By Associate Professor Mitchell Parkes, Insitutional Contact Officer, Australian Awards for University Teaching
Several UNE colleagues have been recognised at the national level for educational excellence after being awarded 2021 Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning.
Announced by Universities Australia on 23 February, the Australian Awards for University Teaching (AAUT) recognise the exemplary work being done by university educators and support staff to improve the student experience and enhance learning outcomes in higher education. UNE had both individual and Team success in these prestigious national awards. In total, there were 78 citations awarded across Australia, 19 of which went to colleagues at universities in NSW.
Receiving an individual citation was Associate Professor Melanie Fillios. Melanie’s AAUT citation was for “transforming the physical experience of learning and teaching zooarchaeology using virtual, online 3D models”.
Melanie is an anthropological archaeologist with an interest in the relationship between humans and animals throughout history. She has extensive field experience in Greece and Australia, having taught a range of theoretical and practical, field-based subjects in the United States and Australia.
As a specialist in zooarchaeology – the study of bones in the archaeological record – Melanie’s citation recognises her achievement in pioneering a new way of teaching in her discipline by using online 3D models as a replacement for physical bones. Designed for online first, Melanie’s Zooarchaeology unit was first offered in 2017 and was not only the first of its kind in Australia, but worldwide. Melanie’s online first approach to the design and teaching of her unit demonstrates that 3D virtual models can provide an off-campus student experience that is as good, if not better, than traditional face to face teaching.
UNE was also successful with a team citation awarded to the UNE STEM Gamemakers. The team, comprising Dr Nicholas Andronicos, Mr Terry Barnett, Dr Siew Chong, Dr Adrienne Burns, and Dr Sinead Henderson, was recognised for “gamified STEM: Designing advanced game lessons which engaged students and promoted deep learning of foundational concepts in scaffolded life science degrees”.
The UNE STEM Gamemakers is a multidisciplinary team who created a suite of gamified STEM lessons for foundation biology (BIOL110) and chemistry (CHEM100) courses. Recognising that students often struggled in these foundation courses, the team not only applied gamification principles to create engaging, interactive lessons that stimulated deep learning of STEM concepts, but also redesigned the course curricula to promote these lessons. The result was significant improvements in student learning outcomes such as higher pass rates and GPAs. The team’s success has also inspired the application of gamified teaching methods in other disciplines at UNE.
UNE’s two successful nominations for Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning represents the culmination of at least three years of education excellence by the nominees to be eligible for their AAUT Citations. The success is also a team effort, with UNE colleagues providing support by acting as assessors on School and Faculty assessor panels and providing feedback and mentorship for all UNE’s Citation nominees.
If you or your team believe you have educational practices worthy of recognition, it all starts with a two-page School Citation nomination. From there, you will be supported through the process of developing and presenting Faculty, institutional level nominations and then possibly, becoming one of UNE’s nominations for an Australian Awards for University Teaching. Expressions of interest for School Citations for Education Excellence will be opening soon.
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