In the lead up to the Academic Staff Awards, we will be profiling the amazing achievements of all of the finalists over the coming weeks.

This week, we take a look at the staff from MUIC and the Library.

Don’t forget to register for the Awards Ceremony as places are filling up fast.

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Learning and Teaching

Mr Daniel Lombardo
Vice-Chancellor’s Learning and Teaching Student Nominated Award

Mr Lombardo explains the biggest challenges he has faced in his career stem from the range of language capabilities of the students, and in making the course content exciting by relating it to everyday life.

“I have overcome these challenges by developing teaching material with several levels of embedded language support, implementing innovative assessment strategies and taking a flipped classroom approach,” he says.

Daniel initiates discussions throughout the classroom regarding the everyday applications of particular concepts taught in class and notes that these discussions are typically initiated at the start of a new topic to excite and engage the students, enhancing their learning of the corresponding content.

“The discussions are also useful as they encourage engagement between international and domestic students, forging friendships and creating an overall comfortable learning environment.”

Daniel also takes a flipped classroom approach. “There are many different techniques I use to engage students and enhance their learning. In general, these techniques are focused around encouraging students to analyse different interpretations of problems, identify the differences between them and understand which interpretation is correct.”

Mr Aleksandar Stefanovic
Vice-Chancellor’s Learning and Teaching Student Nominated Award

Mr Stefanovic explains international students face a number of challenges with regards to acculturation such as culture shock and difficulties with language. Alek has employed numerous strategies to guide students through this difficult initial period.

“An important element is to understand the motivators each student has,” he says. “Motivation is commonly regarded as one of the key factors in successful second language acquisition and it can be either intrinsic or extrinsic. The teacher, and the effectiveness of their communicative style, can be an important aspect in motivating students. Through clear communication, I attempt to ascertain the important intrinsic and extrinsic motivators each individual student has and motivate them accordingly.”

Dr Robyn Westcott
Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Learning Innovation

In 2016, Dr Westcott led a project team in the Learning Skills Unit (LSU) that secured an internal Innovation and Scholarship Program Grant to design and pilot a student-led writing support program: WriteWISE.

“The WriteWISE program was conceived in response to two key concerns,” Robyn explains. “The first was research into the first-year experience, which showed a sizable minority of all students – 38 per cent – find academic standards at university much higher than expected.

“The second was an unmet demand for formative writing feedback amongst Macquarie’s undergraduate students.”

WriteWISE innovates the North American ‘Writing Centre’ tradition – in which academically successful students are recruited and trained to provide writing instruction to their peers – to the Macquarie context by linking personalised writing support to the completion of assignments in nominated 100-level partner units. The program also assists upper-level undergraduate and postgraduate coursework students via a ‘drop-in’ service at the Library Info Desk.

“WriteWISE provides a constructive, community-focused environment in which peer-directed conversations that build students’ confidence as academic writers can flourish. The program’s ongoing success affirms our belief that peer-led learning initiatives empower students and peer leaders alike.”

The Foundation and Diploma Direct Entry Program Team lead by Ms Alejandra Vazquez
Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Learning Innovation

In 2017, the English Language Centre (ELC) decided to re-develop its 10-week Foundation Direct Entry (FDE) and Diploma Direct Entry (DDE) curricula.

“As students studying these programs are diverse in their academic and socio-emotional needs and behaviours, the ELC took an innovative approach that enabled the creation of curricula that were outcome-specific as well as aimed at increasing overall student learning, engagement and experience,” says team leader Alejandra. “Emphasis was heavily placed on technology-enhanced environments, task-based learning (TBL) activities or projects, and combined class activities and excursions.”

Alejandra explains the FDE and DDE courses were developed collaboratively by a team comprising senior teachers, management and selected teachers.

“The design was underpinned by the ELC’s established pedagogical framework, adhering to well-researched pedagogical principles of learning as an active process, with the classroom as a community where students learn by collaborating and sharing, and engage in communication that is meaningful and relevant to their lives. The design also embraced principled eclecticism, where tasks drive learning and determine assessment, yet where focus is placed on both meaning and form, and on both implicit and explicit learning.”

Dr Pamela Humphreys
Vice-Chancellor’s Educational Leader Award

Macquarie University International College (MUIC) Foundation and Diploma students require intentional linguistic and/or academic support via transition pedagogies in order to succeed.

Dr Humphreys explains that in the intensive model delivery (IMD) used at MUIC with six, seven-week terms per year, a different approach to curriculum/assessment design and delivery is required.

“This context posed two challenges from a learning and teaching perspective,” she says. “The need for high quality, scaffolded, standardised curricula, designed at the program level to meet the needs of pathway students; and the upskilling of teaching staff to deliver it.

“I therefore made the business and pedagogical case to engage an Academic Language and Learning (ALL) team and Learning Designers for a curriculum overhaul. I gained approval from the DVCA and Associate Deans Teaching and Learning and Quality and Standards to adapt units for our context, and agreed to share any resulting resources with faculty.

“Teaching staff have received indirect professional development (PD) in curriculum and assessment design during this project, plus direct PD from visiting speakers and a festival of learning and teaching.”

Pamela notes that this work has been underpinned by a learning and teaching philosophy and led to a Teaching Excellence Framework.

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Celebrate with your colleagues

Don’t forget to register your attendance for the event today!

The Academic Staff Awards will be held on Monday 18 November from 3pm to 5.30pm in the Graduation Hall (14 Sir Christopher Ondaatje Avenue).