Announcing a new teaching model started with what won’t happen

For weeks, the university has dealt with rumours that it favours on-line classes. Both VC Rufus Black and Academic Executive Director Mitch Parsell have taken to Hobart radio to commit the university to continuing on-campus and in-person classes, just not necessarily lectures (CMM November 12).

And yesterday Professor Black told staff that no students will have less in-person learning next year than this, and some, Arts was the example he used, will have an extra hour a week.

Small group classes “are at the centre of our approach to learning,” with support from “well-prepared on-line material” he said. But as for lectures, the long-term trend is that attendance drops.

Although, he added that on-campus students “value coming together as a cohort for special experiences” And so there will be “keynotes,” which are “opportunities through the semester for students to come together for interesting experiences, to learn directly from leaders of their profession or industry, and to tackle complex challenges as a group.”