Foundations of University Learning and Teaching Program (FULT)

The FULT program is designed to help you to increase your understanding and develop skills and confidence in your learning and teaching practice, drawing from your own reflections, experience of your peers and educational literature. After completing this program you should be able to:

1. Identify, discuss and critically reflect on student learning in face-to-face, blended and online teaching contexts in higher education, drawing on pedagogical literature.

2. Recognise, interpret and critically analyse complex problems and educational design challenges related to learning and teaching to generate and implement effective solutions.

3. Analyse and evaluate learning and teaching practices using evidence from a range of sources to enhance practice.

4. Apply knowledge, skills and reflective practice to develop professional judgement, adaptability and responsibility as a scholarly practitioner in higher education.

The FULT Program Outline can be accessed here (link opens a PDF document).

The FULT program is underpinned by the beliefs that learning is most effective when learners are

• Actively engaged: you will have an opportunity to engage in an active process of making sense of new ideas or experiences. This will involve action (trying out of new ideas) and reflection (based on feedback).

• Draw on own practice and prior knowledge in authentic environments: you will have an opportunity to reflect on your own practice, work with authentic scenarios and own examples emerging from your practice, and the practice of your colleagues.

• Build connections: you will have opportunities to build connections with peers and with teachers.

• Understand the expectations: the various options and paths through the program will be made explicit to you. Program facilitators will be available to provide guidance.

• Are challenged and supported: the program will model a climate of enquiry where you will feel challenged, while being supported to take sensible risks in your teaching.

• Learner diversity is respected and catered for: the program will model inclusive learning environment where learners feel valued and respected.

The learning activities in the program include:

• individual learning activities (reflecting, reading, critiquing program materials, completing individual tasks and assessments);

• group learning activities, which will model a range of teaching strategies in both face-to-face and online contexts.

The UNSW FULT Program is accredited by Advance HE, with participants who successfully complete the program eligible to apply for the award of Associate Fellow, Higher Education Academy (AFHEA).

Fellowships are a means of acknowledging commitment to professionalism in learning and teaching in higher education. They are based on the UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF), which sets out the knowledge, skills and values demonstrated by those teaching and/or supporting learning in higher education. This is a globally recognised framework for benchmarking success within higher education teaching and learning support. HEA Fellowship is a new pathway that recognises UNSW staff commitment to learning and teaching.

The following requirements must be met in order to be awarded AFHEA:

• recent experience in teaching, or supporting educational design and development, either, while you are completing FULT or in the term preceding or following FULT
• successfully complete all four FULT assessment tasks
• submit a supporting statement (from a referee)

For academics who have significant teaching experience and formal teaching qualifications, an exemption may be granted on the grounds of one or more of the following:

• successful completion of a tertiary education-focused award qualification (AQF 7 or above) at UNSW or another university
• successful completion of a higher education teaching preparation course equivalent to UNSW's Foundations of University Learning and Teaching (FULT) program
• demonstrated evidence of sustained high quality university teaching and evidence of proficiency

Evidence of proficiency in university teaching includes:

• teaching awards, citations and grants (UNSW, AAUT or equivalent)
• demonstrated contribution to the improvement of learning and teaching (e.g. invited presentations, published physical/digital teaching materials, textbooks, e-games)
• recognised leadership in teaching with evidence of influencing and supporting peers to innovate or change their educational practice and/or policy at course/program/school/faculty/UNSW/external level (e.g. Chair of Learning and Teaching Committee, leadership/invited role in academic development activities and workshops, peer mentoring, pivotal role implementing improvements to learning and teaching in relation to Assurance of Learning or other strategic initiatives, leadership role in collaborative course/program design 
• a portfolio of evidence equivalent to that assembled to develop a teaching case for promotion (this will include MyExperience data but student satisfaction measures along are insufficient.)  Refer to the UNSW Academic Promotions Toolkit for guidance

Please attach evidence of recognition (e.g. award, hard/soft copies or link to publications/teaching materials; presentations/invitations, peer reviews/testimonials/citations; evidence of impact on peers' teaching practice/policy and student learning; documentation of the teaching case for promotion

If you meet these criteria please fill in the Application for Exemption: Foundations of University Learning and Teaching form (PDF) and email the completed form to [email protected]. Applications will be reviewed by the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education and Student Experience).

After you have completed FULT, you may wish to explore other professional development options such as the Course Design Institute (CDI), please see here.

The FULT program aims to help you to develop an understanding of, and skills and confidence in, your teaching practice.  

Frequently reported benefits by previous participants include:

• the opportunity to get feedback on your teaching from colleagues and workshop facilitators in a supportive environment,
• cross-disciplinary sharing of ideas and strategies with colleagues involved in learning and teaching,
• interaction with and support of learning partners and colleagues.

"Learning teaching sounds antithetical but is actually not. The FULT course provided me with a great overview of the different teaching philosophies and aspects involved in higher education learning. The course also guided me towards building my own teaching philosophy at a very early stage in my higher education journey encouraging me further to become a better learning facilitator!" – Pratap Pawar, Tutor, School of Engineering & IT, UNSW Canberra, FULT Alumnus 2021

“The FULT course is designed to equip the participant with teaching essentials and valuable skills…there is ample time for the busy academic to complete the required reading materials and assessment’s part time…the course facilitators are knowledgeable, super responsive, engaging and encouraging…this course is a must for all university lecturers!” - Kalli Spencer, Lecturer, School of Anatomy, FULT Alumnus 2021

“I'd recently noticed a new thoughtfulness about teaching techniques amongst the colleagues I admire. When I took FULT I was pleasantly surprised to realise that this began when they'd undertaken the program.” - Paul Fraser, Math and Physics Student Support, UNSW Canberra, FULT Alumnus 2021

The aim of the FULT Alumni Network is to provide an opportunity for alumni to get together and explore the latest issues, innovations and future directions in higher education learning and teaching.

The network will meet 2 times a year and supports the leadership potential of alumni as champions of learning and teaching.

Anyone who is a current UNSW staff member that has completed the FULT program in the past, is invited to be a part of the network.

Find out more about the FULT Alumni Network and its activities.

Following the June 2020 meeting, the FULT Alumni Network was invited to submit a Good Practice Case Study for Educational Excellence. Several case studies were selected to be featured on the Teaching Gateway website.

If you are from UNSW Sydney and have an enquiry about the program please contact us via email.

If you are from UNSW Canberra and have an enquiry about the program, please contact Dijana Townsend.