Talkin' bout a caring revolution

A common complaint among students is that tertiary education policy is geared toward nothing more than 'bums on seats'. Once enrolled, the caring ends. Boxes are ticked. Assessments made. A grade awarded and out you go.    

NMIT doesn't work that way. We work from the inside out. For us, caring matters. So much so, we're starting a caring revolution in tertiary education. 

We spoke to Stuart Campbell, Teaching, Learning and Assessment Coach at NMIT and Pauline Carson, Principal Academic Staff Member for Arts, Media and Digital Technologies at NMIT for their thoughts on the title of this blog. In what ways does NMIT show its students that it cares more? Three things stood out. 

1. We care about your learning and growth

“For good learning to take place, you’ve really got to get to know your students. You’ve got to learn what makes them tick - what works for them and what doesn’t work for them.”

• Experience interactive workshops in small groups rather than lectures in a hall with 100 to 150 students
• Complete practical assessments focused on what you produce rather than what you regurgitate
• Receive all of the resources you’ll ever need to complete your study to the best of your ability
• NMIT tutors have the mind-set that everybody can achieve. We’re not all going to achieve the same things, but we can all achieve.

2. We care about sharing skills and knowledge

“Often students are unaware of the time and energy that goes on behind the scenes to ensure teachers are relevant and current, and also the effort that goes into sharing good practice.”

• Industry experts without prior teaching experience enrol on the Certificate in Tertiary Learning and Teaching. This gives them a forum for sharing good practice.
• NMIT holds a learning and teaching fair twice per year for tutors. They volunteer something they are really proud of in their teaching to share with other tutors
• We schedule regular Sharing Good Practice sessions and also maintain a staff blog filled with teaching resources designed to improve quality of learning
• Staff participate in ‘learning walks’. Tutors sit in on each other’s sessions for 5 to 10 minutes and get tips and inspiration that they can use in their own practice.

3. We care about your success in the world

“There’s been a big shift in the way we’re doing things. Our courses involve a lot of interaction through workshop scenarios, work placements and internships.” 

• Our learning goes on in the real world. You can’t get any better experience than actually being hands on in the workplace. If not directly in the work place we have invested millions in state of the art simulation facilities. Such as the ones in Health, Maritime, Aviation, Business Administration, Trades and more
• Most programmes have an industry advisory group attached who meet through the year
• We have strong connections with industry from The Cawthron Institute(external link), King Salmon(external link) and Nelson Pine Industries(external link) to Nelson Hospital(external link), NCC(external link), TDC(external link) and more
• Apply what you’re learning on placement back into your programme. Apply what you’re learning in class back into your workplace. It’s a win win situation. 

Find out more about studying at NMIT.