Edith Cowan University
Centre for Learning and Teaching
The Vice Chancellor’s Learning and Teaching
(VC T&L) Awards
and
The Australian Awards for University Teaching
(AAUT)
Advice for ECU applicants
Edith Cowan University
Centre for Learning and Teaching
Contents
Why apply for a teaching and learning related award? 3
What teaching and learning related awards are available? 3
Local ECU VC L&T awards 3
National AAUT Awards 3
Relationship between VC L&T awards and AAUT 3
Accessing the VC L&T award and AAUT guidelines 4
Some general advice 4
Writing an application – style, format and readability 5
Style 5
Format 6
Readability 6
Writing an application that impresses the selectors 7
Philosophical and theoretical basis for your teaching and student learning 8
The scope of your current teaching 8
Planning and designing courses and units of study 8
You in the act of teaching – 30 questions to ask yourself 9
Your evolution as a teacher 10
Teaching aids and technology that support your teaching 10
The importance of assessment in teaching and student learning 11
Showing that you are human and care about students 12
Evidence from others to support your teaching award application 12
Providing outcomes based evidence that your teaching is successful 12
Supporting teaching materials 13
A teaching portfolio as a pre-cursor to writing an application 13
Focus on outcomes not inputs! 13
Getting started 14
Why apply for a teaching and learning related award?
Winning an award will provide you with an award certificate, a grant (anything from $1,000 to $25,000, depending on the award), participation in a prestigious award ceremony and confirmation in your own mind that you are ‘doing a good job’. In addition, a Vice Chancellor’s Learning and Teaching (VC L&T) award or Australian Award for University Teaching (AAUT) will earn you recognition from your peers and your supervisors that can be translated into promotional opportunities.
Even if you don’t win an award, the experience of producing an application will have a significant positive effect on your teaching skills, your attitude to teaching and your relationship with students.
What teaching and learning related awards are available?
ECU VC L&T awards
The VC Learning and Teaching awards are part of the VC Staff Awards and include four categories. Three of those categories are modelled on the AAUT categories and there is one additional Engagement Award specific to ECU:
1. Vice-Chancellor’s Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning ;
2. Vice-Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence in Teaching (VC AET);
3. Vice-Chancellor’s Awards for Programmes that Enhance Learning (VC APEL); and
4. Vice-Chancellor’s Engagement in Learning and Teaching Award.
National AAUT Awards
1. Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning;
2. Awards for Teaching Excellence; and
3. Awards for Programmes that Enhance Learning.
Relationship between VC L&T awards and AAUT
Each year the local ECU VC L&T award guidelines for the 3 categories of local awards are rewritten to model as closely as possible the guidelines for the three AAUT categories.
Winners in the three VC L&T categories are given provisional approval to apply for the corresponding AAUT category in the following year. A subsequent selection process is then used to determine exactly which people are nominated by ECU in the AAUT award categories. ECU is allowed to submit up to six Citation nominations, up to eight Teaching Award nominations (maximum of two per category), and up to eight Programme Award nominations (also maximum of two per category).
Some general advice
This document has been compiled partially through feedback from the ECU VC L&T awards Judging Panel, partially from feedback through the AAUT scheme and partially from the expertise and experiences of the staff at the ECU Centre for Learning and Development (CLD). The purpose of this document is primarily to assist new applicants and past unsuccessful candidates to apply successfully for the next round of L&T awards and for those who are fortunate enough to be nominated by ECU as candidates in any of the AAUT categories.
The information and advice provided here is primarily meant for the Teaching Excellence and Citation applicants in either the VC L&T award scheme or the AAUT scheme. Citation applications must address any one or any two of the five criteria required for the Teaching Excellence applications. These criteria are:
1. Approaches to teaching and the support of learning that influence, motivate and inspire students to learn.
This may include fostering student development by stimulating curiosity and independence in learning; participating in effective and empathetic guidance and advice for students; assisting students from equity and other demographic subgroups to participate and achieve success in their courses; encouraging student engagement through the enthusiasm shown for learning and teaching; inspiring and motivating students through effective communication, presentation and interpersonal skills; enabling others to enhance their approaches to learning and teaching; and developing and/or integrating assessment strategies to enhance student learning.
2. Development of curricula, resources or services that reflect a command of the field.
This may include developing and presenting coherent and imaginative resources for student learning; implementing research-led approaches to learning and teaching; demonstrating up-to-date knowledge of the field of study in the design of the curriculum and the creation of resources for learning; communicating clear objectives and expectations for student learning; providing support to those involved in the development of curricula and resources; and contributing professional expertise to enhance curriculum or resources.
3. Evaluation practices that bring about improvements in teaching and learning.
Evaluation comprises making judgements about the quality of programs and activities that are part of the academic, cultural and social experience of higher education. This may include showing advanced skills in evaluation and reflective practice; using a variety of evaluation strategies to bring about change; adapting evaluation methods to different contexts and diverse student needs and learning styles; contributing professional expertise to the field of evaluation in order to improve program design and delivery; and the dissemination and embedding of good practice identified through evaluation.
4. Innovation, leadership or scholarship that has influenced and enhanced learning and teaching and/or the student experience.
This may include participating in and contributing to professional activities related to learning and teaching; innovations in service and support for students; coordination, management and leadership of courses and student learning; conducting and publishing research related to teaching; demonstrating leadership through activities that have broad influence on the profession; providing innovative learning and teaching for different contexts, including technology enhanced environments, for large and small class sizes and/or to meet the needs of a diverse student cohort; and influencing the overall academic, social and cultural experience of higher education.
It is absolutely critical that Citation applications devise and fine tune the 25 word citation that they are required to write. This selection of 25 words will have a significant influence on the success of the application. The 25 word citation MUST clearly capture the essence of the entire Citation application.
Some examples of successful AAUT Citations are given below.
1. For novel and effective approaches to engaging first-year students in collaborative learning and peer review in a large class setting
2. For sustained commitment to personalised administrative support for undergraduate students that has enhanced the overall student experience
3. For a decade of exemplary supervision and support of postgraduate research students in the field of social science
4. For institutional leadership in the design and implementation of a department-based program of peer feedback for academic staff
5. For developing new strategies to ensure effective coordination of teaching in a cross-faculty undergraduate program
6. For rigorous planning and evaluation of innovative and culturally appropriate teaching resources in health studies, which raise awareness of cultural diversity among students
7. For sustained commitment to excellence in delivery of MBA courses to transnational postgraduate students, resulting in students' growth as critical thinkers and decision makers
People applying for a VC APEL award or ultimately an AAUT PEL award will also find some of the feedback provided here relevant and useful, especially the first few sections on style, format and readability.
The comments, questions and suggestion included in this document are not so much written to help you address any one section or criterion but are offered in order that you think through all the things that you should consider including and the best way to present your application to gain maximum impact.
It is suggested that you read this document BEFORE you commence writing your application and again AFTER the second or third draft, when you are seriously reflecting on the complete content and the holistic impact of your application.
Writing an application – style, format and readability
Presentation style and format
Formatting requirements for the VC L&T awards are the same as those for the AAUT:
· Documents must be A4 page size
· Font must be 11 point Arial or 11 point Calibri (narrow fonts must not be used)
· Margins must be at least 2 cm with clear definition between paragraphs, and no columns should be used
The following general practices are suggested:
1. Use a very consistent overall format throughout your application;
2. Use a simple system for heading levels – consider font selection, font size, justification, numbering and concise wording in the heading that reflect the key focus of your application;
3. Be consistent with the format of tables and figures;
4. Consider using a different font for headings and sub headings to make them stand out from the body text;
5. Punctuate carefully and be consistent;
6. Be consistent with your use of numbered or bulleted points;
7. Use numbered lists only when the order is important or the list is very long – otherwise stay with bulleted lists;
8. In a list of items be consistent with your end of line punctuation;
9. Use headers and footers with purpose and definitely use page numbers;
10. Use the correct referencing style, for both in-text referencing and for any reference list that you use.
11. Try hard to avoid illogical splits in your text at the end of any page;
12. When you are nearly finished, look exclusively at your headings and check that they are concise, written in the same style and that the hierarchy of heading levels is correct.
Readability
Quality of content is critical, but presentation and readability can make the difference between success and failure. Here are some suggestions for you to consider:
1. A good but brief introduction (synopsis) helps to focus the reader;
2. Use illustrations, diagrams, maps, photos, tables, figures - if they add value to the message and complement the text – these additions can be quite small or concise and still add significant impact to your application;
3. Make your sentences reasonably short and uncomplicated;
4. Keep paragraphs short and keep each paragraph focussed on one particular subject;
5. Link a particular approach to a clear philosophy;
6. Provide strong evidence that describes how the particular approach is innovative;
7. Focus on distinctive achievements rather than general descriptions of the teaching and learning approach;
8. Include sufficient evaluation of practices as evidence of impact;
9. Provide evidence, including graphical evidence as appropriate, which describes how the particular approach is innovative;
10. Integrate evidence being provided within the response;
11. Include complete, whole and informative student data which indicates the impact on learning;
12. When providing data as evidence, student numbers as well as percentages should be used.
13. Include references from external organisations where there has been strong involvement in the project;
14. Referee reports should include comments that provide independent verification of claims and add value to the nomination;
15. Don’t be afraid to use white space – for example, use plenty of sensible paragraph breaks and blank lines between sections;
16. Use a sensible and easy to follow numbering system for sections and sub sections (avoid complex things like “Section 1.3.4.9”);
17. Try and keep your section levels to no more than 3 levels deep;
18. Keep examples separated from the main text by using boxed text and/or different font and size;
19. Err on the side of using simple language rather than complex words;
20. Avoid repeated text – say it once and say it effectively;
21. Spelling errors are unforgivable - use your spellchecker;
22. Be very fussy with your grammar – bad grammar affects readability;
23. Be wary of overusing discipline specific terminology;
24. Avoid overuse of acronyms;
25. Be consistent with the way you handle quoted passages;
26. For large quotes, display as a separate indented paragraph, use double quotes before and after, use a different font, perhaps use italics;
27. Consider using a final summary statement that captures the essence of your whole application.
Engage a talented proof reader to systematically go through your application.
Writing an application that impresses the selectors
In the VCAET and AAUT applications you are obviously trying to convince the selection panel of your talents and your achievements. You should be attempting to draw attention to a number of aspects of teaching, not just your ability to ‘stand and deliver’. The following sections include a number of comments, suggestions and questions that you might like to consider when writing an application.
Remember that everybody who applies will already be a good teacher. You need to convince the selectors that you are not just good, but excellent. This is done through writing an application that stands out, that captures more than just the qualities of effective teaching and learning we would expect, but shows how you are different to other good teachers – and how your teaching ultimately makes a real difference to students’ learning and their lives.
Philosophical and theoretical basis for your teaching and student learning
1. Discuss your understanding of accepted teaching theory and methodologies relevant to your discipline area. This may include such things as applied use of Constructivist learning theories, application of Bloom’s taxonomy (or similar) to your teaching, authentic learning, student centred learning, problem solving approaches, deep learning, active learning, etc. You should have a good fundamental understanding of how students learn.