You may have seen reports in the media today speculating on changes to our teaching and learning approaches and, in particular, to our face-to-face teaching.
While Curtin is developing a Blended Learning Model to give you greater choice in how you learn, we are just at the stage of discussing preliminary ideas and nothing has been finalised. I am aware that the media reports may have given you a different impression.
Curtin regularly reviews its teaching offerings to ensure they are relevant to your learning needs. The COVID-19 pandemic has particularly highlighted our need to remain flexible in the way we deliver our learning and we have learnt much from our recent experiences of taking our learning online. We are also very mindful of your feedback about what works best for you.
Giving you choice and flexibility in the way you learn is our priority, as is offering you opportunities to build connections with your fellow students and to enjoy all that campus life has to offer. We also want you to feel prepared for your entry into the workforce. For example, one of the things we are looking at is whether exams are always the best form of assessment, or whether students might benefit more from completing job-related tasks, in line with what a workplace would require.
As our discussions about this continue, I want to reassure you that we are committed to maintaining the quality of our teaching and learning and to making it as engaging as possible for you. I also want you to know that face-to-face teaching and learning will remain a vital element of our offerings as this is so important to your academic and social experiences and to the life of our campuses.
I hope your semester has ended well for you and that you and your loved ones enjoy the upcoming holiday season.
Best regards
Professor John Cordery
Vice-Chancellor
