In what has been a tough year for everyone at Macquarie and the higher education sector more broadly, 2021 has been a very productive year at TECHE. It’s always worth celebrating wins and I thought it was worth sharing some of our “Best Hits” from 2021 (there really should be a music soundtrack to this).
Firstly, I would like to acknowledge all the staff who make TECHE what it is. Without the contributions from staff across the University, the TECHE blog would not exist. A big shout out to staff for taking the time to draft articles whether that be related to your teaching practice, a new innovation you have implemented in the classroom or providing practical advice for staff regarding learning and teaching. Secondly, I would like to thank our subscribers who receive the highlights email every fortnight (if you have yet to subscribe you can do so on the TECHE subscribe page) for engaging with TECHE by reading the articles or leaving a comment each week.
We are particularly grateful for all the contributions received from teaching staff in Faculties/Offices, and hope that you will continue to contribute to TECHE in 2022. Special shout out to those staff who agreed to be interviewed in our “Spotlight on Practice” series which we hope to continue in the New Year to promote your teaching practice.
TECHE “BEST HITS” of 2021
- The highest number of visits to the site in any year (in its current edition). For all the data lovers out there, I couldn’t help but share the analytics* from TECHE over the last 4 years. We have seen the highest number of visitors to the Blog this year and we still have December to go so this is a great achievement for us.
- 191 articles published in 2021^ – thanks to you (and we still have a few more to come!).
- The TOP TEN articles by number of views is listed below. Not surprisingly the engaging ideas on Zoom article was the most popular as we moved teaching online in Session 2. The articles regarding exams were also very popular so it appears the practical articles are resonating with academics which we will continue to provide in the future!
| View count | Article name | Author |
|---|---|---|
| 744 views | 4 ideas for more engaging Zoom lessons | Olga Kozar |
| 700 views | Preparing final assessments | Mathew Hillier |
| 642 views | Online exam cheating or just confusion? | Mathew Hillier |
| 635 views | Get excited for a sneak peek at our brand-new active learning spaces | Learning and Teaching Staff Development |
| 594 views | Exam preparation resources for staff – all in one place | Mathew Hillier |
| 587 views | Assessment policy brief: changes to appeal grounds and late submission penalties | Mathew Hillier |
| 549 views | Accessible online learning for all: automatic transcripts now available in Echo360 | Amanda Parker |
| 542 views | Summative peer review of teaching. What might it look like at MQ? | Learning and Teaching Staff Development |
| 482 views | Interested in professional development for teaching? We’ve got you covered! | Learning and Teaching Staff Development |
| 480 views | What is the process for Session 1 2021 exams? | Mathew Hillier |
We published several “series of articles” in 2021, including the following:
- Sean Brawley’s Curriculum Lifecycle Framework – a series of articles outlining the new quality assurance, enhancement and improvement processes for units and courses at Macquarie.
- Assessment Policy Brief – a series of articles highlighting the changes to the revised Assessment Policy that was implemented on 1 July 2021.
- Spotlight on Practice (the sequel) to last year’s successful series profiling staff and their teaching practice.
- Agnes Bosanquet’s Reflection series “Over a Cuppa” which prompted staff to reflect on their learning and teaching practice in the amount of time it takes to make and drink your hot beverage of choice!
- Meet the Team – a series of articles where we introduced the new teams in the central learning and teaching portfolio following the workplace change that occurred in early 2021.
- iLearn Insights – a series of articles highlighting developments in iLearn Insights to support staff to engage their students in iLearn.
We are always keen to explore ideas for series of articles so please reach out to teche@mq.edu.au if you have an idea for a series and happy to consider this for 2022.
- Ongoing social media engagement via the TECHE Twitter account with over 1200 followers (OK, not quite a Kim Kardashian-level following but very grateful for everyone who has liked or retweeted one of our tweets in 2021!).
The above encapsulates a few of the best hits from my perspective (its obviously highly subjective) as the current TECHE Editor. If you have any highlights from TECHE please leave a comment below – we would love to hear your thoughts.
Finally, I would also like to thank my colleagues who play an integral role in running TECHE. Alexandra Velleley, Asimo Krizan & Carla Mirabilio (from the Operations team) and Karina Luzia & Kylie Coaldrake (from the Learning and Teaching Staff Development team) – you are all amazing and am grateful for your passion and dedication to TECHE. I am grateful for your hard work, support, ideas and feedback regarding TECHE every week!
On that note I wish all our readers a happy and safe holiday season. We will be back in 2022 with more articles that continue to share, recognise and celebrate good practice in learning and teaching. See you on the other side!
Notes
*Data as at 22 November 2022
^ Articles published as at 26 November 2022
Image: Courtesy of Shutterstock
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