PhD student wins 2012 Teaching & Learning Support Programme Portfolio Prize

By edwardwhite Comment Closed

I’m surprised and thrilled to have won the University of Reading’s Teaching and Learning Support Programme Portfolio Prize! I’m looking forward to attending the Teaching and Learning Awards ceremony on the 18th September, where Professor Gavin Brooks, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching and Learning), will make the presentation. Let me explain…

I’ve had the privilege of contributing to the BA English programme during my PhD, by leading a seminar group on the Part One ‘Researching the English Essay’ module in 2010/11. I was keen to get focussed training and feedback as I took on this new responsibility, so I enrolled on the University’s Teaching and Learning Support Programme (TLSP). This 20-credit Master’s level module is accredited by the Higher Education Academy, and designed for postgraduates and staff involved in supporting student learning.

Throughout the year I attended a number of TLSP workshops run by enthusiastic and experienced trainers; I was particularly inspired by sessions on pedagogical theory – ‘how students learn’ – and on creating synergy between research and teaching. I also attended various Higher Education Academy events across the UK, which offered a valuable opportunity to learn from other teaching professionals on more specific topics like teaching performance poetry and post-millennial literature. I took part in reciprocal teaching observations, and was even filmed giving a practice presentation. I reflected on these many activities in a written portfolio, where I articulated my student-centred approach to teaching and learning.

I was delighted when my portfolio passed with Distinction, and honoured when it recently won the annual TLSP Portfolio Prize for the best portfolio submitted in 2011/12. This recognition is especially encouraging so early in my career, and I’m thrilled to receive £1,000 towards continuing my professional development.

So, big thanks to those students in my first seminar group, for their willing participation and thoughtful feedback. I’m grateful, too, to my PhD supervisor and teaching mentor, Professor Alison Donnell, for her constructive observation of my teaching practice. Many CSTD staff, faculty members and fellow graduate seminar leaders have shared creative suggestions for seminar activities with me. It’s great being part of a University that’s so committed to enabling effective learning and rewarding good teaching. I’m hoping to be back in the classroom – as both teacher and learner – again soon!

Nicola Abram

To count or not to count? – Time out for the Part One Debate…

By edwardwhite Comment Closed

Those of you who attended the University/RUSU debate on the motion that Part One should count towards students’ degree classifications (30th November 2011) will recall the persuasive arguments presented by both teams (see the Part One Debate summary for a reminder). Like me, you may have found your initial conviction in one side of the argument wavering slightly as proceedings developed.

As the debate came to a close we remained divided on the issue with a vote of 24 in favour of the motion and 31 against. 6 were still unsure. A larger audience may have resulted in a more definitive outcome, but given the relatively low attendance at the event (influenced by industrial action on the day) any evidence to support the University taking this issue further at this point in time is limited.

I’m not sure if we have heard the end of this debate though, as students experiencing the new fees regime begin to have their say. Suffice to say it is parked, for now.

Joy Collier

www.ruon.tv/partonedebate

Anna Walter talks about her academic placement (English Dept)

By edwardwhite Comment Closed

 

Way back in October 2011, at the beginning of the Autumn Term, Parts 2 and 3 English students were told about a fantastic opportunity. We were now able to go and seek experience beyond the university and go on a placement as part of any module in our year. This would be an integral part of our degree and the placement report would substitute the end of term assessed essay. I eagerly took up this opportunity. I felt I wanted some experience outside of the university environment, something extra to add onto my CV and a chance not to have to write yet another assessed essay.

I am one of very few students who took up the opportunity; I sent off emails to possible opportunities and, eventually, I was accepted to go onto an academic placement at ‘Shandy Hall’ in Yorkshire. It was the home of the author Laurence Sterne and linked with my Eighteenth Century module perfectly as we were studying Sterne’s A Sentimental Journey. ‘Shandy Hall’ is in the very tiny village of Coxwold: there is one pub, one tea room and one church. I organised a placement at the beginning of my Easter holidays. I arranged accommodation in the only B&B in the village and ran the pub asking if I could have dinner with them every evening.

This was a nerve-wracking time. I did not know what to expect, I had launched myself into the unknown but it was also very exciting. The placement could not have been more successful. Everyone looked after me and I have had the most valuable and varied experience. I spent a day restoring the first editions of Laurence Sterne’s books, another day I identified moths and another I discovered the experience of a digital Opera.

I will look back on my placement as an extremely positive experience as I have made friends and contacts now for the future that may help after my graduation in July. I have discovered another beautiful part of the country and I am currently writing up a report that includes all my combined experiences and reflects my enthusiasm for the academic placement I went on. I would recommend this opportunity to any student: it is not often you get this chance.

The Laurence Sterne Trust

Shandy Hall Coxwold York YO61 4AD: Registered Charity 529593

www.laurencesternetrust.org.uk

 

Response to Student Engagement Event: A Students’ Union perspective

By edwardwhite Comment Closed

The 2nd May saw CDoTL host an exciting event billed as ‘Exploring Student Engagement at Reading and Beyond’. Attending as a students’ union staff member with a passion for student engagement on a local and national level, I was excited to get the chance to hear about different viewpoints and approaches – especially from Scotland, where I feel the funding climate means the pressures & priorities within Higher Education are slightly different.

Karl Hobley, the President of RUSU opened the event with a frank statement about the impending threats to quality engagement with students for the UK HE sector and passionately requesting that Reading lead the way in national debate on the matter. He stressed that discussions about ‘engagement’ can frequently focus on methods rather than results & stressed the importance of reacting to student input and ‘closing the feedback loop’.

The main speakers of the event (Dr. Catherine Bovill from University of Glasgow and Prof Peter Kruschwitz, Helen Bilton & Dr. Richard Mitchell from University of Reading) provided some varied and interesting perspectives on and methods of engaging with students in relation to curriculum design, student representation & red-flagging of issues. I particularly enjoyed Prof Kruschwitz’s light-hearted yet frank approach to the bureaucratic barriers to effective engagement (such as new module approval delays) and his statement that ‘working towards the equality of opportunity to participate is better than chasing the unrealistic goal of total participation’.

Dr. Bovill’s interactive session involved the audience discussing and ranking examples of curriculum design on her ‘ladder’ of student engagement. It was clear that Dr. Bovill had done (and published) extensive research on the matter, but I felt that there were few conclusions – the session led to further questions for most attendees. These included questions such as: ‘should students be able to design their own learning outcomes?’ The ensuing discussions failed to arrive at a consensus, but I believe this was Dr. Bovill’s intention.

A shining example of excellent representation work came from Helen Bilton of the Institution of Education, who provided logistical and evidence-based accounts of the way her Staff Student Liaison Committee functions. What was most apparent about Ms. Bilton’s departmental success was the amount of tangible changes that had been made as a result of student input – something that echoed Mr. Hobley’s comments on ‘closing the feedback loop’.

Dr. Mitchell presented some very interesting examples of the systematic tracking of individual engagement which has huge potential in being integrated with the RISIS database. Dr. Bovill voiced my own concerns at the binary nature of the system (students were either ‘engaged’ or not) but with some tweaks I am excited to see what this type of system might mean for an institution’s ability to correlate engagement with academic success.

Overall, the event raised very interesting questions as well as suggesting innovative answers to some existing ones. The audience was a refreshing mix of academics, administrative staff & students and the discussions brought to light some important ideas, questions and concerns for the future. The finest quote of the session was, in my opinion, from Prof Kruschwitz: ‘we need to empower students to take ownership of their brains and invest that power as they see fit’.

Emily Collins – RUSU

Response to Student Engagement Event: An academic perspective

By edwardwhite Comment Closed

Last month I attended the first part of an afternoon conference on ‘Exploring Student Engagement at Reading and Beyond’, which took place in the Agriculture Building at Reading University. Towards the end of Cathy Bovill’s excellent keynote talk I asked the following:

“Shouldn’t we be thinking about why we want to engage students in the curriculum? There seem to be two parallel agendas here. In the first, student engagement is an end in itself: it takes some control away from academics and demystifies the profession at the same time as it increases the influence and the responsibilities of students. In the second, student engagement is a means to an end since students will learn better if they have a bigger stake in the curriculum and understand how it is constructed.”

The question was poorly timed because the discussion had moved on to practicalities and away from the rationale for student engagement. I ought to have saved it up, if I was going to ask it all, for the closing session – but I had to leave before then. But I want to suggest here that the rationale for student engagement can affect the practicalities. A key issue for me here is who exactly we mean by ‘students’ when we talk about ‘engaging students’.

If we say that student engagement is a good in itself then this goes some way to explaining the increased presence of students in the University’s committee structures, including committees that control the curriculum – for example boards of studies and periodic review panels. But these offices are available to only a minority of students; and they tend to provide opportunities for those who are already keen and articulate. There is a clear gain for the University from having a student perspective in discussions; but the wider benefit to individual students is harder to track.

If however we say that student engagement has instrumental value in the learning process then this encourages lecturers to involve all their students in the management of teaching and learning. Plenty of this already goes on. When I supervise a third-year dissertation the student chooses the topic and frames research questions; so, with guidance, the student is responsible for setting some of the criteria for a successful piece of work. Perhaps there is room to do this in taught courses too, asking students not only what topics they want to cover but how and why; making them think what the learning outcomes will be.

All of which is to oversimplify some awfully complex arguments. I do not wish to suggest that my two suggested rationales for student engagement are in any way in competition with each other; or that there is only one way to realise either of these aims; or that there is no sense of continuity between engagement in the lecture room and broader curriculum planning. But it does seem to me that at the present time we need to have a conversation on what we mean by student engagement as well as how we expect to put it into practice. I am grateful to Cathy for starting it off.

Dr David Carter

Reading Arts Education Forum Launched

By edwardwhite Comment Closed

The Institute of Education’s move to the refurbished London Road site has provided an opportunity for the University to show a willingness to become more actively involved in the cultural life of the town. By way of seizing this opportunity, all schools and arts organisations within a 30 mile radius were invited to attend an early evening meeting at London Road on March 27th. The purpose of the meeting was to establish a new network for teachers and artists concerned with education to share their practice and expertise and find new ways of collaborating on projects. The event was introduced by Dr Andy Kempe, Senior Lecturer in Drama Education and a recent recipient of the University’s Teaching Fellowship Award. Dr Kempe welcomed the 40 or so attendees and explained how he and his colleagues in the IoE were feeling invigorated by the recent re-location and were excited by the possibilities it afforded. Not only is the site superbly equipped to train new teachers in the arts, it represents a beautiful and indeed secure location for exhibitions, workshops and festivals involving children, young people and a range of community groups. Dr Kempe expressed his personal desire to see the campus buzzing as staff and students of the university, teachers and pupils from local schools, and artists and arts groups made London Road a hub for cultural and educational activity.

Following this introduction, attendees were given a tour of the new facilities, in particular those spaces designed for specialist education in art, music and drama. The whole of the IoE’s team of arts educators were on hand to answer questions and hear suggestions regarding how the facilities might be utilised to serve the local arts education community. Attendees were then invited to add comments and suggestions to four discussion boards which carried the following questions:

  • How might the University help your school develop its arts education programme?
  • How do you think the London Road site might best be utilised to develop arts education in the Reading area?
  • Would it be useful for the Reading Arts Education Forum to meet regularly? If so, what business should it attend to?
  • How useful would it be for Reading Arts Education Forum to issue a regular e newsletter? What sort of items could it carry?

The collated responses give a wholly enthusiastic to the idea of establishing the Arts Education Forum for Reading and produced a number of ideas that will help IoE staff start to formulate plans for a vibrant future. Around 40 individuals turned up to the meeting and several others sent apologies and asked to be kept informed of its outcomes and intended future developments. A Wiki has already been set up in order to provide schools and arts groups a place to share news of events and initiatives and plans are afoot to work with outside:inside on a ‘Learn’ festival in the autumn.

The IoE is certainly determined to contribute to the continuing development of teachers and artists through an expanding programme of courses, workshops and summer schools which, it is hoped, will involve staff and students from across the University. New modules have been written to add to the existing MA in Education suite so from September 2012 candidates will be able to specialise and work towards a MA in Arts Education. In the words of one respondent to the discussion boards the aim is to ‘Excite! Push! Stretch! Inspire!’

Andy Kempe

Placement and career learning update from the Student Employment Experience and Careers Centre

By edwardwhite Comment Closed

There is good news for staff concerned with placement provision, particularly those involved for the first time. A new Placement Guide for Staff will provide quick reference points for managing the different types of placement and provide answers to FAQs. Once approved, it will be on the Web for easy search and update. In the meantime, the SEECC placement and development team are happy to answer queries and provide support for Schools.

With so much interest on career outcomes from potential students and their families/supporters, one of SEECC’s summer tasks is to create a central resource on all the activities that a student can engage in to develop their employability. Careers Advisers will also be talking to School and Department staff to ensure that we have an up to date picture of career learning in the curriculum and celebrate good practice. We hope to link the central employability resource to subject-specific information so that students understand the range of provision inside and outside the curriculum.

A working group led by Dr Paddy Woodman is revisiting the University’s Policy on Careers Information Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) in the light of the revised QAA guidelines. The Director of SEECC has drafted an updated policy and implementation plan for consideration at its April meeting.

Work is also underway to increase the number of students completing the popular RED Award and to develop RED Plus for students who are keen to be challenged further. We are very sorry to lose Vicky Clarke who developed the Award and has done so much to make it a success. We thank her for the legacy that will enable the Award to go from strength to strength.

Finally, we welcomed Amanda Duggan us from SOAS on 2 May who joins as Employer and Graduate Career Manager. Amanda will lead on employer engagement and the provision of services to new graduates, with the main focus still on supporting graduates in their first six months. We would be grateful if staff could inform finalists in their final tutor meetings of the new email graduatecareers@reading.ac.uk which went live in May 2012.

Jane Standley

How jolly good to be a Fellow!

By edwardwhite Comment Closed

Shortly after receiving the news that I had been made a Teaching Fellow of the University I found myself talking to a number of colleagues from other institutions involved in teacher education. I must admit to being a little embarrassed when my host, who I had told about the Fellowship in a quiet conversation, introduced me to the assembled company by announcing that I had just received the honour. They were generous with their congratulations and compliments but more to the point here, is that they were all seethingly jealous that I worked in an institution that recognised teaching in this way! We’re all obviously very aware of the pressures associated with the REF and notwithstanding those academics in every institution will doubtless have a plethora of things they are in the midst of researching or would dearly love to research. And research of course bring many types of rewards both to individuals and their institutions. However, the business of imparting what is discovered through research and encouraging and equipping new people to follow their own research interests through what we in the trade call ‘teaching’ can sometimes seem overshadowed by the business of research. The danger of this of course is that we end up with a research community that does research for the sake of research: without people to teach its findings, research can neither be applied, questioned or developed by others. How lucky we are then that, at Reading at least, teaching is recognised and rewarded.

The University Teaching Fellowship and Early Career Teaching Fellowship Scheme affords colleagues the opportunity of reviewing what they have done in their programme based teaching in the greater context of how this may have addressed the University’s priorities for teaching and learning. Personally I found this a valuable exercise. It wasn’t so much a question of looking at it all and thinking, ‘goodness, what a lot I’ve done and what a jolly good fellow I must be!’ as seeing, for the first time really, how the work that I had been doing did indeed reflect and contribute to the University’s grander project. In turn, this realisation enabled me to see how I might contribute further and meeting other Fellows for the first time genuinely excited me about the possibilities of sharing ideas and expertise in teaching methods among new colleagues and, ultimately, students. So thank you CDoTL for this scheme. It’s good to be a fellow and I jolly well intend to make the best of it.

Andy Kempe

Centre for the Development of Teaching and Learning (CDoTL) play host to colleagues from University College Cork.

By edwardwhite Comment Closed

On Wednesday 18th January 2012 CDoTL played host to a visit from colleagues from the Teaching and Learning Unit (‘Ionad Bairre’) at University College Cork (UCC), Ireland. Professor Grace Neville (VP Teaching and Learning), Dr Bettie Higgs and Marian McCarthy (Co-Directors of Ionad Bairre) spent the day meeting with the CDoTL team to find out more about the work of the Centre and its role in supporting institutional T&L enhancement.

UCC are currently undergoing a review of their teaching and learning support provision and were looking to other T&L centres both within Ireland and overseas to provide them with ideas and insights in supporting enhancement across institutions. The aim was to use their visit to inform recommendations for future T&L support at UCC. CDoTL were therefore delighted to be chosen by UCC as an example of ‘good practice’ in central enhancement of teaching and learning.

In particular, the UCC team were keen to find out more about Reading’s T&L Awards, Fellowships and projects schemes, as well as our provision for disseminating good practice and supporting colleagues’ staff development (e.g. as part of CDoTL’s work with the Centre for Staff Training and Development). Our UCC colleagues were also keen to find out more about the role of CDoTL in leading and supporting bids for external T&L funding, something which CDoTL have had much success in in recent years. The visit also provided the UCC team with an opportunity to find out more about our School T&L structures and to meet with the PVC Teaching and Learning, Professor Gavin Brooks, as well as some of the Faculty Directors for Teaching and Learning.

Left to right: Marian McCarthy (Co-Director of Ionad Bairre, UCC), Professor Grace Neville (VP Education, UCC), Dr Bettie Higgs (Co-Director of Ionad Bairre, UCC) and Dr Anne Crook (CDoTL.)

 Dr Betties Higgs commented on the University’s T&L Awards and Fellowship schemes “The reward and recognition systems you have in place are invaluable for reminding staff of the status of teaching and learning – key functions of higher education institutions.”

UCC also support Blackboard as their Virtual Learning Environment, so were interested to find out more about CDoTL’s work in supporting Blackboard and, more broadly, e-Learning, across the University. The visit was also an opportunity to showcase some of the methods used by CDoTL to engage with Schools, for example the Pathfinder work, in which CDoTL works closely with Schools in preparation for their respective Periodic Reviews. Dr Betties Higgs commented “The Pathfinder initiative is excellent. The support for staff comes at the right time in the cycle for the periodic review. It’s obvious that Schools benefit from the more in-depth consideration of Teaching and Learning, enabled by this initiative. We will be recommending similar support at an appropriate stage in our own Quality review cycle.”

Professor Neville’s comments on their visit to CDoTL “Thank you to the whole Team at CDoTL, and to your colleagues from the Faculties. It was definitely a good choice to visit Reading. We will be able to quote some of your initiatives when we make recommendations for our future in our Centre for Teaching and Learning.”

Dr Anne Crook