Student perspective on Australian university teaching practices

The Australian National University Students’ Association has issued the "Undergraduate Review of Teaching and Learning 2008" (25 September 2008). This is a comprehensive 107 page document providing ANU staff and students with an evaluation of teaching and learning practices from the student's point of view. This brings a useful viewpoint to some controversial issues in education, such as Anonymous Assessment, Electronic Communication with Students, Digital Lecture Delivery, Electronic Submission of Assessment Items and Use of Plagiarism Detection Software. This report will be of value to educators a looking at how these topics are being addressed.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword
Presented by Jamila Rizvi on behalf of ANUSA 2008 Page 3
Anonymous Assessment
Compiled by Madeleine Firth Page 4
Electronic Communication with Students
Compiled by Sham Sara Page 8
Marking Rubrics
Compiled by Mark Smyth Page 11
Digital Lecture Delivery
Compiled by Madeleine Firth Page 14
Consultation on Means of Assessment
Compiled by Mark Smyth Page 18
Special Consideration and Special Examinations
Compiled by Jamila Rizvi Page 20
Student Representation
Compiled by Jamila Rizvi Page 22
Examinations and In Class Assessment outside of Examination Period
Compiled by Mark Smyth Page 25
Electronic Submission of Assessment Items
Compiled by Anya Aidman Page 27
Teacher Quality and CEDAM Forms
Compiled by Jamila Rizvi Page 31
Use of Plagiarism Detection Software
Compiled by Sham Sara Page 33
Online Course Description
Compiled by Anya Aidman Page 35
Viewing Examination Script Books
Compiled by Tim Caddey Page 38
Plagiarism and other Academic Misconduct
Compiled by Jamila Rizvi Page 43
Student Complaints and Appeals
Compiled by Matt Sherman Page 47
Course Flexibility
Compiled by Jamila Rizvi Page 59
Word Counts
Compiled by Alex Rafalowicz Page 62
Common Content for Course Outlines
Compiled by Jamila Rizvi Page 64
Appendix
Appendix A: Extracts, NSW Ombudsman Report Complaint Handling at Universities
Appendix B: Benchmarks for Industry-based Customer Dispute Resolution Schemes
Appendix C: College of Law DRAFT Paper on student academic honesty (2008)
Appendix D: ANUSA all-student survey (numerical academic answers only) (2008)
Appendix E: Paper for Education Committee, ’10% Rule’ (2008)
Appendix F: Paper for Education Committee, ‘Course Information Publication’ (2008)
Appendix G: ANUSA Paper for College Deans on Digital Lecture Delivery (2007)
Appendix H: ANU Law Students’ Society paper on Word Counts (2008)

From: Undergraduate Review of Teaching and Learning 2008, ANUSA, 25 September 2008

Professional Network for Educators in Australia

Someone posted a comment on my web site and asked for a response but did not say who they were. In the process of trying to reply to them, I came across My Edna and signed up for it.

This is billed as a "Professional Network for Educators" and provides a place to set up a professional profile, similar to LinkedIn with blogging and social networking type facilities. The service is relatively new, but already has some interesting features. I entered the address of my Blog's RSS feed and this now appears under my profile to show people what I have been working on. You can choose which parts of your profile you want public, or only known to people registered with MyEdna, or only with people you have specifically nominated.

EdNa is run by the Australia state and federal education ministers. It is an excellent source of information about education, but can be difficult to come to grips with. There is a useful catalog of resources (some of which I contributed). I suspect that EdNA already does many of the things which the new federal government envisages in its education revolution, but most educators don't know about it. Hopefully, My Edna will make it more accessible.

Architecture for Andragogy

Browsing in the recent serials at the National Library of Australia I came across an edition of Architecture Australia (Sep/Oct 07) on design of schools. While covering secondary schools, much of the discussion of flexible learning centres is is applicable to adult learning (andragogy) at universities and post school technical training. AA have previously had articles on this subject.

In "Pedagogy and Architecture", Ken Fisher categorises learning activity zones, based on the noise level and activity. He points out that developments such as low cost laptops and wireless networking, as well as better teaching training have overcome the problems of 1970's style "open plan" classrooms.

In "Spaces for Learning" Richars Leonard shows the design of the Wallan Secondary College of Art, with a large open area featuring common learning studios, seminar areas and presentation areas in one large space delineated with partitions, but no doors (there are some traditional rooms with walls for specialised functions).

What I found interesting was the idea of a mix of different layouts for different purposes, all withing the one room. However, this will create some practical problems for administration, as it will not be possible to lock up a room when not in use and enforce the allocation of teaching spaces based on who has the key.

While described as flexible learning spaces, the designs in the articles seem to be based on a fixed layout, dedicated to a particular function. This might be due to the needs of the technology, with computers still requiring power cables, if not data ones. It may also reflect the need to have some fixed structure for the user to plan their activities around (Ken Fisher refers to the "student home base").