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Design Thinking to foster empathy for victims of crime

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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How do you teach something as complex as clinical reasoning?

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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Alternative credentials: 10 recommendations for universities from Emeritus Prof. Bev Oliver

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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Students as Partners and the power of the VU Block Model

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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“Effective feedback requires effect”

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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Digital Pedagogies: industry leading live performance events

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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Digital Pedagogies for Remote Learning: Hairdresser Apprentices

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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VU in the spotlight at ATEM Awards night

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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VU Polytechnic wins outstanding award!

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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Victoria University App wins Australia’s coveted Good Design Award

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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