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Macquarie University Excellence in Education Awards (2006)

Dawn Cable, Dr Elaine Evans, Jen Tindale, Mary Dale, Sue Lubbers, Suzanne Mead – The Language for Professional Communication in Accounting Project

The Language for Professional Communication in Accounting (LPCA) project began as a relatively small initiative in 2002 and has now become fully embedded throughout the Macquarie University’s innovative Master of Accounting degree, the largest postgraduate Accounting course in Australia. The project enables the development of academic and professional communication skills in tandem with disciplinary learning. The project continues to achieve through a committed and collaborative relationship between the Department of Accounting and Finance and NCELTR. The project was initially in response to the needs of students form a non-English speaking background, however the LPCA workshops and other activities have been designed to address the needs of all students within the program the result being that graduates of the Macquarie University postgraduate Accounting program are equipped with the verbal and written skills necessary for success in their vocation. Both teaching staff and students alike can see the positive effects of the LPCA project; the enhancement of student engagement and enjoyment of their Accounting subjects and the high quality of work they are producing. The LPCA project team are to be commended and rewarded for this innovative and incredibly successful initiative.

Lindie Clark, Dr Theresa Winchester-Seeto, Dr Mark Taylor - The Environmental and Life Sciences Work Integrated Learning Project

This Environmental and Life Sciences based project started by acknowledging the benefits of work integrated learning for students as well as the challenges of incorporating such an experience into diverse curricula and programs. This project now plays a central role in the education and lives of a diverse range of students and fosters an ongoing engagement between the Division and a variety of local, national, and in some cases, international industry and government partners. The overarching objectives of the work integrated learning program are to improve student learning and career prospects of the students by the acquisition of industry experience and the exposure to real world contemporary practice. This program gives students a chance to put the discipline specific skills and knowledge acquired at university into practice. Students relish the opportunity to work on meaningful projects within a work environment and appreciate that their work and ideas are valued by the partner organisation. Feedback from students and partner organisations reveal that students’ participation in the Work integrated learning project to be one of the most positive educational experiences of their time at university. The project deserves reward and recognition and is a worthy recipient of the Macquarie University Excellence in Educational Award.

Louella Almeida, A/Prof. Anthony Sloane, Dr Stephen Cassidy – Casual Academic Staff Development Program in Computing

The Department of Computing relies on a large number of casual staff to support its academic program. Recognising the importance of this group to the overall quality of the learning and teaching environment was the catalyst for a program of casual academic staff support and development. The success of the program has led to a number of positive outcomes including the improved teaching quality in all computing units, development of a resources kit and dedicated casual academic staff website as well as better integration and inclusion of the casual academics into the department’s teaching activities. As many of the casual staff are recruited from the department’s postgraduate and undergraduate student bodies, casual teaching is often seen as a very important step in the professional development of future academic staff studying for higher degrees. The program has therefore had the dual effect of supporting and developing the department’s best research students while providing a more stable pool of good teachers for the computing students. The positive impact on casual academic staff and students alike is obvious with students now feeing that their tutorials, run by these casual academics, as having a significant beneficial effect on their learning whereas previously the tutorials had been thought to be lacking in usefulness by the students. The casual staff program has improved the learning environment for both students and staff. Its success is acknowledged by the presentation of the Macquarie University Excellence in Education award.

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