Angels have the phone box

On Friday I went along to a seminar/workshop held at Victoria University. It showcased an academic literacy and honesty resource developed with funding from ALTC (Australian Learning and Teaching Council). The resource is made up of the following:

1. Video – April’s Journey – a Chinese Masters student’s experience of being a student in Australia
2. Video – Richard and Kim – a look at academic literacy & honesty
3. Video – Grumpy & Simiao – a practical approach to using academic literacy/honesty skills in an assignment
4. Graphic novels

Academic literacy includes – critical thinking, creativity, academic honesty

I was impressed and believe that it will be useful for international students in many contexts. The pilot project website is available here: tls.vu.edu.au/altc/index.cfm. You will need to register. The videos and graphic novels should be available on the website in the not to distant future.

My key learnings from the session were:

• Many of the academic literacy/honesty resources available are “punitive, middle-class and anglophilic”
• Resources need to be engaging, culturally relevant and positive
• More academic libraries are creating positions that acknowledge that international student cohort have particular service needs (Newcastle, Swinburne, Victoria University)
• Some of the issues facing international students include: isolation, loneliness, difficulty with English, culture shock, managing family expectations
• Multimedia resources are useful with the international cohort
• Academic literacy/honesty needs to be embedded into curriculum
• Beta test everything with the target audience and then do it again!
• Culturally relevant context is important
• Create resources that can be chunked into small bits and mashed in with other materials/resources
• Create resources that can be repackaged for different uses
• Create resources that can be uploaded into youtube/learning management systems
• Create resources that can be shared!

So keep an eye on the VU website for more information on the project. They are also looking for partners to test the resources with students. Their details are here: tls.vu.edu.au/altc/index.cfm.