ACDS teaching and learning conference – July 2014: Report Posted in Events, News, Teaching and Learning on August 26, 2014 by ACDS Web Admin. ACDS teaching and learning conference – July 2014 Liz Johnson The 2014 ACDS Teaching and Learning Conference moved to Melbourne this year and welcomed over 60 participants from 26 institutions. In a packed program, Professor Gregor Kennedy (University of Melbourne) described learning analytics and its use as a means to understand and influence student behaviour, Professor Belinda Probert (OLT) presented her work on academic roles and the meaning of scholarship in higher education and we welcomed our new OLT Teaching Fellows: Roy Tasker, Pauline Ross and Joe Shapter. We presented work on personalized learning from Dr Adam Bridgeman (University of Sydney) and others, discipline TLO projects from agriculture, environmental science and chemistry, and updates on current projects including a major study on work-integrated learning from the Office of the Chief Scientists. Links to topics covered in the program will be added to our Events page shortly. Professor John Rice launched the latest report commissioned by the ACDS. Ian Dobson’s “Staffing University Science in the 21st Century” presents the evidence of relative investment in research and teaching in science. This report challenges Faculties and Universities to think seriously about the implications of current funding models. Read the report here. We asked participants about the hot issues for science learning and teaching during discussion session in the conference and also invited comment in the post-conference survey. The following table lists topics that participants either want to hear more about or nominate for ACDS projects. Topic Rank order Assessment: effective practice, evidence for learning outcomes, benchmarking and standards 8 Secondary-tertiary interface 8 Work-integrated learning 6 Whole-of-program approaches and curriculum mapping 5 Esteem for LT 5 He sector/deregulation/TEQSA/Federal budget 5 Academic roles 4 Using learning analytics 3 Student engagement/academic skills 3 Prerquisites vs assumed knowledge/student diversity 3 Value and use of SoTL, PD 3 Science discipline TLOs 3 Practicals 3 Influencing others (up, colleagues) 2 Assurance of learning outcomes/ benchmarking 2 Capstones 2 Technology in science LT 2 Flexible/blended learning in science 1 Teaching associates 1 Flipped learning 1 Peer review of teaching 1 Cross-institutional teaching 1 Post-conference feedback showed that participants strongly valued the topics covered and particularly the keynote speakers. They also noted that networking with colleagues is the one of the most important benefits of the ACDS Teaching and Learning meeting and reminded us that time for discussion is precious. We’ll increase that for our next meeting and make sure the coffee keeps flowing!
