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Swinburne University of Technology Cycle 2 AUQA audit portfolio Page 27
4 Professional Learning at Swinburne
4.1 Introduction
Swinburne aims to be recognised ‘…for its flexible approaches to learning and teaching
that create an engaging, stimulating and modern environment in which students can learn
in different ways and in different places to achieve their desired outcomes’ (Statement of
Direction 2015). To achieve such recognition, the University has embarked on an ambitious
curriculum renewal process to provide:
w ‘student-centred learning’ – providing orientation and transition support to incoming
students from diverse backgrounds and cultures, offering flexibility and choice plus
opportunities for accelerated and intersectoral study, and providing professional outcomes
and career skills within a quality-assured teaching framework that includes a mix of faceto-face
and online resources and support
w ‘real world learning’ – experiential approaches to learning, set in an international context
and informed by educational scholarship, industry input and research, to equip graduates
for mainstream and entrepreneurial careers as independent, lifelong learners who
understand social and environmental contexts
This renewal is being undertaken within a five-year Curriculum Framework Project that
commenced in 2005, and it is an example of Swinburne’s ADRI QA model in practice. Relevant
metrics, together with the findings of reviews and surveys, indicated that, while education at
Swinburne was of high quality, graduate employment rates were lower than desirable and the
changing nature of the student cohort necessitated greater flexibility in delivery to maintain
engagement.
The Curriculum Framework Project was developed as a broad-ranging response to address
these and other educational issues. Focused on six curriculum areas (Table 4.1), it covers all
undergraduate programs.
Table 4.1 – Key curriculum areas within Swinburne’s Curriculum Framework Project
CUrrICULUm AreA brOAd ObjeCTIve
Career-oriented learning To improve career skills and employment prospects.
’Real-world’ learning To integrate real-world contexts with theory, through classroom teaching.
Widening learning opportunities To increase flexibility, choice, acceleration and intersectoral opportunities.
Learning for a changing world To internationalise the learning environment and integrate
entrepreneurship and innovation with an awareness of social difference
and cultural diversity into students’ learning opportunities.
Pathways into research To provide research pathways and experience for undergraduates.
Learning to learn To review current teaching practice, program structures, and approaches
to orientation and transition, thus to encourage deep and lifelong learning
and accommodate a range of student backgrounds and learning styles.
Further sources
Curriculum Framework Project
www.swinburne.edu.au/hed/
framework/