Apply for the Educational Innovation Awards 2023

Have you implemented a learning, teaching, or assessment design change in 2023 that has improved students’ learning experience?  Is it something that others can implement?  

Share your experience in the inaugural University-wide Educational Innovation showcase and be in the running for an Educational Innovation award. It’s a great chance for your educational innovations to be recognised across the institution.  

The submission process is designed to be as light as possible:  

1. Addressing one of the strategic initiatives below, reflect on something you’ve done to improve your students’ learning experience  
2. Record a short video (maximum 5 minutes). 
3. Submit your video 

Submissions

We welcome submissions from unit coordinators, tutors, designers, lecturers, educational support, and anyone else working in teaching, learning, and assessment at the University of Sydney. 

We’d like you to record a short, relaxed five-minute video outlining what you did and what impact this had for your students. 

We recommend that you write down some talking points in dot point format. This should focus on:  

• Who are your learners? What was the context?
• What aspect(s) of the student learning experience were you trying to improve? How did this align with at least one of four of the Teaching and Learning Strategy initiatives (below)?
• What impact has your project/work had on students and others?
• What evidence can you provide to demonstrate this?
• How could this be adopted in other units of study?

Teaching and learning strategy initiatives

Involve students as citizens of their own lifelong learning journey

Examples: 

1. The inclusion of students as partners in the participatory design and review of resources, units, programs, and curriculum. 
2. Fostering the role that students themselves play in developing as resilient lifelong learners.
3. Student-led initiatives that contribute to a culture of learning, belonging and integrity.

Deliver effective blended learning experiences to maximise engagement and outcomes

Examples: 

1. The redevelopment of large classes, including lectures, through the design of interactive and collaborative activities which build belonging and connection between students and between students and teachers.
2. Incorporation of fit-for-purpose technologies that encourage and support personal interaction and connection.
3. The identification of barriers to learning across units and the design of activities which develop alternative modes of engagement for all students.

Transform assessment and feedback practices

Examples: 

1. Design of assessment for learning which privilege the assessment of the process of learning rather than the product and which integrate authentic and contemporary technologies (such as artificial intelligence).
2. Replacement of examination style assessments with tasks that have stronger connections with disciplinary, workplace, and students’ personal goals.
3. Development of assessment and feedback models that enable staged and scaffolded development of students’ skills and knowledge.
4. Consolidation of the types of assessments to reduce fragmentation and better enable program-level and year-level review and coordination.

Use data and insights meaningfully to enhance student learning

Examples:

1. Use of appropriate tools such as SRES to personalise student learning and support.
2. Use of actionable data to proactively support students, including those at risk of failing.

How can I apply?

Your application will be a short video, maximum 5 minutes.

1. Prepare some tabs in your browser to show the key screens that support your points. You don’t need to make a PowerPoint – we’d prefer you talk to the camera and voiceover some browser tabs so everyone can see what you have created.
2. Share your screen via Zoom (or other screen-recording software, like Canvas Studio) and start recording. See how you can record to cloud from Zoom. You can use your preferred online platform when sharing your video with us, provided we can access your video via a link. If you’re unsure which online platform to share your video from, you can upload your video to Canvas Studio and create a link to share it with us. 
3. Don’t worry about editing the video – your submission does not need to have a high production value. We are celebrating your teaching not your ability to make videos.  

Because we would like to elevate great teaching and design at the University, we ask permission to make your video publicly available. We will work with you to blur out any student details before this happens, so don’t worry about doing this for your submission.  

Videos must be 5 minutes or shorter in length. We encourage team applications. 

The closing date is Friday 27th October 2023 5pm Australian Eastern Daylight Time. 

Applicants will be invited to a morning tea and screening to celebrate their submissions.

For any questions, contact Aaron Baird at [email protected].