This paper examines how students in a third year management unit at a university of technology in Australia evaluate the usefulness of film as a tool for developing a deeper understanding of the theoretical leadership effectiveness model developed by Robbins (1997). The study reviews the range of studies describing the use of films in teaching…

This study describes three collegiate programs that have a high interest in creating engaging learning environments outside of the classroom. The three settings in this study are a three-year degree granting college focusing on internship-based learning, a nationally recognized service-learning program at a private university, and a small private…

In 2011 the authors created a model of self- and peer-assessment known as Authentic Self and Peer Assessment for Learning (ASPAL) in an attempt to better engage seemingly disengaged students in their undergraduate coursework. The model focuses on authentic assessment tasks and engages students by involving them in every step of the process from…

This research investigates how students used or "blended" the various learning resources, including people,while studying a compulsory, first year accounting unit. The unit design incorporated a blended learning approach. The study was motivated by perceived low rates of attendance and low levels of communication with lecturers which…

This paper presents a co-teaching mentor model, which improved the teaching of academics and enhanced student satisfaction and retention. Two research-focused lecturers responsible for first-year units were partnered with a co-teaching mentor to offer guidance on how the content (urban and regional planning) could be delivered more effectively…

Although there is a clear body of evidence supporting the idea that undergraduate students benefit from participation in original research projects, many units of study--particularly in the creative arts and humanities--have been slow to embrace curriculum renewal along these lines. In this paper, we detail a pragmatic approach to meeting this…

Concern about student retention and success remains paramount in universities both in Australia and overseas, especially in the light of the ongoing massification of higher education, yet current strategies are not necessarily dealing successfully with the changing demographics of student populations. This is particularly so in the realm of…

This article discusses a Design for Learning project in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, where academic and personal support for students was interwoven in their first semester. Staff of the Academic Language and Learning Unit (ALLU) worked with discipline staff to develop their students' capabilities across a range of disciplines,…

Information literacy is an essential component of the La Trobe University inquiry/research graduate capability and it provides the skill set needed for students to take their first steps on the path to engaging with academic information and scholarly communication processes. A deep learning approach to information literacy can be achieved if…

La Trobe University is committed to improving the first year experience, and to developing its online teaching portfolio in response to increasing student demand. This article will acknowledge that these two objectives will remain contradictory if online learning systems are used predominantly as repositories of information with little thought…

This paper considers the two-year-long process of redesigning Art Theory: Modernism, the initial core art theory course at The University of Newcastle in Australia, with the aim of increasing the academic engagement of first year fine art students. First year students are particularly vulnerable to dropping out if they feel disengaged from the…

Purpose: A picture is worth a thousand words. Multimedia teaching materials have been widely adopted by teachers in Physics, Biotechnology, Psychology, Religion, Analytical Science, and Economics nowadays. To assist with engaging students in their economic study, increase learning efficiency and understanding, solve misconception problems,…

This case study reports on the findings from one of nine tertiary institutions that took part in a project funded by the Teaching and Learning Research Initiative (TLRI) in New Zealand. The research question explored how institutional and non institutional learning environments influence student engagement with learning in a higher education,…

A strategy of continuous team assessment over three years, comprising of a series of tests and a major project, was introduced into scheduled tutorial classes in an attempt to improve flagging attendance and low student motivation. The assessment tasks were designed to be undertaken in teams of two students, with ongoing feedback as an integral…

This paper describes how new roles for instructors and learners can be integrated into course design and delivery by rethinking course design as part of a process-based staff development program. The goal of incorporating online learning tasks was to engage students with course resources prior to class time through active learning. The staff…