Dana McKay: Teaching

Teaching

I have cumulative teaching experience of over 10 years at RMIT University, the University of Melbourne and the University of Waikato. My teaching encompasses a range of roles, including course coordinator, lecturer, tutor and laboratory demonstrator. It also includes a range of topics across the disciplines of computing and information systems, including information systems basics, human computer interaction, research methods and ethics, introductory programming, and algorithms. My teaching ethos is student centred and student success focused.

Current teaching

My teaching changes from year to year, and is currently reduced due to my administrative role as associate dean.

At RMIT I have taught Programming Studio 1, User Centred Design and Usability Engineering at the RMIT School of Computing Technologies. These courses teach students how to design and evaluate all kinds of technological systems to make them more useful, more usable, and more effective for users.

Prior to this I taught three subjects at the University of Melbourne

• Fundamentals of Information Systems is highly industry engaged; I brought in two industry guest speakers per semester, and managed a team of tutors with IS consulting experience. 

• Information Architecture is an optional subject in the Masters of Technology HCI specialism. In this subject we examined how to design and test the user experience of accessing information using digital technology. We also covered human information behaviour, and the underpinnings of information retrieval technologies. 

• Research methods is a compulso9ry subject for masters by research students. This subject covers a range of research related topics including giving presentations, writing, the scientific method, and research ethics.

Teaching Qualification

I hold a Graduate Certificate in University Teaching from the University of Melbourne