Working with your discipline’s National Subject Centre

Tim Bullough Dept of Engineering & UKCMEAdam Mannis UKCME

Anthony Sinclair School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology & HCA

Mission: “to help institutions, discipline groups and all staff to provide the best possible learning experience for their students.”

Established in May 2004, to create “a single, central body

to support the enhancement of learning and teaching in

higher education.”

• Owned by: - Universities UK: members are the executive heads of UK universities, and - GuildHE: members are the heads of higher educational institutions such a

LIPA, Royal Agricultural College etc

• Funded ~80% by HEFCE et al; ~10% by HEI subscriptions: ~10% others

• Based in York

Annual Expenditure ~£25 million

(~100 staff at HEA York)

(c.f. University of Liverpool annual staff costs ~£150 million)

The HE Academy:

• “facilitates and supports” CETLs• manages the National Teaching Fellowship Scheme (NTFS)• coordinates a Professional Recognition Scheme for University teachers• accredits HEIs' programmes of training in teaching and learning. • develops accreditation frameworks to encompass CPD activity. • develops national professional standards in teaching and learning in HE. • “leads research and evaluation to improve the quality of student learning”

• provides discipline-based support through the Subject Network of 24 Subject Centres:

and

Art, Design and Media Bioscience Built Environment (CEBE) Business, Management, Accountancy and Finance (BMAF) Economics Education (ESCALATE) Engineering English Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences (GEES) Health Sciences and Practice History, Classics and Archaeology Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism (HLST) Information and Computer Sciences Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies (LLAS) Law (UK Centre for Legal Education - UKCLE) Materials (UK Centre for Materials Education) Maths, Stats & OR Network (MSOR) Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine (MEDEV) PALATINE - Dance, Drama and Music Philosophical and Religious Studies Physical Sciences Psychology Sociology, Anthropology and Politics (C-SAP) Social Policy and Social Work (SWAP)

24 HEA Subject Centres

HEA Priority Areas/Themes

Assessment and Feedback

Employer Engagement/Workforce Development 07/08 & 08/09

Supporting New Academic Staff/Academic Staff

Student engagement

Education for sustainable development Planned for 09/10

Enhancing quality and standards: external examiners

Enhancing quality and standards: subject level response to NSS

Other HEA Areas/ThemesEnhancing learning through technology

Curriculum design

Internationalisation

Supporting and championing teaching

Inclusion

The (taught) postgraduate student experience

The research-teaching nexus

HE in FE

Vulnerable subject: promoting/supporting the discipline

How I started using SCs........

Wanted advice on teaching & assessment

• Group/teamwork assessment • PBL • Maths teaching for Engineers (TDG from Maths)

Used outputs (reports etc) from TDGs: subject-specific, complimentary to CLL

UKCME’s Teaching Development GrantsMalasree Home

• Resource development

• Outreach

• Curriculum development

• Skills and Employability

59 TDGs supported (typically £2-5k each) at 26 HEIs and associated organisations since 2001

‘Electronic Resources: Metals and Alloys’ and ‘Production of new electronic resources on ‘Fabrication’2004 and 2005 (University of Cambridge)

Two projects to produce web-based Metallurgy research and teaching aids, including overviews of subjects, lecture notes and presentations.

Web resources now freely available, royalty free and easily downloadable. Incorporated into the DoITPoMS project Micrograph Library, and Teaching and Learning Packages (TLPs), also funded through the UKCME’s Supported Change Programme.

Case Study

• 22 projects; 9 produced ‘high-value’ outputs in the form of case studies or electronic resources for wider dissemination. • Most successful were web-based simulations/teaching aids; and a science project at Tower of London.• Some Resource packs, internet sites etc no longer work or no longer produced......... need to be kept up to date

Resource development TDGs

(Materials classified by HEFCE as a “strategic, but vulnerable” discipline)

• 6 successes: Widening Participation scheme at Leeds; PBL at QueenMary; Tower of London• Some tended to be short-term Institution-specific grants, not widely disseminated

‘Development of a portfolio of case studies to support recruitment and teaching on Undergraduate Materials courses’ 2001 (University of Bath)

To address local and national Materials recruitment concerns. 5 electronic case studies commissioned from UG students and recent graduates, explaining Materials at a level appropriate for schools (especially Biomedical Materials and Sports Materials).

No longer used at Bath, but partly re-purposed as material for UKCME’s website for schools: www.whystudymaterials.ac.uk.

Case Study

Outreach TDGs

15 projects about teaching methods: PBLTeaching using Case StudiesLab-based teachingVLEsPeer tutoringEthical issues

Curriculum development TDGs

‘The development of Materials Evaluation techniques for the Ethical designer’ 2003 (University of Derby)

Very little experience incorporating ethical perspectives into the design curriculum.

Developed materials and processes to introduce ethical evaluation methods into Architecture, Engineering and Product Design

Has subsequently been built into QAA standards.

‘Tutoring Large Groups – a web-based approach’, 2003 (University of Southampton)

Aim to provide academic tutorial support in Materials modules of 200+ students.

Development of online tutorial sessions, supplemented by MCQs and random question sets, and supported by pg students.

Case StudyCase Study

• Teaching transferable skills in tutorials• Work-based learning• Foundation degree development• Accreditation of prior/experiential learning

Skills and Employability TDGs

‘Strategies for improving the writing skills of Undergraduate Materials students’ 2003 (David McPhail, Imperial College, London)

Aim to improve poor writing skills of UK and international Materials ug students.

Organised a student English writing skills workshop; developed exercises based around writing letters for job applications etc; arranged language sessions.

[‘Incorporating Skills Teaching into Science Degrees: A review and case study’, in Proceedings of the 2003 WFEO/ASEE e-Conference, American Society for Engineering Education.]

Case Study

University of Liverpool Learning and Teaching Conference, 23 June 2009

‘Making Change Happen’ in my Department

University of Liverpool Learning and Teaching Conference, 23 June 2009

Evolving Practice at UKCMEAwareness-Raising Events: workshops /

conferences

Dedicated Courses: (e.g. for New Lecturers)

Teaching Development Grant scheme

Supported Change Programme At the full Department level; 2 year commitment

For enthusiastic individuals within a Departmental context; 1 year maximum

For target groups (of same position / role) in the subject community; focused residential weekend

For individuals or groups (focuses on national & regional agendas); one or two days in length

University of Liverpool Learning and Teaching Conference, 23 June 2009

Critical Review of all TDGs – since UKCME inception

Easy to underestimate the extent that ongoing support is needed (since individual Grant-Holders are generally working alone). Essential that contact for practitioners is ongoing!

Need to judge in relation to the capacity to deliver change, and not simply in terms of a final report or resource outcomes. What of using UKCME’s Supported Change Programme?

Need to use pre-grant & post-grant workshops (to highlight good practice that had already evolved by UKCME) to assure implementation within and beyond the institution. Various mechanisms are needed for wide implementation.

University of Liverpool Learning and Teaching Conference, 23 June 2009

Shifts in UKCME Emphasis: from traditional to new strategy

FROM: TO:

Awareness-raising Supported change

One-off events in central locations Departmental context

UKCME defines the agenda Departmental agenda

Expertise resides with the Centre Expertise also located with practitioners

Centre as broker Centre as facilitator and broker

Short-term participant involvement Ongoing staff involvement within the Department

Promotes capability of the teacher Encourages enhancement of the learner experience

University of Liverpool Learning and Teaching Conference, 23 June 2009

Examples at Partner Institutions

Institution Development Change

Bradford College

Established a new Foundation Degree and BEng, for part-time students in the workplace, and via distance learning

University of Cambridge

Established a national Summer School: staff working in partnership with students to develop e-learning resources

University of Derby

Developing a blended learning Materials module, in collaboration with diverse Departments, across the Faculty

Queen’s Univ Belfast

Developed a new Introductory Course for all Year 1 programmes, across a merged School

University of Sheffield

Exploring student learning in practicals / laboratories, linked to a Department-wide curriculum review

University of Liverpool Learning and Teaching Conference, 23 June 2009

University of Liverpool Learning and Teaching Conference, 23 June 2009

Usage of TLPs beyond Cambridge

Source: TW Clyne et al – Euromat 2009 International Conference

University of Liverpool Learning and Teaching Conference, 23 June 2009

“The great thing about the TLP is not just that they provide an alternative approach – helping you visualise, e.g. what can be mathematically-based concepts. They also let you work through things, construct things in your own time, and you can do it step-by-step yourself.”

“Students attend lectures and listen. They take notes at a furious pace sometimes, but go away not fully grasping the concepts… The TLP is to support students by clarifying things, by helping them make sense of the concepts.”

“The fact that there has been student involvement and ownership… you feel if the students who wrote the TLPs understand the content, then you as a learner should be able to understand it.”

Usage of TLPs within Cambridge

University of Liverpool Learning and Teaching Conference, 23 June 2009

The Way Forward

“The driver is the Supported Change Programme. This has enabled us to go beyond individual projects, to develop strategies that otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to do. So, that’s gathering momentum, with other agencies beginning to work together, and pulling in the same direction.”

Teaching Development Grants in History, Classics and

Archaeology

Grant History in HCA• 7 rounds of grants • 77 grants awarded in total• up to £5000 maximum

Funding Level

Total spend on TDGs £202,849

approx. 10% of total SC

grant

Total Average

Round 1 £29,037 £2,640

Round 2 £34,839 £2,489

Round 3 £34,231 £2,282

Round 4 £42,263 £2,818

Round 5 £18,364 £2,624

Round 6 £22,740 £2,842

Round 7 £21,373 £3,503

Forms of Teaching Development Grant• Curriculum

– includes curriculum design, assessment development and feedback, pedagogic surveys of attitudes and effectiveness of learning technologies

• Resource– preparation of teaching materials in all forms

• Outreach– Continuing education, adult learning, non HE

groups

• Skills and Employability– includes study skills

Forms of Teaching Development

No.

of

Gra

nts

Teaching Development Form by discipline area

Where to now?• Curriculum ‘change projects’

– Landscape Interpretation Skills– Material Culture Interpretation– Archaeological Theory (Critical

Thinking & Research Skills)• Bring together academics, professional

groups, employers, students• Develop new curricula, forms of

assessment, new resources to support learning

If you had the opportunity to receive £5k for a Teaching Development Grant, what issue(s) would you like to address, and what would you do to address it?

Student engagement

Education for sustainable development

Enhancing quality and standards: external examiners

Enhancing quality and standards: subject level response to NSS