CRADLE Seminar Series: Jaclyn Broadbent

16 November 2016

On 15 November 2016, CRADLE hosted a seminar by CRADLE Research Fellow Dr. Jaclyn Broadbent, ‘”Am I just another number?” Personalising large class teaching: A case study’. With the massification of higher education it is easy for students to feel like a number, especially in a subject with large enrolments. Dr. Broadbent presented a case study of a large class (2100 students annually), and discussed how problems of scale were overcome and engagement increased.

Dr. Broadbent discussed a number of solutions from her case study, including:

1. Automated emails and SMS, based on learning analytics, to connect with students based on their grades, login activity, assessment submission and completion;
2. Improving the quality and students’ satisfaction with feedback, using audio feedback and feedforward strategies; and
3. Giving ‘just-enough, just-in-time, just-for-me’ support using a Live Chat widget within the unit’s Learning Management System site.

Dr. Broadbent also presented data on increased retention (e.g. 98%), high student satisfaction with teaching within the subject (e.g. 95-98% satisfied), and high student satisfaction with feedback received (e.g. 93-99% satisfied).

Dr. Broadbent specialises in large class teaching, annually teaching more than 2000 students at Deakin University. She is a senior lecturer in Health Psychology, a CRADLE Research Fellow, and a Leading Educator for learning management platform Desire2Learn. Dr. Broadbent is passionate about delivering high-quality, challenging and supportive learning experiences for students. She has won a number of awards, including an Australian national learning and teaching citation for outstanding contribution to student learning, a D2L Teaching Impact Award, and the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Deakin University Teacher of the Year.