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Vol. 9 No. 3 (2012)

Published: 1 July 2012

Articles

  • Editorial 9.3

    Tai Peseta

    This Special Edition of JUTLP is unique in that it examines a single university's approach to curriculum reform, providing insights from many of the people who were engaged in the process. At La Trobe University in Australia the mechanism for engaging in discussions at a university level has been encapsulated in an institutional strategy known as Design for Learning (DfL) (La Trobe University 2009). From 2007, former Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Belinda Probert and former Pro Vice-Chancellor (Curriculum and Academic Planning) Tom Angelo, led an exciting and edgy curriculum change initiative intended to build on La Trobe’s learning and teaching strengths, while simultaneously building a systems focus for ensuring curriculum quality and renewal. The blueprint for the DfL described its principles thus: “ … highlight[ing] breadth of choice, equity, flexibility (options), learning centred-ness, research and evidence based decision making, a systems focus (rather than making individuals responsible for things they do not control), and support (resources)” (La Trobe University 2009, p. 7). With goodwill, energy and a profound sense that ‘something needed to be done’, in the early years of the DfL, the university was alive with fresh talk of curriculum, teaching and student learning galvanised by new leadership, a commitment to evidence-based change, resources to fund curriculum innovation, together with the promise of reward and recognition. Imagine the scene: committees and communities spring up to think together about complex pedagogical issues, spirited discussion takes place, departments and faculties share resources and good practices, new staff are brought on board with responsibility to make things happen. The 7 papers represented here describe both large and small curriculum change initiatives – some funded by the university and others done out of love, curiosity and interest.

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  • Taking Responsibility for Academic Integrity: A collaborative teaching and learning design

    Julianne East, Lisa Donnelly

    La Trobe University, like many Australian universities, states that it values honest academic endeavour (Academic Integrity Policy 2011), and it can provide examples of good teaching practice in the areas of academic integrity, proper acknowledgment and avoiding plagiarism. Rather than relying on the chance that individuals will just develop good practices, this university has recently taken a more systematic approach to teaching students and staff about academic integrity and providing resources to ensure a consistent message and application of acknowledgment conventions. This systematic approach was made possible through the University’s curriculum reform program, the Design for Learning. By positioning academic integrity and acknowledgment as issues of curriculum, La Trobe has created an educational opportunity and reduced the focus on punishment. Furthermore, the mandate to deliver academic integrity programmes to all commencing students and staff and to provide consistent guidelines supports the development of awareness that academic integrity is a whole of university responsibility – everybody’s responsibility. This paper reviews one university’s progress towards aligning academic integrity, with the intention to inform those who are interested in developing an integrated academic integrity education.

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  • Collaborating to embed academic literacies and personal support in first year discipline subjects

    Kate Chanock, Craig Horton, Mark Reedman, Bret Stephenson

    This article discusses a Design for Learning project in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, where academic and personal support for students was interwoven in their first semester. Staff of the Academic Language and Learning Unit (ALLU) worked with discipline staff to develop their students’ capabilities across a range of disciplines, while the Faculty’s First Year Coordinator organised dedicated tutors to identify and support students who struggled to engage with their first semester’s work. ALLU staff, consulting with subject coordinators, designed extra tutorials focussing on the subjects’ readings for four weeks, and working towards the first marked assignment. Using ALLU’s design, subject tutors showed students what is characteristic of thinking at university; how that is embodied in the structures and styles of academic texts; and how sources are used. Feedback from students, tutors, and coordinators was mainly favourable, and a comparison of students’ entrance scores and first semester marks with those of previous cohorts found that As and Bs rose in most subject groups, while Ds and Fails decreased, despite lower entrance scores overall. The article situates this initiative within the movement towards “embedding” development of students’ academic literacies into their disciplines’ curricula. It looks at the educational advantages of this method, as well as some difficulties of acceptance, ownership, and organisation. It focusses, in particular, on the benefits of involving ALLU staff, with their expertise in Applied Linguistics, in designing activities to focus both students and subject lecturers on the particular discourses used in their discipline subjects.

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  • Transforming information literacy conversations to enhance student learning: new curriculum dialogues

    Fiona A Salisbury, Sharon Karasmanis, Tracy Robertson, Jenny Corbin, Heather Hulett, Tai L Peseta

    Information literacy is an essential component of the La Trobe University inquiry/research graduate capability and it provides the skill set needed for students to take their first steps on the path to engaging with academic information and scholarly communication processes. A deep learning approach to information literacy can be achieved if students have an opportunity to build awareness of generic skills followed by practice in their discipline context. This article describes a collaborative model for developing and embedding information literacy resources within disciplines, that is based on Biggs and Tang's (2007) concept of constructive alignment, and that is suitable for implementation on an institutional scale. The article explores the application of the model through interviews with academics and concludes by providing a set of reflections on the importance of librarians taking an educationally theorised approach to both teaching and learning conversations related to information literacy and to the development of curriculum resources. All of which, need to be focused on collecting evidence of student learning outcomes.

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  • Actively promoting student engagement within an online environment: Developing and implementing a signature subject on ‘Contemporary Issues in Sex and Sexuality’

    Gillian Fletcher, Gary W. Dowsett, Lilian Austin

    La Trobe University is committed to improving the first year experience, and to developing its online teaching portfolio in response to increasing student demand. This article will acknowledge that these two objectives will remain contradictory if online learning systems are used predominantly as repositories of information with little thought given to their specific pedagogic possibilities. The article will then present a case study of an ‘Signature Subject’ that was developed to actively promote learner-material, learner-learner and learner-lecturer engagement in an entirely online environment, through use of synchronous and asynchronous sessions. Background to subject development will be provided, followed by discussion of challenges faced, responses to challenges and outcomes in terms of student response. The article will conclude by arguing that, as universities increase their use of online learning due to the changing university environment, this does not have to lead to reduced student engagement or poorer first year experiences.

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  • Using capstones to develop research skills and graduate capabilities: A case study from physiology

    Brianna L Julien, Louise Lexis, Johannes Schuijers, Tom Samiric, Stuart McDonald

    In 2011, the Department of Human Biosciences introduced two physiology capstone subjects as part of the Design for Learning Project at La Trobe University. Consistent with the project, the aims of these subjects were to provide an effective culmination point for the Bachelor of Health Science course and to offer students orientation to opportunities for further study, employment and career development. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the skills-related assessment tasks of the newly introduced capstone program and an evaluation of the capstone program based on student performance and feedback scores in conjunction with staff perceptions. The skills-related assessment tasks were designed to facilitate the development of research skills and graduate capabilities such as writing, speaking, creative problem-solving, inquiry/research and team work. Student performance determined by mean scores on the skills-based assessment tasks ranged from A to C. Final grades were significantly higher (p < 0.01) in 2011 when compared with final grades in 2010 and 2009. Students reported that the skills-based assessments contributed to their learning and skill development and satisfaction level was high. Staff noted a higher degree of student-centred learning, a vastly increased workload and a greater need for infrastructure services and support staff. Universities and departments should therefore consider staff and resource requirements when implementing curriculum that has a student-centred approach. In conclusion, the revised curriculum successfully promoted the development of research skills and graduate capabilities, thereby leading to work-readiness and/or entry to graduate studies in the Health and Biological Sciences.

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  • Champions or Helpers: Leadership in Curriculum Reform in Science

    Elizabeth D Johnson, Fiona L Bird, Jeanette Fyffe, Emma Yench

    This study describes the perceptions of embedded teaching and learning leadership teams working on curriculum reform in science teaching departments. The teams combined a formally recognised leader, School Director of Learning and Teaching, with a project-based, more junior academic, Curriculum Fellow, to better leverage support for curriculum reform. Teams were established on the principles of localizing support and maximising credibility with discipline staff. The core teams were supported by a larger Faculty team of Associate Dean Academic, academic developer, educational designer, first year coordinator and project manager. Key themes emerging from the collected data were the complementary roles of members of the team, different perceptions of leadership between the School Directors of Learning and Teaching and the Curriculum Fellows, the importance of acting locally within the disciplines and the synergistic value of working in a team. The combination of formal and informal leadership aggregated into the FSTE School teams offers a model to support sustainable improvement in science teaching and learning in higher education.

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  • Commentary: Curriculum Alignment and After: Prompts, Positions and Prospects at La Trobe University

    Adrian N Jones

    The move to align curriculum has been an important aspect of endeavours to improve and reform higher education. This article places alignment reform at La Trobe University in its institutional context. The reform of generalist degrees programmes is emphasised. The article first traces a problem of curriculum anarchy which La Trobe shared with many other institutions. The paths and foundations of La Trobe's move to align its curriculum are then described, with a focus on their implications for generalist (i.e., non-vocational) programmes. The article concludes by suggesting and sketching a new agenda for reform after alignment: a focus on what students are actually doing now that their academics think they have everything properly aligned.

    Read article: Commentary: Curriculum Alignment and After: Prompts, Positions and Prospects at La Trobe University