Development of the Instant Teaching Effectiveness Analytics Model (ITEAM)
James Leinster Nottingham Trent University
In ‘Creating the University of the Future' as outlined in the strategy plan of Nottingham Trent University which highlights the opportunities for colleagues to engage in development innovation and recognition of their academic practice student evaluation of teaching is a foundation on which this vision is built on. Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET) serves three purposes: (a) improving teaching quality (b) providing input for performance reviews and (c) providing evidence for institutional accountability (Kember Leung and Kwan 2002). The aim of this presentation is to introduce colleagues to the rubric tool which is currently under development in Nottingham Business School which focuses on improving teaching quality. The project being discussed is the development of the Instant Teaching Effectiveness Analytics Model (ITEAM). In the session we will consider the following: how the tool has been developed with the help of students and staff and some early feedback on its use and lessons learnt so far.
How in-class electronic collection of student evaluations is providing lecturers and managers with better information for the development of teaching
Nuala Byrne University of Nottingham
The aim of this presentation is to illustrate how a newly introduced in-class electronic system for collection of student evaluation data is providing better information for teachers and managers to help develop teaching practice. In this session I
- Explain how this system works
- Discuss the rationale for introducing a new system
- Present data on number of surveys carried out and response rates
- Illustrate the enhanced data available to individual teachers and the institution
- Discuss the issues faced in introducing the new system
- Outline plans for future development
Maximising the teaching and learning opportunities for higher education students at risk – a learning analytics case study within the sciences
Simon Bedford University of Wollongong
Analytics is not a new area of endeavour with many industries and other professions being well ahead of the education sector in the uptake of advanced analytics methods and tools (Abdous He & Yen 2012; Dziuban Moskal Cavanagh & Watts 2012). Wagner and Ice (2012) describe higher education as being on the early side of the analytics adoption curve when compared to retail telecommunications financial services and manufacturing. Analytics is often used in higher education institutions to identify and also predict individual students who may be ‘at risk’ (Fritz 2011). The primary aim of this research study was the deployment of information technologies that provide learning analytic data on students enrolled in large science first year subjects. These data have shown valuable learning progression and experience information to academics part-time teaching staff and professional staff on students’ engagement motivation and progression in real time so that suitable interventions can be made on students at risk of failing subjects. The success or otherwise of meeting these objectives will be the focus of this presentation.
Design and delivery of a new strategy to augment the teaching and learning experience of Postgraduate Researchers at Cardiff University’s School of Medicine
Anwen Williams Cardiff University
With limited budgets and the need for cost-effective solutions Higher Education Institutions must ensure that the resources invested in training are targeted at areas where a positive return on the investment is apparent. The Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) 2013 and two internal PGRs surveys (2012 and 2014) were used to audit Postgraduate researcher teaching/training activity across the School of Medicine. They highlighted areas of strengths (supervision research environment) and weaknesses (protracted timeframe for resolution of student/supervisor issues poor quality of written work prolonged writing-up period expectation for repeated extensions). Our aim was to use the survey results to inform discussions and decisions about improvements to teaching and training provision for PGRs. Here we describe the multifaceted approach developed and
implemented by the PGR team and quantify the impact of strategy upon the learning environment for PGR students by revisiting student satisfaction scores for the School in PRES 2015.
Doctoral Researchers’ Well-being: Integrating Support Improving the Student Experience
Caroline Hargreaves Imperial College
Well-being is a key indicator of social progress and is used internationally for policy formation and economic development. This presentation discusses the use of a well-being survey at a research intensive university to explore doctoral researchers’ experience in order to inform practice and enhance well-being. We highlight some of the findings and recommendations from our study.
The survey was first carried out in 2009 and was repeated to evaluate changes. Well-being overall at the institution is satisfactory however the impact of the top 10 most important and bothersome questions has become greater and differences were found according to stage of the doctorate and gender.
We propose that our findings add depth to information gained from national surveys such as PRES and recommend incorporation of some of the well-being questions to national surveys. Doctoral researchers are strategic players in the knowledge and innovation led economy and their well-being deserves greater attention.
Workshop: The Teaching Excellence Framework: control and freedom in 21st century HE
Christine Broughan Caroline Wilson Sandeep Gakhal and Suzy Kerr Pertic Coventry University
The UK government’s proposal to implement a ‘teaching excellence framework’ (TEF) has re-ignited the debate regarding the purpose and scope of university teaching. This workshop will explore the notion of teaching excellence from a variety of voices whose views will shape how teaching is measured and valued in Higher Education. The workshop is timely as those in the sector seek to understand the ontological and epistemological notions underpinning its teaching.
Excellence as we shall see means many things to different people. This workshop offers a unique contribution by placing these subject positions side by side and guiding the participants to understand the complex terrain from which the TEF is foregrounded. Thornton (2014) confirms the need for alignment of strategic aims of universities and teacher practice in order for any real differences to be observed and as such the workshop explores issues at the macro meso and micro level.
