February Newsletter

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1. Issue 10 of SaMnet’s monthly newsletter

 

Listen to the newsletter? Now available in audio as a podcast.

Click here to download.

 

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This month's question:

Advice for colleagues about starting the teaching year well?

 

 

 

2. Conferences & publication

 

ASELL National Science Workshop –2-5 April 2013 at The University of Sydney

EOIs for submission of experiments were due 25 January 2013

Registrations for everyone due 5 March 2013

PDF flyer for the workshop

 

ASELL Schools Science Workshop – 26 April 2013 at SHORE School, North Sydney, NSW

Know a high school teacher interested in improving science experiments and lab experiences for their students? Pass on this information about the 2013 ASELL Schools Science Workshop.

EOIs for submission of experiments were due 15 February 2013

Registrations for everyone due 5 April 2013

 

 

 

3. Connections/Events

 

Past:                Perth Teaching and Learning forum 2013 – 7-8 February @ Murdoch University

 

                        Leadership Development Workshops in February 2013

                        February 4 – Melbourne workshop @ La Trobe University

                        February 5 – Adelaide workshop @ Flinders University

                        February 6 – Perth workshop @ Curtin University

                        February 11 -- Sydney workshop @ U of Sydney

February 15 -- Brisbane workshop @ Griffith University.

Each workshop featured a 1-hour session:

Changing the Game – the ACDS National Centre for Teaching and Learning for Science and Mathematics – Liz Johnson, OLT Fellow, La Trobe Uni.

 

 

Future:             The website for new ACDS Teaching and Learning Centre is online - http://www.acds.edu.au/tlcentre/.

 

                        ACDS National Workshop – Advancing the Science TLOs

22 Feb. 2013, Melbourne

 

 

Match up:        Deb King and Carmel Coady might consider contacting a new member of the SaMnet community, Judy-Anne Osborn of University of Newcastle. A mathematics lecturer, Judy-Anne has some interesting ideas about mathematics at university and the impact of the quality of high school maths teaching and learning.

 

 

 

4. SaMnet activity

 

February Leadership Development Workshops

5 workshops were run in Australian capital cities. Well attended by SaMnet Scholars, they enabled sharing progress, ideas and advice about the projects, about leadership, and about career advancement. Plus, connecting face-to-face with one another and sharing with SaMnet HQ.

 

SaMnet talk at Perth T&L Forum 2013

Manju Sharma, Will Rifkin, and Mario Zadnik of the SaMnet steering committee presented “Action learning projects to build leadership capacity and communities of practice: SaMnet update”. Liz Johnson, also of the SaMnet steering committee, provided a session on plans from her OLT Fellowship for the Teaching and Learning Centre of the Australian Council of Deans of Science.

 

Learning to Lead Change: SaMnet’s action-learning projects (p9).

An article on SaMnet has been published in the Australian Journal of Education in Chemistry. Have a read on how your SaMnet engagement is contributing to collective development of the future of Australia’s university teaching in science and maths.

 

 

 

5. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)

 

Reflections on Teaching – R. E. Collins

Richard Collins of the U of Sydney details “the characteristics of outstanding teachers and excellent teaching” and “methods of assessment of teaching”, among other topics in this 2005 article.

 

Is Surgery Scientific – BBC Radio

Something a little bit different this month: A broadcast of a discussion investigating teaching in terms of the development of practices in surgery. The broadcast addresses the difficulty of developing the “art” of surgery, with clear parallels to the “art” of teaching! Well worth a listen.

 

 

 

6. Leadership insights

 

How Great Leaders Communicate – George Anders

Strategies for using listening to influence. American corporate examples, but the approaches can be tailored readily to the Australian academic context. Good for 'distributed leadership', as well as 'command leadership'.

 

Using Twitter in university research, teaching and impact activities

A comprehensive guide to using Twitter for increasing influence in leadership and teaching particularly directed to university academics. It includes simple guides, from setting up a Twitter account to maximising impact and effectiveness.

 

 

 

7. Team in Focus: Interactive Lecture Demonstrations, Toby Hudson, Chiara Neto, Michela Simone, Vanessa Gysbers, Siggi Schmid, Kathryn Bartimote-Aufflick and Adam Bridgeman.

 

Interactive Lecture Demonstrations (ILDs) have been developed and implemented in chemistry lectures at the U of Sydney. We are targeting the perceived decrease in lecture importance and attendance by students. The developed ILDs were trialled in some classes in semester 1 2012 and were more widely implemented in semester 2. Data indicates an improvement in student engagement and also in student learning outcomes.

 

In addition, surveys reveal that students are very positive about demonstrations and particularly the ILDs where worksheets were employed. All lecturers will now be provided with the worksheets when they book an experiment. Interestingly, attendance did not drop in weeks 8-13 as it usually does. Results have been presented by Siggi Schmid at a New Zealand teaching symposium in February 2013.

Toby Hudson is a Lecturer in the School of Chemistry. His research areas include materials structure, network materials and crystal growth.

Chiara Neto is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Chemistry. Her research areas include interfacial slip in simple liquids for microfluidic applications, functional micro-patterned surfaces and superhydrophobic surfaces.

Michela Simone is a Lecturer in the School of Chemistry. Her areas of interest include carbohydrate chemistry, supramolecular chemistry and bioinorganic and medicinal chemistry.

Vanessa Gysbers is a Lecturer in the School of Molecular Bioscience. With a background in gene therapy research, she specialises in methods of gene delivery by viral vectors.

Siggi Schmid is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Chemistry. His research projects encompass a wide range of both synthetic chemistry (Inorganic Coordination Chemistry and Inorganic Solid State Chemistry) and characterisation techniques, in particular X-ray and neutron powder and single-crystal diffraction.

Kathryn Bartimote-Aufflick is a Lecturer in the Institute for Teaching and Learning. Her research is in the field of educational psychology and includes a project on the 'Epistemic stances of academic staff at large research-intensive Australian universities'.

Adam Bridgeman is an Associate Professor and the Director of First Year Studies in the School of Chemistry, as well as the Associate Dean for Learning and Teaching in the Faculty of Science. His research interests include computational inorganic chemistry, bond order and the nature of the chemical bond, and using electronic resources in chemical education.

 

8. Classifieds

 

Based in Perth? Want to strengthen your local ‘community of practice’ in SoTL for teaching science, maths, and related subjects? Contact Mario Zadnik who is assembling a ‘SaMwest’network -- Marjan Zadnik m.zadnik@curtin.edu.au.

 

SaMnet Leadership Workshops including presentation from Liz Johnson - "Changing the Game"

Following a successful week of three workshops in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, there are two remaining SaMnet Leadership Development workshops.

11/2/12 - Sydney Workshop
Location: The University of Sydney, New Law Annex SR 444
Program: Click Here

15/2/12 - Brisbane Workshop
Location: Griffith University, Griffith South Bank Graduate Centre, Southbank Room S07_2.16
Program: Click Here

At each event Liz Johnson will be presenting the talk "Changing the Game: The Australian Council of Deans of Science (ACDS) National Centre for Teaching and Learning for Science and Mathematics". All from the wider academic community are invited to the talks which will commence at 10am in the same locations as the workshops. Click Here for the event flyer.

January Newsletter

 

1.  Issue 9 of SaMnet’s monthly newsletter 

 

Happy New Year from the team in SaMnet HQ! 

 

Listen to the newsletter? Now available in audio as a podcast.

Click here to download.

 

This month's question:

What are you going to continue to do this year – in your teaching or in persuading your colleagues -- that you tried for the first time last year? 

 

Congratulations! 

The Australian Awards for Teaching Excellence - Early Career honour was received in November by SaMnet Scholar: Jessica Vanderlelei.  She is a biochemist at Griffith’s Gold Coast campus who has implemented a range of novel teaching strategies and documented their impact. 

Take a squiz at the awards list to see if anyone has done something relevant to your interests.  Considering applying?  Review assessors’ comments on the application pool, and ask Jessica, Roy Tasker, ... , or a member of the SaMnet steering committee (some have been assessors).   

 

 

2.  Conferences & publication

 

Call for Papers - IJISME 2013 (SaMnet Edition)

This special issue will focus on outcomes and insights from your SaMnet projects.

Abstracts are due today, 18 January 2013.  You will be forgiven for submitting by Tuesday, 22 January. Follow the link for a PDF Call for Papers, and contact the editors if you want to be included.

 

Perth Teaching and Learning Forum 2013 – 7-8 February @ Murdoch University.

 

ASELL National Science Workshop – 2-5 April 2013 at The University of Sydney

EOIs for submission of experiments due 25 January 2013

Registrations due 5 March 2013

PDF flyer for the workshop

 

ASELL Schools Science Workshop – 26 April 2013 at SHORE School, North Sydney, NSW

Do you know a school teacher interested in improving science experiments and lab experiences for high school students?  Pass on this information about the 2013 ASELL Schools Science Workshop.

EOIs for submission of experiments due 15 February 2013

Registrations due 5 April 2013

 

 

 

3.  Connections/Events  

 

Past:                      2^nd Australian Tertiary Geosciences Teaching workshop

January 16-17, 2013 @ James Cook University

 

Future:                 Leadership Development Workshops in February 2013

                                February 4 – Melbourne workshop @ La Trobe University

                                February 5 – Adelaide workshop @ Flinders University

                                February 6 – Perth workshop @ Curtin University

                                February 11 -- Sydney workshop @ U of Sydney 

February 15 -- Brisbane workshop @ Griffith University. 

Have a colleague with leadership potential?  We have some open seats! 

 

Changing the Game – the ACDS National Centre for Teaching and Learning for Science and Mathematics

As part of the SaMnet workshops in capital cities, OLT Fellow Liz Johnson will address SaMnet scholars and others in the wider community to share plans and garner input on the proposal Centre. Liz will also present at the Perth T&L forum on 7-8 February.

 

                               

Match up:           Dan Mallet and Deb Jackson - with your experience in maths and statistics education - contact Leigh Findlay and Peter Dunn of U of Sunshine Coast.  Leigh and Peter are developing an effort to investigate and improve statistics abilities of Honours and Higher Research Degree students.

 

 

 

4.  SaMnet activity 

 

Learning to Lead Change: SaMnet’s action-learning projects (p9).

An article on SaMnet has been published in the Australian Journal of Education in Chemistry. Have a read on how your SaMnet engagement is collectively developing the future of Australia’s academic teaching in science and maths. 

 

Project Updates – Poster & Letter to Your Dean

Thank you to teams who have replied to the draft posters that we developed. Please send corrections, suggestions and updates to the letters and posters.  We will ‘post’ them to your Dean soon. 

 

 

 

5.  Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) 

 

What Might Help a Pretty Good Teacher Become a Great Teacher – Craig Nelson

We have many good teachers in the SaMnet community, how can good teachers develop into great teachers who see results almost all the time?

 

Why Should You Publish Your Best Teaching Ideas – Craig Nelson

SaMnet encourages the sharing of your ideas, in particular through publication. If Craig Nelson’s words inspire (and inform) you, submit an abstract to the IJISME special issue on SaMnet projects.  They are due TODAY! (Click for details)

 

 

 

6.  Leadership insights

 

The 20-Minute Exercise to Eradicate Negative Thinking - Kaihan Krippendorff

This readable article presents a useful framework of elements that stop us from doing what we would like to do; it seems well founded on psychological constructs.

Forgive the author for the trite format for addressing negative thinking that ends the article. 

 

The 3 Types of Mentors Everyone Should Have - Melissa Stanger

Short and provides a good reminder about the people around us whom we can learn from.  Also, you could be one of these mentor types. 

 

 

 

7. ‘Team’ in Focus: Changing the Game - The Australian Council of Deans of Science (ACDS) National Centre for Teaching and Learning for Science and Mathematics. Liz Johnson, La Trobe University.

 

We are beginning the new year by sharing from the efforts of OLT Fellow Liz Johnson in developing the proposed ACDS T&L Centre.  That is the focus of her upcoming talks. See the flyer for details.

 

Faculties teaching science and mathematics need to shift their expectations and support of renewal to achieve broad scale improvement in teaching practice. The sector is developing a rich network of groups and individuals collaborating to improve teaching practice.  These efforts include discipline and leadership networks, national projects and emergence of national leaders in learning and teaching. Recently, the Australian Council of Deans of Science (ACDS) began work toward a National Centre for Teaching and Learning for science and mathematics.

 

The new Centre will be a clearinghouse for sharing effective models for organizational change and curriculum development. It will focus the energies of learning and teaching leaders onto change at Faculty level by constructing good practice guides providing distilled advice for teaching and learning. The Centre will draw on the experience of learning and teaching leaders, science faculties and associated discipline groups to offer authoritative advice to Universities and external bodies. 

 

The ACDS Centre will be available to the sector through its website, and it will link existing groups, projects and leaders. The Centre website will (a) house the good practice guides, which are to be commissioned by the Centre, and (b) facilitate a practice exchange, which supports dissemination of good ideas between disciplines. The ACDS Centre will also provide timely advice for the ACDS on teaching and learning.

 

In the February 2013 sessions in capital cities, attendees will be invited to contribute their ideas and views to make the new ACDS Centre as relevant as possible.

 

Liz Johnson – Liz is the Associate Dean Academic in the Faculty of Science, Technology and Engineering at La Trobe University.  She leads curriculum renewal in the Faculty. Major projects include La Trobe's Design for Learning project, which embeds graduate capabilities into a renewed curriculum across the Faculty, and the Pathways in Science project, which is a major review and development of courses. Liz trained as a plant biochemist and contributes to teaching in foundation biochemistry at La Trobe. Liz's current research interests are in the scholarship of teaching and learning. Current research projects focus on strategies for curriculum development in the sciences, quantitative literacy support mechanisms and teaching scientific inquiry.  Liz is also active in a number of national initiatives in science and maths in higher education funded by the Office for Learning and Teaching  (DISSRTE).  She is a member of the steering committee for the SaMnet leadership project, the VIBEnet (Vision and Innovation in Biology Education) project, and is the evaluator for the Transitions in Biology project.  She was co-investigator on the recent ALTC project exploring scientific inquiry skills in biosciences.

 

 

8.  Classifieds 

 

Spaces open for your colleagues with leadership potential in SaMnet’s February workshops:

February 4 – Melbourne workshop @ La Trobe University

                                February 5 – Adelaide workshop @ Flinders University

                                February 6 – Perth workshop @ Curtin University

                                February 11 -- Sydney workshop @ U of Sydney 

February 15 -- Brisbane workshop @ Griffith University. 

 

If you dob them in, we will twist their arm ...  samnetaustralia@gmail.com 

 

Many thanks! 

 

December Newsletter

 

1.  Issue 8 of SaMnet’s monthly newsletter 

 

~NEW FORMAT~ Newsletter also available in audio as a podcast. Click here to download.

Podcast Powered By Podbean

 

 

This month's question: Have a funded project or proposal in the works? 

Tell us if you are engaged in -- or formulating a proposal for -- an OLT project or a project funded internally by your university. 

We can help you to make connections or share findings (e.g., selecting advisory panel members or identifying key projects to reference). 

We can arrange for reviews of your draft proposals and reports by people who have received numerous grants. 

 

 

2.  Conferences & publication

 

Call for Papers - IJISME 2013 (SaMnet Edition)

This special issue will focus on outcomes and insights from your SaMnet projects.

Abstracts are due 18 January 2013. Follow the link for PDF Call for Papers.

 

Perth Teaching and Learning Forum 2013 – 7-8 February @ Murdoch University

Early Bird registration for this forum closes on December 20.

 

 

3.  Connections/Events  

 

Past:                      VIBEnet / CUBEnet / QS Forum December 10-11, 2012

                                @ U of Sydney

 

Future:                 Leadership Development Workshops in February 2012

                                February 4 – Melbourne workshop @ La Trobe University

                                February 5 – Adelaide workshop @ Flinders University

                                February 6 – Perth workshop @ Curtin University

                                February 11 -- Sydney workshop @ U of Sydney 

mid-February* -- Brisbane workshop @ Griffith University. *Watch this space!

 

2^nd Australian Tertiary Geosciences Teaching workshop

January 16-17, 2013 @ James Cook University

 

                               

Match up:           Jessica Vanderlelie* (Griffith) ought to have coffee with Gwen Lawrie* (UQ). You both are investigating the impacts of student videos, and you are both in Brisbane.  Also, reconnect with Karma Pearce of UniSA

(*Recent additions to the SaMnet Scholars network)

 

 

4.  SaMnet activity 

 

Project Updates – Poster & Letter to Your Dean

Members of your action-learning team have received, or will soon receive, a poster we formulated on your SaMnet action-learning project.  It describes the project and outcomes to date. 

We want your input on a draft letter – update and subtle congratulations -- to be sent to your dean. When you ‘look good’, we all ‘look good’.  Any questions? Contact us!

 

Leadership Development Workshops – February 4, 5 and 6 in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, respectively. Also Sydney (11^th) and Brisbane! See you there!

 

 

5.  Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) 

 

Getting results: small changes, big cohorts and technology - Jacqueline L. Kenney (HERD, 2012).  Kenney found that one can achieve learning gains when ‘constructive alignment’ is specifically fostered by modest online support in the form of voluntary weekly tasks, feedback, lecture participation, and research skill acquisition.

 

Who Succeeds at University? Factors predicting academic performance in first year Australian university students – Kirsten McKenzie & Robert Schweitzer (HERD, 2001).

Is prior performance or university experience more influential?

 

 

6.  Leadership insights

 

The New Academic: A strategic handbook - Shelda Debowski

Highly recommended by SaMnet steering committee member Marjan Zadnik.   The book includes sections on “Making a difference as an effective teacher”, “building an effective research track record” and “Strategic advancement in academic settings”. Personal stocking filler?

 

What leading with vision really means – Erica Anderson, Fast Company magazine

This article underlines the notion that leading involves articulating a vision clearly so that others can see it.  We introduced that idea in SaMnet's workshops early in 2012.   

 

 

7. Team in Focus: Intensive mode delivery vs traditional delivery: Evaluating and implementing change in teaching strategies,

Michelle Power, Marie Herberstein, Marina Harvey, Kelsie Dadd, Macquarie University.

 

In this project we are evaluating learning and teaching strategies in a biology unit offered as an intensive block over 3 weeks during Macquarie University’s shorter session 3. Evaluation of data from the first offering of the unit has informed some changes in the teaching strategy to overcome limitations associated with time that may be detrimental to the learner experience. This change, the introduction of one day on campus, a month prior to the intensive session, also aims to establish a more collaborative learning environment for online aspects of the unit that occur prior to the intensive. It was clear from the data that the collaborative learning strategy was of benefit to the learner during the intensive session. A second round of data, that includes additional questions, will be gathered in the upcoming session 3 beginning mid December 2012.

 

A series of department teaching seminars/workshops have been instigated, and talks have been given to the wider university community, including a workshop -- comparing teaching strategies applied in intensive mode teaching -- during Learning and Teaching Week. The aims of these seminars are to promote communication and establish a network of teachers associated with delivery of units in compressed offering. A reflective paper was presented at a teaching conference in Vienna, Austria in February 2012. The team was also awarded a Faculty Learning and Teaching grant to support the SaMnet project. This award enabled employment of Michael Wilson, a program research and development officer, to undertake a literature search to evaluate the extent of intensive mode offerings in the Sciences. We are currently evaluating this literature to compose a literature review. Looking towards 2013, we can expect lots of data analysis and preparation of publications. Members of the group also received L&T awards, including Vice Chancellor’s award for early career teacher, Vice Chancellor citations for mentor programs, and an OLT award for programs that enhance learning and teaching.
 

Michelle Power – Senior lecturer in the department of Biological Sciences. Research interests are in the area of host-parasite interactions, particularly in examining these relationships to investigate human impacts on fragile ecosystems and endangered wildlife.
Marie Herberstein – Associate Professor and head of the department of Biological Sciences. Research addresses the behavioural ecology of invertebrates, including the study of spiders and insects within an evolutionary framework.
Marina Harvey – A lecturer in Academic Development with the Learning and Teaching Centre. Her learning and teaching research interests include leading a national project on sessional staff standards, being a team member on a national project on distributed leadership and several projects that focus on reflection for learning.
Kelsie Dadd – Associate Dean Learning and Teaching, also Associate Dean of International in the Faculty of Science. Research includes the volcanology, geochemistry and tectonics of ancient and modern volcanic rocks in eastern Australia and the surrounding oceans. She is also the recipient of multiple L&T grants and awards.

 

8.  Classifieds 

 

Seeking volunteers to review OLT proposals before submission. 

A proposal needs to be seen by 10 readers before it is submitted.  These reviews help the writers to address the wide range of perspectives, and questions, that the grant’s assessors might have.  Reviewing others’ proposals helps you to see flaws to avoid and strategies to use in your own proposals. 

November Newsletter

1. Issue 7 of SaMnet's monthly newsletter
~NEW FORMAT~ Newsletter also available in audio as a podcast. Click to listen!

Podcast Powered By Podbean

__________________________________

November Question: What is your favourite feature of the SaMnet Newsletter? Click on your answer!
(a) Upcoming events and conferences
(b) SaMnet team in focus
(c) Helpful SoTL and Leadership Articles
(d) The fact that the whole newsletter is available in audio form so you can listen while you work! (See the top of the email for the link).

__________________________________

Congratulations: The prestigious Education Medal of the Australian Institute of Physics has been awarded to Manju Sharma, SaMnet’s Chief Coordinator. The selection committee characterised Manju’s contribution to physics education as “sustained..., creative..., of national importance... and of high quality...”. The Medal winner gives an address to the AIP Congress in December 2012.

2. Conferences & Publication

Call for Papers - IJISME 2013 ‘SaMnet Edition’
The Journal is publishing a special issue that will focus on the outcomes and insights from a range of SaMnet projects. Abstracts are due 18 January 2013. Follow the link for a PDF 'Call for Papers’.

Upcoming conferences and publication opportunities that YOU know about?

3. Connections/Events

Past:
ISSOTL conference in Canada, October 2012:
Poster on roles of academic developers in SaMnet’s action-learning teams by Kelly Matthews

Future:
VIBEnet / CUBEnet / QS Forum
December 10-11, 2012 @ U of Sydney

2^nd Australian Tertiary Geosciences Teaching workshop
January 16-17, 2013 @ James Cook University

Match up:
At the ISSOTL conference last month, Kelly discovered that there is a SaMnet equivalent in Canada. Know anyone in this network? SaMnet will be developing closer links with this community in the near future. Links with other overseas networks, like SaMnet, are sought.

4. SaMnet activity

We are collecting updates on your action-learning projects – Expect a call from your project’s ‘critical friend’ or SaMnet HQ in coming weeks if we have not heard from your Action-Learning Project team at a Skype meeting in the last six months.

Generating project posters for you – Each team will receive a specially designed A3 project poster this month or next. It is for display in your department, school, or university to highlight your team’s efforts and outcomes.

Another letter to your dean from SaMnet – SaMnet HQ will be sending a letter to remind your Dean of your team’s involvement in an Action-Learning Project supported by SaMnet.

5. Scholarship of Teaching & Learning (SoTL)

Measuring Teaching Effectiveness: Correspondence Between Students’ Evaluations of Teaching and Different Measures of Student Learning – Sebastian Stehle, Birgit Spinath, Martina Kadmon.
Ever wondered how Student Evaluations of Teaching relate to performance in various measures of student learning, such as practical examinations or multiple choice tests?

Transformational Teaching – George Slavich, Philip Zimbardo
A review article in Educ. Psychol. Rev. (2012) focussed on the theoretical underpinnings, basic principles and core methods of transformational teaching. Zimbardo is a social psychologist famous for his simulated ‘prison’ experiment.

6. Leadership insights

Three Leadership Traits that Never Go Out of Style – Vineet Nayar, Harvard Business Review Blog Network. Are these what you were expecting?

Upward influence in academic organizations: a behavioural style perspective – Debbie McAlister and John Darling, Leadership & Organization Development Journal. Manju attended a workshop on “Negotiating & Influencing Skills” and insists that insights from this paper are invaluable, a must to share with the community. You might look out for these types of workshops in your institution?

7. Team in Focus: Re-engaging Second Year Students through Active Engagement of Teaching Staff, Sarah-Jane Gregory, Glenn Harrison, Jason Lodge and Wendy Loughlin, Griffith University.

This SaMnet project involves the development and establishment of a Community of Practice (CoP) focussed on Second Year Student Experience of the Biosciences. It is supported by a university T&L grant characterising the effects of the “Sophomore Slump” phenomenon in Bioscience students. The project is designed to support students through the transition in and out of second year at university. In 2012, a variety of data has been collected that has been analysed and compared with data from the USA. The evidence suggests that our students are at equal risk of experiencing “Sophomore Slump” and that there are simple ways in which we can identify those students. This data has provided important evidence for the SaMnet project that has gained local buy-in with staff. The effort is also supported by the Associate Dean, who is raising the importance of the project around the university. The team presented at ACSME with an abstract and poster entitled “Building a supportive learning and teaching culture for science academics”.

Sarah-Jane Gregory – Associate Lecturer in the School of Biomolecular and Physical Sciences. Her primary focus as a teaching-focused academic is second year biosciences at Griffith University. Research focuses on the second year student experience with involvement in a variety of projects related to enhancing student experiences of both curriculum and university life in the biosciences.

Glenn Harrison – He recently served as Senior Lecturer in physiology at Griffith University and is now academic developer in TLD at JCU. Glenn’s experience in teaching large classes in first and second year has seen him investigating first-second year student transition issues and assistance strategies. His other research interests include cardiac energetics and effect of dietary oils and exercise on heart structure & function.

Jason Lodge – Student Experience Coordinator in the Griffith Institute for Higher Education. Jason teaches as a part of the Graduate Certificate in Higher Education and runs staff development workshops. Research concentrates on the psychology of learning and the cognitive and emotional factors that are involved and how to address these factors in higher education policy and practice.

Wendy Loughlin – Dean, Teaching and Learning. Research interests include small molecule inhibitors of Glycogen Phosphorylase, an enzyme implicated in Type-2 diabetes, and the development of new chemotherapeutic compounds for Leishmaniasis.

8. Classifieds

Deb King is advertising a position for a Project Officer, based in Melbourne, part-time for about 18 months. Details from the following link:

http://www.maths.usyd.edu.au/s/scnitm/de-ProjectOfficerForOLTProje

Pass it on to good people you know.