Welcome

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Welcome to the Realising Teaching Excellence blog at the University of Worcester, where we hope to keep you informed about teaching and learning developments, create dialogue around developing excellence, and introduce you to examples of interesting practice. The “Teaching Excellence” page has the latest news on learning and teaching The “Interesting Practice” page has a range of learning and teaching case studies See the “Resources” page for useful guides and information including the “Busy lecturer’s Guide to Inclusive Practice” and information on student transitions and Teaching Awards The “Tried and Tested” page contains examples of enhancement activities undertaken at module and course level which have been evaluated and proven to have been effective. Our “Projects” page shows updates and outputs from the various learning and… Read moreWelcome

Vignette of Practice: When the World Shuts Down: Delivering a Successful Teacher Training Course

Josh Simpson

When the World Shuts Down: Delivering a Successful Teacher Training Course Dan Hughes, School of Education I was the course leader for PGCE Primary when the COVID-19 pandemic forced a lockdown in March 2020 and the challenges for the course were significant. The impact was that our 2019/20 trainees could not go into school for their final placement and face-to-face lectures were stopped. Placements are fundamental to professional courses; they give the trainees time to put theory into practice. The third placement of their year is also where they are assessed against the Teachers’ Standards (Department for Education, 2021). This could not happen, and the question was simply, what do we do? We delivered an entire nine-week online curriculum, supported by coaches/mentors, that focused on… Read moreVignette of Practice: When the World Shuts Down: Delivering a Successful Teacher Training Course

Vignette of Practice: How a Team Approach to Practice Education Combatted the COVID-19 Effect

Josh Simpson

How a Team Approach to Practice Education Combatted the COVID-19 Effect Terri Grant, School of Allied Health and Community This case study demonstrates how effective leadership has led to increased placement capacity that resulted in occupational therapy and physiotherapy students at the University of Worcester meeting their placement requirements as the country went into lockdown in 2020. In addition, it demonstrates how we have prepared for a 350% increase in placement capacity over a 6-year period. The Practice Education team was developed in 2018 after the professional regulatory body identified the need for an increase in staff dedicated to placement development. I saw the opportunity to develop a more integrated strategy, suggested the creation of an integrated team to my line manager and agreed to… Read moreVignette of Practice: How a Team Approach to Practice Education Combatted the COVID-19 Effect

Resources for understanding and supporting student engagement with learning

Josh Simpson

Resources for understanding and supporting student engagement with learning have been collated into a spreadsheet for staff to review and use. The resources are organised into different tabs according to type (such as conference outputs) and with the following information provided: title, year, summary, institution or author and website link. Questions can be sent to j.simpson@worc.ac.uk.

Vignette of Practice: “Not another three-hour lecture”: A Blended Delivery Approach

Josh Simpson

“Not another three-hour lecture”: A Blended Delivery Approach Team Teaching Award – Richard Pepperell; Dr Christian Edwards; School of Sport and Exercise Science     Introduction Our case studies focused on the development (case study 1) and delivery (case study 2) of two new scientific principles modules in the undergraduate Physical Education (PE) curriculum. Here, we focus specifically on case study 2 demonstrating our use of a blended approach to the delivery of these modules during the COVID-19 pandemic. Background The Wolf report (2011) prompted several UK Government policy changes across the 14-19 education sector that were designed to increase the rigour of accredited courses. Within the PE and sports sector, these policy changes led to an increase in the sports science content required within… Read moreVignette of Practice: “Not another three-hour lecture”: A Blended Delivery Approach

Vignette of Practice: Embedding Real World Learning Through Inspirational Guest Speakers

Josh Simpson

Embedding Real World Learning Through Inspirational Guest Speakers Team Teaching Award – Dr Kay Emblen-Perry, Senior Lecturer and PRME Coordinator; Dr Paulo Mora-Avila, Lecturer and School Liaison Coordinator; Rachel Cooper, Lecturer and Accounting and Finance Course Leader; Worcester Business School In the Responsible Business L5 module, we include weekly guest speakers [A1]. This approach is inspirational to students, module tutors and the guest speakers themselves, as we will explain. The use of guest speakers each week is unique within Worcester Business School (WBS) and is innovative, as it is not seen elsewhere within education for sustainability. Our practice frames our pedagogical approach to the module which involves students exploring a live case study, and in 2020/21, this was the University of Worcester (UW); weekly guest… Read moreVignette of Practice: Embedding Real World Learning Through Inspirational Guest Speakers

Vignette of Practice: St Jude’s Virtual School: An Innovative Response to COVID-19

Josh Simpson

St Jude’s Virtual School: An Innovative Response to COVID-19 Team Teaching Award – Judy Miller, Isabelle Schäfer, Dave Hunt and Suzanne Lawson; School of Education Tutors in the PGCE secondary teacher training team created a virtual school called ‘St. Jude’s’ to develop trainees’ skills and attributes for those who were well but having to self-isolate due to COVID-19 during their school experience placement. St. Jude’s was an online innovation born of necessity but developed through genuine pedagogical approaches for teaching excellence. The online platform was a hidden area on Blackboard only accessible to trainees who had to self-isolate. St. Jude’s registration provided a series of activities designed to support their programme of study (A1) with activities to teach and support learning (A2). Subject tutors interacted… Read moreVignette of Practice: St Jude’s Virtual School: An Innovative Response to COVID-19

Get ready for GAAD

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Can you help us on Global Accessibility Awareness Day? This is a day to raise awareness of how we can all help support digital accessibility and this year it’s on 19th May. It’s an opportunity to take a small amount time to focus on the digital accessibility of your courses or any content that you might want to improve. There are lots of events worldwide and you can find out more about the range of events on the dedicated website. Blackboard are running a Fix Your Content 24-hour global event– challenging institutions and Blackboard Ally users everywhere to look at how they can improve the accessibility of their content. To help with improving the digital accessibility, colleagues from QED, IT, the TEL Unit, the Library,… Read moreGet ready for GAAD

Vignette of Practice: Innovation in Pre-registration Allied Health Professional Student Placements

Josh Simpson

Innovation in Pre-registration Allied Health Professional Student Placements Rebecca Lees, School of Allied Health and Community   Shortages of good quality placements for Allied Health Professional (AHP) students has been a significant issue in recent times and the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this as local health and social care networks have been put under immense pressure. Traditionally, practice-based learning has taken place in clinical settings to learn clinical skills. However, service redesign is being driven by such strategies as The NHS Long Term Plan (2019) which identifies that the health and societal needs of the nation are changing and, as such, traditional services need to adapt in response. It is therefore essential to develop graduates who can be innovative, adaptable, show leadership, research, evaluate and… Read moreVignette of Practice: Innovation in Pre-registration Allied Health Professional Student Placements

Building student resilience

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Resilience is fundamental for student retention and it is one of our graduate attributes.  Resilience enables students to cope with the challenges, obstacles and setbacks they are likely to experience on their learning journey, and to graduate with the capabilities and mind set for success.  The term can be applied to both academic and personal aspects of the student experience and is increasingly associated with student well-being, academic buoyancy and a ‘growth mindset’. A proactive approach to developing student resilience as part of the curriculum at Worcester is therefore important because it will support our objectives to improve student retention and graduate outcomes.  We want our students to understand and demonstrate the behaviours, actions and mindsets that constitute resilience, and to be able to articulate… Read moreBuilding student resilience