ASCILITE NEWS

Transforming Assessment SIG Webinar: Making post-pandemic assessment authentic and engaging

Date and time: 1 September 2021 @ 5pm – 6pm AEST | 3pm Singapore | 7pm Auckland | Other time zones

The pragmatics of post-pandemic of assessment: how can we learn from the rapid changes necessitated by global HE assessment during Covid-19 to integrate authentic assessment to prompt engagement? This session is jointly presented by Transforming Assessment and the Assessment in Higher Education Network (UK). The session chair is Fiona Meddings (University of Bradford, UK).

Speakers: Kay Sambell (Visiting Professor of Assessment for Learning at the University of Sunderland and the University of Cumbria, UK) and Sally Brown (Emerita Professor of Higher Education Diversity in Teaching and Learning at Leeds Beckett University, UK and Visiting Professor at Edge Hill University).

This webinar by Kay and Sally will build on their well-received work over the last 16 months on re-engineering assessment during the pandemic period. Together over this time they have curated a COVID collection of our articles and other resources which will be discussed during the webinar. One of the key tenets of that work is that designing more authentic assessment activities need not be hugely demanding on staff energy and time, so in this session we will introduce a systematic approach to doing this, with examples from our compendia of good practice of assignments from diverse disciplines. There will be plenty of opportunities for participant discussion and contribution in this interactive webinar.

Further information and reg via http://taw.fi/1sep2021

ASCILITE 2021 Conference registration is now open

Registrations are now open for the ASCILITE Conference to be held on 29 November – 1 December 2021 at the University of New England in Armidale, NSW. In the event of lockdowns, UNE will endeavor to retain a hybrid conference with a mixture of face-to-face and virtual. However, if attendees are unable to attend in person, their registration will be converted to virtual attendance and a refund of the difference will be provided.

For further information and to register, visit the conference website. If you have any questions about registration fees and bookings, please email the conference organisers at ascilite2021@une.edu.au

Reminder: ASCILITE Live! webinar: Virtual learning experiences utilizing digital technologies

Date and time: 25 August @ 11am – 12pm AEST | 9am Singapore | 1pm Auckland | Other time zones

This Massey University team received an ASCILITE Innovation Award in 2020 and their presentation will highlight the team’s innovation which resulted in the development of three applications that enabled virtual experiences:

Virtual microscopy that delivers an interactive microscope experience, enabling full slide viewing and zooming of interactive magnification views of stained glass slides on any device.
Integrated virtual microscope slide images linked to E-publication of the research project, enabling readers of the publication to view and interact with an on-line microscope image referenced in the paper discussion.
Virtual experiments for student physiology labs performed on living tissues, delivering interactive data recordings of physiological parameters integrated into on-line lessons examining isolated smooth muscle tissue, cardiac function, and uterine function.

Following implementation, survey results revealed that the majority of students found the virtual lessons favourable and beneficial to their learning.

Presenters

Preet Singh
Preet is a senior lecturer in the Animal Welfare Science & Bioethics Centre, Massey University and teaches Anatomy and Physiology in Veterinary course at Massey. He along with Neil and Antony are leaders in adopting innovative technologies with an aim to increase student engagement and provide positive learning experiences in veterinary anatomy and physiology courses

Neil Ward
Neil is the technical director and senior technician in the Animal Welfare Science & Bioethics Centre, Massey University. He teaches into Veterinary, Agriculture and Science courses and contributes to many post-graduate and staff projects in physiology, animal welfare and pain studies. He has been a leader in the evolution of computer technologies for both teaching & research. A particular interest has been application of the 3 Rs and welfare of staff working with animals.

Antony Jacob
Antony is a research technician in the Animal Welfare science & Bioethics Centre, Massey University. He is actively involved in creating content for student practical teaching using the Kura cloud platform. His research interests include developing new methods to analyze the pharmacodynamic effect of various drugs used in different animal species.

Session Login

You can join this session in the ASCILITE Meeting Room.

ASCILITE Constitutional Changes

On 13 August, ASCILITE held a meeting of members to consider and vote on proposed amendments to the ASCILITE constitution. The first amendment addressed the need to add an additional member to the ASCILITE Executive Committee due to an increase in the number of portfolios that the Executive now manages; an increase from ten in 2016 to 20 in 2021. As a result of the vote at the meeting, the Committee will now be increased from 9 to 10 members.

Attendees also voted on several changes to the constitution that will assist conference organising committees (COC). The first change reduced the number of ASCILITE members that are required to sit on any COC. The second change provided the COC with additional time to organise transfer of membership fees paid by conference delegates as part of their conference registration and the final change removed the financial burden and time required to prepare audited accounts. ASCILITE itself is not required to prepare audited accounts, only reconciled accounts and this obligation will now apply to conferences.

27 ASCILITE members attended the meeting and the vote across three of the four amendments was unanimous while the vote on the fourth item was 96% in favour of the change.

The ASCILITE Executive would like to thank those members who attended. Your interest was much appreciated.

Reminder: 2021 Members Survey

The 2021 ASCILITE Membership Survey was emailed to each ASCILITE member on Tuesday 3 August 2021. The member survey is your opportunity to provide feedback regarding ASCILITE’s services, initiatives and related activities and to inform the Society’s strategic and operational plans for the years ahead. The survey will close 1 September 2021. Please check your inbox for the survey email and if you are unable to locate it, please check your junk mail folders.

OTHER NEWS

Job Vacancy: Online Education Designer, La Trobe University

Job No: 561660
Work type: Full-time, continuing
Located at Bundoora or any of La Trobe’s regional campuses
$88,489 – $97,344 per annum plus up to 17% superannuation

La Trobe University’s success is driven by people who are committed to making a difference. They are creative and highly motivated, pursue new ideas and create knowledge. La Trobe is one of Australia’s research leaders, and the largest provider of higher education to regional Victoria. Our teaching and research address some of the most significant issues of our time and we’re passionate about driving change through operational excellence to benefit the communities we serve.

About the position

The position of Online Education Designer sits within the Education Services Division, led by the Director, Educational Services and under the portfolio of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Education. The Education Services Division provides leadership, strategic development and day to day support to the University on a wide range of educational activities, including:

Curriculum innovation
Online education
Technology enhanced learning
Strategic educational renewal programs

The Division works closely in a matrix team structure with staff from across the University including Colleges and Schools, Student Services and within the portfolio of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Education, including Quality and Standards, the Library, the Education Academy and Executive Education.

The position of Online Education Designer reports to the Academic Coordinator, Online Education Programs. The position will support the provision of high-quality online course and curriculum design support to the schools and colleges, and effective delivery of online education advancement activities across the University.

Skills and Experience

To be considered for this position, you will have:

An undergraduate qualification in any field and significant education design experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Specialist expertise in the design and delivery of targeted and engaging online subjects and courses.
Demonstrated ability to deliver targeted, effective, evidence-based professional development activities in online learning, across multiple learning and teaching approaches and disciplines.
Demonstrated experience in developing interactive, authentic, user-centered online learning activities

Please refer to the Position Description for other duties, skills and experience required for this position.

All La Trobe University employees are bound by the Working with Children Act 2005. If you are successful, you will be required to hold a valid Victorian Employee Working with Children Check prior to commencement.

How to apply

The closing date for applications is 26 August 2021 at 11.55pm. Please email Bopelo Boitshwarelo with any position enquiries and refer to the full job description at La Trobe jobs for further details. Only candidates with full working rights in Australia may apply for this position. Please submit an online application ONLY and include a cover letter, an up to date resume and a separate document addressing each essential and desirable bullet point in the Key Selection Criteria which is located in the position description. You wil also find a full list of benefits here.

Students as Partners in an Online/Hybrid Design-Your-Own-Module (DYOM)

Date and time: 30 August 2021 @ 7pm – 8pm Singapore | 9pm AEST | 11pm Auckland | Other time zones

Synopsis: Design-Your-Own-Module (DYOM) is an initiative mooted by the National University of Singapore (NUS) to encourage undergraduate students to explore learning beyond their disciplines, pursue interests outside their disciplines, broaden their knowledge, and see “learning” as a lifetime endeavour. In the past year, DYOMs has been conducted either in an online or hybrid mode.

A successful DYOM requires a strong partnership between students and faculty members. In this one-hour webinar, the speaker, Professor Peter Felten, will share research and practical advice about engaging students as partners in DYOM planning and teaching, with particular attention to establishing clear expectations and roles that contribute to challenging and successful modules.

Speaker: Professor Peter Felten, Executive Director, Center for Engaged Learning and Assistant Provost for Teaching and Learning, and Professor of History at Elon University

Details and registration: https://blog.nus.edu.sg/dyomlc/upcoming/

Invitation To participate | Early Assessment Practices In First Year University

Do you have experience with designing and/or implementing early assessment tasks in first-year university?

You are invited to participate in a research study exploring Early Assessment Practices in First-Year University.

With the increasing diversity in the first-year cohort in universities globally, emphasis has been placed on using early low-stakes assessment tasks to transition students into academia and improve retention rates. While the practice of incorporating early assessment tasks in higher education may be common, there are large gaps in the literature around assessment design, purpose, support, timing and feedback provided to students.

We are seeking people with experience designing and implementing early assessment practices in Australian higher education to participate in this research. Past and current staff members of higher education institutions are encouraged to take part in this study, including staff from academic, professional, leadership and support roles. As someone with understanding of early assessment practices your experiences and opinions on early assessment tasks is extremely beneficial to this study and its practical outcomes.

Your experience with early assessment practices will help us to develop a Typology of Early Assessment Tasks and associated Principles of Good Practice to be shared across the sector.

Your participation is voluntary and completely anonymous. If you choose to participate, please expect to spend approximately 20 minutes to complete this survey. A Participant Information Sheet, which provides more detail about the study, can be found at the beginning of the online survey.

Please click on the following link to take part in our online survey:

https://www.research.net/r/EAPyr1

Please share this survey with colleagues and peers with experience designing and implementing early assessment practices in Australian higher education.

If you have any questions about this study, please do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you for considering this request.

With gratitude,
Dr Prue Gonzalez: pgonzalez@csu.edu.au
Dr Kelly Linden: klinden@csu.edu.au

Call for submissions – 16th annual Technology, Education and Development Conference (INTED2022)

After 16 years, INTED has become an annual meeting point for lecturers, researchers, education professionals and technologists. Every year, INTED brings together over 700 delegates from 80 different countries. It will provide the ideal opportunity to present education projects and experiences to an international audience. Also, it will offer participants an overview of the current situation of education and new learning technologies.

INTED takes place on 7 – 9 March 2022 in Valencia, Spain and submissions are invited up to the closing date of 18 November 2021. Abstracts should be submitted on-line here.

INTED2022 Proceedings will be reviewed for their inclusion in the Web of Science (Conference Proceedings Citation Index). Previous editions are already indexed. Also, a DOI number will be assigned to each accepted paper.

2021 ALT (UK) Online Annual Conference, 1 – 7 September 2021

The Association for Learning Technologies (ALT) Annual Conference is the UK’s main conference for Learning Technologists and one of the largest conferences of its kind. It is held over three days every September, providing a valuable and practical forum for practitioners, researchers, managers and policy-makers from education and industry to solve problems, explore, reflect, influence and learn.

As the leading professional body for Learning Technology in the UK, ALT brings together professionals to disseminate research, share practice and develop policy since 1993. This year’s event will take place online and we are looking forward to welcoming hundreds of participants from the UK and across the globe.

For further information and to register, visit the ALT website.

ALT (UK) News Digest

The Association for Learning Technologies (ALT) in the UK publishes a weekly New Digest which is linked to here for members who may be interested in their activities. News Digest 616 was published on 9 August 2021.