Learn about theories of learning and teaching in the first course of the Foundations of University Learning and Teaching program. Traditional views of education have shifted. Teachers now do far more facilitation of learning as opposed to simply seeing their role as transferring knowledge. We’re now seeing student focused and learner centred approaches being the norm - approaches that change the roles and responsibilities of teachers and learners. This course will introduce you to student-focused approaches and general principles of teaching and learning at a university level.
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Learn about the basic principles of teaching and learning in higher education
In this course you will be introduced to well-known educational perspectives on how students approach learning. You’ll be drawing on your experiences and the experiences of your peers. As both learners and teachers, you’ll begin to develop a framework for enhancing learning through design thinking and interaction.
This course looks at questions like:
- How do students approach learning?
- What is ‘quality’ teaching?
- How does teaching change in different learning contexts?
Explore the roles of the teacher and student approaches to learning
The changing role of teachers in higher education often requires more of a facilitative approach to teaching while students are encouraged to take on more responsibility for their learning. You will learn about some of the foundational concepts that underpin quality teaching and hear teachers at UNSW explain their approaches to teaching within their specific disciplines.
Explore teaching and assessing in different contexts
Online and face-to-face interaction, collaboration and application in context is key to learning. With the rapid growth in learning and teaching online teachers are required to reconsider their teaching practices to take advantage of the benefits of each context. You will be encouraged to consider these issues in discussion with other learners.
By the end of the course you will be able to:
- Describe your own experiences, from the perspectives of a learner, an educational designer or teacher with reference to current theories of learning
- Discuss the relevance of established theories about learning and teaching to your practice
- Identify issues and strategies which impact on students learning including the role of assessment
- Demonstrate your understanding of student learning by applying established theories to your context
What topics will you cover?
- Student approaches to learning
- Learning from experience through critical reflection
- Perspectives on teaching
- Teaching strategies in the face-to-face context
- Online and blended learning
- Assessment and feedback
- Academic integrity
- The peer review process
What will you achieve?
- Describe your own experiences, from the perspectives of being a learner, an educational designer or teacher with reference to current theories of learning
- Discuss the relevance of established theories about learning and teaching to your practice
- Identify issues and strategies which impact on student learning including the role of assessment and feedback
- Demonstrate your understanding of student learning by applying established theories to your context
