Student Engagement Swap Shops
Have you had a teaching experience that really engaged your students that you would like to share? Would you like to hear others' stories of what has worked for them? Then you need to schedule in participation in a Student engagement swap shop.
What is a Student Engagement Swap Shop?
Student Engagement Swap Shops are a collegial academic development activity that are held at the end of Study Period 2 and 5 each year. Invited participants share stories of successfully engaging students in their learning.
How does it work?
Before the Swap Shop
Invitations are sent out two weeks prior to the Student Engagement Swap Shop. Currently, only those staff who have participated in Teaching @ UniSA are invited, as these individuals share common understandings of UniSA teaching and learning terminologies.
Participants need to complete a short description of their engaging teaching and learning event. A pro forma (~1 page) is available to guide description of various elements of their context and approach. Ideally, an electronic copy of this description needs to be sent to the Project Officer: Teaching and Learning, Narelle Walker, the day prior to the swap shop to be made into a booklet for participants. Alternatively, participants can bring their descriptions along on the day and have these scanned later.
At the Swap Shop
Participants are separated into groups of five to six. Each member of the group has five minutes to talk to their colleagues about their engaging teaching and learning experience. A further five minutes is available for the other group members to ask questions and gain a better idea of how this approach might be applied in their own contexts. After each member of the group has had an opportunity to share their descriptions, the group takes a 20 to 30 minute break (light refreshments are provided). The participants then reform into a new group and the process is repeated. A short presentation and reflective activity follows that provides participants with an opportunity to articulate how they might apply elements of their learning in the Swap Shop to their own teaching. The session is facilitated by Academic Development staff from Learning Connection.
After the Swap Shop
With participants' approval, the engaging teaching and learning descriptions are entered into a database called VITAL (Valuable Ideas in Teaching and Learning) by the Project Officer: Teaching and Learning. This searchable database is available to the broader university community.
What previous participants have said about Student Engagement Swap Shops
"I learnt heaps from others about innovative teaching approaches"
"It was fantastic: many original ideas came out with the potential for application in any course"
"Very useful. People from different schools shared their creative ways of engaging students. EXCELLENT"
"Very useful, not just as a way of exchanging information and communicating with other educators, but an exercise in reflecting on and evaluating my own teaching tools and resources"
"Fantastic - often it is difficult to generate ideas for student engagement - often ideas within your own school become repetitive across courses"
References
- Mick Healey's swap shop home page
- Student engagement at the University of South Australia
Further enquiries
Project Officer: Teaching and Learning, Narelle Walker.