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The engagement of higher education students in an online environment is closely associated with student success. The argument is that students who are actively engaged are more likely to learn and to achieve greater academic success. Student engagement is facilitated through the design and arrangement of the learning material, and by the presence, attitude and the facilitation of learning via the online teacher.
As online learning becomes more ubiquitous, it is necessary to address the pedagogical differences between online and face-to-face teaching, so that online delivery moves beyond the paradigms of its face-to-face counterpart.
This workshop explores teaching practices which can optimise a positive learning experience for students. We will also address the broader paradigms associated with effective teacher presence in an online environment.
Specifically, this workshop will address the following:
Jay is a passionate and innovative online learning professional with a highly regarded record in the delivery of high quality, scalable learning solutions across the higher education sector.
Jay has over 20 years’ experience in tertiary and online education, as well as extensive people, project and process management experience.
Jay is currently employed as the Director of Online Learning and Teaching at Charles Sturt University. This role requires leadership in online subject design and development and online teaching as well as the associated workflows and management processes enabling large scale roll-outs.
Research interests: online learning, learning analytics, learning innovation and higher education assessment.
Twitter: @DRJay_Cohen
Work Integrated Learning (WIL) provides students an opportunity to engage in authentic learning activities through connections with industry and community and is a key mechanism to enhance graduate employability and transition graduates into a rapidly evolving labour market. This presentation will provide an overview of some trends and innovation occurring in WIL across Australia. Enablers of successful innovation and innovative WIL models and their associated features identified through a recent Australian Technology Network funded project will be presented. A brief overview of two further recent projects will be provided. The WIL to Work project which is addressing identified barriers to engagement in WIL for international students through development of micro credentials using an innovative co-design method and The Edge project that showcased how university students can develop and evidence enterprise and entrepreneurship capabilities through WIL. Finally, some reflections on the emerging impact of COVID -19 on innovation in WIL will be posed.
Judie Kay is Director, Employability and Career Education at RMIT and is responsible for the development and implementation of a broad range of RMIT career, employability and work integrated learning strategies. She has been involved in numerous national employability and work integrated learning (WIL) projects including The Edge, Emerging WIL Models and Leading WIL project. Judie is currently leading an Australian Government grant developing micro credentials to support International Students undertaking WIL. Judie is Co-Founder and Past President of Australian Collaborative Education Network (ACEN), the peak association for WIL in Australia and a member of Executive Committee and Vice Chair Partnership and Programmes of WACE, the world body. Judie was awarded the WACE global award for “Excellence in Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Commitment to Co-operative education and Work integrated learning” in 2015.
Online teaching presents many challenges, none more pronounced perhaps than teaching traditional face to face specialised laboratory units. To address this challenge, we created 3D models from specimens in our collection to teach human and animal bone identification virtually – a world first, and now in its 4th iteration in archaeology at UNE. In this brief demonstration, you will be taken through the theoretical and practical aspects of teaching a hands-on skill virtually. Using 3D models of a human cranium, you will participate in a human osteology lab and learn some basic skills in human forensic identification, including how to determine the sex, age and ethnic background of an individual, all without physically handling one bone.
Dr Melanie Fillios is an anthropological archaeologist interested in the human-animal-environmental nexus over time, especially in the context of foodways and environmental sustainability. Melanie applies behavioural ecology to human-animal relationships to understand changes in subsistence, economics and social organization in human history. Melanie’s current research in Australian archaeology encompasses aboriginal and historic contexts and examines the human-dingo relationship and the socio-environmental impacts of sheep. She has worked on archaeological projects in the United States, Europe and Australia, and direct the Australian Centre for Domesticate and Commensal research (ACDCr). Melanie is also the Associate Director of the Paphos Theatre Archaeological Project, Cyprus, with the University of Sydney.
In Biology 1, students learn about cell structure, metabolism, genetics and animal structure and function. The foundational topics of genetics and metabolism are conceptually complex for first year students deficient in chemistry which has resulted in poor success for these students. To improve student performance and encourage students to engage actively with their learning, the delivery of these topics was reimagined to use online interactive lessons as the primary learning resources. The lessons were developed, improved and promoted over a three-year period, with full deployment in 2019. This has resulted in a marked improvement in student understanding of the genetics and metabolism components of the unit leading to a 6% increase in overall unit marks and a 15% increase in pass rate in Biology in 2019. This success rate was maintained in 2020 when COVID-19 lockdowns forced the online only delivery of Biology 1 content and our large cohort of college students had to adapt rapidly to study away from classes and other study support structures. The successful, in-house development of these interactive lessons using Adobe Captivate, was made possible by close collaboration between subject matter experts, educational designers and graphic artists. Our development of interactive learning resources to facilitate student-centred learning of complex foundational concepts enabled the transition of Biology 1 from a brick-and-mortar synchronous, to a student-centred asynchronous learning environment. This has enhanced student success and progression and also enabled us to adapt more readily to unexpected threats such as COVID-19. Therefore, we recommend that our model for the development of interactive content should be used to remodel second and third year undergraduate units. If this is adopted it would promote integrated deep spiral learning of concepts by students.
Dr Heather Nonhebel completed BSc Hons I and PhD degrees in Botany and Plant Physiology respectively at the University of Glasgow in Scotland from 1975 to 1982. This was followed by postdoctoral positions at Michigan state University and the University of NSW. Heather was appointed as a lecturer in biochemistry at the University of Auckland in 1986 but then relocated in 1990 to the University of Western Sydney. In 1998 we moved again to Armidale where she was forced to have a five-year career break before being appointed as a lecturer at UNE in 2003. At UNE Heather has taught at every level from first year to PhD candidates. Although Heather’s research interests remain in the field of plant biochemistry, she has always had a strong interest in teaching excellence and innovation, creating her first computer-based interactive tutorial as a CD for external students at UWS in 1996. Heather uses creativity, critical thinking ability, strong observational and analytical skills as a research scientist to improve her teaching while having absolutely zero credentials in educational research.
The task of teaching chemistry online, improving engagement with self-study online resources, and supporting our students to become independent learners is something we have grappled with for many years. Including the ‘human’ side of teaching in an online environment, whilst maintaining reasonable workloads for academics, is critical. In first year chemistry at UNE, improving the non-content specific skills of our online students has been very successful; however, supporting online students in relation to academic support is still extremely time consuming. An online formative assessment was developed using the Möbius platform to provide the type of support an instructor would give in the classroom or an online forum. The aim was to encourage development of online students as independent learners and improve engagement with online learning resources, whilst reducing student reliance on instructor feedback and support. Student feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, learning outcomes were improved, and academic workload was reduced.
Dr Erica Smith holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) from the University of Sydney; a Master of Science with Distinction from the University of Greenwich (UK); and a Doctorate in Theoretical and Computational Chemistry from the University of Houston (USA). She was Associate Professor of Chemistry at Lonestar College (USA) before returning to Australia to take up a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the CSIRO. Erica is currently Senior Lecturer in Chemistry at the University of New England and is Chair Elect of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) Chemical Education Division committee. Erica has received a University of New England Excellence in Teaching Award, an Australian Awards for University Teaching Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning and was the RACI Educator of the Year in 2017. Erica is an Advance HE Senior Fellow and is currently Convenor of UNE’s School of Science and Technology Education Committee.
This presentation will cover the use of Moodle to develop online exams for quantitative units in the UNE Business School. It will explore some of the challenges faced in converting mathematical paper-based exams to an online form for students who are not always proficient in the use of typing equations into Moodle, discuss the solutions used to develop these exams and will highlight some areas where additional features would improve these exams. A post-exam summary of student performance against historical results will also be provided.
Dr Jonathan Moss is a Lecturer in Quantitative Economics at the UNE Business School. He teaches business statistics, business decision making and analytics for business research and passionately strives for continual improvement of his units. The last couple of years he has been developing his units to include interactive lecture videos and personalised assessment questions which use postcode data, spatial databases and students interests to bring relatability and context to the student experience. Jonathan is also research active with interests in the application of bioeconomic modelling to a variety of sustainability issues in the agricultural and natural resource sectors.
Students hate group tasks. Why? Because “It’s not fair if everyone gets the same mark!” Co-constructed learning tasks and summative group work are undoubtedly challenging especially when studying online. So, it’s no surprise that many UNE teachers shy away from designing them into their units. However, working together online is far from impossible, as we’ve found out through our recent experience of physical isolation. And perhaps the skills students can gain from working in teams are too important to ignore. According to the 2013 Graduate Outlook Survey of what employers look for in graduates, interpersonal and communication skills was rated higher than academic results. Altogether, there is a case to try to make group tasks happen in a way that students find fair and equitable. In T3 2019, Adrian Norman (Senior Learning Designer, FMH) and Stephen Grono (Senior Learning Designer, LaTT) with assistance from Adam Landow (Educational Support Officer, ERS) created a Self and Peer Assessment (SaPA) tool and methodology, to enable students to be rewarded in a fair and transparent way for their contributions to a team task. The SaPA design provides students with the opportunity to provide qualitative and quantitative feedback to their peers on their contribution and performance within the team. To date, this new SaPA methodology has been implemented in three Units in the School of Health. Overall, results have been encouraging. Particularly surprising is the quality and quantity of peer feedback given, suggesting that the students found the SaPA process of value. In this presentation, how the SaPA process works will be demonstrated and findings from the units in which the SaPA has run will be shared.
Dr Adrian Norman is an Academic Developer in Learning and Teaching Transformation (LaTT) at the University of New England (UNE). Adrian has a Master of Education in Information Technology (Education and Training with Distinction) from the University of Wollongong (UOW) and a PhD from Macquarie University. In his doctoral study, Adrian investigated the influence of pedagogy and design on the learner’s capacity to regulate their learning in an online context. Adrian has taught in the area of online learning and learning design at UOW, Macquarie University and UNE. Prior to working in higher education, Adrian ran his own consultancy, Educational Video and Design, and provided educational services for clients from a range of sectors. Adrian’s first career was in theatre. He studied acting at Ecole Philippe Gaulier in Paris and directing at the NIDA. He co-founded the award-winning theatre company Theatre Sans Frontieres in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in the Northeast of England and worked as a director and actor in the UK for most of the 90s. He lives in Armidale, plays the banjo and shares a house with two females, Lulubelle and Intrepid.
Mr Stephen Grono is a Senior Learning Designer within LaTT Strategic Learning Initiatives, UNE. His role focuses on facilitating effective staff use of technology and online learning opportunities to enhance the delivery of teaching materials and student interaction and engagement with course content, primarily through the UNE Moodle Learning Management System and its related ecosystem. Steve combines his years of working with UNE academics at a School level alongside past experiences teaching in Primary schools with his interest and knowledge in the evolving technology field to provide a beneficial perspective to University staff of varying technological skills and needs, applying high quality contemporary pedagogical practices and design as it relates to online education, drawing on his background in both education and technology spheres, to provide contextualised support and solutions for the individualised needs of staff and teaching contexts. When not herding cats academically, Steve manages a small cat rescue just outside of Tamworth NSW.
This virtual tour will explore the Professional Standards Framework and a range of UNE Academic Development resources. This will include the induction course – Introduction to Teaching at UNE, the Core Skills: University Teaching Course, and the Teaching Online at UNE website.
Associate Professor Mitch Parkes is currently the Program Director, Academic Development at Learning and Teaching Transformation (LaTT). Mitch’s background is ICT and online education, but he also has qualifications in Science, Library Science and History. Mitch holds an Advance HE Senior Fellowship and received an AAUT citation in 2016. Mitch is passionate about online learning and wombats (which loom large in his legend).
The virtual world tour of Australis 4 Learning, UNE’s Second Life space, will explore interactive tools on the island. Visited will be school classrooms and playgrounds, a hospital, pharmacy, computer shop, staff room, library (including a holodeck), small farm on three levels. Included in the tour will be the space recreated for a virtual graduation earlier this year. Participants will be able to interact with the environment – drive a car, fly a plane, walk, talk, fly, teleport and play on school playground equipment. If time permits, a virtual demonstration using de Bono’s Six Thinking hats or a virtual professional experience lesson will be shown.
Professor Sue Gregory is the Head of School, School of Education, at the University of New England. Her role requires developing strategic initiatives and aligning resources that support the University and Faculty goals, and developing and maintaining linkages, internally and externally, including accreditation bodies, industry partners and community leaders. Sue has been Chair of Research, higher degree research course coordinator, UNE Education Scholar and a lecturer in ICT Education. She also holds an Advance HE Senior Fellowship. She has been successful in receiving $2.322m in funds. She also received an OLT citation in 2012. Sue has written over 160 publications on teaching and learning in virtual worlds and using ICT as a resource in online learning and teaching.
How can you provide a hands-on experience of the proper way to use a pipette, without having access to an actual pipette? The past few months tossed many curveballs at us, however, for science educators one of the biggest challenges was transforming the lab environment to online settings. There are so many facets to lab work, including technical aspects that involve the use of specialised machinery, as well as behavioural aspects relating to problem solving and teamwork in a demanding environment. UNE science lecturers have had a couple of months to design processes that otherwise would have taken years. They aced this challenge using a high degree of creativity and quick upskilling, providing an excellent student experience. This virtual tour gives you a student view, including hands-on Moodle experience of some of the resources designed for online practicals and intensive schools.
Dr Gal Winter is a microbiologist studying microbial ecology in human and plant environments. For the past four years Gal has been working as a lecturer and Course Coordinator for the Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences at the University of New England. Gal has won several awards for excellence in teaching and research and has published her research outcomes in renowned professional journals. In 2008, Gal moved from Israel to Australia to chase her professional dream of working on microbial food biotechnology and her personal dream of living the Australian lifestyle. She received an international PhD scholarship from the University of Western Sydney and worked in collaboration with the Australian Wine Research Institute on wine fermentation, graduating her PhD in 2013. She then commenced a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Queensland, working on microbial biotechnology for the production of value-added chemicals.
Whilst completing her PhD at UNE, Dr Sinead Henderson worked as a Casual Lecturer before being hired as a Lecturer in Biomedical Science in the School of Science and Technology. Sinead is passionate about teaching and currently lectures and coordinates units in biochemistry, nutrition and biology. Sinead also conducts research on the immunological host-pathogen interactions during infections of significance to humans and animals. Her research uses a range of techniques in molecular and cellular biology to understand the pathological changes and immune response to infection, with a focus on host protection through vaccine study and development.
Dr David Dean is passionate about managing and guiding the development of state-of-the-art machine-learning algorithms and turning them into real solutions that improve the lives of everyone. He has over 15 years of research and development experience with machine-learning and artificial intelligence at Queensland University of Technology, the University of Queensland, as well as several exciting ML health start-ups. Now working with TAFE NSW, David is leading the Learning Analytics Team in their work to take a data-science approach, including AI and ML techniques, to improve the learning experiences for vocational training across the entirety of TAFE NSW.
The ‘Non-Advising’ Advising Model
In this presentation we will introduce a unique model of student engagement that is student-centred, holistic and realistic. The Graduate Certificate and Graduate Diploma in Professional Practice are cross-disciplinary courses designed to provide students with tailored professional development. Each student’s combination of units is uniquely their own, chosen to deliver the knowledge they need for their next career transition. At the heart of the course is the core unit, DYPP500, Developing Your Professional Practice, a career development unit that delivers relevant student resources in an asynchronous, individualised online learning environment.
The online component is complemented by a team of qualified and experienced career professionals, who provide information, education and career coaching to students, consciously connecting study to professional aspirations.
Over the three years that we have been offering these courses, the overwhelmingly positive feedback from students has vindicated our original design brief. This model of student ‘advising’ is scalable and could be replicated in other contexts.
Airlie is a qualified careers professional and has worked in the field for 20 years. Her interests include the role of serendipity, creativity and curiosity in driving transitions for individuals and organizations in complex dynamical systems. In 2017, she was awarded the CDAA National Award for Excellence – Career Practitioner of the Year. She is the course and unit coordinator, and leads the Career Concierge Team, responsible for the development and delivery of the Graduate Certificate and Graduate Diploma in Professional Practice. Airlie taught the CICA and DET accredited Graduate Certificate in Career Development through the UNE School of Education for 10 years (2011-2020). Airlie has degrees in Economics and Social Science, and in her first career worked as a management consultant with PwC. She consults to government and corporate clients, particularly in relation to regional employment and education.
Kate Pardy has worked at UNE for ten years, across a range of student support functions. Kate is a key member of the design team for the Graduate Certificate in Professional Practice, and the DYPP500. She team teaches in the DYPP500. Kate is an accredited careers practitioner, and in her role as Career Concierge Kate assists students with reflecting on and consolidating their professional identity and affecting positive agency so they may successfully navigate their desired career transition. As part of the teaching team for the core unit, Kate’s role encompasses the functions of career coaching, education and information provision for students. She provides a point of contact for students, a sounding board and a guide for them consciously connecting their study to their professional aspirations.
Anna’s role within the Career Concierge team has been as an advocate, offering holistic support for students studying the Graduate Certificate and Graduate Diploma in Professional Practice. Anna has a skill for traversing the tricky and sometimes laborious university systems and processes, advocating on behalf of the student and actively listening to their needs and what they require from university. Anna acts as the conduit between the student’s world and the university world. Having studied extensively at university in the areas of science, social health and human nutrition, Anna is able to empathise with the demands students face as they juggle life, family, work and study. Her focus is ensuring students are successful in their academic pursuits, but also their time at UNE has fulfilled their personal and career aspirations in achieving postgraduate qualifications.
The introduction of Online Exams to UNE was an enabler for new thinking about how we structure units that are exam dependent. We are no longer constrained by the exam timetable straitjacket. We can mould the whole learning journey to better match the rich tapestry of skills, experiences and circumstances that our students bring to the learning environment. On-Demand exams supported by the progression pipeline enables greater control to students and helps academics better understand the most effective pathways adopted by students.
Brent Gregory is a Chartered Accountant whose pre-academic professional career focused on helping business owners improve their returns. He is now applying those skills to developing learning environments that enhance and personalise the student learning journey. This is referred to as Scalable Personalisation.
Check out our half-day 2025 Symposium recordings.
