Over the past two years, Roderick has taught electives for a mix of UG, JD, Master of Law and Master of International, commercial and business law degrees. This cocktail of courses attracts many international students from a range of cultural backgrounds. For this large, growing and diverse cohort, a split class system has been trialled with technology being used to enhance communication, cooperation and interaction.

In other words, bringing back the 'wow' factor by delivering life-changing content, packages and experiences and re-individualising the learning experience for the student.

While various pressures challenge us to water down our delivery and take on bigger cohorts, the aim was to invest in bringing back quality, depth of experience and recognition of the need to enhance the learning journey.

With so many international students and a mix of degrees there has been a particular focus and return to understanding different country cultures and different ways of learning for those students. Ultimately the outcome has been to individualise the experience for the student again so the student is seen, heard and feels like they belong.

These methods of teaching how now been trialled for three semesters. In the last semester reflective feedback was collected from students. There were no marks attached and it was not graded. 87 students out of a cohort of 110 opted to deliver reflective feedback to me. Without exception it was 100% positive and the commentary received from some was quite extraordinary.

This method of delivery continues to evolve and Roderick is now developing the following opportunities:

Maximizing the benefit of the model to be aligned with assessment tasks.
Seeking and obtaining Ethics approval so as to be able to collect and use feedback data from students, leading to writing up the findings and publishing
Advancing the possibility, with discussions already under way, of implementing this model into a first year core law subject.

Please join this workshop to hear from Roderick as he shares his trialled techniques, discuss ideas for improvement and provide the feedback from students. The aim is to show that a positive experience is still on the table for both students and teachers despite the compromising challenges we face daily.

Guest Speakers:

Roderick Smith, is a full-time teaching-focused academic who has taught 28 different subjects across six universities in the last 13 years. At UTS he currently teaches: remedies; intro to property and commercial law; mergers and acquisitions; corporate governance; and deceptive trade practices. Before teaching, Roderick was a solicitor for 22 years, running a boutique practice specialising in commercial litigation, advisory and property development.

Image by Наталья Бойко

Contact the host of 2030 Practice Showcase Series: Making students feel seen and heard using the split class model | 15 September

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