Talking About… Learning & Teaching
Talking About…Learning & Teaching
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College of Social Sciences, University of Birmingham INSIDE THIS ISSUE 1 2
Welcome
- Welcome - BEACON – Professional Recognition for Teaching
We hope this Spring Edition stimulates your interest and encourages you to explore educational enhancement further.
- Birmingham Education Fellowships - Educational Enhancement Funding Call - Spotlight on an Educational Enhancement Project: Advanced Modern Asia Media Project
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- Supporting Students Around Assessment and Feedback: Banks of Assessed Work – What’s On: Save the Date - Reporting Requirements for Scanned or Uploaded Chapters and Articles to Canvas - Exploring the Inclusive Curriculum
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- Developing and Embedding Inclusive Policy and Practice within the University of Birmingham - Birmingham puts LGBTQ identities at the heart of its curriculum
BEACON – Professional Recognition for Teaching Dr Sue Morón-García, Centre for Learning and Academic Development The Centre for Learning and Academic Development and Learning Spaces (CLAD&LS) are launching a new Higher Education Academy (HEA) accredited professional recognition framework, which will allow colleagues to apply for HEA fellowships through the institution, as opposed to applying directly to the HEA: there is no financial cost for this institutional route. We have approval to grant professional recognition against D1, D2 and D3 of the UK Professional Standards Framework i.e. Associate Fellow, Fellow and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. There will be a link between HEA fellowship and membership categories for the institutional Teaching Academy (under discussion currently). If you are interested in finding out more or being invited to the introductory workshops which will start after Easter send an email to beacon@contacts.bham.ac.uk.
- Cartoon Caption Competition
Please note that we will only be able to cater for small numbers initially while we build capacity. We are particularly keen to hear from those colleagues who • have teaching focused positions • lead and mentor colleagues in teaching and learning • are involved with any of our programmes / courses who don’t yet have professional recognition (i.e. as facilitators or mentors). Edited by Danielle Hinton (CoSS ELearning) and Professor Mike McLinden (School of Education). Please submit articles d.m.hinton@bham.ac.uk.
to:
College of Social Sciences
Those applying should be willing to help with future applications as a disciplinary mentor or as a member of an assessment panel (development to fulfill this role will be provided); in this way we hope to build institutional capacity to support more colleagues. More information is available from: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/downloads/UKPSF_2011_En glish.pdf
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Talking About…Learning & Teaching
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Birmingham Education Fellowships Professor Jonathan Green, DPVC Education Dr Clare Saunders, Centre for Learning and Academic Development The University will be offering up to four Birmingham Education Fellowships (BEFs) this year, of £5,000 each plus a salary increment (or one-off payment for those already at the top of their scale). The BEF web pages give further details: see https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/teachingfellowship, Note that all those involved in supporting student learning may apply, not just those on academic contracts. Please note that the closing date for this round of BEF applications is noon on Monday 11th May 2015.
Educational Enhancement Project Funding Do you have an idea to improve the educational experience of our students? The University has funds available to support educational enhancement projects for 201317, and the application period is now open for both staff (deadline Monday 18 May 2015) and student lead project (deadline Friday 19 June 2015) applications.
Spotlight on an Educational Enhancement Project: Advanced Modern Asia Media Project Dr Julie Gilson, Senior Lecturer in Japanese Politics, Department of Political Science and International Studies Danielle Hinton, CoSS ELearning Team This project builds on previous CLAD funded Media projects (Chemistry, Biosciences and International Development) and aims to challenge third year undergraduate students to • •
Learn how to promote complex ideas (about the Mekong River) in an academically rigorous, digestible and understandable (but not simplistic) way. Develop new communications and team-working skills that will enhance employability and will be useful in their future careers.
Instead of an exam students now undertake a two part assessment made up of (a) an individual reflective log and a (b) group based 3-5 minute documentary. In groups of 67 students were given a theme based around the Mekong River along with two targeted training sessions to support this new assessment. Firstly a session took place focusing on project planning. This included the analysis and storyboarding of a short documentary style film as well as exploring some examples from a previous International Development Department module student project. This session was followed two weeks later with the second session styled ‘The Speed Documentary’ [view]. Students groups were challenged to create a 20-30 second video called "Advice for First Years from Current Students". This immersive session condensed the film making process (including exploring the software) into 50-55 minutes and allowed students to explore and discuss issues in a safe environment before tackling the real thing. We are running an in-depth evaluation of this form of assessment (based on surveys, interviews and focus groups) and look forward to the module’s Film Festival at the end of April when all the documentaries will be viewed and celebrated.
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Talking About…Learning & Teaching
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Supporting Students Around Assessment and Feedback: Banks of Assessed Work Thomas Mandall, College Student Experience and Compliance Officer
You Said We Did
Work on the construction of Banks of Assessed Work is ongoing across the College, with work in the Schools supported by postgraduate assistants. These online resources respond directly to student comments about assessment and feedback, particularly understanding the marking criteria and interpreting feedback. The first phase of the Banks will include examples of final year modules which demonstrate a spread of marks: essays that achieved solid 1, 2.1, and 2.2. Each essay is accompanied by the marker’s feedback comments so that the students using the Bank can track the performance against the marking criteria. We hope to expand and develop these banks to include a wider range of assignment types and levels in the coming months. The following is an example from the School of Government and Society’s Bank of Assessed Work.
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Distance Learning Special Interest Group: Exploring MOOCs: The Journey So Far Monday, April 20, 2015 from 1pm Muirhead Tower, Room 109 The DL SIG is now open for booking for the event on Monday 20 April focusing on MOOC development – University of Birmingham and FutureLearn. Liz Wragg (Operations Manager for MOOCs) will join us to share lessons learnt and behind the scenes stories of Birmingham MOOCs so far. We also look forward to Tom Harrison and Danielle Leane Wartnaby (School of Education) sharing their insight into creating and delivering the two week ‘What Is Character? Virtue Ethics In Education’ course (19 – 31 Jan 2015).
Going to the Polls: Teaching and Learning with TurningPoint Tuesday, 21 April 2015, 09:30 - 14:10, lunch included, Room 121, Muirhead Tower The University of Birmingham is hosting an event to showcase the use of TurningPoint voting, sometimes known as 'clickers'. The event is intended to highlight current use of polling technology in teaching and learning. We have University of Birmingham presenters from Biochemistry, Chemistry and Law describing their experiences of using TurningPoint and the current trial of mobile version, ResponseWare. We also have a guest speaker from the University of Surrey, who will discuss pedagogy and his perspectives on polling in the arts and humanities. There will be an opportunity to discuss key themes and issues raised by the presentations. The full event programme and booking information can be found at: www.weblearn.bham.ac.uk/polling/
Academic Practice Writing Group Dr Petia Petrova, Centre for Learning and Academic Development The Academic Practice Writing Group is welcoming new members. We meet once a month, on a Friday, for a full day (9:00-17:00) dedicated to writing. The group welcomes in particular colleagues writing about aspects of higher education and those targeting education-related journals in your field or discipline. Our forthcoming dates are: · · · ·
24 April 2015 05 June 2015 03 July 2015 07 August 2015
For further information, please contact Petia Petrova (e-mail: p.petrova@bham.ac.uk, tel: 43692. To book a place: please email your name and staff ID number to pgcertcoursebookings@contacts.bham.ac.uk
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Talking About…Learning & Teaching
Reporting Requirements for Scanned or Uploaded Chapters and Articles to Canvas Alex Fenlon, Copyright and Licensing Advisor, Library Services If you have scanned extracts from printed books or journals, or uploaded extracts of e-books and e-journals to Canvas using the University’s Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) licence, you need to report them to Library Services. Any scanning/ uploading since 1st June 2014 must be reported along with any old scans and uploads that have been re-used in 2014-15. All scanning/ uploading should be in line with the Procedures for scanning which details what is and is not covered, with reporting via Step 3. Please ensure that all scanning/ uploading activity during 14/15 has been reported by Friday 29th May 2015 so that Library Services can report to the CLA directly. If you have any queries please contact copyright@contacts.bham.ac.uk.
Exploring the Inclusive Curriculum The Higher Education Academy commissioned a guide in 2011 to support the higher education sector to think creatively about inclusive curriculum design from a generic as well as subject or disciplinary perspective.
An inclusive curriculum is one where all students’ entitlement to access and participate in a course is anticipated, acknowledged and taken into account.
“It is an imperative on institutions that they design their curriculum in such a way as to promote success among all students. An inclusive curriculum design approach is one that takes into account students’ educational, cultural and social background and experience as well as the presence of any physical or sensory impairment and their mental well-being. It enables higher education institutions (HEI) to embed quality enhancement processes that ensure an anticipatory response to equality in learning and teaching. This practical guidance draws on a wide range of activity and innovation within the sector and offers examples of effective strategies and general resources to support the curriculum design process.” The guide is divided into four sections as below. For ease of access, the different sections and subject specific guides are all published as separate documents. Section one includes a contents page providing links to the other 26 documents that make up the full publication. Section one: Introduction and overview Section two: Generic considerations of inclusive curriculum design Section three: Subject specific considerations Section four: References and resources The University of Birmingham established an ‘Inclusive Curriculum Working Group’ in February 2014 to explore how inclusivity can become more effectively developed and embedded within the curriculum in order to support colleagues in thinking about inclusive curriculum design so as to promote success amongst all students. The main focus of the Working Group is to identify challenges and barriers in order to provide practical solutions and embedded changes to policy and practice.
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Talking About‌Learning & Teaching
Developing and Embedding Inclusive Policy and Practice within the University of Birmingham Michael McLinden, Michael Grove, Jon Green, & Andy Birch This article describes the innovative data collection methods that will be drawn upon through a process of educational enquiry to monitor change over a given timeframe in relation to agreed goals and success criteria. This includes an organisational change framework (McKinsey 7S) that will be used to enable the impact of the Working Group to be measured and monitored over a given timeframe in relation to agreed goals and success criteria. Future publications will report on progress in relation to the proposed activities, evaluate the methodology and data collection methods and explore the extent to which the project outcomes can be drawn upon more broadly within the higher education sector. [Read More] Indicative evidence sources and measures in relation to the McKinsey 7S Framework
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Birmingham puts LGBTQ identities at the heart of its curriculum Dr Nicola Gale, Lecturer in the Sociology of Health Care, Health Services Management Centre Dr Nicki Ward, Lecturer in Social Work, School of Social Policy The University of Birmingham is taking steps to ensure that its curriculum is inclusive towards those with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ) identities. The new project is innovative within the higher education sector and will draw on current effective practice across the University to develop a guide for colleagues seeking to embed LGBTQ issues in all of the institution’s academic disciplines. From scoping work carried out by the project co-ordinators, the focus of initiatives to tackle inclusivity previously centred around the social and pastoral experiences of LGBTQ students at the University, rather than on the content and delivery of teaching. However, students have reported that interactions in lectures, seminars and laboratories are crucial to their experience. Positive experiences signposted include good staff role models and the use of case studies that acknowledge LGBTQ identities. Nationally, LGBTQ students in higher education experience higher than average rates of drop out, use of student support services, mitigating circumstances (health and social problems) and suicide rates. The project at the University of Birmingham will explore the experiences of staff and students, through a survey and local-level workshops over two years. These findings will be synthesised with a review of course literature and compared with experience across the education sector internationally. Champions across the University and the newly-formed Inclusive Curriculum Working Group will promote best practice recommendations that are tailored to different academic disciplines. These initiatives will support the work the University already undertakes around equality and diversity, with the institution fully committed as a Stonewall Diversity Champion. Co-Project Leader Dr Nicola Gale, Lecturer in the Sociology of Health Care, Health Services Management Centre said: ‘For LGBTQ students, coming to university can be a really positive experience socially, with the opportunity to meet new people and, here at Birmingham, join the excellent student LGBTQ Association. However, we would like to ensure that this experience translates in to the actual content of their courses.’ Co-Project Leader Dr Nicki Ward, Lecturer in Social Work, School of Social Policy added: ‘Our project seeks to identify good practice across all the academic disciplines at Birmingham and to offer practical support to lecturers on making their classroom a more LGBTQ-inclusive place.’ Along with the production of best practice resources and workshops, those involved in the project hope to present their research at the University’s prestigious Teaching and Learning Conference in 2015, as well as publish results in a peer-reviewed journal. Findings from the study will also be shared nationally and internationally amongst colleagues at over researchintensive universities.
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Talking About…Learning & Teaching
Cartoon Caption Competition – Autumn 2014 Congratulations to Tamsin Waterhouse, Lecturer, Institute of Applied Social Studies for the winning entry:
Cartoon Caption Competition – Spring 2015 Create a caption and email it to d.m.hinton@bham.ac.uk by 1st June.
College of Social Sciences
Vol 8 No 2, 2015