A Culture for Success Connecting Institutional Strategy,

Scholarship and Research in Learning and Teaching

Jules CassidyJulie Baldry Currens

Overview

An institutional learning journey • Connect 3 university strategies with each other

& with national policy• Embed a culture of pedagogic research &

scholarship (SoTL) within our academic practice• Achieve cross-disciplinary collaboration-

academic & student support colleagues• Incentivise the pursuit of excellence in L+T

UEL – our context

• 1 of over 40 universities in London• 12th largest by student numbers• Highest award in Institutional Audits• Research ranked in top 10 modern British

universities• Highest proportion of mature students• >50% of students are ‘non-trad’ (BME groups &

those with no family experience of university)• Situated in a deprived East London area - will host

2012 Olympics (opportunity +challenge...)

Our Vision:

“ To achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university, proud of our diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship ”

• Government & funding council directives to integrate teaching, research & scholarship - ‘research enriched teaching’• Government quality agenda of ‘enhancement’ in learning and teaching• Higher Education Academy national framework- for professional standards in teaching & supporting learning in HE

External drivers for change

Internal drivers for change

• Integrate new strategies (2006)• Learning, Teaching & Assessment• Research & Scholarship• Professional Standards Framework

• Embed a culture of pedagogical scholarship & research, with measurable, quality outputs

• Incentivise, reward & celebrate achievement + excellence in teaching & supporting learning

Change Agents

University Learning & Teaching Committee – Director of L&T, Leaders in L&T (LILTS) from each School

• Higher Education Academy (HEA)

Change Academy residential event

• Government grant £500k pa

• Champions within Corporate Management (Pro VC Academic / Research)

HEA Change Academy

Change Academy

Competitive application

Residential event, attended by:

- DLT

- School LILTS

- Reps from Student + Library Services

Aim: to integrate the 3 policies (LTA, R+S, PSF) & “ to change our culture from one of being defensive... to one of celebrating the very real successes of both our students and staff...”

3 key outcomes:

1. Enhanced group cohesion, confidence + purpose

2. Commitment to developing L+T committees in Services (as well as Schools)

3. Recognition of PSF as key vehicle for integration of LTA with R&S strategy

Change Academy blog

Eight of our team of nine board the 8.55. We meet up with 9 of 9, Helen, at Nottingham.

..the journey turned into a brainstorm around our first major team activity ‘The Rich Picture’ when Team Leader Suzanne, and team member Julie, found they had the same image for the three policies that form the basis of the change our team is leading....

‘The Challenge – to produce a rich picture poster to present your team, the vision of change that you are trying to accomplish and the institutional contexts in which you are working’.

‘A Culture for Success’

Our recently finalised Learning, Teaching and Assessment strategy 2009-2009

‘Professional Standards Framework’.

A work in progress.

UEL’s ‘Research and Scholarship’ strategy

Already in extant.

Change Academy blog

The image of concentric circles shows how connected these policies are to each other. Julie drew it and another TM remarks that they look just like a flower. ‘Yes, with our students at the centre’. With this we are away!

The making of the rich picture posters is a joyful and fun experience. From the train

we already know where we are heading. We have 3 poster sheets and a bag of Blue Peter type goodies, - scissors, glue, stickers, coloured paper etc & about 3 hours to produce the poster...

Jules contributes a riff on the butterfly of change that is the symbol of the CA and this is incorporated into our rich picture theme.

Change Academy blog

We realise quickly that a flat two-dimensional poster format is not how we want to express ‘change’ at all. The flower must be 3 dimensional and the posters cut up. Major right brain activity ensues....

Gavin turns out to be a dab hand at origami so the butterflies and leaves are his handiwork. Alison has a good clear hand so she takes charge of lettering. Most of us can do colouring in . Ideas flow from all directions. The video camera is engaged and blogging starts up. Photographs of

butterflies and the campus are printed off .

At the heart of the flower is UEL’s diverse student body. The petals are our three policies...

Change Academy blog

And here it is, in all its glory, sharing a board with...

Leaves are external influences, interested parties, important players. Change agent butterflies pollinate the flower. Note Suzanne’s UEL flag top left

Reflections on CA...

“ ... I’m so proud of our achievements - I took a group of colleagues to CA, and I brought back a team ” (Suzanne, DLT)

Its like the light dawned – I suddenly realised we needed a Learning + Teaching Committee in Student Services, we might be smaller, but what we do is just as much a part of learning + teaching as what happens in the Schools”... (Alison, SS Associate Director)

“It was my eureka moment – before then I secretly thought professional standards were soo boring, but then it fell into place – they could be the very thing that linked learning + teaching with research...” (Jules, LILT)

HEA Professional Standards

HE sector owned, national frameworkFor HEIs to demonstrate that professional standards are being met

UEL’s PSF

• Accredited + praised by HEA as “sector leading, innovative, model of best practice, models choice and flexibility” (HEA,2008)

• Developed by cross disciplinary working group

• Offers 3 routes to Fellowship of HEA: 1. Direct application

2. Taught programmes

3. Continuing Professional Development

UEL’s PSF

• Enables Academic + Service colleagues to achieve Fellow or Associate status of HEA

• Embedded within Probation, Promotion, and CPD policies

• Support of Corporate Management team

• Roll-out continues throughout this year

Recognising Excellence in SoTL

• 9 Awards since 2005• Each award carries the title, and £10k to fund research, CPD, buy-in/out time etc for SoTL activities

e.g. 2008 awards, projects:- Classroom Mobile phone technology - Serial breaches of academic integrity- Academics attitudes towards academic practice

UEL Teaching Fellowships

Recognising Excellence

We have achieved

3 HEA National Teaching Fellowships

Connecting TF Awards with practice

“ My UEL Teaching Fellowship has enabled me to undertake projects that I have long wanted to do but never had the time or space, or means to do... It’s a marvellous opportunity to connect research with my teaching practice, and to receive recognition for my achievements...” UEL TF, 2008

I’m very proud to be a national teaching fellow, it validates the work I’ve been doing in the UK and Europe – in the end its all about trying to improve the student’s experience, and now I’ve money to extend my research further and do more work on the ground...” UEL NTFS, 2007

Facilitating small projects: LEOs

Learning Enhancement Opportunity Projects• Individuals or teams apply for small project

funding (up to £10k for 2 years) to innovate + evaluate aspects of pedagogy and practice

• Funding available for: small equipment, buy-in expertise, buy-out teaching time, fund research activity

• Available to both academic + service colleagues

11 projects since 2006

E.g: Assessment framework: evaluation + revision (Health and

Bioscience)

Securing effective student representation (Quality Ass&Enh)

Development + evaluation of multimedia on-line tutorials for SPSS stats software (Psycholgy)

Second Life: Educational usage + technical requirements (Distance + e-learning)

Archives as a tool for learning (Architecture + Visual Arts)

How’s it going? Week 4u project (Student Services)

The library game (School of Computing + Technology / Library)

Learning + Teaching Research Groups

• Aim to establish a L+T Research Group in each School & Service to pump-prime/ enhance evaluation + innovate practice

• 7/8 Schools have groups + Student & Library Services

• £10k pa funding available for measurable outputs• Research activities include

colleagues + invited speakers sharing research evaluation of aspects of student success + retention CPD e.g. workshops supporting funding applications, conference

presentation / attendance evaluation of student perceptions of service provision

Additional activity

• Lunchtime discussion forums on pedagogy + practice e.g. Peer Review of Teaching, Formative Assessment, PBL

• Annual Learning + Teaching Conference – abstracts now submitted for peer review by LTC - includes LEO, TF, LTRG presentations

• New policies on Assessment; Academic Integrity; Use of Turnitin

• Current work - Inclusive Curriculum; Good Practice in Assessment; Supporting Student Success, Personal Tutoring, English Skills...

Conclusion

Significant cross-disciplinary collaboration, and student representation, is proving successful in facilitating:

• Broader participation in pedagogical scholarship + research

• Incentivising + rewarding quality + excellence

These are: Innovating practice Enhancing student experience...

THANK YOU

QUESTIONS and COMMENTS ?

j.cassidy@uel.ac.uk

j.baldrycurrens@uel.ac.uk