In 2012, Associate Professor Angela Carbone was awarded a National Senior Teaching Fellowship by the Australian Government Office for Learning & Teaching (OLT). This fellowship, entitled Developing Excellence in Learning and Teaching through a Peer Assisted Teaching Scheme, will draw on the 2010 ALTC Teaching Fellowship – Peer Assisted Teaching Scheme, as well as the CADAD-funded program of the same name.
The overarching goal of the national fellowship is, by adapting PATS, to contribute to the development of a culture within the Australian higher education sector of valuing and enhancing the quality of the curriculum and therefore the student learning experience. In doing so, it addresses itself towards the national discourse on standards in learning and teaching that has been subject to increasing emphasis from both government and institutions in recent years and in particular the plans, practices and policies of faculties to support teaching standards.
With the expanding numbers of sessional staff, a move towards education focused positions, a widening student participation from lower SES backgrounds, and computing advances rising from Web 2.0 technologies, higher education institutions will require better support for capacity building and mentoring to develop curriculum excellence.
The key questions for the program are:
- What support is available to enhance curriculum and teaching quality?
- How do faculty plans and processes align with national teaching standards, in particular the Teaching Standards Framework developed at Macquarie University?
- How can the Peer Assisted Teaching Scheme be adapted to enhance the curriculum and improve teaching quality across a variety of contexts?
The Fellow is supported and guided by a program Reference Group comprising the following individuals:
| Prof Roger Hadgraft | ALTC Discipline Scholar | RMIT |
| Ms Sally Rogan | National PASS Convenor | University of Wollongong |
| Prof Sally Kift | DVC (Academic) | James Cook University |
| A/Prof Mark Freeman | ALTC Discipline Scholar | Sydney University |
| Prof Jane Long | DVC (Academic) | La Trobe University |
| E/Prof Alan Robson | Chair, HE Standards Panel | University of WA |
| Mr Paul Denny | University of Auckland, NZ | |
| A/Prof Arnold Pears | University of Uppsala, Sweden | |
| Mr Ben Knight | Student Association | Monash University |
| Dr Dora Constantinides | Sessional staff | Monash University |
| A/Prof Ian Solomonides | External evaluator | Macquarie University |
| Dr Peter Coolbear | Critical friend | Ako Aotearoa, c/o Massey University, NZ |