A major difficulty of teaching public health to students in a Masters Program is conveying the ne... more A major difficulty of teaching public health to students in a Masters Program is conveying the need for taking a strategic approach to situations. Tackling real-life public health issues is rather complex. There will generally be a number of avenues of investigation and it is necessary to be wary of the short and long-term consequences of actions. Also time and
A major difficulty of teaching public health to students in a Masters Program is conveying the ne... more A major difficulty of teaching public health to students in a Masters Program is conveying the need for taking a strategic approach to situations. Tackling real-life public health issues is rather complex. There will generally be a number of avenues of investigation and it is necessary to be wary of the short and long-term consequences of actions. Also time and money need to be managed effectively. As one approach to the education of students about these issues, a computer-based package has been developed which simulates the investigation of a real public health problem. This simulation enables students to encounter such issues in a risk-free environment, and to carry out their own investigations and propose their own solutions to the problems presented. Specifically, students have to clarify the impact of pollution on the health of residents in an affected area. They will collect and analyse data (from in-built real-life data sets), design and analyse their own epidemiological stud...
A collaborative partnership that endured over nine years resulted in the establishment of a rich ... more A collaborative partnership that endured over nine years resulted in the establishment of a rich computer-based resource of language learning materials. While the linguistic content, the design and the activities did not age, the platform and application used to deliver were both reaching the end of their life-time. In the case of the former, Apple Computer was moving to a new operating System in OS X and at the same time, their HyperCard application was not going to be supported through the OS change and would thus fade away. All CALL resources that had been developed were Apple OS and HyperCard only.
This paper reports on an online discussion forum that was created on the University of Wollongong... more This paper reports on an online discussion forum that was created on the University of Wollongong’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) to aid and support the learning of French grammar at beginner/false beginner level. The aim was to provide a blended learning situation which combines face to face teaching with online learning using multimedia resources. The key objective of the online forum is to encourage undergraduate students take an active role in their language learning through interaction with peers. Methodology draws on educational practice influenced by a constructivist approach, particularly on the importance of building one’s knowledge and linguistic skills through interaction and cooperation with others. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of data show examples of peer exchanges acting as activators in the meta-learning that was occurring outside class hours including reflection and independent language learning awareness.
One of the difficulties faced by many academics in their teaching is the evaluation of the teachi... more One of the difficulties faced by many academics in their teaching is the evaluation of the teaching and learning process. The growing importance of this aspect of tertiary education has been picked up in recent years by Government in its push for quality assurance in the sector. If quality is most effectively ensured by those directly involved in the provision
Traditionally, data relating to the conduct of subjects at the University of Wollongong has been ... more Traditionally, data relating to the conduct of subjects at the University of Wollongong has been collected for academics with one main purpose in mind: to provide the academic with supporting information as to their teaching ability for the purposes of promotion. Currently this data is collected using ‘prescribed Teaching Surveys’. The process is a formal, highly regulated mechanism and is
Good teachers spend time reflecting on their teaching practice. What is working, what isn't -... more Good teachers spend time reflecting on their teaching practice. What is working, what isn't - and more importantly, why is or isn’t it? Such reflection is an essential component of maintaining and improving both teaching practice and the learning outcomes for students. Changes in current teaching practice towards more flexible teaching and learning environments and especially towards more student-centred online
Traditionally, data relating to the conduct of subjects at the University of Wollongong has been ... more Traditionally, data relating to the conduct of subjects at the University of Wollongong has been collected for teachers with one main purpose in mind: to provide the teacher with supporting information as to their teaching ability for the purposes of promotion. SOS is a web based system which teachers can use to author customised surveys to collect information about the subject they teach. These surveys are completed anonymously by the students via the web (using randomly generated, survey specific numeric tokens) and the data is automatically collated and returned to the teacher. The teacher may also produce the surveys in hard copy, for manual distribution and collation. The system provides a 'non-threatening' and 'informal' mechanism by which teachers can obtain useful information about the subjects they develop and teach in terms of subject based criteria rather than the 'teacher based criteria' of formal Teaching Surveys. In this time of declining Univer...
Traditionally, data relating to the conduct of subjects at the University of Wollongong has been ... more Traditionally, data relating to the conduct of subjects at the University of Wollongong has been collected for academics with one main purpose in mind: to provide the academic with supporting information as to their teaching ability for the purposes of promotion. Currently this data is collected using 'prescribed Teaching Surveys'. The process is a formal, highly regulated mechanism and is administered by the Centre for Educational Development and Interactive Resources (CEDIR) on request. The promotion process requires that the academic provide of not less than 4 and no more than 6 such survey reports in their application for promotion. These surveys are seen as an imposition by many rather than a tool for improving the process of teaching and learning at the university. Two major difficulties have been identified. Firstly, the prescribed question set is not always appropriate and secondly the questions are too heavily weighted towards the academics performance as a teacher ...
A major difficulty of teaching public health to students in a Masters Program is conveying the ne... more A major difficulty of teaching public health to students in a Masters Program is conveying the need for taking a strategic approach to situations. Tackling real-life public health issues is rather complex. There will generally be a number of avenues of investigation and it is necessary to be wary of the short and long-term consequences of actions. Also time and money need to be managed effectively. As one approach to the education of students about these issues, a computer-based package has been developed which simulates the investigation of a real public health problem. This simulation enables students to encounter such issues in a risk-free environment, and to carry out their own investigations and propose their own solutions to the problems presented. Specifically, students have to clarify the impact of pollution on the health of residents in an affected area. They will collect and analyse data (from in-built real-life data sets), design and analyse their own epidemiological stud...
This paper describes methods of on-line assessment and students' survey, which utilize the We... more This paper describes methods of on-line assessment and students' survey, which utilize the Web interfaces and uses them in conjunction with the Internet. To find the most appropriate alternative methods of students' assessment and survey a variety of commercial and public domain tools was used to implement the following two basic tasks: 1. "Student Suggestion Box" where students evaluate the subject and make comments and suggestions on the subject and its assessment, and 2. a partially AutoMark short assessment task, containing two paragraph questions and three multiple choice questions, that offers final marks to the instructor/students and provides prompt feedback for wrong or partially wrong answers to students. Two commercial packages, two major Web-based course-building environments, and a locally developed server and client side programs were used to implement the above mentioned pre-defined tasks. This paper shows sample results obtained from each, and illus...
This paper describes methods of on-line assessment and students’ survey, which utilize the Web in... more This paper describes methods of on-line assessment and students’ survey, which utilize the Web interfaces and use them in conjunction with the Internet. To find the most appropriate alternative methods of students’ assessment and survey a variety of commercial and public domain tools was used to implement the following two basic tasks: 1. ‘Student Suggestion Box’ where students evaluate the subject and make comments and suggestions on the subject and its assessment; and 2. a partially AutoMark short assessment task, containing two paragraph questions and three multiple choice questions, that offers final marks to the instructor/students and provides prompt feedback for wrong or partially wrong answers to students. Two commercial packages, two major Web-based course-building environments, and a locally developed server and client side programs were used to implement the above mentioned pre-defined tasks. This paper shows sample results obtained from each, and illustrates the result o...
Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education, 2010
ABSTRACT It is well recognised in the literature that at most academic institutions teaching is u... more ABSTRACT It is well recognised in the literature that at most academic institutions teaching is undervalued in status and financial terms when compared to research (Jenkins 1995, Ramsden 1998, Young 2006, Illing and Armitage 2007). This paper addresses important issues about how higher education managers and administrators can provide transparent navigation guides to what is deemed to constitute high‐quality teaching at their respective institutions, and how excellence in teaching can be recognised, measured and rewarded. These issues are clearly relevant not just in Australia and the UK. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13603100903292557?journalCode=tpsp20#.VFqWkMn4LyQ
A major difficulty of teaching public health to students in a Masters Program is conveying the ne... more A major difficulty of teaching public health to students in a Masters Program is conveying the need for taking a strategic approach to situations. Tackling real-life public health issues is rather complex. There will generally be a number of avenues of investigation and it is necessary to be wary of the short and long-term consequences of actions. Also time and
A major difficulty of teaching public health to students in a Masters Program is conveying the ne... more A major difficulty of teaching public health to students in a Masters Program is conveying the need for taking a strategic approach to situations. Tackling real-life public health issues is rather complex. There will generally be a number of avenues of investigation and it is necessary to be wary of the short and long-term consequences of actions. Also time and money need to be managed effectively. As one approach to the education of students about these issues, a computer-based package has been developed which simulates the investigation of a real public health problem. This simulation enables students to encounter such issues in a risk-free environment, and to carry out their own investigations and propose their own solutions to the problems presented. Specifically, students have to clarify the impact of pollution on the health of residents in an affected area. They will collect and analyse data (from in-built real-life data sets), design and analyse their own epidemiological stud...
A collaborative partnership that endured over nine years resulted in the establishment of a rich ... more A collaborative partnership that endured over nine years resulted in the establishment of a rich computer-based resource of language learning materials. While the linguistic content, the design and the activities did not age, the platform and application used to deliver were both reaching the end of their life-time. In the case of the former, Apple Computer was moving to a new operating System in OS X and at the same time, their HyperCard application was not going to be supported through the OS change and would thus fade away. All CALL resources that had been developed were Apple OS and HyperCard only.
This paper reports on an online discussion forum that was created on the University of Wollongong... more This paper reports on an online discussion forum that was created on the University of Wollongong’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) to aid and support the learning of French grammar at beginner/false beginner level. The aim was to provide a blended learning situation which combines face to face teaching with online learning using multimedia resources. The key objective of the online forum is to encourage undergraduate students take an active role in their language learning through interaction with peers. Methodology draws on educational practice influenced by a constructivist approach, particularly on the importance of building one’s knowledge and linguistic skills through interaction and cooperation with others. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of data show examples of peer exchanges acting as activators in the meta-learning that was occurring outside class hours including reflection and independent language learning awareness.
One of the difficulties faced by many academics in their teaching is the evaluation of the teachi... more One of the difficulties faced by many academics in their teaching is the evaluation of the teaching and learning process. The growing importance of this aspect of tertiary education has been picked up in recent years by Government in its push for quality assurance in the sector. If quality is most effectively ensured by those directly involved in the provision
Traditionally, data relating to the conduct of subjects at the University of Wollongong has been ... more Traditionally, data relating to the conduct of subjects at the University of Wollongong has been collected for academics with one main purpose in mind: to provide the academic with supporting information as to their teaching ability for the purposes of promotion. Currently this data is collected using ‘prescribed Teaching Surveys’. The process is a formal, highly regulated mechanism and is
Good teachers spend time reflecting on their teaching practice. What is working, what isn't -... more Good teachers spend time reflecting on their teaching practice. What is working, what isn't - and more importantly, why is or isn’t it? Such reflection is an essential component of maintaining and improving both teaching practice and the learning outcomes for students. Changes in current teaching practice towards more flexible teaching and learning environments and especially towards more student-centred online
Traditionally, data relating to the conduct of subjects at the University of Wollongong has been ... more Traditionally, data relating to the conduct of subjects at the University of Wollongong has been collected for teachers with one main purpose in mind: to provide the teacher with supporting information as to their teaching ability for the purposes of promotion. SOS is a web based system which teachers can use to author customised surveys to collect information about the subject they teach. These surveys are completed anonymously by the students via the web (using randomly generated, survey specific numeric tokens) and the data is automatically collated and returned to the teacher. The teacher may also produce the surveys in hard copy, for manual distribution and collation. The system provides a 'non-threatening' and 'informal' mechanism by which teachers can obtain useful information about the subjects they develop and teach in terms of subject based criteria rather than the 'teacher based criteria' of formal Teaching Surveys. In this time of declining Univer...
Traditionally, data relating to the conduct of subjects at the University of Wollongong has been ... more Traditionally, data relating to the conduct of subjects at the University of Wollongong has been collected for academics with one main purpose in mind: to provide the academic with supporting information as to their teaching ability for the purposes of promotion. Currently this data is collected using 'prescribed Teaching Surveys'. The process is a formal, highly regulated mechanism and is administered by the Centre for Educational Development and Interactive Resources (CEDIR) on request. The promotion process requires that the academic provide of not less than 4 and no more than 6 such survey reports in their application for promotion. These surveys are seen as an imposition by many rather than a tool for improving the process of teaching and learning at the university. Two major difficulties have been identified. Firstly, the prescribed question set is not always appropriate and secondly the questions are too heavily weighted towards the academics performance as a teacher ...
A major difficulty of teaching public health to students in a Masters Program is conveying the ne... more A major difficulty of teaching public health to students in a Masters Program is conveying the need for taking a strategic approach to situations. Tackling real-life public health issues is rather complex. There will generally be a number of avenues of investigation and it is necessary to be wary of the short and long-term consequences of actions. Also time and money need to be managed effectively. As one approach to the education of students about these issues, a computer-based package has been developed which simulates the investigation of a real public health problem. This simulation enables students to encounter such issues in a risk-free environment, and to carry out their own investigations and propose their own solutions to the problems presented. Specifically, students have to clarify the impact of pollution on the health of residents in an affected area. They will collect and analyse data (from in-built real-life data sets), design and analyse their own epidemiological stud...
This paper describes methods of on-line assessment and students' survey, which utilize the We... more This paper describes methods of on-line assessment and students' survey, which utilize the Web interfaces and uses them in conjunction with the Internet. To find the most appropriate alternative methods of students' assessment and survey a variety of commercial and public domain tools was used to implement the following two basic tasks: 1. "Student Suggestion Box" where students evaluate the subject and make comments and suggestions on the subject and its assessment, and 2. a partially AutoMark short assessment task, containing two paragraph questions and three multiple choice questions, that offers final marks to the instructor/students and provides prompt feedback for wrong or partially wrong answers to students. Two commercial packages, two major Web-based course-building environments, and a locally developed server and client side programs were used to implement the above mentioned pre-defined tasks. This paper shows sample results obtained from each, and illus...
This paper describes methods of on-line assessment and students’ survey, which utilize the Web in... more This paper describes methods of on-line assessment and students’ survey, which utilize the Web interfaces and use them in conjunction with the Internet. To find the most appropriate alternative methods of students’ assessment and survey a variety of commercial and public domain tools was used to implement the following two basic tasks: 1. ‘Student Suggestion Box’ where students evaluate the subject and make comments and suggestions on the subject and its assessment; and 2. a partially AutoMark short assessment task, containing two paragraph questions and three multiple choice questions, that offers final marks to the instructor/students and provides prompt feedback for wrong or partially wrong answers to students. Two commercial packages, two major Web-based course-building environments, and a locally developed server and client side programs were used to implement the above mentioned pre-defined tasks. This paper shows sample results obtained from each, and illustrates the result o...
Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education, 2010
ABSTRACT It is well recognised in the literature that at most academic institutions teaching is u... more ABSTRACT It is well recognised in the literature that at most academic institutions teaching is undervalued in status and financial terms when compared to research (Jenkins 1995, Ramsden 1998, Young 2006, Illing and Armitage 2007). This paper addresses important issues about how higher education managers and administrators can provide transparent navigation guides to what is deemed to constitute high‐quality teaching at their respective institutions, and how excellence in teaching can be recognised, measured and rewarded. These issues are clearly relevant not just in Australia and the UK. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13603100903292557?journalCode=tpsp20#.VFqWkMn4LyQ
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