Ako Anamata | Future Learning and Development is excited to invite UC staff to the next instalment of our monthly Ako Anamata: EdTalks – which this month will be given by Prof Ben Kennedy & Dr Jonathan Davidson; and Dr Brad Hurren, Georgia Williams & George Haswell.

Date: Tuesday 9 November
Venue: University of Canterbury Club (Ilam Homestead)
Time: 4pm – 6pm

The session includes:

• 4.00pm: Welcome and introduction – Brad Hurren, Kaiwhakawhanake Akoranga | Academic Developer (Ako Anamata | FL&D)
• 4.05pm: DLTP Scholar Presentation – Online and face to face, best of both worlds? Using a MOOC with bicultural and interactive 3d elements for a flipped, blended teaching environment – Prof Ben Kennedy (Te Kura Aronukurangi | School of Earth & Environment) and Dr Jonathan Davidson (Te Kura Aronukurangi | School of Earth & Environment)
• 4.35pm: Development of a targeted academic and wellbeing orientation for new UC students – Brad Hurren, Georgia Williams & George Haswell
• 4.55pm: Close, followed by networking with colleagues

Please note that due to the current COVID-19 Alert Level 2, there are safety measures in place at the Ilam Homestead. These are:

• This event will be treated as a private function;
• Please wear face coverings when arriving at the venue, and when using the bathrooms;
• For this event, only the upstairs bar will be staffed and contains the same selection as the downstairs bar – however no tap beers will be available;
• Purchases can be only be made by card – no cash.

DLTP Scholar Presentation – Online and face to face, best of both worlds? Using a MOOC with bicultural and interactive 3d elements for a flipped, blended teaching environment

The Covid 19 pandemic has brought to the fore the need for more flexible and future-focused education. This project will build a team across the university to support course transformations towards resilient blended, flipped and courses using MOOCs. This team will develop a methodology that is applicable across the university to create innovative online experiences that enhance learning in face-to-face settings. Specifically, we will create innovative ways to deliver and assess flexible content via virtual fieldtrips and virtual lab environments but within current UC and EDx platforms.

In this presentation we will focus on Geol 336 Volcanology and Magmatic systems course that underwent some course transformation in 2011 (Kennedy et al., 2012). We are currently measuring baseline data on student motivation and learning strategies (MSLQ) (Pintrich, 1991), and conducting student reflections and questionnaires. We have spent our first year of DLTP transforming and aligning our prize nominated EdX MOOC with content for our third year volcanology course and laboratory sessions. We will showcase the results of our bicultural consultation, 3D interactive elements and authentic assessments. The plan is to use the MOOC and workshops to replace lectures, and better prepare for the lab and field and future careers. The MOOC will contain elements of online labs and virtual fieldtrips and specific assessments around bicultural competencies and science communication, providing an experience resilient to sudden changes in teaching constraints (e.g. social distancing or lockdown obligations). Following the transformation in 2021/2 we will remeasure teaching and learning for the instructor and students.

The big challenge is how we can change the habits of students to do the necessary online learning before coming to workshops and labs. This issue will be huge to the whole university as learning becomes more flexible, we need to foster new study habits and learning strategies. We hope to generate some discussion around this.

DLTP monthly talks

Our DLTP (Distributed Leadership in Teaching Programme) Scholars have been successful in applying for the opportunity to secure both time and funding to explore and showcase their interests in teaching and learning. More information on the DLTP can be found here.

These monthly talks provide an exciting opportunity for DLTP scholars to showcase their work, as well as to give you a brief update on what’s happening in the wider teaching and learning areas at UC. The Ako Anamata: EdTalk is also time for colleagues and friends to get together and network in an informal setting. We look forward to seeing you there!

For more information on the DLTP please contact Dr Brad Hurren.

Ako Anamata | Future Learning and Development is excited to invite UC staff to the next instalment of our monthly Ako Anamata: EdTalks – which this month will be given by Dr Carmen Weaver from Ako Anamata and Dr Matthew Hughes from the College of Engineering.

Date: Tuesday 10 August
Venue: University of Canterbury Club (Ilam Homestead)
Time: 4pm – 6pm

The session includes:

• 4.00pm: Welcome and Introduction– Dr Brad Hurren, Kaiwhakawhanake Akoranga | Academic Developer (Ako Anamata | FL&D)
• 4.05pm: An Update on the AKO|LEARN Upgrade Project – Dr Carmen Weaver, Poutoko | Team Leader (Ako Anamata | FL&D)
• 4.20pm: DLTP Scholar Presentation – Humanitarian Engineering: Flourishing in the Anthropocene – Dr Matthew Hughes, Pūkenga Matua | Senior Lecturer (Civil & Natural Resources Engineering)
• 4.55pm: Close, followed by networking with colleagues

AKO|LEARN upgrade project

In conjunction with representatives from across the university, Future Learning and Development will be upgrading and redesigning the Learning Management System (LMS), AKO | LEARN. The need for this work is guided by:

• Adherence to Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Guidelines
• Response to student feedback (need for consistency)
• The support of te taiao ako (the learning environment)
• A need to address accessibility concerns and possible upcoming legislation
• A clear framework to allow for quality assurance of courses, and
• A need for consistent data from the LMS to better support students

We look forward to sharing current progress and the continued conversation over the coming months.

DLTP Scholar Presentation – Humanitarian Engineering: Flourishing in the Anthropocene

The Anthropocene is a new geological age characterised by industrial civilisation’s rapid expansion, accelerating from the 1950s, to consume and transform ecosystems and landscapes, a development marked indelibly in Earth’s biodiversity and rock record that will persist for aeons. Despite significant improvements in human wellbeing in recent centuries, the benefits of global development have been unequal, and consequent environmental degradation threatens to undermine progress. This project contends that Humanitarian Engineering is a useful transdisciplinary approach to support human flourishing in the Anthropocene. One definition of Humanitarian Engineering is “the artful drawing on science to direct the resources of nature with active compassion directed toward meeting the basic needs of all — especially the powerless, poor, or otherwise marginalised”. This project is developing a collaborative teaching programme to support and expand the delivery of Humanitarian Engineering based on: acknowledgement of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and mana whenua, harnessing established iwi relationships, and acknowledging Te Ao Māori and Mātauranga Māori in weaving new understanding; reciprocal, resilient and sustainable partnerships with Pasifika communities; essential conceptual and theoretical approaches to development; deeply considered ethical frameworks; meaningful and demonstrably beneficial community engagements; and recognition of social-cultural and geopolitical dynamics in a COVID-19 world.

This presentation will give an overview of the project, but the intention is to provoke discussion with attendees on how to approach inclusive pedagogies, how to meaningfully engage students on potentially controversial topics, and how to ensure students harness and maintain their humanitarian instincts in the face of civilisational risks.

DLTP monthly talks
Our DLTP (Distributed Leadership in Teaching Programme) Scholars have been successful in applying for the opportunity to secure both time and funding to explore their interests in teaching and learning. More information on the DLTP can be found here.

These monthly talks provide an exciting opportunity for DLTP scholars to showcase their work, as well as to give you a brief update on what’s happening in the wider teaching and learning areas at UC. The Ako Anamata: EdTalk is also time for colleagues and friends to get together and network in an informal setting. We look forward to seeing you there!

For more information contact Dr Brad Hurren.

We are excited to announce that the first Ako Anamata: EdTalk will be given by Associate Professors Cheryl Brown and Sara Tolbert, who are two of our 2021 DLTP Scholars.

Principles and Praxis for Pedagogies of Care in a Postdigital University

Date: Tuesday 15 June
Venue: University of Canterbury Club (Ilam Homestead)
Time:  4pm – 6pm (talk will begin at 4.15pm)

 In addition to this talk from Cheryl and Sara, we will also hear updates and insights from Prof Catherine Moran (Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic) regarding the exciting work being done in the DVCA office.