Support for Learning and Teaching

Sources of support available to the staff and students of UNSW @ ADFA include those that are based on campus in Canberra plus those available on the main UNSW campus at Kensington in Sydney.

In Canberra:	In Sydney:
Teaching and Learning Committee Educational Technology Services (ETS) Academy Library Academic Language and Learning Unit	Learning and Teaching Unit (LTU) Educational Development and Technology Centre (EDTeC) The Learning Centre

Note: Further guidance about particular resources is provided on the teaching and learning resource pages specific to lecturers and students.

Teaching and Learning Committee

The UNSW@ADFA Teaching and Learning Committee aims to enable academics to develop their teaching skills to their highest potential. This is done by holding workshops and seminars, providing coaching and mentoring, recommending (to the Rector) annual UNSW@ADFA Teaching Awards and Teaching Commendations. The TLC assists Associate Dean (Education) in the CATEI process and in discussing other teaching improvement initiatives by the University.

The Committee comprises of at least one representative from each of the five schools, Associate Dean (Education), Presiding Member of the Academic Board, one representative each from the Library and Education Technology Services.

In addition to a number of other activities, in 2005 the TLC initiated the Teaching Mentoring and Teacher Coaching schemes to respond to the needs of academics and introduced the Rector's Commendations.

 

Seminars

Every couple of months the  TLC invites lecturers who have been undertaking commendable work, or who have received public recognition for their excellence in Learning and Teaching, to present seminars to their academic colleagues. These seminars deal with practical concerns and day to day examples of learning and teaching matters within the UNSW @ ADFA context.

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Forum

Beginning from 2004, the TLC is organising a Forum at least once and possibly twice a year, to enable academic staff to explore topical learning and teaching issues in association with their UNSW colleagues, particularly those from the Learning and Teaching Unit.

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Teaching Awards

The Teaching Awards recognise excellence in teaching over a two year period. Each year the TLC can recommend up to three awards of $3000 each to the Rector.

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Rector’s Commendations

In 2005 the TLC introduced The Rector’s Commendations to recognise excellence in one aspect of teaching, rather than the overall general excellence in teaching required for the more comprehensive UNSW@ADFA Teaching Awards. The Commendations are in the form of a $500 prize and a certificate that outlines the basis of the commendation. The Commendations are usually presented at a meeting of the UNSW @ ADFA Academic Board.

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Ongoing involvement in the Learning and Teaching website

Each month the TLC considers how to better improve components of the Learning and Teaching website to ensure that it is up to date and to identify new areas of activity. You can offer suggestions for the site through the contact email provided at the bottom of each page.

 

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Educational Technology Services (ETS)

For Lecturers:

ETS provides high quality, comprehensive support for staff teaching flexible courses, and those wishing to use technology in meaningful ways in their teaching. Technology support ranges from online teaching and learning using the centrally supported Learning Management System to the presentation technologies in centrally supported teaching venues.

Educational developers are available to assist in course design and the development and production of learning resources from first thoughts through to evaluation. Specifically there is support for:

• Distance Education
• Online teaching
• Course design and evaluation
• Resource development projects
• Interface and graphic design (including interactive simulations)
• Audio and video production (including DVD and streaming outputs)
• Use of technology in the classroom
• Video conferencing

For Students:

Through its co-ordination of the postgraduate coursework off-campus program, ETS provides support to UNSW@ADFA postgraduate students who, through choice or necessity, study away from the campus. The Off-campus program Manager (l.smith@adfa.edu.au) acts as a contact point for distribution of materials.

Through the Flexible Learning Team, ETS provides online information for:

• Off campus students (particularly distance mode)
• Online learning (including WebCT)
• Useful tools and links for everyone learning with technology

ETS also provides a limited range of cost effective copy/print, design, and audio visual services on a fee for service basis (see http://www.unsw.adfa.edu.au/ets) and assists with the resolution of WebCT issues for all students and staff.

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Academy Library

Liaison Librarians and other library staff work collaboratively with academic staff in their teaching and learning roles within the university and provide them and their students (both on and off campus) with a range of support services, including:

• Acting as facilitators and/or intermediaries to support access to resources and services, including advising on current awareness services (including email alerting services)
• Assisting with tutorial and assignment planning with advice on available resources
• Assessing collections for course accreditation documentation
• Identifying and obtaining resources in a specific subject discipline – books, multi media, electronic journals, databases, web resources, etc, for teaching, research and curriculum development
• Facilitating the integration of information skills into the curriculum and assisting with the development of effective search strategies, identifying which search tool to use for which type of information search, and assessing the quality of resources selected.
• Conducting training in EndNote bibliographic management software
• Providing a wide range of online learning resources,subject help sheets and printed information briefs
• Providing copyright advice

Online information can be obtained from http://www.lib.adfa.edu.au/.

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The Academic Language and Learning Unit

The purpose of the ALL unit is to enhance the student learning experience at UNSW@ADFA by providing students with opportunities to develop academic skills and master academic language and literacy strategies.

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UNSW support units

UNSW The Learning and Teaching Unit

The goal of the Learning and Teaching Unit (LTU), in the Office of the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education and Quality Improvement), is to provide integrated support for the development of Communities of Practice around learning and teaching at UNSW. Practical support is offered to individual academics or groups of UNSW staff in many areas of learning and teaching.

UNSW Educational Development and Technology Centre

The Educational Development and Technology Centre (EDTeC) provides central support and resources for educational development and the use of educational technology, including online learning. EDTeC staff work primarily with teaching staff to assist them with educational development and the preparation of learning materials and programs.

UNSW The Learning Centre

The Learning Centre at UNSW provides students with a wide range of support for the development of their academic language, learning and oral and written communication skills at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Assistance is available in the form of individual consultations, skills workshops, discipline-based courses and study skills resources. Many of these resources are available on the Learning Centre website as is current information on workshops and programs.

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Content coordinator: assoc.dean.education@adfa.edu.au

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