Different types of teaching (continued)

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Telephone conferences can be used for holding tutorials with distance students. They can help, in the initial stages of a unit, to allow you to explain assessment tasks, discuss learning approaches, and give students a chance to talk to one another and with you. Telephone tutorials are quite costly, however, and should be used strategically.

• Check your School or Divisional protocols for running telephone conferences before beginning to plan a conference call – they can be expensive.
• Negotiate a date and time that students will be available to take the call.
• Have no more than ten students on one call. If you have a large cohort, plan several conferences.
• Plan the call as you would any teaching session.
• Have a list in front of you, to which you can refer easily during the conference, of students who are on the call.
• Make sure that every student has a chance to contribute at every stage during the conference.

g) Residential schools

Off-campus students often appreciate being able to experience, even briefly, what it is like to study on campus. Distance learners are expected to be more independent than those who study face-to-face, but some students find the expectation quite daunting and appreciate the opportunity to attend residential or weekend schools where they meet face-to-face with others studying in their course and with their lecturers and tutors. Whilst Southern Cross University does not use a residential model in its distance education programs, some Schools believe that they are essential for their programs, as certain skills and content cannot be taught at a distance. Here are some pointers for running residentials:

• Decide on the academic program – Refer to the section on Lesson Plans for more information about how to do this but keep in mind that residentials are often very skills-based and focus on the practical application of content.
• Liaise with other sections of the University if visits or workshops need to be arranged, e.g. the Library.
• Organise all administrative details, e.g. book the rooms, organise the teachers, organise catering for during the day.
• Create a MySCU discussion forum well before the residential and encourage students to go in, meet each other, discuss accomodation and travel plans, organise shared accommodation and so on.
• Develop a package of information which includes:
  • detailed information about accommodation and travel
  • the academic program
  • maps of the University, the town and the district
  • catering information
  • child care information.

h) Travelling workshops

With just over 50 per cent of SCU students studying online or at a distance, workshops are held throughout Australia and overseas when there are sufficient numbers of students to make the workshop worthwhile and where costs permit. These workshops can be planned as one-off events, or scheduled regularly. Two examples are:

• Travelling with the same workshop to various centres where there are numbers of students in the same course. The purpose of the workshop could be to explore learning approaches and assessment tasks in a one-off workshop, or it could be to teach a particularly problematic aspect of the course.
• Travelling overseas to locations where SCU has a presence or a partnership arrangement. The purpose of the workshop might be to conduct a formal teaching session and to liaise with local partners and tutors.

Here are some useful tips for organising and conducting travelling workshops, in the order in which they need to occur:

• Plan the workshop as early as possible, e.g. include it in your Unit Information Book.
• Decide on the appropriate mix of content, tutorial activity and discussion about assessment items.
• Choose the date and book the venue: Saturdays are generally much more popular than Sundays; two weeks before an important assessment task guarantees healthy numbers; if there is only one workshop, hold about half way through semester; if possible choose a venue with good access, learning environment, equipment and facilities.
• Create a Workshop Forum in MySCU where students can register, e.g. ‘I’ll be coming’. If there is a ceiling on numbers, indicate this in the forum descriptor, and advise that entry will be in order of registration. Check with your School if other registration systems are the norm.
• Identify person/s who will need to get you inside, e.g. security officer to unlock door/s or activate swipe card (N.B. – if Tweed Campus, it may be possible for all participants to have cards activated).
• Book travel – e.g. flights (fly the day before), Uni car, per diem.
• Post announcement on MySCU giving precise details about: location, time of commencement, lunch and finish (N.B. if students need to be let in, warn them to be on time or to expect 15-minute wait outside venue), parking availability and public transport options, required resources, e.g. textbook, readings, study guide, advanced reading or activities to prepare, available catering options for lunch (e.g. local club, sandwich shop).
• Check that you pack the following: overheads, handouts, agenda, evaluation sheets, whiteboard pens and wiper, textbooks and other resources, name tags (the personal touch is important for externals).

i) Science laboratory teaching

When designing laboratory classes think about safety and ethical aspects as well as issues related to the content, structure and assessment of the laboratory class.

All laboratory sessions need to be assessed for risks and hazards, and a plan needs to be written and implemented to minimise risk to staff and students. WorkCover has a hierarchy of control to address risks, that you can access from the Division of Health and Applied Sciences’ online OH&S Workgroup site. Please contact Thea van de Mortel (xtn 3305 or email tvandemo@scu.edu.au) to arrange for access to the website if necessary. If you have further questions you can contact Steve McFarlane, OH&S Officer – phone 02 6626 9143 or email: smcfarla@scu.edu.au.

If you are planning to carry out procedures in your laboratory that involve experiments on students or animals, you will need to apply to the relevant Ethics Committee for permission to proceed. Ethics application forms can be obtained from the Graduate Research College.

In terms of the content and structure of a lab class, several things to keep in mind are:

• Will the students have the time to complete the exercises you have set them?
• Do the instructions make sense, and are they complete?
• Do the students have the resources available to complete the exercises?
• In some fields there are books of tried and tested lab exercises that you may be able to use or modify to your needs. This can be a great time saver.
• How will you tie the lab experience in to the assessment of the unit?
• Have you incorporated any necessary safety instructions into the lab manual?
• Be really clear about what it is you want to achieve from the lab session. Do you want students to learn a practical skill? Are you interested in stimulating critical thinking and deductive skills? The latter type of objective requires you to pose questions that can’t be answered directly from a textbook. The former type of objective might best be served by hands-on activities followed by a mastery test.
• Does your lab have clear objectives? Is the content clearly tied to the objectives? Are the objectives measurable? Is the link between objectives and assessment clear? Provide references for the material used, and direct students to the relevant section of their textbook if applicable. Make sure your grammar, spelling and referencing are correct as you should set an example for your students to follow.
• Are the questions you have posed clear and unambiguous?
• Use the lab sessions to demonstrate the application of theory. The more relevant the students see the labs to their professional practice, the more interested and motivated they will be.

j) Computer laboratory teaching

Teaching in computer laboratories can be stressful and chaotic. Students can have disparate needs which teacher-centred strategies may not address. Students may be anxious about technology. The following is a useful list of things to consider when teaching in a computer laboratory:

• Always try to resist any temptation to assist students by taking over their mouse and doing the task for them. It is far more useful to their learning to guide them through the task themselves.
• Continually ask individual students to explain what they are doing and ask for input from others around them if they are doing things differently. Use their work as an example of excellence when appropriate.
• Foster buddying and mentoring relationships between students. Pair up less confident students with more confident students.
• Be aware that students will work at very different paces. Try to create self-directed activities which students can work on at their own pace. Offer a range of different levels of activities – base-level activities and then extension activities for those who are working quickly.
• Don’t underestimate computer anxiety and its negative effects on students’ approaches to learning. Don’t make assumptions about age or gender in this regard. Remember that what may be simple to us when dealing with computers and applications can be daunting to students.
• Ensure that students can see the relevance, either personally or professionally, of the learning activities.
• Always design follow-up activities – each session needs to start with a summary of the last. Effective computer learning needs reinforcement, once is not enough.
• Impress upon students the importance of backing up their work as particular milestones are reached. Two separate back-ups should be used when assignments are involved. The second backup should be kept separate from the first (i.e. kept in another location).
• Sometimes when software is particularly difficult to learn then a projector and laptop will need to be used to demonstrate how to use the software. This allows students to get started quickly.

k) Fieldwork

The following guidelines relate to coordination of a field camp of several days’ duration, involving staff and students from several units. Fieldwork coordinators should be able to draw on these guidelines in a way that is appropriate to their individual teaching and learning aims and objectives. The University’s Fieldwork Policy is currently under revision and fieldwork coordinators should be aware that their responsibilities are likely to increase substantially when the Policy is enacted.

Before the start of semester

• Consult with teaching staff and the course coordinator to timetable the field trip.
• Book accommodation if required. This may need to be done several months in advance if your trip involves a large group based at a popular destination. You may only be able to provide approximate student numbers at this stage.
• Consult with unit examiner(s) to make sure that some general information about the trip is included in unit outlines (e.g. how many days, which university week, approximate cost). Students will then be aware of the trip at the start of semester.
• Make sure that your trip complies with the University’s Fieldwork Policy.

At the start of semester

• Compile a list of teaching and technical staff involved. Convene at least one meeting to discuss key issues. Keep everyone up to date with your planning progress via email. Ask for feedback/confirmation about certain important points as they arise.
• Obtain an up-to-date list of students attending the field trip.
• Consult with the appropriate administration officer in your School to set up the field trip details in the University finance system (e.g. invoicing of students, paying for transport and accommodation).
• Give the appropriate administration officer in your School:
  • details of the field trip (perhaps a copy of the student handout)
  • a list of staff that will be away, and their contact details (e.g. mobile phone number).
• Give the travel officer in your School a copy of the travel arrangements for the field trip and a list of staff that will be away.
• Consult with technical staff to make sure that equipment required for fieldwork is available and in working order.
• Book transport and accommodation if you haven’t already done so.
• Inform your accommodation provider of any changes in student numbers.
• Find out how many students require transport and amend bus bookings accordingly.
• Compile and distribute a handout with the following information as appropriate:
  • dates and location
  • coordinator’s contact details
  • timetable, including departure and arrival times from and to the University
  • attendance requirements (who must attend and the consequences if they don’t)
  • transport details
  • cost and payment options
  • accommodation details (including access to cooking facilities)
  • personal requirements (e.g. camping and cooking gear, suitable clothing etc.)
  • fieldwork groups
  • campsite rules
  • detailed timetable of fieldwork exercises.
• Establish whether or not there are students with special requirements and plan accordingly.
• Check with teaching and technical staff in the week before the trip to identify any outstanding issues.

During the field trip

• Supervise and coordinate the loading and departure of buses from the University.
• Convene a briefing session for all staff and students at the start of fieldwork. This should include certain key points from the handout (e.g. attendance requirements, appropriate field attire, standards of behaviour). Confirm with students that they understand what is required.
• The briefing session should also outline the detailed logistics for the forthcoming field exercises. Confirm with students to make sure that they understand what is required.
• Coordinate and supervise the departure of buses, or otherwise direct students to each fieldwork session.
• Monitor compliance with OH&S and University Fieldwork policies, and campsite rules.
• Liaise with the accommodation provider so that any problems can be addressed (e.g. noise after 10 pm ).
• Be available for students to advise you of any problems they are experiencing during fieldwork.
• Supervise and coordinate the loading and departure of buses at the end of the fieldwork.

Ask yourself

• What types of teaching will best meet my students’ needs?
• What types of teaching am I best at?
• What skills do I need to extend myself into new types of teaching?
• What types of teaching can my School afford?
• For this particular unit, to what degree should I be teacher-centred or learner-centred?
• How can I offer a variety of teaching types?
• What equipment do I need?
• What preparations do I need to make, and when?