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The Scholarship and Research Development Scheme (SRDS
Blackpool and The Fylde College has established a fund to support the scholarly activity of members of academic and support staff who wish to enhance their scholarship and develop their role in the College. The Scholarship and Research Development Scheme (SRDS) was developed and piloted as part of the Teaching Quality Enhancement Project during 2007. Since its inception the scheme has supported a wide variety of projects centered in and around the development of subject expertise and the scholarship of teaching and learning.
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What is Scholarship?
There have been various debates about what actually constitutes scholarly activity and in particular how scholarship is actually relevant to vocationally based higher education. Blackpool and The Fylde College has developed a hierarchical model of scholarship (see Fig 1) which can be used as a framework upon which to organise scholarly development and to inform teaching and learning quality enhancement.
Fig 1: The Blackpool and The Fylde Hierarchical Model of Scholarship
New Knowledge
(Discovery & Conception)
Action Research
Reading and Research
(Informed Teacher)
(Integration, Application & Communication) Reflective Teaching Practice
(Integration & Application of Knowledge)
Scholarship is the driving force that influences and informs the development of curriculum which is not only about what we teach and who we teach, but also how we teach.
We welcome applications on a broad range of topics however, we encourage applications concerned with the following Scholarship themes:
• Communication, information and digital skills • Graduate attributes and transferrable skills • Enterprise and entrepreneurship • Ethical and sustainable practice (including climate change) • Societal and civic engagement • Equality, diversity, inclusion (including decolonisation) • Health, wellbeing and resilience
What Kind of Activities Can Be Classed as Scholarship?
Scholarship can be informed and generated by participation in a variety of different activities including:
• Attendance at scholarly events, exhibitions and conferences. • Organising or speaking at a scholarly event, exhibition or conference. • Consultancy relevant to subject expertise. • The writing of conference papers, poster presentations, refereed articles for academic journals, chapters for academic texts, or contributions to professional or academic publications or exhibitions. • Professional and industrial updating, workshop attendance or employer engagement. • Field research, including visits to centres of academic excellence, good practice or with specialist facilities. • Action research relevant to teaching and learning in HE. • Authoring appropriately challenging, well referenced and contemporary course materials to support flexible learning.
These activities might in themselves be scholarly, but it is in the reflection, dissemination and incorporation of what has been learned into curriculum which defines scholarship. That is the fundamental difference between staff development and scholarship.
The hallmark of true scholarship is in the production of scholarly artefacts or outputs, some examples of which are listed below:
• High quality appropriately referenced teaching and learning materials to support flexible modes of study in HE. • Published work (paper, journal article, academic poster or book). • Published conference/exhibition papers or posters. • Dissemination workshops. • The development of materials for the purpose of sharing good practice.
• A report detailing quantitative and qualitative evidence to inform College strategy and operation. • A report detailing quantitative and qualitative evidence to support improved learner experience. • A detailed action research report to inform Curriculum Area strategy and operation.
How Do I Apply for Funding?
Applications are welcome from full time and part time staff involved in teaching and the support of learning. Applications for funding must be made on the Scholarship and Research Development Application form obtained from the HE Directorate.
What Type of Projects Does the College Provide Funding For?
• Pedagogic research linked to the professional standards and Curriculum Area / College professional and Quality Improvement Plans (QIP). • Subject updating through industrial placement and industry led development, conference attendance and presentation. • The development of lecturer skills to support flexible modes of study, work-based and placement learning, online learning and the development of quality teaching and learning materials of appropriate challenge, differentiated and available for asynchronous access. • Good practice sharing activities. • Collaborative research with Lancaster University or other external partners. • Collaborative research and development projects with industry. • The production of scholarly resources such as text books, e-books and journals. • Curriculum Area / College centred entrepreneurial activities. • The development of new curriculum from concept phase through to validation/revalidation.
When is Funding Available?
Applications for funding can be submitted at any time during the academic year, but these must be supported by a clear timetable of activities and with the endorsement of the Head of Curriculum Area.
In order to facilitate forward planning and timetabling it is highly recommended that project proposals and applications for funding are made well in advance of the start of the academic year.
The SRDS panel meets four times per year to consider applications. The panel dates are available via the HE Directorate.
Project Support
The HE Directorate can help you to formulate your project objectives, proposal, application for funding and subsequent project planning, implementation and evaluation. Bespoke one-to-one coaching and mentoring is provided.
