October SoTL series

2-2:30pm, Wednesday 2 October 

This presentation will explore the enablers and barriers to student engagement in class participation (CP) at UNSW. CP refers to learning activities undertaken by students in a classroom and involves appropriate preparation, discussions, group work, effective communication and class attendance. Reported benefits of CP include positive impacts on student motivation, learning, communication and group skills, in addition to increases in engagement with the learning material. Despite these benefits, some students do not actively participate in class. The reasons for this are varied, including peer interactions, whether CP is assessed, student perceptions of the course, confidence levels and the classroom environment. This research investigates factors that promote and hinder law students experiences of CP. Through a survey of almost 300 law students, we identify aspects of CP that influence student engagement, confidence, learning and a sense of belonging.  

About the presenters

Dr Anna Rowe

Dr Anna Rowe SFHEA is a Senior Lecturer, Academic Development at the University of New South Wales Sydney. She has published extensively in higher education learning and teaching, with specific areas of focus including work-integrated learning, curriculum, pedagogy, student feedback, and the role of emotions in learning. Anna is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Work-Integrated Learning.

Dr Chantal Bostock, Law and Justice

Chantal previously worked as a migration/refugee lawyer in Sydney and as a senior lawyer at the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal and the Law Commission in London and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). She was a member of the AAT for 5 years, and is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Law and Justice, UNSW and a hearing member of the NSW Medical Council. She holds a PhD in Law (UNSW) and has published widely on administrative law. 

Dr Chien Gooi, Science

Dr Chien Hoong Gooi is a Clinical Psychologist and an Education Focused Senior Lecturer in the University of New South Wales School of Psychology. He is the Director of the Master of Psychology (Clinical) program and chairs the Australian Psychology Placement Alliance (APPA). Chien has strong interests in the development and assessment of psychology competencies, clinical supervision and deliberate practice. In addition, he collaborates with colleagues across discipline on research around scholarship of teaching and learning.

2:30-3pm, Wednesday 2 October 

Using examples from Priya’s work in educational research and evaluation, this session will focus on the importance of theoretical lens and frameworks, which are a key to understanding the data in more meaningful and actionable ways. She'll also focus on the how and in what ways a theoretical lens be incorporated into educational research. 

This session is for any staff who is keen to pursue an educational or evaluation research project. Part of this was presented earlier in a SoTL conference in health profession education.

About the presenter

A/Prof. Priya Khanna, Nexus Fellow,  Faculty of Medicine and Health

A/ Prof. Priya Khanna is an academic, educator, and researcher with a background in science and medical education. She has extensive experience in undertaking academic engagement, evaluation and research in education designs, curriculum development, emerging assessment approaches (namely programmatic assessment), Indigenous health education and evaluation of complex educational initiatives. 

2-3pm, Wednesday 16 October

Are you interested in researching your teaching or how your students learn, but are but are unfamiliar with the UNSW requirements for human research ethics? Do you feel daunted by the process of applying for ethics?  

This session will provide a practical demonstration/walk through of the ethics application process, including the iRECS Applicant Portal, the platform for lodging human research ethics applications.  

The session, delivered by the Human Ethics Research team will cover:

• Introduction to applying for human research ethics at UNSW and the iRECS system 
• What information is required at each step of the process 
• Different risk categories and what they mean 
• How to seek out assistance from RECS  

This session is especially suitable for staff interested in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL), but with little/no experience in applying for research ethics. However, all staff are welcome to attend. 

About the presenter

Michael Hong

Michael Hong is the Senior Advisor within RECS, providing support to UNSW and affiliate researchers in navigating the ethics and governance landscape for multi-centre, multi-jurisdictional research across both the university and public health landscape.  

Prior to UNSW, Michael held several roles within the public health sector, including provision of administrative support across several mental health inpatient facilities (Macquarie Hospital), as well as having been situated within the Research Office at Northern Sydney Local Health District. 

2-3pm, Wednesday 30 October

In this session, Kristin Turnbull and Dr Gee Chong Ling will share early findings of a research project on the impact of the Student Partner Program which has been implemented in several courses at UNSW since 2022.

Kristin Turnbull 

Kristin Turnbull is the Manager, Academic Program Development in the PVCE. Kristin has over 25 years' experience in the education sector as a TESOL teacher and teacher educator, instructional designer, educational developer and academic developer. Kristin has been interested in Students as Partners initiatives and research since 2015. In 2019 she organised the hosting of the National Students as Partners Roundtable at UNSW.

 

Dr Gee Chong Ling

Gee is an education focussed lecturer within the School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences teaching undergraduate courses across the disciplines of Microbiology, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and more. Gee is a strong advocate of the integration of Students as Partners into his teaching practice, bringing students’ voice into his course design practices in a collaborative manner. Gee not only runs Student Ambassador Program for the courses he is convening, but also supported the Students as Partners initiative across the School through a Facilitator model.