Exploring a transformed curriculum supporting flexible options for academic professional learning. Dr Paula Myatt Associate Professor Gail Wilson Mr Jonathan Purdy Southern Cross University, Australia

Exploring a transformed curriculum Let’s hear their stories... Evidence… Institutional Context Transformed curriculum

One great big story… SCU Context Design Team My personal beliefs… Open Educational Resources Asynchronous Fully Online Transformed curriculum Design Team

Southern Cross University Multi-campus Australian university SCU Context Southern Cross University Multi-campus Australian university More than 14000 students Approximately 300 teaching staff Fully online Graduate Certificate 2016 - discontinued Grad Cert Southern Cross University Multi-campus Australian university Operates across 5 campuses (including 3 regional campuses: Gold Coast, Lismore, Coffs harbour) Services more than 14000 students Employs approximately 300 teaching staff (not including casual and sessional) 2012 Fully online Graduate Certificate 2016 discontinued Grad Cert Discontinued mainly due to low enrolment numbers and decreased resourcing of the central T&L unit This created an opportunity for curriculum transformation. An opportunity to create a Foundations program online However there is more to this context…because we all know that building online materials also takes time and resources. This led to the desire to utilise Open Educational Resources

OER harnessed for learning (content & activity) Open Educational Resources OER harnessed for learning (content & activity) Linked to a task activity Context of OER provided Provided Currency, Clarity and Relevance Time consuming to find, required expertise Requires integration into design Southern Cross University Multi-campus Australian university Operates across 5 campuses (including 3 regional campuses: Gold Coast, Lismore, Coffs harbour) Services more than 14000 students Employs approximately 300 teaching staff (not including casual and sessional) 2012 Fully online Graduate Certificate 2016 discontinued Grad Cert Discontinued mainly due to low enrolment numbers and decreased resourcing of the central T&L unit This created an opportunity for curriculum transformation. An opportunity to create a Foundations program online However there is more to this context…because we all know that building online materials also takes time and resources. This led to the desire to utilise Open Educational Resources

Need a great design team! Iterative, action research approach to design Constantly reflecting, revising, sharing, learning The team and its approach is part of effectiveness Southern Cross University Multi-campus Australian university Operates across 5 campuses (including 3 regional campuses: Gold Coast, Lismore, Coffs harbour) Services more than 14000 students Employs approximately 300 teaching staff (not including casual and sessional) 2012 Fully online Graduate Certificate 2016 discontinued Grad Cert Discontinued mainly due to low enrolment numbers and decreased resourcing of the central T&L unit This created an opportunity for curriculum transformation. An opportunity to create a Foundations program online However there is more to this context…because we all know that building online materials also takes time and resources. This led to the desire to utilise Open Educational Resources

Foundations of University Teaching Practice (FUTP) Six online modules Asynchronous Fully Online Design Team So what did we design?? Foundations of University Teaching Practice (FUTP) Six online modules Each containing 2 assessment tasks FUTP equivalent to a single unit of study (130 hours) Blackboard portfolio tool used for uploading assessment Criteria for all assessment tasks within modules Asynchronous, open access Southern Cross University Multi-campus Australian university Operates across 5 campuses (including 3 regional campuses: Gold Coast, Lismore, Coffs harbour) Services more than 14000 students Employs approximately 300 teaching staff (not including casual and sessional) 2012 Fully online Graduate Certificate 2016 discontinued Grad Cert Discontinued mainly due to low enrolment numbers and decreased resourcing of the central T&L unit This created an opportunity for curriculum transformation. An opportunity to create a Foundations program online However there is more to this context…because we all know that building online materials also takes time and resources. This led to the desire to utilise Open Educational Resources

Fully online and asynchronous!!! My personal beliefs… Design Team Shhh… Fully online and asynchronous!!! No facilitation!! No cohort experience. No guidance, discussion or sharing of practice Challenge – make this as personally engaging and as professionally relevant as possible Southern Cross University Multi-campus Australian university Operates across 5 campuses (including 3 regional campuses: Gold Coast, Lismore, Coffs harbour) Services more than 14000 students Employs approximately 300 teaching staff (not including casual and sessional) 2012 Fully online Graduate Certificate 2016 discontinued Grad Cert Discontinued mainly due to low enrolment numbers and decreased resourcing of the central T&L unit This created an opportunity for curriculum transformation. An opportunity to create a Foundations program online However there is more to this context…because we all know that building online materials also takes time and resources. This led to the desire to utilise Open Educational Resources

And so we transformed the curriculum… And evaluated the outcomes… With a focus on our design goals Southern Cross University Multi-campus Australian university Operates across 5 campuses (including 3 regional campuses: Gold Coast, Lismore, Coffs harbour) Services more than 14000 students Employs approximately 300 teaching staff (not including casual and sessional) 2012 Fully online Graduate Certificate 2016 discontinued Grad Cert Discontinued mainly due to low enrolment numbers and decreased resourcing of the central T&L unit This created an opportunity for curriculum transformation. An opportunity to create a Foundations program online However there is more to this context…because we all know that building online materials also takes time and resources. This led to the desire to utilise Open Educational Resources

Design Goals Goal 1: Create a flexible suite of professional learning modules which optimise the use of open educational resources (OER) and offer flexibility in pace and place of learning. Goal 2: Design an engaging program which increases the knowledge and understanding staff have about designing teaching for learning. Goal 3: Design modules with authentic assessment tasks which contextualise their learning. Goal 4: Enable staff to experience learning in the online environment. Goal 5: Introduce and trial digital badges and credentialing as an emerging professional learning approach for the centre and for the university. Goal 6: Utilise the Blackboard environment, and the skills of CTL in digital design, to showcase design patterns and principles.

Research question To what extent were the design goals achieved? With a focus on: Goal 1 Create a flexible suite of professional learning modules which optimise the use of open educational resources (OER) and offer flexibility in pace and place of learning. Goal 2 Design an engaging program which increases the knowledge and understanding staff have about designing teaching for learning. Goal 3 Design modules with authentic assessment tasks which contextualise their learning.

Research details 42 staff enrolled from August to end November 2016 We focused on participants who completed one or more modules Six participants engaged in focus groups 8 participants completed the online survey 3 participants engaged in semi-structured interviews …but I am going to take a slightly different approach. The focus groups were held in the middle of the study period and gave us mid-point data. The survey was conducted at the end. Of the 14 academics who had completed one or more modules, eight completed the survey, a response rate of 60%. So the numbers in this study at the moment are very small. But what these participants have to tell us is still very useful and valid.

Let’s hear their stories… Narrative inquiry … a methodology to add richness and further insight to the data we can obtain through surveys and guided interviews. … can also encompass 2 types of data analysis: where the collected stories are thematically analysed; or where the data is collated and re-written as a story. Polkinghorne (1995) … In this case, not so much as an approach data gathering but an approach to analysis and data representation…

Let’s hear their stories… In this case… Data source was interview notes from guided interviews. Experiences of 2 academics, represented separately. They are not fictionalised. The factual basis, and most of the words, arise from the interviews, but as the researcher I am narrating their stories using what they said but ‘re-storied’ as if they were telling their story today. It’s a dynamic framework of my analysis of their words and their emotions, re-presented as a storied account of their experience.

As you listen…  Return to the research question – To what extent were the design goals achieved? Goal 1 Create a flexible suite of professional learning modules which optimise the use of open educational resources (OER) and offer flexibility in pace and place of learning.  Goal 2 Design an engaging program which increases the knowledge and understanding staff have about designing teaching for learning. Goal 3 Design modules with authentic assessment tasks which contextualise their learning.

Conclusion Our small study, involving 14 university teaching staff, revealed a strong, positive impact from the FUTP. Staff embraced the new approach to pace and place of learning, and the characteristics of flexible access were highly valued. Participants reported having redesigned their teaching. This was all concrete evidence that knowledge about teaching and learning had been increased, and design goals had been met.

Conclusion With technology offering opportunities for increased flexibility in learning, and the need for greater access driving curriculum transformation, our new FUTP is an example of a transformation put into practice. …and an example of the importance of challenging our own beliefs! …and the power of hearing the voices from our research in the absence of the numbers.

Paula Myatt p.myatt@griffith.edu.au Gail Wilson gail.wilson@scu.edu.au Jonathan Purdy jonathan.purdy@scu.edu.au