The University of Wollongong (UOW) Foundations of University Teaching course, Introduction to Tertiary Teaching (ITT), is a key initiative supporting the ongoing development of a high quality learning and teaching environment. Newly appointed academic teaching staff are required to participate as part of their employment contract and sessional teaching staff are encouraged to attend. The course offers immediate practical support for university teachers as well as a framework for long-term reflective practice and continuous development.

The course aims to:

• develop participants' understanding of student learning, approaches to teaching practice and current issues in higher education, and
• enhance the ability of participants to structure effective learning environments and use communication and information technologies for teaching.

UOW first offered ITT to all academic and sessional teaching staff in 1992. The course was coordinated jointly by the Faculty of Education and the then Centre for Staff Development and is now coordinated by the Centre for Educational Development and Interactive Resources (CEDIR). The program will be retitled University Learning and Teaching (ULT) in 2007.

Since 1994 all newly appointed academic teaching staff have been required to participate. A report on their progress in the course is considered during the probation and promotions round for all participating staff applying for continuing appointment and/or promotion.

Staff who complete the course may apply for advanced standing (eight credit points) within the Faculty of Education's Graduate Certificate in Higher Education and are encouraged to complete a postgraduate higher education qualification.

The course comprises three units, for more information see the website: www.uow.edu.au/cedir/itt/PDF/CourseGuide.pdf.

Unit 1: Teaching Skills Workshop Program

• A five-day workshop program provides immediate and practical assistance to enable academics to prepare for the first few weeks of teaching and to begin their own exploration of teaching in higher education. Workshop activities include discussion, experiential and interactive learning, demonstration and practice in giving and receiving feedback and a Teaching Practice Session in which participants facilitate a learning activity for their ITT colleagues.
• Participants are assessed on a report of their Teaching Practice Session, including their teaching plan and critical reflection on colleague, facilitator and video feedback.

Unit 2: Learning Through Teaching Project (LTTP)

• This is a collegial, professional development program structured as a Peer Observation Partnership, with a support colleague chosen by the participant from their own faculty and written feedback provided by the ITT Coordinator.
• There are two assessment tasks for this unit. The first is an interim reflective report on the first observation cycle, including a teaching plan and critical reflection on feedback received from the support colleague. The second task is a mini-portfolio comprising the participant's education philosophy, a full report on the peer observation partnership and a collection of support materials.

Unit 3: Negotiated Project

• This project explores the nexus between teaching, learning, assessment and evaluation through completion of a negotiated independent study project of a scholarly nature. Examples include subject evaluation, curriculum review, resource development, literature review, autobiographical essay. The production of an article suitable for publication in an education journal is strongly encouraged.
• Assessment criteria are negotiated with the ITT Coordinator.

Course strategies are collaborative, emphasising negotiated learning, working in collegial groups and pairs, and the sharing of experiences. The course actively supports the development of the teaching/research nexus and the educational/theory and practice nexus by linking coursework to planning, feedback and reflection on each participant's teaching program. Participants are challenged to consider their existing conceptions of teaching and learning against their own practice and in light of accepted educational theory and practice.

Feedback is integral to the course: seeking feedback from students and colleagues, offering feedback to colleagues on teaching, and reflecting on feedback. A two-phase training model in the Unit 1 workshop program provides demonstration and practice in giving and receiving feedback in a 'safe' facilitated environment.

All Units are evaluated by participants and very high levels of satisfaction are consistently reported. Since its introduction, the course has been continually improved in light of feedback received and it is generally accepted on campus as a very worthwhile program.

Unit 2 (Learning Through Teaching Project) is separately evaluated by response to an open-ended question about the unit at the end of each participant's individual program and a triennial online questionnaire completed by participants from the last three years. The effectiveness of Unit 2 is documented in the HERDSA Guide entitled Peer Observation Partnerships in Higher Education, in published case studies (Bell, 1999; 2001) and in a request from the Higher Education Academy to report on the provision of peer observation of teaching in Australian Universities (for more information see the website: www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources.asp?process=full_record&section=generic&id=28).

Most University teaching award winners have participated in the course. The flexibility and effectiveness of the course is also supported by its documented acceptance as a Foundations of University Teaching course at the UOW Dubai campus, see the website:

www.uowdubai.ac.ae/pelt/details.php?sec=4,1,5.

The resources required are:

• Course coordinator
• Guest lecturers
• Administrative support
• Funding for materials and tailored resource production such as DVDs and newsletter, UniTeaching UOW
• Funding for catering
• Staff to facilitate and video teaching practice sessions (micro-teaching).

Some of the reasons for the success of the program include the following:

• The course is designed around fundamental educational principles including experience-based learning (Kolb 1984) and reflective practice (Schon 1983; 1987).
• The use of peer observation partnerships bringing non-participants from the faculties into the program as support colleagues has helped build an accepted culture of teaching observation and collegiality across the faculties.
• Training in Unit 1 ensures participants are well prepared to undertake a peer observation partnership within their own teaching environment when they undertake Unit 2.
• The provision of written feedback on the interim report by the ITT coordinator during Unit 2 ensures peer observation partnerships are monitored and effective.
• A set of resource materials (DVDs), for information see the website: www.uow.edu.au/cedir/itt/video.html, has been developed specifically to meet the needs of a Foundations of University Teaching Course.

For further information about the Foundations of University Teaching Course

see the website: www.uow.edu.au/cedir/itt/.

References

Bell, M. (1999) Academic Development: Placing the Lecturer at the Centre of the Learning Experience. 24th International Conference on Improving University Learning and Teaching, pp319-24.

Bell, M. (2001) 'Supported Reflective Practice: a program of peer observation and feedback for academic teaching development', International Journal for Academic Development, vol 6 (1), pp29-39.

Kolb, D. (1984) Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning

and Development. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

Schon, D. A. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in

Action. New York: Basic Books.

Schon, D. A. (1987) Educating the Reflective Practitioner. San Francisco:

Jossey-Bass.

© 2010 Australian Universities Quality Agency