Associate Lecturer (Tutor) job specification

Educational Philosophy

We operate under the philosophy that in the best of classrooms, everyone has something to teach and everyone has something to learn, including the professor/tutor. Catherine College provides a safe place wherein students, and especially women, can find their true voices and to express them freely. The bonding that takes place in the virtual classroom must accordingly be joined with a shared sense of respect and mystery in the face of co-learners struggling to become their authentic selves even when they have for so long been beaten down and forced to adapt roles that conceal their true voices.

Requirements

Your academic specialism or professional experience must be complemented by a personal commitment to the education of adults and an appreciation of the challenges for adult learners who are studying at a distance.
All teaching is in English and your proficiency in the English language should be adequate to meet the requirements of the role.
As an associate lecturer, you should have

• a degree or equivalent, or a professional or vocational qualification in the subject area you wish to teach
• an appreciation of how adults learn and an appreciation of study skills
• the ability and willingness to promote the learning of adults through online instruction and interaction on our live chat rooms
• the ability to work with students from diverse educational, cultural and work backgrounds
• the ability to work with students with disabilities
• a commitment to student-centred learning
• an understanding of and commitment to equal opportunities policies and practices
• an organised and systematic approach to work
• the ability to work successfully in a team and independently
• good written and oral communication skills
• a commitment to personal staff development
• availability and accessibility to students

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) requirements

Since all courses taught by associate lecturers are web based, you will need to have access to a computer and high speed internet access. Information on computer specifications can be found at:

http://www.catherineofsiena.net/study/access.asp

Associate lecturers are required to use ICT (e.g. email, student communications on the college site) for administrative purposes and to make contact with and respond to students, regional and faculty colleagues and other associate lecturers. Catherine of Siena Virtual College's primary mechanism for communicating administrative and some course information is via email, and each tutor is provided with a personal email account.
Tutors are also required to access information relating to the student group (e.g. student listings and details, timetables, cut-off dates). This information is accessed online via the website and also provides resources to help you in your role.

All Catherine of Siena Virtual College courses are web intensive meaning that all teaching and student support is delivered online.

Course Start Dates

There are four academic terms in a calendar year. Classes generally begin the first week of January, April, July and October. For 2010 the Academic calendar is as follows:

• Jan 4, 2010
• April 12, 2010
• July 5, 2010
• October 4, 2010

All academic courses run for 8 weeks. Skill building courses run from 4 to 8 weeks.

Courses

Presently we have ten gender studies courses. We add three to four new courses each year.

Academic Courses

• Women in Islam
• Violence Against Women: Global Realities and Responses
• Prophetic Spirituality of Justice
• Role Perceptions of Women in Children's Literature
• Women's Ministries and the Christian Scriptures
• Women's Leadership According to Christian Tradition

Skill Building Courses

• Women Writing, Changing Lives
• Developing Gender Awareness for Empowerment
• Developing an Authentic Personality
• Developing Management Skills

Our process of ongoing feedback and student self-evaluation
Our courses have adapted problem-based learning and competency-based evaluation designed for online learning in small, interactive groups.

Each course begins with a set of learning skills that are defined in advance by the syllabus. In the course of each lesson, students will be responding to a set of exploratory questions that enable them to bring their previous training and life experiences to bear upon issues/problems that are being examined in each lesson. As soon as they post their responses to these exploratory questions online, (a) they become available to all the other students in their learning circle and (b) they gain access to the explorations of other members of their learning circle.
A rapid give and take then takes place which allows them to discover how students within different cultures and educational backgrounds define and respond to the shared questions differently. Meanwhile, at the same time as they give feedback to others, they will receive feedback from persons with different backgrounds. Inside this process, you as the Tutor offers your own reflections, support and words of appreciation. The Tutor will also offer clarifying questions that will invite the student to further examine and clarify the responses that they have offered.

This teaching environment, in particular the incorporation of small group learning and collaborative work, fosters self-reliance, problem solving, and the recognition of the limits of a student's own knowledge and skills. Thus, each course has its internal process of ongoing feedback and self-evaluation.

Evaluation within competency-based learning

Within any given course, there are three ways of evaluating progress in acquiring the performance skills to which the course is devoted:

1. Exploratory Questions
In our typical course, there are repeated opportunities for the student to express herself/himself in responding to the Exploratory Questions in each Lesson. These Exploratory Questions enable the student to make use of personal experience, theoretical understanding, and verified judgments.

2. Giving and receiving feedback
After the students posts their hunches to the Probative Questions, then there is the opportunity to learn from the responses of others. This goes back to the realization that everyone has something to teach in every course. The give and take that follows the posting offers an opportunity to deepen ones understanding and to correct misleading projections.

3. Mid-term and final essays
Half way through the course, students have the opportunity to display their learning skills by doing a short independent analysis. This usually takes a few hours. At the end of the course, each student has the opportunity of doing a more extensive research project. This may require anywhere between six and twelve hours. Details for how to do this are supplied to students after the mid-term. In each instance, the subjects chosen are from a list provided by the course moderator.
Coordination with local educational institution
The final grade assigned in any given course is adapted to mirror the system already in place within each academic institution. For those who require a final grade, we normally suggest that this process begin with the student's self-evaluation in each of the three areas named above. As Tutor you then respond to the student's self-evaluation and assign a grade.

For institutions who prefer that the institution's coordinator assign a grade, this modality is also generally accommodated. In this case it is best to weigh how each component will contribute to the final grade with the following breakdown:

25% Exploratory Questions
25% Giving and Receiving Feedback
15% Mid-term Essay
35% Final Essay

If you are interested in applying, please contact

Dr. Aaron Rose-Milavec at Milavec@fuse.net

or

Deborah Rose Milavec at Dean@CatherineCollege.net.