Diversity Guidelines for Courses and Subjects

Introduction

UTS has a diverse student and staff community which reflects the diversity of Australian society and brings with it valuable understandings of different cultures and perspectives.

The Diversity Guidelines are based on the following key principles for responding to, valuing and encouraging students to learn from diversity in their courses and subjects:

• Diversity is the norm at UTS and includes differences of language, cultural background, gender, sexuality, age, attendance pattern, family responsibility, socio-economic status, religion, and ability.
• Educational practices that respond to and value diversity are usually good practices for all students. Clarity of goals, objectives and assessment processes, variety in teaching and assessment practices and a focus on helping students to learn are simply good practice.
• All students benefit from developing their understanding of different cultures and perspectives, to enable them to live and work as professionals in a diverse and increasingly globalised society.

Guidelines for courses

Courses that value diversity are designed to be inclusive of all students and offer all students opportunities to develop their awareness of different cultures and perspectives. These courses enable sufficient flexibility and choice in structure, curriculum, modes of teaching and assessment to acknowledge and value differences in students' backgrounds and experiences, and provide opportunities for all students to develop the attributes expected of course graduates. The following case studies are examples of good practice.

1. Course structure, content and objectives

1.1 Course teams consider developing course structures and modes of offering which permit students to complete their courses through a range of attendance patterns and pathways.

1.2 Course design and content foster the valuing of diversity and encourage students to develop awareness of international, multicultural, gender, indigenous and other perspectives.

1.3 Communication and other lifelong learning skills, including oral communication, writing, reading and information technology skills, are explicitly built into the objectives and teaching and learning processes of the course as a whole and integrated into appropriate subjects.

1.4 Students have explicit opportunities early in the course to learn about the academic language, culture and conventions of their discipline(s), and where possible of interdisciplinary fields. This includes explicit teaching and modelling of higher order academic skills such as critical thinking and analysis, as well as developing students' awareness of disciplinary conventions for writing styles, citation and referencing.

1.5 Learning aims and objectives are made clear to students, to enable them to know what is important in the course and how different subjects contribute to the achievement of these aims.

1.6 Students have access to sufficient information about the aims, content, teaching methods and assessment of course options and electives to enable them to make informed choices about major strands and elective subjects.

2. Teaching practices across the course as a whole

2.1 There is a wide variety of teaching practices across the course as a whole, to ensure that all students have opportunities to experience different teaching and learning contexts.

3. Assessment practices across the course as a whole

3.1 Within the course taken as a whole there is a broad diversity of different types of assessment, which together enable students to develop the attributes expected of graduates and allow students to gain appropriate feedback on their progress. Where possible, students have some choice in the type or weighting of assessment tasks.

4. Student academic and personal support

4.1 Opportunities are provided both inside and outside classes for students to get to know each other and develop peer support networks early in the course.

4.2 Contact details for student support services are made available to students regularly throughout the course and in a variety of ways, for example at orientations, in subject outlines, at Faculty Information counters, and as links from course web pages.

5. Course evaluation and review processes

5.1 Course teams regularly collect evaluation materials which enable them to reflect on the extent to which the course responds to and values student diversity and provides opportunities for success for all students. These evaluation materials and reflections are routinely included in course dossiers and review materials.

5.2 Course teams identify existing practices which respond to and value diversity and practices which encourage students to learn from diverse cultures and perspectives and work towards continual enhancement of such practices throughout the course.

6. Staff and contextual issues

6.1 Within the Faculty or School as a whole, there is acceptance of and encouragement for student and staff research which focuses on diversity issues and comparative approaches.

6.2 Academic and general staff have access to and are encouraged to participate in staff development activities which focus on responding to and valuing diversity.

6.3 Academic and general staff are aware of the role of support services available within the University, for example, ELSSA, Maths Learning Centre, Academic Liaison Officers, Student Association, Student Services.

Last administrative update: December 2005