Setting Up a National Learning and Teaching Centre in Higher Education: Lessons Learned from the Australian Experience Janice Orrell Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education Director: Disciplines, Networks and Special Projects

Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education An Initiative of DEST Established and funded as a Public Company 2005 planning year first triennium

Institute Values Inclusiveness through networks and communities of all who contribute to the advancement of earning and teaching Diversity of institutional and discipline differences Long-term, future oriented, systemic change Collaboration through engagement Recognition and reward of Excellence

Institute Objectives Promotion of systemic change Recognise fundamental importance of HE learning & teaching Develop mechanisms to identify, develop and disseminate good practice Establish reciprocal national and international sharing and benchmarking Identify important future oriented issues that impact on higher education and facilitate national approaches to them

1.Grants 2.Awards 3.Fellowships 4.Discipline-based Initiatives 5.Resource Identification Network Five Schemes

Grants Scheme Carrick Director: Dr Elizabeth McDonald $28 Million between Priority Projects Academic standards, assessment practices Teaching and learning spaces Peer review Competitive Grants Research & development of issues continuing importance Strategic approaches to L&T – diversity of student body Innovation in learning and teaching Leadership in Learning & Teaching (enhancement of learning & teaching through…) Institutional leadership capacity building Disciplinary and cross-disciplinary communities of practice

Recognising & Rewarding Good Teaching Carrick Director: Denise Chalmers Awards Citations for outstanding contributions to student learning (210) Teaching excellence (including PM’s award) (27) Programmes that enhance learning (14) Fellowships Indicators Project: Recognition and reward of Good Teaching

What is New? AWARDS Recognising a wider range of contribution to student learning Involvement of institutions in the assessment process Regional Citation Award ceremonies Recognition of contributions of many people. eg teaching, administration and professional. FELLOWSHIPS SCHEME Senior Fellowship Program (4)max $330,000 Associate Fellowship Program (10)max $90,000

Fellowships New initiative based on the best aspects of international fellowship programs High profile and well resourced Designed to promote system wide initiatives Strong encouragement for international links and networks Strong commitment to dissemination and implementation

Discipline Based Initiatives Director: Janice Orrell Disciplines influence: Ways in which academic work is organised Relationship of academics to knowledge & their students Type of intended learning outcomes Research about teaching and learning in universities (Neumann 2001, Becher and Trowler 2001, Neuman, Parry, & Becher 2002)

Higher Education Disciplines Site of knowledge development Demonstrate interdependence of organisational context and what counts as knowledge Higher Education reflects and reconstitutes -Classifications of knowledge, -What is expertise -Knowledge worth knowing

Strengths of D-b Development Engages those who must collaborate at the level of practice -Builds on agreed strengths -Attends to common problems Facilitates common purpose and collaborative action Enables the development of curriculum cohesions

Much is based on common practice, not evidence Common practice reinforces common practices and can constrain originality It is difficult to define a discipline and classify its orientation Risk of disciplinary silos Limits cross-disciplinary and inter- disciplinary thinking Limitations of D-b Development

Effective learning about T&L is maintained IF: Colleagues will tolerate it Department rules can accommodate it Tools and heuristics are there to translate generic ideas into practice They have positions of influence Professional learning of teachers (Knight, Tait and Yorke, 2006)

Inertia of Academic structures Academic disciplinary structures have failed to respond well to changes in: Student demographics Labour market requirements Technological advances

Longing for past glories Efforts focus on inventing better mouse traps (Ewell, 1991) Conservatism and Inertia protect cherished ideals Gumport & Snydman, 2002

Issues & Needs Knowledge legitimation Encourages scholarship of learning and teaching in the disciplines Requires funds to conduct the research Requires knowledge of educational research methods Effective dissemination systems

Objectives of Carrick’s D-B I Higher levels of d-b engagement with systemic change Increased engagement of all stakeholders Improved discipline-based learning outcomes Articulation of d-b standards and qualities

Discipline Framework Investigation funds Pilot Disciplines Science Law ICT Tenders Common Curriculum Issues Eg.Service teaching Professional degrees Research education Arts, Psychology, Mathematics, Engineering, Business, Architecture, Biotechnology, Pharmacy Higher Education Enterprise

Capturing the dynamic potential of D-b I Creative interdisciplinary engagement Focus on the student experience Collaboration with stakeholders Building on past successes and resources Engage with international and global issues Develop what is uniquely Australian Attend to the research-teaching nexus Sustainable, future oriented and proactive D-B I Principles

Organisation Led by Discipline leaders Hosted by institutions Involve multiple institutions and organisations Utilise existing structures where they exist Vigorously involve middle management Adopt a common web-based architecture (RIN)

Dissemination Transmission Awareness Knowledge Transformation Interpretation Translation Application Regeneration

: Carrick Exchange ( a Resource Identification Network) A centrally co-ordinated service which: Is credible and reliable Facilitates sharing and adoption of good practice Supports dissemination Encourages and enables an ethos of bold innovation Links existing Australian resources from different sites; Links with, and capitalises on, international initiatives Fosters international collaborations;

Implementation plan Three year project Three project teams: Education.au: architecture & functionality Ascilite: landscape mapping and user engagement formative evaluation (out to tender) Informed by a “Think Tank” of experts and users

Carrick Institute Philosophy & Approach Enabling Collaboration Co-production Bottom-up and Top-down Multiple modes of engagement (grants, forums, scholarship) Future orientation Building on existing resources and strengths Stakeholder engagement

Successes Citations Institutions adopting a systemised approach to Carrick Programmes Engagement between the institute and institutions and organisations (Forums, campus visits, think tanks) Utilisation of sector experts who have retired DVC/PVC Forum to set priorities and top down agendas Higher Education Enterprise Initiatives & Common Curriculum Concerns

Lessons Learned The value of bringing groups with common concerns together Need to integrate a top-down approach to address gaps and to steer attention to the “too hard” issues Money helps, but is not the only answer Need for support to be successful (leadership programme, expert consultants, seed funds) Importance of adopting a systems approach (all levels and stakeholders, policy and practice) Importance of engaging formal & informal leadership

Questions?