Learning and teaching

We are committed to achieving excellence for all our students. Achieving Charles Sturt Universities vision and objectives involves:

  • Providing an accessible and effective learning environment for all students, regardless of location or mode of study
  • Strengthening learning and teaching partnerships with the professions and industry
  • Promoting, recognising and supporting good practice in learning and teaching

First year commitments to learning

All students commencing university study (whether they be internal, direct from school, mature aged, industry entry or post graduate) will be offered comprehensive orientation to university study including synchronous sessions (face to face or online), online resources and asynchronous online activities.

First year subjects will explicitly address student literacy, numeracy and academic skill development needs within their design and activities and resources to support this development will be provided within on campus teaching and online study schedules in cooperation with Academic Success and the Library.

All first year subjects will be designed to cater for student social, cultural and academic diversity within the subject materials, learning activities and assessment

All first year on campus and distance subjects will be designed to include activities which require some form of asynchronous or synchronous engagement with peers and teaching teams.

First year on campus subjects will include some classes where content delivery will be recorded and online alternatives provided for interactive aspects of the class and some classes where attendance is expected, and the attendance requirements within the subject will be made explicit in the subject outline.

All first year distance subjects will include some online synchronous classes but these will not be compulsory and they will be recorded for later viewing by those unable to attend

Convenors/coordinators of first year subjects will identify and contact students at risk of failure or withdrawal.

  1. Capabilities will be gradually developed and assessed and the first assessment task will be a low stakes task in all first year undergraduate subjects
  2. Course directors or delegates will work with subject teams within and outside the Faculty each session to ensure a cohesive design and balanced schedule of assessment tasks across first year subjects in the one course
  3. Assessment tasks and learning activities will be explicitly aligned to the learning objectives of the subject
  4. Plain language will be used in assessment task descriptions, rubrics and study schedules within Subject Outlines to ensure that these descriptions are explicit and accessible to a diverse range of students.
  5. Feedback to students on their assessment activities will be constructive, offer meaningful pathways for improvement in subsequent tasks and be explicitly aligned to the criteria and standards within the assessment task description.

Online learning Commitments

The Faculty of Arts and Education have developed a set of online learning commitments to underpin improvements in the learning experiences of students supported by online learning technologies and pedagogies.

The commitments are as follows.

  1. By 2015, students in all on campus and distance subjects will be able to access all learning resources online with resources including textual, audio-visual and interactive media designed specifically for online engagement;
  2. By the end of 2015, students in all distance subjects will regularly engage with their academic teachers and student peers through designed and facilitated online learning activities aligned to authentic assessment tasks. There will be a mix  of synchronous  and asynchronous  activities and students unable to be present at synchronous sessions  will have the opportunity to listen to and/or view recordings and undertake follow up asynchronous activities; and
  3. By the end of 2015, students in all on campus subjects will regularly engage with their academic teachers and student peers through designed and facilitated learning activities aligned to authentic assessment tasks. There will be a mix of face to face and online activities and some face to face sessions will be recorded to allow students to listen to and/or view recordings and undertake follow up online activities.

The Online Learning Commitments document outlines the background and rationale for the adoption of this set of commitments and elaborates upon the key elements within each.

Online Learning Commitments (.pdf)

Assessment and moderation

Charles Sturt University revised its Assessment Policy for implementation in 2014 and also developed a new Moderation policy which was introduced at the same time.

These policies are the principle policies on assessment in the University. They are accessible within the Charles Sturt University policy library.

The Faculty of Arts and Education has created a new set of Assessment and Moderation Guidelines that incorporate the previous Assessment Guidelines and a new set of Moderation Guidelines aligning to the new Charles Sturt university policies. These were developed in early 2014 and were revised in December 2015 in consultation with School and Faculty Assessment and Curriculum, Learning and Teaching committees. These guidelines apply to all subjects offered by the Faculty of Arts and Education in all modes on all campuses, whether in Australia or offshore.

Assessment and Moderation Guidelines (.pdf)

Committees

The Faculty of Arts and Education Learning and Teaching Committee facilitates the enhancement of teaching and learning by providing a leadership role that seeks out existing good practice within the Faculty and University.

The committee also acts as a link between academic staff and the Charles Sturt University Curriculum, Learning & Teaching Committee so that issues arising can be openly discussed and ideas and proposals can be acted upon at higher levels.

The Faculty of Arts and Education Sub-Dean, Learning and Teaching assists the Dean to ensure the quality of learning and teaching.