CAP Workshop - Validation and Review: Workshop for conveners and panel members

16 October 2014
13:30-15:00


This workshop is aimed at academic staff wishing to participate in validation and review as panellists or conveners.  It is open to experienced panellists & conveners, as well as staff participating for the first time. Depending on update, the workshop may be split into separate sessions for conveners and panel members to allow for more focussed discussion. 
Topics can be tailored to suit participant needs, but will cover a range of V&R aspects, such as preparation, participation and follow-up activities; managing the discussion; agreeing conditions and recommendations; GQE input; and working with professional and statutory bodies. There will be time to explore participants’ challenges and concerns.


Contacts: Dawn Martin, Roni Bamber
Register: CapAdmin

Transnational Education (TNE) and Graduate Employability Project

 

Dear colleague, We are seeking your help with a project funded by the Higher Education Academy (HEA) exploring how employability is embedded in the curriculum for transnational education (TNE) programmes (e.g. branch campuses, partner-supported programmes, double and joint degrees, and distance learning programmes), and the ways in which UK HE providers support employability for students studying for their degrees overseas in other ways. Around 250,000 students are actively studying for UK degrees via TNE, but little is known about how approaches to employability used in UK-based programmes compare with practice on TNE programmes. We would like you to send us brief examples of innovative and effective approaches in the form of short vignettes (mini-case studies), and also your perspectives on the challenges that institutions face in embedding employability in TNE programmes. We provide more information about the kinds of examples that we are looking for in the attached guidance document. If you consider that employability in TNE programmes is not an issue for your institution we would also like you to let us know and provide us with some information about why this is the case. The project is working to a tight deadline, so we would be very grateful to receive your submission by Friday 17th October. If you have any queries about the project, then please contact Steve Woodfield or Robin Mellors-Bourne. Transnational Education (TNE) and Graduate Employability Project: Call for Evidence Summary: A research team comprising Robin Mellors-Bourne (CRAC), Steve Woodfield (Kingston University) and Elspeth Jones have been commissioned by the Higher Education Academy (HEA) to look into employability development within TNE (transnational education) programmes, an issue that is currently under-researched but which is often an important dimension of UK TNE for students. As part of this project we are contacting UK HE institutions to identify and collect some examples of innovative and effective practice around how HE providers embed the development of employability within the curriculum in all types of TNE programmes (including distance learning, flying faculty and partnership arrangements). We are seeking examples from a mix of subject areas, countries of delivery, levels of study, and institutions. The other dimensions of the project are a literature review and interviews with a sample of TNE alumni. The overall aims of the project are to distil and illustrate areas of innovative and effective practice, identify the key challenges faced by institutions, and then make recommendations that can support the HEA's work around employability and internationalisation and wider sector activity on TNE and employability.   Definitions: We recognise that the terms 'employability' and ‘TNE’ do not have widely accepted definitions, however our project uses definitions adopted by the HEA that take a broad, but student-focused, approach. · Employability: A set of achievements – skills, understandings and personal attributes – that makes graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations, which benefits themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy (Knight and Yorke, 2003) · Transnational education (TNE): Award- or credit-bearing learning undertaken by students who are based in a different country from that of the awarding institution (Adapted from the Council of Europe’s statement on TNE (2002)   Categories of innovative and effective practice: We are open to receiving a range of different types of innovative and effective practice on this topic, and recognise that HE providers approach employability development in different ways. The list below provides some examples of potential areas of such practice, but these are neither exhaustive nor mutually exclusive: · A particular institutional policy or strategy that addresses the concept of employability in TNE programmes (e.g. an international, education, or employability strategy) · The creation or development of institutional roles or structures that focus on embedding employability for TNE students (e.g. a specific TNE focus in careers, alumni, academic development) · Examples of how the curriculum for TNE programmes has been designed or adapted to develop employability and ensure its relevance for overseas delivery (e.g. study skills, language training, localised content, local placements) · The use of the co-curriculum to provide support for employability through offering modules or training focused on employability skills (e.g. interviews, CV writing, entrepreneurship, volunteering opportunities) · Initiatives around the pedagogical approach designed to help foster employability in TNE programmes (e.g. developing critical thinking and problem-based learning linked to employability) · Ways in which collaboration with educational partners overseas has helped to support employability (e.g. via curriculum co-design, building links with employers, organising work placements) · Links with key stakeholders in countries of delivery and in the UK (e.g. employers, professional bodies, local and national government, regulatory agencies) to support the employability and employment opportunities of TNE graduates (e.g. recognition schemes, work placements) · Addressing employability in approaches to the quality assurance of TNE when considering the academic quality and comparability of individual TNE programmes · Quality enhancement activity to facilitate staff or student engagement with the development or embedding of employability within the curriculum. We would also like your perspectives on what you consider to be the main challenges around employability in TNE programmes, and how these might be addressed. Again these are many and varied, and depend on the type of TNE and delivery context, but could include: · Managing expectations of partners and students · Ensuring comparability of UK and overseas study for quality assurance purposes · Addressing issues of equity between UK-based and TNE provision in learning, teaching and assessment · Engagement in in quality enhancement activities · Embedding employability through engaging students and staff on TNE programmes · Achieving relevance with an employability focus in local TNE delivery contexts · Recognition of TNE qualifications by governments and employers · Students’ and employers’ perceptions of the value of TNE for graduate employability Format and process: We are seeking vignettes - short case studies - of innovative and effective practice, and brief perspectives on the challenges of employability in TNE from your institution. These need only be a few paragraphs of text in an email or Word document (up to 750 words). We would be very grateful if you could structure each vignette in the following way: 1. Name of your institution 2. Basic information about the organisational unit, or TNE programme (e.g. programme name, country of delivery, TNE type, partner institution, subject, level of study), that is the focus of the innovative or effective practice 3. Category (or categories) of innovative or effective practice in relation to employability 4. Summary of your approach and why you consider it to be particularly innovative or effective 5. Your plans to further develop and/or disseminate this area of innovative or effective practice 6. Names and roles of key staff member(s), also the details for a key contact in case we would like further information and clarification. For each challenge please could you briefly summarise:   1. The nature of the challenge 2. Why it is an issue for your institution and your key stakeholders (e.g. students, employers, government) 3. Your ideas on how this challenge could best be addressed by your institution, the wider HE sector and national governments. We will summarise in our reporting trends emerging from the challenges and the examples of innovative and effective practice, but would like to include selected edited versions of the vignettes in our report, following agreement with you. All data and contact details collected during the project will be stored securely and will be destroyed two years following the completion of the project. We will share the data with the HEA to support its work in developing and refreshing the Internationalisation Framework and the Employability Framework.   Timescales and outcomes: We would be grateful if could you send your contributions to Steve Woodfield (s.woodfield@kingston.ac.uk) by Friday 17th October 2014. However, if you have any particular difficulties meeting this deadline then please contact us to discuss how best to include your contribution. If you are aware of other examples of innovative and effective practice outside your institution, please do let us know. Once the study is complete, we will include all contributors to our research within dissemination activity for the project. If you have any queries about this request, or about the wider project, then please contact either Steve or Robin Mellors-Bourne (Robin.Mellors-Bourne@crac.org.uk). About the Higher Education Academy The Higher Education Academy (HEA) is the national body for learning and teaching in higher education. We work with universities and other higher education providers to bring about change in learning and teaching. We do this to improve the experience that students have while they are studying, and to support and develop those who teach them. For more recent news, events and funding opportunities, subscribe to Academy Update and follow us on twitter @HEAcademy. The Higher Education Academy is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales no. 04931031. Registered as a charity in England and Wales no. 1101607. Registered as a charity in Scotland no. SC043946. Registered Office: The Higher Education Academy, Innovation Way, York Science Park, Heslington, York, YO10 5BR, United Kingdom. The Higher Education Academy and its logo are registered trademarks and should not be used without our permission.

CAP Workshop - UK Professional Standards Framework Writing Block

16 October 2014
10:15  - 12:15


These writing blocks provide you with some protected time to get on with writing your UKPSF applications with support from peers and CAP staff.
 Come along to a UKPSF briefing, and then sign up to attend the writing blocks. Bring your laptop.
NB It is not required that you attend all writing block sessions - you can dip in when free, but our pilot project found the more writing blocks you attend, the more rapidly you will complete your application.


Contact: Roni Bamber
Register: CapAdmin

CAP Workshop - PGT@QMU: How can we support our new postgrads

15th October 2014
13:15-14:15


Following a national project on the taught postgraduate student experience
http://www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/sheec/learning-from-international-practice/taught-postgraduate-student-experience  and empirical research with QMU PGT students, we have new insights into the skills and attributes our postgraduate taught students bring with them, and how we can help them work at Master's level.


In this practical session, we will look at a framework for analysing PGT skills, and ways we can help our students cope with the transition to PG study, including induction and learning and teaching strategies. You will find this workshop of direct relevance if you are planning your PGT student induction and next year’s teaching, and you will leave with induction activities you can use with your PG students.


More information:  Roni Bamber
Register (free): CapAdmin

Call for Papers: Learning Technology innovation in HE

Call for Papers: Learning Technology innovation in HE

The call for papers for a Special Issue of Research in Learning Technology, the Journal of the Association for Learning Technology has been issued at http://go.alt.ac.uk/1r87Xlp.

All accepted papers will be published as a Special Issue of Research in Learning Technology, “Learning Technology innovation in Higher Education and beyond: Sharing global perspectives on research, practice and policy?”.

The Special Issue focuses on the latest innovations in digital technologies for teaching and learning in Higher Education and beyond internationally.

The Special Issue will provide a snapshot/summary of current research - will identify what digital technology innovations are being implemented in higher education and beyond, how they are being researched, and what are the implications for practice and policy.

Research topics may include:

• How do we collaborate at the forefront of research;
• What research is being conducted in terms of digital learning technology innovations in Higher Education globally;
• Use of social media for teaching and learning;
• Integration of online, blended learning models;
• Use and development of learning analytics;
• Personalised and mobile learning;
• Massive Open Online Courses and other models;
• Gamification.

Practice topics may include:

• How can institutions support innovation;
• What role do learners play in practice;
• Teaching – professional development and digital competences;
• Factors encouraging TEL;
• Strategic questions;
• Technology enhanced learning currently in use;
• Support for technology enhanced learning tools;
• Looking to the future.

Policy topics may include:

• What governments/policymakers can do in terms of facilitating quality take up of new modes of teaching and learning;
• What is the policy around digital capacity for teaching and learning in higher education;
• What is the current comparative state-of-play in terms of national TEL policy - enablers, barriers and support to progress the adoption, use and practices of TEL in HE;
• Structural issues - infrastructures for new modes, Quality and Quality Assurance, funding models, accreditation of credits/recognition, questions around IPR, language issues;
• Evidence-based policy and practice - How current are we in terms of sectoral information harvesting? Can we make use of this for local policy and practice?;
• Are there new national TEL policies that have recently been developed? How do they move things on from previous outputs?

Submissions

We expect the majority of papers to report on empirical work undertaken that examines the effectiveness or impact of the implementation of the digital technology innovation.

Submissions need to explain the theoretical basis of the innovation which can be focused at the unit/subject level, the program/course level or the institutional level.

Submissions can also critically review and consolidate prior work, through literature review, theoretical and historical analysis and critique.

Each author should focus on one of these themes and address the overall aim of the issue.

The issue has the overarching aim to bring together perspectives from around the globe that reflect the increasingly international, collaborative nature of technology in education.

All submissions should clearly explain the global context of the work discussed and where appropriate show what kind of (international) collaboration has informed or supported it.

How to submit

Before submitting a manuscript authors should carefully review the style guidelines for Research in Learning Technology.

Submit papers online via the Research in Learning Technology website at http://go.alt.ac.uk/1c1LRGX.

The deadline for submissions: 14th October 2014.

Call for reviewers

We are also seeking reviewers to review submissions for this Special Issue. Reviewers will be asked to attend a free webinar briefing in early October at the start of the 6 week review period. Reviewers will be asked to review between one and three submissions within a 4 week period with second reviews required in some instances.

Reviewers are asked to complete this sign-up form at http://goo.gl/1mZa3C and will be able to act as a general reviewer for Research in Learning Technology after the Special Issue is published, provided they have successfully completed the required reviews.

 

--

Martin Hawksey

Chief Innovation, Community and Technology Officer

 

Association for Learning Technology (ALT)

Registered Charity Number 1063519

web: www.alt.ac.uk
twitter: @A_L_T / @mhawksey

G+: profiles.google.com/mhawksey

CAP Workshop - Clickers – using personal response systems (Turning Point) for learning and teaching

Wednesday 15 October 2014
10:15-12:15
UKPSF Reference: K4


Turning Point is a personal voting system that allows tutors to poll students and have the results graphically displayed as part of a PowerPoint presentation. The common name often given to these type of systems is “clickers” - the term “clickers” refers to the small handsets which are used to vote. Personal voting systems can make lectures more interactive – engaging students with the material being taught and giving the tutor an opportunity to provide formative feedback. “Clickers” have also been used to initiate discussions both peer-to-peer and with the tutor, and can be utilised to test students’ grasp of key concepts within the classroom.


For more information, contact Susi Peacock
To register your place, contact CapAdmin