Melinda Lewis
Lecturer/Quality Adviser
MHlthScEd Sydney BAppSc(MRA) Cumb
Melinda's role as Quality Adviser strategically combines curriculum proposal and accreditation processes, academic development for new and existing teaching staff, and the improvement of the student experience. Melinda ensures that Sydney Nursing School meets curriculum requirements, outlined by key stakeholders, through design and mapping techniques. Stakeholders include the University of Sydney's current and future students, and curriculum accrediting bodies within the discipline of Nursing and the community. Melinda addresses their needs, as outlined in their graduate attributes statement and modelled on the strategic initiative of learning and teaching through engaged enquiry, and national quality frameworks for learning and teaching in higher education.
Melinda is also an educationist grounded within the learning sciences, learning and teaching in higher education, adult learning and integration of technologies within blended learning environments. She holds a keen interest in structure, agency and interactions in higher education. Her academic development role at Sydney Nursing School includes orienting, transitioning and supporting the academic endeavours of new staff members by bringing them into the culture and climate of theoretical frameworks and philosophical leanings of the faculty. She enhances their knowledge of and alignment with pedagogical reasoning and practices, expressing learning outcomes, assessment strategies through regular quality reviews of units of study and peer review of teaching. Quality activities are also enacted through project-based work. Melinda led or was involved in up to 25 learning, teaching and eLearning strategic development or evaluation projects from 2007–2012, aligned to curriculum renewal at Sydney Nursing School.
From 2009–2012 she taught into the unit of study Clinical and Patient Education in the Bachelor of Nursing (Post-registration) and in 2011 taught into Simulation-based learning in Health in the Master for Health Professional Education. She supervises master's level students undertaking education-focused literature reviews or dissertations focused on the use of educational technologies for learning in health contexts.
From July 2011 she has been seconded to Sydney eLearning as the eLearning Academic Director (Health), after spending three years as the Sydney Nursing School eLearning Representative to the health cluster. This role provides further strategic opportunities and leadership across the five health faculties at Sydney – Nursing, Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy and Health Sciences.
In 1997 Melinda was awarded a Master in Health Science Education with a dissertation on lifelong learning for health professionals. Melinda has several pedagogical research publications and presentations. In late 2011, she commenced doctoral studies at the Centre for Research on Computer Supported Learning and Cognition (CoCo Research Centre) within the Faculty of Education and Social Work supervised by Professor Peter Goodyear. Under an Australian Postgraduate Award (APA) scholarship for 2012–2015, she is focused on her emerging identity as an educational researcher of higher education.
Recent scholarship
West S, Lewis MJ & Ward M-H (2012) (forthcoming). Sally Goes to Uni: Blended learning as the intersection of technology, pedagogy and content in higher education. Chapter In Loftus S, Higgs J, Smith M, Duffy E & Gerzina T (eds), Educating health professionals: Becoming a university teacher. Sense Publishers: Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Lewis MJ (2012). Together alone with everyone: Academic identity construction and relationships within the practice of insider educational research. Roundtable presentation at the Academic Identities Conference (AIC) 2012, Thinking, Researching and Living Otherwise. Faculty of Education, University of Auckland, 25–27 June. http://www.aic.education.auckland.ac.nz/
Foster K, Lewis MJ, Marshall A & Lewis P (2012). Educating graduate nurses in comprehensive health assessment: A pilot evaluation. Paper submitted to The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing (JCEN).
Lodge J & Lewis MJ (2012). Pigeon pecks and mouse clicks: Putting the learning back into learning analytics. Short paper submitted to the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE) 2012 conference: Future Challenges, Sustainable Futures, 25–28 November, Wellington, New Zealand. http://www.ascilite2012.org/home
McKenzie J, Hardy J, Fisher M & Lewis MJ (2011). Showcasing a new Sydney Nursing School 'clinical home' model for professional education and community engagement. Synergy (Issue 31), Institute for Teaching & Learning (ITL), the University of Sydney. http://sydney.edu.au/itl/synergy/
Lewis MJ & Newman S (2011). An evidence-based framework for quality: Bringing the best from informatics in healthcare to quality in higher education @ Sydney Nursing School. Higher Education Research & Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA) 2011 conference: Higher Education on the Edge, Gold Coast, 2–5 July. http://conference.herdsa.org.au/2011/
Publications and presentations (last five years)
Harris LM, Driscoll P, Lewis MJ, Cumming S, Matthews LR & Russell C (2009). Implementing Curriculum Evaluation: Case Study of Generic Undergraduate Degree in Health Sciences. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 1–14, iFirst Article.
Harris LM, Lewis M, West S & Driscoll P (2009). Lost in Transition: Students voice their experiences in innovative combined and accelerated Master level professional preparation programs in health and nursing. HERDSA 2009 Conference The Student Experience, Darwin, July.
Harris LM, Lewis M, & Driscoll P (2009). Prioritizing Communication: Theory, Practice and the Student Experience in the Bachelor of Health Science. HERDSA 2009 Conference The Student Experience, Darwin, July.
Curtis, K, Murphy M, Hoy S & Lewis M (2009). The Emergency Nursing Assessment Process – A structured framework. Australasian Emergency Nursing Journal. 12(4): 130-6.
Lever, T, Devonshire, E, Lewis, M & Everingham, F (2009). The learning design collaborative space through role play glasses. ASCILITE 2009 Conference: same places, different spaces. 7–9 December, Auckland.
Harris L, Driscoll P & Lewis M (2009). Do Drop In! Embedding Research Engagement through Online, Stand-alone, Drop-in Modules. CoCo Learning Technology Research Symposium, Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney, 1 October.
Cumming S, Harris LM, Matthews LR, Lewis MJ, Driscoll P, Russell C, Nisbet G & Aslani P (2008). How can we be interprofessional when we aren’t professionals? The challenge of identity and interprofessional learning in a generic Health Science degree. HERDSA 2008 Conference, Rotoroua, New Zealand, 1–4 July.
Lewis MJ, Harris LM, Cumming S, Matthews, LR, Driscoll P & Russell C (2008). How student perceptions and curriculum mapping drive curriculum change. Poster presented at HERDSA 2008 Conference, Rotoroua, New Zealand, 1–4 July.
Matthews LR, Harris LM, Cumming S, Russell C, Driscoll P & Lewis MJ (2008). Combined bachelor master degrees: A new model of health professional preparation that enhances capacity to meet global changes in higher education and local changes in health care and health workforce practices. HERDSA 2008 Conference, Rotoroua, New Zealand, 2–6 July.
Lewis M, Harris L & Driscoll P (2008). How do you take your IT? Student and staff responses to Information Technology in the Bachelor of Health Sciences. CoCo Learning Technology Research Symposium, Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney, 8 December.
Cumming S, Nisbett G, Harris L, Matthews LR, Lewis MJ, Driscoll P, & Russell C (2007). Interprofessional or pre-professional? IPL in the context of a generic degree. Paper presented at the Faculties of Health, Fourth EdHealth Conference 2007: Shaping the Future, Terrigal, NSW, 15–16 November.
Harris LM, Cumming S, Matthews LR, Lewis MJ, Driscoll P & Russell C (2007). The Bachelor of Health Sciences: early outcomes of curriculum change. Paper presented at the Faculties of Health, Fourth EdHealth Conference 2007: Shaping the Future, Terrigal, NSW, 15–16 November.
Harris LM, Cumming S, Matthews LR, Lewis MJ, Driscoll P & Russell C (2007). Evaluating curriculum change in the Bachelor of Health Sciences: Measuring the costs and consequences of curriculum change in a generic health sciences degree. Paper presented at the Faculties of Health, Fourth EdHealth Conference 2007: Shaping the Future, Terrigal, NSW, 15–16 November.
Lewis M, & Lee G (2007). Establishing a program based e-Learning strategy: Implications for development in the new bachelor of Health Sciences. Paper presented at the Faculties of Health, Fourth EdHealth Conference 2007: Shaping the Future, Terrigal, NSW, 15–16 November.
Harris L, Matthews L, Everingham F & Lewis M (2007). Developing interdisciplinary learning in an undergraduate generic health science degree. Focus on Health Professional Education: A Multi-disciplinary Journal, 8(3), 16-26.
Harris L, Cumming S & Lewis M (2007). Curriculum model for informing curriculum change in health science education. ISSOTL Conference (International Society for Scholarship of Teaching and Learning), Sydney, 2–7 July.
Harris LM, Cumming S & Lewis MJ (2007). Implementing and Evaluating Health Sciences Curriculum Change at the University of Sydney. Paper presented at the ISSOTL 2007 conference: Locating Learning: Integrative dimensions of the scholarship of teaching and learning. Sydney, 2–7 July.
Lewis M, Mahony M, & Poulos A (2006). Making workload visible: mapping academic expectations. Poster presentation at the Best Practice in Assessment and Student Feedback Forum, Faculty of Education, University of Sydney, 16 June.
Poulos A, Mahony MJ & Lewis MJ (2006). Same data, different perspective: A preliminary study of assessment mapping in the health sciences. Poster presentation at the Best Practice in Assessment and Student Feedback Forum, Faculty of Education, University of Sydney, 16 June.
Awards
Lewis M & Lee G (2007) Best abstract in session. Faculties of Health, Fourth EdHealth Conference 2007: Shaping the Future, Terrigal, NSW, 15–16 November
Grants
Lewis M, Hardy J, West, S, Scott, K & Brown S (2010) Developing pedagogical scaffold(s) for ePortfolios. USYD eLearning Strategic Project Grant, 150 hours
West S, Lewis M & Fisher M (2010) Using elearning to enhance delivery of multi-media clinical (workplace) learning materials in Nursing. USYD eLearning Strategic Project Grant, 150 hours
Ahern M, Lewis M & West S (2009) The question is the answer! Facilitating critical thinking through higher-level questioning in the Bachelor of Nursing (Post-registration). TIES Large Grant, $48,467
Fisher M, Lewis M, Maw M, Canning Green J, Gatward H & Canalesse J (2009) Watch, Learn, Go: Developing multi-professional learning resources to support clinical and communication skills development for health professionals. TIES Large Grant, $97,250
Harris L, Lewis M, West S (2009) Navigating the transition: Strategies to support the student experience in combined and accelerated Master level professional preparation programs in allied health and nursing. TIES Large Grant, $48,683
Chiarella M, Lewis M & White K (2009). Implementation and Evaluation of GosSIP –a Faculty based program to encourage the dissemination of “Scholarship In Practice”. TIES small grant, $9,250
Chiarella M, White J, Lewis M, Marshall A & Maw M (2009). Reviewing the impact of a clinical leadership education unit of study on the perceived self-efficacy of post-graduate clinical nurses. TIES small grant, $9,635
Harris L, Lewis M, West S & Brown L (2008) Achieving a match between the declared and delivered curriculum. TIES Large Grant, $124,000
Masters J & Lewis M (2008) Extending the functionality of the 2007 online case-based learning template and building another case. USYD eLearning Grant, 100 hours
Stephens M, White K, Nattress K, & Lewis M (2008) To build a blended eLearning template for post-graduate units of study in cancer nursing. USYD eLearning Grant, 250 hours
West S, Everingham F, Groenlund C, Williams K & Lewis M (2008) To establish a searchable database or other form of digital storage of previously developed learning objects that can then be accessed as either examples of technical solutions to specific educational design problems and/or exemplars of completed sites. USYD eLearning Grant
Cumming S, Chapparo C, Jones M, Lewis M, Smit J & Matthews LR (2007) E’tivities for interactivity in the development of generic attributes for Faculty of Health Sciences courses. Sydney eLearning Grant: 250 hours April–June.
Mahony MJ, Lee G, Lewis M (2006) Development of a common WebCT shell for year one Bachelor of Health Science units of study. Sydney eLearning Grant: 500 hours October 2006–February 2007.