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

September marks the start of an exciting and life-changing journey for thousands of young and not-so-young people, as they start university.  Many students, however, struggle with the initial transition from school or college into university, and within the first few weeks question whether higher education is for them. In response to this challenge, Student Minds has collaborated with Canadian organisation TeenMentalHealth.Org (led by internationally-renowned psychiatrist Dr. Stan Kutcher) to ensure that this period of transition is met with information, support and guidance through the development of two new online resources for UK students. These resources support many of the priorities set out in Universities UK’s Step Change framework, aimed at supporting HEIs to take a whole organisation approach to the mental health of their students,… Read moreNew resources to support student transitions

EDULEARN18: 10th Annual Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies 2nd – 4th July 2018, Palma de Mallorca, Spain EDULEARN is one of the largest international education conferences for lecturers, researchers, technologists and professionals from the educational sector. Every year the conference brings together more than 800 experts from 80 countries to present their projects and share their knowledge on teaching and learning methodologies and educational innovations. Antonio Gracia, a member of the EduLearn organising committee, opened the conference. He set the tone through his narrative of educational change and finding ways to succeed in an ever-changing landscape. Sunanna Chand (Remake Learning) gave an insightful keynote on the fourth Industrial Revolution due to rapid technological advances. Organic communication is needed rather than hierarchical communication to solve complex… Read moreEDULEARN18: 10th Annual Conference Review

Alternative Models of Practice Education for Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy  by Dr Yvonne Thomas, Principal Lecturer – Allied Health Professions, Institute of Health and Society    The following case study identifies the development of a range of alternative practice education (PE) models, including Role-Emerging Placements, International Placements; Student-Led Clinic and two pilot Collaborative Learning in Placement (CLiP) placements that have been established in Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy programmes. Through effective leadership, the adoption of a range of alternative practice education models within both programmes has been promoted to students and to professional colleagues in practice. In 4 years the feedback from students and practice educators supports the effectiveness of Role-Emerging Placements to promote student confidence and competence. One of the crucial elements has been in… Read moreVignette of Practice: Alternative Models of Practice Education for Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy

This was a great conference – some really excellent analysis and research on assessment feedback which has significant implications for re-considering how we do things.  Professor David Carless, University of Hong Kong gave a thought-provoking keynote drawing on his work with David Boud, Deakin University/ University of Technology, Sydney, Australia, on enabling uptake of feedback. The main theme of the conference was improving the effectiveness of feedback for students.  The starting point for this is to re-conceptualise feedback as a process, and to develop student feedback ‘literacy’: the understandings, capacities and dispositions needed to make productive use of feedback information. Feedback is a process in which learners make sense of comments and use these to enhance their work or learning strategies (Carless and Boud, 2018)… Read moreTransforming Feedback: reflections on the International Assessment in Higher Education Conference, 28 June 2018, Manchester UK

Developing Student Midwives’ Practice Performance: The SKIPP Initiative Institute of Health and Society   Teaching Team Award Lead Award Author: Julie Smith, Senior Lecturer in Midwifery Team: Tina Dennis, Senior Lecturer in Midwifery Becci Godwin, Senior Lecturer in Midwifery Lucy Hope, Senior Lecturer in Midwifery Toni Martin, Lead Midwife for Education: Programme Leader Lynne Mason, Senior Lecturer in Midwifery Lisa Stephens, Senior Lecturer in Midwifery Kate Taylor, Senior Lecturer in Midwifery Ros Weston, Senior Lecturer in Midwifery Contributor: Ellie Sonmezer, Midwifery Lecturer Practitioner   The focus of this case study is to demonstrate how the Skills for Improving Practice Performance (SKIPP) initiative provides an example of the midwifery teaching team’s collaborative approach to student midwife education.   SKIPP was an innovation introduced in February 2017… Read moreVignette of Practice – Developing Student Midwives’ Practice Performance: The SKIPP Initiative

Authentic learning and partnership building through module design  by Gill Renfree, Senior Lecturer in Sport Management and Sport Development, Institute of Sport & Exercise Science   This case study demonstrates the innovative and inspirational approaches I have taken when designing learning activities, teaching and supporting learning, and developing a positive and effective learning environment for first year Sport Business Management students in a 15-credit module.  The module has been designed and planned to enhance student understanding of the subject and to apply understanding and produce work that enhances their employability skills.  Through focusing on the areas of employer engagement and peer and formative assessment the module pushes students to achieve and ‘learn about learning’ and therefore enhance the students’ approaches to study and knowledge creation…. Read moreVignette of Practice – Authentic Learning and Partnership Building through Module Design

Mind the Gap – supporting effective transition for direct entry students   by Dr Susanna Prankel, Senior Lecturer in Biology, Institute of Science and the Environment This case study involves a Research Excellence Framework (Education) submission from within the Institute of Science and the Environment (ISE) on access to Higher Education (HE) teaching following a number of successes. These have included grant applications, research, course development, successful course delivery, evaluation of impact and dissemination of resources, along with publication. It is linked to the QAA Enhancement Theme ‘Student Transition’.   Students face challenges when embarking on HE studies at university, particularly on direct entry to level six. This investigation acknowledges the wider context in which HE operates recognising the implications for professional practice.   Having… Read moreVignette of Practice: Mind the Gap – Supporting Effective Transition for Direct Entry Students

Consideration of Preferred Learning Styles in the Module PSYC3646 (Forensic Psychology in Practice)  by Dr Gill Harrop, Lecturer in Forensic Psychology, Institute of Health and Society and Dr Dean Wilkinson, Senior Lecturer, Institute of Health and Society Dunn et al. (1995) found that matching students’ learning-style preferences to teaching strategies is beneficial to academic achievement, while Yassin and Almasri (2015) suggested that failing to consider students’ differing preferred learning styles can lead to students disengaging and feeling confused. In an effort to address this issue, learning preferences within PSYC3646 (Forensic Psychology in Practice) were considered within the context of Jahiel’s VAK model (2008), which identifies visual, auditory and kinaesthetic learning preferences. This model was selected due to positive reviews within the pedagogical literature around the… Read moreVignette of Practice – Consideration of Preferred Learning Styles in the Module PSYC3646 (Forensic Psychology in Practice)