Embedding academic skills

Academic skills are those skills that allow students to be successful in their studies. Many of these skills sit on a continuum with graduate skills, which will allow our students to be successful employees and citizens.

Academic skills can be grouped in a variety of ways, but include:

Information literacy is another important skill for success.

Academic skill development in your teaching

Student academic skills can be developed in a variety of ways. The most effective way is through explicit development of your teaching linked with assessment. This development does not have to mean extra work for you, rather is designed to build student success and build towards the development of some graduate qualities.

Information flyers

Refer to http://www.usq.edu.au/learnteach/learnres/infoflyers.htm

• Using Academic Learning Support (ALS) in your teaching

USQ exemplars of good practice

Video resources

• Visiting scholar Dr John Willison: Research Skills Development (RSD) framework and examples for academic skills development, seminar, interview and online resources
  Refer to http://www.usq.edu.au/learnteach/learnres/vsarchive/default.htm

• Templates for communication skill development (essay structure, grammar and style, oral presentations, paragraphs, question analysis, reading at university, referencing, report writing)

Resources for students

The Learning Centre (http://www.usq.edu.au/learningcentre/default.htm) provides a suite of online and face-to-face resources, which you can refer students to or incorporate in your teaching. Especially useful are:

• Quick tips flyers (http://www.usq.edu.au/learningcentre/tips.htm)

• Online resources (http://www.usq.edu.au/learningcentre/alsonline/default.htm)
  

Contact LTSU academic skills staff in each faculty. (http://www.usq.edu.au/learnteach/ltsu/contact+.htm)

See: http://www.usq.edu.au/learnteach/topics/embedacad.htm

Embedding indigenous perspectives at USQ

Embedding Indigenous perspectives may include the following:

• teaching Indigenous students in culturally appropriate ways

• ‘both ways’ education in which non-Indigenous students study Indigenous knowledge and, through a meeting of these knowledge systems, facilitate their professional practice in Indigenous communities. Refer to http://livingknowledge.anu.edu.au/html/educators/07_bothways.htm

• weaving references to Indigenous perspectives throughout a course or a program. For example, provide students with statistical tables of Indigenous health or education outcomes, then provide them with questions that interrogate the statistical data

• ensuring that discipline-specific Indigenous perspectives are included in the curriculum For example, surveyors will need an understanding of Indigenous land rights

• developing Indigenous-specific courses or programs.

Embedding Indigenous perspectives in your discipline or program provides students with the opportunity to develop intercultural skills which allows them to graduate with the quality of global citizenship.

The Learning and Teaching Support Unit supports program teams to embed Indigenous perspectives in their program or discipline through the following:

Information flyers

Refer to http://www.usq.edu.au/learnteach/learnres/infoflyers.htm

• Embedding Indigenous perspectives at USQ

• Indigenous Protocols

Video resources

Refer to http://www.usq.edu.au/learnteach/learnres/vsarchive/default.htm

• Visiting scholar Phillip Falk powerpoint presentation and interview

• Visiting scholars Wendy Nolan and Rob Ranzijn seminar

• Interview with Ms Louise Alexander (Education Queensland), and Ms Rhonda Hagan (USQ)

Blog

Refer to http://www.usq.edu.au/learnteach/learnres/blogarc.htm

• Embedding Indigenous perspectives

Other resources

• Refer to http://www.usq.edu.au/learnteach/topics/indig/default.htm

• Darling Downs South West Queensland Region - Regional Indigenous Education – The Learning Place

Internationalisation of USQ curricula

USQ aims to adopt a rigorous and ongoing university-wide process to internationalise the curriculum. This aim is reflected in USQ Graduate Qualities and Skills Policy by the quality of global citizenship.

The process of internationalising USQ curricula includes the integration of global perspectives and intercultural skills into the design, development and evaluation of programs and disciplines. For example, an internationalised curriculum could include:

• comparative studies that provide global reference points for disciplinary or professional knowledge

• teaching and assessing students’ understanding of international and intercultural issues that are relevant to their professions

• using intercultural communication strategies as part of our own teaching practice

• teaching and assessing students’ intercultural communication skills.
  

Internationalisation is linked to the following project areas:

• Graduate qualities and skills

• Post evaluation and evaluation of programs and courses

• Benchmarking
  

The Learning and Teaching Support Unit supports programs or disciplines to design and implement any aspect of internationalising curricula through the following:

Information flyers

Refer to http://www.usq.edu.au/learnteach/learnres/infoflyers.htm

• Internationalisation of USQ programs

• The Bologna process: implications for USQ programs and practice

• Strategies for managing an inter-cultural classroom

Workshops

Intercultural training - Managing your intercultural classroom

Other resources

Internationalisation of the curriculum and resources
http://www.usq.edu.au/learnteach/topics/internat.htm