The 1996 Teaching Learning Forum continues this tradition by again providing a venue and stimulus for enthusiastic and insightful discussion of teaching and learning issues, but it also represents a break with past practice. In 1996 the standard conference paper format that has characterised previous Forums has been replaced by demonstrations of actual teaching activities (demonstration sessions) and sessions devoted to discussion of questions arising from papers rather than discussion of the papers themselves (dilemma sessions). The Forum has also been expanded to incorporate a regional workshop sponsored by the Committee for the Advancement of University Teaching.
It is difficult to capture on paper the excitement and challenge engendered by the interactive nature of activities such as those mentioned above. Nevertheless, readers seeking stimulating discussion of or answers to some of the dilemmas commonly encountered in teaching and learning should benefit from the papers contained in this volume and those hunting for new teaching ideas or to revitalise their own teaching practices will undoubtedly find useful the papers submitted in support of the teaching demonstrations.
The theme of the Forum - Teaching and Learning within and across Disciplines - and the request that papers submitted be relevant to a range of disciplines has generally resulted in ideas and discussion of wide applicability. For this reason it has been considered inappropriate to organise papers in the volume either thematically or on the basis of discipline focus - papers are instead organised alphabetically on the basis of the author names.
| Please cite as: Abbott, J. and Willcoxson, L. (1996). Preface. In Abbott, J. and Willcoxson, L. (Eds), Teaching and Learning Within and Across Disciplines, p5. Proceedings of the 5th Annual Teaching Learning Forum, Murdoch University, February 1996. Perth: Murdoch University. http://lsn.curtin.edu.au/tlf/tlf1996/preface.html |