Communities of decoding : using the Decoding the Disciplines paradigm to create faculty learning communities on three continents.

David Pace1, Janice Miller-Young2, Michelle Yeo2, Manie Moolman3, Jennifer Clark4, Adrian Jones5, Anette Wilkinson3, Deirdre van Jaarsveldt3 1 Indiana University 2 Mount Royal University 3 University of the Free State 4 University of New England, NSW 5 La Trobe University Decoding the Disciplines is being used to increase learning in at least nine countries on four continents, and the model has been enriched, as scholars of teaching and learning have adapted the paradigm to the needs of their institutions. This session will begin with a very brief introduction to the Decoding model, followed by presentations showing how teams in Canada, South Africa, and Australia are putting Decoding to use on their campuses: David Pace (Indiana University), co-founder of Decoding, will briefly describe the paradigm and its development. Dr’s Janice Miller-Young and Michelle Yeo at Mount Royal University will provide examples and evidence of the various ways in which the Decoding framework is being used on their campus. Since 2013 a faculty learning community at Mount Royal has used Decoding for professional development, curriculum design, and research purposes. They will explore some of the common themes that have emerged from these projects, connect the learning to practical applications for teachers in higher education, and make recommendations for further work. Dr Manie Moolman (Teaching and Learning Director: of the Faculty of Law), Prof. Annette Wilkinson (Professor Researcher, at the Centre for Teaching and Learning), and Dr Deirdre van Jaarsveldt, Lecturer Researcher, from the University of the Free State, South Africa will describe the Decoding Learning in Law project. This 17-member learning community has focused on a crucial bottleneck to learning in their discipline — reading case law and applying the law to a set of facts - and has used an ‘adapted’ version of the Decoding model that specifically provides for group participation and interaction within a specific discipline. They will provide evidence and reflect on the implementation and will explain that the Decoding model is not only efficient in solving bottlenecks, but that it can also be used as a means for deep reflection and professional development; curriculum design; and the identification of other bottlenecks that could hinder student learning in the faculty. Adrian Jones (La Trobe University) and Jennifer Clark (University of New England) will describe how Australian-based scholars have used ‘Decoding’ to kick start cross-university conversations about the curriculum priorities for the first-year of tertiary study in five Humanities and Social Sciences disciplines. Each national Threshold Learning Outcome was addressed, and a good practice guide was drawn up, all focused on the crucial first-year. History is discussed as a case study. Participants will discuss how Decoding can be put to use on their campuses. David Pace and Joan Middendorf, Decoding the Disciplines: Helping Students Learn Disciplinary Ways of Thinking (New Directions in Teaching and Learning, Vol. 98 (Fall 2004). Arlene Díaz, Joan Middendorf, David Pace, and Leah Shopkow, ‘The History Learning Project ‘Decodes’ a Discipline’ in Kathleen McKinney, Ebbs, Flows, and Rips: The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning In and Across the Disciplines (Indiana University Press, 2013) Decoding the Disciplines Website — http://decodingthedisciplines.org/ Interim website for the ‘In the Beginning’ project funded by the [Australian] Office of Learning and Teaching - http://www.firstyearlearningthresholds.edu.au/. Especially the ‘History’ button, and then ‘Developing Students’ Skills’.