All 158 entries tagged Teaching

Past reflections, future outlook

Past reflections, future outlook: Update from the Warwick Learning Circle on diverse and inclusive assessment practices

by Kerry Dobbins, Isabel Fischer, Sam Grierson and Leda Mirbahai

Warwick’s International Higher Education Academy (WIHEA) has many features - one of them is that members only remain active members for three years before becoming alumni. The imminent handover of the co-leadership of the open learning circle on diverse and inclusive assessment practices made us, outgoing and new co-leaders, reflect on past initiatives and future directions.

Let’s start with an exciting future - what is new?

As we continue to move forwards with this work, we will become the ‘Inclusive Assessment Learning Circle’. This name change recognises our intention to embed the work on diverse assessments into a broader outlook which sees assessment in HE as a vehicle to promote equity and social justice. The wellbeing of students and staff will feature strongly in our ongoing discussions.

In line with our focus, the learning circle will be inclusive of:

1. Assessment strategies and methods that are diverse, authentic, applied and decolonised - this broad understanding and acknowledgement of relevant issues in teaching, learning and the designing of assessments reflects the current landscape in HE and indicates the interest of our members. We hope to support the university reimagining the assessment design narrative, taking a view from programme level through to single assessment and placing assessment at the heart of curriculum design.
2. Our members - we want members to be and feel actively engaged and involved in the learning circle.
3. Students’ experiences – the work of the learning circle will be firmly focused on working with students so that collectively we can work to understand and support students’ needs and their personal and professional ambitions through assessment.

As for ‘past reflections’: What are the existing features of the learning circle worth keeping? There are in particular four features that worked really well in the past:

1. Since its inception membership has grown steadily for three reasons: The membership of this particular LC is open to WIHEA as well as non-WIHEA members from across Warwick and other institutions, also internationally. The open membership has enriched the discussions and enabled establishment of networks nationally and internationally. Secondly, creating sub-groups not just raised interest, it also offered leadership opportunities to more members. The most popular sub-group was AI in education which in turn was split into six further strands / interest groups: Artificial Intelligence in Education (warwick.ac.uk). Lastly, the topic of the learning circles (assessment in its broadest term) has significant implications not only for educators but also for our learners.
2. Many of our invited keynote speakers at the start of the bi-monthly meetings and at our mini-conference on assessments, captured the essence of their talks in blogs. Most of the blogs were published within WJETT (see the end of this blog for some examples, others were in other outlets, such as SEDA and SCiLAB. Even if not captured in blogs, did the keynote speeches result in interesting discussions and network opportunities.
3. Extensive student corporations, with students supported by two WIHEA grants. One of the student participants even drafted an academic article based on her learning about assessments during her membership.
4. Hosting workshops enabled dissemination of our findings and new resources, including the outputs of our funded projects. It also provided a platform to encourage co-learning and sharing amongst participants and facilitators (including student facilitators). Overall we hosted three workshops with the details of the workshops available from our webpage.

Finally, this is blog 15 in our diverse assessment series, some of the more recent blogs can be found here (with further links to previous blogs shown within some of the blogs below):

• Using AI for Formative Feedback: https://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/wjett/entry/using_ai_for/
• Assessments: Capturing Lived Experience and Shaping the Future
• Blog 7: Democratising the feedback process (Linda Enow): https://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/wjett/entry/democratising_the_feedback/

Abigail Ball : 16 Oct 2023 09:00 |  Tags: Assessment Isabel Fischer Kerry Dobbins Leda Mirbaha Reflections Sam Grierson Teaching |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

#Take5 CPD blog

The Learning Development in Higher Education Network is aimed at those working in learning development so there may be some cross over with wider educational CPD that readers may find useful:

https://aldinhe.ac.uk/blog/

Abigail Ball : 09 Oct 2023 09:00 |  Tags: Pedagogy Teaching |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

JISC podcasts

The JISC podcast series covers a wide range of topics related to using technology in FE and HE teaching. Although not directly relatable to primary or secondary education it does give wider sector information that you may find interesting:

https://beta.jisc.ac.uk/podcasts

Abigail Ball : 02 Oct 2023 09:00 |  Tags: Digital Teaching Technology |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

L&T Chatshow

Check out the Roger Saunders L&T Chatshow podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/landtchatshow

Although aimed at HE, they do talk about practical methods for enhancing academic activities and student engagement which may translate well into primary or secondary scenarios.

Abigail Ball : 25 Sep 2023 09:00 |  Tags: Learning Roger Saunders Teaching |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Just make it up as you go along? Improvisation and adaptive expertise for teachers

In this SEDA blog post Richard Bale explores the space where adaptive expertise meets improvisation:

https://thesedablog.wordpress.com/2022/09/28/just-make-it-up-as-you-go-along-improvisation-and-adaptive-expertise-for-teachers/

SEDA is the Staff and Educational Development Association.

Abigail Ball : 18 Sep 2023 09:00 |  Tags: Adaptive Expertise Improvisation Seda Teaching |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Virtues in the Professions

Virtues in the Professions

‘Can the professions be virtuous?’ This is the one of the big questions explored by the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues. The Centre has sought to explore the place of character and virtues in professional education and practice through its ‘Virtues in the Professions’ research. This research has led to a series of short booklets delivering key messages about bringing character to life for the five professions studied. The booklets can be accessed by clicking the links below. If your discipline is not covered, pick one of interest and see how the key messages may also relate to your area of practice.

• Law
• Business and Finance
• Teaching
• Medicine
• Nursing

Abigail Ball : 29 Aug 2023 09:00 |  Tags: Jubilee Centre Teaching Virtues |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Learning that matters – Teaching in Higher Ed podcast

Learning that matters podcast

‘I ask myself, what matters to me and why? And am I living that in my teaching?’ These are the questions that the authors of the book, Learning that Matters, discuss in this podcast. They share ways that they try to live their values in their teaching and their interactions with students. All resources discussed in the podcast can be accessed from the episode webpage. You can find out more about the Learning that Matters book on this webpage. You might also find the Helpful Resources page useful.

Abigail Ball : 21 Aug 2023 09:00 |  Tags: Learning Teaching |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Pedagogical wellness specialist: the role that connects teaching and well–being

This short THE Campus piece outlines the creation of a new role in the University of California that focuses on the connection between faculty well-being and student outcomes. It is an interesting read for those interested in fostering and supporting a culture of well-being for staff and, ultimately, students.

Abigail Ball : 14 Aug 2023 09:00 |  Tags: Pedagogy Teaching Wellbeing |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Embedding compassionate micro skills of communication in Higher Education

This short paper reports on the implementation and evaluation of a strategy to embed compassionate communication in group work. The evaluation “demonstrated several benefits, including positive experiences of group work and increased group/social cohesion”. The authors give a more detailed account of the implementation and evaluation data collected in this recorded presentation (46 mins).

Abigail Ball : 07 Aug 2023 09:00 |  Tags: Compassion Teaching |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

"Don’t think they know it” – Neha Gupta

My reflections on being interviewed for Asst. Professor as an internal candidate

This blog discusses my personal reflections on the experience of interviewing for an Assistant Professor role which I recently applied for following a fixed term contract in a teaching capacity here at Warwick. I thought being an internal candidate would offer a unique advantage. I am well positioned and capable of showing my best side in an interview but despite my teaching accolades and accreditation which made me an eligible candidate for interview, I felt uncomfortable and partially disappointed with my performance. I know I could have done better. Therefore, I thought to pen this experience which might prepare fellow colleagues for any such future endeavours.

Pros: Being an internal candidate for the Assistant Professor interview at the University has its fair share of advantages. On the plus side, I was already familiar with the institution's culture, values, and expectations. This familiarity gave me a unique advantage to prepare myself for questions such as – 'Why would you like to work here?' To answer this, I leveraged my existing knowledge about school initiatives, academic programmes, teaching and research goals, and project synergies. This allowed me to seamlessly integrate my own knowledge and experience into the existing framework and to contribute to the institution's academic mission. Also, all the examples I shared in the interview, whether it was module feedback from students or course related statistics were already known by some of the faculty members present in the panel, and perhaps gave me the confidence to bring across the point I’m making in the interview.

Cons: Being an internal candidate also presents bigger challenges, which I never expected or rather got perplexed about when I faced them. One significant one is dealing with the confusion of knowing and not knowing the interview panel. I’ve given interviews in the past where the people sitting across the table are completely unknown to me thereby giving me an opportunity to showcase my greatest version, articulating skills and knowledge that I possess in the best possible way to win the job. In contrast, the interview panel I faced here had some people from senior faculty whom I was already working with for the last couple of years. Therefore, there was a tendency to resist sharing information which they might already know. I was repeatedly asking myself - am I doing too much in already telling them what some of them know? Simultaneously, my mind tells me that this interview should be treated in isolation to the positive performance I have evidenced through my work here in the University. I was constantly dealing with this confusion in my head during the interview process and as a result I didn’t share that I’m in possession of FHEA, or a WIHEA fellow, which are all very relevant points for the interview. These should have come across despite being present as information in my CV and application letter and I should have steered the answer to some of the academic questions in a manner that links my qualifications and accreditations to reveal that I’m a good fit for the job advertised.

I think, when it comes to interviews, it is important to approach the interview panel as unknown individuals, just like any other interview. Although it may be difficult, this mindset is crucial for one’s performance during the interviews. Since they are unaware of your capabilities, it is essential to have a prepared action plan to address any confusion that may arise in your mind during the interview. By doing so, you can excel in your performance regardless of whether the panel is familiar or unknown to you. Last, but not least it is also vital to be ready with the set of questions you can ask the panel (even though you are aware of the initiative your institution is taking). Perhaps, these could be related to the higher education sector as a whole and not just your own institution.

Abigail Ball : 31 Jul 2023 09:00 |  Tags: Recruitment Reflections Teaching |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem