https://hdl.handle.net/2123/9163 2026-06-06T18:32:56Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/32719 University of Sydney – Student Partnership Charter Frawley, Jessica; Ishkova, Maria; Moshabbir, Aroona; Clarke, Samantha; Hou, Tingyue; James, Jacob; Cairns, Maeve; Sengmany, Heather; Kalman, Eszter; Denham, Rebecca Student partnership is diverse in practice; this charter provides the definitions, values, principles and actions that inform and share practice across diverse teaching and learning contexts at the University of Sydney. The Charter consists of three main components: 1) Aims and definitions of the charter 2) The RESPECT framework, which outlines seven key principles associated with the core value of respect: Recognition and Reward, Equity and Empowerment, Safety and Support, Positive Change in Practice, Evidence-based, Collaborative, and Transparency and Trust. Actions are then linked to these principles. 3) A signatory function that allows staff, students, and groups involved in partnership to endorse the charter and share their practices through this framework. Developed through extensive student-staff collaboration, including a dedicated roundtable event, the Charter aims to facilitate a culture of authentic student partnership at the University of Sydney. By providing both a structured approach to partnership and a mechanism for commitment and knowledge sharing, the Charter marks a significant step towards more participatory and inclusive educational practices. 2024-06-26T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/32613 Green Guide: Enhancing the learning experiences of students from equity backgrounds Clarke, Samantha; Frawley, Jessica; Kalman, Eszter; Denham, Rebecca; Miller, Benjamin; Martin, Robyn; Bridgeman, Adam; O'Shea, Sarah; Liu, Danny This book is a practical guide for educators who want to better support students from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds through teaching and learning. It offers evidence-based strategies and actionable steps for engaging students from equity backgrounds throughout all stages of the teaching and learning process, including learning design, teaching methods, assessment, and the design of learning environments and support structures. By bringing together the perspectives of students, staff, and experts, this guide creates a flexible first port-of-call for educators looking to get started on equity-focused teaching. The book is founded on four key principles: 1) valuing diversity 2) embracing a strengths-based approach, 3) removing structural barriers to academic success, and 4) grounding all interactions with students in relationships and ‘mattering’. Grounded within the Sydney educational context, the strategies and principles presented are applicable to all university educators. This guide is for anyone seeking pragmatic steps towards enhancing the engagement, participation, and success of students from equity backgrounds throughout their time at university. 2024-06-03T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/27716 Challenges and barriers to implementing research-based experiences for undergraduates at Macquarie University Brew, Angela; Mantai, Lilia Executive Summary In a university that aspires to offer transformative experiences that change the lives of students, and that desires to promote enquiry-driven learning (Framing of Futures), it is important that attention be given to factors that facilitate and factors that hinder development of research-based experiences for students. Twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted with Macquarie University academics from all Faculties and a range of academic levels who had an interest in, and/or a formal role, to develop undergraduate research. Academics were asked about perceived constraints and enablements in implementing research and inquiry based learning, the actions taken, academics research practice in their department and its influence on the curriculum. They were also asked to define undergraduate research and to provide examples. Key perceived constraints were a number of institutional policies and structures, academics’ mindsets and lack of skills, and questions of time and money. Participants also mentioned issues of communication, general points about academic working conditions and some also mentioned issues of student attitudes and competence. Key perceived enablements were the existence of facilitative institutional structures, professional learning to change mindsets and develop relevant skills, integrating undergraduate research with one’s own research, supportive people and engaged students. Academics defined undergraduate research in different ways. Different definitions appeared to lead to different practices and opportunities for further development. Some ways of defining undergraduate research precluded development. Forms of engagement in undergraduate research were identified from the definitions and examples given in the interviews. These range from basic undergraduate learning/competency to atomistic undergraduate research development (moving from individuate uncoordinated skills development, to coordinated skills development and research-based scholarly experience/tasters); to wholistic undergraduate research development (scholarly practice within courses and integration into the scholarly community). 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/27684 Research-led Teaching and Scholarship of Teaching Project : Report to Teaching and Learning Committee of Academic Board Brew, Angela Executive Summary There is a demonstrated need at all levels to improve students’ perceptions of research and its relationship to their courses. The findings of this report suggest that faculties could better articulate information about the University’s research and the role of research in undergraduate teaching in their marketing material. A qualitative study of students’ experiences will provide further information to inform future strategies. Academic capacity to integrate research and teaching is high owing to the large proportion of research active staff in the university. The findings suggest that there is a need to increase the proportion of senior staff who teach at first and second year levels in most faculties. The issue of how senior staff with large research roles could further contribute to research-led teaching in first and second year levels needs further exploration. Further work also needs to be done to examine the effects of casualisation on the University’s ability to integrate research and teaching. Implementation of the Academic Board Policy on Postgraduate Research Higher Degree Training and supervision will enable the extent to which supervisors are active researchers to be assessed. There is good evidence that curricula are being designed to engage students in a variety of research-based activities, induct them into the research community and develop an awareness of research. Nonetheless, there is scope for all Faculties to extend the ways in which they currently integrate research and teaching in curricula and develop the opportunities students have to engage in research-based activities. The research publications of staff could be publicised more widely in all faculties. The report findings indicate that School and Department encouragement for aligning research and teaching is varied across the University. Not all undergraduate students have the opportunity to engage in research seminar programs. More could be done to develop the relationship between research and teaching through TIF and strategic development funds. Not all Departments have formal or informal teaching benchmarking relationships and/or collaborative curriculum development activities with similar Schools and Departments in other researchintensive universities. Such activities need to be encouraged. Faculty encouragement for research-led teaching is also varied. As Strategic and Teaching and Learning Plans are revised it is hoped that all faculties will include encouragement of research-led teaching including strategies applicable at all levels. Good practice in establishing internal pedagogical research grant schemes by some faculties should be emulated by others. In many cases there remains a perception that research-led teaching is appropriate for senior year students. The Working Group encourages faculties to consider the extension of strategies to develop research-led teaching to more junior undergraduate levels. Evidence-based teaching is being used in a number of faculties. The Working Group considers that more work needs to be done to articulate the relationship between research-led teaching and the scholarship of teaching. Encouragement of research-led teaching should be at all levels of the University. The Working Group hopes that College Pro-Vice-Chancellors will include strategies to encourage the linking of research and teaching and specifically research-led teaching in revised College Strategic Plans. The University’s Strategic Plan includes statements demonstrating the University’s commitment to strengthening the relationship between research and teaching. It is hoped these statements can be strengthened when the Plan is next revised. The University’s Research Management Plan and research policies currently make scant reference to teaching. Teaching policies are varied in the extent to which research-led teaching is encouraged. More recent policies include substantial references to it. Further consideration of the ways in which research and teaching can be of mutual benefit need to be considered by the relevant University groups and Committees. A number of University policies treat teaching and research as quite separate activities. There is a need to give attention to the links between research and teaching and also the need to develop the scholarship of teaching in revising promotions, appointment, probation and tenure policies and SSP guidelines. The Working Group commends to all Faculties best practice in the scholarship of teaching as exemplified in some faculties. Members of the Working Group have developed their understanding of the implications and meaning of research-led teaching through cross-faculty Working Group discussions. There is now a need to extend academics’ understanding in all faculties of what is involved in research-led teaching through discussions at all levels. This is an important part of developing a context where research-led teaching is encouraged and where the implications of research for teaching are considered on an ongoing basis. The Working Groups commends the Research-led Teaching Website to Faculties (http://www.itl.usyd.edu.au/RLT) as a useful resource in thinking about the relationship between teaching and research and what they can do to strengthen it. There is now a need to articulate what is special about research-led teaching in a research-intensive university. Benchmarking research-led teaching with other research-intensive universities is important to considerations of the level of research-led teaching at the University of Sydney and to provide information about ways in which the initiative can usefully be developed. 2003-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/27683 Further Plan for the Development of Research-led Teaching and Research-based Learning at The University of Sydney Brew, Angela See report scan 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/27682 Teaching-Research Nexus Benchmarking Project: the University of Sydney and Monash University. Brew, Angela; Weir, Jennifer Executive summary A benchmarking partnership was established between Monash University and the University of Sydney and a Memorandum of Understanding was formalised early in 2004. The aim of the Benchmarking project was to analyse methods of implementing the teaching-research nexus, and compare performance in nominated areas. In order to accomplish this, a six stage process was developed involving: 1. establishing the partnership; 2. setting the framework (areas of comparison and matrix); 3. securing a Memorandum of Understanding between the two institutions; 4. applying the framework; 5. benchmarking, self evaluating; and 6. generating recommendations. Comparisons between Sydney and Monash were made through a matrix developed to self-rate in terms of low, medium or high level achievement in a range of areas. On the basis of the self assessments, recommendations for each institution were then made. The report has two parts with the framework for the areas of analysis taken from a discussion paper prepared by Prof Graham Webb (Centre for Higher Education Quality, 2003). The first part examines eleven key areas of comparison at the institutional level as developed in the CHEQ 2003 discussion paper, as follows: 1. terminology, definition and policy; 2. strategic planning; 3. planning documents; 4. courses; 5. graduate attributes; 6. staffing profile; 7. performance management; and 8. rewards. At the faculty level the project concentrated on comparing mechanisms that exist in each institution to investigate and enhance the nexus. The dimensions considered were again taken from the Centre for Higher Education discussion paper (2003) as follows: 1. bringing the teacher’s research findings into the classroom; 2. research, curriculum development and internationalization; 3. building students’ research and inquiry capabilities; 4. utilizing and building a community of scholars; 5. exploring the context of research; 6. teaching research methods; 7. researching teaching; and 8. teaching leading to research. 2004-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/27681 The Research Higher Degree Supervision Development Program. Report to The University of Sydney Research and Research Training Committee of Academic Board Brew, Angela; Peseta, Tai EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. The Research Higher Degree Supervision Development Program underwent a major revision in 2006 to take account of the changed policy context and the University’s requirements for supervisor registration. 2. Since the establishment of the Academic Board’s Policy on RHD Training Supervision, a large number of supervisors have engaged with the Program and these numbers increase on a weekly basis. 3. The number of modules studied in a faculty is statistically related to improvements in students’ satisfaction with supervision as measured on the SREQ. 4. There has been a substantial increase in completions and a decrease in the time taken to complete the Program since the introduction of the Academic Board’s Policy on RHD Training Supervision. 5. Participants who complete the Program report higher levels of satisfaction than those who do not. 6. Completing supervisors tend to find the workload appropriate, indicate that they achieve the outcomes of the modules and generally find the feedback helpful. 7. Optional workshops are generally considered helpful. 8. There is evidence that supervisors develop skills, competencies and confidence in supervision by studying the modules. If they complete the Program, they also demonstrate they have achieved the University’s criteria for good practice in supervision. 9. Training for students in good practice in supervision is desirable. This is in line with other Universities and is a way of addressing poor practice by senior established supervisors. Faculty issues 10. There is wide variability in numbers of enrolments, modules completed and attitudes towards the Program and its workload in different faculties. 11. Misperceptions about the source of the information in the Program and the scholarly basis on which feedback is provided exist in some faculties. 12. The Program is designed to be supported/supplemented by local initiatives. It appears that this does not happen in some faculties. Policy issues 13. There is faculty variability in the extent to which Academic Board Policy on RHD Training Supervision is adhered to. In some faculties there is a well established register of supervisors with a well known process for admission to the register. In other faculties there is no register. 14. Misperceptions still exist in some faculties about who owns the Program, the nature and source of the Policy and the location of supervisor registers. 15. Some areas where University policy requires clarification have been identified. 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/27680 Research-Enhanced Learning and Teaching Project Final Report to The University of Sydney Learning and Teaching Committee. Brew, Angela EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. From 2000-2007 a strategic project on research-led teaching and the scholarship of teaching was carried out led by the Institute for Teaching and Learning. This report provides an overview of the project, details its achievements in changing teaching and learning in the University and in affecting students' learning experiences. 2. Outcome indicators suggest that: 2.1. There was a dramatic increase in the proportion of open-ended comments on indicators of research-led teaching on the SCEQ from 2000-2005 indicating students are more aware of research. 2.2. There has been an increase in students' experiences of research, but students are increasingly experiencing research more actively. 2.3. Students' experiences of research and inquiry are statistically related to their overall satisfaction and the extent to which they think the teaching is good. 2.4. Students feel they learn from active researchers. 2.5. Increases in research-based learning experiences on the USE items show dramatic improvements in the Faculty of Economics and Business. 2.6. Faculty performance on the Scholarship Index is statistically correlated with changes in faculty performance on the SCEQ on the good teaching, generic skills, appropriate assessment, clear goals and stands scales and overall satisfaction. 3. Process indicators suggest that: 3.1 Faculty policies have increasingly taken on board research-led teaching, but some University policies have not maintained research-led teaching elements. 3.2 The University now has research-led teaching written into its statement of Research Principles. 3.3 Faculty developments have included changes to faculty strategic and teaching and learning plans, discussions of research-led teaching at faculty learning and teaching and research committee meetings, increased opportunities to discuss research-led teaching or of students to present research within faculties, and the development of research-led teaching practices within curricula. 3.4 The Working Group proved useful in helping faculty representatives to share and develop initiatives. 3.5 Benchmarking with Monash University highlighted some areas for improvement but University structures inhibited some developments. 3.6 Internal and external grants for teaching developments were facilitative of change. 3.7 Information on issues and suggested strategies for development were made available on a website which has been well-used internally and externally. 3.8 There has been considerable variation in faculties concerning the extent to which research-enhanced teaching and learning has been adopted. 3.9 The University of Sydney has been recognised as a leader in research-enhanced teaching and learning through numerous presentations in universities and conferences. 4. Conclusions 4.1 Research-enhanced learning and teaching is now well embedded in some faculties. There is still a need to spread good practice to all faculties. 4.2 What has been achieved has largely been done without significant amounts of central funding. 4.3 There is now uncertainty regarding the future of the initiatives to develop research-enhanced learning and teaching at a time when many other universities are seeing this as an important area of work to develop. 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/27543 学霸 Academic Hero: An Investigation of an Informal Bilingual Volunteer Peer Teaching Model in Supporting Chinese International Students’ Learning Xu, Jinqi; Keever, Lynne The growth in the number of Chinese students in Western universities has prompted academics to explore different pedagogical practices suitable for diverse classrooms. Some persisting contradictions between Western and Eastern conceptions of education exist in the practices and institutional structures that students encounter daily. Designing appropriate curricular and learning activities is crucial to the embedding of Chinese international students’ learning experience in the West. Adopting a practice-based approach, this ethnographic study investigates how an informal bilingual volunteer peer teaching model, entailing a mix of pedagogical practices, contributed to improving Chinese international students learning experience in a Western context. This paper advocates a movement beyond the boundaries and the limits of the fixed pedagogies and turns toward diverse pedagogical practices in teaching Chinese students. This paper also provides new insights about curricular design for academic and institutional practices in order to further develop Chinese students’ positive learning experiences in the West. 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/25035 Empowering Teachers to Personalize Learning Support Arthars, Natasha; Dollinger, Mollie; Vigentini, Lorenzo; Liu, Danny Yen-Ting; Kondo, Elsuida; King, Deborah M. From its inception, learning analytics (LA) offered the potential to be a game changer for higher education. However, accounts of its widespread implementation, especially by teachers, within institutions are rare which raises questions about its ability to scale and limits its potential to impact student success. Additionally, amidst the backdrop of higher education’s contemporary challenges including massification and diversification, entire cohorts (not just those identified as “at risk” by traditional LA) feel disconnected and unsupported in their learning journey. Increasing pressures on teachers are also diminishing their ability to provide meaningful support and personal attention to students. For LA, related adoption barriers have been identified including workload pressures, lack of suitable or customizable tools, and unavailability of meaningful data. In this chapter, we present a teacher-friendly 'LA lifecycle' that seeks to address these challenges and critically assess the adoption and impact of a unique solution in the form of an LA platform that is designed to be adaptable by teachers to diverse contexts. In this chapter, these contexts span three universities and over 72,000 students and 1,500 teachers. This platform, the Student Relationship Engagement System (SRES), allows teachers to collect, curate, analyze, and act on data of their choosing that aligns to their specific contexts. It also provides the ability to close the loop on support actions and guide reflective practice. In contrast to other platforms that focus on data visualization or algorithmic predictions, the SRES directly helps teachers to act on data to provide at-scale personalized support for study success. This way, the nuances of learning designs and teaching contexts can be directly applied to data-informed support actions. In our case studies, we highlight how this practical approach to LA directly addressed teachers’ and students’ needs of timely and personalized support and how the platform has impacted student and teacher outcomes. Through this, we develop implications for integrating teachers’ specific needs into LA, the forms of tools that may yield impact, and perspectives on authentic LA adoption. 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16975 Synergy Issue 12 The Centre for Teaching and Learning 1999-11-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16993 Synergy Issue 30 The Centre for Teaching and Learning 2010-07-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16989 Synergy Issue 26 The Centre for Teaching and Learning 2007-11-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16990 Synergy Issue 27 The Centre for Teaching and Learning 2008-06-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16992 Synergy Issue 29 The Centre for Teaching and Learning 2009-11-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16979 Synergy Issue 16 The Centre for Teaching and Learning 2001-11-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16976 Synergy Issue 13 The Centre for Teaching and Learning 2000-06-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16971 Synergy Issue 8 The Centre for Teaching and Learning 1998-07-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16966 Synergy Issue 4 The Centre for Teaching and Learning 1997-03-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16985 Synergy Issue 22 The Centre for Teaching and Learning 2005-11-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16988 Synergy Issue 25 The Centre for Teaching and Learning 2007-06-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16984 Synergy Issue 21 The Centre for Teaching and Learning 2005-06-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16972 Synergy Issue 9 The Centre for Teaching and Learning 1998-11-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16978 Synergy Issue 15 The Centre for Teaching and Learning 2001-07-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16969 Synergy Issue 7 The Centre for Teaching and Learning 1998-03-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16973 Synergy Issue 10 The Centre for Teaching and Learning 1999-03-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16991 Synergy Issue 28 The Centre for Teaching and Learning 2008-11-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16980 Synergy Issue 17 The Centre for Teaching and Learning 2002-04-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16968 Synergy Issue 6 The Centre for Teaching and Learning 1997-11-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16974 Synergy Issue 11 The Centre for Teaching and Learning 1999-07-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16994 Synergy Issue 31 The Centre for Teaching and Learning 2011-07-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16987 Synergy Issue 24 The Centre for Teaching and Learning 2006-11-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16983 Synergy Issue 20 The Centre for Teaching and Learning 2004-11-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16986 Synergy Issue 23 The Centre for Teaching and Learning 2006-08-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16982 Synergy Issue 19 The Centre for Teaching and Learning 2004-05-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16981 Synergy Issue 18 The Centre for Teaching and Learning 2002-10-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16977 Synergy Issue 14 The Centre for Teaching and Learning 2000-11-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16967 Synergy Issue 5 The Centre for Teaching and Learning 1997-07-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16956 Synergy Issue 1 The Centre for Teaching and Learning 1996-03-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16958 Synergy Issue 3 The Centre for Teaching and Learning 1996-11-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16957 Synergy Issue 2 The Centre for Teaching and Learning 1996-07-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/14251 How tutors understand and engage with reflective practices Bell, Amani; Mladenovic, Rosina Interviews with six tutors revealed the ways in which they thought about reflection, and what forms of reflective practice were part of their teaching. The tutors saw a variety of benefits of reflection, including improving their teaching. There was a focus on reflecting before and after teaching, but few examples of reflection while teaching. Reflection was triggered by negative events and by positive feedback. Reflection on teaching was mainly an individual process; however some tutors engaged in proximal, informal discussions about their teaching. Implications for practice, such as how to support reflection-in-action, are considered. 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/9249 Referencing as evidence of student scholarliness and academic readiness Ellis, Robert; Freeman, Mark; Bell, Amani This exploratory study investigates the student experience of referencing a law essay in a first-year undergraduate business degree. Over two hundred students took part in the study which identifies qualitatively different ways of thinking about, and approaching, referencing in essay. Variations in the student experience of referencing are logically and positively related to academic achievement. The study provides a rich description of the variations which have implications for teachers who seek to improve how teachers teach, and how students understand, the importance of referencing as evidence of the scholarly nature of student learning. 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/9253 Supporting the reflective practice of tutors: what do tutors reflect on? Bell, Amani; Mladenovic, Rosina; Segara, R Effective self-reflection is a key component of excellent teaching. We describe the types of self-reflection identified in tutors’ reflective statements following a peer observation of teaching exercise. We used an adapted version of the categories developed by Grushka et al. (2005) to code text from 20 written statements as technical (26% of comments), practical (36% of comments) and critical (33% of comments). Tutors also wrote about the affective aspects of the exercise and the majority of such comments were positive. Most tutors reflected in a holistic way about their teaching, noting the importance of getting the technical aspects right while also being concerned about pedagogical matters and issues beyond the classroom. The exercise was an effective way to prompt tutors to reflect on their teaching and helped tutors articulate and formalise their learning from the peer observation activity. Suggestions for further exploration of the reflective practice of tutors are provided. 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/9248 Exploring tutors’ conceptions of excellent tutoring Bell, Amani With high numbers of new casual tutors in the Faculty of Economics and Business each semester, a program that addresses tutors’ preparation for teaching is essential. The tutor development program described here is underpinned by a ‘communities of practice’ model (Wenger 2000), where tutors engage in activities in order to share and develop their experiences of teaching. This paper discusses one such activity that was used in the early stages of the program to support the development of a shared repertoire about excellent tutoring. Tutors individually identified the characteristics of excellent tutoring and these were then grouped and discussed. The categories of comments addressed many of the recognised principles of excellent teaching, with student-centred aspects at the fore. The exploratory exercise highlights the importance of informal knowledge, and the role of reflective exercises in bringing forth that knowledge. 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/9250 Building Community In Academic Settings: The Importance Of Flexibility In A Structured Mentoring Program Ewing, Robyn; Freeman, Mark; Barrie, Simon; Bell, Amani; O'Connor, D; Waugh, F; Sykes, Chris Academic mentoring is increasingly being used by many universities as a tool to enhance the quality of research-led teaching, promote cross-faculty collaboration and encourage a mentoring culture and community. This article reports on a pilot project established to investigate the benefits of building flexibility into a structured academic mentoring program at the University of Sydney. Twenty-six academics from the Faculty of Business and Economics and the Faculty of Education and Social Work participated in the program. The mentors ranged in position from Lecturer to Professor and the mentees from Associate Lecturer to Senior Lecturer. Flexible arrangements were shown to be important in a variety of ways, from the pairing of mentor with mentee, to focussing on issues of work survival and life balance, research outcomes and career advancement. The project highlighted the lower number of male academics involved in formal mentoring, which merits further exploration. All participants reported positive outcomes, although refinement of the pairing process was recommended. A variety of unanticipated outcomes was reported by mentees. 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/9252 A critical evaluation of the usefulness of a coding scheme to categorise levels of reflective thinking Bell, Amani; Kelton, J; McDonagh, N; Mladenovic, Rosina; Morrison, K The use of reflective learning journals to encourage higher order learning outcomes is a growing area in higher education research and practice. However, without a unified and clear definition of reflection, identifying and assessing reflection is problematic for educators. In an attempt to address this issue Kember et al. (1999) devised a coding scheme based on the work of Mezirow (1991), to identify and assess levels of reflective thinking in students’ written journals. We evaluated the usefulness of this coding scheme in a business education context. Findings revealed that the scheme was useful in identifying categories of reflective thinking. Initial inter-coder agreement ranged from 50-79%. On average, 65% of the journal content was coded as non-reflection and 35% as reflection. A further outcome of the research was to refine the coding scheme and to provide suggestions for its application in teaching practice. 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/9251 Looking for Professor Right: mentee selection of mentors in a formal mentoring program Bell, Amani; Treleaven, L Finding a suitable mentor is crucial to the success of mentoring relationships. In the mentoring literature, however, there is conflicting evidence about the best ways to support the pairing process in organisational mentoring programs. This paper presents a detailed analysis of the pairing process in an academic mentoring program that has implications for building a mentoring culture in higher education. The program which began with a pilot and has continued for five years with one hundred and twenty one participants, was conducted with mentees selecting their own mentor from a pool of mentors who volunteered to be part of the program. In the pilot program, where mentors and mentees first met as one group, some mentees reported that the process of selecting and approaching a mentor was uncomfortable and intimidating. Nine of twenty-three potential mentees did not form mentoring relationships. Analysis of subsequent program evaluation data pointed to the importance of two factors in the pairing process: personal connections and facilitation of the selection process. This study at a research-intensive university demonstrates that when the pairing process is tailored to individual mentees, they are comfortable selecting a mentor and to then develop a successful mentoring relationship. 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/9165 The benefits of peer observation of teaching for tutor development Bell, Amani; Mladenovic, Rosina Peer observation partnerships can help teachers improve their teaching practice, transform their educational perspectives and develop collegiality (Bell 2005). This paper describes the peer observation model used in the tutor development program in the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Sydney, and reports on the effectiveness of this exercise using quantitative and qualitative data from five sources. Results from 32 peer observations reveal both the common strengths and the areas in which tutors need to develop their teaching practice. Ninety four percent of participants found the exercise valuable and 88% said that they would change their teaching as a result of the exercise. This model can be applied in academic development programs in any discipline and suggestions for augmentation and improvement are provided. 2008-06-01T00:00:00Z