutes discussion time and then seek a response – students are much more likely to put forward an answer once they have had a chance to affirm ideas with their peers.

• Ask the class a question and then give 3 or 4 possible answers. Go through each and ask them to raise their hand when they agree. While this technique can be used to good effect with the “clicker technology,” the low-tech hands-up works well.

• Construct a diagram or table together by getting students to brainstorm ideas. Ideal for use on a whiteboard or overhead transparency. Better still get the students to draw a concept map that illustrates the key ideas and linkages in the lecture or topic. Allow them time to do theirs and then you do one as well. Wander around the lecture theatre to see what ideas they are picking up on… are they the ones you would identify? This can lead to dialogue about the important concepts in the session.

• Give course handouts (or cards) with different colours on the front and back (say red and white). As you are explaining a topic ask students to hold up the red and when they feel they have grasped the concept ask them to flip it to white. This will allow you to gauge how students are picking up on key ideas during the lecture.

• Try varying lecture formats with the following:

~ Review sessions where students can ask questions and you can go over old exam papers

~ A role-play exercise where you target parts of the lecture theatre to construct arguments about the topic

~ A resource-based lecture where you hand out research papers (can have different papers for different parts of the lecture theatre) and instruct students to read certain sections (can be 10-15 minutes reading time) and answer related questions (these can be discussed with neighbours). Get students to feedback answers on the questions and build up content accordingly.

Dr Rachel Spronken-Smith (rachel.spronken-smith@stonebow.otago.ac.nz)

discovering sustainability on campusSustainability is a “buzz” word used in lots of different contexts – but what does it mean to us in terms of the university, and to learning and teaching in particular?

We have been delighted to discover some creative examples of learning and teaching about sustainability on campus, and we intend to feature a different one in each issue. In this issue we feature a Geography paper that took students on a virtual field course to Ethiopia. If you are currently involved in learning or teaching about sustainability we would be very happy to hear from you (nell.smith@stonebow.otago.ac.nz)

This year’s Department of Geography Summer School Paper, entitled ‘Africa: Diversity and Development’, took students on a ‘virtual’ fieldcourse to the western highlands of Ethiopia in an attempt to engender an understanding of the various environmental, socio-economic and political factors influencing the sustainable development of this area. Unlike the northern highlands where land degradation and famine are a recurring event, the western highlands are still endowed with areas of montane rainforest, plentiful rainfall and a climate conducive to surplus crop production. A key challenge for subsistence farmers throughout the area, however, is to manage their natural resources in a sustainable manner, given increasing population pressure, land shortages, and environmentally insensitive government policies.

During the fieldcourse week, the students assumed the role of a range of stakeholders that included the Ethiopian Government, local farmers, a small livelihoods-focussed NGO, private developers and representatives from the Nile Basin Initiative. Having ‘visited’ two natural resource management systems – one concerned with the development of non-timber forest products, and the other with the cultivation of crops from valley bottom wetlands – the students then went on to present their vision of how the development of these natural resource systems could contribute to livelihood security, environmental sustainability and the specific development goals of all the stakeholders.

Those students taking on the role as ‘private developers’ presented a strategy for the collection and marketing of beeswax and honey – an initiative that would preserve the natural forest whilst developing sustainable livelihoods among the poor and landless.

An illustration of point four above using the different coloured card system. In this example, the light coloured card signals the students have grasped the concept!

we welcome feedback to the editor: nell.smith@stonebow.otago.ac.nz11