Teaching and Learning
Our great educators organised the following events for lecturers and students which were all very well received:
- Acting Skills Workshop for Lecturers
- Education Research Workshop
- Residential Indigenous Science Experience (RISE) Student Program
Acting Skills Workshop for Lecturers: The workshop for lecturers was held at the VCA on Thursday December 8th and Friday December 9th, 9.30am-4.30pm. Associate Professor Tony Hughes from the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics attended the workshop and provided the following comments on his experience:
"I just came back from a two day actor training methods course with fellow academics from the School of Biomedical Sciences, and will never be able to look at those colleagues in the same way again. Perhaps I had better explain…
The course is run by Anna McCrossin-Owen and Rinske Ginsberg from the VCA, who skillfully guided, challenged and provoked us to explore our kinespheres and engage our resonators. With a nod and a wink, we found ourselves speaking volumes without uttering a word, we magically became taller and wider, we sped up and slowed down on command and even took a walk to the war memorial at Woy Woy. Feedback forthcoming from teachers and peers gave Gary a new home position on stage, forced Fred to emphasise his gallic consonants and even made me, somehow, inhabit an epic body!
We laughed, cheered and even cried together. As I farewelled each of my colleagues by gazing unerringly into their eyes and, with a firm handshake, thanking them for their work – actors do a lot of this, apparently! – I knew that I couldn't wait to get back to the Sunderland, or the Wright Theatre.
Now when I pass one of my compatriots in the corridor, we will acknowledge the secrets we learnt about performance development. With a nod and a wink, perhaps!"
The 2 day program provided a focused opportunity to learn powerful fundamental vocal and physical techniques in order to develop the capacity to command and effect students’ attention, achieve greater clarity of expression and apply those techniques to maximum effect in a range of teaching contexts. If your are interested in attending future workshops please contact Jenny Hayes j.hayes@unimleb.edu.au or Rosa McCarty rmccarty@unimelb.edu.au.
SBS Education Research Workshop: On December 1st and 2nd, Dr Heather Verkade and Dr Terry Mulhern ran the second annual workshop for the SBS Education Research Group with 17 attendees from across the School and the Faculty. The focus was on how to progress a career in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. The workshop contained talks from Associate or full Professors who are teaching specialists, a very lively session in which SBS staff gave research progress reports, and a session for workshopping new education research projects.
Residential Indigenous Science Experience (RISE) Student Program: The Department of Physiology, with the help of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, hosted 50 RISE students in an interactive session about the human cardiovascular system. Students enjoyed 'clicker' response trivia, learned how to measure each others blood pressure, and recorded their own ECGs in the "doctor for a day" practical workshop. Thanks to Charles, Angelina, Val, Andrew, Leon and Iza.