Becoming expert at breadth

Title

Becoming expert at breadth

Author(s)

Ms Jo Osborne

Presentation Goals

The poster aims to maintain a focus for lecturing staff on this university-wide initiative by illustrating progress. Viewers will identify some real lessons that can be learnt from the experience of cross-faculty teaching teams:

• progress that has been made in surmounting administrative challenges, now providing a clearer process for future development; and
• significant recommendations, derived from experience, for ongoing delivery of successful breadth units.

Subtheme

Course Blends

Presentation Type

Poster

Keywords

breadth units, UTAS Blended Learning Model, planning challenges, cross discipline

Room

Stanley Burbury Lecture Theatre

Time

11.00-11.25

Abstract

The Breadth Unit Initiative was originally conceived to ensure all UTAS students gained experience in all graduate attributes during their studies. An opportunity was quickly realised in the potential to offer students insights into the complex challenges that would face them as graduates, and do this from a transdisciplinary perspective; hence, units are built and taught by staff coming together from at least two Faculties. Development commenced towards the end of 2013, and three units were approved for the initial offering in Semester 2, 2014. There are now nine breadth units up and running with a further fourteen under development. This poster illustrates some of the highs and lows experienced by the unit teams, and the lessons that are building expertise.

The UTAS approach to Breadth – its focus on complex world issues and the variety of options provided to students – is unique to UTAS (Dibben, 2015). Units are compliant with the UTAS Blended Learning Model; all can be studied off-campus, several include on-campus support alternatives; individual and group project work demands high level student interactivity and application in developing individual perspectives. It hasn't all been plain sailing and the pioneers faced unique administrative issues to overcome along the way:

• Funding and revenue distribution;
• Teaching and tutoring loads;
• Unit coding issues;
• Faculty commitment.

One-year-on reviews of units following their introduction capture the delivery experience (from lecturer and student perspectives) and highlight recurring issues, including:

• Consistency in teaching organisation;
• Aligning off- and on-campus experiences;
• Planning for sustainability – enrolment growth and staff turnover.