New eBook Release: Taxonomy for Credentialing Australasian University Educators

A new eBook has been released by JCU Open eBooks, featuring work by JCU academics Professor Maree Dinan-Thompson (DVC Education) and Associate Professor Andrea Lynch (Dean, LTSE).

Taxonomy for Credentialing Australasian University Educators (TCAUE) recognises and values the role that different types of educators have in student learning, and outlines pathways for personal and professional development. 

It is an Australasian credentialing framework, underpinned by regulatory requirements in Australia and New Zealand. The taxonomy helps to establish clear and portable credentialing programmes for university educators.

The taxonomy is written from the standpoint that learning and teaching quality should be practice- and evidence-based. It encompasses the full range of university educator roles as well as learning and teaching contexts/communities. 

Key elements of this book include:

• Offering a description of three different profiles of educators, including Associate University Educator, Foundation University Educator and Advanced University Educator
• Recommending an inquiry-based model for scholarly practice, which presents the dimensions of Learning as Engage-Apply-Evaluate
• Presenting Six Essential Focus Areas that have been identified from research and survey data

The model offered by the taxonomy is designed to align with the Australian Qualifications Framework’s (ACF) Domains and Descriptors, making it easy to create courses for university educators that can be recognised across different institutions.

The book offers outlines of the taxonomy and downloadable credential outline templates to help other universities develop programmes for the professional development of their teaching staff. Institutions complete the Credential Outline to assure consistency, transparency, credibility and portability in the programmes using the taxonomy. Each institution may customise the Credential Outline to meet its individual needs and values.

This project was funded by: CAULLT (Council of Australasian University Leaders in Learning and Teaching).

Project Team and Authors: Professor Maree Dinan-Thompson, Professor Simon Bedford, Associate Professor Liz Branigan, Dr Shannon Johnston, Associate Professor Lisa Cary, Associate Professor Andrea Lynch, Dr Ann Luzeckyj, Mrs Gina Saliba, Ms Gill Cowden.

Reviewers and Contributors:  Professor Sally Kift, Professor Gayle Morris, Professor Denise Chalmers, Professor Steven Warburton, Associate Professor Barbie Panther, Dr Ruth Greenaway, Dr Andrea Adam.

Taxonomy for Credentialing Australasian University Educators, is freely available to read or download via JCU Open eBooks. 

The JCU Open Education Initiative

The JCU Open Education Initiative is a project in the Education Division, spearheaded by JCU Library. The aim of the project is two-fold: 

• To support lecturers in adopting, adapting and creating Open Educational Resources including textbooks and workbooks in order to better support the learning of our students at JCU 
• To make information about the people and places of the Tropics more widely accessible and understood. More than 40% of the world's population live in the Tropics and 40% of the world's surface is within the Tropics, but the area is often under represented in teaching materials.