National tertiary learning and teaching conference - Day 3

Keynote from Dr. Peter Coolbear from Ako Aotearoa opens the last day of an interesting conference. Peter presents on 'supporting the success of priority learners - translating policy aspirations to enhancement of practice'. Covered the policy sitting, what the education performance. indicators are telling us, argue that teaching teams have a role to play and then some projects that hope to address some the issues. Alco Aotearoa working assumptions include working in a system that allows great teaching and learning to occur, we do not do enough to share good practice, we still allow mediocre performance, the system is fragmented and research still weak and has limited impact on practice. These views are shared by government. NZ has moved to greater public accountability from all public funded education. EPls tell us that course completion rates have plateaued at 80 -85%. Therefore, as tertiary teachers, maximising individual performance is no longer enough, focus needs to shift to whole teaching teams causing a significant culture change.  Teaching teams need better management, support and take responsibility for student success on their programmes. Suggested a traffic light model of assessing programme academic health based on principles of learner focus, outcome focus, learner support etc. and include accreditation, completions, academic standards, student evaluations, graduate destinations, equity pathways and community /Iwi involvement. Provided overview of how traffic light model may work for students, teaching team, managers, academic board and council. Related projects include: improving large class learning, using student evaluations to improve outcomes, model of success for Maori learners in workplace settings, success for Pacifika, adult refugee learners: effective responses and recent publications bringing themes together

Parallel sessions follow morning tea. I attend Iain Huddleston's on 'blended delivery gains student support'. Presented examples of changes made to delivery of an engineering course to improve students' learning experiences. Technology based resources were developed to enhance learning and a blended approach used. Group work and enquiry based learning used. Each week groups presented their learning qfrom week before and rest of class time put into exploring the next topic. A learning commons environment set up supported with WIFI, laptops and presentation facilities. Presentations are marked and count towards summative assessments. Review of topics through online quizzes and crosswords. Students develop research, presentation, team work and collaborative skills.

Last keynote with Dr. Stuart Middleton on 'teaching and learning: the Park momentos or 21st century'. Began with overview of how he arrived to the work he is now focused on. English speaking systems seem to all have similar challenges with equity and outcomes. Challenge is to address the schools system as vocational and higher works from the outcomes students bring with them. ITPs have to work with school systems to bring about change and interconnections so students are able to transition into programmes that will provide them with future prospects. Structures like curriculum, time, pastoral care, age related cohorts, sectors, programmes and delivery are things that need change. Transitions between various educational sectors has attrition. Proposed 2 sectors. MIT tertiary High School one way to integrate secondary and tertiary, leading to a seamless transition to allow students to complete multiple qualifications across sectors.

Conference closes with Poroporokai.

Overall, the range of presentations was good. A balance between reports from practitioner on their own teaching contexts and keynotes that set the tone and create forums for discussion. Always good to catch up with colleagues from other institutes to share ideas and brainstorm creative ways to do more with less in the staff development process.

National tertiary lerning and teaching conference - day 2 afternoon

After lunch keynote from Ria Tomoana from Whitireia Polytechnic on 'sharing successful teaching and learning strategies for Maori, Pacifica and youth'. need to change ALL staff altitudes from "tell me what to do and   I will do it" to" I am here to help students meet their learning goals". Value of undertaking an Ako Aotearoa research project include opportunity to derive an internal solution, potential to create champions among staff, honour staff who are getting good results, clarify the Whitiriea way. Belief in students' potential important to change attitudes. Students will pick up through body language if staff do not really mean what they say. Need robust induction process for staff, mentoring and staff development and performance and appraisal systems aligned to values.

Workshops follow and I attend Katrina Marwick, Rae Perkins and Carole Crawford's session on 'online individual learning plans.' The workshop revolved around 2 working models of ILPs used at NMIT. ILPs used to improve the students' learning journey. ILPs developed on Moodle.
Rae shared the way ILPs used to support business students through her role as a learning advisor. Students begin writing their ILPs at orientation, then initial meeting to discuss initial goals and clarify actual aspirations. Academic strengths and weaknesses are identified and matched to study programme choice. Follow up meetings proceed. If on track, praise, if not, review study plan and work on strategies to work through challenges. Final meeting to celebrate completion.

Katrina provides a learning coach perspective. Matching ILPs to inquiry learning. Students use ILPs set their own targets, apply actions, share the journey. Learners agree to meet deadlines on assessments etc., use of cell phones, through learner contracts. Learners self analyse against required skills. Need to prepare students to take responsibility for their own learning goals and to be able to assess their own progress.

Good discussion eventuated around purpose of ILPs, how institutions or student uses and how both have different reasons for using.

After afternoon tea, keynote with Dr. Kerry Reid-Searle from CQU - Central Queensland University at Rockhampton. She presents on 'suspension in disbelief - an innovative approach to learning and teaching through simulation'. The presentation begins with a role-play simulation of a 'client' and how the 'nurse' models how to work with a patient by encouragement and empathy with the patient's circumstances and needs. Used the initial  'performance' of authentic scenario to explain teaching practice and how to engage students. The 5 senses need to be deployed to learn effectively. Experiential learning needs to really involve students, they cannot just stand aside and watch but participate, feel, do, smell, hear and taste. Simulation is realism, fidelity and authenticity. Teachers need to create realness, integration and connection. Introduced Mask-ed to use KRS simulation. Latex prosthetics along with realistic portrayal of 'characters' provides students with access to authentic learning in a safe environment. The core elements are the character, the educator is hidden, the educator is still expert, learning is important. The character is on the side of the learner. Scenarios are an interplay between character and learners and have strong stories. Need to make sure there is fit with curriculum and used across all delivery, learning activities and assessments. Introduced next iteration Pup-ed using puppets to provide understanding of paediatric practice and used to help build rapport with young patients.

Conference dinner convenes in the evening providing added opportunities to network.

National Tertiary Learning and Teaching conference- day 2 morning

Day 2 begins with workshops. I attend Bronwyn Hegarty's on 'open education practices.' The group is separated into 3 groups to work out the good, bad and downright ugly of 'open education'. Lively discussions emerge from each group.

Parallel sessions follow. First up Brian Tuck with 'mindfulness'. Began with a youtube video on 'what i mindfulness?' When we pay attention to how we pay attention, we find it is actually quite difficult to sustain attention. we practise how to breathe, to enhance mindfulness.

Then Jo Rhodes with 'learning is not a spectator sport - avoiding just another lecture. An active session modelling the premise of the presentation, the student needs to do the work to do the learning. Strategies include: make a large class feel small, encourage questions, be available, learn students names, relate lectures and discussions to actual or potential student experiences, pay attention to individual students,  consider your self presentation and give personalised feedback. Important to plan before the lecture, how you will begin, what activities and 'energy shifts' will be used, learning styles to allow for, materials to be used and what happens after lecture.

Third up I catch up with Aidan Bigham's presentation (on Prezi) as I was presenting in the opposite stream at Qingdao. Aidan shares 'teaching engineering geology in a blended inverted classroom. Inverted classrom akin to flipped classrom, using multimedia resources through blended learning. Went through advantages and disadvantages. Change of heavily content focused approach to meeting student learning outcomes. Used OTARA model to ground planning - objectives, activities, resources and assessment. Student evaluations show higher engagement and increase in students' motivation to take responsibility for their learning.

National tertiary learning and teaching conference - day 1 afternoon

After lunch, 3 workshops. I attend Jenny McGee's workshop on 'communicating across cultures'. Cultures do not only mean ethnicity but includes all aspects of social, economic and values systems.
 An interactive session with much input from all group members. 5 strategies include know yourself, watch your bias (check out project implicit), mind your language, what you do not say matters just as much, and understand the values.

Keynote 2 from Jenny Magee on 'Turning outsiders into insiders'. Discussed layers of diversity as one way to approach understanding diversity in all  its myriad contributions. Inclusion to make how to make. diversity work.
Bringing diversity and inclusion together provides for engagement to take place. In organisations, communications and relationships contribute to inclusion in turn leading to cohesion, belongingness and inclusion. So instead of 'treat others as you would like to treated
' to treat others as They would like to be treated'. Inclusion derailers include: we recruit people like us, making assumptions, unconscious bias, abd cultural norms. Inclusion enablers include modelling from the top, finding common ground, little things matter, check your expectations and reframing political correctness.

5 parallel streams of 3 sessions follow. I stay with the stream I am presenting last on.
First up, Georgie Gaddum from on 'technology and teaching: a case study of software enhanced enquiry based learning across academic pathways'. Project evolving since 2004. Provides students with an authentic learning experience with del life expectations and time limes. Journalism, photography and web design students, education it and publish a paper for each of the 4 days of the agricultural filed expo held each year at Mystery Creek near Hamilton.

Secondly, Dr. Monique Dalziel, Chris Dunn and Belma Gaukrodger with 'nursing students on cloud 9: engaging students in their assessments'. Used to help first year nursing students learn appropriate communication skills with patients. 5-6 minute videos are taken of interview between student and actor. Students upload the videos on to YouTube and have to reflect on their performance.

My presentation 'applying principles of situated technology enhanced learning to improve trades learning' closes a busy day. Provided overview of the four projects. Firstly completing competency based assessments using photos and videos in level 2 automotive programme. Second, compiling videos into workbooks with barista students. Thirdly, using video to improve learning of front office skills. Fourth project to improve students critical evaluation of web sites via virtual hotel tours.

NAtional Tertiary Learning and Teaching Conference 2013 - day 1 morning

After a frenetic week in China, a complete change of scenery and ambience with 3 days in Invercargill for the annual National tertiary learning and teaching conference hosted by Southern Institute of Technology.

A stirring powhiri is followed by opening address from Maree Howden, Deputy CE of SIT and a welcome from Invercargill mayor, Tim Shadbolt.

The first keynote address from Dr.Stewart Hase on the topic 'heutagogy' follows. Heutagogy is a word coined to extent andragogy. It refers to self-determined learning. Encouraged audience to suspend comfortable habits and look beyond the usual means of problem solving or coming up with new ideas. Check http://slideshare.re/GzuMKt. Also new book 'self-determined learning' edited by Stewart and Chris Kenyon. People learn different ways and ask different questions. Self-determined learning one way to match latest learnings from neuro-biology with curriculum and learning development. Humans learn through, focus develops specific regions of the human brain; brains sensitive to culture / environment; memory is fragile unless strengthened; attention span 8 minutes; system 1 (assumptions) vs system 2 (work at problem solving) thinking;  effort develops human brain; learning needs to be multi-sensory; humans are naturally curious and explore; emotion and learning are inextricably linked; humans motivated to resolve incongruity; brain plasticity; state dependent learning; the first 30 seconds; repetition required; takes years to develop reliable memory; when real learning occurs is unpredictable; humans learn best by immersion; ingredients are to puddings as knowledge and skills are to learning.