A sharecase of Innovation in Learning & Teaching at Victoria University
Academic and researcher in Victoria University’s College of Law and Justice, Ruth Liston is applying the principles of Design Thinking, an approach commonly used in the design world for software development, to a law setting instead. At VU’s recent Learning and Teaching Symposium, Ruth explained that Design Thinking focusses heavily on the empathy of the […]
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Clinical reasoning is considered a core skill in healthcare and this is a skill that is difficult to teach using traditional teaching methods. Amy Lawton, Academic in Victoria University’s College of Health and Biomedicine explains that there is no ‘cookie-cutter’ approach when it comes to teaching clinical reasoning. It it is a combination of areas […]
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Micro, macro, alternative, badges, certificates & short courses – it’s hard to keep track of the trends (and hype) in this area. What we know is that demand for learning outside of the traditional bachelor or postgraduate degree is up (Oliver 2020), and that Australian universities, especially given the recent opportunities to provide commonwealth supported […]
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*Drumroll…* We are very excited to present to you the new Victoria University demonstration green roof at our Footscray Park campus!!! This is a place for research, demonstration and education, and will be used with VU students and the wider community. Watch the video below to see what the finished green roof looks like (2 […]
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And just like that 2020 is almost over… It feels like this year has gone extremely fast and slow at the same time. The end of 2020 is particularly special because our first Block Model graduates received their bachelor degrees, having studied exclusively in Block Mode since 2018 – a first in Australia. At the […]
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In this episode of the Student Experience podcast Trish McCluskey (Interim Pro-Vice-Chancellor Learning & Teaching at Victoria University) explains how the transition away from traditional university teaching to the VU Block Model, has set VU up for success during COVID-19. Trish also describes how their Students as Staff (SAS) have been a crucial part of […]
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In this video First Year College lecturer, Meg McInnes shares how she has adapted to digitally supported remote teaching and how the block model supports online learning and teaching. By July 2020 she was already in her 6th block teaching Bachelor of Paramedicine units remotely, allowing her to rapidly adjust and improve. Meg says that […]
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At Victoria University’s recent Learning and Teaching Symposium, keynote speaker Associate professor Phillip Dawson presented ‘Developing students feedback literacy for study, work and life’. Together with over 300 staff, we gained insights and debunked some myths around feedback. Phill’s four key takeaways from the keynote are: We need to focus more on what students do […]
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A challenge many instructors are facing, not only in the online classroom but the physical classroom as well, is how to keep students active and engaged. In this podcast, we get to meet Nick Lekakis, a Learning Designer at Victoria University and expert on gamifying learning. Listen to the podcast below to find out what […]
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In this video, we get to meet Nick Cooper, the Unit Convenor of Live Performance Management at Victoria University. Nick explains how he helped his students to deliver real live music events online during COVID-19, including local emerging and established artists and superstar DJ’s! “Student feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with many serious they considering […]
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In this video, we are meeting Dr Christine Connelly a senior lecturer in Environmental Science at Victoria University. Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, Christine couldn’t take her students on their usual field trips and therefore she decided to create virtual field trips for her students instead! Watch the (4 min) video to find out […]
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How do practical disciplines like hairdressing adapt to the new online study environment? In this short video, we meet Veronica Di-Girolamo, a teacher in Certificate III Hairdressing at Victoria University Polytechnic. It turns out that this challenge has led to new and better ways of teaching and engaging with industry. Watch the (3:45 min) video […]
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Following on from Part 1 of The Perfect score – web accessibility for all series, in this post Academic Jane Hickey shares her 4 key learnings from making her LMS site more accessible. “The tool makes it so easy,” Jane says, “it highlights what the issues are and tells you how to fix them.” Jane […]
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In the current environment, certain circumstances might require you to extend your class online with minimal notice. Building on the principles of the Block, in the event that you may not be able to come to class, we want to continue to foster a sense of belonging for our students. We want to mirror our […]
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Emeritus Professor Beverly Oliver articulates the need for more certified granular learning in this 15 min podcast. Also check out the 2019 report ‘Making microcredentials work for learners, employers and providers‘, it gives a comprehensive overview of the current state and future needs.
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If you want to record material that is highly visual, consider using a pen-enabled device (or Tablet PC) such as a Surface Pro or iPad to give your screencast videos an extra dimension. With these devices, you can quickly make sketches or draw pictures as you explain your ideas in the video. You can also […]
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Victoria University won 5 categories at the recent Best Practice Awards in Tertiary Education Management with a 6th High Commendation. In Learning and Teaching, Director of Connected Learning, Trish McCluskey won Outstanding Achiever for her leadership contribution to VU’s Block Model. In addition, the Connected Learning team got a High Commendation in Excellence and Innovation […]
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At the 65th anniversary of The Victorian Training awards night, VU Polytechnic won the Inclusive Training Provider of the Year Award! Amazing work VU Polytechnic, well done. The award recognises exceptional training providers within the Victorian Government’s vocational education and training system. Winners have demonstrated outstanding improvements in the achievement, engagement and well-being of students […]
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Are you familiar with ‘Flipped Learning‘? Flipped Learning is a great approach for academics that are teaching in the Block Model, as it encourages a dynamic and interactive learning environment for students! Martha Ramirez explains in the video below how she flips her classes. One important take away from this video was that Martha raised […]
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Our Students as Staff are our greatest asset and we say it often and with good reason. But what is it that they really do? Watch this video to find out:
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During the first week of July, our students as staff (SAS) Jodie Gibbons and Aleksandra Trifkovic presented at the Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA) conference held in Auckland, New Zealand. The topic of their presentation was ‘Students as Co-creators of Curriculum’ which was based upon the unique SAS contribution to each […]
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The Victoria University App received a prestigious Gold Accolade in the Digital Design category for outstanding design and innovation. An innovative mobile ‘super app’ created by a student-led team of Victoria University technologists and designers was given Australia’s highest honour for design and innovation at the peak industry Good Design Awards. Big congrats to our awesome colleagues for […]
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What excites you about teaching this year? Tell us about it! Submit a 300 word abstract by July 15th to present in the: 5 minute lightning round 25 min plenary sessions the active learning room the tech garden More information about the 2019 Learning and Teaching Symposium. Come to our drop-in information sessions until the […]
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So what really goes on at the VU HIVE? Are you new to VU? Or maybe you are one of our awesome VU veterans, but have not ventured in to the strange yellow fish bowl at the bottom of A building. Checkout this interactive 360 Virtual Tour: Want to make your own interactive 360 images? […]
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