Staff Development Day 2: Ballarat

I participated in the second day of 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, Leonie Otago, Amanda Mooney and Peter Martin were my hosts.

Today’s program included a presentation from Deb Clarke (Charles Sturt University). She talked with great passion about Smart, Authentic and Meaningful Assessment and provided a compelling account of constructive alignment. This account included clarification of:

• Authentic assessment
• Bloom’s taxonomy
• Diagnostic assessment
• Formative assessment
• Summative assessment
• Norm referencing
• Criterion referencing
• Rubrics
• Standards-referenced marking criteria

I liked her approach to scaffolding assessment and hope to apply some of her excellent ideas around scenario-based assessment tasks.
Sue was followed on the program by Leonie Otago‘s discussion of Research in the School of Human Movement and Sport Sciences. This was a fascinating account of an exciting and emerging research culture around four research themes. Leonie’s presentation was a great example of a senior academic figure using incisive synoptic vision to map out the next phase of the School’s research path.

The morning program concluded with the second part of  Warren Young and Dara Twomey‘s presentation on Research in Context. This led to a vibrant discussion about research trajectories and possibilities.
I left the workshop after lunch and on my drive back to Melbourne I reflected on what a rich two days I had spent with the staff of  School of Human Movement and Sport Sciences. In this blog I write fairly regularly about ecology ideas in relation to teaching and learning communities. I left Ballarat thinking that there is a a remarkable culture in place that will have to adapt to changing circumstances. My hope is that this very special eco system can flourish secure in a collective understanding of what can be achieved by passionate people. I smiled too that this eco system makes wonderful use of nicknames that makes the School such a great place to be.