5TH ANNUAL LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE

Towards a New LSBU Learning and Teaching Strategy, 2009-2012

Wednesday, 21st January, 2009

Dr. Peter McCafferyPro Vice Chancellor

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CONTINUING EXPANSION OF STUDENT NUMBERS (UK AND WORLDWIDE)

WIDENING PARTICIPATION ‘fair access’/bursaries

HR retirement peak succession planning pay framework performance assessment

IT E-MANAGEMENT/E-LEARNING DIUS E-strategy

RESOURCES AND ESTATES DEVELOPMENT sustainable facilities and services project and programme management

SUSTAINABILITY AND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY serving broader political, social, ethical and cultural agendas

GOVERNANCE new Code and CUC Guidance

FUNDING variable fee fund-raising diversifying income sources full economic costing

MARKETING positioning of HEIs identity/’brand’ issues

COMPETITION IN UK alliances, collaborations and mergers

ENHANCING THESTUDENT EXPERIENCE teaching, learning and quality ‘customer service’

MANAGEMENT OF RESEARCH evolution of RAE process, REF research contracts & careers academic pipeline

INTERNATIONALISATION competition/collaboration European research area private universities Bologna process

BUSINESS, REGIONAL &COMMUNITY INTERACTIONS ‘third stream’ knowledge transfer, economic & social regeneration

15 key strategic challengesfor UK HE institutions,

2009 - 2012

EMBEDDING EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY IN ALL INSTITUTIONAL ACTIVITIES

EXTERNAL DRIVERS

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“The student experience is such a wide-ranging term, influenced by such a complex variety of factors that it is fruitless to attempt to define it as a single “thing”.”

The 1994 Group of Universities

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“The student experience is anything and everything the student says it is.”

The HE Academy

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“The student experience is one of those things which can sound better than it is – like “low-cost mortgages”, “English middle-order batting”, “gastro-pub” and “sun-dried tomatoes” or in HE terms, “the lighter touch” and “the single conversation”.”

David WatsonInstitute of Education

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THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

Registrationand

enrolment Sports

Residency

Graduation

StudentSupport

Volunteering

StudentUnion

Societiesand clubsCareers

Learning Support and Resources

Learning

Assessment

Placements

Safety

ICT Estate

StaffDevelopment

The LSBUStudent

Experience

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Student Diversity

The impact of variable fees on Student Expectations

Employer - Engagement and the Skills Agenda- The Leitch Review (29 40% higher level skills target)

New Learning Technologies

Contested Market Place

Cost-efficiency, Performance Indicators and League Tables

HE Academy and National Professional Standards Framework for Teaching

QAA: shift from “assurance” to “enhancement”

Denham Review, 2008

CHANGE DRIVERS IN HE

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Traditional HE New HECompetition: other univs. Competition: everywhere

Student as apprentice scholar Learner as Customer (and Producer)

Delivery in the classroom Delivery everywhere

Bricks and mortar

- Physical estates

Bits and bytes

- Virtual estates

Technology as an Expense Technology as Market Differentiation

Institutional - centric Market – centric

Terminal degree Lifelong learning

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Traditional HE New HETake what is offered Courses on demand

Academic calendar Year round campus

Course as 3-4 year revenue Course as Business Plan

Mode 1 Knowledge Mode 2 Knowledge

Teacher as Director of Learning Teacher as Facilitator of Learning

Academic as “jack of all trades” Academic as specialist

Diversity as problem Diversity as strength

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LSBU Vision for Learning and Teaching

To further develop and maintain London South Bank University as a vibrant inner-city University with world-wide horizons and a reputation for:

• Pedagogic innovation and expertise in work-related learning, practice-based experience, technology-enhanced learning and continuous professional development;

• Professional expertise and staff excellence in teaching;

• An exemplary record for widening participation, student retention, progression and achievement and graduate employment;

• A successful track record of working in partnership with local and regional employers, and other educational providers to meet the Capital’s skill

shortages and societal and individual development needs;

• Developing and sustaining confident and capable independent learners equipped for global citizenship who “become what they want to be”;

• Adding real value in meeting the needs of all the individuals and communities it serves, both local and global

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• Setting up our students for success

• Active engagement

• Equipped for employment

• Building an inclusive learning environment

• Equipped for global citizenship

Guiding Principles of Learning andTeaching at LSBU

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QAA Audit, Spring 2010

• “the process of taking deliberate steps at institutional level to improve the quality of the learning opportunities”.

• Added value of LTEU - incl. evidence-based research

• New University Teaching Peer Observation Scheme

• Learning and Teaching Innovation Project Scheme

• University Staff Award Scheme- Learning and Teaching Team Excellence

• Codes of Good Practice developed via. Change Academy:- Assessment, Induction, E-Learning and Employability

• Awareness, development and integration of PDP

• National and International E-Learning Benchmark Initiative- Compass Pathfinder project; Blackboard upgrade- increasing use and support of e-learning

Learning and Teaching: Where we are now

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• Staff Code of Professional Conduct and Student Charter- centred on reciprocal commitments and University Values

• Network for CDs; L&T Fellows; HoDs

• New social learning spaces for students

• Launch of New University Learning and Teaching Journal

• Staff Promotion Scheme- Professors and Readers of Educational Development

• University Fellowship Scheme

• CLTHE & “Follow Up” Review

• 2nd Staff Experience Survey, March 2009(Investors in People, Re-accreditation, Dec. 2009)

Learning and Teaching: Where we are now (2)

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NATIONAL STUDENT SURVEY, 2008• 56.9% LSBU Response rate National average – 64.1%

• 75% overall satisfaction National average – 83%

[London Met – 72; UEL – 73; Middlesex – 75; TVU – 76: Kingston – 81: Greenwich – 81]

DLHE SURVEY 2006-780.6% Response rate - 80% Benchmark83.4% Employment Indicator - 89.6% Benchmark

9.4% unemployed compared to 6% in 2005-6

2% increase in employment in workplace : 76% 78%3% decrease in those going onto further study: 9.9% 6.9%

6th highest graduate starting salary - £23,315

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UNIVERSITY LEAGUE TABLES

2 broad types:

• the subjective beauty contest approach e.g. THE 50% weighting on perception

• the objective scorecard approache.g. Shanghai Jiao Tong list of world’s “top 500”- lacks “common-sense” criteria

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10 L&T STRATEGIC PRIORITIES?

• Curriculum, learning spaces and resources – inclusive, flexible, accessible

• Student transition, retention, progression and achievement• Integrated assessment – fit-for-purpose• Employability and entrepreneurship• Internationalisation and global citizenship• Minimising bureaucracy while upholding academic standards• E-learning• ICT and physical space driven by learning and teaching priorities• Staff expertise and scholarship– recognition and reward• University reputation in learning and teaching

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KEY QUESTION

What can I/we do to enhance student retention, progression and achievement?

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WHY DO STUDENTS DROP OUT?

• Flawed decision-making about entering the programme

• Student’s experience of the program and the University generally

• Failure to cope with the demands of the programme

• Events that impact on students’ lives outside the University

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• Sorting Strategies - How we deal with students pre-entry?• Connecting Strategies - How we help students integrate

with one another at LSBU?• Supporting Strategies - How we support students inside and

outside LSBU?• Transforming (student) - How we help students become

Strategies confident and capable independent learners?

• Transforming (staff) Strategies - How we best support staff in this process?

MEETING THE RETENTION CHALLENGE

“Joined-Up” Practice

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SUPPORT SERVICESPRO-ACTIVE MODEL

(ISSUES-FOCUSED SERVICE)

Learning Support

Access to Careers information

Coping with relationships

Confident independent learner presentation skill training

Financial AdviceChildcare

Adapting to a different study environment

Teaching staffInterface withGraduate /

Lifelong Learner

Pre-entry

Adequate library / computer facilities

Learning Support

Quality Cycle: Survey – Evaluate – Review – Change / Improve

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LEARNING FROM OTHERS: ESTABLISHED GOOD PRACTICE

The key to student retention is:

• Sound decision-making on selecting the right course

• High Quality Induction Experience (pre-entry – 1st semester)

• Regular contact with one or more trusted individuals

• A genuinely introductory Year 1 Programme (“an intellectual map”)

• Fit-for-purpose assessment integrated into Learning & Teaching

• A positive learning environment based on “professional informality”

• Early warning triggers – attendance; handing-in of assessments; etc.

• Responsiveness to feedback

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And let us not forget . . . . . . . .

The key determinant of the student experience is the quality of teaching:

“That’s what they remember, the inspirational lecturers, the knowledge they gained, the sense of empowerment it gave them. It is inspiration not consumerisation which is the key to their experience”

Paul RamsdenHE Academy