The Charles Sturt Teaching Academy grants support improvements to academic quality, our staff's careers and our students' learning experience.
The 2024 Teaching Academy grant applications were received in January. Applicants were advised of the outcome in April. Funding applications were for activities designed to deliver on these objectives under the following priority areas:
The following successful applicants will share in the grant funding.
Interdisciplinary Approaches to Place-Based Teaching at Regional Universities.
Place-based education and the co-constitution of place through custodial management are central to First Nations’ knowledges. The land and environment forms the basis of intergenerational learning in Indigenous knowledge systems. In non-Indigenous dominated education systems such as universities, knowledge is separated into disciplines. Indigenous place-based education offers an interdisciplinary approach to grounding particular knowledge bases within place. This project will survey the use of place-based learning strategies across disciplines at CSU, map a community practice of learning and teaching, provide best practice guidelines, and create multi-authored scholarship of place-based learning in a tertiary context.
Dr Holly Randell-Moon
Professor Sue Green
Yindyamarra Nguluway
Dr. Tanya Davies
Inclusive Care Unleashed: Students Championing LGBTQIA+ Health Through an Interdisciplinary Health Forum.
The ongoing health disparities that negatively impact the health outcomes of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and gender non-conforming communities are increasingly being highlighted through a growing body of evidence. These inequities, and the associated poor health outcomes for gender and sexually diverse people, often stem from gaps in the clinical education of health care professionals, and the negative interactions gender and sexually diverse people may have had with health care professionals. This co-designed project will pilot an innovative interprofessional initiative to support health curriculum reform, through delivering LGBTQI content which may be absent from the formal curriculum.
Dr Brian Sengstock
Associate Professor Sonja Maria
Dr Kristina Griffin
Dr Lisa Clegg
Digital Health Academic Literacy Initiative (DHALI)
The Academic Digital health Capability Community of Practice (ADCCoP) will be open to all staff teaching into a regulated health course at CSU to upskill in digital health capabilities. Incorporation of digital health learning opportunities into our health courses is important to ensure we are producing a work ready workforce, yet many of our academic workforce lack digital health literacy. ADCCoP will provide online resources and a seminar series about digital health theory and practice to address this issue. The capability of staff before and after the series and how it informs teaching practice will be measured.
Buchanan Reed
Kerryn Butler-Henderson
Aathira Suvi
Jodie Brabin
Judith Crockett
Personalising open source textbooks to promote equity, inclusivity and engagement in anatomy and physiology education
This project will provide equity in access and opportunity while increasing engagement for better success for all first-year FoSH students enrolled in human anatomy and physiology (A&P). Adaptation and customisation of two Open Textbooks to suit the specific needs of our students along with an evaluation of student feedback on how to best develop and adapt textbooks will ultimately lead to the production of two flexible, engaging and authentic artefacts. It is envisaged that this project will increase student satisfaction, success, retention and address a long-standing issue with how to contextualise foundational A&P in service taught subjects to multiple disciplines.
Dr Louise Pemberton
Dr Natalia Bilton
Rebecca Fabry
Lorraine Rose
Dr Noelia Roman
Dr Brendan Adams
Enhancing First-Year Success: Embedded Tutor Support, Learning Analytics, and a Pedagogy of Kindness
The future of Australian tertiary education will involve more students from equity backgrounds than ever before. However, outcomes of students from non-traditional backgrounds remain lower than more advantaged peers across the country. We have pilot data that suggests embedding content specific tutors into key first year subjects can improve the performance and retention rates of equity students. This project will inform research and best practice principles based on the analysis of an institution-wide Embedded Tutor Program. This enhanced support for students will be invaluable to the university while we review the current Support for Students Policy.
Dr Sarah Teakel
Associate Professor Kelly Linden
Future Mental Health Nurse Framework: Strengthening Recruitment and Retention through Education, Research, and Practice Integration towards Mental Health Nursing Career Pathways.
Mental Health education within a comprehensive bachelor of nursing degree has fallen short since its implementation. This form of education should enable graduating nurses to work in any area of nursing and apply holistic care. As a result of this shortfall, the mental health workforce has declined. This study aims to analyse the national approach to mental health education in undergraduate nursing programs and provide recommendations to develop an approach to support nursing students to favour mental health nursing as a career choice thus the rebuilding the mental health workforce.
Eileen Petrie
Promoting Inclusivity and Awareness of Deafness Within Tertiary Education.
This project aims to promote inclusive education and decrease barriers for students who may be Deaf, Hard of Hearing, non-Verbal or know Auslan (Australian Sign Language) as their first language; to actively participate at Charles Sturt University as students who are valued and have their learner needs addressed. Select staff in SAHESS & SoE will undertake an Auslan course to integrate into curriculum (where possible) and the delivery of exercise science and education subjects. Thereby, promoting inclusivity and awareness around Deafness within a tertiary education context.
Dr Penelope Larsen
Dr Tegan Hartmann
Dr Ryan Al-Natour
Generative Artificial Intelligence in Learning And Teaching: Exploring Students' Intentions Towards Adopting Artificial Intelligence In A Rural And Regional Tertiary Institution.
"Exploring students' intentions towards adopting artificial intelligence in a rural and regional tertiary institution." This innovative study explores rural student perspectives on their intention to integrate AI into their university study both within and outside of university guidelines. Our study aims to explore aspects of student’s willingness to use AI as well as explore equity of access to both paid and unpaid versions of AI. In addition, aims to increase knowledge on student’s AI use and equitable access as well as provide insights for university stakeholders to make AI an accessible and transformative tool for students regardless of geographical location.
Associate Professor Rachel Kornhaber
Associate Professor Pauletta Irwin
Dr Susan Bragg
Dr Annabel Matheson
Industry-university collaboration to create a faculty-wide, online WIL supervision module.
Faculty of Science and Health (FoSH) work-integrated learning (WIL) placements are widely implemented across a broad range of disciplines including health, agriculture, and environmental science. Quality assurance, including supervisor professional development, is integral to provision of high-quality WIL experiences for students and supervisors. This project aims to address the challenge of providing professional development to large numbers of industry supervisors across a broad range of disciplines through co-creation (with industry) of a WIL placement supervision online module accessible to all FoSH WIL supervisors. WIL partnerships will be strengthened and ultimately WIL experiences enhanced for students and supervisors.
Elyce Green
Narelle Patton
Michelle Eastwood
Shayne Chau
Sue Slater
Louise Lotz
Anna Horn
Rosemary Corrigan
Elise Ryan
Evaluating and Enhancing the Efficacy of the Community-Centered Learning and Teaching Pedagogy in the Engineering Course
The Engineering curriculum employs a community-centered pedagogy, integrating real-world contexts to foster problem-solving skills, cultural competency, and social responsibility. In the first year, students engage in human-centred design while they communicate with clients via a gateway. In the second year, they work on community-sourced projects, delivering prototypes and engaging directly with clients. Subsequently, students embark on placements as cadets, addressing clients’ needs while gaining practical experience. A scholarly project is proposed to evaluate the efficacy of this pedagogy, utilising thematic analysis of interview transcripts from seven cohorts. This endeavour aims to inform and refine the course’s community-centred approach, ultimately cultivating socially responsible engineers with empathy, collaboration, and sustainability at their core.
Dr Miao Li
Dr Saeed Shaeri
Ms Chelsea Kovacs
Psychological Practice in Rural and Remote Australia: Assessing Effectiveness with a Focus on Teaching and Learning Factors
Psychological Practice in Rural and Remote Australia: Assessing Effectiveness with a Focus on Teaching and Learning Factors. This research aims to explore how graduates from Charles Sturt University psychology courses practice in rural/remote/regional (RRR) areas of Australia. The study will establish challenges psychologists face, their needs, and how Charles Sturt's training prepares them for effective work in RRR areas. The findings will provide insights into the experiences of Charles Sturt graduates in RRR areas, shedding light on factors influencing their choice to work. This research will provide implications for improving teaching and learning of professional psychology programmes at Charles Sturt. Understanding of the challenges graduates experience will also contribute to improved L & T and graduate outcomes.
Dr Prasada Podugu
Dr Bianca Spaccavento
Professor Suzanne McLaren
Dr David Harding
Group Learning Contracts as a Tool for Improving Team Dynamics and Learning Outcomes in Medical Radiation Science Education.
Our project aims to explore the impact of group learning contracts on team dynamics, collaboration, and student satisfaction in medical radiation science (MRS) education. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the study involves undergraduate MRS students at Charles Sturt University, who will engage in team-based learning activities, including a group assignment. The research will assess the effectiveness of group learning contracts in enhancing team collaboration, communication, and conflict resolution skills, as well as their influence on students' readiness for the workforce. Anticipated outcomes include improved team dynamics and student experiences, a reduction in anxiety associated with group assignments, and enhanced preparedness for professional challenges.
Clare Singh
Shayne Chau