UNSW College is pleased to host the July meeting of UNFED
The session will provide updates on UNSW College transitioning to becoming a Higher Education Provider; and will also reflect on the performance of UNSW Diplomas since inception.
This will be followed by presentations on two best-practice learning and teaching approaches:
- the use of experiential learning in developing engineering students’ intuition and logical thinking in the theoretical and conceptual course on materials design and application,
- the exploration of successful task design by examining various influential sociocultural factors to improve our understanding of how to create effective tasks that promote learning and student engagement.
Agenda
- What happening across the road – UNSW College? - Louise Zieme
UNSW College is entering an exciting new phase in its history, transitioning from a third-party provider of UNSW programs to a Higher Education Provider (HEP) in its own right. This transition represents a significant change across various aspects of the organisation, including strategy, structure, culture, systems, processes, and compliance. This session will explain what these changes mean for the College and the University.
- The UNSW Diplomas – Tertiary Pathways into Second Year - Dr Suzann Malaney
Nearly 5 years since the commencement of the first intake, the tertiary pathway programs have grown from the original two Diplomas to a total of six programs. This presentation will provide an update on where we are at with the different diploma pathways, focusing on student numbers and diversity, and performance in the respective bachelor programs.
- Experiential Learning – a Case Study from Materials Science and Engineering – Dr Muhammad Danish Haneef
This presentation highlights the use of ‘experiential learning’ as an effective pedagogy in a very theoretical and conceptual UNSW Diploma course on materials design and application. Experiential learning allows a shift from a teacher-centred approach, towards a semi-structured approach, which allows the students to develop their engineering intuition and logical thinking by continuously shifting their thinking paradigm from underlying theoretical principles to interaction with real world resources.
- Factors to consider in task design: a sociocultural view – Dr Sara Mashayekh
This presentation aims to provide insights into the design of successful tasks by examining various influential factors. Specifically, it will delve into the role of task designed-in scaffolding, and the impact of teachers and learner interpretation on task implementation. By exploring these aspects, the presentation seeks to enhance our understanding of how to create effective and engaging tasks that promote learning and student engagement.
Each presentation will be followed by a short Q&A.
Speakers
Louise Zieme started her career as an economist with the Reserve Bank (RBA), completing Bachelor of Commerce in Economic at UNSW. She joined UNSW in 2001, as a sessional lecturer in the School of Economics. Her main academic focus and passion is teaching and learning, completing a Masters in Education at UTS. At UNSW College Louise has moved into a number of leadership roles as Education Manager, Assistance Academic Director and Academic Head - Business Humanities and Design. She is currently in the role of Senior Academic Advisor to projects.
Dr Suzann Malaney moved to Australia after completing her PhD at the University of Toronto, Canada. She worked as a cancer researcher at Sydney’s Garvan Institute of Medical Research and after three post-doctoral fellowships, Suzann decided to change her career focus from research to teaching. Since then, she has held numerous leadership roles in Science and STEM and also led the development of the inaugural UNSW Diplomas. Now, as Head of Programs, Suzann oversees all academic programs (STEM, Business/Humanities/Design) and English courses.
Dr Muhammad Danish Haneef is a prominent STEM educator at UNSW College, teaching Mechanical, Materials, and Design engineering for 4 years. With a 6-year affiliation with UNSW, he has excelled as a researcher and educational technologist. His motivation lies in research and implementing technology for high-quality course creation, emphasizing blended learning and learner-focused teaching. To him, seeing the students grow in knowledge and mature professionally is the most satisfying aspect of teaching.
Dr. Sara Mashayekh is an experienced educator and researcher in UNSW College who has also served as a project manager and learning designer in university initiatives. She frequently publishes in and reviews for peer-reviewed journals and presents at international conferences as the invited speaker and presenter. Her contributions to university and state research projects have primarily focused on educational technology, pedagogical tasks, formative assessment, and teacher education.