UNSW College is pleased to host the July meeting of UNFED
Session 1: The Human Factor – AI powered speaking support for Pathway students using UNSW College’s Mentor AI
The past two years have seen educators focus on a true embracing of AI affordances to enhance both students’ AI literacy as well as build AI criticality. This has also paved the way to innovate based on the “Human First” principle focused on harnessing AI capabilities to enhance both human performance as well as freeing up humans to focus on higher order functions.
This session will showcase Mentor AI, an AI powered speaking solution and innovation, developed in line with these principles by UNSW College, to support our pathway students in the development of their communication skills. Our mission in developing this tool was to provide a safe space for UNSW College pathways students to practise their speaking skills, learn to self-edit, judiciously select and utilise feedback provided by AI to enhance their spoken production. The session will showcase a simple framework that underpins the technological and pedagogical considerations behind the development of any AI interventions in order to harness AI affordances and concentrate human effort and expertise in service of our students.
Presenters:
Aparna Jacob, Director of Studies for Academic English
Aparna is the Director of Studies for Academic English Pathways at UNSW College overseeing ELICOS (English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students) as well as Foundation, Diploma, Pre-Masters Academic English pathway programs. As DOS, she is responsible for setting the strategic direction for the Academic English Pathways teams at the College, supporting innovation and creative solutions within our teams to meet the challenges of English language teaching and assessment both at UNSW College as well as UNSW.
Brooke Donnelly, Academic Head for Embedded English
Brooke is the Academic Head for Embedded English programs at UNSW College where she looks after delivery and quality in the Foundation, Diploma and Premasters programs. Brooke is responsible for supporting the team with implementing best practice in curriculum and assessment and steering the development of an embedded English support program across the Foundation and Diploma courses.
Session 2: Gradescope: A marking tool bridging the gap between Paper and Online Assessment
In this session, Edward and Tom will discuss the College’s use of Gradescope - a platform that allows staff and students to upload paper-based assessments to a user-friendly digital platform for efficient grading and feedback . They will outline the rationale behind adoption of the platform, discuss the assessment types it supports and the advantages and challenges encountered since implementing it. They will also share insights from staff who have used it, along with their thoughts on its future impact and uses.
Presenters:
Edward Sze-Tu, Academic Head of Science
Edward is a passionate educator who has more than 23 years of experience in teaching. He leads a team of dedicated science teachers delivering high quality programs in Foundation and Diploma. Edward has a background in engineering and has taught Physics, Mathematics and Junior Science to local high school students as well as international students here at the College.
Dr Thomas Murphy, Co-ordinator of Science and Engineering & Technology
Tom has been teaching Diploma Chemistry at UNSW College since 2018, was acting Manager of the Science Department for 18 months and is now coordinator of the Science and Engineering and Technology departments. Prior to joining UNSW, he was teaching Diploma Chemistry for Western Sydney University. He holds a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Newcastle, were he combined experimental and computational chemistry to investigate soft-matter/solution structures.