Two UNE teaching teams have been recognised with Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning citations at the 27th Annual Australian Awards for University Teaching (AAUT).
Both the Commencing Student Success Project (CSSP) and UNE Writing discipline lecturers, Dr Lili Pâquet and Dr Ariella Van Luyn, were awarded at the AAUT, widely regarded as a national symbol of excellence in higher education.
With only ten Citations awarded in New South Wales, these two successful nominations further demonstrates UNE’s teaching excellence and continues the tradition of UNE performing strongly in this national recognition of outstanding teaching.
Dr Lili Pâquet and Dr Ariella Van Luyn.
The CSSP team.
The CSSP, developed by Associate Professor Ingrid Harrington, Dr Robert Whannell, Tim Bartlett-Taylor, Stephen Grono, Dr Kristy O’Neill, Dr Cat Volpe Johnston, Associate Professor Rachael Adlington, and Marc Mellors from UNE’s School of Education, embeds 14 interactive elements in study units to improve student outcomes and experience for students commencing their studies. It was recognised for its success in building academics’ capacities to enhance initial teacher education, student engagement, and improve retention in online learning.
“It’s been very loud and clear from the responses we get each trimester what our students want from us,” Ingrid says, “and that the CSSP has made a huge difference, increasing engagement and retention in units by up to 80 per cent,” says Associate Professor Ingrid Harrington.
Additionally, Dr Lili Pâquet and Dr Ariella Van Luyn from the UNE Writing discipline were recognised for their work in transforming peer workshops in units like Writing Creative Non-Fiction and Storytelling and Genre. Online students are able to asynchronously peer review each other’s creative writing, leading to better outcomes in assessment tasks.
“The award is very gratifying after all our hard work,” says Dr Lili Pâquet, Senior Lecturer in Writing. “Often, it feels like our teaching isn’t appreciated to the same degree as our research so going through the process of the teaching citations – from school level up to national level – has shown that what we do as educators has a big impact.”
These Citations are the culmination of a two-year journey with teams progressing through School, Faculty and Vice-Chancellor Citations before being nominated for the Australian Awards for University Teaching. Supporting UNE’s Citation recipients along the way were UNE colleagues who sat on the School, Faculty, and Vice-Chancellor assessor panels. At the School level, acknowledgment and thanks must go to Heads of Schools, Chairs of School Education Committees, and School members who served on the School Citation Assessor Committees. At the Faculty level, acknowledgment and thanks must go to Associate Deans (Teaching and Learning), Chairs of School Education Committees (again), and external assessor panel members throughout the Schools and Faculties. At the Vice-Chancellor Citation level, acknowledgment and thanks must go to the Deputy Executive Principal – Education Futures, Director – Digital Education, Associate Deans (Teaching and Learning) (again), the Academic Development Team, and previous AAUT Citation recipients who provided mentorship and feedback.
For colleagues, either as individuals or part of a team, wishing to embark on their own Citation journey, nominations for School Citations for Education Excellence will be opening soon.
Congratulations to both teams on this incredible accomplishment!