2021: ASCILITE 2021 Conference Proceedings: Back to the Future

As one of the earliest instructional methods in formal education, lectures are primarily designed for students to learn through acquisition (Laurillard, 2012). Bligh’s seminal work (2000) concluded with evidence that lectures are as

As one of the earliest instructional methods in formal education, lectures are primarily designed for students to learn through acquisition (Laurillard, 2012). Bligh’s seminal work (2000) concluded with evidence that lectures are as effective, but not more effective, than other methods in transmitting simple information. Although large, didactic, ‘sage on the stage’ (King, 1993) lectures have been much criticised over the past few decades, evolution to ‘guide by the side’, facilitated approaches has been slow.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about an era of innovation in higher education that was extraordinary both in its scale and suddenness. Our study, carried out in STEM and Health disciplines of a multi- campus Victorian university, asked the

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about an era of innovation in higher education that was extraordinary both in its scale and suddenness. Our study, carried out in STEM and Health disciplines of a multi- campus Victorian university, asked the teaching academics in the eye of this storm to reflect on what they had learnt from this experience. In particular, we asked what had worked, what had not worked, what they planned to retain in their teaching post-COVID-19, and what they would be relieved to discard. Above all, we found the experience of COVID-19 learning and teaching to be highly variegated. Academics reported some online activities which were predominantly successful, others which were predominantly unsuccessful, and still others for which the experience was quite different, depending on the context. Our data suggest that future learning and teaching policy should allow for discipline and cohort nuances and cannot be one-size-fits-all.

Graduates require opportunities to gain experience and develop professional networks to enhance their employability and career progression. However, students’ access to relevant networks and opportunities to gain experience is not

Graduates require opportunities to gain experience and develop professional networks to enhance their employability and career progression. However, students’ access to relevant networks and opportunities to gain experience is not equitable, and this contributes to gaps in employment outcomes at graduation and beyond (Harvey et al., 2017; Tomaszewski et al., 2019). This paper showcases key principles underpinning the design and success of a student and alumni-led network designed to enhance employability. In addition to creating networks between students and alumni, Deakin Launch Network, leverages their skills and experience to identify and create opportunities to enhance the employability of Deakin graduates, especially for those more likely to face disadvantage in the graduate employment market. In doing so, the network provides students with valuable connections, experience, and knowledge relevant to employability. Students also report that the connections and collaborations supported by the network, contributed to their wellbeing and sense of belonging during remote learning, and satisfaction with their educational experience. For alumni, the network has provided motivation and opportunity to re- connect or remain connected to the university. Our case study shows that students and alumni are a valuable source of networks, experience and influence that can, and should, be better utilised by universities. Furthermore, distributed student-leadership and purposeful inclusion can positively impact the outcomes of student-staff partnerships, including project deliverables, the student experience and learning outcomes.

Research shows that students who believe their teachers are caring for them are more likely to engage with the class and exhibit higher levels of self-esteem and well-being. What we learn from the past should guide our present practice to

Research shows that students who believe their teachers are caring for them are more likely to engage with the class and exhibit higher levels of self-esteem and well-being. What we learn from the past should guide our present practice to pave the way for a more authentic relationship with our students in the future. This paper reports a case study of how a ‘pedagogy of care’ was implemented in a first-year large teacher-education unit of study at an Australian university during the transition to fully online learning and teaching in response to the pandemic. The paper reports the strategies adopted by the teaching team and the results of an online survey conducted with the students about their experience of the transition. The qualitative survey responses were organised into themes that illustrated how students perceived teacher care. According to the students, teachers cared when they organised consistent synchronous sessions, provided opportunity for interaction between students, recorded lectures, were lenient, modified assessment, marked assessments quickly, exhibited positivity, and acknowledged challenges due to COVID-19. These themes were then classified into two broad categories on a continuum ranging between the delivery of the unit to interpersonal or human aspects.

Professional recognition through Certified Membership of the Association for Learning Technology (CMALT) provides a significant opportunity for all those who use learning technologies to be acknowledged for their experience, capabilities

Professional recognition through Certified Membership of the Association for Learning Technology (CMALT) provides a significant opportunity for all those who use learning technologies to be acknowledged for their experience, capabilities, and practice. The CMALT portfolio requires a personal narrative that presents description, critical reflection, and evidence of professional practice. Through an experiential lens, this paper considers three facets of the authors’ CMALT experiences a decade apart—how the portfolios as personal narratives encouraged reflection on practice; the commonalities in the technology themes presented in those portfolios; and how reflective coaching contributed to the benefits of applying for CMALT.

After a successful proof of concept to expand the university’s commitment to Open Educational Resources (OER), a pilot program was launched to facilitate the adaptation and development of Open Textbooks by academic staff for students as

After a successful proof of concept to expand the university’s commitment to Open Educational Resources (OER), a pilot program was launched to facilitate the adaptation and development of Open Textbooks by academic staff for students as well as broader audiences. The pilot involved the use of the publishing platform Pressbooks as a mechanism to raise awareness of Open Educational Resources, and to provide a university-supported tool with which to develop Open Textbooks. Commencing in Semester 2, 2020, participants in the pilot received vendor training from Pressbooks, as well as support from learning and teaching and library staff. Pilot participants used the Pressbooks platform in a number of ways. Academics created textbooks as course material in a single unit, academics adapted open textbooks for Australian contexts over a number of units, and academics created open textbooks based on their research and not for a specific unit of study. Of the 13 pilot participants, five open textbooks were created, with one still in development. Responses to the pilot were mixed. Student feedback on the use of Pressbooks indicates that they enjoyed the structured and easy-to-read course material. Other students expressed frustration with the higher workload expectations of consuming material online prior to participating in synchronous classes. Students appreciated the zero cost of engaging with an open textbook. Academic feedback was also mixed, with some appreciating the flexibility and engagement that they can achieve in Pressbooks. Others were discouraged by the amount of time spent on creating material for little perceived benefit. The majority of academic staff who developed a textbook using Pressbooks would like to continue to use the platform.

Typical university Learning Management Systems (LMSs) place an enrolment paywall between students and the content within a unit. This has the effect not only of preventing access from potential students, but also of locking past students

Typical university Learning Management Systems (LMSs) place an enrolment paywall between students and the content within a unit. This has the effect not only of preventing access from potential students, but also of locking past students out from accessing updated materials as the subject develops over subsequent years to their enrolment. In this and many regards, the mechanisms by which academics can produce and publish content face limitations that open source software documentation sites do not. This provocation paper describes some of these limitations and gives an overview of the JamStack – common techniques that have developed within the software development community that allow convenient self-publishing of sites and materials. The paper then gives a brief introduction to Doctacular: a course-oriented static site generator that is under development (but already used for two live sites) to bring JamStack-style publishing to academic course materials

Specialist medical education aims to develop clinical knowledge in conjunction with professional attributes such as communication skills, collaboration, health advocacy, management, and professionalism. RANZCO is undertaking a 3-year

Specialist medical education aims to develop clinical knowledge in conjunction with professional attributes such as communication skills, collaboration, health advocacy, management, and professionalism. RANZCO is undertaking a 3-year curriculum redesign plan that incorporated feedback received from the Australian Medical Council and is moving towards a systematic approach to supervisor and trainee teaching and learning interventions to improve the quality of the learning experience. In parallel to the new curriculum, the college has established the Digital Learning Transformation initiative by developing theoretical frameworks to guide a systematic approach to learning design. The frameworks informed the design, implementation, and evaluation of interactive modules to support supervisors in educational topics. This concise paper aims to present the theoretical underpinning and the Modus Operandi of the intervention. The authors hope this initiative could inspire other medical colleges to take an evidence-based educational approach to supervisor training.

Higher education institutions and its stakeholders are just about to catch up with the rapid pace at which educational data are being generated. While recent learning analytics research and applications are mainly focused on learning

Higher education institutions and its stakeholders are just about to catch up with the rapid pace at which educational data are being generated. While recent learning analytics research and applications are mainly focused on learning, there is an increased awareness that data analytics may provide teaching staff with evidence-based insights for enhancing teaching processes. The aim of this systematic review is to gain a deeper understanding on how data analytics in the educational context may play a role in helping teaching staff to leverage their own teaching A total of N = 18,723 articles were located and screened resulting in a final sample N = 35 key publications. Findings indicate that empowering teachers with data from educational contexts may support pre-active, interactive, and post-active reflection phases of teaching. However, teaching staff are required to further develop their educational data literacy in order to avoid biased pedagogical decision-making. data analytics

La Trobe University is implementing a new Social Work course. Several evidence-based curriculum design and teaching innovations have been identified as having the potential to support both new explicit and implicit curriculum. This paper

La Trobe University is implementing a new Social Work course. Several evidence-based curriculum design and teaching innovations have been identified as having the potential to support both new explicit and implicit curriculum. This paper reports on the introduction of an innovative learning technology solution to promote a student centred learning approach. The use of the technology is novel to social work coursework education so evaluating the impact on supporting learning outcomes addresses a current gap in the research literature. Supporting a student centred approach, the innovation amalgamates ePortfolios with Moodle LMS to capture learning activities and assessments in their own digital space. The project has been a collaboration between the Social Work discipline and Technology Enhanced Learning Services. Findings from our evaluation show that the use of ePortfolios is consistent with transformational learning principles whereby the software application enables critical reflection, a sense of ownership over learning and the opportunity for students to be creative. The innovation also empowers students to develop a portfolio of curated reference material along with indivdiualised evidence of knowledge that can be utilised beyond graduation for potential employers or opportunities for further study.

Ghosting is a student behaviour characterised by enrolling in a subject but never participating. Hence, a ghost student who remains enrolled receives a zero-fail grade. From 2022, the Job ready Graduates Package will require that only

Ghosting is a student behaviour characterised by enrolling in a subject but never participating. Hence, a ghost student who remains enrolled receives a zero-fail grade. From 2022, the Job ready Graduates Package will require that only genuine students have access to Commonwealth assistance at Australian Universities and an institution may need to refund the fees of what are referred to as non-genuine students. In 2019 and 2020, 382 first-year subjects were monitored to identify disengaged students in weeks 3 and 4 of the session using learning analytics and non- submission of an early assessment item. Disengaged students were contacted via phone and 2-way SMS and offered timely and targeted support pre census. The total number of domestic undergraduate students receiving a zero fail has decreased during this time. To further reduce the number of ghost students, once identified as disengaged, an engagement should be mandatory to remain in the subject.

Knowing when a student is being productive in an online learning environment is challenging to discern from online trace data. Custom built assessment tools, integrated into a learning management system (LMS), offer a way to obtain

Knowing when a student is being productive in an online learning environment is challenging to discern from online trace data. Custom built assessment tools, integrated into a learning management system (LMS), offer a way to obtain finer-grained data not commonly available in existing systems. An exploratory observational study of 1,822 assessment submissions in an online course of 500 students was conducted. All assessments were submitted utilising a new online assessment tool that offered embedded resources, feedback and tracked when words were typed or pasted into the tool. Students were hesitant to consistently use the online editor, moderately used the embedded resources and heavily utilised the feedback. There was moderate evidence that whether or not a student viewed the previous assessments feedback was a better indicator of future assessment success than LMS activity.

Advancements in immersive virtual reality (VR) have encouraged educators to start looking for ways to leverage the potentials of this technology. This concise paper reports the preliminary findings of a study where VR was used in an

Advancements in immersive virtual reality (VR) have encouraged educators to start looking for ways to leverage the potentials of this technology. This concise paper reports the preliminary findings of a study where VR was used in an educational setting. A small group of teachers and students explored free VR apps and investigated their usefulness for learning. Through this activity, they not only compiled a list of VR apps that could potentially be used by teachers but also co-investigated the benefits and challenges of implementing VR-powered activities. The study was backed up by student app reviews, teacher observations, and focus group interviews. The results revealed that students found VR engaging and stimulating and successfully explored the educational values of multiple apps; however, they experienced some degree of cybersickness. As a response to this concern, the next phase of the study will focus on desktop VR and learner- generated content.