Teaching Resources

At the ³ÉÈË´óƬ, learning is designed to be active, student-centred, and to foster a sense of community.

These resources offer both evidence-based principles and practical guidance for designing and delivering effective learning experiences. They will be constantly updated as needed.Ìý

Please email teachexcellence@adelaide.edu.au if you have any feedback or suggestions for content.

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  • Videos of teaching practice

    The videos below illustrate the passion of our teachers and provide insights into student learning in some of the courses at the University.

    • -ÌýColleagues share successful approaches for engaging students.
  • Inclusive and accessible teaching practices

    The requires the design of learning and teaching to ensure students of all backgrounds have the opportunity to succeed academically. When we make choices about learning activities, including assessment, we need to take an equity-informed approach and apply inclusive education principles. The following resources provide support for an inclusive approach.

    A one-page guide to Universal Design for Learning for course coordinators.

    Inclusive practice guidance

    The (ADCET) provides excellence guidance and resources on inclusive practice including course design and delivery, assessment, and considerations for laboratories and workshops.

    The Gonski Institute for Education (UNSW) have written an overview of the literature related to .

    Connect and learn with colleagues

    If you are interested in sharing ideas about inclusive teaching, you may want to join the Diversity and Inclusion in Teaching Community of Practice (DITCOP).

    Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

    is a framework for designing learning activities and assessments that account for learner diversity based on the science of how we learn. You can use the framework to create meaningful and challenging learning for all students.

    In you can learn practical ways to apply UDL in your course design and/or teaching. It takes about 90 to 120 minutes and the best piece of advice focuses on how to apply UDL to one element of your teaching at a time.

    Creating accessible content

    If you create learning materials for students to be used in MyUni, practical support is available to ensure the design of your learning experiences is inclusive and accessible.

    The includes a to learners, which is a legal requirement and enhances learning for all students.

    For further guidance on creating accessible content, the is a great source.

    ADCET also provide and have a

    University resources, strategies and support

    The ³ÉÈË´óƬ has produced to help us ensure our interactions (including the way we address others) are accurate, fair and respectful.

    There are a number of institutional level plans for addressing structural and cultural impediments to diversity and inclusion which could also inform your approach.

    Some learning and teaching provisions to address diversity have a basis in legislation such as reasonable adjustments in assessment and access to assistive technologies. Disability Support can help academic and professional staff to understand the guiding legislation and University policies.

  • High impact approaches for the online learning environment

    The Online programs team have developed principles and guidance for online learning informed by the Technology Enhanced Learning Accreditation Standards (TELAS), Quality Matters (QM) and the TEQSA Higher Education Standards Framework (HESF).

    The following guides are for educators who would like to enhance the online portion of their blended courses.


    This evidence-based framework guides the design of learning environments through ensuring 3 important elements are in place: social, teacher, and cognitive presence.


    Looking for ways to design effective online lectures? This journal article outlines the evidence and theories behind five techniques for the creation of effective instructional videos: dynamic drawing; gaze guidance; generative activity; perspective; and subtitles. It also warns against the use of seductive details that do not contribute to learning.


    The mission of the OLC is to create community and knowledge around quality online, blended, and digital learning while driving innovation and you create your own account and affiliate it with the ³ÉÈË´óƬ institutional membership. In April 2020 the OLC recently held an event designed to address the challenges of teaching during the pandemic. You can access the nearly 50 OLC Ideate recorded sessions covering topics such as building inclusive learning environments, radical openness, caring for students, and humanizing online learning. .


    A collated list of resources covering transitioning a course to online delivery, teaching in the online environment, student engagement, and assessment integrity.

  • Reflective practice and the evaluation of teaching effectiviness

    At the ³ÉÈË´óƬ, educators engage in scholarly practice which requires a reflective mindset and the use of evidence-based approaches to learning and teaching.

    As part of a scholarly approach to teaching, you'll need to use a way of reflecting on your practice that works for you.ÌýSchön (1983)ÌýÌýas the practice by which professionals become aware of their implicit knowledge base and learn from their experience. To inform your reflection on practice, you will need to identify appropriate ways to monitor the effectiveness of your teaching approaches and the impact these have on student learning.

    Ìýprovides a brief overview of the primary ways student feedback can be used to improve teaching and learning, outlines the various types of student feedback available and offers some recommendations for best practice.

    One of the major evaluation tools used at the University is theÌýStudent Experience of Learning and Teaching SurveysÌý(SELT). Comprehensive information about the conduct of SELT Surveys, provision of reports, expectation standards as well as aggregated reports and guidelines and resources for encouraging students to compete the SELT are available on this website.


    How do you check for learning during class?

    You can use the methods outlined in this Vanderbilt UniversityÌýÌý(Classroom assessment techniques) like minute papers to get feedback on student progress as well as the effectiveness of your teaching approach.


    Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)

    You may choose to move towards knowledge generation and sharing through SoTL.

    Broadly, SoTL involves investigating your practices, applying existing research and literature to examine and evaluate your teaching and learning practices and creating new knowledge and/or contributing to discussions on teaching and learning. Your findings would be made accessible and disseminated through presentations at conferences and through publication.

    If you are interested in learning more, theÌý.


    TheÌýADEPT Empowered EducatorsÌýseries is an opportunity to develop your skills in the identification, actioning and evaluation of the effectiveness of responses to student feedback.

  • Building rapport and community in the online environment

    Students at the Western Sydney University describe their experience in this ‘ including why they turn their videos off, what they like, and the one thing they really look for.


    The Appalachian State University has created to help you decide why video cameras need to be on when you are teaching via Zoom and what alternatives exist to creating engagement and a sense of community.


    9 brief ideas on how to enhance the online learning experience.


    Brief guidance on building a sense of community among students in the online environment.


    The Director of Teaching and Learning at RMIT Online explains the why and how on topics such as communication, engagement, and feedback links, and provides examples.

  • Maintaining staff and student wellbeing

    A one-page guide to reviewing how courses support student wellbeing.


    Practical strategies and advice written particularly for university educators. Forms part of OLT project outcomes.


    7 practical strategies for supporting students from OLT project on student mental wellbeing. Project website also has guidance on curriculum design, teaching practice, and difficult conversations.Ìý


    The eSafety Commissioner has created two resources for academic and teaching staff which provide core tools for identifying, preventing and responding to online abuse of students. They also provide advice on how academics can protect themselves online.


    Staff Guide - Student mental wellbeing

    This Guide to Supporting Students' Mental Wellbeing, produced by the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education provides practical strategies for educators.

  • Group work good practice

    This was created by colleagues in the Learning and Teaching CoPs and provides an overview of evidence-based principles and practices for effective and efficient design, implementation, and management of group work.

    The guide includes potential scenarios and approaches, links to resources, templates, and samples to support the various aspects of group work design, implementation and assessment.

  • Enabling engagement

    AdvanceHE student engagement toolkit

    Each of these 52 cards provides practical high-impact, low technology ideas for engaging students designed for face to face, online and blended learning environments. The accompanying guide Ìýexplains ways to use the cards as well as proving prompts for inclusive and reflective practice.


    The department of Multidisciplinary Engineering Education at the University of Sheffield have developed a playbook of tactics for when practicals need to be taught without access to the laboratories on campus.


    OLT funded project website includes excellent guide to asynchronous discussion with worked examples and student perspectives.


    A review of the literature that identifies evidence-based approaches toÌýinstructional design and facilitation forÌýfostering critical thinking in asynchronousÌýonline discussions (summary table in conclusion).


    Using an evidence-based online engagement framework, this webinar hosted by the UK’s Association for Learning Technology (ALT) with presenters from USQ, provides practical strategies for enabling engagement.

  • Student Partnerships

    The University is committed to working in genuine partnership with students to ensure the high quality and the continuous enhancement and innovation of our curriculum, learning and teaching, and wider student experience. Our approach is informed by our Student Partnership Values.

  • Mixed cohort learning

    Are you teaching classes that have mixed cohorts of on-campus and online learners?ÌýÌý

    These resources address the teaching approaches that facilitate learning in this delivery mode. The resources vary in the names they use for this mode, for example hyflex, hybrid etc.Ìý

    ThisÌýÌýproduced by LEI outlines three aspects of successful mixed modeÌýlearning experiences:Ìýpreparing students for learning, delivery andÌýengagement, and continuous evaluation.Ìý

    ThisÌýÌýincludes advice from experienced academics teaching in mixed mode internationally.Ìý

    If you are interested in informed sharing among practitioners, the Learning and Teaching in Higher EducationÌýTwitter chat, (),ÌýdiscussedÌýhybrid/hyflex/dual mode andÌýÌýincluding pedological models, practical tips and lesson plans.Ìý

    The University of Sydney provides a comprehensive set of teaching tips inÌý.Ìý

    You can access practical strategies for engaging students in thisÌýÌýfrom Vanderbilt University.Ìý

    If you would like to learn about how teaching in a mixed mode is being practiced internationally, you can join the onlineÌý. Dr. Brian Beatty, who has been teaching with and writing about hybrid approaches at San Francisco State University for over 20 years has launched the community as a place for educators to ask questions and share ideas.Ìý

    Social Learning and Communities of Practice researchers and practitioners, Etienne and Beverley Wenger-Trayner, have been running hybrid training since 2011. They share principles and methods for meaningful connection for learningÌýÌýsome of which could be transferred to the higher education context.Ìý

    One of the challenges in teaching in mixed mode (and when facilitating sessions online) is the issues of students turning off their camera. ThisÌýÌýwill help students understand the benefits of turning their video on. We need to be aware of the reasons why students may not turn their video on. For insight into this and options for practice, thisÌýÌýsummarises findings from a research article.Ìý

    After accessing the above resources to investigate approaches to mixed cohort learning, you can find further guidance through the services provided byÌýLearning Enhancement and Innovation.Ìý

  • Creating and curating learning materials

    Preparing well-presented documents can greatly enhance the student learning experience. The following links provide some basic guidelines for publication design using standard University-installed software and also cover some of the issues to consider in the preparation of resources for presentation in both print and on-screen format.


    Are your resources accessible?

    The Introduction to MyUni resource () includes a to learners, which is a legal requirement and enhances learning for all students.

    Freely available resources can be embedded easily into MyUni to inform and demonstrate assumed or desirable study skills sought to optimise individual student success and concurrently provide a foundation of practical knowledge for each cohort.Ìý Resources include, but are not limited to, group work, presentation skills and technology use, for example, Excel.


    More information about accessing and using LinkedIn Learning for Educators

  • Opportunities for development

    The ADEPT program offers a range of professional development sessions focused on enhancing learning in the online and on-campus environments.

    If you are new teaching, or would like a refresher, the is always available.

    The courses and resources from external providers in this curated listÌýprovide a wide choice of learning experiences, both for those at novice and advanced levels.

  • Develop your Teaching Philosophy

  • Further support

    After accessing the above resources to investigate approaches to enriching learning which are evidence-based and appropriate for your context, you can find further guidance on the ³ÉÈË´óƬ supported technologies through the services provided by Learning Enhancement and Innovation or by accessing the .