Issue 25- Monday 3rd February 2020
Contents
HeadSup
Kia ora koutou!
JR is out of town for a couple of weeks but the School continues to rise from its summer repose, and this edition of P-Cubed is packed with details of seminars, events and announcements. Please read on.
In the interest of brevity I would like to direct your attention to two matters in particular:
1. Unless you have been seriously off-grid you will be aware of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak. Please note the item in Whakawhanaungatanga below – but most importantly please read the University’s emails on this since it is a rapidly-developing situation.
2. The second matter is more local and directed at academic staff. The new Assessment Policy may necessitate changes to your courses so please take notice.
Finally, thanks to our colleagues who have been teaching Summer School courses.
Best wishes,
David Hayward
Ako – Teaching and Learning
Assessment – New Policy – Course Coordinators please note
The University’s Policy for in-course assessment has been refreshed – and in particular, 9 principles have been identified. This is likely to result in a change of assessment for some courses. You can find these online but here are a some specific points to keep in mind.
Assessment design
- The timing of assessment components, where possible, must consider student workloads, coherent learning progression, and provide sufficient opportunities to utilise feedback/feed-forward. Students must have the opportunity to complete an early appropriately-weighted or formative assessment exercise, which may vary in scope and type across discipline or class size. Feedback/feed-forward on this exercise must be received in time to assist students in preparing for their first substantive assessment in the course.
- It doesn’t define “early” but for a regular, 12-week course we recommend a small assignment (rule of thumb – under 5%) around week 3 or 4, that is marked quickly and returned with helpful feedback before their next assessment in order to allow students time to incorporate this feedback (ideally by the end of week 5).
- In effect, this distinguishes between formative and summative assessment: those that are primarily intended to aid learning; and those that evaluate learning.
- According to the Definitions section:
Formative assessment means any assessment practice carried out early enough in a course with the purpose of providing students feedback that enables them to develop their learning… Formative assessment may be weighted or unweighted.
- Assessment tasks must ensure that students with disabilities are provided with appropriate opportunities to demonstrate their achievement of learning outcomes.
- In ENV this is often an issue with field trips and labs, and especially those where a certain level of physical ability is presumed for tasks or for minimising the risk of harm. Please consider the accessibility of these activities. Collectively, the School has had quite a bit of experience in this and so do seek advice.
- Tests which count toward the final result for a course will be conducted under examination conditions
- Pretty self-explanatory, but please note that you may need to book a second venue to ensure that students have sufficient spacing to deter cheating. Also, you must have at least 2 staff invigilating in each Test room. Tutors can assist, or enlist colleagues.
- Tests with a weighting higher than 20%, including take-home tests, must not be conducted in the final week of teaching, unless justified by the distinctive requirements of the course.
- In particular, summative Tests should not be scheduled for the convenience of staff. If they are the final assessment in a course then they are an exam, and must scheduled in the exam period.
Feedback on coursework
- Feedback must be provided in a timely manner and no later than three weeks after the day the assessment was submitted, or sooner when the feedback is required to prepare for subsequent assessments.
Note: this clause does not apply to the early assessment requirement described in s.15
- The turnaround time for marking and feedback is often a concern for students. For staff it is of course a workload matter; however, remains the responsibility of Course Directors/Coordinators to plan for this and design assessments with this in mind.
Advice to students
- 33. Detailed information about assessments for each course must be available in the Canvas course outline and published no later than two weeks prior to the start of teaching. This will include:
o the intended learning outcomes to be assessed
o an assessment table, with: (i) a description of the assessment tasks (ii) the weighting of items; (iii) the due date for submission or testing; (iv) the mode of examination (digital or paper-based); (v) the conditions under which the examination will be sat (if relevant) and (vi) information about minimum pass requirements and plussage, where applicable
o the conditions for extensions of time (if any)
o penalties for lateness or violation of assessment specifications (e.g. length)
- Digital Course Outlines will be loaded into Canvas and appear as a separate menu item (tab). We strongly recommend that you continue to put the key information such as learning outcomes and contact details on the Syllabus page, as before…
- …and that you ensure that assignments are set-up in Canvas – including weightings and due dates.
Roles and Responsibilities
Clauses 1-9 refer to these. Please not that every course has at least a Course Director and an Assessor; and most courses have two or more Examiners. You are all collectively responsible for all aspects of the course and assessment design, the assessing (i.e., marking), and the grades in each course.
Key contacts for advice:
- Head of Academic Operations, David Hayward
- Chair of AKO Innovation Committee, Mel Wall (on Annual Leave until 19/2/20)
- Group Services Administrator, Alex Soudlenkova
Ako Innovation Committee: Teaching & Learning Fund 2020
https://www.coursebuilder.cad.auckland.ac.nz/flexicourses/4101/publish/1/14.html
The purpose of this fund is to promote the development of innovative teaching and learning practices within the School of Environment which promote a culture of teaching excellence. These funds will be distributed in one contestable round, with grants of up to $6000 with preference given to initiatives completed by August 2020. The total pool of funds available in 2020 is $12000. Grants to individuals or groups of teaching active staff will be used to fund small-scale teaching initiatives that have an impact on teaching practice for the benefit of learners.
All applications should be received by 21/02/2020 by noon.
See Ako Innovation Committee Teaching & Learning Fund: Grant Guidelines and 2020 Application Form for AKO Teaching and Learning Innovation Grant.
https://www.coursebuilder.cad.auckland.ac.nz/flexicourses/4101/publish/1/14.html
Any questions please contact Joe Fagan.
Changes to courses for 2021
Breaking news – as of this morning! The timeline for making changes to course titles and prescriptions, adding new courses, deleting courses and changing programme regulations is much shorter this year. These should be discussed by Disciplinary Groups and then sent to the Head of Academic Operations (David Hayward) by Thursday 19 March.
Referencing
Please note that the University has transitioned from APA 6th to APA 7th. Changes are noted here
https://www.cite.auckland.ac.nz/2/files/apa_6th_and_apa_7th_key_changes.pdf
Whakawhanaungatanga – communities
On December 16-17 last year, the School’s multi-purpose lab played hosted to an international research symposium, titled ‘Bringing life’s work to market: A symposium on practices and spaces of marketised social reproduction’). Organised by Tom Baker, it attracted around 50 attendees and 25 presentations from academics in Australia (U Sydney, U Melbourne, Monash U, U Wollongong, U Western Australia, Macquarie U), Canada (Queen’s U), USA (Penn State U, U Minnesota, Clark U, UC Davis), UK (Birkbeck U), Switzerland (U Zurich), Germany (Kassel U) and NZ (VUW, Waikato U, U Canterbury). Plans are currently underway for a journal special issue, based on presentations at the symposium. The organisers gratefully acknowledge the support received via the School’s PBRF fund.
The University has a webpage that is regularly updated, and email updates are arriving daily. A Faculty of Science briefing this morning identified some specific areas of concern for us:
1. Overseas travel – restrictions are in place and you should anticipate these increasing further. Please reassess all overseas travel, seek guidance as necessary and keep up-to-date with requirements.
2. As of this morning non-NZ citizens/residents are prohibited from returning if they travel through mainland China. This could affect many of you and so please take note. Also, consider any visitors you have planned, and advise them accordingly.
3. Students – it is anticipated that many international students may be unable to arrive in time to commence Semester 1. Course Coordinators should ensure that all resources and lecture recordings are available on Canvas – since some students may be forced into a distance learning mode.
Outreach help requested for high school field trip to Mangere Mountain
One of our former geology students, Laura Ward, now teaches high school at Howick College. She has requested help from our Earth Science staff or post-graduate students to join her class on a field trip to Mangare Mountain. The class consists of Year 13’s of mixed academic ability, and they will be sitting a standard on dating geological features (radiometric and relative dating techniques). Laura says, “we thought it would be cool to try to get a real scientist to come along to help explain features of the volcano and reinforce some dating techniques.”
The trip is scheduled for 13th February, we will be visiting Mangere Mountain in the morning (9:00am – lunch)
Please let Kathy know (ka.campbell@auckland.ac.nz) if you are interested in leading the group for this outreach event.
Important and relevant Geoscience-related posters have been compiled by the Geological Society of London. These should be useful for staff when articulating to students (and potential students and their parents) why the Geosciences are such important subjects and careers for people to pursue. The link is here:
https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/Posters
Two posters in particular are important:
- The “Geoscience for the Future” poster outlines how Geoscience is crucial in meeting society’s future challenges through policies to avoid dangerous levels of climate change, to protect the environment and to ensure the availability of vital resources for all. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are also listed in the top right.
- The “Minerals in a Smartphone” poster describes the incredibly broad range of minerals that are required to produce a smartphone; this highlights how Geoscience is important for meeting today’s and tomorrow’s technological advances.
Both can be printed at up to A1 size.
Updated City Campus Map
The University has renamed a number of its buildings. We now have a Social Sciences Building, Humanities Building, and Cultures Languages and Linguistics Building. Please check for any changes in the updated City Campus Map https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/on-campus/our-campuses/campus-maps.html
Meetings, seminars and events
Save the date: ENV Seminar: 25th of February 1pm-2pm, 302-140.
Join us on Tuesday the 25th of February from 1pm to 2pm to learn about the fantastic research your colleagues do. All staff members and students from the School of Environment are warmly invited to attend this second School of Environment Seminar. We will run the seminars every three months and every time we will have three presenters from different disciplines from the School of Environment.
In the upcoming ENV Seminar, we will have three presenters who are new or relatively new additions to the School.
Māori accounts of disaster recovery
Speaker: Xavier Forsman
Date: Wednesday 5 February
Time: 12-1pm
Venue: Whare wānanga, Level 2, Central City Library, Lorne St
You can find the flyer here.
RISE (Research Industry Sustainable Engagement) Programme: Introduction
Please come along to the introduction to UniServices annual RISE programme which intended to raise the skills and practice of working of researchers with external stakeholders. It will consist of a formal training programme and a series of subsequent workshops beginning in January 2020 and ending in April of 2020.
Introduction session: Wednesday 5 February 1-3pm. Register by clicking this link: https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/90732209481
Earth Sciences Bickie briefing
Earth Sciences Bickie briefing is every Thursday morning at 10.30am in the Level 6 break out space. It’s a chance to share announcements, get updates on academic and research events and deadlines, and share highlights from the past week. All postgrads and staff welcome.
Rangahau – Research
Publishing: Article Processing Charge Waivers
Libraries and Learning Services often get queries about Article Processing Charges (APCs) for making research papers open access. Although we can’t provide assistance in paying for your APCs when you are publishing your articles, we do have agreements with some publishers. Publishers either waive APCs or give UoA authors a discount because of our current journal subscriptions. You might want to see if this covers any journals that are relevant to you.
APC Waivers:
Open Access APC Waiver:
Open Access APC discounts (15% discount applied automatically):
The Royal Society of Chemistry
Also don’t forget that most journals have a “Green” open access policy where you can upload a preprint version of your article into Research Outputs and the UoA ResearchSpace repository, giving you an OpenAccess version that is then accessible to those outside the journal paywalls.
For more information see our OA guide or contact a research adviser through the AskUs
APA 7th now on QuickCite
You may be aware that the APA (American Psychological Association) have released the style guide for their newest version of their referencing style – APA 7. APA 6 has been in very wide use as a citation and referencing style across many research disciplines. We have recently added examples of the APA 7th referencing style to the QuickCite online guide.
Print copies of the publication manual are also available in the Library.
We recommend that all students and researchers who use APA adopt the 7th edition style.
Advice for teaching staff.
We recommend all teaching staff using APA update their teaching materials to adopt APA 7th and refer students to QuickCite.
Advice for students writing a thesis or dissertation
Students who are part-way through a thesis or dissertation, should ask the advice of their supervisor as to whether they should continue using APA 6th or change to APA 7th. We will continue to provide guidance for APA 6th on QuickCite for 2020.
More information
You can read more about the 7th edition on the APA Style blog.
Links
Publication manual of the American Psychological Association
If you have any questions about APA 7th, please Ask us.
Meetings, seminars and events
Title: Hydrothermal vents or hydrothermal fields: Where can life begin?
Speaker: David Deamer
Date: Friday 7th February
Time: 12-1pm
Venue: 302-G20
You can find the flyer here.
Title: Chemical, mineralogical and sorptive characteristics of Biogenic Iron Oxides (BIOS)
Speaker: Danielle Fortin
Date: Thursday 13th February
Time: 12-1pm
Venue: 303-G14
You can find the flyer here.
Research and Funding Opportunities
Annual PBRF Funding. Round 1.
Please see the below links. Notice the change in the deadlines.
2020 Application Form for ENV PBRF
Guidelines for PBRF applications for 2020
L’ORÉAL-UNESCO FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE 2020 Climate Edition
The purpose of these awards are to support the fight against the current climate emergency, whilst also continuing to address the underrepresentation of women in science. Guidelines can be found on the following webpage.
Grant value: $25,000 for a one year project
Internal Deadline: Thursday 20 February
International Central Networks and Partnerships Grant (ICNPG)
ICNPG provides outbound mobility funding to both professional and academic staff who wish to develop international links and supports three types of strategic activities with the University’s network and strategic partners:
· Research collaboration opportunity investigations
· Attending network-sponsored workshops and conferences (APRU, U21, WUN)
· Visiting fellowships to multiple partners
Further info and guidelines can be found on the website. Interested applicants are encouraged to familiarise themselves with criteria and eligibility information and attend the ICNPG information session on 19 February 2pm – 3pm, please sign up through Career Tools.
Grant value: up to $5,000
Deadline: Monday 9 March
Te Hiranga Rū QuakeCoRE – Proposal Development Grants
Grants are available for early-career researchers toward research-related costs for the development of contestable external research proposals targeting specific contestable funding programmes. The aim of the grant is to provide seed funding to enable miscellaneous data collection, analysis, proposal team building for the purpose of preparing strong proposals in competitive NZ public funding rounds.
Further information can be found here.
Deadline: Friday 14 February
Grant value: between $5,000 – $10,000
ARC Linkage grant
Professor Gary Brierley is a Chief Investigator in a recently awarded ARC Linkage grant that examines the role of riparian vegetation as an agent in the recovery of river systems in Australia.
The project ($600k over 3 years) is the second largest in the country in the Earth Sciences and Environmental Sciences fields of research (10 projects funded), and is the 6th largest in the country as a whole.
Anyone interested in further details of this award should contact Gary.
Australasian Hydrographic Society
The Australasian Hydrographic Society offers an Annual Education Award of AUD $ 3,500. The award is open to students studying or researching in maritime disciplines.
Applications open: 1 February – 31 March annually
Download detailed information and the application form using this link
For further info please contact education@ahs.asn.au
New publications
- Maintaining a long-standing interest in playful titles of research papers, Gary is co-author of a recently published paper on the Tongariro River (with former PhD student at UoA, Helen Reid, and visitor to UoA, Richard Williams) in JGR:Stuck at the bar: Larger‐than‐average grain lag deposits and the spectrum of particle mobilityWilliams, R. D., Reid, H. E., & Brierley, G. (2019). Stuck at the bar: Larger‐than‐average grain lag deposits and the spectrum of particle mobility. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface,124, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JF005137.
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/24694452.2019.1696664
Classifieds
Job opening – Senior Advisor (Environment)
Applications for this position close on Sunday 9 February 2020
There is a job opportunity at Maritime New Zealand. The primary function of this role is using evidence & science to provide policy, enforcement and technical advice. Specifically this is for the regulation of the maritime industry for the purpose of minimising the pollution of the marine environment from shipping. https://maritimenz.qjumpersjobs.co/jobs/details/1003580
Copy deadline for next edition of P-cubed: Friday 14th February, 1pm to Farnaz: f.sheikh@auckland.ac.nz