Learning and Teaching
About Us
The College of Medicine and Dentistry (CMD) undertakes strategic activities in learning and teaching to support our academic staff and enhance student learning experiences.
This webpage is designed to serve as a toolkit that provides learning and teaching resources to support staff in effectively delivering content material that engage students and fosters lifelong learning. The toolkit features information on functional teaching strategies and assessment methods.
Browse through the categories presented below to access the useful resources that we have developed to assist your teaching.
Providing effective feedback
Learn from some of our current staff on how to use the most appropriate forms of feedback in learning and teaching.
Managing small group teaching sessions
Small group management includes tutorials, discussion groups, clinical teaching, simulations, seminars, plenary sessions, team-based learning, and home groups. We have included a webinar from one of our staff on how to organise small group sessions to encourage and foster learning among students
Engaging students in high cognitive thinking
It is important to create active learning environments that engage students and make their lifelong learners. Learn from our seasoned staff on how to engage students in high cognitive thinking.
CMD Dean’s Teaching Excellence Awards
The College of Medicine and Dentistry Teaching Excellence Awards recognise staff who have made exceptional contributions to learning and teaching in the College. These awards are held annually and are presented at the final Learning and Teaching meeting for the year.
All staff and students within the CMD may nominate any eligible academic, professional, or technical staff member who is currently employed on a casual or ongoing basis within the College.
Self-nominations are not permitted.
Up to five awards are available, and each awardee will receive a certificate and gift card to the value of $200.
For the purposes of these awards, all nominations must relate to contributions to student learning in undergraduate and/or postgraduate coursework programs.
Receiving a Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence is an esteemed accomplishment. Please consider nominating a colleague who you believe meets one of the following categories:
The nominee must be selected in ONE of these categories:
- Commitment to, enthusiasm and passion for, learning and teaching
- Promotion of, and advocacy for, improvement of learning and teaching
- Track-record of scholarship of learning and teaching
- Mentoring of students and/or other educators
- Creativity and innovation in traditional or technology-based learning environments
To nominate a staff member, simply download and complete the Dean's Award for Teaching Excellence Nomination Form.
Evidence will be required to support your nomination. Please see the nomination form for details.
Nominations for the 2022 Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence will open at the end of August and close on 31 October 2022.
Our teachers are central to student success, and it is clear from the many nominations received year after year for the Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence that the CMD is rich with ideas and innovations and that we’re passionate about teaching.
We wish to acknowledge the expertise and passion our teachers bring to the College each day. Be inspired by some of our past Dean's Learning and Teaching Excellence Award Winners .
This section provides a list of Learning and Teaching related articles published by CMD staff.
- Selection
- Innovative Teaching & Learning
- Academic Support
- Assessment
- Health Workforce
- Professional Development
- Academic Transition Experiences
Engaging in Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
This section provides a list of articles published by CMD teaching staff.
Woolley, Torres, and Ray, Robin Adelle (2019) Effectiveness of regional medical schools in attracting and retaining students for early-career practice in the local area: the James Cook University experience. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 27. pp. 125-131.
Young, Louise, Lindsay, Daniel B., and Ray, Robin A. (2016) What do beginning students, in a rurally focused medical course, think about rural practice? BMC Medical Education, 16. 310. pp. 1-7.
Ray, Robin A., Young, Louise, and Lindsay, Daniel B. (2015) The influences of background on beginning medical students' perceptions of rural medical practice. BMC Medical Education, 15. 58.
Trollope, A., Domett, K., Woolley, T., and Gavan, A. (2021) Evaluating the effectiveness of an online interactive histology resource. Clinical Anatomy, 34 (8). e15-e15.
Anscomb, H.L. (2021) Near peer teaching in first year anatomy: differences between students' learning behavior and feedback responses. Clinical Anatomy. p. 14. (In Press)
Venkatesh, Shashidhar, Rao, Yeshwanth K., Nagaraja, Haleagrahara, Woolley, Torres, Alele, Faith O., and Malau-Aduli, Bunmi S. (2019) Factors influencing medical students’ experiences and satisfaction with blended integrated e-learning. Medical Principles and Practice, 29 (1).
Shashidhar, Venkatesh, Woolley, Torres, Rao, Yeshwanth, Nagaraja, Haleagrahara, and Malau-Aduli, Bunmi (2017) Lessons learnt from implementing blended ‘integrated ’learning into an undergraduate medical curriculum. MedEdPublish, 6. pp. 1-11.
Hartman, Hannah, and Johnson, Peter (2018) The effectiveness of multimedia for teaching drug mechanisms of action to undergraduate health students. Computers & Education, 125. pp. 202-211.
Anscomb, H. (2017) Blended learning approaches for improving cell biology and embryology in year 1 medicine. Journal of Anatomy, 231 (3). A3. p. 453.
Anscomb, Helen L. (2017) Approaches to improve student academic success in a mixed year 1 anatomy and physiology subject. Clinical Anatomy, 30 (8). pp. 1107-1117.
Anscomb, Helen L. (2017) Can teaching delivery mode lead to ongoing changes in student performance within human anatomy? Clinical Anatomy, 30 (8). pp. 1107-1117.
Forde A, Woolley T, Harvey N and Rasalam R (2014) Integrated case scenarios prepare medical students for clinical skills examinations. International Journal of Clinical Skills, 8 (1). pp. 21-30
Malau-Aduli B, Ray R, O'Connor T, van der Kruk Y, Alele F and Bellingan M (2020) Dealing with academic difficulty in medical school: a pilot study. Education Science, 10 (3).
Ross, Simone J., Owens, Kimberley, Roberts, Andrew, Jennings, Ernest, and Mylrea, Martina (2020) Mindfulness training: success in reducing first year health professional students' study and exam related stress. Health Professions Education, 6 (2). pp. 162-169.
Malau-Aduli, Bunmi S., O'Connor, Teresa, Ray, Robin A., Kerlen, Yolanda, Bellingan, Michelle, and Teague, Peta-Ann (2017) Risk factors associated with academic difficulty in an Australian regionally located medical school. BMC Medical Education, 17. 266.
Preston, Robyn, Gratani, Monica, Owens, Kimberley, Roche, Poornima, Zimanyi, Monika, and Malau-Aduli, Bunmi (2020) Exploring the impact of assessment on medical students’ learning. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 45 (1). pp. 109-124.
Malau-Aduli, Bunmi S., Preston, Robyn, Adu, Mary, Alele, Faith, Gratani, Monica, Drovandi, Aaron, and Heslop, Ian (2019) Pharmacy students' perceptions of assessment and its impact on learning. Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning, 11 (6). pp. 571-579.
Malau-Aduli, Bunmi, Alele, Faith, Heggarty, Paula, Teague, Peta-ann, Sen Gupta, Tarun, and Hays, Richard (2019) Perceived clinical relevance and retention of basic sciences across the medical education continuum. Advances in Physiology Education, 43 (3). pp. 293-299.
Abraham, Reem Rachel, Alele, Faith, Kamath, Ullas, Kurien, Annamma, Rai, Kiranmai S., Bairy, Indira, Rao, Mohandas K.G., Rao, Guruprasad, Devi, Vasudha, Rao, Yeshwant K., Sen Gupta, Tarun, and Malau-Aduli, Bunmi S. (2018) Assessment for learning: a needs analysis study using formative assessment to evaluate the need for curriculum reform in basic sciences. Advances in Physiology Education, 42 (3). pp. 482-486.
Woolley, Torres, Gupta, Tarun Sen, and Paton, Kath (2021) Mid-career graduate practice outcomes of the James Cook University medical school: key insights from the first 20 years. Rural and Remote Health, 21 (4).
Woolley, Torres, Ross, Simone, Larkins, Sarah, Sen Gupta, Tarun, and Whaleboat, Donald (2021) "We learnt it, then we lived it": influencing medical students' intentions toward rural practice and generalist careers via a socially-accountable curriculum. Medical Teacher, 43 (1). pp. 93-100.
Woolley, Torres, Hogenbirk, John C., and Strasser, Roger (2020) Retaining graduates of non-metropolitan medical schools for practice in the local area: the importance of locally based postgraduate training pathways in Australia and Canada. Rural and Remote Health, 20 (3). 5835.
Drovandi, Aaron, and Woolley, Torres (2020) Workforce supply of pharmacists in Queensland communities from James Cook University Pharmacy Graduates. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 28 (5). pp. 462-68.
Woolley, Torres (2019) Influencing intention for a family medicine career may need a whole-curriculum approach. Medical Education, 53 (6). pp. 537-539.
Woolley, Torres (2019) Intended rural career modalities of final‐year James Cook University medical students. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 27 (5). pp. 412-418.
Sen Gupta T, Johnson P, Rasalam R and Hays R (2018) Growth of the James Cook University medical program: maintaining quality, continuing the vision, developing postgraduate pathways. Medical Teacher, 40 (5). pp. 495-500
Ray R, Young L and Lindsay D (2018) Shaping medical student’s understanding of and approach to rural practice through the undergraduate years: a longitudinal study. BMC Medical Education, 18.
Woolley, Torres, Sen Gupta, Tarun, and Larkins, Sarah (2018) Work settings of the first seven cohorts of James Cook University Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery graduates: meeting a social accountability mandate through contribution to the public sector and Indigenous health services. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 26 (4). pp. 258-264.
Woolley, T., Sen Gupta, T., and Bellei, M. (2017) Predictors of remote practice location in the first seven cohorts of James Cook University MBBS graduates. Rural and Remote Health, 17 (1).
Mylrea M, Sen Gupta T and Glass B (2018) Commencing and graduating pharmacy students' perceptions of their professional development during undergraduate study. Pharmacy Education, 18 (1). pp. 259-267
Malau-Aduli B, Lee A, Alele F, Adu M, Drovandi A and Jones K (2022) Preclinical to clinical transition experiences of dental students at an Australian regional university. European Journal of Dental Education, 26 (1). pp. 182-196
Malau-Aduli B, Adu M, Alele F, Jones K, Drovandi A, Mylrea M, Sfera K, Ross S and Jennings E (2021) Adjusting to university: perceptions of first-year health professions students. Public Library of Science ONE, 16 (5).
Drovandi, Aaron, Adu, Mary, Alele, Faith, Jones, Karina, Knott, Gillian, and Malau-Aduli, Bunmi S. (2020) Factors influencing the transition of pharmacy students from pre-clinical to clinical years at university. Pharmacy Education, 20 (1). pp. 336-345.
Malau-Aduli, Bunmi S., Roche, Poornima, Adu, Mary, Jones, Karina, Alele, Faith, and Drovandi, Aaron (2020) Perceptions and processes influencing the transition of medical students from pre-clinical to clinical training. BMC Medical Education, 20. 279.
Information for staff
Please visit the JCU The Centre for Education and Enhancement Portal for more information.