Skip to main content

Ruth Whitfield

Ruth Whitfield is a Senior Educational Developer who is highly respected by colleagues at all levels across the University of Bradford and beyond. Her skill and passion for supporting colleagues to enhance their practice as professional educators and improve the outcomes of student learning has been evident throughout her long career.
Year
2020
Institution
University of Bradford
Job Title
Senior Educational Developer

During a career spanning three decades at the University of Bradford, Ruth has created and seized opportunities to move from training staff in IT skills, to pushing the boundaries of technology for learning as a highly effective part-time lecturer, to major leadership roles in national development projects, and to initiating and disseminating strategic change as a professionally qualified and nationally-known educational developer.

Early in her career, Ruth used her learning technology expertise to inspire local school children through outreach initiatives, and to design and deliver a suite of credit bearing modules to support key skills development in undergraduate programmes. Fascinated by the interplay between professional development and student engagement, her focus subsequently shifted towards educational development and empowering others to enhance their teaching and improve student attainment.

Ruth is well known for her work on Programme Assessment Strategies (PASS). Her passion for programme-focused assessment has seen this project live well beyond its funding period. The demand for its assessment workshops continues and she is currently working with colleagues across the sector to update existing case studies and to identify new ones. She has had invitations to speak at several external assessment events and has published book chapters.

As Senior Educational Developer in the Directorate of Learning, Teaching and Quality Enhancement at the University of Bradford, Ruth leads a team of educational and digital developers. She is highly respected by colleagues at all levels from within and across the higher education sector. Ruth is a Senior Fellow of both Advance HE (formerly Higher Education Academy) and SEDA, and has received institutional awards in recognition of her outstanding commitment to student learning.

Ruth's most notable recent achievement is the development of Bradford:Fellowships, a coherent, whole career framework to support the development of those involved in teaching and/or learning support from induction through to national teaching awards.

Advance HE recognises there are different views and approaches to teaching and learning, as such we encourage sharing of practice, without advocating or prescribing specific approaches. NTF and CATE awards recognise teaching excellence in a particular context. The profiles featured are self-submitted by award winners.