In 2012 the BLASST project called for nominations for Good Practice with Sessional Staff.
Eleven finalists from Australian higher education institutions were selected to present their Good Practice as a pecha kucha at the BLASST National Summit in 2013. The following examples of institutional good practice were recognised and awarded with a BLASST Good Practice Award.
View the award-winning BLASST Good Practice winning and finalist entries:
- Jillian Hamilton - QUT, Winner (institutional level)
- Gail Crimmins, Greg Nash and Marama Leibergreen - University of the Sunshine Coast, WINNER (department /unit level)
- Adriana Del Mastro and Dora Poulakis - RMIT, Highly commended
- Ann Luzeckyj and Heather Smiegel - Flinders University, Highly commended
- Dimitra Lekkas - University of Adelaide, Highly commended
- Ursula McGowan - University of Adelaide, Highly commended
- Michelle Adamos - ECU, Commended
- Andrea Chester - RMIT, Commended
- Jackie Walkington - University of Canberra, Commended
- David Birbeck - University of South Australia , Commended
Institution |
Nomination team |
Awarded for |
Pecha Kucha |
|
---|---|---|---|---|
WINNER (Institutional level) |
QUT |
Jillian Hamilton
|
For dedicated role supporting sessional staff: Associate director academic: sessional staff |
|
FROM THE NOMINATION: The SAS project extends this formal, centrally offered activity into local, ‘just in time’, ongoing support within schools. It takes a distributed leadership approach. Experienced sessional academics are recruited and employed as Sessional Academic Success Advisors (SASAs). They provide sessional staff in their schools with contextually specific, needs based, peer-to-peer development opportunities; one-on-one advice on classroom management and strategies for success; and help to trouble-shoot challenges. The SASAs are trained by the Learning and Teaching Unit co-ordinator, and ongoing support is provided centrally and by school-based co-ordinators. This team approach situates the SASAs at the centre of an organisation map (see diagram of support relationships below). The SAS project aims to support sessional staff in their professional development by:
SAS aims to retain Sessional Staff by:
SAS aims to support sessional staff in the development of academic teaching careers by:
The QUT Sessional Academic Program (SAP) has scaffolded levels, each with experience-appropriate objectives:
In conjunction with:
The program is led and delivered by the Associate Director Academic Sessional Development. A critical factor in its success is its praxis approach. Theoretical principles are modelled. Eg, ‘active learning’ is explained and modelled through learning activities, which participants evaluate ‘on the fly’ against the criteria of learning, engagement and connection with peers. The topics ‘learning communities’ and ‘reflective practice’ are explored as a learning community–then applied in participants’ classes, with reflections shared in the next session. This produces a ‘meta-awareness’ of theory and principles, as they are explained, applied in practice, and critically analysed for their effectiveness in workshops. In 2012 approximately 400 sessional academics participated in SAP. On a scale of 1–5, average aggregated evaluations were 4.6 (program) and 4.9 teaching with 99% satisfaction. Qualitative feedback evidences its impact such as increased confidence, competence, connection to students and a community of teaching practice: “It was unbelievably helpful and has transformed me from a nervous, ill-informed tutor into one with confidence and a passion for what I am about to take on! it was beneficial ten fold!” “I had classes after lunch and already felt that I was doing a better job - or maybe I just felt more confident! :) ;Can't wait to go back and reflect on the materials again to prepare for next weeks classes.” |
||||
University of the Sunshine Coast |
Gail Crimmins, Greg Nash and Marama Leibergreen |
For a strong and embedded philosophy around supporting sessional staff |
||
FROM THE NOMINATION: We each stand on the shoulders of giants: You’ve heard the expression ‘it takes a village to raise a child’? Well, in COR109, a foundational first year course at USC, we believe it takes a community to support student learning. This nomination is as much about this conceptualisation of student learning as it is the direct action adopted to support sessional staff. Pisani and Stott (1998) claims that integrating ‘casual’ staff into academic departments is a strong predictor of commitment to students. Please let us share with you our commitment to student learning. We offer: A tutors’ mentoring system where all new tutors to COR109 team up with an experienced tutor for their first semester; Five COR109-specific PD sessions each semester which include:
12 hours of ‘other activity’ pay (on top of payment for marking) to engage in PD workshops and face to face assessment feedback with students (FFF). This final strategy supports tutors and students more fully engage with their faculty, tutor and learning community.” |
||||
RMIT |
Adriana Del Mastro and Dora Poulakis |
|
||
FROM THE NOMINATION: The School of Computer Science & Information Technology provides for administrative and academic preparation and support. Orientation
Teaching Development
Laboratory Demonstrators PD
Resources |
||||
Flinders University |
Ann Luzeckyj and Heather Smiegel |
|
||
FROM THE NOMINATION: Since 2007, Academic Internship (AI) has provided annual training and support to 24 research higher degree (RHD) students, teaching within their faculty and employed as sessional teaching staff. Quality Learning and Teaching is fostered through two days of intensive introductory work, eight three hour workshops, acquisition of teaching experience and insight into the role of academics. Participants debate Quality Learning and Teaching practices, are exposed to good practice and participate in an Innovative Teaching Activity and a peer review with cross-faculty partners. Sessions are delivered by CUT staff and experts in and/or from the specific field under discussion. Of the 113 AI graduates, 47 are now in teaching or research-related roles and 27 continuing in their studies and/or continuing to work as sessional staff. Retention of the most successful aspects of the program such as the peer review reports, cross-faculty aspects and innovative teaching activities contribute to its ongoing success as does ongoing consultation with Interns regarding their learning needs. The ongoing impact is demonstrated by the peer review report being the primary aspect most survey respondents had routinely implemented into their teaching. 84% of respondents indicated that AI participation had increased their confidence in teaching and provided them with a good insight into how to deliver quality teaching and learning activities. AI receives excellent feedback with the 2012 survey of past graduates showing 84% would recommend the program to others. One of the challenges of the program is integrating research-related support aspects more comprehensively into what is primarily a program to develop and support teaching skills in sessional RHD teaching staff. Another is the annual cost of resourcing AI, although it is a justifiable one, with one participant noting “It [AI] raised my awareness of the joy of teaching and also gave me confidence to try it more seriously.” |
||||
University of Adelaide |
Dimitra Lekkas
|
|
||
FROM THE NOMINATION: In the Adelaide School of Dentistry we employ approximately 200 sessional teaching staff to support students' learning in clinics and laboratories. We offer multifaceted support to our sessional staff so they can undertake their roles effectively. Critical to our success is the involvement of large numbers of School staff e.g., School-level Tutor Co-ordinator, an Academic Support Services Team and academic Year and Discipline Co-ordinators. We provide three main levels of support: Tutor training Administrative support Evaluation of sessional staff experiences |
||||
University of Adelaide |
Ursula McGowan |
|
||
FROM THE NOMINATION: A flexible series of programs and resources for improved learning and teaching has been developed and provided over the past 6 years, for sessional staff at the University of Adelaide. Support for sessional staff is three-fold:
Critical factors contributing to the success of the program have been:
Early collaborative design with Science Faculty staff (2007) was funded, but continuing evaluation and adaptation has not required additional resourcing. A challenge is to standardise participant attendance payment.
|
||||
ECU |
Michelle Adamos |
|
Presentation 7 [PDF - ] |
|
FROM THE NOMINATION: Sessional Staff Professional Development Day is designed to recognise the effort and significant contribution made by Sessional staff at Edith Cowan University. The 4.5 hour session allows staff to attend quality tailored development in teaching and learning with a range of sessions that cater for a variety of needs. This gives staff the opportunity to participate in discussions and to network with other Sessional staff. Critical factors that contributed to the success of this practice
Resourcing needed Challenges and areas for improvement Positive outcomes and Evidence of impact and/or success |
||||
RMIT |
Andrea Chester |
|
||
FROM THE NOMINATION: The Discipline of Psychology has established a sound, evidence‐based process for recruitment, selection, support and professional development of sessional staff. Our sessional tutors typically begin work with us as post‐graduate students, studying in our department or at other universities. They are generally juggling coursework, thesis and placement requirements. Despite the itinerant cohort and the inherently short‐term nature of their teaching commitments, we have a high retention rate. After their first semester of teaching our tutors nearly always request further work and many continue as sessional staff after graduation. Two key features of our sessional support program contribute to its success:
|
||||
University of Canberra |
Jackie Walkington |
|
||
FROM THE NOMINATION: In 2012 we have instigated a holistic approach to supporting sessional staff that aims to increase a sense of belonging to the faculty. The approach incorporates comprehensive induction, on-going support and monitoring and inclusion. Sessional staff are provided with administrative documentation and paid attendance at workshops that include an introduction to teaching university students, building classroom relationships and core policies and practices particularly around assessment, moderation and evaluation. On-going support is provided by permanent staff mentors, informal sharing sessions and assistance to access individual teaching evaluation and just-in-time advice. Sessional staff are included in all faculty communication and events where their input and feedback are valued. Some ‘clinical specialists’ are already undertaking further study with the view to making the move into higher education. This group has greater opportunity to engage with contextual factors, such as policy and procedures, and therefore provide greater consistency in the faculty. We have yet to sufficiently tap all of the benefits of this approach, but we hope that the will improve through evaluation of the role. A continuing challenge is to engage the sessional staff who are working elsewhere full-time and reticent or unable to engage in activities provided. However the general feedback from those who have been with us for some time is very positive in terms of enhanced engagement with the faculty and greater knowledge and understanding of what it means to be a university teacher. |
||||
University of South Australia |
David Birbeck |
|
||
FROM THE NOMINATION: UniSA’s Academic Development team delivers ‘Tutoring@UniSA’, a workshop supporting sessional staff develop their own voice as educators. Tutoring@UniSA is a half day workshop offered three times annually on a University-wide basis. The workshop has evolved over the last 10 years from being largely a teacher-directed “tips and tricks” session to one providing an active learning environment that recognises and extends the teaching expertise of sessional staff. Sessional staff join the University with significant experience in their discipline, but rarely with formal teaching experience. They may enter teaching spaces unaware of the University’s teaching values, principles and priorities. This can place them in daunting and potentially intimidating environments. The workshop’s aim is to assist sessional staff develop teaching skills that enable them to plan for and respond successfully to dynamic teaching environments. Tutoring@UniSA is designed using social constructivist learning principles drawing from the lived experience of each participant, thereby facilitating the creation of communities of practice. The strategies used to elicit these experiences are later made explicit and their relation to aspects of good teaching reflected on. The workshop works at multiple levels. Participants’ experiences and teaching strategies are deconstructed and positioned within the scholarship of teaching and learning and scholarly teaching practice. Throughout, the key question for participants remains, “What does this mean for me and my teaching?” Over the last 4 years approximately 150-200 staff have attended Tutoring@UniSA each year. Each session was evaluated (response rates are approximately 90%) and all receive 100% approval with >80% strongly agreeing that the session was worthwhile. Tutoring@UniSA is an effective and sustainable way of supporting sessional staff and easily transferable across the sector. Qualitative feedback suggests that Tutoring@UniSA is a key milestone on participants’ journeys to becoming student-centred educators conscious of and deft at teaching rather than mere implementers of teaching tricks. |