010066 Student Agency and Teamwork
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Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 3 cp
Subject level:
Postgraduate
Result type: Pass fail, no marksRequisite(s): 010060 Teaching for Learning
These requisites may not apply to students in certain courses.
There are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.
Description
In this subject, participants explore how they can enable active and collaborative learning that fosters university degree student agency and teamwork. Drawing on socio-cultural concepts of relational agency, this subject introduces key theoretical building blocks for effective teamwork environments, such as providing choice, fostering initiative and participation. Through reflexive and dialogical approaches, participants devise teaching and learning practices that promote university degree student agency and teamwork opportunities.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
| a). | Examine agency as a social cultural concept |
|---|---|
| b). | Critique teamwork practices to identify fundamental elements that enhance collaborative teamwork |
| c). | Communicate a lesson plan that enables collaborative teamwork |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
This subject engages with the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs), which are tailored to the Graduate Attributes set for all graduates of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.
- Reflexively assess complex issues related to curriculum, assessment and pedagogy, and generate effective scholarly and creative solutions (2.1)
- Support and facilitate inclusive practices that foster respectful engagement with diverse learners and perspectives at a local and global level (3.1)
- Express ideas on teaching and learning to different audiences in a variety of modes (6.1)
Contribution to the development of graduate attributes
This subject addresses the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes:
2. Critical and Creative Inquiry
2.1 Reflexively assess complex issues related to curriculum, assessment and pedagogy, and generate effective scholarly and creative solutions
3. International and Intercultural Engagement
3.1 Support and facilitate inclusive practices that foster respectful engagement with diverse learners and perspectives at a local and global level
6. Effective Communication
6.1 Express ideas on teaching and learning to different audiences in a variety of modes
Teaching and learning strategies
The educational framework of this subject combines reflexivity, dialogue, and teamwork, focusing on the self, others, objects and context to build an interdependent educational relationality.
All modules are self-paced and provide guided asynchronous online activities. Two block sessions provide opportunity to work in teams, with continuous feedback provided verbally, and written comments in online discussions and the assessment. Peer feedback is strongly encouraged as part of the learning activities and is built into the scaffolded assessment process.
Content (topics)
The content of this subject focuses on theoretical and practical concepts of active and collaborative participation of students in teamwork and in the classroom, including key topics: student agency and teamwork - what makes them distinctive, and what are their purposes; how to manage teamwork; the shifting roles of students and teachers; and creating inclusive, agentic learning environments and establishing a sense of shared responsibility for learning. The subject explores learning from a socio-cultural perspective and emphasises collaborative decision-making. Participants also deepen their understanding of the repertoire of active and collaborative online learning tools.
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Group Teamwork Scenario Critique
| Objective(s): | a), b) and c) | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight: | 30% | ||||||||||||||||
| Length: | 500 words, equivalent; maximum 5 mins audio-visual presentation, including an outline and justification of the teaching plan or instruction tool. | ||||||||||||||||
| Criteria linkages: |
SLOs: subject learning objectives CILOs: course intended learning outcomes |
Assessment task 2: Enhanced Teamwork set up (individual task)
| Objective(s): | a), b) and c) | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight: | 70% | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Length: | 1000 words (or equivalent) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Criteria linkages: |
SLOs: subject learning objectives CILOs: course intended learning outcomes |
Required texts
There are no required texts for this subject. Recommended readings will be available via UTS Library and through the subject site.
References
Bertram, G.W. and Celikates, R. 2016. Towards a Conflict Theory of Recognition: On the Constitution of Relations of Recognition in Conflict. European Journal of Philosophy, pp. 1-24, DOI: 10.1111/ejop.12016
Brookfield, S.D. (2012). Teaching for Critical Thinking: Tools and Techniques to Help Students Question their Assumptions. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Clark, M. et al. (2018). Off to On: Best Practices for Online Team-Based Learning, white paper for Team based learning Collaborative (TBLC) conference, San Diego, CA, March 2018. http://www.teambasedlearning.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Off-to-On_OnlineTBL_WhitePaper_ClarkEtal2018_V3.pdf
Hitlin S, Elder GH. (2007). Time, Self, and the Curiously Abstract Concept of Agency. Sociological Theory. 25(2):170-191. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9558.2007.00303.x
Keating, E. (2017). "They blame, they complain but they don't understand: Identity clashes in cross-cultural virtual collaborations. In S. Bagga-Gupta, A. Lyngvaer Hansen, J. Feilberg (Eds.). Identity revisited and reimagined: empirical and theoretical contributions on embodied communication across time and space, pp.225-240. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
Maguire R, Egan A, Hyland P. and Maguire, P. (2017). Engaging students emotionally: the role of emotional intelligence in predicting cognitive and affective engagement in higher education. Higher Education Research and Development ,36(2): 343-357.
Mitra, S. (2021): Does collaborative learning improve student outcomes for underrepresented students?: Evidence from an online bottleneck business course, Journal of Education for Business, DOI: 10.1080/08832323.2021.1908941
Pearson, J. (2020). Assessment of agency or assessment for agency?: a critical realist action research study into the impact of a process folio assessment within UK HE preparatory courses for international students. Educational Action Research, 29(2): 259-275, DOI: 10.1080/09650792.2020.1829496
Riebe, L., Girardi, A. and Whitsed, C. (2017). Teaching teamwork in Australian University Business disciplines: Evidence from a systematic literature review, Issues in Educational Research, 27(1), 134-150.
Seeds for Change (2020) Introduction to consensus decision making: A short guide to collaborative decision-making. https://www.seedsforchange.org.uk/shortconsensus.pdf
Thomson, C.K., Gray, K and Kim, H. (2014). How social are sociomedia technologies (SMTs)? A linguistic analysis of university students' experiences of using STMs for learning. Internet and Higher Education, 21, 31-40.
Zepke, N. and Leach, L. (2010). Improving student engagement: ten proposals for action. Active Learning in Higher Education, 11(3): 167-177.