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...

Sharing Practice conference 2012

The call is out for posters around sharing practice around teaching and learning.  Deadline for abstracts 20th April 2012

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

Vice Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning

Today we held the first Vice Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning presented by Malcolm (Vice Chancellor) and Rod. (Pro VC)  There were 28  Award winners in a total  5 categories:

Individual Awards
• Excellence in teaching delivery and intellectual stimulation of students
Cliff Olsson, School of Sport Tourism and the Outdoors
Amanda Taylor, School of Social Work

• Innovation in teaching and assessment
Andy Bainbridge, School of Art, Design and Performance
Martin Salisbury, Lancashire Law School

• Best practice to improve the student progression and performance
Matt Horn, School Of Journalism, Media and Communication
Sarla Ghandi, School of Health

• Excellence in research informed learning and teaching
Pam Qualter, School of Psychology
Darren Tunstall, School of Art, Design and Performance

Team Awards

• Creation of a superlative student experience overall

Graduate Diploma in Law team - Lancashire Law School

The Media Technology team -School Of Journalism, Media and Communication

Congratulations all! Its nice to see your hard work being rewarded and valued. Also congrats to the LDU (Learning Development Unit) for all your hard work setting up and organising the event.

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

And the award for best lecturer goes to....

"Its about time good teaching was recognised in HE as a valuable commodity. there are enough student surveys and websites criticising lecturers, so I'm very glad to see the Student Led Teaching Awards  making the news. 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/oct/17/lecturers-win-student-awards


This idea has been implemented by the Higher Education Academy http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/student-led-awards  and is a very worthwhile activity to help recognise good teaching when and where its happens. we want lecturers to feel recognised for their good work, because its not an easy job that just seems to get harder every year. The criteria mentioned is quite interesting as an example of what good teachers do.


  "the criteria for which an award was made – enthusiasm, feedback and the ability to prompt questions and critical thinking."


not only is the recognition a encouraging boost for the really good lecturers, who can feel disheartened in todays economic climate but it also has;

"unexpected benefits, strengthening a sense of community on campus, empowering students and making them reflect on their learning."


I am now looking forward to this being implemented in my university as we already have a cadre of dedicated teachers who work with the pedagogic research forum to improve their teaching, but don't get enough credit from their colleagues or management.  


See our impact guides for examples of inspirational teaching 
www.uclan.ac.uk/impact 

Putting student engagement at the heart of HE

Student engagement is a popular topic at the moment, especially with the increased fees. but what is it and how do you know you are doing it right?  What with the HEA and QAA putting their two pennyworth in, at least you have a place to start.
http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/retention-and-success
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/Partners/students/Pages/Our-student-engagement-work.aspx

The guardian has a live chat scheduled for  Friday October 14 "we will bring together a panel composed of some of the people trying to answer these questions and others. Join us from 12pm to 2pm to identify the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead as well as to share what student engagement looks like at your own institution."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/higher-education-network/blog/2011/oct/11/student-engagement-live-chat

Join the debate and voice your views!

the pressures of student satisfaction

The guardian has posed the question below, with a survey yes or no?

"Are pressures on HE professionals to deliver student satisfaction too high?"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/higher-education-network/blog/poll/2011/aug/17/national-student-survey-pressures

With the new fees regime and NSS results just out (student satifaction up overall to 83%) is student satisfaction putting too much pressure on academics to conform or perform to what the students feel is a good experience?
Do students know what to expect when they come to univesity or will they be expecting too much with the massive hike in fees?
Is Student satisfaction a fair assessment of the quality of a university experience? or should we find a different way that takes onboard the quality not quantity of contact hours and support? Are students the right people to be measuring the quality of an educational establishment or are they just part of the overall picture? Do the staff views of the quality of provison count? or should there be a 'mystery shopper' who looks at many different establishments who provide the same course?
Student and staff expectations can be very different and there is no easy way to measure the overall student satisfaction as students are individuals and will expect and need different things from their university education, and some subjects will outperform others and some courses will have more dedicated staff. If the lecturing staff care about their subject and about their teaching it shows. We have produced short books in a series called Impact which details how much the staff care about their work and the innovations in their teaching. Hopefully this will help students make an infomed decison and show who in their subject is dedicated enough to make a real difference to the student experience.
http://www.uclan.ac.uk/information/services/ldu/research/impact.php