Miles from Nowhere by Cat Stevens.
Something new I tried out in teaching in the past year was…
In 2016, Dr Kimberley Pressick-Kilborn, Dr Tracey-Ann Palmer and I conducted an assessment task across our 2 subjects: Teaching Across the Curriculum (Kimberley and Tracey-Ann) and English Study 2: Images of Australia (my subject). This collaborative task required students to mount an exhibit in Level 2, Building 10 in relation to the concept of ‘change’ in their respective subjects. Students had to represent this concept in the exhibit and integrate an interactive digital element to the displays that would engage random passers-by. The exhibits were very successful, attracting and maintaining the attention of people in the building plus (and most importantly), student feedback indicated that students enjoyed the task with one student commenting that it was the only “authentic group work task” she had completed at university.
Something that gives me joy in teaching is…
Motivating students to read a variety of material, which provides ‘stepping-off’ points for more reading material…novels, journal articles, non-fiction texts, drama scripts and so on…following a ‘thread’ of learning or interest that develops into substantial knowledge and expertise…
If I could wave a magic wand and change something about learning and teaching in 2017…
I’d revamp NSW’s Higher School Certificate so that it is less of a stressful regime of testing, examinations and assessment tasks, and more of an individual learning pathway, where students can demonstrate their learning in more individual (and authentic) ways. This would mean that students entering UTS from school might feel less exhausted and more confident about their own knowledge and skills. But I’m not holding my breath about a significantly changed HSC in the near future.
Dogs or cats?
Dogs, definitely. We lost our kelpie last year to a heart condition – he was an exuberant, loving and intelligent dog who love to jump onto the roof of his kennel to survey the world around him. He is sadly missed.
Don Carter is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at UTS. Follow Don on Twitter.