Learning & Teaching at the University of Worcester
Tips and Hints for Course Leaders in meeting student expectations for engaging learning in ‘blended’ modules. Covers very practical issues about checking students’ digital capabilities, building a sense of belonging, establishing course team protocols, setting up simple buddy systems, using your course rep and monitoring engagement with Blackboard. Top Tips for Course Leaders in Preparing for Blended 7.9.2020
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
Level 2+ Award Programme by Craig Williams; School of Sport and Exercise Science This case study provides an overview of the rationale for, and impact of the ‘Level 2+ Award Programme’, an accredited Sports Coaching Award Programme at the University of Worcester (UW). Launched in 2011, the programme provided students with the opportunity to achieve recognised vocational qualifications within a mandatory first year coaching module (SPRT1024). The embedded Level 2 coaching award programme was designed to develop vocational coach education qualifications for UW students, which provided affordable and flexible vocational learning whilst also enhancing student employability and placement readiness. The blended learning aspect of the program permitted students to accredit prior learning gained in the module towards the Nationally accredited 1st4sport Level 2… Read moreVignette of Practice: Level 2+ Award Programme by Craig Williams; School of Sport and Exercise Science
Dr Sian Evans and Dr Matthew Smith; School of Science and the Environment This case study demonstrates how we designed and delivered a new 15 credit L4 geography module ‘GEOG1123: Climate Change: People, Policy and Action’, with a specific focus on constructive alignment (Biggs, 2003), student engagement (Coates, 2006 p. 17, Kahu, 2013, Bryson, 2014 p.3), and active learning (Prince, 2004, Michael, 2006). The module was developed in line with UW’s Policy & Regulatory Framework, Learning and Teaching Strategy 2015 – 2018 and Technology Enhanced Learning Strategy 2015 – 2019. Our goal was to take the students on a journey of discovery of the topic as well as themselves by developing their personal reflective practice and enhancing their ability to become independent learners. Critical to… Read moreVignettes of Practice: Design and delivery of a new Module – GEOG1123 Climate Change People Policy and Action
At the beginning of June I attended the latest UCISA Spotlight on Digital Capabilities in York. In its fifth year, this conference has been jointly organised by UCISA Digital Capabilities Group and Digital Education Group, so the conference has strong themes that tie in with the work around Digital Learning and Teaching here at University of Worcester. Kicking off the conference was Darrell Woodman on the the Art of Bring Brilliant, introducing ideas around positive psychology and challenging us all to be more grateful for the positives we have in our lives. This certainly resonated with me as I’m interested in how we adopt Carol Dweck’s Growth Mindset and apply this and other positive psychology methods to developing staff and student’s digital capabilities. A clear… Read moreSpotlight on Digital Capabilities
As a University, we place a lot of emphasis on working in partnership with students, to create a positive learning community in which students are fully engaged and motivated. Student surveys can play a significant part in helping create and sustain that partnership. Overall, we are good at student surveys, our NSS response rate is well above the national average and last year our results went up on all questions. Moreover, our NSS results for student voice are very positive – the 2018 results put us as 25/151 HEIs in terms of satisfaction on this set of questions. However, looking at the breakdown for individual questions by Institute (now School) shows variation – with three Institutes scoring very highly and three showing significant room for… Read moreCreating a positive student survey culture: closing the Course Experience Survey feedback loop
Recent student feedback, through the Course Experience Survey, and the SU Change Week initiative had identified ‘assignment bunching’ as something students would like to see addressed. So, what can be done? There are probably three key things course teams can consider to address this issue: taking a course level view of formative and summative assessment deadlines; helping students to manage their time effectively; planning an assessment strategy that involves some assignments requiring continuous engagement with reflection on learning. These are inter-related. Some are relatively easy to adopt, whilst others will take more time. They all start form the principle that a student’s learning experience is (and should be) of an integrated course, rather than a set of modules that are designed and developed in isolation… Read moreAddressing Assignment Bunching
Two nursing and one midwifery student successfully applied to complete this student leadership programme, which offers innovative ways for developing future healthcare professionals, including leadership training, networking and mentoring. There were over 750 applicants for the 150 places UK wide. The 2 nursing students are now the School Representatives for the School of Nursing and Midwifery and acting as excellent role models for all course representatives within the School, offering leadership, guidance and support. The midwifery student has also been nominated in 2 further categories of this programme: Top #150 Leaders Mentoring Partnership and Midwife. Student reflection on the impact of the #150 Leaders Programme (Evie Poole, 3rd year Adult Nursing) Why did you want to apply for the leadership programme? I wanted to join… Read moreNursing and Midwifery Council of Deans #150 leaders programme 2018
The University of Worcester has a new National Teaching Fellow – our sincere congratulations go to Dr Richard Woolley who has been awarded this accolade in the 2018 round. Richard is Deputy Head of the School of Education, having worked in HE since 2003, initially in initial teacher education, then at Worcester as Head of Centre for Education Inclusion (2011 – 2017). He believes passionately in the role of education in helping individuals to realise their potential, to access opportunities for learning and to foster a sense of self-confidence and self-worth. Richard has been engaged in addressing issues relating to diversity, inclusion and social justice in education for thirty years, exploring the relationship between values education and contemporary social issues. The focus of Richard’s teaching,… Read moreNew National Teaching Fellow for 2018
During the course of last year it was clear that there were a great deal of on-going initiatives aimed at improving student retention and success. We are now seeking examples of any evaluated initiatives which we can gather together and make available to anyone in the University with a responsibility for improving student retention and success Information is provided using the form and a completed example is available of a tried and tested’ module level intervention. You should typically include the following key elements: 1. Level of the intervention (School, Course or Module) 2. Your reasons for taking action 3. A description of what you did 4. The evidence which demonstrates the positive effects on retention and/or success 5. Resources Please send completed submissions to Will… Read moreRetention and Success initiatives