4 minute read
Transforming Learning in an Uncertain World
When Bond University launched its ground-breaking suite of future-focussed Transformation degrees in 2019, the Health Transformation program was prophetically described as being able to equip graduates “to help prepare the world for the next pandemic”.
That same future focus guides the University as it adapts to the reality of living with COVID-19 and the rapidly changing higher education landscape.
Bond responded to the COVID-19 disruption with a pivot to remote delivery for the May semester. This set the stage for further innovation in September with a move to multi-modal learning where the physical and virtual classrooms are combined in a multidimensional learning environment. The on-campus students and remote students are able to interact and learn together regardless of their location.
According to Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) Professor Keitha Dunstan, this new way of learning has been embraced by students and has had some unexpected positive consequences.
“One of the things we hadn’t anticipated was the physical classroom students wanting to attend through the remote classroom as well,” Professor Dunstan says.
“They are all logging in and chatting with their remote colleagues as well as participating in the class physically.”
Professor Dunstan is confident Bond will remain a leader in the evolution of higher education as it builds on the capacity that has been established during this challenging time.
“Multi-modal delivery is an innovation that will likely change how we approach creating learning environments for our students in the future.”
Even before the pandemic, Bond was moving quickly to reinforce its graduates’ standing as among the most employable in Australia.
The University’s multi-disciplinary Transformation degrees – a Bachelor of Entrepreneurial Transformation, Bachelor of Digital Transformation, Bachelor of Health Transformation and Bachelor of Legal Transformation - have been launched in recognition of employers expecting different things from graduates.
“It was recognising that the world is becoming more trans-disciplinary; that there are still experts, but everyone in the workforce is expected to be more than just an expert in a field,” Professor Dunstan says.
“An important skill is the ability to bring together successful multidisciplinary teams. We recognise we need graduates who are better able to work in those teams, so what better way to do that than to have the degree that takes a multidisciplinary approach to start with?”
The innovative degrees are focused on new and emerging fields, with students participating in workplace-based learning immersions through Bond’s Transformation CoLab which utilises expertise from across the University and industry.
Shari Thompson is one of the pioneering students to have embarked on a Transformation degree. “I picked the Health Transformation degree over a standard health degree because I wanted to do more than just biology,” Ms Thompson says.
“I thought the opportunity to do law, business and digital subjects would help my understanding of the world and my employability – to make sure I’m ready for what employers want.
“I do genuinely feel that the degrees are preparing us for a future world of work.”
Bond has also launched a suite of micro-credentials that meet the new and emerging needs of business, industry and the general community. Micro-credentials are offered across multiple disciplines to
provide professional development and learning opportunities that are relevant to a changing and dynamic workforce.
Many of these micro-credentials can be stacked to allow the learner to accumulate credit towards a full degree without having to commit to a full program of work at the outset of their study.
“The professionals of today are much more focussed on getting the skills that they need to be able to satisfy the expectations of their employers,” Professor Dunstan says.
“In this fast-paced world, employers are less interested in whole postgraduate degrees than they were in the past. The whole notion of micro-credentials is answering what we see as the demand to fill the specific professional development needs of people.”
She does not think Bond will ever return to the way things were before coronavirus – and welcomes the change.
“I don’t believe we will go back to the pre-COVID normal. Among the positives of the change is that we have learned that we are able to innovate and change. While it has been hard work, students and staff have enjoyed the excitement; embracing change in this dynamic environment. I would like to think we won’t ever completely go back to the way we were doing things before.
“Some of the things that have emerged are different ways of assessing, potentially moving away from those very rigid, written invigilated formal exam periods, all those things that a lot of people in my position have been hoping to change for a long time. An emphasis on authentic assessment that familiarises students with the type of work they will encounter in the workplace has emerged.”
Transformation Degrees
Bond’s suite of Transformation Degrees launched in July 2019, with the first cohort of students beginning in January 2020. The degrees are designed for the unconventional thinkers, the barrier-breakers, the game-changers, the innovators and the big thinkers. For more information, enquire at bond.edu.au/enquire
