NSW report for the 2017 AALL Executive and Annual General Meeting

1. NSW AALL membership

Data provided by Joseph Yeo, Treasurer, Association for Academic Language & Learning

Year / NSW members
2015 / 88
2016 / 56
2017 / 66

2. Reports from Centres

University of Sydney

Report provided by Dr. Bronwyn James, Head, Academic Enrichment; Head, Learning Centre

Governance

Academic Enrichment (AE), since the DVCE Portfolio restructure in October 2015, is the umbrella grouping for the Mathematics Learning Centre and the Learning Centre. As indicated in last year’s report, we have adopted a ‘hub and spoke approach’ with colleagues in the Library and Education Innovation. The aim is to meet as small cross grouping teams that focus on particular faculties. The spokes approach has had varying success mainly due to the huge amount of work currently underway in the University to bring into being the new undergraduate curriculum, new graduate qualities, ensure curriculum alignment, launch a new LMS etc. by 2018.

Staff position change

The learning Centre has replaced a previously designated professional staff position with an academic position – 0.6 FTE level B contract for 12 months.

PhD graduation

Dr EszterSzenes’ PhD was conferred in September. The title is: The linguisticconstruction of business reasoning: Towards a language-based model of decision-making in undergraduatebusiness.

A Selection of 2017 Learning and Teaching projects

The projects identified below are in addition to our business as usual work in the curriculum and co curriculum spaces. For the 2016 Academic Enrichment report containing further details, see:

  • The Mathematics Learning Centre organized and conducted two 1.5-2 hour mathematics workshops for a group of Indigenous year 10 and year 11 students from around the country. The students were participating in the STEM Spring Workshop program 24th-29th September run by the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies. Topics included content from high school mathematics as well as extra-curricular topics such as cryptography and the mathematics of the Rubik’s cube, and feedback was highly positive.
  • Development of an Open Learning Environment (OLE) module – available to the whole University community as a zero-credit point unit: Writing the Literature review.
  • Application for funding of a zero-credit point and 2 credit point OLE development: Oral communication in Professional Contexts – a joint project with the Curriculum Embedded Communication and Language Development Network (a University wide initiative of the Learning Centre) and the Learning Centre.
  • Fourth year of the sustainable embedded model of working with the Faculty of Education and Social Work – completely taken on board by the Faculty and run without Learning Centre involvement since 2014.
  • Next iteration of embedded academic honesty work within the Faculty of Architecture Design and Planning.
  • Expansion of the fully embedded model to the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences following a presentation to the Faculty.
  • Expansion of the fully embedded model to the Sydney Nursing School – Singapore, following a presentation to the School.
  • Continued multiple iterations of F2F workshops targeting academic honesty made compulsory for students identified as in breach of academic honesty.
  • Delivery of an online module to support academic honesty.
  • Development of on-line workshops – for delivery within the LMS.
  • Development of Quick marks for MASUS diagnostic and use in selected Faculties.
  • Ongoing research and development work on the Research Writing Tool for HDR students and supervisors within the medicine related disciplines.
  • Early days delivery of Adobe Connect workshops to outlying campuses (Camden, Narrabri and more).
  • Two submissions made for funded University Education and Innovation projects. One with the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and one with the Sydney Nursing School – Singapore program.
  • Representation on Science Teaching and Learning Committee, The University Education Committee, The Cultural Competence definition and rubrics working group, The Communication – Graduate quality definition working group, The Orientation committee, the Disability Action Plan Committee

Learning Centre Research outputs

2016 data only available at this point

  • 1 book chapter
  • 3 journal articles
  • 1 book review
  • 15 published and unpublished conference presentations

Mathematics Learning Centre Research outputs

2016 data only available at this point

  • 2 journal articles
  • 3 conference presentation
  • 2 NSW meeting presentations

Research (current funded national projects)

  • OLT extension project: Academic Integrity in ActionUoW lead, University of Sydney partner
  • Member on OLT project: An interdisciplinary model and resources for culturally competent service learning in Aboriginal community controlled organisations.

Western Sydney University

New developments

The Western Sydney University Library introduced a new Academic Literacies service in 2016 under the banner of ‘Library Study Smart’. This service is delivered across all campuses and is run by the Library’s Academic Literacies Team. The Academic Literacies service provides support for the development of a multi-literacy approach, including: digital, professional, writing, cultural, study skills, and academic integrity/plagiarism. The Academic Literacies team is comprised of six staff who are based at the Penrith Library and have assigned School responsibilities.

Service model

The Academic Literacies team has operated under a shared service model with the team actively engaging with academic staff to identify needs and work collaboratively with Library teams to co-design solutions (activities, assessments, workshops and resources) which become available to all Schools. Services are delivered under four banners:

  • Consultation: With academic staff and specialist units (international) to ascertain need and develop solutions; as well as with students on appointment.
  • Curriculum Embedded: Resources, activities and assessments are delivered as part of the curriculum and form an integral part of the learning design.
  • Workshops: Designed and coordinated by the team in line with the identified needs of the School/specialist unit.
  • Resources: Website, LMS sites and modules, and videos are produced in collaboration with relevant units in the office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic e.g. Library Study Smart Introduction:

Functional responsibilities

Whilst each Academic Literacies team member has multiple School responsibilities, they also have functional responsibilities which include the management/oversight/development of the following services:

  • Library Study Smart Website:
  • Library Study Smart LMS site
  • StudyCoach delivered by Studiosity.com (SSAF Funded) 24/7 literacy support:
  • Library Study Smart Advisors (SSAF Funded):
  • Turnitin/Feedback Studio Student Support:
  • Analytics and reporting

Outcomes

Since its introduction, the Library Study Smart service has run as a very successful project, and in under two years, has achieved much with early data indicating that engagement with Library Study Smart services is a contributing factor to increasing student performance and retention.

Macquarie University

Report provided by Tessa Green, Manager, Learning Skills Unit, Macquarie University

The central Learning Skills Unit (LSU) at Macquarie supports all undergraduate and postgraduate coursework students while HDR Learning Skills operates out of the Research Office to address the specific needs of Higher Degree Research students.

The LSU has consolidated its role since its relocation from the now disbanded Learning and Teaching Centre into the Library in April 2016. A key focus area for the LSU has been on designing activities and resources for large numbers of students-at-risk who are placed on ‘academic caution’ as part of a new Academic Progression Policy and Procedure. With large numbers of these students needing support, the LSU has created a training program for faculty staff in how to make appropriate referrals to Learning Skills resources. It has also created a new online resource called ‘StudyWISE Intensive’ which is made up of meaningful academic literacy tasks and quizzes that can be offered to struggling students according to their particular learning needs. The goal is help these students “get back on track” so they can re-enrol and progress more confidently and successfully in their studies.

WriteWISE

Another focus area has been significant expansion of the LSU’s student peer-writing program ‘WriteWISE”. LSU staff recruit and train senior undergraduate students to provide personalised writing assistance to first year students in a number of first-year partner units within two large faculties. The program has been hugely successful and in 2017 a new student ‘Drop in Desk’ was added to the program to cater for those wanting a quick session with a peer-leader. Learning Advisers work closely with student mentors and guide and act as a triage point for more complex writing referrals.

Workshops

The LSU delivered workshops to 2884 students in S1 2017 for Orientation and had 922 students attend its S1 regular workshop program. The same team of four Learning Advisers also provided 505 individual face-to-face consultations and gave 355 e-consults in S1. Students are demanding more of our services than ever before and online consultations continue to remain the most immediate challenge to LSU resourcing as these have multiple levels of complexity required and are time-consuming. e-Consultations have had a 407% increase in demand and f2f consultations a 56% increase when compared to the same time in the previous year.

HDR Learning Skills Team

The HDR Learning Skills team operating out of the Office of the Dean, HDR,within Macquarie continues to support researchcandidates across campus, running workshops and courses in thesis writing, writing retreats,writing for publication, grant writing, oral presentation and other seminars related to HDR candidature and experience. In addition, the team of faculty-specific HDR Learning Advisers facilitateresearch writing groups and 1:1 consultations throughout the year. In2017, theHDRLearning Skills team has taken onthree new responsibilities:

1)Anew Peer Writing Assistance (PWA)Program has been launched in collaboration with the HDR Mentors team.

2)WithHDR candidates at Macquarie and Newcastle Universities, HDR Learning Skillsisinvolved inorganisingthe NewMac Humanities Postgraduate Conference.

3)Together with the HDR Professional Skills Program Manager,who oversees a program of workshops and other support that equips HDR candidates for careers within and outside of academia, andMacquarie's Professional and Community Engagement (PACE) program, the HDR Learning Skills team is now responsible for convening anew unit,PACE for Research(a semester length unit for credit). This is an elective unit thatMaster of Research candidates at Macquarie can choose to enrol induring their first year of coursework. This PACE unitprovidesMaster of Research candidates with the opportunity toundertakeresearch as part of a research team or in community or industry settings.

University of Newcastle

Overview

Learning Development (LD) at UON is located within the Centre for Teaching and Learning, giving us both student facing and staff facing units in the one location. Our Advisers work in Enabling programs, Maths and Statistics, English Language and Academic Skills supporting all preparing-for-university-study, undergraduate and postgraduate coursework students as well as operating a program for HDR students. In 2017, we have continued to operate with a small number of staff below the national average. We have tried to maintain the service expectation created by our successes and been stretched to capacity.

Campus-based services

Our Callaghan Campus is the main campus and the majority of Learning Advisers are based here. Support offered includes HDR pre-confirmation, pre-semester programs, embedded workshops, generic series, ICs, e-consults and resource development with constant pressure on the available resources to meet demand.

There are Learning Advisers also located at our Ourimbah Campus where, in addition to the above, we have a mentor program that goes from strength to strength. This program uses HDR candidates as peer tutors, and is highly regarded – it received a VC’s Award in 2016. It is hard to envisage the support we provide at Ourimbah without that program.

Project areas

Some areas we have been working on in 2017, and will keep us busy in 2018:

  • Changes to web based information and resources and investigating ways to have more of what we do ‘online’ – this will continue as demand for asynchronous support increases
  • Constant demand for the service, and increasingly trying to match our offer to university systems – matching the titles for what we do with the questions that student surveys use.
  • Beginning to explore a greater cohesion between Teaching and Learning Librarians and Learning Advisers – exploring possible synergies and how best to operate for students.
  • Location within CTL gives us an inside look at courses – how best do we leverage this information and what role can the Learning Advisers play in course improvement given their knowledge of course assessment items

University of New England

Language and learning development and support at UNE is provided by a central unit, the Academic Skills Office, and First Year Advisors, located in the schools. In addition, the university has trialled the external online provider, Your Tutor (now Studiosity), this year. The university is currently undergoing an academic restructure, which will involve a regrouping of the disciplines into new schools. It is possible that academic language and learning support at UNE will be caught up in the flow-on effects from these changes.

The Academic Skills Office (ASO)

The ASO sits under the Director of Teaching and Learning Support in the portfolio of the Pro Vice Chancellor, Academic Innovation. The ASO currently has 5.5 FTE language and literacy specialists and 1 FTE numeracy specialist. Early in 2017, following the retirement of one staff member, the vacant position was upgraded to academic lecturer level B. This position was filled, after a competitive selection process, by one of the current ASO staff members and a new staff member was appointed at level A. A second ASO staff member was promoted to level B later in the year. There are therefore now three level B staff and 3.5 level A staff in the ASO.

Programs

The ASO provides learning support and development programs for all students. In 2017, ASO staff offered the following programs:

  • individual consultations, in person, by phone and online via email or skype for all students
  • academic literacies workshops offered face to face, by webinar and by video-conference for undergraduate, postgraduate and HDR students
  • online short courses such as the tUNEup from Home University Preparation Course and tUNEup Maths Course.
  • resource development
  • oversight of the Academic Integrity Module, a compulsory online tutorial and quiz for all commencing coursework students
  • coordination and teaching of four Foundation units on academic literacy
  • online First Year Academic Skills Support Moodle unit for external studies students
  • ad hoc support for academic staff in the schools to deliver workshops, develop resources or embed academic literacy support in units of study
  • In 2017, a peer writing tutor program coordinated by ASO staff and trialled in 2015-6 was put on hold due to lack of funding.

Research

In late 2016, ASO staff won a competitive research grant from the AALL to investigate “Human and computer impressions of written texts: How can their comparison inform approaches to assessment?”. The research project has resulted in one journal article under review and a second research output in progress

One ASO staff member is involved in a $50,000 research fund granted by the Chinese Ministry of Education on education policies in China, Australia and New Zealand. This has resulted in the submission of two book chapters and a visit to Sun Yat Sen University in China from December-February to deliver research seminars on education policies and the role of corpus linguistics in social sciences and the humanities.

Ongoing research projects:

  • Types of written feedback, student perceptions and engagement, and feedback effectiveness
  • Decision making in the assessment of L2 written texts
  • Corpus-driven analysis of foreign aid discourse
  • Lexical bundles in learner and native corpora
  • Publications for 2017 include:
  • 9 journal articles (2 published; 7 under review);
  • 3 book chapters (1 published, 2 under review);
  • 4 conference papers
  • One PhD submitted (to be conferred in October); one PhD in the final stages

Other projects:

  • Review of academic integrity policy and procedures at UNE
  • Academic writing development for students in Early Childhood Education

First Year Advisor (FYA) program

There are four discipline-specialist FYAs located in the schools, with 1x0.8FTE for each of the following school clusters: Business and Law; Sciences; and Behavioural, Cognitive and Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts, and 1x0.5FTE for the schools of Health and Education.

Programs:

  • individual and group consultations for on-campus students, and other discipline support for off campus students, as referred
  • support for academic staff teaching first year units or units in which students may be in their first year of that discipline
  • school/discipline-based academic literacies workshops for first year students
  • Moodle learning support unit for online and on-campus students in Arts and Humanities
  • Discipline-based resources available through various modes for a range of student cohorts
  • Peer mentoring programs:
  • Sciences – PASS offered in multiple units across science disciplines
  • Business and Law – Peer mentoring for on- and off- campus students offered through Adobe Connect in core units; discipline-specific English language support sessions for on-campus international students
  • Arts and Humanities – peer-assisted online Adobe Connect sessions for on- and off-campus students in the current foundation units in the Bachelor of Arts.

Research projects:

  • Variants in peer supported learning – discipline-specific and program structures
  • English language support as a continuum for Business students

University of Wollongong

Research