Transition Pedagogy -a framework for inclusive curriculum practice

This webinar is hosted by the English Australia Post-entry English and Academic Language SIG (PEAL SIG).

PEAL practitioners often work with students who are transitioning into their first year at university. For our upcoming webinar, Dr Kathy Egea and Dr Yvonne Davila will be presenting on transition pedagogies and its six curriculum principles. 

Transition pedagogies gives us a way to view the world from a student experience perspective and framing intentional design to address troublesome areas in our teaching. The First and Further Year Experience grant program at UTS has helped over 200 academics to embed new inclusive curriculum practices, intentionally framed by Transition Pedagogy to create the conditions of success for all student cohorts, including those from international backgrounds. In this presentation, we will dive deeply into each of the six principles and link them to practices for successful student transition. We will present a case study from the science faculty that has developed over a number of years (since 2014), a model of practice that builds student capacity and confidence in academic reading and writing within this discipline. The practice has extended beyond first year science into later years, including post graduate level, and influenced other faculties, such as nursing, midwifery and design theory.

Presented by Dr Kathy Egea and Dr Yvonne Davila

Dr Kathy Egea

Kathy is the First and Further Year Experience (FFYE) program coordinator at UTS and a senior lecturer in the curriculum and teaching team within the central teaching and learning unit at UTS.  In this role, she connects, links, draws on practice, builds communities of those passionate about the student transition experience, in both curricular and co-curricular spaces. The FFYE program (formerly FYE) engages a huge community of academics, professional staff and some students to share, learn and connect through grants and forums to support student’s transitioning success. The program has won national recognition through OLT citation (2016), finalist in 2021 CAULLT Global Good Practice Award. In 2023, She co-authored the module First Year Transition for Contemporary Approaches to University Teaching (CAUT) MOOC.

Dr Yvonne Davila

Dr Yvonne Davila is an educator and scientist, with a focus on enhancing student learning in STEM disciplines. Central to her approach is drawing on transition pedagogy to create supportive, inclusive, and technology-enhanced learning environments for all students. Yvonne is currently a Senior Lecturer in Higher Education Learning Design and Environmental Sciences in the Faculty of Science, University of Technology Sydney. In 2016, Yvonne was awarded an Australian Award for University Teaching Citation, as part of the UTS First Year Experience team, for an outstanding contribution to student learning supporting student transition and success. Yvonne has also been awarded two UTS teaching and learning awards for her work on first-year university experience and developing academic literacies in the undergraduate science curriculum.