Collaborative approaches to subject and course development practices at Victoria University (VU)

Student academic literacy and learning support at VU is an integral part of the educational experience offered to students by lecturers from the Student Learning Unit (SLU). A current model of good practice in academic support holds that there should be a shift from “remedial” approaches towards embedding support materials in curriculum through collaboration with mainstream staff. This paper outlines the collaborative approaches used in a compulsory first-year undergraduate subject to achieve this model of embedding and to describe the integration of technology to facilitate access to academic support for students from diverse backgrounds. This collaboration also illustrates a “grass roots” level of sharing good teaching practice by describing the dissemination of technological innovation from one teaching group to another.