MEMO
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CRICOS Provider No. 00120C
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TO: CASS academic staff
(through Heads of School)
FROM: Deborah Veness
DATE: February 2013
SUBJECT: Lecturing as Performance
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The Lecturing as Performance course, facilitated by Ms Amanda Burrell of Captivus, will be run in CASS for the first time in 2013. This course is designed to improve participants’ presentation and lecturing skills. It works as well for university teachers and conference presenters as it does for industry-based executives nervous about public speaking. The course provides each participant with insights, practical tasks, and individual feedback. It includes a survey to establish the needs of each participant, a benchmark observation of the staff member ‘in performance mode’ (i.e. teaching or presenting) against a specially-designed Performative Index, followed by a tailored program of experiential content, relaxation, breathing, voice, and performance drills, video feedback, observation and feedback sessions, and motivational materials.
Ms Burrell has worked with ANU academics previously, in other Colleges. Feedback from those participants was enthusiastic.
· [The course] showed me that there are techniques that can be learnt to improve performance – even if you aren’t naturally inclined to performance, you can still improve substantially.
· Amanda taught the course in a practical way. The techniques I learnt are easy to apply to different class settings. She also inspired me to think about many matters I had not thought about before. The course also helped me to build up a network with other colleagues who are interested in improving teaching performance, to share experiences.
· The main strengths of the course [were] to increase … confidence and speaking skills. You learnt something you [had] not been aware of before. I have gained lots more confidence by sharing [my] experiences with small groups.
· This course has brought to my attention many important aspects of teaching that I have previously neglected. The ability to discuss individual issues with Amanda and my colleagues [is a strength of the course]. The small group size also helps me feel comfortable.
· [Strengths included] individual lecture observation and feedback.
· Amanda has impressed me with her distinct and delightful personality and outstanding work in the training. She has excellent communication skills and easily makes herself approachable. Amanda has huge patience in helping us build our confidence and keep the right attitude toward teaching. I found the teaching tips were very helpful and really worked after she observed my lecture and provided me with feedback. I benefited a lot [from] the one-to-one sessions [on lecture observation and accent reduction work].
· The course brought a whole new perspective on reviewing our own teaching performance and was a great help in improving it for the future.
Course Events
(dates to be negotiated with participants)
Date
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Event
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Interaction
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Time Commitment
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Comment
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TBC
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Initial briefing
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Group
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1 hour
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TBC
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Workshop
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Group
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All day
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TBC
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Participant observation sessions
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Individual
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2-3 hours, twice during the course
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In the individual observation and feedback sessions, Amanda sits in on a lecture, to observe the academic as he / she delivers a lecture. Immediately following the observation, she provides detailed feedback on teaching strategies and lecturing performance, and provides suggestions for improvement. During the course, Amanda will observe each participant twice, at times convenient to the participant.
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TBC
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Workshop
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Group
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1 x all day
or
2 x half day
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Considerations
Ideally, participants will be teaching during their participation in the course, so that Amanda can observe them. If they are not scheduled to teach, she will need at least two opportunities to observe them lecturing or presenting.
Nominations
Participants will be nominated by their Heads of School. To be eligible for nomination, a participant must be a current academic staff employee of the College of Arts and Social Science.
