Learning Guides

The University has introduced Learning Guides to enhance the student experience by making clear to students what they are expected to learn and how they will be assessed.

The Unit Outline and Learning Guides policy is not intended to impose a rigid content template. While Learning Guides are required to cover certain topics, staff are not constrained in how they address these topics. This flexibility accounts for the different learning and assessment requirements of different disciplines, course units and student cohorts.

There are a number of suggested methods listed below, to assist you in developing your Learning Guide. They include:

1. A template based example
2. The Student Learning Unit Toolkit
3. Sample Learning Guides already created by fellow Academic staff
4. Referring to the UWS Assessment Guide

Template
Michelle Cull, Dean’s Unit, College of Business, has developed a template (MS Word, 164Kb) to assist staff in the process of developing their Learning Guides. Staff will still need to customise the template to suit their unit and assessment tasks. The major headings meet the requirements of the Unit Outline and Learning Guides policy.

Preparing students for learning through written assessment: A toolkit for Learning Guides
This booklet (PDF, 3.15MB) demonstrates how Learning Guides can be used to support students in achieving the standards of learning and writing expected in higher education. Examples cover student-friendly methods of explaining learning expectations, the use of annotated models to improve student academic writing, and ways to refer students to academic literacy and/or numeracy resources and workshops. These have been drawn from sample Learning Guides and related authentic teaching resources to guide staff in addressing particular mandatory content areas listed in the Unit Outline and Learning Guides policy.

Sample Learning Guides
A number of sample Learning Guides are included below for your referral. These are excellent examples and can be used as exemplars for all new Learning Guides required for 100 and 400 level units in 2009. These exemplars are not the authoritative guide but more a suggested way to implement Learning Guides.

101428 - Multiliteracies (PDF, 284Kb)
This Learning Guide was developed by Leonie Arthur, Roslyn Elliott, Clare Power and Mona Shreshta, with support from the Student Learning Unit. This unit has a particular emphasis on making learning and assessment requirements explicit to students and on developing academic writing. The emphasis on academic writing may not be appropriate for all units.

200101 - Accounting Information for Managers (PDF, 377Kb)
This Learning Guide was developed by the project team, comprising of Rada Massingham (project leader), Dr Philip Ross and Jean McCartney, and supported by Paul Macmullen (consultant). The Learning Guide contains some excellent examples of how to make the expectations around learning in the unit explicit to students. The information related to assessment criteria and standards was not required at the time this Guide was developed and will be included in future versions.

XXXXXX - Writing in Education (PDF, 126Kb)
This sample Learning Guide meets most of the requirements of the Learning Guide policy. It is fairly short but could be expanded in future years to include other activities that support the learning outcomes of the unit. In a revised version the assessment criteria would include standards to meet the requirements of the assessment policy.

101366 - Interpersonal Interaction (PDF, 252Kb)
This Learning Guide was developed by Dr Tim Griffin from the School of Social Sciences. The content satisfies the mandatory content required of the policy and is an example of a unit that looks at the importance of interpersonal interaction in personal and work life.

Assessment Guide
When developing a Learning Guide, you may wish to refer to the UWS Assessment Guide (PDF, 3.01MB). This Guide was developed by the Teaching Development Unit in consultation with a range of UWS academic staff already using criteria and standards assessment. The Guide, together with other initiatives supporting the implementation of the Assessment policy, will assist staff to review and improve their assessment practices. Information on assessment criteria and standards can be found in the Guide.