Australasian Association for Engineering Education
Abstract
8732142. That was my student ID as an undergraduate (now one of the authors). It was a number, not a name. It distinguished students from professors and all other teaching staff and, in a symbolic way, reminded us all of our firm place as students, as learners. There was a big power differential between students and teachers in the 1980s. What we learned was prescribed, transmitted and tested in implicit ways (no rubrics or marking criteria in those days) and rarely were our skills tested – just what we knew and could recall at a given time. Sometimes people say that teaching is an act. Indeed, sage on the stage suggests this precisely. But being a student is also an act. Students also assume roles and personas. If we want curriculum transformation, we seek to put a stop to acting – to engage students and staff in authentic learning. MIDAS is our curriculum transformation project in the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology (FEIT) at UTS – More Innovative Design-Able Students. In MIDAS, we want students and teachers to be their authentic selves in a true teaching and learning partnership. MIDAS seeks mutual respect in people, not the fulfilment of roles. MIDAS doesn’t see students as numbers, but as partners, as people who can learn, contribute, inspire, teach and create … and it sees teachers as people who also learn, contribute, inspire, teach and creat
