Author: Claire Burnham

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Connect with colleagues by joining the Canvas Team

Canvas logo

Join the Canvas Team for:  

  • Announcements – Hear about Canvas updates, upcoming features and Newcastle specific Canvas resources. 
  • Ask the Community – Ask other Newcastle Canvas users a question. This channel will not be managed by LTDS or NUIT colleagues but is a useful channel for the user community to help each other.  
  • Sharing Practice – A channel for you to share effective practice and find out about the fantastic things your colleagues are doing with Canvas. 
  • Support – This channel links off to all of the Canvas support and resources available to you. 

If you have any queries about the Canvas Team get in touch at LTDS@ncl.ac.uk

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Learning and Teaching Conference 2022: Call for submissions open

Education for All: Learning Together, Learning and Teaching Conference, 31 March 2022

Education for All: Learning Together, Thursday 31 March 2022 

The Learning and Teaching Conference is all about learning together, sharing effective practice and exploring an education for all.  The call for submissions is now open and we want to hear about your successes, challenges and future plans. 

The programme committee welcomes submissions linked to the following areas but get in touch if you have other ideas you’d like to share: 

  • Student voice 
  • Co-creation of the curriculum 
  • Changing practice through the pandemic 
  • Wellbeing and mental health 
  • Novel and varied assessment methods 
  • Designing inclusive learning 
  • Decolonising the curriculum 
  • Impact through collaboration
  • Education for sustainable development

The conference is open to everyone involved in learning and teaching – students, academic colleagues, professional services colleagues, technicians and external collaborators. All are invited to submit a proposal for the conference and to register as a delegate.

We very much hope to run our conference day this year as a present in-person event in the Frederick Douglass Centre, with online workshops taking place over the conference week. However, if this is not possible we will move to a fully online event.

We encourage submissions from all of our campuses and if you can’t attend in person you can get involved virtually by delivering an online workshop during the conference week or submitting a lightning talk video. 

Deadline for submissions: 14 January 2022

Submit your proposal here.

Registration Open

All colleagues and students are invited to attend the learning and teaching conference and we are looking forward to seeing you all there.

Colleagues can register here.

Students can register here.

#ltncl22

If you have any questions, get in touch with the conference team nultconf1@ncl.ac.uk .

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University Education Development Fund

Group of students

The University Education Development Fund supports colleagues to undertake projects with real benefit to students’ education at Newcastle University.  

Two strands of funding are available:  

  • Up to £2,500 for projects focused within an individual academic unit, or across multiple areas through the Responsive strand.  
  • Up to £10,000 for projects with collaboration across academic units through the Strategic strand.  

Chaired by the PVC Education this fund support projects which further the aims and key themes of the Education Strategy and applications in the areas of UN Sustainable Development Goals and decolonising the curriculum agenda would be welcome. 

Application deadline for 2021-22:  

Friday 19 November 2021, 17:00 

Full information and guidance notes available online.  Contact for queries  educationdevfund@newcastle.ac.uk.  

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Applying for recognition as Principal Fellow of the HEA

Colleagues shaking hands

Principal Fellow of the HEA (UKPSF Descriptor 4) workshops

We are hosting two sessions to support those applying for recognition as Principal Fellow of the HEA (UKPSF Descriptor 4). The first is a workshop to support those thinking about applying or wanting more information before they start their application. The second is a writing retreat to support those already in the process of developing an application. See below for booking links and more information. Both are campus-based events.

Readiness for Principal Fellowship Workshop – Thursday 11 November 2021, 1-4pm
This workshop is aimed at those with a role in strategic leadership of learning and teaching who want to apply for recognition as a Principal Fellow of the HEA

Principal Fellowship Writing Retreat – Tuesday 30 November 2021, 9-5pm
A focused day of writing to enable colleagues who have started creating an application for Principal Fellowship to dedicate time to developing/completing their submission

Feel free to get in touch if you’d like further information or to discuss our support of Principal Fellowship.

Contact for queries: LTDS@ncl.ac.uk

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Teaching Excellence Awards 2021/22 Advance HE CATE and NTFS Roadshows

Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence and National Teaching Fellowship logos

Advance HE, in collaboration with the Association of National Teaching Fellows (ANTF) and the CATE Winners’ Network (CATE-Net) will be again presenting a series of virtual roadshows to support those interested in applying for the Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE) or the National Teaching Fellowship Scheme (NTFS). Each webinar will focus exclusively on either the NTFS or CATE.

More information on our Teaching Excellence Awards can be found on the Advance HE website. Please sign up to any of these roadshows events via the specific booking links below.

The University process to determine the institutional nominees to the 2021/22 Advance HE National Teaching Fellowship Scheme and Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence is open and the deadline for applications is Wednesday 10 November 2021 at 12 noon. For information on the University application process please visit this Learning and Teaching blog post.

NTFS Roadshows

Facilitated by ANTF Committee Events co-ordinator, Professor Debbie Holley and Advance HE Fellowship and Awards Adviser Dr Holly Earl, these webinars will offer insights and guidance through the NTFS application process.

Webinar One: Thinking about a NTFS application, Wednesday 3 November 2021, 12.00-13:00

This first webinar will cover the new guidance for institutes and individuals, highlight useful Advance HE resources, and include new award winners and ‘old’ hands sharing their journey to NTF.

Webinar Two: A conversation with successful NTFs, Tuesday 7 December 2021, 13.00 -14:00

This second webinar will offer a brief re-cap of the scheme and highlight updates. It will also feature some personal journeys from existing National Teaching Fellows. There will be plenty of time to ask our panel questions.

Webinar Three: Polishing your application: Institutional/Individual perspectives, Tuesday 18 January 2022 12:00-13:00

This third webinar will briefly re-cap the previous two sessions, and the panel will include a representative responsible for staff development in our institutions, to offer the institutional viewpoint about the scheme, as well as successful NTFs happy to share their experiences.

CATE Roadshows


Facilitated by CATE-Net Lead, Professor Mark O’Hara and Advance HE Fellowship and Awards Adviser Dr Holly Earl, each webinar will offer an overview of the Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE) and guidance on the application process for those interested in applying.

The CATE webinar will be repeated on three dates. Each session will include a brief introduction to CATE and an overview of the professional and institutional benefits. The CATE 2021-22 application process will be outlined and there will be practical guidance and suggestions from previous CATE winners, plus time for question and answers.


• Tuesday 2 November 2021, 13.00-14.00
• Wednesday 8 December 2021, 11.00-12.00
• Tuesday 11 January 2022, 12.00-13.00

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Inspera Assessment – Digital Exams Launch Events: 12 October, 9 and 10 November 2021

Typing on laptop

Inspera Assessment is the University’s new system for centrally supported digital exams. Academic colleagues, Professional Services colleagues and Postgraduate Students who teach are invited to Inspera Launch Events for live demonstrations, the chance to meet with our Inspera colleagues and to find out more from the Digital Assessment Service here at Newcastle. The events will showcase:

  • The student experience of taking a digital exam, and the tools they have available.  
  • Different question types including automatically marked questions, for example Multiple Choice, Fill in the Blank and Hot Spot questions. 
  • Essay questions- students can type their answers and incorporate drawings or written calculations into their online answers where needed.  
  • Setting up exams in Inspera and some of the key options available. 
  • Multiple ways to grade assessments so you can choose the best approach for your assessment.
  • How you can easily schedule an Inspera exam if you’d like to introduce this in your module. 

There will also be plenty of time for questions and discussion.

Following feedback from colleagues we have moved the in-person sessions to the 9 and 10 November. The online session will still take place on the 12 October.

View all sessions and sign up here

“The introduction of Inspera Assessment for digital exams is a big step forward for education, assessment and feedback at Newcastle University. This new system enables us to ensure digital exams are accessible to all our students, increases the University’s digital exam capacity in the long term and will play an important role in supporting more authentic assessment.” 

Professor Tom Ward , Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Education

If you’d like to find out more about Inspera visit the Digital Exams with Inspera Assessment webpages.  There is also an Inspera Guidance Canvas course, simply click the link to self-enrol.  

If you have any questions about the launch events or Inspera Assessment, please email digital.exams@newcastle.ac.uk. 

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National Teaching Fellowship Scheme (NTFS) and Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE) : University application process

Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence and National Teaching Fellowship logos

The internal call for 2022 NTF and CATE nominations has now ended (deadline for nominations was Wednesday 10 November 2021 at 12.00 noon).

Application to be an institutional NTF nominee

Nominations will be considered at a panel meeting in November, chaired by the Pro-Vice Chancellor for Education and consisting of current Newcastle NTFs and members of the Learning and Teaching Development Service. All higher education providers are eligible to enter three nominations to NTF. Following this panel meeting the 3 successful nominees will work with NTF mentors to develop their full claim submitted to Advance HE in March 2022.

Application to be an institutional CATE nominee

Nominations will be considered at a panel meeting in November, chaired by the Pro-Vice Chancellor for Education and consisting of current Newcastle NTF/CATE winners and members of the Learning and Teaching Development Service. All higher education providers are eligible to enter one team that can clearly demonstrate having an impact on teaching and learning through collaboration. Following this panel meeting the successful team will work with CATE mentors to develop their full claim submitted to Advance HE in March 2022.

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

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QAA invites expressions of interest for Chairs and Deputy Chairs for Subject Benchmark Statement Reviews

QAA is inviting expressions of interest from the academic and subject community to act as Chairs and Deputy Chairs for the review of 14 Subject Benchmark Statements. QAA leads the development of Subject Benchmark Statements and reviews them on a cyclical basis to ensure they are useful as possible for discipline communities and can fulfill a range of purposes across the sector, including course design and providing support for securing academic standards.

Members of the academic and subject communities are encouraged to apply. More information on how to submit an expression of interest is available on the QAA call for expressions of interest web page. The deadline to submit an expression of interest is midday on Monday 4 October 2021.

For full details please visit the QAA website.

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Outstanding Contribution to Feedback

Group of students

Dr Michael Waugh from the School or Arts and Cultures recently won Outstanding Contribution to Feedback at The Education Awards run by Newcastle University Students’ Union. Michael shares his approach below.

When I was contacted about producing a piece for the Learning and Teaching @ Newcastle University Blog, a result of my two recent TEAs for Outstanding Contribution to Feedback, I was quite apprehensive. Reading through previous posts and case studies on the topic, I found a lot of emphasis on strategy, curricular design, formalised processes – none of which I felt reflected my own practice. I wouldn’t say I do anything particularly innovative or have an especially unique approach to providing feedback, and I was surprised (not to mention incredibly honoured) to be awarded in such a category.

Instead, I have always operated in a more personable and individualised manner, a recurring theme in students’ nomination comments for my TEAs. I never feel like I’m doing anything out of the ordinary; I just try to take the time to get to know my students, even on big modules and programmes, making it easier to respond to the specific needs of each person I teach. Universities have a tendency to split the academic and pastoral aspects of student life too much, with students being allocated to personal tutors that they might never meet in a lecture or seminar room and learning from lecturers that refuse or neglect to discuss any issues that don’t pertain to their module and its assessments.

Continue reading “Outstanding Contribution to Feedback”
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Podcast 006: Ideas in Academic Practice: An Audio Tour of the Newcastle University Branch Campus Sites

006: Ideas in Academic Practice: An Audio Tour of the Newcastle University Branch Campus Sites

Listen to episode 6 of the learning and teaching podcast.

You may (or may not) already know that Newcastle University has two branch campuses; one in Malaysia and one in Singapore. In this episode Sue Gill from the Learning and Teaching Development Service (LTDS) and Dr Paul Hubbard (Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at New Med and currently based at our Malaysian Campus in Johor) look at what academic life is like in a branch campus, what the learning and teaching issues to consider are, and how Covid changed the branch campus experience.

This discussion point, taken from the meeting of the Academic Progress Board in 2021, looks at the two main branch campuses in South East Asia. In this wide ranging conversation Paul takes various aspects of the branch campus life, including

  • Location – what does it mean to be 10,837km away from Newcastle?
  • Culture – how do these campuses compare to our Newcastle campus?
  • Role – what does Paul do on and for the campus?
  • Connections – what are the links from the branch campuses and the broader University?
  • Experience – what does learning and teaching look like?
  • Pandemic – how Covid changed the branch campus experience?
  • Value – what is the importance of these campuses?

This is the second of a set of podcasts developed from the meetings of the Academic Progress Board of Studies and for more information on the work and support of the Academic Progress Team please contact: apt.lts@newcastle.ac.uk or visit https://www.ncl.ac.uk/ltds/professional/