Office for Learning and Teaching

Learning and Teaching ForumCharles Darwin University, Darwin

3 September 2015

Office for Learning and Teaching

Dr. Paul CorcoranDirector, Grants and Fellowships

What do we do?• Lead sustainable quality improvement in higher

education learning and teachingHow do we do it? • Provide support to explore, develop and implement

innovation in learning and teaching through a suite of awards, fellowships and grants

• Work with leaders across the higher education system to identify, and support work on, issues of strategic importance to higher education learning and teaching

Office for Learning and Teaching

Office for Learning and Teaching

• From 1 July 2016 a new learning and teaching institute will be established, with $28 million in funding, to promote excellence in teaching and learning.

• This will involve administering the grants, fellowships and awards under the Promotion of Excellence in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education programme.

• Universities will be invited to bid to host the new institute.

New Institute

Grants• Innovation & development: < $500k • Strategic priority commissioned work: > $220k• Closing date for this round is 2 November 2015

Fellowships• Up to 8 National Teaching Fellowships: $90k • Up to 4 National Senior Teaching Fellowships: $250k• Closing date for this round is 1 February 2016

Opportunities in 2016

Citations• Open: February 2016• Close: May 2016

Awards• Awards for Programmes that Enhance Learning• Awards for Teaching Excellence• Award for Australian University Teacher of the Year• Career Achievement Award • Open: May 2016• Close: July 2016

Opportunities in 2016

2016 priority topics• Academic standards• Assessing equivalence of qualifications and learning

outcomes • Assessment and promotion of student learning• Designing learning for the future• Employability skills for the future• Improving institutional pathways across higher

education• Improving access to and outcomes in higher

education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

• The contemporary PhD

OLT priority areas for grants

OLT priority areas for grants

2014• Professionalisation of the academic workforce• Academic integrity

2014/15• Technology-enabled learning • Learning analytics• Graduate employability

Strategic Priority Commissioned grants…delivered in:

OLT priority areas for grants

2015/16• English language support• 21st century student experience• Developing global perspectives

Strategic Priority Commissioned grants…delivered in:

2016/17• The future of the academic workforce• Personalised learning in a massified higher

education system• Academic integrity and good practice in

assessment

Enhancing the Training of Maths and Science Teachers• To support collaboration by mathematicians and

scientists with educationalists to create new approaches and higher education courses for pre-service teachers

• 5 Projects:• Opening real science: Authentic mathematics and

science education for Australia (Macquarie)• Step up! Transforming mathematics and science

pre-service secondary teacher education in Queensland (QUT)

ETMST Programme

Enhancing the Training of Maths and Science Teachers• 5 Projects (cont’d):

• It’s part of my life: Engaging university and community to enhance science and mathematics education (SCU)

• Reconceptualising mathematics and science teacher education programs (Melbourne)

• Inspiring mathematics and science in teacher education (UQ)

ETMST Programme

The Fellowships Programme encourages excellence in learning and teaching in higher education by supporting individuals who have the educational expertise and leadership skills to:

• identify educational issues across the higher education system and to facilitate approaches to address these issues

• devise and undertake a significant programme of activities that will have substantial impact on students, staff, institutions and the higher education system

OLT Fellowships

• stimulate strategic and systemic change in higher education institutions

• raise the profile of learning and teaching in higher education and the prestige associated with the pursuit of excellence in teaching

• show leadership in promoting and enhancing learning and teaching in higher education and exploring new possibilities

OLT Fellowships

• establish and build on national and international partnerships in learning and teaching in higher education

• foster national and international collaboration and collegial networking for sharing research, innovation and good practice in learning and teaching

• contribute to the growing community of scholars in higher education learning and teaching.

OLT Fellowships

Features of a strong nomination

• Demonstrates students’ engagement

• Demonstrates development of innovative teaching strategies

• Shows sustained impact on the discipline and the sector

• Demonstrates how you go above and beyond your role as an educator

OLT Awards

Identifying your contribution

A six word teaching memoir. Tell your story in six words:

Statistics fun? Always gets a giggle.Building technologies for better student learning.

BuDI. Best friend for first years.Reform through education in Indonesian Papua.

Sustained excellence in supporting doctoral students.Biomechanics excellence through authentic student

engagement.

OLT Awards

Building a nominationOLT Awards

Set the scene

(context)

Make the claim

(focus)

Support the claim

(evidence)

Show the impact

(you make a difference)

Context

• Assumptions of the assessors’ prior knowledge or expertise on the subject

• Present any special teaching circumstances

• Cover the landscape and the attractions

• Balance between description and evidence or claim

OLT Awards

Focus• Carefully choose your focus, i.e. your claim, which

facilitates addressing the criteria

• Highlight your excellent work, not just a description of what you have done

• Make you or your programme special, like a selling point

• Relate to enhancing students learning outcomes

OLT Awards

What is strong evidence?• Evidence attests to the claims you make

• Effective evidence comes from a range of sources, and is purposefully sought (broad and depth)

• Evidence is written into your nomination, not a stand-alone

• Give voice to those who matter to you

• Be prepared to let go

OLT Awards

What makes evidence accountable?

• Evidence is identified by source, context, date

• Authenticity is validated by you and the nomination process

• Quote accurately

• Honesty

OLT Awards

How to collect evidence

• Keep a portfolio for evidence in your office

• Built it in your programme timeline or project plan

• Seek data from the central units

• Collect from your network

OLT Awards

Form of evidencePeers

• peer review of teaching, course materials, course content, assessment practices

• scholarship of teaching, publications• teaching and learning strategies• leadership and management roles• various levels of peers – senior,

supervisor, reviewers, colleagues etc• recognition• uptake of ideas

Student Learning• students’ self-reported

knowledge/skills gained• rates of attrition, failure, progression

to honours/postgraduate• grade distribution• evaluation of generic

skills/outcomes/attributes• student work - assessment, thesis,

projects• employer/workplace feedback• approaches to study questionnaire etc

Student Reactions• student evaluations of teaching• student interviews, focus groups• informal class student feedback• formal surveys and questionnaires• unsolicited student feedback• student logs and journals• on-line feedback

Self• teaching journal• teaching philosophy• self reflections, analysis & evaluation• responsiveness to student feedback• publications• leadership roles• innovations

Adapted from a framework from Nicoll and Smith, no longer accessible online.

Supporting materials

• References• Teaching materials

• a three minute video • website • 10 pages of teaching materials

• CV

See these as cohesive elements alongside the written statement

OLT Awards

Style

• First person in active voice

• Professional presentation with accessible formatting

• Your voice

• Plain language

• Keep students and student learning upfront

OLT Awards

A few reminders• Evidence, evidence, evidence

• Be focussed and spell out your achievements

• Use your network

• Read other applications

• Give yourself time and space to write and reflect

• Be yourself

OLT Awards

Any questions?

Visit our website: www.olt.gov.auPhone and talk with us: 02 6240 0625