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PACES2019

PEER ASSISTED COURSE ENHANCEMENT SCHEME

Academics Helping Academics:Partnerships Building Quality In

Higher Education Courses

PARTICIPANTHANDBOOK

TABLE OF CONTENTSIntroduction

Background ................................................................................................................................................................. 3

What does PACES aim to achieve? ......................................................................................................................... 3

What is PACES? ........................................................................................................................................................... 3

The PACES process

Timetable of activities ............................................................................................................................................... 6

PACES process map .................................................................................................................................................. 7

Pre-Trimester Tasks

Task 1. Meet and greet .............................................................................................................................................. 8

Task 1. Worksheet ...................................................................................................................................................... 9

Task 2. Critical reflection ........................................................................................................................................ 11

Task 2. Worksheet .................................................................................................................................................... 12

Task 3. Set goals ....................................................................................................................................................... 15

Task 3. Worksheet .................................................................................................................................................... 16

During Trimester Tasks

Task 4. Engage your students ................................................................................................................................18

Task 4. Worksheet .................................................................................................................................................... 19

Post-Trimester Tasks

Task 5. Review your achievements .......................................................................................................................20

Task 5. Worksheet .................................................................................................................................................... 21

Task 6. Performance planning .............................................................................................................................23

Task 6. Worksheet ....................................................................................................................................................24

Appendices & References

Appendix 1 – Student feedback tool example 1 ................................................................................................26

Appendix 2 – Student feedback tool example 2 ...............................................................................................27

Appendix 3 – Example of a summary of feedback session with your students .........................................28

Appendix 4 – Course Quality Attributes .............................................................................................................29

Appendix 5 – Education Research Journals ......................................................................................................30

Appendix 6 – Course Improvement Plan ........................................................................................................... 31

Resources/References ..........................................................................................................................................33

3

INTRODUCTIONWelcome to the Peer Assisted Course Enhancement Scheme, commonly known as PACES! This handbook outlines the process, timelines and tasks.

BACKGROUND

The scheme was first piloted, as PATS, in 2008 in the Faculty of Information Technology, Monash University, Caulfield Campus, Australia. Following its initial success, PATS was funded by a 2010 ALTC Teaching Fellowship to open the scheme to all academics within Monash who wished to improve the health and quality of their courses. Funding from the Council of Australian Directors of Academic Development (CADAD) then allowed the scheme to be piloted across four other Australian universities with great success. It was here that, in 2012 Griffith University trialled the scheme with much success and renamed it to PACES, expressing more clearly the objectives of the scheme within our context.

WHAT DOES PACES AIM TO ACHIEVE?

PACES is all about:

� Enhancing learning and teaching through sharing ideas

� Working with peers to reinvigorate courses

� Promoting and supporting academics to innovate

� Building and sustaining peer relationships

WHAT IS PACES?

PACES is an interactive and engaging scheme, with pre-trimester, during trimester and post-trimester tasks. Tasks appear in a variety of formats and focus on aspects of course reinvigoration from four perspectives:

1. Self,

2. Students,

3. Peers, and

4. Current literature.

In this handbook we have set out to give you an overview of PACES and detail its tasks and requirements. Templates have been developed to provide a structured framework for participants to follow. Participants are encouraged to attend four meetings with the PACES Manager and complete a series of six tasks as outlined on the following pages. Each task description includes a task checklist to help keep you on track.

We hope you enjoy your PACES experience!

4

THE PACES PROCESSPACES is a developmental and confidential process in which two or more colleagues collaborate to improve the quality of, or reinvigorate, a course.

PACESPartnerships

Reciprocalpartnership

Mentor - Mentee

Mentor - MenteeGroup partnership

ReciprocalGrouppartnership

There are four modes of operation for partnerships:

1. Mentor-mentee partnership—partnership focuses on the mentee’s course. The mentor supports the mentee in completing the handbook tasks.

2. Reciprocal partnership—partners work together providing support and mentorship to each other in reinvigorating their individual courses. Each partner completes their own handbook.

3. Mentor-mentee group partnerships— a group of mentees works with one mentor. Each mentee completes their own handbook.

4. Reciprocal group partnerships— a small group works together as peer mentors. Each group member completes their own handbook.

There is no pre-requisite that a mentor be more senior to a mentee; it may be that the mentor is chosen because they have experience in a particular area of teaching that the mentee wishes to learn about, e.g. blended learning. If you are having difficulty identifying a mentor you can contact the PACES Manager or Coordinator to discuss.

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There are three stages to PACES:

1. Pre-trimester tasks

2. During trimester tasks

3. Post trimester tasks

In addition to the tasks we encourage you to identify at least two professional development activities in learning and teaching that you can undertake whilst doing PACES. Examples of these are provided later in this handbook.

Partnerships work together setting goals for the trimester. A timetable of meetings is established and the partnerships are supported with coffee vouchers to encourage regular informal meetings. These meetings are an opportunity for you to share and develop your theory and philosophy about teaching and learning in higher education as well as cover the tasks involved in the PACES.

Partnerships are supported by the PACES Manager and PACES Coordinator.

Meetings with PACES Manager

1. Initial information session — outlines the scheme, its aims and the tasks involved. (Approx 1 hour)

2. Welcome to PACES learning and teaching session - discuss your goals for the trimester and how your S.M.A.R.T plan will help you achieve them. May be face to face or video call. (Approx 30 mins)

3. Learning and teaching coaching session — meet to discuss progress and be provided with any additional resources to assist you in completing tasks. May be face to face or video call. (Approx 30 minutes)

4. Celebration event — an opportunity to share your own experience with the process, learn from others and give feedback on how the scheme could be improved for future participants. (Approx 1 hour)

6

TIMETABLE OF ACTIVITIES

The following timetable outlines the 6 tasks (pre-trimester, during trimester and post trimester).

Pre-trimester tasks

1. Meet and greet — introduce yourself and meet your partner if they are previously unknown to you. Establish a timetable of meetings

2. Critical reflection

3. Set goals — develop a specific action plan to achieve these goals including identifying professional development activities that may assist you

During trimester tasks

1. Engage your students

a. Decide how to gather informal student feedback b. Gather feedbackc. Discuss feedback with your partner(s)d. Conduct a summary of feedback session

Post-trimester tasks

1. Critically reflect on the trimester — review your goals and highlight achievements

2. Performance planning — incorporate any changes into your professional development plan and course improvement plan

Please Note: For formal recognition of participation in the PACES process and for your official training record to be updated, you must submit all completed worksheets to the PACES Coordinator.

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PRE-TRIMESTER TASKSIt’s time to start PACES. This is the planning phase where you develop your strategy for making the changes you want to your course. There are three pre-trimester tasks. Each of the tasks is designed to

get you organised and prepared to make changes to your course.

TASK 1. MEET AND GREET

Because there are different partnership types in PACES the first task is divided into two steps:

1. Step 1 – your first task is to introduce yourself to them; tell them what you do, and why you are doing PACES, outline the course you teach and your role within it. This is also the opportunity for the partnership to agree on how they would like to work over the course of PACES so that goals are achieved (do you expect to meet face to face, how often, where, when etc.).

2. Step 2 – It is important to schedule meeting times and make a commitment to keep these dates. This is also an opportunity to discuss the professional development activities that you plan to undertake during PACES.

Use the Task checklist and Task 1 worksheets following to assist in your preparation.

TASK CHECKLIST

� Familiarise yourself with the PACES website https://www.griffith.edu.au/learning-teaching/quality/peer-review-of-teaching (you can also find extra resources on the PATS website – see reference list)

� Introduce yourself - tell your partner a little about yourself, for example:

} Your name and the course you are teaching

} What do you do? (work, study, parent)

} Why are you doing PACES?

� Plan your meeting dates for the rest of the trimester. Write a one sentence aim for each meeting. This may change over the course of the trimester—simply annotate the worksheet as appropriate.

� Collect coffee vouchers from your PACES Coordinator

� Arrange to view previous course evaluation qualitative comments and teaching evaluations

� Forward a copy of worksheet 1 to the PACES Coordinator

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TASK 1

Step 1 - Meet and Greet (for partnerships that have not worked together before)

To get the PACES process underway, introduce yourself and get to know your partner(s).

Provide a brief biography of yourself

Outline the background context of the course you have chosen to reinvigorate. Where does your course fit within the broader degree program? What are your broad goals for the PACES process (you will make these more specific in task 3)

Establish some ground rules on how to operate effectively as a partnership

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Meeting Dates Brief aim(s) for each meeting

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Step 2 - PLAN: Plan your meetings for the rest of the trimester and discuss arrangements if you are unable to meet face to face.

Remember: Email completed worksheet to the PACES Coordinator

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TASK 2. CRITICAL REFLECTION

Task 2 requires you to think critically about your course and is divided in to two steps:

1. Step 1 - At Griffith, our capacity to ensure high quality student learning experiences depends on remarkable staff. As staff, each of us has capabilities that we use in a variety of roles, both within and outside of Griffith, including Educator, Course Convenor and Program Director roles. The Griffith Learning and Teaching Capabilities Framework (GLTCF) makes explicit the individual capabilities underpinning our roles in learning and teaching. Your first task is to critically reflect on your course curriculum using the capabilities statements related to ‘designing for learning’ and ‘understanding the learning context’ clusters from the GLTCF.

2. Step 2 - Break down the barriers. If you want to transform your course you need to be aware of barriers that have the potential to impact your efforts. Consider what is/or has the potential to hold you back from reinvigorating your course. Identify those barriers that are within your control to change and those that you think are not.

The PACES identifies 3 types of barriers:

1. Internal barriers: For example: motivation, fear of failure, tiredness etc.

2. External barriers within your control: For example: poor organisation of teaching materials, the textbook is out of date,

3. External barriers outside of your control: For example: students not having the pre-required knowledge, timetabling, room allocation., teaching format

Use the Task checklist and Task 2 worksheets following to assist you.

TASK CHECKLIST

� Familiarise yourself with the Griffith Learning and Teaching Capabilities Framework (GLTCF) via the Learning Futures website: https://www.griffith.edu.au/learning-futures/our-practice/professional-learning/griffith-learning-and-teaching-capabilities-framework

� With your partner, critically reflect on your course curriculum using the GLTCF, noting your thoughts in relation to these areas in the worksheet on the following page

� Discuss these areas and decide on which ones will form the basis for your goals of this iteration of your curriculum enhancement

� Again, with your partner list the barriers in the worksheet on the following page. Write down every possible barrier you can think of in each category

� Write down solutions for each barrier. For example if ‘Students do not have the right pre-required knowledge’ is one of your barriers, to overcome this you might write ‘Find out what pre-required knowledge they come with and whether additional classes can be set up’.

� Forward a copy to the PACES Coordinator

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TASK 2 WORKSHEETS

Step 1 – Critically reflect on your course curriculum

Referring to the Griffith Learning and Teaching Capabilities Framework (GLTCF), critically reflect on your course curriculum using the capabilities statements related to ‘designing for learning’ and ‘understanding the learning context’ clusters. For each cluster, note your thoughts around where you feel your course currently is performing and decide whether it will be the intended focus for you during this iteration of curriculum enhancement.

GLTCF

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Course Convenor Capabilities Your thoughts? Intend to focus for Enhancement? (Y/N)

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Designing learning outcomes • Using knowledge of your learning context, discipline content, and understandings from your critical reflections to inform the design of course learning outcomes and learning and teaching approaches

• Writing specific and measurable course learning outcomes aligned to program learning outcomes, graduate attributes and university strategic priorities

Designing assessment for learning • Planning diagnostic, formative and summative assessment approaches that foster student learning and align to the course learning outcomes

• Using knowledge of students, the course learning outcomes and course content to design formative and summative assessment tasks to help students determine their progression towards the course learning outcomes

• Designing course-level feedback processes that support the development of students’ understanding of the importance and value of feedback to their learning

Designing learning and teaching across the course • Considering student diversity and needs when designing and developing your course

• Planning well-structured and coherent learning sequences that develop students’ knowledge, understanding, skills and practices and align to the course learning outcomes

Designing learning environments • Planning learning experiences at the course level that take into account the spatial, temporal and social learning environment

• Planning the implementation of digital technologies that enable information sharing, communication and collaboration for learning and engagement

• Planning communications with students throughout your course

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Knowing about your students and how they learn • Knowing the characteristics and backgrounds of students in your course from multiple sources of information and data

• Knowing how students learn in the discipline

• Knowing discipline-specific, contemporary teaching approaches

Knowing your curriculum • Knowing how your course aligns with program learning outcomes and broader learning and teaching priorities

• Knowing your course curriculum and assessment

• Knowing discipline threshold concepts and content that will challenge your students

• Knowing the key roles and elements to draw upon to enrich student learning experiences in your course

• Supporting teaching team members to understand the course learning and teaching context

Knowing the University’s learning and teaching strategic priorities

• Knowing the University’s strategic priorities, and frameworks for supporting and transforming learning and teaching, in relation to your course

Knowing the wider context • Knowing the wider context in which higher education operates and recognising the implications for professional practice

• Knowing your course in relation to the broader context of strategic directions in learning and teaching, industry, the profession, and the community

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TASK 2 WORKSHEETS

Step 2 - Break down the barriers

1.

INTERNAL BARRIERS

SOLUTIONS

EXTERNAL BARRIERS

EXTERNAL BARRIERS (OUTSIDE YOUR CONTROL)

SOLUTIONS

SOLUTIONS

2.

3.


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TASK 3. SET GOALS

You probably have some goals in mind and that is why you decided to undertake PACES. This task requires you to articulate these goals and develop an action plan with your partner/s.

Drivers for change result from a variety of sources e.g. a poor course evaluation, strategic educational directives from within your group or the University as a whole, aligning your course with the AQF, course review, other feedback or new research emerging from the literature.

You will already have a number of data sources to assist you with your planning, such as the Griffith SEC (Student Experience of Course) results for your course, or SET (Student Experience of Teaching) results. You may also have collected informal data from your students or colleagues which have identified issues with the course that you wish to address.

In order to get the most out of PACES and to ensure quality improvement of your course, you need to identify clear goals. We suggest that you develop some S.M.A.R.T goals to guide your PACES experience. The acronym S.M.A.R.T has a number of slightly different variations, use the one that means the most to you:

S - specific, significant, stretching M - measurable, meaningful, motivational A - agreed upon, attainable, achievable, acceptable, action-oriented R - realistic, relevant, reasonable, rewarding, results-oriented T - time-based, timely, tangible, trackable

For example a goal may be “To trial a new assessment to test students’ ability to apply X knowledge in Y situation”. This is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely.

TASK CHECKLIST

� Discuss your course experience results (qualitative and quantitative) and any other course evaluation data you may have, with your partner

� Identify 2-4 S.M.A.R.T goals and produce an action plan to address the identified goals

� Speak with your PACES Manager to find appropriate professional learning activities that will be key in assisting you achieve your S.M.A.R.T goals


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TASK 3 WORKSHEET

Step 1 – Set Goals

Set 2-4 S.M.A.R.T goals. For each goal, produce an action plan and indicate what the driver(s) was (are) for each goal. Later in the trimester, revisit your action plan and use the following codes to indicate the status of your plan: commenced (C), in progress (I) or achieved (A).

S.M.A.R.T Goals Action plan Driver/Data used Status (C,I,A)

E.g. Reduce lecture contact hours by converting at least 50% of course to short 5-10min downloadable video clips in order to re-engage students.

• Learn how to create video & upload to web for access

• Include learning analytics to measure uptake/no. of views

Course evaluation; Peer feedback; Student attendance

I

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2.

3.

4.


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Step 2 – Identify Professional Learning and Development Activities

Now that you have identified your goals, speak with your partner/s and the PACES Manager to identify professional learning and development activities that may assist you to achieve your goals. List 2-3 activities you have identified; these could include online or face-to-face activities. See Learning Futures for more information.

Professional Learning and Development Activity Date and time

1.

2.

3.


Well done you have now completed the Pre-Trimester Tasks and are ready to move to the “During Trimester” task.

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DURING TRIMESTER TASKTASK 4. GATHER INFORMAL STUDENT FEEDBACK

One way of checking that you are on the right path to meeting your goals is to collect informal feedback from your students. The collection of feedback can be done via an online survey or handwritten during the class. Templates for gathering informal student feedback (ISF) can be found in Appendix 1 & 2. - useful references to help you plan your student evaluation are provided in the reference list.

When to gather feedback needs to be considered. If your goal is to implement a new teaching strategy, then you should aim to collect data from the students immediately after the new teaching strategy (i.e. that class). If however you are introducing a new assessment you would gather data after the assessment task has been submitted. Therefore we are flexible with Task 4—as long as student feedback is sought, discussed with your partner (s) and acted upon, you will have successfully completed it.

It is important to provide a summary of the feedback to the students and your plan to address any issues identified. Students need to feel that their input is valued and that it is acted upon. This will make them more likely to participate in future surveys regarding course improvement. Aim to communicate the feedback in a sincere way and demonstrates his or her commitment to transparency and accountability. When skillfully delivered, the summary of feedback (Appendix 3) builds trust and respect and opens the whole group up to learning. With successive applications of the informal student feedback process, the students adopt more collaborative behaviours towards each other and the lecturer. Remember to let the students know what is in your control, and what is outside of your control.

TASK CHECKLIST

� Meet with your partner(s) to discuss how, when & where you will gather informal student feedback

� Gather the feedback from your students

� Meet with your partner after collecting feedback to reflect on the key points and draft a summary

� Identify a time to give feedback to the students based on changes that you will make that are within your control, and what can be done about those things that are outside of your control


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TASK 4 WORKSHEET

Gather and summarise student feedback

It is important to plan how you will gather informal student feedback and deliver the summary of feedback to the students (e.g. in the following lecture). Meet with your partner to discuss the details of how, when and where you will collect feedback (Part A). Meet with them again after you have collected and read the feedback to draft a summary and plan how you are going to review the feedback with your students (Part B).

PART A. BEFORE GATHERING INFORMAL STUDENT FEEDBACK

When and how will you gather student feedback?

Date:

Time:

Venue:

Type of session (lecture, tutorial, lab):

Method of gathering feedback:

When you will provide summary of feedback to students:

PART B. AFTER GATHERING INFORMAL STUDENT FEEDBACK

Identify what students liked, disliked, want improved

Draft your summary of feedback with your partner(s)


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POST-TRIMESTER TASKSTASK 5. REVIEW ACHIEVEMENTS

Critical reflection on your course and your teaching is a key ingredient in professional development (Brookfield 1995). It is also important to reflect on how well you achieved your goals. Your participation in PACES provides you with knowledge and experiences to develop as a reflective practitioner, in this case a critically reflective teacher in higher education. The PACES is expressly designed to provide a rich source of data for you to work with.

Your ‘during trimester task’ collected evidence about your course and teaching. The post-trimester tasks now require you to analyse and reflect on the evidence available.

You may like to use a structured approach to your reflection. Graham Gibbs developed a model of reflection in 1988. It is a reflective cycle and builds on Kolb’s work. It has 6 stages:

1. Description – what happened

2. Feelings – what were you thinking or feeling

3. Evaluation – what was good and bad about the experience

4. Analysis – what else can you make of the situation

5. Conclusion – what else could you have done

6. Action Plan – if it happened again what would you do

Students are often encouraged to use Gibb’s reflective cycle when writing reflective pieces for assignments however it is equally applicable when an academic is writing a reflective journal piece on their teaching practice or course.

Another model to guide self-reflection is Driscoll’s ‘What’ model (2000), developed initially for clinical practitioners to reflect on their practice. It contains three elements of reflection:

1. WHAT? A description of the event – this requires self-awareness

2. SO WHAT? An analysis of the event

3. NOW WHAT? Proposed actions following the event. This is the synthesis stage

TASK CHECKLIST

� Reflect on your course

� Did you achieve your goals?

� Forward a copy of task 5 worksheets to the PACES Coordinator

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STEP 2 – Critical Reflection

Draft an overall statement of reflection about your PACES experience? What have you learnt? What would you do differently next time?

Collegial conversation with your peer partner: Share your PACES experience and achievements with your peer partner. Invite them to provide some encouraging feedback around 3 key strengths they observed during your PACES experience.


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TASK 6. PERFORMANCE PLANNING

There are two aspects to planning in Task 6.

Step 1: The information you have collected throughout PACES puts you in an ideal position to complete a Course Improvement Plan (see Appendix 6) for your participating PACES course. In your current role, you may or may not have the formal responsibility of completing one of these normally, however it is a great way to conclude your participation, summarising:

� the review process you have been through,

� plans you have for the future of your course,

� any issues that may need to be addressed prior to the next teaching round of this course,

� student feedback and,

� any agreed actions or recommendations in relation to this course arising from discussions between the Course Convenor and Academic Supervisor (or delegate), as directed by your Head of School.

Step 2: Consider your own personal plan. In task 5 you reflected critically on what you had learnt from PACES. Now frame the goals achieved in terms of your professional learning and don’t let this effort go to waste. Use this material to make an entry in your academic performance plan and start a teaching portfolio.

TASK CHECKLIST

� Discuss with your partner aspects around the education component of your Personal Development Plan, these may include teaching improvement, educational standing or educational leadership

� Enter improvements into your Personal Development Plan

� Reference your course evaluation and teaching results

� Complete a Course Improvement Plan (see Appendix 6 for template)

� Create a teaching portfolio which contains all of your achievements (eg. awards, certificates, commendations, emails from peers or students, etc)

� Consider publishing the work you have done in reinvigorating your course (You will need ethics if using data from students etc.)

� Forward a copy of worksheet 6 and Course Improvement Plan to the PACES Coordinator

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TASK 6 WORKSHEET

STEP 1 – Course Improvement Plan

To help you on your way to completing a Griffith Course Improvement Plan consider the answers to the following.

Quantitative SEC ratings for “Overall I was satisfied with the quality of this course”:

Before PACES After PACES

What worked well in this course?

What areas need improvement?

What data have you collected to support your conclusions?

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STEP 2 – Personal Development Plan

What changes have you made to your teaching practices or course implementation as a result of PACES?

Educational leadership—what type of educational leadership did you exhibit? (e.g. helping another colleague to develop their course)

Education innovation—did you innovate as a result of PACES—if so record here

What Professional Development have you identified for the next 6-12 months?


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APPENDIX 1 – STUDENT FEEDBACK TOOL EXAMPLE 1

INFORMAL STUDENT FEEDBACK FORM

Name of course: ______________________________________________

Student name (optional): ________________________________________

Please tick ONLY one box for each statement.

1

Strongly

Disagree

2

Disagree

3

Neutral

4

Agree

5

Strongly

Agree

I am finding the course stimulating

The resources (e.g. PPT slides, handouts, videos etc) are supporting my studies

So far I am satisfied with the quality of this course

I would recommend this course to others

1. What are the best aspects of the course so far and why?

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

2. What aspects of the course so far would you like changed and why?

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

3. Any further comments?

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

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APPENDIX 2 - STUDENT FEEDBACK TOOL EXAMPLE 2

STOP, START, CONTINUE - Student Survey Tool

Under each heading, please jot down what you would like US TO DO in future LECTURES & TUTORIALS of this course.

Tell us what YOU would like to STOP DOING, START DOING & CONTINUE DOING as we go further in this course.

Simply write down ANYTHING you would like to TELL US under each of the 3 headings.

STOP START CONTINUE

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APPENDIX 3 - EXAMPLE OF A SUMMARY OF FEEDBACK SESSION WITH YOUR STUDENTS

In this instance, feedback was sought on a lecture. One example is given under each category.

After the last lecture I sat down with some volunteers and reviewed your feedback. Firstly, I am pleased that the class is willing to give this process a fair trial. Your written feedback gave me a chance to know how many of the key ideas you remembered in the session and what you were really thinking.

The information you give me is very valuable and I very much appreciate your contributions. I am going to ask you to do this again in a couple of weeks’ time.

I’ll talk first about what you liked and disliked and then the changes you suggested.

Likes - Student participation

Most students found the student participation part of the session was very useful in that it consolidated some abstract concepts and made the lecture more interesting and enjoyable. For instance student1 and student2 said:

“Practical examples backing up the theory. This makes it easier to remember because of the variety of ways the information was presented” student1

“Having a lecturer which involves the students encourages us to pay attention rather than tune out and wait for the hour to be over” student2

Dislikes - Lecture theatre lights and wind noise

An anonymous student mentioned the technical difficulties encountered in the lecture theatre.

“Fix the lights! When going from projector to computer mode lights automatically turn on. And the wind noise when you close the door.” student3

I contacted the technical assistant and explained the lighting problem. He told me that Rm 117 has problems with the lighting control, and to monitor the change more closely to pin point when it occurs to see if anything can be done about it.

Changes - Copy of Coded Examples

The first comment I’d like to acknowledge is one by student5, who suggested something that might help improve the learning and understanding

“I would like a copy of the code to help me remember what we did”. student5

Thank you student5, a copy of all my code can be downloaded from LMS please click on the examples link.

Thank you again for all your comments and this concludes the summary of feedback for week 4.

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APPENDIX 4 – COURSE QUALITY ATTRIBUTES

These course attributes are derived from a study of student feedback comments on aspects of courses that could be improved. The attributes are divided into categories and subcategories, and within each category the highlighted subcategory is the one that drew most comments in this study.

Category Subcategory Description

Course

challenge The level of challenge and difficulty of the overall course

content The choice of topics that are covered in the course, including programming language used

relevance The real world scenarios in the course and whether the course is current

structure The way that components of the course are arranged

workload The size and number of things to do in the course

Lecturer

control The amount of control the lecturer has over disruptive students in class

knowledge The amount of knowledge the lecturer portrays to the students

organisation The way the lecturer arranges the components of the lecture

presentation The level of engaging teaching methods used to deliver the material

support The lecturer’s availability and attitude towards the students

Lecture

access The ease with which the lecture materials can be reached by students

challenge The level of difficulty of the material

content The choice of topics and activities that are presented in the lecture

delivery mode The suitability of the mode of delivery

duration The amount of time allocated to the lecture

structure The logical sequencing of concepts

Tutor

organisation The way the tutor arranges the components of the tutorial

presentation The engaging teaching methods used to deliver the material

response time How quickly the tutor responds to students’ queries

support The tutor’s availability and attitude towards the students

Tutorial

alignment The alignment of tutorial activities with course learning objectives

clarity The clearness of the requirements of the task

length The amount of time allocated to the tutorial

scheduling When the tutorial classes are scheduled

structure The logical sequencing of activities

type of activity The type of tutorial activity

Labactivity The type of laboratory activity

length The amount of time allocated to the lab

Assessment

alignment The alignment of assessment tasks with course learning objectives

content The choice of tasks covered by the assessment items

difficulty The level of difficulty of the assessment items

feedback The usefulness of the correspondence in relation to the assessment

marking Consistency of marking, quality of feedback, timeliness, and clarity of marking criteria

organisation Due dates and the allocation of marks to components of assessment

practice The amount of similar tasks students have experienced

quantity The number and size of assessments

specification The clarity in which assignments were written, submission process and changing of requirements

support The assistance provided to students in relation to their assessment tasks

timing When in the teaching term the assessment items are issued and due

Resources

availability How accessible and ready for use a resource is

content The usefulness of the resources

quantity The amount of resources

readings The suitability of the readings

LMS ease of use The simplicity with which materials can be found on the LMS

Off Campusease of study The challenges students face when undertaking off campus courses

support The assistance provided to students studying in distance education mode

Taken from: Carbone et al. (unpublished 2013). Student Concerns in Introductory Programming Courses

Australasian Computing Education Conference

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APPENDIX 5 – EDUCATION RESEARCH JOURNALS

You might consider publishing the innovations to your course in an education research focused journal. Some examples are given below—listed by FoR code.

Further information on each journal, including impact factor, can be found via the Journal Citation Reports on ISI Web of Knowledge (university subscription/login required): http://www.webofknowledge.com

13 (Education)

Australian Educational Computing

Australian Educational Researcher

Australian Journal of Education

British Educational Research Journal

Higher Education Research and

DevelopmentJournal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement

1303 (Specialist Studies in Education)

Active Learning in Higher Education

Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education

Australasian Journal of Educational Technology

British Journal of Educational Technology

Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Interactive Learning Environments

International Journal for Academic Development

Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management

Teaching in Higher Education

1301 (Education Systems)

Academe

Academic Leadership

Advanced Technology for Learning

Australian Universities’ Review

Australian Vocational Education Review

Canadian Journal of Higher Education

College and University

Higher Education

Higher Education in Europe

Higher Education Management and Policy

Higher Education Policy

Higher Education Quarterly

Higher Education Review

Industry and Higher Education

Innovative Higher Education

International Journal of Lifelong Education

International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

Journal of Continuing Higher Education

Journal of Further and Higher Education

Journal of Higher Education

Journal of Vocational Education and Training

Quality in Higher Education

Research and Development in Higher Education Series

Research in Higher Education

Review of Higher Education

Studies in Continuing Education

Studies in Higher Education

Source: http://www.arc.gov.au/era/era_2012/era_journal_list.htm

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APPENDIX 6 – COURSE IMPROVEMENT PLAN

The following is the current Griffith Course Improvement Plan

Course Code:

Course Name:

Trimester/Year:

1.0 COURSE INFORMATION

1.0

1.0

1.0

1.0

1.0

1.0

1.0

*(Note: The Primary Convenor should coordinate the completion of the CIP for multi-campus courses. Where it is decided to complete separate CIPs for course offerings on different campuses, this should be done in consultation with the Primary Convenor)

2.0 COURSE REVIEW

2.1 What worked well? (list the positive features of the current course, specifically aspects of design, content, delivery, assessment, management, student outcomes)

2.2 What areas need improvement? (list any features needing improvement, specifically aspects of design, content, delivery, assessment, management, student outcomes)

2.3 What comments, if any, would you like to make about the above summary? (comment on any factors which you consider may have influenced student learning outcomes or student feedback)

2.4 What data were collected? (Tick the relevant boxes to indicate the types or sources of data that were considered in evaluating this course offering)

Student Perceptions

� Student Experience of Course (SEC)

� Student Experience of Teaching (SET)

� Additional student feedback (e.g., focus groups, local surveys, formative student feedback)

Staff Perceptions

� Course Convenor observations and reflections

� Teaching Team observations and feedback

� Peer review processes

Group:

School/Department:

Number of students enrolled:

Campus of Offer*:

Instruction Mode: On Campus/On Line/In Field/Intensive (delete as appropriate)

Primary Convenor:

Campus Convenor(s):

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Student Engagement and Outcomes

� Student engagement behavior relevant to mode (e.g., class attendance, online participation)

� Student learning outcomes (e.g., performance on assessment tasks)

Benchmarks and Standards

� Comparisons with internal Griffith expectations, benchmarks and requirements (e.g., Role of Course Convenor; Principles to Promote Excellence in Learning and Teaching at Griffith; Guidelines for Staff Engagement with Learning@Griffith; Governance of Assessment and Achievement Standards)

� Comparisons with external benchmarks (e.g., AQF expectations for this level; disciplinary good practice; industry feedback)

Other Data Sources

� Please describe:

3.0 COURSE IMPROVEMENT PLANS

3.1 What improvements do you plan? (describe the improvements you plan for the next offering, specifically aspects of design, content, delivery, assessment, management)

3.2 What additional forms of data or evaluation, if any, might be useful to determine if your proposed changes have been effective?

4.0 BUILDING CAPABILITY

4.1 What practical issues or needs, if any, should be addressed to enhance the next offering of this course?

4.2 What professional learning, if any, might enhance the design or delivery of this course prior to its next offering? (e.g., discussions with relevant professional staff, such as Blended Learning Advisor, Curriculum Consultant, GIHE consultants or academic colleagues; teaching team development, peer observation/feedback)

5.0 STUDENT FEEDBACK SUMMARY

5.1 Please insert the summary text that you intend to include in the Course Profile at the next offering of this course. (Please note: It is a requirement that evaluation outcomes obtained within the last calendar year be reported to students via the “Previous Student Feedback” section in the Course Profile).

6.0 AGREED ACTIONS (WHERE REQUESTED BY HEAD OF SCHOOL)

Please summarise any agreed actions or recommendations in relation to this course arising from discussions between the Course Convenor and Academic Supervisor (or delegate). This section need only be completed where specific action is requested by the Head of School, Academic Supervisor or Course Convenor.

33

RESOURCES/REFERENCES1. Peer Assisted Teaching Scheme. Monash University. http://vera195.its.monash.edu.au/

2. Professional Development for Academics Involved in Teaching, University of Birmingham: http://www.prodait.org/approaches/index.php

3. Mentoring Matters® short course from Monash University’s Faculty of Education: http://www.education.monash.edu.au/shortcourses/mentoring-matters.html

4. Higher Education Academy: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk

5. Changing Teaching Practice, an interview with E/Prof Christopher Knapper, Queen’s University, Canada: http://www.uoit.ca/teachingandlearning/contact/apr10/apr10.html

6. Office for Learning & Teaching (OLT) Grant & Fellowship programs: http://www.olt.gov.au/

7. Learning to Teach Online resources, Centre of Fine Arts (COFA), UNSW http://online.cofa.unsw.edu.au/learning-to-teach-online/ltto-episodes

8. National Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) Centre at the University of Wollongong http://www.uow.edu.au/student/services/pass/centre/overview/index.html

9. Australian Qualifications Framework: http://www.aqf.edu.au/AbouttheAQF/AQFQualifications/tabid/98/Default.aspx

10. Project Smart, Setting SMART goals: http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/smart-goals.html

11. Sustainable improvements to learner outcomes, Ako Aotearoa: http://akoaotearoa.ac.nz/sustainable-change

12. Leadership training, LH Martin Institute: http://www.lhmartininstitute.edu.au/executive-education-programs/leadership-programs/85-emerging-leaders-and-managers-program

13. Staff Development, Griffith University: https://intranet.secure.griffith.edu.au/employment/staff-development or Learning Futures

14. Brandenburg, R. (2010). Freida’s Feedback on Feedback. University of Ballarat. Available online at: http://guerin.ballarat.edu.au/freidafeedback/

15. The Learning Thermometer, University of Queensland: http://www.learningthermometer.com.au/

16. Peer Assisted Study Sessions: http://www.griffith.edu.au/students/peer-assisted-study-sessions

17. Supporting Students: https://intranet.secure.griffith.edu.au/teaching/supporting-students

18. Rowe, A. Solomonides, I. Handal, B. (2010). How to Collaborate with Peer Observation: Learning from each other. Macquarie University.

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19. Monash University Peer Review: http://www.opq.monash.edu.au/us/surveys/peer-review-teaching.html

20. Griffith University Peer Review: https://www.griffith.edu.au/learning-teaching/quality/peer-review-of-teaching/pro-teaching-in-2015

21. Gibbs, G (1988) Learning by doing: a guide to teaching and learning methods. Great Britain Further Education Institute.

22. Driscoll, J and The, B. (2001). The potential of reflective practice to develop individual orthopaedic nurse practitioners and their practice. Journal of Orthopaedic Nursing, 5, 95–103.

23. Critical Reflection and Critical Pedagogy podcast, Dr Phil Chambers, Coventry University http://coventryuniversity.podbean.com/2009/08/07/critical-reflection-and-critical-pedagogy-interview-with-philip-chambers/

24. Learning through reflection, Don Clark http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/development/reflection.html

25. Donald Schon, Learning reflection and change: http://www.infed.org/thinkers/et-schon.htm#_The_reflective_practitioner

26. Teaching Standards Framework, DIISRTE: http://teachingframework.edu.au/

27. OLT Grants and Awards: http://www.olt.gov.au

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