Education Excellence: 3 minute stories
The 3 minute story initiative is designed to provide excellent educators and teams with an opportunity to share what they do in an authentic, clear and engaging way.
What is a 3 minute story?
3 minute stories are informal, conversational explanations of your work and its impact.
They can be submitted in video or audio (3 minutes max.) or text format (500 words max. and you may include images, but any text contained within the images will count toward the word limit). Selected stories will be shared with the Monash educator community via the Professional Learning Hub and may lead to other opportunities, described below.
Who can submit a story?
Educators and teams are invited by email from the Monash Education Academy (MEA). This invitation is prompted by an educational leader in your Faculty, Portfolio or Campus (e.g., via a Dean’s Award), by your contribution to MEA professional learning activities or events, or by a Recognition of Education Excellence form submitted by a peer, colleague, student, or yourself. Hopefully, that is how you found your way to this page, and you are now considering telling us more about what you are doing and why you are proud of it.
How do I submit my story?
Invitations to share 3 minute stories are sent by email from the MEA and will include a direct link to a Google Form for submission.
Note: The deadline for 3 minute stories to be considered for invitation this year's Vice-Chancellor's Award applications is 29 June.
What makes a good story?
Tell us what you’re doing, why, and how it matters. The purpose of the 3 minute stories is to showcase your educational excellence and its impact in a clear and engaging way. The way you tell your story should be relatively informal - think of it as explaining your work to a friend or colleague.
Present your story as a narrative with a beginning, middle, and end that capture your audience's attention. It should include the following, clearly identifiable story elements:
- A hook. Start with an opener that grabs attention. What sets you apart? Why and how is your approach different from what others are doing, and in what way does that matter?
- Educational philosophy. Briefly explain where you’re coming from and what underpins your approach. This might be grounded in educational theory, and/or you might describe your educational values in plain language, explaining what you care about, what drives you.
- Approach. Highlight your methods and approach and how they’ve unfolded in your specific educational context.
- Impact. Explain how you know your approach is working and the extent of its influence.
3 minutes is not long. Focus on the story you are telling and the most important aspects of your educational practice. Make it clear, interesting and compelling for others who may work or study in a different discipline.
No need for high production or editing - we are after passionate, clear and authentic explanations of great educational work.
See more on what we think is important for each of these story elements under “Assessment Criteria”, below.
Can I use AI to help me make my story?
You may carefully and responsibly use AI in creating your 3 minute story, conforming to Monash principles of responsible AI use. Please acknowledge any GenAI you have used and how. See the Monash Teach HQ page on AI acknowledgement for guidance.
Why submit a story?
There could be many reasons for submitting a story. It helps you reflect on your work, clarify your approach, and deepen your understanding of why it matters. Sharing with others also opens up possibilities for productive conversations, feedback, and inspiring others and helping them learn from what you do. Sharing excellent educational practices also contributes to the broader educational community, while also bringing you recognition and visibility, and creating opportunities for future collaboration.
A starting point for a Vice-Chancellor's Award application
Your 3 minute story could be the first step towards a Vice-Chancellor's Education Excellence Award submission. All submitted stories are reviewed by a panel of experienced educators for both their suitability to be shared via the Professional Learning Hub (a space for Monash staff to share resources, ideas, and examples of good educational practice) and their potential for being developed into a VC Award application.
Please note that there is no obligation to proceed with a VC Award application. Having your story shared with others is a good achievement and may be enough for you. However, we have tried to reduce the workload involved in making an application, so we encourage you to read on and see what would be involved.
From recognition to story to award application: How it works
The selection process for advancing stories to VC Award applications is designed to identify stories with the greatest potential for success. This means that they are both strong in their current form but can also be refined to meet award criteria. Each story is evaluated by multiple reviewers who assess its overall quality and potential for further development.
Assessment criteria
Three independent reviewers evaluate each submitted story based on overall potential and potential for alignment with a specific award category. The evaluation focuses on the four story elements:
- Hook
- Is the opening of the story compelling and engaging?
- Does it effectively capture attention and set up the narrative?
- Does it create interest in the educational approach being presented?
- Does it signify how this achievement is different from others and why this matters?
- Philosophy
- Is the educational philosophy coherent and compelling?
- Does it align logically with the hook?
- Does it provide a strong foundation for the approach described?
- Approach
- Is the approach clearly articulated?
- Is it coherent, innovative, and compelling?
- Does it align with the stated philosophy?
- Impact
- Is the described impact significant and meaningful?
- Does it show promise for further development or expansion with evidence in a full application?
Classification
Experienced educators from our Advance HE Fellowship community review each story to assess its potential for developing into a Vice-Chancellor’s Award application. Using the classification table below, reviewers provide rich feedback on every submission - highlighting strengths and identifying areas for improvement to help you refine your narrative.
Evaluation | Outcomes | |
|---|---|---|
Classification 3 | Your story is compelling, well-structured, and clearly demonstrates significant impact. | Stories in this category will considered for formal invitation to VC Award. |
Classification 2 | Your story shows clear promise and impact but requires additional time, development or expansion. | You will be invited to feature your story on the Professional Learning Hub. |
Classification 1 | Your story demonstrates potential but needs significant development or refinement before it is ready to be featured on the Professional Learning Hub or turned into a VC Award application. | You will be offered feedback from reviewers on how to develop your hook, philosophy, approach, and impact narrative. You will be encouraged to submit a revised story for consideration the following year. |
No matter the outcome from the review panel, please remember that being valued as an excellent educator by others already indicates recognition of your work. Please join us in highlighting and sharing excellent education at Monash.
Progression to Vice-Chancellor’s Education Excellence Awards
Please note that receiving a Classification 3 does not automatically result in progression to a Vice-Chancellor’s Education Excellence Award application. The Monash Education Academy oversees the selection of nominees invited to progress; this ensures that all applications are of the highest quality and remain strongly aligned with the award criteria.