Simon McIntyre, Scientia Education Academy Emeritus Fellow
Professor
Simon McIntyre
Educational Innovation Pillar
UNSW PVC Education and Student Experience
Simon McIntyre is the Director, Educational Innovation at UNSW Sydney, a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (PFHEA), and a member of the UNSW Scientia Education Academy.
He is a multi-award winning educator, passionate about improving the effectiveness, quality and relevance of the student learning experience, and about pedagogically driven use of technology to innovate learning and teaching practices. He takes a design led and data informed approach to the personalisation of learning, appropriate integration and evaluation of digital technologies, artificial intelligence, and immersive experiences into a balanced curriculum. Simon is committed to continuing to innovate, uncomplicate, improve, and reimagine the UNSW student experience.
The UNSW Art & Design Badges Project builds upon the work of two previous projects: The Learning Hubs Project (An adaptive, personalised, community centric education model: SEIF 1 Grant 2017 - 2019) which had in turn built upon the Flipped Learning Project (Innovating Learning: synthesising flipped classrooms, evolved curricula for authentic learning, academic professional development and technology:SEF#2 Grant 2014-2016).
The project provides students with skills training in the form of ‘packages’ outside of existing courses, and a badging system that tracks a student’s progress and completions. Students are provided with suggested pathways and badges relevant to their courses and program through the course outline system. The packages include online resources and quizzes which can be accessed anywhere and at any time, and (if required) students can sign up for a ‘bootcamp’ to seek support or extend their knowledge further. The project aims not only to upskill students, but to also prevent repetition of the same skills taught in different courses, saving time and associated cost but also freeing up more time for teachers to engage with higher order thinking in studio. It also responds to the diverse student cohort that present to class with different skills, as well the increasing need to provide flexible, personalised learning experiences.
The project is ongoing as more staff contribute to the building of skills packages, and the Badge System becomes embedded within the faculty culture. It is currently expanding to include professional development badges for staff that attend workshops or training sessions, as well as reaching outwards to other existing UNSW programs, such as the Michael Crouch Innovation Centre’s (MCIC) Founders program, to integrate a broader and richer student and staff experience.
Theoretical Background
The project addresses two key areas, namely the perceived value of the badges and the need to ensure the project remains sustainable, relevant and scalable.
Carey et al (2018) found that in higher education contexts, skills-based badges (ie requiring evidence of mastery and evaluation) are considered more meaningful than those awarded for participation alone, with badge purpose, transferability, and learning objectives regarded as most important. The Badges project provides skills packages that mirror disciplinary and industry standards and embeds them into curriculum, assessment project briefs and learning outcomes throughout the programs. Progression through the badges are tracked through a digital ‘traffic light’ system, and the badge awarded only once the requirements are successfully achieved.
While online initiatives such as these are worthwhile, Stiles (2004) indicates that many institutions fail to address how these might become sustainable and embedded into institutional practice, by focussing only on the introduction and implementation of the initiatives (DfES, 2003, Stiles, 2004)
The Badges Project adopts a holistic faculty and program approach by integrating badges into the curriculum, course outline system, resource bookings and a personalised student and staff Badges Dashboard. This approach not only coordinates between various faculty facilities, but also provides a dashboard that tracks the successful completion of badges, and provides direction and opportunities for students to plan and pursue skills required for future career pathways.
Progress / Outcomes / Next steps
Across the three projects, the badging system has achieved as follows:
Provides, tracks and archives all the mandatory proficiencies and inductions in the 2D, 3D and 4D Making Centres at UNSW Art & Design. The system links to the UNSW SafeSYS system
Provides skills training and tracking for courses throughout the programs at Art & Design
Provides optional upskilling for students according to their study or career pathways
The project is currently:
Expanding the dashboard to include faculty professional development activities of staff (eg Convenor Induction workshops, Permanent Staff Teaching Inductions, etc)
Expanding beyond the faculty to link or integrate with existing UNSW resources such as the MCIC Founders program
Acknowledgements
Participants in the three projects are extensive and include staff (academic and professional) and students from UNSW Faculty of Art & Design. Please refer to the Project Reports for detailed role descriptions. The MCIC Founders program currently being integrated at A&D is being implemented by Carly Vickers.
References
Carey, K.L., Stefaniak, J.E. (2018). An exploration of the utility of digital badging in higher education settings. Education Tech Research Dev 66, 1211-1229. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-018-9602-1
Department for Education and Skills, “Towards a Unified e-Learning Strategy”, (Nottingham: DfES Publications, 2003), 6
The Art & Design Course Development Programs (CDP) were established in 2018 by Associate Dean Education Simon McIntyre to facilitate coordinated course development for completely redesigned Bachelor of Design (BDes), Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), and Bachelor of Media Arts (BMA) programs at Art & Design. Every course in the BDes and BFA was written with the support of the CDP, and two disciplinary studios in the BMA were created by industry professionals taking part in the process.
The CDP comprise a series of 6 workshops spread over 6 months, with developmental milestones in between, and regular peer review sessions of course designs to ensure alignment and quality. Workshops were developed and run by a changing team including academic Karin Watson, Educational Developers Amy Teale, Fiona Nicolson, Nikki Hayes, Jillian James, and Natalya Oliveira, and professional staff including team leaders Luke Killen and Jim Ward. This diverse team provided pedagogic and practical guidance and support to academics during the process.
Theoretical Background and Aims
The CDP were designed to establish a programmatic approach to course development, giving academics authoring individual courses the opportunity to work alongside peers with an overarching guiding plan in place to ensure that courses scaffold into each other at individual year levels, and align to the program learning outcomes. Each CDP has a focus on pedagogy and technology, integrating the Digital Uplift process into a professional development context to ensure that any use of technology is appropriate, sustainable and meaningful for students.
This approach has created an environment where knowledge and insight are shared freely, creating a strong sense of professional community and comradery (Wenger, E., 2011; Wenger, E., White, N., & Smith, J., 2010). During conceptualisation and peer review of designs, academics collaborate with peers from other programs and disciplines with different knowledge and skill sets, and with the professional staff who manage the practical implementation of the student experience on campus. The resulting Zone of Proximal Development of this arrangement (Daniels, H., 2001; Vgotsky, L., 1997) has helped participants in the programs develop a more holistic approach to course design as they are learning in a community with different skill levels and knowledge.
Progress and Outcomes
To date the program has included:
4 x CDP Programs (6 x 3 hour workshops each over 6 months)
72 New courses created over 6 programs
46 Courses completed Digital Uplift in collaboration with PVCE
44 Academics received professional development through CDP series
2 Deputy Heads of School
6 Educational developers
6 Professional Staff
MyExperience results for courses created through the CDP process have consistently been higher than existing courses in the faculty and were also more successfully adapted to online delivery during the COVID-19 crisis due to the use of more complete Moodle sites and digital resources. Most of those involved in the programs have also seen an improvement in teaching satisfaction since participating.
Next steps
Academics within the CDP communities continue to work with each other to continually review and improve the courses they have created based upon student feedback and their fit with other courses in their program. In addition, the CDP has set a new standard for course development at Art & Design and has evolved to include a less-formalised mentorship model. This allows individual academics to benefit from the wisdom and knowledge of the extended CDP community when creating or revising courses without having to go through a formal program. As of 2020, 17 academics are taking part in a mentor-based CDP process with seasoned academics and educational developers to revise and improve courses in response to recent program reviews. This process will continue as BAU we move forward into 2021.
References
Daniels, H. (2001). Vygotsky and Pedagogy. London ; New York: Routledge/Falmer.
Vgotsky, L. (1997). Educational Psychology, (R. Silverman. Trans.).
Wenger, E., White, N., & Smith, J. (2010). Learning in Communities. In U.-D. Ehlers & D. Schneckenberg (Eds.), Changing Cultures in Higher Education (pp. 257-283): Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
