By Michael Lin
Posted Tue 9 July, 2024

Note from the Monash Teaching Community team – Big thanks to Michael Lin, who’s moved on from Monash University, for his awesome contributions to this piece of writing!

In my journey as a learning designer in higher education, I’ve had the privilege of collaborating with many talented academics. These experiences have been incredibly enriching, offering numerous opportunities for learning and growth. Through these collaborations, I’ve observed some approaches that can contribute to more effective partnerships. I’d like to share these observations and experiences, hoping they might resonate with others in our field or spark further discussion.

Before diving into specific strategies, I’d like to share some general observations about the unique context in which our collaborations with academics take place. Understanding this context has been crucial in shaping my approach to these partnerships.

Our academic partners typically possess exceptional expertise in their fields and refined teaching skills. However, their schedules are often incredibly demanding, with numerous responsibilities spanning research, teaching, and administrative duties. This busy schedule can sometimes make it challenging for them to balance all aspects of their work when collaborating with the learning design team.

With this in mind, for learning designers, the points listed below can be useful for aligning our processes to their time constraints and fostering effective collaboration; for academic staff, I hope to provide provide insights into how things look from a learning designer’s perspective, and I welcome your thoughts and feedback on how we can enhance the collaboration.

I’ve found that academics appreciate having options and being involved in the decision-making process. It turns what could be a simple yes-or-no situation into a more nuanced, collaborative discussion about what’s best for the course and the students.

Proactive communication

I’ve noticed that initiating email conversations before scheduled meetings to outline discussion topics can be very beneficial. This approach often leads to more focused and productive Zoom meetings. To make this effective, I try to familiarise myself with the course structure and resource types beforehand.

This preparation has helped me to ask more informed questions and provide more relevant suggestions during our discussions.

Clear scope and expectation management

When academics share their desired improvements based on course feedback and personal assessments, I’ve found it helpful to take a thoughtful, step-by-step approach. First, I try to evaluate the feasibility of each aspect they mention. This allows me to identify areas where we can most easily build momentum and enthusiasm.

Throughout this process, I always try to be as mindful as possible to ensure that my promises are realistic and achievable. It’s important to me that I don’t overpromise and underdeliver. At the same time, I’ve learned that it’s valuable to provide alternative solutions for challenges that may arise due to time, technical, or other constraints. By offering multiple options for academics to choose from, I find that we can often find a solution that meets their needs while staying within our project constraints.

This approach, at least based on my experience, can demonstrate respect for their expertise and often fosters trust in our collaboration. I’ve found that academics appreciate having options and being involved in the decision-making process. It turns what could be a simple yes-or-no situation into a more nuanced, collaborative discussion about what’s best for the course and the students.

By offering multiple options for academics to choose from, I find that we can often find a solution that meets their needs while staying within our project constraints.

Flexibility in collaboration tools

Effective collaboration requires clear documents and project timelines. Some of us love project management systems such as Monday.com and Trello, but I’ve learned that not all situations require complex project management platforms. Many academics I’ve worked with prefer simpler tools that they’re already familiar with. In such cases, I’ve found that a simple task list in Google Docs can be just as effective. Being flexible in this regard has often led to smoother collaborations.

Adapting to preferred feedback methods

The principle of flexibility applies to the collaboration process as well. If the learning design team observes that academics consider providing feedback in certain documents or platforms to be time-consuming or difficult, it would be advantageous to explore other options with them. For instance, encouraging academics to make annotations and comments directly on learning pages is sometimes even more efficient in my experience. This approach has the potential to save time and allows academics to provide more immediate and contextual feedback.

Supporting technology adoption

When academics express interest in trying new technologies, software, or platforms, I see it as an excellent opportunity to provide support. Based on my experiences, offering multiple demonstration methods can be highly effective:

• Zoom screen sharing sessions
• Instructional videos
• Well-annotated technical support documents

Moreover, I’ve found that starting with small steps and celebrating each milestone can help academics acclimate more quickly and often fosters better cooperation in the long run. This approach seems to build confidence and enthusiasm for the new tools or processes.

A continuous journey of improvement

Collaborating with academics to enhance course interactivity, engagement, and student satisfaction, while ensuring ease of future updates and maintenance, is an ongoing journey of learning and adaptation for me. The insights I’ve shared here are based on my practical experiences and observations, and I certainly don’t consider them definitive guidelines. I’d love to hear from other learning designers and academics about their experiences.

What strategies have you found effective in your collaborations? What challenges have you faced, and how did you overcome them? By sharing our experiences, we can learn from each other and continue to improve our collaborative practices!