The SCU Model - Southern Cross University

The Southern Cross Model delivers superior student outcomes, based on interactive, media-rich and responsive learning with focused six-week terms.

Teaching and Learning in the Southern Cross Model

Background to the Southern Cross Model

Southern Cross University was established to promote scholarship, research, free inquiry, the interaction of research and teaching, and academic excellence (Southern Cross University Act 1993, 6[1]).

In 2019 the Southern Cross University Council endorsed a new approach to bring a more explicit focus on delivering outstanding teaching. The University identified the need to strive toward achieving curriculum reform, distinction and uplift.

Dialogue began about the effectiveness of a range of teaching and learning approaches. A period of consultation began with Faculties, Colleges, professional work units, current students and potential future students from the broader community. From these discussions emerged the imperative to further explore innovative approaches to higher education teaching and learning with a view to developing the new Southern Cross Model.

Academic, teaching delivery and operational design teams made up of staff members from across the University reviewed a number of approaches to educational design and delivery in Australia and overseas, and made a series of recommendations which ultimately came to form the basis of the Southern Cross Model.

Rainbow coloured brain splattering paint drops over graduation cap

Professional Learning for the Southern Cross Model

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The Southern Cross Model Key Features

At Southern Cross University, we are revolutionising our curriculum to deliver immersive learning experiences. The Southern Cross Model delivers superior student outcomes, based on interactive, media-rich and responsive learning with focused six-week terms (Southern Cross University Strategy 2030).

The model is focused and flexible:

The academic year is divided into 6 Terms. Each Term is delivered over 7 weeks, with 6 weeks of teaching and a 7th week in each Term which may be used for study, review and assessment. A 2 week break occurs between Terms.

Full-time students enrol in a maximum of 2 units per Term. Students are not required to study in all 6 Terms. Typically a full-time student will study four Terms and complete 8 units a year. This means there are fewer units and fewer assignments and exams for a student to juggle at one time.

The model enables active engagement:

The new Southern Cross Model offers our students a guided and active learning experience, whether they are enrolled online or on-campus. Students will have access to a comprehensive suite of online materials at any time during their studies.

Students are engaged in two forms of guided and active learning – self access learning which is delivered in interactive and guided modules, and class learning that focus on active, guided experiences that extend and apply the skills and knowledge covered in the self-access modules.

The Southern Cross Model is an exciting and distinctive new way of teaching and learning.
The Southern Cross Model is flexible and designed to give you more control over when you study.
Instead of completing units over 12-week sessions, you can study over shorter, six-week terms.
This means that you can determine the intensity of your studies.
You can do up to two units at a time in each term, or you can choose to do just one unit at a time if that suits you best.
One of the great things about the Southern Cross Model is that your learning is focused.
Instead of juggling four units at once – and often four essays, reports or exams at once – you will be able to focus your time and energy on just one or two assessments at a time. This will help you succeed in your studies.
In the Southern Cross Model, the teaching methods put your learning first.
All students will be able to access online learning materials that are on-demand, interactive and give you feedback to help you gauge your learning.
You will also benefit from active, guided class experiences, both online and off. In class, you will apply new knowledge and skills to real-world problems and questions.
The Southern Cross Model is designed to help you achieve your goals and work towards the future you want in a more flexible, focused, and learning-centred environment.
We look forward to welcoming students to the Southern Cross Model and seeing students succeed and shine at university and beyond.

An introduction to The Southern Cross Model. An explanation of the changes to a study year in the introduction of Terms.

Study

You can study over shorter 6 week terms.

Focus

One of the great things about the Southern Cross Model is that your learning is focused.

Flexible

The Southern Cross Model is flexible and designed to give you more control over when you study.

Teaching

In the Southern Cross Model, the teaching methods put your learning first.

Teaching and Learning in the Southern Cross Model

The Southern Cross Model uses guided, active learning experiences in both self-access and class learning.

In guided learning, students advance their knowledge and skills with the support of others. Guided learning comes in a range of learning activities including:

Curated material with opportunities for practice
Modelling practice
Joint problem-solving or questioning.

Guided learning can be used in classes online or on campus, as well as in online self-study or through using self-paced learning resources.

Self-access learning in the Southern Cross Model is a guided learning experience facilitated through University learning sites. It affords students the opportunity to progress through learning material at a time and pace that is right for them within each study period. The learning content is sequenced by academics to build students’ knowledge and skills and is bundled into media-rich learning packages called modules.

Self-access learning is distinct from didactic instruction characterised by unidirectional interaction between more and less knowledgeable interlocutors, as in lecturing or simply giving students access to readings via a learning site. In the Southern Cross Model content is accompanied by interactive learning activities which are designed by academics to require responses from the learner (e.g. problems). These activities should be designed to help students gauge their understanding of the material and help academics assess student learning engagement and progress.

Class learning in the Southern Cross Model is a scheduled learning experience which happens either on campus or online in real-time. It is facilitated through lesson plans to ensure a consistent quality of delivery across locations and modalities (online/ on-campus). Whether studying online or on-campus, students will have the opportunity to routinely participate in scheduled class learning. Class learning in the Southern Cross Model breaks down the distinction between lecture and tutorial, it involves the engaging presentation of chunks of content to which students are required to actively respond.

Class teaching requires interaction and opportunities for academics to monitor and assess student engagement and development of their skills, knowledge and application of those.

In the Southern Cross Model, all students can attend scheduled classes, regardless of their mode of enrolment. A single weighted unit in the Southern Cross Model will typically be delivered via up to 3 hours of class learning and up to 20 hours self-access learning per week. This may differ in units with specific requirements.

In class, students will be engaged in guided, active learning. They should no longer only listen and note-take, as in the traditional lecture mode. Rather they will be engaged in active, interactive and dialogue-based learning.

Southern Cross Model infographic PDF

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in the Southern Cross Model

The Southern Cross Model will be explored and evaluated through a range of scholarship of teaching and learning projects.

These projects will examine outcomes for students in the Model and explore the approaches taken during the Model’s implementation.

You can read the findings of these projects in the Southern Cross University Scholarship of Learning and Teaching Paper Series.

Subscribe to receive alerts when new papers are published.

Publications and media on the Southern Cross Model

Most recent

Goode, E., Roche, T., Wilson, E., & McKenzie, J. W. (2023). Implications of immersive scheduling for student achievement and feedback. Studies in Higher Education, 48(7), 1123 –1136. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2023.2184472

Forthcoming

Goode, E., Roche, T., Wilson, E., & McKenzie, J. W. (in press). Student perceptions of immersive block learning: An exploratory study of student satisfaction in the Southern Cross Model. Journal of Further and Higher Education.

Goode, E., Roche, T., Wilson, E., Zhang, J., & McKenzie, J. W. (in press). The success, satisfaction and experiences of international students in an immersive block model. Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice.

Roche, T., Wilson, E., & Goode, E. (in press). Immersive learning in a block teaching model: A case study of academic reform through principles, policies and practice. Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice.

Most recent

Wilson, E., Roche, T., Goode, E., & McKenzie, J. W. (2023). Creating the conditions for student success: The impact of an immersive block model at an Australian university. Southern Cross University Scholarship of Learning and Teaching Paper No. 10. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4560491

Roche, T., Goode, E., Wilson, E., & McKenzie, J. W. (2023). Supporting the academic success of students from equity backgrounds in higher education through immersive scheduling. Southern Cross University Scholarship of Learning and Teaching Paper No. 9. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4480689

For a full list of pre-prints see the Southern Cross University Scholarship of Learning and Teaching Paper Series (subscribe here)

Most recent

Southern Cross University. (2023, August 28). The Southern Cross Model: A chat with co-designers Professors Thomas Roche and Erica Wilson [Audio podcast episode]. In SCU Buzz. https://soundcloud.com/southerncrossuniversity/the-southern-cross-model-a-chat-with-co-designers-professors-thomas-roche-and-erica-wilson?in=southerncrossuniversity/sets/scu-buzz-the-southern-cross

Ongoing scholarship of learning and teaching (SoLT) projects

Sustainability and Work Integrated Learning (WIL): Current practices, challenges, and opportunities in the Australian Higher Education context

Investigators: Dr Clare Power (SCU), Dr Julia Caldicott (SCU), Rachael Baron (Latrobe)

Aims: The project will explore how sustainability is integrated in Work-integrated Learning (WIL) throughout Australian Higher Education Institutions (HEI). Given its positioning across a broad range of sectors with multiple partnerships, WIL is a key strategic space for preparing graduates who can identify and respond to the complexity of environmental, social and economic sustainability issues.

Publications: This project will result in an ACEN report, webinar and conference presentation, as well as a WACE conference presentation. Additional publications (e.g. edited book) are also planned.

WIL in Nordic tourism higher education programs

Investigators: Professor Johan Edelheim (Uni of Hokkaido), Dr Julia Caldicott (SCU)

Aims: Work integrated learning (WIL) in various forms, has been and continues to be, a common inclusion in tourism higher education. Tourism higher education generally, and WIL specifically, often pursue an employability focus rather than fostering the development of active citizens capable of transforming the realities that we all live in. The purpose of this project is to explore how WIL is enacted in tourism higher education programs in the Nordic countries.

Publications: A journal article or edited book chapter is planned.

Gamification and maths anxiety: Evidence from an online MBA finance subject

Investigators: Dr Jennifer Harrison, Dr Kayleen Wood

An assessment of eGameFlow and eLearningGameFlow instruments in an MBA learning context

Investigators: Dr Jennifer Harrison, Dr Kayleen Wood

Aims: This project aims to determine whether a highly-cited measure of e-learning game effectiveness, eGameFlow, and a recent adaptation of that instrument, eLearningGameFlow, can be validated in a postgraduate business learning context. The results will be useful to learning game designers in business courses.

Publications: A journal publication is planned.

Critical thinking in higher education as a digital practice

Investigator: Dr Erika Kerruish

Aims: This project aims to establish how digitalisation changes the practice and teaching of critical thinking in higher education. Drawing on the work of the philosopher of technology Bernard Stiegler, it develops and employs a critical framework that understands humans and technology to be co-constituted.

Publications: A paper has been published in Pedagogy, Culture & Society. Additional journal papers are planned.

Teaching Presence Rubric

Investigators: Dr Patrick Gillett, Tina van Eyk, Kylie Day, Dr Carolyn Seton, Patrick Bruck

Aims: This project aims to develop a rubric to assess units for the Southern Cross Model.

Publications: The project was presented at the SoLT Symposium 2022. A conference presentation and journal publication are planned.

Bright Futures mentor program in the Southern Cross Model

Investigators: Dr Julia Caldicott, Dr John Haw, Gina Werner, Leanne Baker

Aims: This project compares mentor and mentee satisfaction between the Southern Cross Model and trimester versions of the Bright Futures program.

Publications: A presentation at the SoLT Symposium 2023 and a journal publication are planned.

Respect for cultural diversity in the MPM online program

Investigator: Chris Lawler

Aims: This project aims to explore what the unit feedback survey question - “Respect for cultural diversity was embedded in this unit” means to the SCU MPM Online Cohort and what they would need to see within the units to demonstrate a respect for cultural diversity.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students’ sense of belonging at university

Investigators: Dr Megan Kelly, Dr Johanna Nieuwoudt, Dr Royce Willis, Dr Megan Lee (Bond U)

Aims: This study aims to build on previous investigations into higher education students’ sense of belonging, with specific exploration of factors that could influence students’ sense of belonging during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study reports on the relationship between students’ self-reported sense of belonging, motivation to study and enjoyment, assesses students’ sense of belonging against their consideration of leaving university, and compares changes in students overall sense of belonging prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Publications: Submitted to a journal.

Confidence in mathematics teaching: Exploring a community of inquiry-based approach for preservice teachers

Investigator: Dr Lewes Peddell

Aims: This research study aims to investigate how anxiety towards mathematics and confidence in teaching mathematics may change from the beginning to the end of these units. Additionally, it will explore whether any changes in anxiety or confidence can be attributed to the design and delivery of the units.

Publications: A journal publication and conference presentations are planned.

Extracurricular practice training within the SCU Health Clinic

Investigators: Professor Fiona Naumann, Associate Professor Jacqui Yoxall, Dr Nicci Whiteing, Dr Andrew Woods, other academics from Health disciplines

Aims: The aim of this study is to investigate whether interprofessional education with the use of filmed client scenarios, simulated patients and/or immersive Mixed Reality (MR) technology can improve interprofessional practice, and support communication and collaboration in the management of a client or patient.