Opportunities at the University of Auckland

The University'sGuidelines for Effective Teaching notes that academics with teaching responsibility must frequently review their teaching skills and undertake professional development aimed at enhancing their teaching capacity. The University provides apolicy document on academic staff development.

The Centre for Academic Development (CAD) takes a leading role in enabling new and more experienced teachers to develop their teaching practice through the provision of professional development programmes and activities related to teaching and supervision for academic staff at various stages of their career. 

The Academic Practice Group at the CAD holds regular workshops to facilitate professional development on all aspects of teaching and learning both generic and discipline specific. Activities for academic staff range from short courses and workshops on all aspects of teaching and learning to a two year certificate in academic practice.

The Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice, a credit bearing programme run over the course of two years, explores tertiary teaching, related methodological issues, and the applicability of teaching theory to practice.  If you are new to teaching or supervision, the university strongly encourages you to attend the relevant workshops facilitated by the academic practice group. For general enquiries or more information on enrolment contact the Academic Practice Group.

At Faculty level, both the Centre for Medical and Health Sciences Education (CMHSE) and the Learning Technology Unit (LTU) run workshops, research meetings and seminars on various topics throughout the academic year. The CMHSE also offers postgraduate qualifications in clinical teaching which for teachers involved in clinical education may be an alternative to the CAD postgraduate programme. Within the Schools, a number of educational courses and programmes are also provided which may be more discipline or profession specific.

Beyond the University

Other ways of staying up to date with teaching practices include being involved with educational projects (particularly those working collaboratively between institutions, countries or professions) and attending educational conferences or subject or profession specific conferences and meetings with an education focus. Increasingly, health professional education is moving towards sharing practice across professions and working interprofessionally. Finally, reading subject discipline or educational books and journals is helpful to keep in touch with new ideas, innovations and practices in your own subject area and more widely. This may lead you to engage in the scholarship of teaching.

Lorraine Stefani, Director of the Centre for Academic Development talks about ways staff can stay up to date with academic practice:Click to play the video (requires Flash Player).

Has a lot of information on many aspects of teaching and learning including teaching and learning practices, assessment and evaluation.

ANZAME  -The Association for Health Professional Education

ANZAME produce a bulletin, a journal and run an annual conference.

Association for Medical Education in Europe

The Association for Medical Education in Europe is a worldwide organisation with members in 90 countries on five continents. Members include educators, researchers, administrators, curriculum developers, assessors and students in medicine and the healthcare professions.

AMEE organises an annual conference and delivers courses on teaching, assessment and research skills for teachers in medicine and the healthcare professions. AMEE produces the journal Medical Teacher, a series of education guides, occasional papers and Best Evidence Medical Education guides and the online information resource MedEdCentral.

Assocation for the Study of Medical Education

ASME is  draws its members from all areas of medical education - undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing - and from all specialties. It has a function as a forum for debate and exchange of information, and is building on its contacts in medicine and teaching in the UK and among other networks, to promote knowledge and expertise in medical education.

Australian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ascilite)

The strategic aim of ascilite is to be a sustainable and vibrant society that encourages and supports quality research into, and exemplary use of technologies for teaching and learning in tertiary education throughout Australasia. ascilite also publishes the Australian Journal of Educational Technology (AJET), a journal for research into the use of technologies in teaching and learning.

The Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia

The Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia is a scholarly society for people committed to the advancement of higher and tertiary education. It promotes the development of higher education policy, practice and the study of teaching and learning.

	If you need to log in: FMHS staff - log in with NetID/UPI. Registration is not required. Affiliated members, e.g. clinical teachers who don't have NetID, can register for an account after clicking 'Login'. What is myEportfolio? Questions regarding access

How can I stay up to date with teaching theory and practice?

“A teaching philosophy can help you to reflect on how and why you teach. If you don’t have a teaching philosophy, you might want to consider writing one. You can take a look at What makes a good teacher? to get started. If you already have a teaching philosophy, you might want to reflect on how the work that you are doing here fits with that philosophy”.