Festival of Learning and Teaching 2023

The Festival of Learning and Teaching provides an opportunity for all staff and students who teach or support learning to share practice, be inspired, learn from one another, and network. Our third Festival event offers a space for academic and professional staff and student leaders to come together to focus on the education endeavour integral to the purpose of the University. 

Definitions of curriculum in higher education commonly focus on components such as learning outcomes, instructional approaches, content, and the sequencing of learning activities and assessment¹. Recent thinking on curriculum also views curriculum as a dynamic dialogue between all relevant stakeholders including teachers, researchers, learners, and industry and community partners².

1. Embedding Indigenous perspectives in curriculum to achieve Graduate Attribute #6: Graduates have an understanding of, and respect for, Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander values, culture and knowledge.
2. Designing a future-focused curriculum enabling students to achieve our Graduate Attributes and a range of transferable skills.

Join us in October to engage with these themes in a variety of ways. The plenary will provide thought leadership and opportunities to ask our learning and teaching leaders questions on aspects of these themes.

As a result of the open call for session proposals, the concurrent sessions will showcase our passionate educators. They will provide inspiration, spark conversations and provide practical ideas to transfer to your own context.

¹ Hill, A., Readman, K. & Strampel, K. (2021). Curriculum Frameworks. In L. Hunt & D. Chalmers (Eds.), University teaching in focus: a learning-centred approach (2nd Ed., pp. 53-80). Routledge.
² Fung, D. (2017). A Connected Curriculum for Higher Education. London: UCL Press

Professor Steven Larkin is a Kungarakan man from Darwin in the Northern Territory, Australia. Professor Larkin was previously the Chief Executive Officer of the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary education. Prior to that, he held the roles of Pro Vice-Chancellor for Indigenous Education and Research at the University of Newcastle and the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Indigenous Leadership at Charles Darwin University. Professor Larkin’s appointment as Pro Vice-Chancellor at Charles Darwin University in 2009 was historic as he became the first ever Aboriginal person to be appointed to a senior executive position at any Australian university.

Professor Larkin holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from the Queensland University of Technology, a master’s degree in Social Science from Charles Sturt University, and a Bachelor of Social Work degree from the University of Queensland.

Professor Larkin has served on numerous national advisory committees in Indigenous Affairs across a number of portfolios. He chaired the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Higher Education Advisory Council for three years (2009-2012); where he lobbied successfully to instigate the Behrendt Review on Indigenous higher education in Australia, and in doing so, was subsequently appointed as a member of the review panel.

Professor Larkin continues to provide invaluable input as a member of several national advisory committees and well-respected professional affiliations which include:

• The Healing Foundation
• Beyond Blue Research Advisory Committee
• The National Apology Foundation

Professor Larkin holds honorary appointments as Conjoint Professor at the University of Newcastle, as a Charles Darwin Distinguished Fellow at Charles Darwin University, and as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Southern Queensland.

The audience will be given a chance to participate in a Q&A session with Professor Larkin at the conclusion of his address.

Professor Katrina Falkner is a Computer Scientist and Executive Dean for the Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology at the University of Adelaide.

Professor Falkner leads the Computer Science Education Research Group (CSER), including their national STEM Professional Learning program, and has extensive experience in industry consultation, working with DST Group, NICTA, Google US, Google Australia & New Zealand, the Department of Education and Training, and Telstra Foundation, addressing Computer Science Education, Defence Systems and STEM Equity.

Read more about Professor Katrina Falkner

The audience will be given a chance to participate in a Q&A session with Professor Falkner at the conclusion of her presentation.

Dr Mark Dodd, Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics
Associate Fellowship (Indigenous) of the Higher Education Academy

On top of my existing SFHEA, in 2023 I also achieved the status of Associate Fellow (Indigenous) of the Higher Education Academy through an accredited training program, supported by an LTAG grant.
I will share details of the process, the benefits of the professional development, as well as its connections to my educational practice and the incorporation of Indigenous knowledges and perspectives in my teaching.

Associate Professor Tania Crotti and Dr Anna Szorenyi, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

We reviewed literature together with the report from the AGRS survey to better understand the drivers of the HDR student experience. The presence and clear communication of events, training programs and placement opportunities can provide opportunities for cross-discipline interaction and make a considerable difference to an HDR student’s experience. Such offerings make a University more attractive to domestic and international potential candidates considering their future. The question is, can potential applicants see these offerings when they are considering applying to a university?  Review the websites of GO8 universities was carried out to understand their “external presence”.

Mrs Melissa Arnold-Ujvari, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
First Nations Students in Higher Education Support Project ‘Ngadlu Yuringguru’

This project was co-designed to be a survey and an interactive “weaving” workshop with First Nations and non-Indigenous staff across the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences. We conducted a student survey in the hopes to improve the discussions surrounding the support for First Nations students to complete their degrees. The team wanted to be informed by the students of the gaps, needs and preferred strategies from First Nations students.  The workshop allowed us as facilitators of the event to be encouraging Indigenous cultural activities within the academic institution in a way that we hope encourages students to feel culturally safe and heard while studying at the university. 

In this activity, you will gain insight into the myriad practices of colleagues from across the University. In small groups you will travel around the Marketplace, having conversations, being inspired and making connections. At each Marketplace booth, colleagues will present ideas and spark conversations. The range of topics to be explored include: developing employability, building student confidence, discovering and creating future-focused course material, applying scenario-based learning, developing transferable skills through research projects, enhancing peer-supported assessment, working with industry partners, enhancing feedback on work-based assessment with technology and considering AI’s impact on future curriculum.

Dr Samantha Schulz, Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics
Embodied and Dialogic Learning for Decolonisation

This workshop develops out of a current Learning and Teaching Innovation Grant located within the School of Education, which is focused on developing ‘culturally responsive’ educators; however, its rationale can be extended to teaching at any level. Australia’s pre-tertiary as well as tertiary student populations are growing superdiverse. Yet, most Australian school teachers are ‘white’, and our schooling systems and curricula remain rooted in Anglo-Centric practices and beliefs. A teacher today may be facing classes comprised of students drawing from hundreds of cultural backgrounds. Engaging all students equitably in learning whilst acknowledging First Nations sovereignty is a complex undertaking. This workshop is designed to be ‘experienced’. It will engage participants in embodied modes of learning that create space for dialogue, encounter, relationship building, and lifeworld knowledges: key elements of culturally responsive pedagogy. We will then connect our experiences to the contested notion of ‘decolonisation’ in education, and consider why it is important to disrupt the western imperialism of pedagogical practices that privilege mind over body. The session will close with a reflection circle for sharing key insights.

Dr Christian Mingorance, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

I would like to share our experience of designing and delivering the new medical curriculum. Learning outcomes and teaching activities were created in partnership with industry, community, and student stakeholders. Development focused on delivering online, pre-recorded videos to focus face-to-face time on interactive and active learning experiences such as scenario based learning, research seminars and early clinical interactions.

Dr Masum Mahmud, Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics
Developing students’ long-term memory – application of a ‘test-potentiated learning’ model

Test-potentiated learning is a cognitively active pedagogy that suggests students ‘doing’ something with information presented to them results in stronger learning outcomes. The stronger outcomes emanate from an increased development of long-term memory of the topics, which increases the ability to apply that knowledge to new learning contexts. The test-potentiated learning was implemented though modular quizzes at MyUni and use of interactive apps in tutorial classes. While retrieval of knowledge via test-potentiated learning is often perceived as assessment of learning, it is also a key process for promoting assessment for learning.

Andrea Dillon, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
A Digital Solution to Enhance Student Feedback Following Utilisation of MyUni Quiz Assessments

In creating a new medical curriculum, low level learning outcomes designed in partnership with stakeholders are aligned to MCQ/SAQ assessment questions. Through an LTAG grant, we have worked with students to create an automated tool that enables us to provide students with direct feedback (strengths/weaknesses) on learning outcome(s) aligned to each assessment question, while maintaining assessment integrity.

Ms Cornelia Koch, Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics
Heart to Heart Outreach Project

A group of Law School students, staff and supporters ran an education campaign to inform the public about the referendum on The Voice. Many of the students did this as part of a course (‘Law Research Internship, Referendum Stream’), while others were volunteers. Students developed their own community outreach projects (in teams or individually) under supervision and mentorship. Projects included invited presentations at community organisations (e.g. Rotary, residential colleges, schools), stalls at markets, festivals and businesses (e.g. Christies Beach Twilight Market, German Herbstfest, Port Elliot Bakery etc), a podcast series featuring First Nations voices, a website and socials (https://hearttoheart0.wordpress.com/), a First Nations panel discussion, a host guide for hosting referendum dinners, a year 11/12 teachers’ resource for teaching on this topic etc. Students are passionate about their outreach activities and very strongly involved in active learning.

Antony Eagle, Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics
Judging People, Evaluating Work, or Encouraging Virtue: the Role of Assessment

How does assessment fit into the fostering of graduate attributes? Three models: (i) Direct: assessment is about judging how well students embody the GAs; (ii) Product: assessment is about evaluating how GAs are displayed in submitted work; (iii) Process: assessment is about giving opportunities for students to cultivate the GAs. These models are discussed in relation to anonymous grading, specifications grading, and AI assisted learning.

Dr Tiffany Lavis, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
Enabling achievement of Graduate Attribute #6: challenges and successes

This session outlines challenges and successes of online course design, in the context of teaching cultural competence for psychological measurement and assessment. Specifically, the session considers designing for best practice for working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, as a practitioner who is neither Aboriginal nor Torres Strait Islander. 

Mr Tom Crichton, Division of Academic and Student Engagement
Partnering with the Library for the Future: Equitably empowering future-ready learners with future-focused course material

In this presentation, we will demonstrate how the Library helps teaching staff design future-focused and equitable curricula by collaboratively discovering and creating relevant and accessible learning materials. Participants will learn about the Library’s dynamic partnership model and how we collaborate with subject matter experts to make effective use of open educational resources and the Library’s diverse digital collections.

Fruitful discussion and exchange is an important aspect of student experience, but facilitating and marking online discussions can be very time and effort intensive. This contribution shares the experience of using the Perusall Platform to facilitate online discussions centred on academic research papers within Global Economic History, a second-year core course for Economics students. 

Small groups of 5th year medical students research and create a podcast on a self-selected Aboriginal health topic. Students are challenged to see their topic from an Aboriginal perspective by privileging Indigenous authors, interviewing a key stakeholder, and demonstrating a strengths-based approach. Students receive formative feedback, and podcasts are marked by a panel inclusive of industry and community representatives. 

The second of three events for the 2023 festival was held on Friday 16 June on campus.  The focus of the festival was 'Activating Learning'.

View the June 2023 program

The first of three events for the 2023 festival was held on Thursday 13 April on campus.  The focus of the festival was 'A Vision for Transforming Learning'.

View the April 2023 program and recording

The 2022 festival was held on Thursday 14 July on campus.  The focus of the Festival was 'Relationships Rich Education'.

View the 2022 program and recordings

The 2021 festival was held over two half days Tuesday 28 September (on campus) and Wednesday 29 September (online).  The focus of the Festival was 'Blended Futures', providing an opportunity for us to celebrate and share new approaches to blended learning at Adelaide, and to explore future directions.

View the 2021 program and recordings

For the first time the Festival of Learning and Teaching was held fully online.  The Festival theme, ‘Looking Back, Looking Forward’, offered a great mix of provocative keynotes from leading sector voices and stimulating presentations, workshops and panels delivered by University staff and students. 

View the 2020 program