Flexible Learning Strategy

Western is committed to offering our students an accessible education that caters to their preferences while ensuring optimal attainment of the knowledge or skills required to contribute to society. The flexible learning culture and practice at Western has demonstrated success in using new learning design, tools, and comprehensive assessment, but these require constant evaluation. In 2021, all levels (academic, School, discipline, and the University) refined flexible delivery, leveraging the lessons learned in the rapid pivot to online learning in 2020. The 2022 Flexible Learning Strategy aims to capitalise on these successes and learning by expanding (and normalising) accessible and engaging flexible learning options for our students. This work requires data-driven decision making and scholarship to ensure and refine student experience, retention, and success. This is aligned with building a teaching and learning culture where our staff routinely plan and actively research their teaching innovations and practices.

Badugulang and Learning Future help staff by providing:

  • Professional and capability development
  • Resources, recognising the requirement for a whole-of-university response, involving areas such as our learning environments, timetabling, and ITDS. This intersects with other strategies , such as the Transition and Retention Strategy and Digital Learning Threshold Standards
  • Mentoring, e.g., through the Badugulang Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Advisory group, and
  • Opportunities to engage in substantial scholarship – Programs of Research aligned to Western's Learning and Teaching strategic plan

To facilitate staff research, the Learning Futures and Badugulang holds an umbrella ethics application for a Western-wide program of research focusing on Flexible Learning Experiences for Students (the FLEX Program of Research) . Staff members are encouraged to suggest projects, seek collaborators, and produce scholarly work, not only papers and books but also non-traditional research outputs (NTROs), presentations, guides and journal articles.

Flexible Learning at Western Sydney University