| 9:30 am | Welcome DVC (Education) Pip Pattison |
| 9:35 am | Supporting the University in emergency remote teaching PVC (Educational Innovation) Adam Bridgeman |
| 9:45 am | The student response to online emergency teaching Jessica Frawley & Samantha Clarke |
| 10:00 am | [Engaging large cohorts] Caramello Koala in Cyber Campus [1A] Margaret Van Heekeren As I am co-ordinating a large undergraduate unit of first years my aim from the outset was to replicate the f2f environment as much as virtually possible in order to build a community of new universit... [more]As I am co-ordinating a large undergraduate unit of first years my aim from the outset was to replicate the f2f environment as much as virtually possible in order to build a community of new university learners. I did this by switching all classes (lecture and tutorials) live to Zoom. I placed all communications under the heading Cyber Campus in an attempt to provide a positive frame to the shift to online. Within Zoom classes such features/tools as break out rooms, polls, Padlet and Mentimeter were integrated to create a dynamic learning environment. I encouraged synchronous student interaction (verbal or in chat). Asynchronously, on Piazza, I diligently replied to questions. Whilst the use of technologies gave a strong teacher presence and interactive opportunities, it was through the use of, what became a unit motif, the humble Caramello Koala (CK), that I ultimately felt I had built a community. Initially a reward in the first three weeks of f2f lectures, I moved CK online immediately and the ongoing CK banter between myself and the students and amongst the students became a foundation from which our learning community was built. The combined success of presence/interaction and CK has been evidenced by several thank you emails I have already received and f2f equivalent attendance at the live lecture and in tutorials.[less] | [Assessment or curriculum-wide shifts] Connection, care, and consistency in undergraduate Education [2A] Victoria Rawlings, Remy Low As we watched the headlines come in daily (if not hourly), it became apparent to us very early in Semester 1 that COVID-19 was likely to mean a shift to remote learning. Given the uncertainty about ac... [more]As we watched the headlines come in daily (if not hourly), it became apparent to us very early in Semester 1 that COVID-19 was likely to mean a shift to remote learning. Given the uncertainty about access, we worked to consolidate the content into a series of scaffolded questions that related to material each week, arranged on Canvas in weekly modules. Importantly, as critical reflection on experiences of education is the focus of this unit, each week also included a preliminary “Reflect and Share” question that encouraged students to connect their personal experiences to the key concepts. Further discussions were facilitated in weekly tutorial group Zoom sessions and discussion boards – which replaced the weekly two hour in-person tutorial classes. The rationale for not simply “transplanting” face-to-face hours onto Zoom was to avoid presuming upon the technological, resource, and emotional affordances of both students and tutors (now widely discussed in relation to “Zoom fatigue” and other social issues that have arisen). This rationale was also the basis for our decision to cancel a group presentation assessment and distribute the mark weightings for it evenly across remaining assessments. We also offered regular support to our teaching team through weekly updates and suggested teaching resources; ongoing one-on-one support; and clear rubric marking guidelines.
Simultaneously, we recognised that as a large first year course, with over 550 student enrolments in week 1, we had a significant duty of care for students that were transitioning to University. We utilised various platforms in different ways to communicate with and support students as they faced a reality that they never anticipated. This involved the uptake of WeChat, a greater reliance on SRES, and frequent video messages. Part of our coursework emphasises the importance of ‘care’ in teaching, and we aimed to embed this in our own approach towards unit coordination. Adjusting the assessment and class schedules formed part of this, but also making ourselves known to students through frequent, personalised emails and video messages helped us to communicate this as well. Our focus on care enabled us to ground our pedagogy, planning and practices for this unit. For each challenge that emerged, we sought to meet it by seeking to answer two key questions: a) what do the students and teaching team need during this time? b) How can we meet those needs? Formulating our responsive practice with these answers enabled a consistency of care.[less] | [Experiential learning] Moving allied health placement simulation online [3A] Merrolee Penman, Jennie Brentnall In response to COVID-19 public health requirements, we needed to move our full day placement simulations (occurring fortnightly over 10 weeks for 50 year 2 undergraduate students each week) normally l... [more]In response to COVID-19 public health requirements, we needed to move our full day placement simulations (occurring fortnightly over 10 weeks for 50 year 2 undergraduate students each week) normally located in a purpose-built simulated hospital ward, rehabilitation gym and clinic. Within a week, we transferred this face to face experience to an online student-client interaction and interactive learning over a generic web-conferencing platform. To ensure that potential cognitive overload was minimised in the new learning environment, we continued students’ familiar learning teams and timetable. We ensured teams’ online referrals included familiar elements, adapted so relevant information could be gathered in interviews. This focused the students on communication modalities first. Only then did we re-introduce the complexity of managing multiple information sources and conflicts. With this final referral each team has six therapy sessions covering client interview, family member interview, video-mediated assessment of relevant environments or tasks, telehealth interventions (e.g., falls prevention education or exercises), and handover. We also introduced new peer feedback, structured for our renewed focus on core learning and using the fit-for-purpose Student Relationship Engagement System. No changes were made to the assessment.
The environment affords certain behaviors. Our client cases promote dynamic problem-solving, but the move online was enough alone to challenge students to respond specifically to the situation at hand. Learning was sharpened when students, like us, focused on what was important to achieve, rather than ‘usual practice’. This situation intrinsically rewarded considered skill application over rote-learning. The performance of some lower-performing students improved with the move online. Participant observers reported a greater ability to focus on their clients’ communication. Some students reported reduced performance anxiety as the supervisors switched of microphone and video, making them less obvious than even sitting well back in the room as normally happens. Students have valued the learning opportunities especially as the occupational therapy facilitators use the opportunities to reflect on their own experiences of moving to providing services through telepractice/health. To date, students have completed a written assessment (exploring their developing clinical reasoning) and their competency based assessment. Initial analysis suggests that the cohort has achieved similar grades as earlier cohorts.[less] |
| 10:15 am | [Engaging large cohorts] Flipping workshops online in Business [1B] Helena Nguyen, Anya Johnson, Maria Ishkova, Mesepa Paul We were very fortunate as a flipped-learning unit of study that we had a large percentage of our modules already online. However, we needed to re-design the 2-hour face to face ‘workshops’ into �... [more]We were very fortunate as a flipped-learning unit of study that we had a large percentage of our modules already online. However, we needed to re-design the 2-hour face to face ‘workshops’ into ‘Zoom-engaged learning’. To support this, we developed a ‘Zoom’ on-line Scaffold’ for each CANVAS module, to support both the teaching/learning flow and engagement.
Technology enhanced learning kept things interesting as we used: ZOOM Polling function, Padlet, SRES for appreciative feedback, PaLDIP to support our team-based reflections
We also re-designed our participation assessment * dropped the ‘attendance’ criteria and replaced with a ‘pre-work’ submission criterion – this harnessed the existing pre-work activities in our modules making student learning visible and accountable.
It’s been quite a ride. Our sense is that the transition was smooth and positively received by students. Our module student survey data, informal feedback from students in workshops, unsolicited emails from students have appreciated this smooth transition to ZOOM and the genuine connection and community of learning it has fostered.[less] | [Assessment or curriculum-wide shifts] Culturally-aware online teaching and assessment [2B] Jacqueline Bloomfield As a result of the COVID-19 situation in Singapore, in mid-February the Singapore Nursing Board Teaching, stipulated that all nursing educational provision was to be delivered via online methods. Su... [more]As a result of the COVID-19 situation in Singapore, in mid-February the Singapore Nursing Board Teaching, stipulated that all nursing educational provision was to be delivered via online methods. Subsequently, the teaching of all semester one units of study (4 in total) which usually occurs face-to-face in Singapore, was conducted entirely on-line. This included the delivery of all lectures, tutorials and lecture-student consultation sessions. Assessments, including individual student presentations and end of semester examinations were/ will also be conducted online.
All of the students in Singapore enrolled in the Bachelor of Nursing (Post-registration) degree are registered nurses who are upgrading their diploma qualification to a degree. Subsequently, the majority of them are balancing work with study. As the pandemic situation in Singapore intensified, work demands for many nurses also increased. However, all members of the teaching team who were coordinating units of study, including myself, observed increased engagement with things such as Discussion Board activities and attendance at tutorials and discussion sessions and assignment submission rates. It was also evident that, overall, students appeared to have a better understanding of unit content and assessment requirements. This may have been due to the ability to watch and re-watch recorded lectures. Anecdotally, students in my unit of study have indicated that they appreciate the efforts that lecturers have put into developing learning materials and engaging with students, however, despite this, they prefer face-face learning.[less] | [Experiential learning] Connecting peers and teachers through engaging video assessments [3B] Andrew Barnes The normal situation is that the woodwind unit have a weekly class in which students are rostered to perform a solo piece on stage in front of their peers and 2 faculty members. When shutdown happened... [more]The normal situation is that the woodwind unit have a weekly class in which students are rostered to perform a solo piece on stage in front of their peers and 2 faculty members. When shutdown happened I had to come up with a way to continue this important activity - that of learning the art of performance - while being online.
So I moved to a discussion board assignment in which the performers uploaded a video recording of their performance from their home. The listeners were required to make comments on 3 of the performers each week. Sound quality issues that had to be worked through meant that a live zoom concert was just not good enough to hear the nuance required at this level of performance.
I believe what was crucial was to engage the students particularly at the start when there was so much upheaval in their lives. To that end I spent quite a lot of time making encouraging and, so I'm told, amusing announcements. I received numerous heartfelt emails from the students thanking me saying that they looked forward to them and that it was exactly what they needed. I'm sure it is what helped to get them all on board.
The student response was outstanding. EVERYONE performed on time and put a lot of effort into making it work. But even more important was the quality of peer comments. They really were insightful and inspiring.[less] |
| 10:30 am | [Engaging large cohorts] Student-Led Webinars to Increase Engagement [1C] Caleb Owens, Shaun Boustani Earlier in the year we had planned a weekly live webinar to supplement the student experience. The intention was to broadcast a casual discussion we would have with students from previous years about ... [more]Earlier in the year we had planned a weekly live webinar to supplement the student experience. The intention was to broadcast a casual discussion we would have with students from previous years about what first year is like and some of the dos and don'ts of campus life. However, as the pandemic situation worsened, campus shutdown and all learning shifted to online formats. Rather than abandon the concept, we realised that a learning environment where students could participate in live Q&A's with instructors was needed more than ever.
It started informally where students could ask whatever questions they liked, however, we realised that a more structured, topic-specific schedule was more organised and increased engagement. As such, we began holding two weekly webinars with a range of guests that were either; Assignment Q&A with Tutors; Exam Revision with Lecturers, or Health and Well-being with clinical psychologists and career advisors.
Two hours a week in addition to our other teaching responsibilities was a little exhausting, but the feedback has been very positive. Students were highly engaged, but more importantly, we could interact with them during an extremely stressful time in a way which allowed them to have a voice.[less] | [Assessment or curriculum-wide shifts] Students assessing students – transforming the testing and development of practical skills [2C] Helen Parker For the practical exam in this core first-year unit of study, instead of in-person practical skills exams, we used Canvas Quizzes to deliver an online practical skills test where students were asked t... [more]For the practical exam in this core first-year unit of study, instead of in-person practical skills exams, we used Canvas Quizzes to deliver an online practical skills test where students were asked to view videos of student clinicians performing those same practical skills the first years would have done in their own practical exam, and to rate the performance of those student clinicians using the marking rubric that would have been applied in the practical exam itself.
The videos were sourced (with permission) from actual student videos submitted as part of a practical skills barrier task in a second year unit of study, so they were authentic demonstrations of student skill level, and included errors that our own students would likely have made during their own practical exams.
This online assessment task will not have been developed for a single-use purpose: this task can be repurposed into an online skills training and practical exam preparation resource for future years, thereby also benefiting future student cohorts. Furthermore, given the video barrier task for second year students will still exist in future years, we will be able to swap in new videos over time, and can therefore deliver this as a formal online exam again in the future if needed.[less] | [Experiential learning] Co-designing change in a co-design class [3C] Raphael Hammel When you teach how to run workshops to guide groups through complex situations and Covid-19 hits, it’s time to walk the talk. By giving students a say in how we adapted to the shift online (and a fe... [more]When you teach how to run workshops to guide groups through complex situations and Covid-19 hits, it’s time to walk the talk. By giving students a say in how we adapted to the shift online (and a few other tricks), our small class stayed highly engaged throughout the semester. Despite the isolation, students worked and learned together to deliver an online workshop of their own by the end of the semester.[less] |
| 10:45 am | Q&A Speakers from this track | Q&A Speakers from this track | Q&A Speakers from this track |
| 10:55 am | Break |
| 11:00 am | [Small and large class teaching] Building teacher and student connections through simple synchronous sessions [1D] Peter White I converted lectures to live Zoom sessions and made sure I left ample time to answer questions raised in the chat. A notable difference I found was that more students asked questions this way than in ... [more]I converted lectures to live Zoom sessions and made sure I left ample time to answer questions raised in the chat. A notable difference I found was that more students asked questions this way than in a normal lecture. They often answered another students question before I could as well which was encouraging to me that students were engaging. For my tutorial sessions I provided some scenarios and lab results prior to the session and then used these for discussion in small group tutorials where I provided questions. In some classes I used breakout rooms and once tried using the discussion board which was a total disaster. So really nothing too different to face to face but I found again in tutorials students seemed much more likely to offer an answer on the chat than in a face to face situation.
Hard to know yet what the impact was overall but I do feel students engaged well with the material. Lectures only managed about 50-70% attendance but these were recorded so many would have watched at their leisure. Tutorials were 100% attended and often went over the time allocation. I think I managed to keep the students engaged and made them feel some sense of belonging by also providing some drop in sessions where we just talked and I answered any questions I could that they asked, often about things not related to the course.[less] | [Assessment or curriculum-wide shifts] Breaking down to build students up for business [2D] Louise Luff The major difference in Semester 1 2020 was adopting a “breaking down” and “working with” teaching approach.
Course content was reconfigured into relevant and cognitively manageable compone... [more]The major difference in Semester 1 2020 was adopting a “breaking down” and “working with” teaching approach.
Course content was reconfigured into relevant and cognitively manageable components. Using insights from practitioners, professional bodies, experts and industry examples, online teaching and learning resources were developed to facilitate a “business world” learning experience that exposed students to the messy, critical and professional matters financial accountants face. As demonstrated in online workshops and case studies, students learnt how to work through complex financial reporting issues. Assignments, formative online assessment tasks and student feedback were designed so students could reflect on their learning in a staged and progressive way throughout the semester. Feedback from students was always welcomed and contributed to this approach, their comments guided the questions discussed in the recap student questions videos and the Topic 12 Review class content.
While the “working with” approach involved constant reaching out and communication with students, it is through this we learnt a lot about our students and could modify what we did to support their learning. Student feedback indicated that the connection to business helped them to better understand content, and that they found the comprehensive set of online activities and resources effective.[less] | [Experiential learning] I’ll meet you there – Improving student presence and visibility in online studio learning [3D] Jane Gavan In the first-year unit at SCA, an online friendly curriculum reprioritises learning according to each student’s situation, current experience, and future work/life plans. The aim is to meet them whe... [more]In the first-year unit at SCA, an online friendly curriculum reprioritises learning according to each student’s situation, current experience, and future work/life plans. The aim is to meet them where they are now, within an emergent, social, and reflective environment.
Independent in-home ‘maker’ practices, porous peer engagement and media rich contextualising seminars are key activities. Collaboration skills improve through a socialised studio mode - an online environment that focuses on quality breakouts and zoom chat contributions. Exchanges are orientated toward raising the presence and visibility of each student. We encourage no spell zones and our academic ‘chat’ monitor is responsive to enquiry, often adding ‘just in time’ context link explainers or divergent references.
Critical iteration loops accelerate with the use of assignment themed Padlets, used during and in between classes. These shared spaces manifest engagement by offering resources, capturing exercise and assignment responses, and opportunities for whole of community feedback.[less] |
| 11:15 am | [Small and large class teaching] Meeting diverse student needs with synchronous and asynchronous learning [1E] Estrella Pearce For CRIM1002, the teaching, lectures and tutorials were transferred to online delivery. Students were provided each week with pre-recorded videos of lectures (three-part mode) using Studio in Canvas. ... [more]For CRIM1002, the teaching, lectures and tutorials were transferred to online delivery. Students were provided each week with pre-recorded videos of lectures (three-part mode) using Studio in Canvas. At the beginning tutorials were asynchronous. Students were provided with a weekly online tutorial activity package including visual components (eg. Video clips, games etc) and/or very brief reading components (eg. news articles, conversation piece) and a requirement to post in a group discussion to respond to a tutorial question related to activities. Later in the semester, the asynchronous mode was replaced by a similar tutorial plan delivered thru Zoom synchronous tutorials. Assessments did not need to change for this unit, but tutorial participation was based on attending to the online tutorial requirement.
With a cohort of 300 plus students, it is going to be difficult to please all of them. Some students expressed that they missed the face-to-face contact, while others preferred the advantage of being able to do the online tutorial package on their own time over an extended period of days. Partly the decision made on changing the asynchronous tutorials to synchronous Zooms during the latter part of the semester was to show students that we were listening to their wishes and were trying to accommodate everyone’s preferences.[less] | [Assessment or curriculum-wide shifts] From exams to scaffolded portfolios and better student learning [2E] Jennifer Smith-Merry 60% of unit assessment comprised mid and end of semester in-person exams. The move to online learning because of Covid 19 meant that these exams could not occur. I had also identified an existing gap ... [more]60% of unit assessment comprised mid and end of semester in-person exams. The move to online learning because of Covid 19 meant that these exams could not occur. I had also identified an existing gap in the unit assessment which meant students had limited engagement applying ethical thinking beyond the course materials. Instead of exams I trialled a two-part media portfolio task. Students were required to develop a 7-entry portfolio. For each entry students must find a media article and include a 200-word commentary explaining its ethical and legal implications while referring to at least 2 academic references. At least one entry must have a specific focus on the law in addition to ethics. This new task has offered an important opportunity to grow the curriculum in the unit and this will improve student learning and their experience of the unit.[less] | [Experiential learning] Surgery@Home – Zooming surgical skills [3E] Kate Mills, Denis Verwilghen We transformed a Surgical Skills Fundamentals Practical Laboratory class into a multimodal on-line learning platform. The vision was to support and engage students with practical skills development wh... [more]We transformed a Surgical Skills Fundamentals Practical Laboratory class into a multimodal on-line learning platform. The vision was to support and engage students with practical skills development while tradition teaching modalities were unavailable in the Pandemic. The Learning platform included pre-reading materials, demonstration videos, a real time zoom skills workshop, and self help quizzes that enabled students to gauge their understanding of important concepts.
This teaching initiative enabled students to engage with the practical component of the surgery curriculum from home. Access to the on-line materials encouraged students to practice and begin the process of self assessment of competency. The zoom skills workshop had excellent attendance and students interacted enthusiastically with demonstrators. The final step of this process will be a succinct face to face session in second semester to ensure required learning outcomes are achieved.[less] |
| 11:30 am | [Small and large class teaching] Getting students involved through dialogic and iterative pedagogies [1F] Alyson Simpson I adapted my teaching approach to emulate the same dialogic principles that are usually embedded in my blended learning design. This includes active listening, joint engagement, positive relationships... [more]I adapted my teaching approach to emulate the same dialogic principles that are usually embedded in my blended learning design. This includes active listening, joint engagement, positive relationships, and opportunities to collaborate. I created an iterative sequence of activities that scaffolded coherent lines of thinking and understanding through synchronous and asynchronous interactions. The use of Zoom with break out rooms, Studio commentary, Padlet, discussion boards, chunked lectures, Canvas quiz and other tools enabled me to create social and intellectual connections for the students. The students commented positively about how the tutorials “got us involved”. They told me they thought our work online was “engaging” because I focussed on how they learnt not just on what they needed to learn.[less] | [Assessment or curriculum-wide shifts] Transforming assessments and classes to engage engineering students [2F] Young No I used more online-based tools such as Kahoot, Socrative, Zoom whiteboard, and Padlet to support the online learning environment. Students were kept engaged through the semester through engaging and r... [more]I used more online-based tools such as Kahoot, Socrative, Zoom whiteboard, and Padlet to support the online learning environment. Students were kept engaged through the semester through engaging and relaxed delivery inspired by several Youtube channels, as well as providing them with frequent communication regarding expectations in their assessments and learning outcomes. Instead of an individual presentation assignment, I assigned students into pairs to create a podcast assessment – all of which were good quality. Paper-based closed book quizzes were now all done on Canvas quizzes as open-book, with significantly less short answer questions and more MCQ.[less] | [Experiential learning] Immersive whole-day simulation – a Model UN exercise and assessment through Zoom [3F] Eyal Mayroz We ran in early April a full day exercise (over 7 hours) with 50 postgraduate coursework students attending, all via Zoom!! This practical workshop applies principles of experiential learning by ‘do... [more]We ran in early April a full day exercise (over 7 hours) with 50 postgraduate coursework students attending, all via Zoom!! This practical workshop applies principles of experiential learning by ‘doing’ that goes beyond reading and listening to lectures and in the past has markedly improved the learning experience and outcomes for the students. The exercise included content delivery, students’ presentations, class and group discussions and an oral assessment. The assessment was conducted simultaneously in four separate breakout rooms, with 12 students and one staff in each. It was formulated as a Q&A, during which the students responded to prepared questions, reflecting on lessons they had learned during the day. Transitioning the entire exercise to an online format required stronger emphases on early communication with the students and among staff, setting students expectations, extra support for student engagement and content delivery.[less] |
| 11:45 am | Q&A Speakers from this track | Q&A Speakers from this track | Q&A Speakers from this track |
| 11:55 am | Break |
| 12:00 pm | Student panel on experiences learning and living through COVID-19 |
| 1:00 pm | Break |
| 1:45 pm | Inter-institutional panel on lessons learnt about supporting staff and students Liz Branigan (La Trobe University), Karen Benson (University of Queensland), Adam Bridgeman (University of Sydney) |
| 2:30 pm | Break |
| 2:45 pm | Supporting the University to support students PVC (Student Life) Susanna Scarparo |
| 3:00 pm | [Student life] Speak and Connect – Building a Sense of Connection and Belonging Online [SL1] Katherine Olston, Elizabeth (Lisa) Giammarco, Josh Aarts The Speak and Connect Program is a series of 6 weekly peer-facilitated conversational workshops that focus on developing communicative confidence and building a sense of belonging for commencing inter... [more]The Speak and Connect Program is a series of 6 weekly peer-facilitated conversational workshops that focus on developing communicative confidence and building a sense of belonging for commencing international students at the University of Sydney. With the move to fully online delivery, how does a program based on facilitating conversation and connection adapt to the online space, maintain student engagement, train peer-facilitators online and genuinely foster a sense of connectedness and belonging? This presentation will look at the challenges, insights and learnings that have emerged in the transition to online delivery in Semester 1, 2020.[less] |
| 3:15 pm | [Student life] Building community and connection with ‘Students on Pause’ [SL2] Juliette Overland, Daniel Smith In semester 1, a significant number of our students chose to suspend their studies due to travel restrictions and uncertainty around online learning resulting from COVID-19. In the Business School, ap... [more]In semester 1, a significant number of our students chose to suspend their studies due to travel restrictions and uncertainty around online learning resulting from COVID-19. In the Business School, approximately 2,400 students suspended their studies (up from some 400 in 2019), which included approximately 2250 international students. To build a community with these students and to maintain their connection with the Business School, we implemented a 'Students on Pause' project. In this presentation, we will discuss what we had hoped to achieve with this project, the activities we undertook and the ways in which we engaged with our 'Students on Pause', and we have learned from this experience.[less] |
| 3:30 pm | [Student life] Success, challenges and lessons learnt from the rapid online transition of student engagement programs during the COVID-19 pandemic [SL3] Karen Walker, Freia Kirkaldy, Caitlyn Sinclair, and Student Partners In the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Student Affairs and Engagement rapidly transitioned to the online delivery of our portfolio of student programs in order to continue to engage and connect s... [more]In the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Student Affairs and Engagement rapidly transitioned to the online delivery of our portfolio of student programs in order to continue to engage and connect students during the COVID-19 pandemic. This talk will discuss how we adapted our programs to online delivery, including successes, challenges and lessons learnt that can continue to be applied in a post-pandemic world. We will share data from five key initiatives that were adapted in collaboration with students: The Toolkit for Success, Student Partnership Program, International Student Program, #FASSfromhome communications campaign and the Teaching and Learning Online Student survey.[less] |
| 3:45 pm | Q&A |
| 4:00 pm | Closing statements Adam Bridgeman |
