People's Choice Award

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Alumni Fund Grants are making a difference to the student experience at UWA.
Congratulations to all 2017 Round 2 grant recipients!

UWA Mediation Clinic
UWA Law School

The UWA Mediation Clinic at the UWA Law School will provide a world-class mediation service and research hub for staff, students and members of the community. As volunteers, students will assist in the Clinic’s running and administration; participate as mediation advocates working with pro-bono lawyers and barristers, and UWA accredited mediators; or as research assistants.

This grant enables ‘capstone’ learning experiences, as students use the Clinic to conduct research in real life dispute resolution with real clients who have legal and non-legal disputes, and work with senior members of the profession and the University. As the first of its kind in Australia, the Clinic will also support cutting-edge, evidence-based research in collaboration with international researchers at the University College London.

Interactive 3D Sandboxes for Experiential Learning
School of Earth Sciences

The Earth Science Museum is establishing two interactive 3D ‘sandboxes’ that will enable experiential learning in earth and environmental sciences for students and the wider community. Playground sandboxes inspire creativity. Our early memories of play can be combined with an adult curiosity about real-world environmental change in an innovative learning environment.

The Augmented Reality (AR) sandbox encourages users to create and modify topography in the sand, onto which digital geoscientific data are projected. The topography can be ‘augmented’ with a coloured elevation map, including topographic contours with simulated water or even lava from a volcano! This helps students visualise the evolution of landscapes in response to changes in Earth’s crust and the activity of water, wind and gravity on Earth’s surface at laboratory scale.

Archaeology Forensics & Rock Art Experimental Farm
School of Social Sciences

This project aims to enhance the student learning experience in archaeology. The development of a local replica archaeological rock shelter with rock art will soon allow for training of a large number of students in field survey, on-site artefact analysis, and site management and fulfil the need to combine virtual pedagogy with practical, transferable skills.

Around the Rock Art replica students will train in the use of cutting-edge technology such as differential GPS units, tablet-enabled site and heritage assessment forms, 3D drone-enabled landscape mapping, locating burials using ground-penetrating radar, as well as simulated community and Indigenous consultations that conform with ethical and OHS guidelines. These activities will involve UWA students, schools, community organisations, and industry and Indigenous partners.

Swim for Refugees
Students for Refugees, Student Club

UWA student club Students For Refugees, in partnership with the School of Sport Science, UniSwim, and Guild Volunteering, provides free swimming lessons for refugees ranging from children to adults. It allows UWA students to volunteer and engage with refugees on a personal basis - to form relationships and engage with people from a range of backgrounds, to challenge stereotypes and assumptions, as well as helping those who have arrived adjust to life in new homeland.

The Alumni Fund grant has allowed the program to become more accessible to a wider range of participants and increase volunteering opportunities for UWA students. Overall, this program will add to students’ sense of community and empower the local community, whereby strong multicultural ties are formed with the wider community.

Files for The Winthrop Singers
The Winthrop Singers, Student Club

The Winthrop Singers are an auditioned choir that shares its time between the main university campus and St George’s College. Formed in 2007, the Winthrops perform a regular evensong service, alongside additional services and performances. Some of these performances, such as the Dawn Chorus from the Winthrop Tower, have become university traditions.

This year, their regional tour will take The Winthrops to Albany. A part of the professional nature of the choir is how they present themselves, and therefore represent UWA. Funding will help purchase a new set of uniform black folders that will serve the Club for many years to come.