1. 32 HoS won’t commit to funding tutors to support 31
This board game was originally designed as a tool to raise awareness of the process behind developing Breadth Units at UTAS. The ‘Snakes & Ladders’ format has potential to facilitate other staff development discussions, but it is time-consuming to create and position images and text elements.
This PowerPoint image has been created for re-use: Snakes are grouped, Ladders are grouped, Numbered squares and text are in an editable table, Other images (dollar signs, arrows) are individually placed so can be selected, moved or deleted as required.
It is recommended that all items be re-grouped before printing, or convert image to PDF. This image is scaled to be printed on A3 paper.
Becoming Expert at B-r-e-a-d-t-h A board game on the development process for Breadth
36 You have a really good idea for another Breadth Unit… (you wouldn’t be the first!) 35
Have you completed the online Quality Matters* course? It is a breadth unit team requirement – and the three-year unit review will follow the formal rubric … so you may just want to find out what this is! 34
Critical teaching member leaves the team. Sad but true this is not uncommon and
may be unpredictable. It
emphasises the need for
robust design and
flexible delivery. 33
In a review you will be advised to plan for unit sustainability for scalability without incentive funds. Time for rational consolidation (what
worked well?) ahead
of adventurous change.
32 HoS won’t commit to funding tutors to support
teaching in subsequent semesters. This will require an inventive restructure of unit assessment
requirements. 31
Capitalise on your unit development achievement: record it against TPEs; use peer review to improve teaching skills; be a mentor to others starting
off on the breadth unit
experience. 25
The Cross Faculty L&T Committee approves your completed Unit Outline;
you have confirmed
teaching support
and MyLO unit
content is ready. $$ 26
27 Semester starts!
You can of course choose to make MyLO content available earlier, but keep requirements for on- and off-campus students equitable. 28
Students can’t find
the readings; off-campus students are confused about assessed discus-
sions; you receive a
welter of s asking for help. What went wrong? 29
After delivery, the one-year-on unit review conducted by TILT looks at lecturer and student feedback, making suggestion
for improvement. Your
unit has good reviews! 30
No surprise! Any change to Unit Learning Outcomes or assessment will naturally need to be approved by the Cross Faculty L&T Committee. 24
Spend some of your development fund wisely in engaging Ed Tech support. Even if you are familiar with MyLO tools this will improve continuity and quality assurance of the product. 23
Content development time! What open resources can you access? What can you create and share? 22
21Congratulations! $$
Your Learning Design
has been approved
by the Cross Faculty
L&T Committee. This
represents the major
requirement for unit
development to proceed 20
Identify staff skills and
development
needs.
Match team roles to their strengths. 19
Difficulty in keeping the academic team on task can make it feel like you (as Unit Coordinator) are doing all the work! 13
Your delivery mix is an important decision. All breadth units must be fully online; you can provide on-campus delivery too. So – at how many campuses? What f2f will meet student needs? 14 15
Your teaching team meets with the TILT Academic Developer to workshop a complete unit Learning Design. This will template all your unit development and keep elements aligned. 16 17 18
12 From 2016 breadth unit approval is now a 3-step process: EoI; Learning Design, budget and assessment plan; Unit Outline completion and content readiness to teach. 11
Hooray! First stage approval from Cross Faculty L&T Committee results in first-stage incentivisation payment to the team to advance with unit development. $$ 10
Submission of the completed unit proposal requires a signature from the Faculty Dean or Institute Director of each partner participating in the development. 9
Falling behind with dead-lines! The completed proposal (template on the website) must go to the Cross Faculty L&T Committee by the set
date. 8
Important! Check your Faculties’ deadlines for new unit proposals.
You need to
meet internal
requirements
too. 7
You read the web-
site directions, the
MyLO ‘Breadth Unit’
advice and consult with the Academic Developer in TILT at an early stage. A great start to good preparation! 1
START HERE
There is a call for EoI for new breadth units… 2
A good idea for a breadth unit is based on a ‘complex challenge’ which can be tackled from different disciplinary contexts. 3
First check that there are no similar units under development – contact TILT and look at the website:
introduction/breadth-units 4
5 You have established a committed cross-disciplinary team to work on the proposal. Representation from more than one Faculty is a requirement. 6
Crisis of self-doubt: consult Philosophy team member about the nature of ‘Width’
vs ‘Breadth’… and
what truly
constitutes a
‘wicked problem’.
RETURN TO START
Jo Osborne
December 2016
*Quality Matters online course: Snake illustrations from: