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Content Editor with improved maths editor, handling for pasted Word text and the ability to use your webcam to record and deliver video anywhere using YouTube Test (Exam) Item Analysis helps you refine tests and quizzes by evaluating the quality and validity of each question and that question’s ability to discriminate between students who understand the material and those who do not. Retention Centre provides data visualisation of student engagement with your unit using preconfigured rules for identifying at-risk students. Discussions the “Thread Detail” page has been thoroughly redesigned while maintaining all of its current functionality, adding a way for you to require students to “post first” to a forum before they can see other students’ posts. Calendar items with due dates automatically appear and can also be exported via an iCal feed; now supports recurring events – and we are working towards pulling in personal timetables. My Blackboard is a completely new tool pulling together a broad range of the data available to you and your students: take a look at http://ow.ly/lRaEP In the next few weeks we’ll be providing workshops and dropins to showcase the improvements and the Learning Technology Team will be at the University Conference to answer your questions.
Essential academic induction days for new staff If you are new to the University or are working with new colleagues, make sure you use the new staff area of the Centre for Learning Excellence’s website and essential induction days. www.beds.ac.uk/learning/newstaff carries guidance on departmental induction, the new staff exhibition, online support via the staff BREO community teaching@beds, the PgCAP and information about academic induction days. Discipline-specific academic induction takes place in your departments, but to support this, the Centre for Learning Excellence runs an intensive Introduction to Teaching and Learning at the University of Bedfordshire which all new academic staff are expected to attend. However long you’ve been teaching, moving to a new institution always means new practices, so it’s essential to understand what is expected of your teaching here, and discover the support available to you. From teaching approaches to technology, AV to academic library resources – the Introduction to Teaching and Learning Days introduce you to the essentials you need to support the
learning of your students. The next day is on June 17 in the CLE, Park Square, Luton. Coffee and registration takes place at 09.15am in the CLE with the session starting at 09.30am and running until 16.30pm. To register yourself, or a new colleague please email cle@beds.ac.uk Dates for 2013-2014 Introduction to Teaching & Learning Days are currently:
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The Centre for Learning Excellence Te a c h i n g , L e a r n i n g and Assessment
TheOracle this issue
Monday 9 September 2013 Wednesday 20 November 2013 Thursday 9 January 2014 Tuesday 18 March 2014
Additional dates will be arranged after March 2014 upon request depending on academic recruitment. If you have any queries or suggestions regarding Introduction to Teaching and Learning Days please contact: Deena.Ingham@beds.ac.uk
And finally.... Do you have something to promote through the ORACLE or activities that you would like to see covered in future issues? If so please contact cle@beds.ac.uk. The next edition will be published in September 2013.
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Welcome Welcome to June’s edition of the Centre for Learning Excellence’s newsletter. Our aim is to keep you abreast of developments in teaching, learning and assessment across the University and the sector. If you’re not already on our edistribution list you can sign up by sending your email address to cle@beds.ac.uk.
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Changes to assessment practices Just a reminder about some changes to assessment practices being implemented in 2013-14. Further details will be outlined in Chapter 8 of the revised Quality handbook but changes include: Group work grades: Group work is to be encouraged but students must be assigned individual grades rather than an overall group grade. Exceptions require approval. Where students are undertaking assessed activities, e.g. essays and reports, which could be written by a third party, unit teams must administer additional safeguards to ensure that the final work submitted belongs to the student themselves Where students are on courses with no end of year examinations, they should always have a final submission date for one of their final pieces of coursework after the Wednesday of the final week. I.e. week 15 of a semesterised unit of week 30 of a year-long unit.
Second call: Funding for Teaching and Learning Projects 2013/14 The first call for submissions for this funding has resulted in success for proposed projects on: the implications for CPD practice of the experiences of new international academic staff; the impact of differentiation on the engagement of first year students; integrating effective interventions into the curriculum to improve students’ numeracy skills. The Centre for Learning Excellence (CLE) is now issuing a second call to fund additional projects to a maximum of £4000 per project. The aims of the Teaching and Learning Project initiative are to: support the implementation of the University’s Learner Experience Strategy (LES);
recognise and reward effective teaching; support the dissemination of good practice in learning and teaching; support staff aspiring to apply for Bedfordshire Teaching Fellowships (please see separate article in this issue of The Oracle). The CLE invites you to submit proposals in response to this second call by 31st July 2013. For details and application form, please email Andrea Raiker at: andrea.raiker@beds.ac.uk
Professional Teaching Scheme We are in the process of seeking accreditation from the Higher Education Academy for our Professional Teaching Scheme. This provides routes to HEA recognition and the enhancement of HEA status through internal processes rather than applying externally to the HEA. Through the Scheme, all academic staff will be able to engage in continuous professional development activities in teaching and learning on an annual basis with a review every four years. For further information, contact cle@beds.ac.uk.
National Teaching Fellowships
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We are looking for individuals in interested in being selected by the University as candidates for a National Teaching Fellowship either next year or in subsequent years. Details of the scheme can be found at www.ntfs.ac.uk. If you want to find out more and about the support that’s available then please email Lesley.lawrence@beds.ac.uk
CLE Digital Repository Project The Centre for Learning Excellence is about to tender for a digital repository. This will provide us with the means to create, store and manage all kinds of content that relates to supporting the teaching and learning activities of the University. We’ll be using
Writing Retreat 2014 The CLE Writing Retreat is an annual 3-day event, held away from the University as a residential series of workshops, activities and blocks of time dedicated to writing. The fourth CLE Writing Retreat (not including two successful events when we were a CETL in 2009 and 2010) will be held in April 2014. To register your interest, please send your work details and the abstract of a paper that you would like to write to David Mathew (david.mathew@beds.ac.uk) and Andrea Raiker (andrea.raiker@beds.ac.uk).
this to store and tag materials used to support distance learning courses, but also to underpin BREO, connected into Blackboard, so that we can better make digital content available for re-use without having to copy files over and over. This will help with version control, especially for documentation that relates to course and unit management. We’re going to be looking for a system that will harvest materials from reliable sources of Open Educational Resources for you to re-use legally in creating Guided Learning activities. It will need to be able to allow the upload of materials created in the University so that they too can be searchable and used by others. Of course, it will need to allow setting of permissions and define terms of usage. We shall need a system where you and your students can search by keyword, target specific collections for your search and then filter them – much like any online database you’re already familiar with. We’re planning to have this system online for the new academic year, but it will be likely to take quite some time to have all the business processes properly established. We’ll keep you updated as we progress this project.
Changes to the CLE team During June we are welcoming two new members of the CLE team. Diana Pritchard has a background in social and environmental research and training, policy, project management and consultancy. She has previous experience as a visiting lecturer and will be supporting academic staff across the University with implementing the HEAR and on embedding employability and sustainability issues into the curriculum. Lisa Hayes joins us from supporting the development of staff and volunteers working in hospice care. She also has experience of leading PGCE programmes. Her role is to support the implementation of the University’s new Professional Teaching Scheme for academic staff and the HEA recognition process.
The Journal of Pedagogic Development The JPD is two years old! Having launched in the summer of 2011, we have now published: seven issues
206,000 words (approximately) 30+ UoB writers (experienced and new) submissions from all over the world! We publish in hard copy and online and we are going from strength to strength. We are now planning Volume 4 of the JPD, which will appear in March, July and November 2014 and which will have a new design and web identity.
Recognition of Prior Experiential Learning (RPEL)
If you have an article or a paper that you would like to submit or discuss, please contact David Mathew (david.mathew@beds. ac.uk) and Andrea Raiker (andrea.raiker@beds.ac.uk).
MSc Diabetes (Distance Learning) The MSc in Diabetes for online delivery was successfully approved at a validation event in May 2013. The CLE’s David Mathew (content) and David Pike (administration) worked with Alan Sinclair and his team to see this large project through to its conclusion.
Academics - notePAD changes Professional Academic Development (PAD) is being reviewed to identify how the service can be best used to enhance achievement for all our students whilst supporting all academic staff. Initial changes which will have an impact on all academic teaching staff are: Requirement for explicit linking, embedding and developing PAD resources as guided learning by academics in the appropriate places of units, particularly ensuring all assessments are accompanied by relevant PAD academic skills guidance. These resources, designed to help students aim higher whatever their starting level, are on the PAD BREO Community for all staff to use and adapt. An Academic Integrity Resource (AIR) has been developed to support staff and help students achieve success without falling foul of academic offences. This online guided learning element will be made available
for September. Each course team will be expected to introduce the AIR in a core unit within first 2 weeks of their course. New guided learning online blocks designed to develop a range of academic skills are being developed by PAD and CLE taking into account feedback from staff, students and results data. These will be introduced to academics for course contextualisation and piloted this year with full introduction in 2014-2015. Requirement for course review from now on to specify the academic skills students will develop through the course stages within the revised format UIFs and CIFs. The new CPD Framework will include an academic skills development and coaching module to support academic staff. Identification and targeting of PAD advice will be a focus of the upcoming consultation on the level 4 curriculum. Opportunity for Deans to identify the priorities for PAD direct work with course teams.
This initial work enables course teams planning for next year to incorporate academic skills development in an informed way into the context of each course. The review continues including a review of the effectiveness of academic support for international students including language. operation of the Scheme from next academic year which includes expectations of a minimal level of regular engagement with teaching and learning activities. The CLE is working on providing guidance material for the PTS over the summer, but if, in the meantime, you have any queries then please get in touch through cle@beds.ac.uk
Higher Education Academy (HEA) recognition If you are an academic member of staff and are not yet recognised by the HEA then there is an increasing expectation that you become recognised through the two existing routes:
applying through the individual application route directly to the HEA if you are more experienced where teaching in HE is concerned (for guidance, see the CLE’s Guide 5 www.beds.ac.uk/ learning>teaching>guides). Please note: the recognition fee for any such applications will continue to be paid by the CLE up until the end of August, after which, CLE resources will be supporting our internal Professional Teaching Scheme. completing the HEA-accredited Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PgCAP) if new to teaching in HE or inexperienced (for information on this course see: www.beds.ac.uk/ learning>professional development>PgCert )
See the website regarding how to apply, and the next item for the September 2013 start date.
PgCAP start date - September 2013 The PgCAP first unit ‘Effective Academic Practice’ starts with a 2-day workshop on September 16-17 in the Luton Campus, D006. Learning is largely through online learning blocks supported by workshops. Further workshop dates are listed below: Effective Academic Practice (EAP) workshops 16 & 17 September 2013 9.30am-4.30pm 30 October 2013 10am-4pm 14 November 2013 10am-4pm 7 February 2014 10am-4pm 25 March 2014 10am - 4pm If you have any queries about the course, then contact Deena.ingham@beds.ac.uk
BREO Upgrade for 2013-14 We will be upgrading Blackboard, the main component of BREO. The upgrade will take place on Sunday 30th June at 01:00 BST. After testing, the system will be back online by 09:00 BST on Monday 2nd July. Some of the key improvements and innovations include:
RPEL enables people with significant experience to replace units, or even some stages, in the same way that some prior certificated learning (RPCL) can be recognised and used. A successful RPEL claim shows the potential student can evidence learning from work, volunteering or other experiences of equivalent level, volume and content to the learning outcomes of a specific unit. The Partnership Office is leading a project along with the Quality Directorate, Teaching and Learning, Faculty Managers and academics to develop our support for applicants with their RPEL claims. We are developing face-to-face, and then online, workshops this summer, as well as ensuring University policy, procedures and processes are robust. If you have any questions, please contact: helen.corkill@beds.ac.uk.