I participated in a development workshop at the University of Ballarat today with staff in the School of Human Movement and Sport Sciences. The workshop was held next to the delightful Old Post Office Building that is part of the University’s campus. The venue was Alexandria on Lydiard, a function centre that serves great coffee and excellent food throughout the day.
In the morning I shared some ideas about the Edgeless University and met staff in small groups to explore how sharing might lead to collective flourishing. Leonie Otago, Amanda Mooney and Peter Martin were my hosts. Deb Clarke (Charles Sturt University) was at the workshop with me. She and I were delighted to be invited and involved in the workshop.
The day had some great presentations.
In the morning session:
- Amanda and Peter discussed What can it mean to be an academic in a changing climate and encouraged participants to muse on the components of transformative education. They discussed motives of service and clarified professional roles and contributions in the University context. Their presentation concluded with a consideration of ideologies of education.
- Deb Clarke facilitated discussion about authentic, integrated and aligned assessment.
- Chris Brown discussed on-line learning environments.
In the afternoon:
Neil Trivett, the Director of the University’s Institute for Professional and Organisational Learning (IPOL), discussed Curriculum Renewal. IPOL was established in 2008 “to support the development of a rich learning environment at the University which encourages all staff to expand their personal capacity and to appreciate the characteristics of a learning organisation.” Neil reported the University’s Curriculum Renewal will focus in 2010 in relation to:
- Graduate attributes (employability skills) and graduate outcomes
- Curriculum design and assessment
- Student feedback and evaluation
- Learning and teaching strategies
- Student experience
News of the University’s Green paper on Curriculum Renewal can be found here.
The day ended with Warren Young and Dara Twomey‘s presentation on Research in Context in which they explored: the meanings attached to research; the teaching-research nexus; barriers to research activity. Warren and Dara noted Gabrielle Baldwin’s (2005) paper on the teaching-research nexus.
Photo Credit
University of Ballarat
