Supporting the research process

Research is a pivotal part of Higher Education, all universities do research to some extent, even if it is research into their teaching that never get published in peer reviewed journals.

Academic Mentoring

Anyone at the start of their career needs to be shown the ropes. But why is mentoring so important in HE?

Uclan Journal of Pedagogic Research

After the successful publication of our latest issue, the call is now open for further submissions to the Uclan Journal Of Pedagogic Research.   ..

Should Lecturers have teaching qualifications?

The view that university lecturers in the UK should have teaching qualifications is not new, but with the increase in fees the NUS president is demanding that it be made mandatory for all lecturers to have teaching qualifications, as at the moment it is considered advisable but not mandatory...

Pedagogic Research Model

Recently we published an Impact guide to Pedagogic Research, with members of the PRF and the Centre for Research informed Teaching. We had a highly successful Launch event, with posters, resources and contributions from 10 different schools, demonstrating inspirational teaching, and a speech from our Pro Vice-Chancellor (Student Experience).


What I would like to share with you is our Model of Pedagogic research...

Digital Literacy in Higher Education

What is digital literacy?  Do we need to expand our definitions to include new social media interactions? What are we talking about?.. What does digital literacy mean to you?

Sitting on the shelf: Do we really need to disseminate our research?

Most research ends up sitting on the shelf in a library or behind some publishing companies pay wall.  Even with  the current rise in open access, hardly anyone outside of a university ever hears about our research.  Do we really need to disseminate our research to the wider public? And if we do how do we break it down so they can understand it? With the current pressures on academics is it worth our time to condense, simplify and disseminate our research to the lay person?....

Challenges facing Higher Education

The HE Guardian has come up with this great infographic detailing the research they did on the challenges facing HE today. The changes in the sector section indicated that most people think things are getting worse and that the coalition government has no coherent set of policies to see HE through this turbulent time.... but

The REF 2014 Update

HEFCE now has an updated page with the final criteria and working methods that the Research Excellence Framework (REF) panels will use when assessing research. REF panel criteria....

HEA four year strategic plan for teaching

HEA focus on professionalisation of teaching continues in four-year strategic plan

Strategic priorities over the next four years include:

• to inspire and support effective practice in learning and teaching;
• to recognise, reward and accredit excellent teaching; 
• to influence policy, future thinking and change; 
• to develop an effective, sustainable organisation that is relevant to, and valued by, higher education.

All good intentions but lets wait and see how they are implemented. This should hopefully make lecturers lives better as well as the improving student experience. The main problem is too much work and little recognition. so as long as these concerns are reasonably addressed I am all for the new plan.  Staff should be valued for their excellent teaching in the same way that they can be venerated for excellent research, whether this new strategy will do enough, we shall see.

Impact of Pedagogic Research!

Yesterday we held a highly successful event concerning the Impact of Pedagogic Research, where we launched our Impact of Pedagogic Research guide and showcased inspirational teaching from members of staff in the PRF. The place was full and we had talks from members of the PRF and the Pro VC (student experience) who stated that it was immensely important that we allow the time to reflect on our teaching and develop our teaching through pedagogic research whether informally or formally. The value of forums like the PRF are increasingly important to support our development through a supportive community of practice.
see the guide here http://www.uclan.ac.uk/information/services/ldu/research/prfimpact.php
and the PRF here www.uclan.ac.uk/prf

Impact of the social sciences

Podcasts of the sessions and panel discussions from the Investigating Academic Impact conference on 13th June 2011 are now available to download for free.

http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/podcasts/

The benefits and purpose of teaching training in HE

Lecturers must be able to impart what they know. Craig Mahoney, head of the HEA, believes training can make any academic a more effective and inspired teacher THE article