Stephen Ward, Scientia Education Academy Fellow 2017 - 2020

Professional Learning and Development

Introduction 

In Term 1 this year I completed my Master of Education (Higher Education specialisation) with a Project on design studio learning and teaching. I entered this learning and development pathway in Semester 1, 2016 when I commenced the Graduate Certificate in University Learning and Teaching (GCULT). From the start, my focus was not so much the not so much on gaining a qualification but establishing a framework for regular reflection on my own teaching through coursework and projects in the program. Underlying my choice to undertake the GCULT/MEd pathway is my conviction that teachers must continually learn to teach. The changes to student attendance and reliance on online delivery forced upon us by the pandemic in 2020 show how rapidly we may need to adapt to changes in learning environments and systems of learning and teaching.

Theoretical Background 

I finished the 24 UoC GCULT program by the end of 2017, taking one course per semester. At the start of 2018 I had transferred to the Master of Education and continued mostly at the rate of one course per Semester or Term. Assessment tasks in some courses provided me with valuable opportunities to reflect on and plan for change in my own courses and approach to teaching, with the benefit of a broader theoretical perspective from my studies and from discussion academics in the program.  

Most of my Education studies were undertaken during the time I was Discipline Director for the undergraduate Industrial Design Program in Built Environment, and had responsibility for leading the change to the current three-term structure, including designing a more flexible program structure and a new blended course.  

Aims 

As with all learning, my aim in undertaking a professional development program aligned to my role as an education leader was to be changed by the experience, not just by theoretical knowledge but in the opportunities to struggle with it and put it to work.   

Progress / Outcomes / Next steps 

I am grateful to all inspiring staff and students who contributed to the programs and courses I was able to undertake and I use this opportunity to encourage others, particularly education-focused academics to consider a similar path as their circumstances permit. 

As the UNSW Handbook entry for the GCULT states, the program is “suitable for both those new to higher education and those seeking further professional learning opportunities to enhance their knowledge and skills in teaching.” 

UNSW Built Environment (BE) Formative Peer Review of Teaching

Stephen Ward and Dr Dijana Alic, UNSW Built Environment

Introduction

Scientia Education Fellows Stephen Ward and Dijana Alic initiated a project at the faculty of Built Environment, to extend the UNSW Medicine's Formative Peer Reviewing Teaching project (FPRT) to their faculty. Following consultations with the team at Medicine, the first reviewer training session was conducted in June 2018 and fourteen BE reviewers were trained. The session was led by Chinthaka Balasooriya from Faculty of Medicine under a project funded with a grant from the Scientia Educational Investment Fund. The BE system and procedures largely follow the pattern established by colleagues in Medicine. A BE web page has been created on the staff intranet site – with provision of links for staff to request a review of their teaching and to express interest in being trained as a reviewer (log-in required). An admin staff member has been appointed to maintain the system and its records.  

Theoretical Background: Formative Peer Review complements the UNSW Summative Peer Review of Teaching scheme which gives staff the means of providing direct evidence of teaching practice. UNSW requires this evidence with any application for a Vice Chancellor’s Award for teaching and, from 2019, with an application for academic promotion. Read more here.

FPRT, on the other hand, is a collaborative and collegial process to support academic development and improvement of teaching, which will assist academics in preparing for a summative review. A key feature of the process is that it will be driven by the reviewee, who retain ownership of the formative peer review documents. In BE, the FBRT process uses the same dimensions of teaching and rating tool as the UNSW Summative Peer review. . 

Aims: The aims of the project are to  

• Provide collaborative and collegiate support for development of teaching in the Faculty. Support is extended to sessional teaching staff as well as continuing academics. 
• Assist academics in preparing for a UNSW Summative Peer Review.  

Next steps: The program was trialled in Term 1, 2019. Following this trial, we will launch a campaign to promote the scheme more widely – seeking both requests for review and expressions of interest in becoming a reviewer. Another reviewer training/refresher session will be planned for mid 2019.

UNSW level contributions

• UNSW Scientia Education Academy