Revolutionising the First Year Learning Experience with Collaborative, Systemic and Systematic Learning Design
Victoria University (VU) is a dual sector
University with a mission of, ‘opportunity and success for any student from any
background’ based in Western Melbourne. Since its establishment in 1916, the
University has grown from a single technical school of 220 students, to an
organisation with over 30,000 students across nine campuses.
With a culturally diverse population of
students and staff from a wide range of backgrounds, VU has a powerful moral
purpose to provide vocational and higher education that transforms the lives of
students and the communities it serves. As a result the University is reinventing the first year of university, with an
Australian-first program designed to provide additional support, encourage
flexibility, and improve student engagement and retention.
Called the ‘Block Model’
the approach steps away from the traditional university structure of teaching
four units at a time over a three or four-month semester, to teaching one unit
at a time in intensive four-week blocks.
Ahead of the Learning
Designer’s Summit 2019 we chat with Professor Ian
Solomonides, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic and Students) at VU about the
opportunities, benefits and challenges of transforming traditional learning structures
and student experience through systematic learning design initiatives.
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