Building ‘learning communities’ is the focus of The University of Queensland’s third annual UQ Teaching and Learning Week, next week [November 15-19].
The highlight of the week will be the teaching excellence, research supervision and enhancement of student learning awards at Brisbane’s Customs House on Monday night.
This year, five $10,000 Awards for Excellence in Teaching will be presented to individuals.
Two groups will each win $20,000 Awards for the Enhancement of Student Learning and up to three people will be presented with $10,000 Awards for Excellence in Research Higher Degree Supervision.
There will also be a range of seminars and discussions on teaching and learning with day-long showcases at UQ Gatton on Tuesday and at UQ St Lucia on Wednesday.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Margaret Gardner said learning communities were networks developed inside and outside formal classrooms which allowed student discussion via chat rooms, internet web discussion, study groups or other informal meetings.
“A huge amount of what you learn happens outside the classroom,” Professor Gardner said.
“Making the learning experience a good and exciting one for students depends on not just what happens in the classroom but the quality of their interactions both with teachers and with one another.
“In a research intensive University, such as UQ, a lot of the real excitement in teaching and learning comes from that engagement, not just what the teacher is talking about in first year, but the real research they’re engaged in.”
Professor Gardner said UQ was reviewing its teaching and learning space and drafting 10 year plans for its improvement and new audiovisual and computer standards to better support learning communities.
“We’re looking not just at the classrooms but the spaces outside the classrooms – the informal spaces surrounding them, even the sort of benches where people might sit and how we make all of that a better experience for students.”
See what’s on during Teaching and Learning Week by visiting http://www.uq.edu.au/teaching_learning/
Media: contact Miguel Holland at UQ Communications (phone: 3365 2619, email: m.holland@uq.edu.au)
