October Newsletter

1. Issue 6 of SaMnet's monthly newsletter

Podcast version! – Listen to this newsletter.

This month's question: What is a good discussion question for the SaMnet newsletter?
Click here to add your ideas, links.

Congratulations: To SaMnet Scholars who received OLT Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning – Cristina Varsavsky (Monash), Jessica Vanderlelie (Griffith), and Siggi Schmid (USyd).

2. Conferences & publication

Australian Conference on Science and Mathematics Education (ACSME)
Teaching and Learning Standards - What does a standard mean to you?
20 of the 37 presentations at the conference were on efforts that included SaMnet Scholars. 19 of the 31 posters related to a SaMnet action-learning project!
More information on SaMnet’s activity at ACSME in point 4 (below).

Enhancing Learning in Science through Inquiry and Technology
Organised by OLT Fellow, Assoc Prof Les Kirkup @ UTS, 25/9/12
Keynotes: Prof Gabriella Weaver (US) and Prof Mick Healey (UK)
Presentations by SaMnet Scholars – Gwen Lawrie (scenario inquiry in chemistry), Liz Johnson (scientific inquiry online), Simon Pyke (iPads in FY science literacy), and Margaret Wegener (heat physics lab for biologists)

3. Connections/Events

Past: Skype teleconferences in August; notes sent to participants; look for
more SaMnet Skypes on interests that you share in coming months.

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

ISSOTL conference in Canada, October 2012:
poster on formation of SaMnet’s action-learning teams by Kelly Matthews

Match up: Brisbane-based SaMnet Scholars – [Sarah-Jane Gregory, Gillian Isoardi, Louise Kuchel, Gwen Lawrie, Peter Adams, Jessica Vanderlelie, Michael Bulmer, Kelly Matthews, Madeleine Schultz, Susan Savage, Glenn Harrison, Jason Lodge, Wendy Loughlin, Emma Bartle] – for revitalisation of the Brisbane University Network of Science Educators (BUNSE).

4. SaMnet activity

On Wednesday of ACSME week in late September, there was a 2-hour workshop of SaMnet Scholars. A filled room discussed the big picture of standards, improving teaching, and who among us feels that we can provide leadership individually at a university level and collectively at a national level.

The 11-member, SaMnet steering committee met that evening to discuss progress and the future. The following morning, heads of the science discipline networks gathered over breakfast to discuss, with OLT Fellow Liz Johnson, the formation of a national teaching and learning centre supported by the Australian Council of Deans of Science.
SaMnet hosted 2 x 20-minute ‘Ideas Exchange’ sessions during the conference. There was eager interest; “How can I get involved?”, “How can the T&L group in my faculty benefit?”

SaMnet SoTL and Leadership workshops – round 2 – February 2013 in your capital city.

5. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)

The benefit of making it Harder to Learn – An interesting article in The Chronicle of Higher Education discussing the implications of cognitive disfluency. Definitely worth a read for all involved in teaching.

Why SoTL is valid scholarly research! Click here to find quality criteria to measure research by.

6. Leadership insights

Part of leadership involves taking on big issues – like the balance of attention in universities between research and teaching. That is what former UNSW PVC, Emeritus Prof Adrian Lee, has done in publishing a version of the following article in The Conversation: “When rankings and research rules, students come last”

Persuasion, influence … there must be a textbook on the stuff somewhere. Highly recommended is Robert Cialdini’s Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. Harvard Business Review’s blog states: “Cialdini's classic on the core principles of persuasion is a sterling example of the cross application of psychological principles to [organizational] life. Based on his personal experiences and interviews … Cialdini's book is riveting and, yes, persuasive.”

7. Team in Focus: POGIL-Style Learning in Large Chemistry Lecture Classes, University of Adelaide, Natalie Williamson, Greg Metha, John Willison and Simon Pyke.

Workshops (focus groups) have been held to assess and develop POGIL activities for use in lectures. November 2011 workshop - 5 students gave 100% agreement that the lecture system and POGIL activities were valuable. Open-ended responses elicited supportive comments: "You test the knowledge ... that’s where the real learning happens". Feedback from this workshop resulted in reduction of the information in the POGIL activities, and this information was delivered in traditional lectures instead. April 2012 workshop - 5 attendees, including postgraduate students. Again, there was a universally positive response to questions in the workshop survey, including an added question on the inquiry-based nature of the activities. Results were presented at ACSME 2012 in a talk.

Conclusion - Workshops (student focus groups) were very helpful and important for development of POGIL activities.

Natalie Williamson – First-year director for Chemistry. Teaching interests include organic, spectroscopic, analytical and practical chemistry. Research interests include synthetic organic chemistry, red wine pigments, and chemical education. Recipient of an ALTC Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning in 2010.
Greg Metha – Head of Chemistry. Has been at the University of Adelaide since 1997 and has been awarded prizes, including the Stephen Cole the Elder Prize for Excellence in Teaching – first 5 years of teaching (2006). Research includes laser ionisation spectroscopy of metal-carbide and bi-metallic clusters in the gas phase and synchrotron characterisation of metal-carbide nanoparticles.
John Willison – Senior Lecturer in Higher Education with the School of Education. Coordinator of the Graduate Certificate in HE. Research interests include the academic conceptualisation and implementation of the explicit development of students’ research skills in content-rich courses as well as broader Research Skill Development (RSD).
Simon Pyke – Associate Dean (Learning & Quality) in the Faculty of Sciences. Recipient of the Stephen Cole the Elder Award for Excellence in Teaching (2010) and other awards. Teaching interests include curriculum design, development of skills, and classroom practice. He has led an ALTC-funded project in skill development. Research interests include medicinal chemistry of small bioactive molecules and their interactions with protein targets, bio-organic chemistry & molecular toxicology of highly reactive aldehydes and natural products chemistry. Simon is also a member of the SaMnet steering committee.

8. Classifieds

Give away: Add SaMnet’s QR code to your poster.


What is a QR code? How do you use it? Click here.


Requests/notices?

Send to samnetaustralia@gmail.com for inclusion here in future newsletters.

September Newsletter

 

~ RSVP by Monday for SaMnet Workshop on 26 Sept. @ ACSME

email samnetaustralia@gmail.com ~

 

 

1.  Issue 5 of SaMnet’s monthly newsletter 

 

This month's question: What are good ways to link your SaMnet project to the national standards agenda?  

Click here to add your comments, ideas, links.

 

 

2.  Conferences & publication 

 

It is worth repeating...

Australian Conference on Science and Mathematics Education (ACSME)               

26 Sept:                 9am-12noon                    Workshops 

                                             12noon-2pm                    SaMnet Scholars meeting 

                                             2pm-5pm                         Discipline Network workshops 

             27-28 Sept:            All day                              Conference  

 

We look forward to seeing you there.

 

 

3.  Connections/Events  

 

Past:                  SaMnet August Skype meetings:  10 teams from across the country - talked about progress on each project.  

Other topics arising: Research ethics paperwork, Visibility due to support of the associate dean, Rising familiarity among colleagues with threshold learning outcomes (TLOs).

 

Current:            ACSME – 26-29 Sept: see above.

                               

Match up:        Chris Thompson (Chemistry @ Monash) and Stephan Huth (Chemistry @ La Trobe) connected though the August Skype meetings.  They will visit each others’ labs to observe how they work. Check out their projects at www.samnet.edu.au.

 

 

4.  SaMnet activity 

 

Specific SaMnet activities at ACSME:

Wednesday 26^th – SaMnet Workshop 12-2pm

Wednesday 26^th – SaMnet Steering Committee meets

Thursday 27^th – Discipline Network coordinators breakfast

Also look for posters and talks of SaMnet scholars.

 

The SaMnet 'new media' community featured in recent gatherings on e-assessments.  Pioneering efforts of 30 Australian science lecturers (including some of you) were highlighted at a conference in Melbourne and an international webinar.

Here is an example: Medical students learned how to do physical examinations more effectively by making videos: eCAPS (ALTC funded, 2011 report).

Share what conferences you have presented at, what responses you received, and what you found interesting.    

 

 

5.  Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) 

 

Using time-on-task measurements to understand student performance in a physics class: A four-year study. Stewart, J., Stewart, G. and Taylor J. (2012).  Phys. Rev. ST Physics Ed. Research, Vol. 8, Issue 1. Students’ use of time out-of-class explained variance in test averages and normalised gains for an introductory physics course.

 

Peer Instruction: From Harvard to the two-year college, Lasry, N., Mazur, E. and Watkins, J. (2008).  American Journal of Physics, Vol. 76, Issue 11, pp.1066-1069. Peer instruction (PI) at a top-tier 4-year research institution and in a 2-year college proves effective.  PI instruction is as effective for students with less background knowledge, and student attrition decreased in introductory physics courses at both four-year and two-year institutions.

 

 

6.  Leadership insights 

 

Redesigning for Collaboration within Higher Education Institutions: An Exploration into the Developmental Process. Kezar, A. (2005).  Research in Higher Education, Vol. 46, Number 7, pp. 831-860.  How institutions can change their culture from supporting individual work to facilitating collaborative work.

 

Q&A best bits:  How do you promote female leadership in higher education?, Guardian Higher Education Network 24/5/11:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/higher-education-network/blog/2011/may/24/women-leadership-higher-education-best.  Brief compelling insights from senior women in universities in the UK, Europe, and North America.  

 

 

7. Team in Focus: “Science Student Skills Inventory: Zoology students” 

 

The project addresses the following questions: What do we want our students to know and be capable of, and how do we as educators know that students have acquired the skills our subjects purport to teach? The project will begin to dissect these processes from both the students’ and educators’ perspectives for undergraduates enrolled in the Bachelor of Science who are taking Zoology Majors. This is an important initial study that will have broad implications for evaluation of Threshold Learning Outcomes (TLOs) in various courses across the University of Melbourne. While the project is beginning with Zoology, the aim is to build on this work in other study areas.

 

Progress to date:

·         The University of Queensland Science Student Skills Inventory has been adapted for use in the University of Melbourne zoology context (see Matthews & Hodgson, 2012).

·         Subject co-ordinators have been contacted and informed about the project.

·         Protocols for interviews have been developed, and interviews will be conducted during October.

·         The student survey questions will be tested with a group of students on Thurs, 13^th Sept, and refined before the survey is open to all third year Zoology students.

·         The survey will run in the first two weeks of October. Announcements will be made on subject websites, and students will be contacted by email

·         We expect to analyse our data during Nov and Dec.

 

References

·         Matthews and Hodgson (2012). International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education, 20(1), 24-43. Available at: http://ojs-prod.library.usyd.edu.au/index.php/CAL/article/view/5816/6509

 

Mary Familari – Mary is leading this project and has been lecturing in the Department of Zoology, University of Melbourne since 2002. Currently, she is an OLT Project Leader ‘Strengthening alignment between secondary and tertiary biology education and enhancing student transitions in the sciences (PP10-1816)’.  She is a developmental biologist whose research interests revolve around the question of how does a fertilized egg become a multicellular organism with its incredible diversity of specialized organs. She co-ordinates Biomolecules and Cells, a first-year biology subject and several third-year subjects around the theme of developmental biology. She was Director of First Year Biology (2010-2011) and President of the Victorian Society for Developmental Biology (2008-2011) and has a very strong interest in science education with a particular focus on assessment and evaluation of scientific skills.

 

Kristine Elliott is Senior Lecturer, Medical Education Unit, University of Melbourne and Coordinator of the Educational Technology Team. She completed a PhD in Plant Bacteriology before pursuing an interest in biomedical education, and has 20 years of experience in educational technology research and development in the health sciences. In 2008, Kristine led an ALTC competitive project titled, Educational technologies: Enhancing the learning of scientific inquiry skills for bioscience students in Australian universities.  The project examined current teaching practice in a range of bioscience disciplines in Australian universities and identified pedagogical approaches that tertiary educators use to teach scientific inquiry. Kristine’s ongoing research focuses on: enhancing the learning of scientific inquiry skills for bioscience students; using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to engage people with healthcare and biomedical information; and the implications of web and mobile technology for clinical education and professional practice.

 

Deb King is Director of the Mathematics and Statistics Learning Centre, Senior lecturer in the Dept of Mathematics and Statistics, and Assistant Dean (Undergraduate Programs).  Her research interests include combinatorial dynamics, network assignment problems and mathematics education.  She is currently involved in numerous projects, including leading the OLT project “Building Leadership Capacity in University First-Year Learning and Teaching in the Mathematical Sciences”. All of her projects are designed to enhance student learning and outcomes, either for mathematics in particular or for science in general. One project is to reinterpret the Science Threshold Learning Outcomes in the context of Mathematics.

 

Kelly Matthews – Lecturer in Higher Education, Teaching and Educational Development Institute, University of Queensland.  Kelly’s research involves practical applications into contemporary higher education issues, including undergraduate curriculum reform and evaluation of teaching and learning initiatives. More on Kelly’s research and activities at www.tinyurl.com/uqkelly. She is currently leading the ALTC/OLT Quantitative Skills (QS) in Science project; more at www.qsinscience.com.au.

 

Michelle Livett is Associate Dean (Undergraduate Programs) in the Faculty of Science, and Director of the Bachelor of Science at the University of Melbourne. She teaches in the School of Physics, with a focus on teaching students whose primary interests are in the life sciences, to foster student interest and understanding of the relevance of physics. Her project involvements over the last twenty years have encompassed the use of technology in physics education, student transition, and communication skills in the sciences.

 

 

8.  Classifieds 

 

Any requests or notices?

 

Send them to SaMnetaustralia@gmail.com and we will include them in future newsletters.

 

August Newsletter

1.  Issue 4 of SaMnet’s monthly newsletter 

This month's question:  What is the right balance between providing support online and overloading or distracting students?  How much online material should you provide for students?  How much online discussion can you hope for?

Click here to add your comments, ideas, links.

2.  Conferences & publication 

Australian Conference on Science and Mathematics Education (ACSME)   

26 Sept:           9am-12noon                Workshops 

                                    12noon-2pm                SaMnet Scholars meeting 

                                       2pm-5pm                 Discipline Network workshops 

            27-28 Sept:           All day                    Conference  

The Australian Council of Deans of Science funded a study of the career choices of science graduates.  They are not all research scientists. Surprise, surprise. 

A Background in Science --

http://www.acds.edu.au/docs/2012/BackgroundInScience.pdf

3.  Connections/Events  

Current:           ACSME – 26-29 Sept: see above.

                        SaMnet Skypes – 23-31 August:  see below. 

Match up: Associate dean (T&L) or equivalent at a regional university?  Talk.  

Luby Simson (UCanb), Nina Fotinatos (Ballarat),

Andrea Crampton (CSU & SaMnet steering committee).

4.  SaMnet activity 

Linking you together … 

Skype meetings in August:

Thurs. 23^rd – Melbourne / Hobart teams
Fri. 24^th – Perth / Adelaide teams
Wed. 29^th – Lectures / FY / Transition projects
Fri. 31^st – Labs / Inquiry projects.

Click here to RSVP on our Doodle chart.  

5.  Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) 

HEA STEM: Qualitative Approaches to Pedagogical Research in the Biosciences was a UK workshop held on 18 June 2012. Click through for the presentations from the day.  They will be helpful beyond the biosciences.

Survey on educational research: Joint initiative involving HERDSA, AARE, ACDE, AVETRA, ascilite, and a number of other research associations. The project aims to strengthen national capacity in education research.  Doing SoTL?  Click Here for the Survey.

6.  Leadership insights 

“The Disciplined Pursuit of Less”, George McKeown, HBR Blog Network.  This article suggests that success breeds an increase in opportunities.  Take up too many of these opportunities, and you can diffuse your efforts, thereby undermining chances of future success. 

‘Preferred’ patterns of academic leadership in different disciplinary (sub)cultures, Jouni Kekäle, Higher Education, 37: 217-238, 1999. 

7. Team in Focus: Development of Science and Maths skills in a pre-Tertiary science Pathway course: University of Canberra

We are aiming to develop base mathematical skills in students with low ATAR or minimal background in Science at senior secondary level, who wish to access bachelor degrees in science. The course is a Pre-tertiary Diploma in Science. It is designed to raise skill levels in science, English, and mathematics via a highly supported and scaffolded environment for students with poor study skills and minimal background in science. In guiding students through this course, the goal is to reduce rates of dropout and failure.

The course was run with 20 students in semester 1 2012. Although the course has not yet been formally evaluated, 75% of the class successfully completed semester 1. That is compared to a 10% success rate of students with similar backgrounds entering the mainstream first year units. We plan to extend to the program to around 70 students in 2013, as well as working towards delivery in regional centres around Canberra.

Tamsin Kelly – Research interests include clandestine drug chemistry, detection of drugs in biological specimens including plasma, hair, meconium and urine, forensic toxicology and the use of analytical instrumentation such as LC-MS, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and capillary electrophoresis (CE), and chemometrics for a variety of forensic applications.Tamsin has extensive experience in delivering first year university Chemistry courses to diverse cohorts of students.

Glenys London – Has headed the University of Canberra College since 1997.  The College specialises in pathway programs for students who do not meet the direct entry requirements of the University of Canberra.

Jim Woolnough – Has conducted research in physics education but most recently in the relationship between pedagogical content knowledge and teacher education and science curriculum development and delivery. He taught science for 20 years at the secondary level before moving to the university, and he has extensive experience teaching Science Methods units within Secondary Teacher education courses and in the delivery of first year university science courses.

Luby Simson - Research interests lie in the development and characterization of novel treatments for cancer. In parallel to her role as the Associate Dean of Education, Luby does research in learning and teaching encompasses: (1) Diploma of Science: A model for effective management of a diverse student cohort in the Sciences; (2) Internationalisation of the curriculum, and more specifically, the impact of internationalisation on the Science-curricula; and (3) Embedding work-integrated as an authentic learning experience in the tertiary curricula.

8.  Classifieds 

Sashi Kant of the University of Sydney would like to know what others are doing in labs in protein biochemistry.  Do you know, or do you know who she can talk to?

Women in Engineering, Science and Technology (WEST) -- Nominations are open for the 4^th Arrow Energy Best of the WEST Awards.  They recognise achievements of outstanding women and girls in STEM in rural Queensland. 

July Newsletter

1.  Issue 3 of SaMnet’s monthly newsletter 

This month's question: Can you create a discipline related capstone experience when your discipline only offers service teaching?

Click here to add your comments, ideas, links.

2.  Conferences & publication 

Groups of SaMnet Scholars, ranging in size up to 14, met at the following recent conferences:

·         First Year in Higher Education conference in Brisbane 

·         Chemistry Education meeting in Adelaide

·         HERDSA conference in Hobart 

·         Physics Education conference in Istanbul

IJMEST call for articles: Special issue - Quantitative skills in science: integrating mathematics and statistics in undergraduate science curricula. Call for articles by the Quantitative Skills in Science project -- http://www.qsinscience.com.au/get-involved. Submissions due January 2013.

3.  Connections/Events  

Future:  Skype meetings in early August.  Invitations coming soon.  RSVP to connect with other SaMnet project teams who share your focus. 

Match up:  Maria Parapilly, Silam Siddiqui, Lisa Schmidt and Joe Shapter ought to talk to Chris Thompson, Gerry Rayner, Theo Hughes and Cristina Varsavsky as your projects are both addressing learning in labs. You may find it worthwhile to compare the approaches and affects of active and inquiry learning.   

4.  SaMnet activity 

Additional action-learning projects are coming on line. Welcome new SaMnet Scholars – Karma Pearce (UniSA), Nina Fotinatos (Ballarat), Jessica Vanderlelei (Griffith), Carmel Coady (UWS), Andy Broderick (UWS), and Peter Whipp, (UWA).

Coordinators of the science discipline networks and SaMnet addressed the Australian Council of Deans of Science conference on education this week.

Liz Johnson, a member of the SaMnet steering committee, has been awarded a National Teaching Fellowship to explore possible components of a proposed national centre on university science and mathematics teaching.

5.  Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) 

A clear and succinct piece about structuring a SoTL article is “A Framework for Writing and/or Evaluating Research Papers” by Carolyn L. Braddom (1990, American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, 69(6), p333-335).

Journals appropriate to SaMnet projects/SoTL -- click here.

6.  Leadership insights 

A respected guru of managing change in educational systems is the Canadian, Michael Fullan. His views on systematic change will reinforce what you encountered in SaMnet’s workshops. The articles are easily digestible and based on research in school systems, with implications for our university system. E.g., www.michaelfullan.ca/Articles_06/8ForcesforLeaders.pdf.

7. Team in Focus: Improve cohesion within subjects and introduce inquiry-based learning: ANU   

Current learning activities and lecture content will be re-arranged and refined to better demonstrate linkages among topics and to threshold concepts. Some inquiry-based learning activities (currently absent) – e.g., hypothesis development, statistical analysis and elementary research (1^st year Biology level)-- will be scaffolded to replace some student discussion and answer writing assessments in order to enhance student engagement and learning of research and reporting skills while demonstrating the relevance of assessment tasks. More recently, the group has decided to conceptualise their ideas around learning outcomes and are looking at some of the strategies being implemented in later years to see how they might fit and scaffold some experiences (e.g,. reflection). This focus will help the project align with the university’s goals as well as the interests of the team. Attending the SaMnet Leadership Development Workshop in Melbourne earlier this year was very beneficial for the project, and connections have since been made with members of CUBEnet and VIBEnet enabling access to up-to-date information on how learning outcomes are being developed for the discipline on a national level.

Juliey Beckman – Biology lecturer and first year coordinator, College of Medicine, Biology and Environment . Among other endeavors, Juliey has been working on a Teaching Enhancement Grant, evaluating Science teaching spaces at ANU in relation to collaborative and active learning pedagogies and learning and teaching in laboratory settings.

Isabelle Ferru -Lectures in Biology at ANU. Isabelle’s education research has included the design of new courses to extend student skills; comparing work placements for medical students to coursework alternatives and designing new forms of assessment.

Beth Beckmann -Beth Beckmann supports CEDAM's professional development program for early career academics, including convening the Foundations of University Teaching and Learning course. With special interests in evaluation, flexible learning and educational technologies, Beth provides assistance with educational design and review of courses and programs.

Barbara Van Leeuwen - Head of Biology Teaching and Learning. Lectures in Biology. The major focus of her research is the impact of new biotechnologies on the individual and society, including ethical, legal, regulatory and societal issues. Barbara’s current education research examines how ethics is taught to undergraduate science students.

8.  Classifieds 

Suggestions, please. We need to know what functions of SaMnet you would like continued beyond 2013. Send to: SaMnetaustralia@gmail.com.