Two Curtin University academics have been awarded prestigious 2016 Office for Learning and Teaching National Excellence Fellowships.
Associate Professor Lisa Tee, from the School of Pharmacy, and Dawn Bennett, a John Curtin Distinguished Professor in Humanities’ Research and Graduate Studies, received the Fellowships in recognition of their demonstrated leadership capacity in higher education.
The Federal Government grants will enable the academics to undertake strategic programs surrounding educational issues as well as extend their scholarly understanding.
Associate Professor Tee received one of eight National Teaching Fellowships for her submission, Making curriculum visible: Engaging students in learning outcomes and career relevance through a multi-dimensional, interactive map.
She said undergraduate students often made higher study choices with a limited view of how their programs were structured, which was why she created the interactive whole-of-program visualisation tool called MyCourseMap in 2013.
“The MyCourseMap tool utilises digital-touch technology and has the capacity to inform, inspire and engage students through videos of students and professionals and can be used on all mobile devices,” Associate Professor Tee said.
“Undergraduate students rarely get to see an overview of their studies despite their programs being developed from such a holistic approach.
“By presenting curriculum in a more student‐centred and visible form, academics engage students as active participants in the negotiation of their study choices,” she said.
Professor Bennett, director of Curtin’s Creative Workforce Initiative, was appointed one of four National Senior Teaching Fellowships for her submission, From Theory to practice: Equipping and Enabling Australia’s educators to embed employability across higher education.
She said rather than making students “job-ready”, the Fellowship would look at the ability of students to become independent decision makers by enabling them to take charge of their learning and careers.
“Students will be able to graduate knowing they are capable of adapting what they’ve learnt to work across different contexts and in different places and in different organisations,” Professor Bennett said.
Professor Bennett said the Fellowship would also extend an international network of employability experts and include residencies in the United Kingdom, United States, Europe and Australia.
More information on the 2016 Office for Learning and Teaching National Excellence Fellowships can be found at http://www.olt.gov.au/fellowships
