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Teesside University Learning and Teaching Workshop: Minecraft as a teaching tool

If you’re interested in the use of games in learning and teaching sign up to this workshop exploring the use of Minecraft, particularly how it can be used in Biosciences.

The programme includes a keynote from Joel Mills,  Minecraft Mentor & Deputy Director of Learning & Teaching Enhancement, Hull University,  as well as lots of opportunities to use the software and trial the virtual field trip exercise.

Thursday 12th July 2018
10am-4pm
Teesside University

To find out more and book your place please visit http://www.tees.ac.uk/sections/whats_on/events_details.cfm?event_id=10172 

 

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Vice Chancellor’s Education Excellence Award Winners

Dr Simon Tate, Dr Alison Graham, School of Biomedical Sciences Professional Services Team and Dr Patrick Rosenkranz

The winners of 2018 Vice Chancellor’s Education Excellence Awards have now been announced after careful consideration of a number of excellent submissions.

Congratulations to Dr Alison Graham, School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Dr Patrick Rosenkranz, School of Psychology and  Dr Simon Tate, School of Geography, Politics and Sociology for their outstanding achievements which resulted in them winning an  individual award.

A valued addition for 2018 was the introduction of the team award. Congratulations to the School of Biomedical Sciences Professional Services Team who won this all new award for their exceptional achievements when dealing with new challenges.

The winners have demonstrated a marked impact on the experience of students here at Newcastle University, with the panel commending the winners on a wide range of projects in which they have played an instrumental role. Professor Suzanne Cholerton, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Education highlighted the excellent achievements of all of the winners:

“The Vice-Chancellor’s Education Excellence Awards celebrate outstanding contributions to our students’ educational experience. The winners of the awards have demonstrated a sustained record of innovation and creativity in supporting students’ learning and shown exceptional dedication and commitment to support their students. Congratulations to the award winners on this well-deserved recognition.”

Continue reading “Vice Chancellor’s Education Excellence Award Winners”

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Student views on feedback forms

Group of students

To find out more a student intern, working with staff in LTDS,  evaluated existing feedback forms and gathered opinions from students to identify what works and what could be improved. The project considered a total of 66 forms from 19 different schools and included focus groups and interviews with individual students.

What did they find?

These are a few key findings and you can find full details in the project report.

Form Design

Have clear, separate sections showing:

  • Strengths and areas for improvement
  • Clear advice for future work

Only use tick boxes for objective areas of the marking criteria, such as grammar. When tick boxes were used for subjective areas, such as argument, students found this unhelpful.

Look at your feedback forms and consider whether these should be redesigned. Consult with the students in your school as part of the process.

Utilising the form

Type feedback, wherever possible.

Introduce structured opportunities to help students understand:

  • expectations of the marking criteria
  • the ways in which this is reflected in the feedback sheet

Discuss how you use marking sheets with your colleagues. Try to develop a consistent approach to:

  • the volume of feedback
  • the use of notes in margins

For more information get in touch with LTDS@ncl.ac.uk

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Celebrating even more success

Lisa Fishburn

Lisa Fishburn, Learning Enhancement and Technology Adviser, was also invited to the  Celebrating Success event as a result of her fantastic work with the School of Dental Sciences transforming 15 years of unmanageable Blackboard content into the accessible, consistent structure that is in place today.

The self named ‘crack task force’ of both dental academics, Lisa and colleagues in LTDS worked together to ensure that the changes had a hugely positive impact on both the student and staff experience.

Christopher O’Connor, Clinical Fellow in the School of Dental Sciences was the lead academic member of staff for this project and you can read about his experience in this blog post

For more information or if you have any questions about Blackboard get in touch with LTDS@ncl.ac.uk 

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Celebrating 10 years of ReCap

Members of the ReCap Team at the Celebrating Success event

The ReCap team were invited to  last week’s Celebrating Success Event in recognition of their fantastic work, in collaboration with staff across the University, over the past 10 years.

Newcastle University has now been involved in lecture and event capture since 2007/08 which was a number of years before the majority of UK HEIs even began to consider the potential benefits of such a service.  From the outset the team involved envisioned a pervasive institutional service that would enhance student experience by providing supportive learning resources for all students and especially those with disability, international students and those whose circumstances make attendance at all lectures problematic. Continue reading “Celebrating 10 years of ReCap”

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The Future of Work: Stimulus Event

Students and staff in the Urban Sciences Building

Be bold, be brave and think about the new possibilities, words from Professor Julie Sanders set the tone for The Future of Work : Stimulus Event held on the 13th June. In an area that often results in fear and uncertainty, with much of the media focussing on loss of jobs as a result of AI developing at an ever increasing speed, it was refreshing to see this topic being tackled from such a positive perspective.

This approach was continued by Professor Suzanne Cholerton who outlined how the new Education Strategy embraced the challenges ahead and aimed to give our students an education for life in a world that we don’t yet know. A focus was placed on the strategy theme,  ‘developing students as the whole person by supporting and preparing them to shape the societies in which they will live and the professions they choose to enter’ and this focus was evident from other speakers throughout the day. An emphasis was placed on developing attributes, and thinking about how our graduates can engage creatively and critically with the digital environment. Continue reading “The Future of Work: Stimulus Event”

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June 2018 Learning and Teaching Newsletter

Information gathering: future demand for online exams and in course tests

The eAssessment and Feedback Steering Group are currently gathering information about potential demand for online exams and in course tests in the next 5 years.

We are asking all colleagues who are interested in introducing a new online exam (whether for a new module, or a change to assessment method in a current module) to complete a short online form for each potential new exam.

The information collected will be used to gauge demand and assist in planning future provision.

Continue reading “June 2018 Learning and Teaching Newsletter”

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Reflections on the Learning and Teaching Conference

By Ma. Brenda Carbonilla Pancho,  MD, MPH, PGDipMedEd, FHEA Associate Professor and Assistant Dean for Student Support, NUMed Malaysia

Brenda Pancho standing in front of her poster presentation
Ma. Brenda Carbonilla Pancho, Associate Professor

The Learning and Teaching Conference covered a range of topics, from broad issues such as the Newcastle University Education Strategy, to more specific topics such as the use of technology to support and enhance learning, approaches that promote active student engagement in the classroom, inclusive learning and other innovative teaching strategies.   I think that because of this, the conference was able to cater to the interests of everyone, from those who set educational policies within the institution, heads of departments who implement educational programmes, those involved in providing academic and other types of support to students, and those involved in teaching.

My own contribution to the conference was a poster entitled ‘Student Support Services at Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia’, which was basically an audit of student support services during the Academic Year 2015-2016, the aims of which were to determine the distribution of students seen by Student Support Services, the types of problems affecting these students and the types of support provided, and to make recommendations to improve service provision. Continue reading “Reflections on the Learning and Teaching Conference”

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NUTELA Small Grants Fund: Deadline 1st June 2018

NUTELA logo

The application deadline  for the NUTELA Small Grants Fund is approaching quickly but there is still time to submit an application this academic year.

Key facts about the fund:

  • Funding is available to help you  explore technology-enhanced practices in your learning and teaching.
  • Activities might include; conferences, visits to other institutions, or trialing new software. Other ideas are also welcome.
  • In your application you should identify how you will disseminate ideas among colleagues.
  • Apply for up to £500; this might fully fund or part fund an activity.

Previous successful applicants

This is the first year that the fund has been available but we have already received some successful applications. Read more about the applications from Sonia Bussey and Dr Jo Matthan here:  https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/ltdev/2018/04/27/success-for-nutela-small-grants-fund-applicants/ 

Ready to apply?

You can find full guidance notes and application forms for the fund on this blog post https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/ltdev/2017/01/07/nutela/

If you have any questions get in touch with nutelaops@newcastle.ac.uk

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Windows 10 update in teaching spaces

Update from Gary Atkinson, Infrastructure Systems Manager, NUIT

Desktops located in teaching clusters, flat floor teaching, lecture theatres and meeting rooms will start to move to Windows 10 over the summer period.

Why are we upgrading? 

Windows 7 has been our preferred desktop operating system for the last 9 years and will fall out of support in 2020.

Moving to Windows 10 will allow us to present a modern up to date desktop which our current and prospective students have come to expect and may already be using on their personal devices.

Moving to Windows 10 will allow us to improve our customer experience: Continue reading “Windows 10 update in teaching spaces”