I consider my greatest impact in teaching at UNSW thus far to be in designing a blended learning approach and iteratively implementing  this over the last few years within my discipline.  This approach integrates face-to-face and online teaching and assessment, and increases opportunities for application of concepts to real world scenarios, teamwork and reflection. 

I have been strategically driving this approach in my discipline and have been successful in assisting course convenors in my discipline and in other faculties to blend their courses. The success of this model is evidenced with high student satisfaction.  A recent discipline review identified these courses as scoring significantly higher in MyExperience (and previously CATEI) than other discipline courses (External Review of Anatomy, UNSW). Following implementation, tutors reported students were more engaged and interested in learning activities and in the content. Students also participated in more meaningful discussions on the application of concepts to functional and clinical contexts.  

This approach has been presented at UNSW Connection Seminars, national and international conferences, and has also formed the basis of my Vice Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence in 2015. My leadership is evidenced in that my blended courses was used as an exemplar for the Faculty’s implementation of the blended learning project in 2013, is currently showcased in the UNSW Blended Case Studies project, and as a case study in the Foundations of University Learning and Teaching (FULT) program. I have also contributed my expertise to faculty-wide blended learning project by serving actively on the Medicine Blended Learning Steering Committee in 2015-2017 and have led the development of the Teaching Technology Toolkit for academic development that is useful in assisting academics develop a blended approach: https://teachingtools.med.unsw.edu.au/

Teaching strategies 

Face-to-face teaching: I am genuinely excited that students should see anatomy as a subject that is alive and relevant.  I transformed face-to‐face sessions into activities that scaffold students in inquiry‐driven tasks. For example, in ANAT2451, I designed selected face-to‐face activities to allow students to spend more time in peer-discussion using activities such as muscle testing, movement analysis and joint stability. These sessions also incorporate media clips reporting sport injuries, to provide authentic contexts in which to explore the course content. This has only been possible because I created online content for fundamental concepts that are accessed before class to ensure effective blended learning. In every activity, I include clinical and functional relevance, and correlations with medical imaging, health, biomechanics or biomedical applications. Students comment that the application exercises motivate them to learn: ‘she makes us think about ‘whys’. clinical cases make stuff easier to understand – makes her lectures interesting too cos its not just things you read in the text’ (ANAT2451 student, 2012); ‘very patient and relaxed lecturer…allows information to sink in. I liked the surgery videos she uses’ (ANAT2451 student, 2012) and ‘best labs…because she tells us why it is important to know things as she goes. makes it easier to learn’ (ANAT2511 student, 2013).  

Encouraging dialogue: In anatomy, cadaver resources are the best tools for learning (equivalent to primary source documents). I encourage students to explore these resources at every opportunity and to find answers to questions from exploration and troubleshooting. In laboratory sessions, for example, I often respond to questions by posing another question and working with the learner to find the solution or answer the question. I believe this approach models a way to think through issues and helps students develop problem-solving skills. This method of engaging students is well received and over the years, CATEI comments have confirmed this, including: ‘interactive teaching style which actually requires students to think for themselves’ (ANAT3121 student, 2009); ‘she always asks questions to help students to think – great teaching skill’ (ANAT3121 student, 2009); and ‘she provides ‘first-hand’ learning experience – makes us use visual, auditory, personal experience’ (ANAT2451, 2012).  

Incorporating teaching innovations 

Body painting: I continually seek to improve the student learning experience and to embrace innovation and advances that stimulate learning in anatomy. I use a combination of blended learning and ‘flipped classroom’ approaches. In 2011-2016 in a session on neurovascular anatomy, I designed a simple but powerful ‘flipped’ activity with body painting. I incorporated body painting to conceptualise nerve pathways and to problem solve the effect of disruption of these pathways by injury or disease. Student’s uptake and engagement in this activity was very positive and exceeded my expectations. Students (from ANAT2451 and ANAT3141) commented that: ‘this was the most fun I have had learning in a long time’; ‘best thing I did at uni this year’; ‘made anatomy real’; and one unsolicited email (ANAT2451 student 2013): ‘I am really enjoying this course. Thanks for this mornings lab – it was so much fun. I was finding the brachial plexus too much but after drawing it on [XX] I don’t think I will forget it easily. Also seeing it made it more clear to me why I was studying the course of the nerves’. I also introduced a ‘hand glove’ (a specially designed glove made of stretchable fabric that aligns with the anatomy of the wearer).  In this activity students wear the glove and draw on the muscle attachments.  From this they then move the hand to work out the muscle function and the biomechanics of hand movement.    This has had similar positive feedback.