The University's Higher Education Development Centre (HEDC) has operated a valued programme for new teachers over many years, aimed at support and providing relevant information on aspects of teaching and the Otago Teaching Profile. If you are a new academic at the University and you would like to know what HEDC can offer, contact Associate Professor Vijay Mallan for a chat on 03 479 8489 or by email at vijay.mallan@otago.ac.nz.
An introduction to University teaching
This two and a half day event is designed to support recently appointed academic staff with teaching responsibilities from all of Otago's campuses and will be of particular interest to those who are new to university teaching. It is designed for those who have, or expect to have, considerable input into course design, lecturing and student assessment.
The topics covered include good university teaching, roles and responsibilities of university academics, constructive alignment in course design, assessment policy and practices in Otago, using technology to engage students, peer review for evaluating teaching, Te Ao Māori and teaching and providing quality feedback. Senior colleagues will also participate in a panel session on work-life balance.
The workshop is advertised as part of the New Teachers Programme.
New Academic Staff Conference
Each year HEDC and Human Resources organise a New Academic Staff Conference in Dunedin. It aims to help academic staff from all of our campuses to interact with one another, to meet a wide range of University support staff and to learn more about the University and its functions. The conference includes a session run by Human Resources, covering key aspects of working at the University. Recently appointed academic staff are strongly encouraged to attend whether or not they have teaching/research experience elsewhere.
For information about the next New Academic Staff Conference, email hedc@otago.ac.nz.
Pooling Teaching Tips (PTT)
Pooling Teaching Tips is a discussion group held regularly at HEDC for all teaching staff at the University of Otago, but with a particular focus on those new to teaching in higher education. To find out when the next workshop in this series is scheduled, go to this page.
Teaching and Learning Circles
If you are interested in meeting other academics who enjoy teaching, or you want to invigorate your teaching practice, then Teaching and Learning Circles may be for you. Teaching and Learning Circles (TLCs) is a University-wide initiative, which combines group-based, reciprocal peer observations of teaching with supportive collegial conversations to provide insight into your teaching. The initiative has been operating since 2018, with inter-disciplinary TLCs offering staff the opportunity to observe and discuss diverse teaching contexts. The 'data' obtained from your TLC participation can be used in your Otago Teaching Profile. There is a resource pack and a TLC coordinator to help guide you through the process and the TLC coordinator, Dr Tracy Rogers, can help you form your own TLC. Please contact tracy.rogers@otago.ac.nz to register your interest or find out more about the Teaching and Learning Circles.
Professional Development Programme workshops
Other workshops are held throughout the year on a wide range of learning and teaching topics. You can browse the workshops on our HEDC workshop home page. you can choose to search by subject or by date.
If you are a new academic at the University, HEDC would be grateful if you could get in touch to help us update our database. Please email hedc@otago.ac.nz.