Lightning & Practitioner Workshops Term 2 2024

1pm Wednesday 12 June

Oral assessments such as viva voce and interactive orals are becoming increasingly common in higher education to promote academic integrity, authenticity and to foster communication skills. This workshop will explore different models of oral assessment and offer practical strategies for planning, scaffolding, and implementing this mode. At the end of the workshop, you’ll have some time to workshop your ideas with your peers and education developers.

Speakers

Meredith MacAulay (ADA) is an experienced English language teacher and curriculum writer, passionate about facilitating engaging, goal-focussed learning experiences. She has designed and delivered a range of oral assessments, notably in UNSW university pathway programs. She is also a trained speaking examiner for international English language proficiency exams including Cambridge and IELTS. In her current role as an educational developer in ADA, as part of Nexus, she is interested in how oral assessments can be harnessed to build and assess discipline-based knowledge and skills.

Dr Pranit Anand (Business) is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Information Systems and Technology Management in the Business School. He currently teaches various networking and cybersecurity courses. He is passionate about students’ engagement and success and recognises the important role assessments play towards this. He attempts to design assessments that are meaningful, transferrable, and flexible. Pranit will share his own experience designing and implementing the Interactive Oral Assessment in his post-graduate course.

10am Thursday 4 July

Quality feedback is crucial in educational practice to drive continuous improvement, enhance performance, and foster a growth mindset. Executed well it propels our students further in their learning goals. Timely feedback, within and outside formal assessment, is a powerful lever.

Enhance your teaching efficiency and student outcomes with our interactive workshop on feedback. Discover streamlined processes to deliver high-quality feedback, tailored for the demands of large classrooms, leveraging digital tools and Ai.

Learn practical strategies that ensure consistent, impactful feedback, empowering both you and your students to excel. Join us to transform your feedback through the Where to Next approach (Hattie and Timperley, 2007) and make a lasting educational impact through quick and simple adjustments.

Speakers

Alicia Jacenko is an educator in the areas of speculative design, innovation, and collaboration. Her own education background is in Multidisciplinary Design and Education, most recently completing a Master of Design Futures from RMiT. Alicia’s practice uses co-design methodologies as strategic tools for social impact in transition environments.

Since joining UNSW in 2021 Alicia has primarily been delivering project-based learning in WIL courses both through UNSW Business School’s Career Accelerator and the WIL Central teams as the convenor for COMM2233 and CDEV3000/6000 Summer Intensive respectively. Alongside her sessional teaching, she is also an Education Staff Developer within the UNSW Business School Education Portfolio and is passionate about supporting educators across all aspects of their teaching.

Dr Flemming Rhode is an Education Staff Developer working in the UNSW Business School Education Portfolio and is passionate about working with UNSW academics to continuously develop and improve teaching practices. Flemming considers learning contextual and dialogic in nature and believes in iterative, reflective practice combined with evidence-based decision making.  

Prior to working as an Education Staff Developer Flemming earned his Ph.D. at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California and worked as a Lecturer at Central Michigan University publishing in the field of Political Communication and New Media.

1pm Tuesday 23 July

Designing Rubrics that Work is a comprehensive workshop aimed at equipping educators with the expertise to develop robust assessment tools that drive student success. Through this immersive session, participants delve into the principles of effective rubric design, learning how to construct clear, criteria-based evaluation frameworks tailored to their specific teaching contexts.

Attendees explore the importance of aligning rubrics with learning outcomes, ensuring that assessment practices are transparent, fair, and conducive to meaningful feedback. The workshop guides educators through the process of crafting rubrics that promote both accountability and student empowerment, fostering a culture of self-assessment and continuous improvement.

Furthermore, participants discover strategies for optimising rubrics to streamline grading processes and enhance instructional efficiency. By the workshop's conclusion, educators emerge equipped with the knowledge and skills to design rubrics that serve as powerful tools for assessment, communication, and instructional differentiation, ultimately fostering a dynamic and inclusive learning environment.

Speaker

Sean Maloney (Law & Justice) is a forward-thinking Educational Developer within the Faculty of Law and Justice, bringing a wealth of experience and expertise to the realm of higher education. With over 15 years of dedicated service as a primary school teacher and assistant principal, Sean has honed their skills in pedagogy, leadership, and student support.

Sean's commitment to fostering inclusive learning environments is seen through their advocacy for effective communication strategies that cater to diverse learning needs. Recognising the importance of tailored approaches to education, they advocate for strategies and methods aimed at enhancing the student experience and achieving meaningful learning outcomes.

Drawing upon their extensive background in primary education, Sean brings a unique perspective to their role, infusing innovation and best practices into engaging students, supporting their learning and teacher instruction.

10am Tuesday 16 July & 1pm Wednesday 24 July

Transparency in Learning in Teaching (TiLT) prioritises student learning by ensuring that assessments are accessible to all students, regardless of their educational background. TiLT helps students to understand what they need to do, why they are doing it, what they will gain from it, and how to succeed in an assessment task. It has been shown to benefit all students, but particularly disadvantaged and underrepresented students. In this workshop, participants will apply TiLT principles to one assessment task, without redesigning the task itself.

Speaker

Dr Alex Bannigan is a biologist by training, with a background in cell biology research, microscopy, teaching and course design. She left academia in 2014 when she came to UNSW to establish the Women in Engineering Program. Since 2017, Alex has been dedicated to supporting UNSW academics to be the best teachers they can be with initiatives including the Course Design Institute and is now Head, Academic and Education Focussed Development in the PVCESE Portfolio. 

10am Tuesday 18 June

Unlock the potential of your teaching practice with our workshop focused on communication strategies that empower diverse learners and build quality relationships fostering a more inclusive and supportive learning experience.

Speaker

Sean Maloney (Law & Justice) is a forward-thinking Educational Developer within the Faculty of Law and Justice, bringing a wealth of experience and expertise to the realm of higher education. With over 15 years of dedicated service as a primary school teacher and assistant principal, Sean has honed their skills in pedagogy, leadership, and student support.

Sean's commitment to fostering inclusive learning environments is seen through their advocacy for effective communication strategies that cater to diverse learning needs. Recognising the importance of tailored approaches to education, they advocate for strategies and methods aimed at enhancing the student experience and achieving meaningful learning outcomes.

Drawing upon their extensive background in primary education, Sean brings a unique perspective to their role, infusing innovation and best practices into engaging students, supporting their learning and teacher instruction.

10am Wednesday 17 July

Scaffolding Learning for Diverse Student Needs is a transformative workshop designed to equip educators with dynamic strategies tailored to meet the unique requirements of their diverse learners. In this interactive session, participants delve into the art of scaffolding – the systematic support provided to students as they engage in complex tasks or learn new concepts. Through a blend of theoretical insights and practical applications, attendees explore how to create a supportive learning environment where every student can thrive.

The workshop delves into understanding various learning styles, cultural backgrounds, and individual needs, empowering educators to adapt their teaching approaches effectively. Participants gain invaluable tools to differentiate instruction, provide targeted interventions, and foster inclusive classroom communities. By the workshop's conclusion, educators emerge with a toolkit to scaffold learning experiences that cater to the diverse strengths and challenges present within their student body, ultimately promoting academic success and fostering a love for lifelong learning.

Speaker

Sean Maloney (Law & Justice) is a forward-thinking Educational Developer within the Faculty of Law and Justice, bringing a wealth of experience and expertise to the realm of higher education. With over 15 years of dedicated service as a primary school teacher and assistant principal, Sean has honed their skills in pedagogy, leadership, and student support.

Sean's commitment to fostering inclusive learning environments is seen through their advocacy for effective communication strategies that cater to diverse learning needs. Recognising the importance of tailored approaches to education, they advocate for strategies and methods aimed at enhancing the student experience and achieving meaningful learning outcomes.

Drawing upon their extensive background in primary education, Sean brings a unique perspective to their role, infusing innovation and best practices into engaging students, supporting their learning and teacher instruction.

11am Wednesday 19 June

This workshop will explore Assessment for Learning principles to enhance assurance of learning. We’ll examine these principles, delve into the reasons behind student cheating, and discuss how a focus on assessment for learning can bolster assessment security against AI misuse. The session will approach this from an assessment design perspective. Presenters will demonstrate how to apply these principles to a summative assessment and provide time for participants to work on applying them to their own assessments.

Note: Please bring an assessment that you would like to work on to this session.

Speakers

Giordana Orsini Florez (Engineering) is the Senior Educational Developer for the Nexus program in the Faculty of Engineering. She holds a bachelor's degree in TESOL and two master's degrees in education, with specialisations in higher education and curriculum and assessment. With over 15 years of experience teaching English as a second language both overseas and in Australia, Giordana is dedicated to enhancing the student experience through effective curriculum design. Giordana’s research interests focus on improving AI literacy among educators and enhancing assessment security. This work is part of a flagship Faculty project in collaboration with the engineering Nexus team. 

Dr Swapneel Thite (Engineering) is an Educational Developer for the Nexus program in the Faculty of Engineering. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Electronics and Telecommunication, a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, and a PhD in Engineering Education. His doctoral research earned him the PGC Research Candidate Award, and he has published in multiple peer-reviewed conferences and top-tier journals.
 
Passionate about student learning and educational innovation, Swapneel is leading a flagship faculty research project aimed at identifying vulnerabilities in assessment design related to AI and enhancing AI literacy among academics and students. His research interests includes teamwork in engineering education,  integration of AI in higher education and innovative pedagogical practices.

12pm Wednesday 22 May (In-person only)

Are you an educator or education designer looking to navigate the evolving world of Education Technology? Whether you're grappling with student engagement, administration, feedback, assessment, staff development, etc.… you've probably wondered if you could acquire or build a piece of Education Tech to make life easier. As education becomes increasingly intertwined with technology, understanding and leveraging this relationship is crucial. This interactive session will help you demystify your specific problem, enhance your understanding of the solution, and aid you in planning your next steps. 

You will engage with the design thinking process in the context of higher education and learn about the School of Clinical Medicine's custom-built Ed Tech tools made using the Microsoft Power Platform. Bring the problems you want to address and collaborate at our activity stations to define your educational challenges, brainstorm innovative solutions, and devise a practical action plan. 

You will leave the session with a deeper appreciation of design thinking and a strategy tailored to your teaching context. Don't just keep up with the digital evolution, be at the forefront!

Speaker

Jen Xiang (Medicine & Health) is an Education Designer in the School of Clinical Medicine, where she collaborates with her team to improve learning and teaching experiences across clinical campuses and learning environments. Her journey in higher education began with frontline teaching and moved into cross-disciplinary staff development, leading a team to design and implement university-wide programs to empower educators to teach across modalities and environments. Her ethos is "pedagogy first, enabled by technology, and grounded in human-centred design". Jen is deeply committed to designing environments and tools that foster genuine engagement. As a creative who's passionate about science and technology, she loves combining pedagogy with sound design and development processes to devise fit-for-purpose education solutions. She classifies herself as a generalist with specialist skills and is always looking for the next challenge. 

11am Tuesday 4 June

How can Star Wars help you to deliver a more engaging lecture? Unlike "The Force", storytelling is something you can readily harness to deliver a more engaging and structured student experience in your courses. In this workshop, Poon demystifies the idea of "storytelling", shares his story-centred process for designing engaging classes, as well as some evidence that supports the success of this approach.

Finally, he will eventually stop talking, and facilitate a hands-on activity to guide attendees on implementing this storytelling framework in their own practice.

Speaker

Dr Poon Leung (Business) is an EF academic from the School of Risk and Actuarial Studies in the UNSW Business School. He describes himself as the "mad (but still ethical) scientist of education.