With increasing developments and discussions around teaching excellence in the sector, the Edubites sessions this year will be delivered as a Teaching Excellence Series to discuss this topic from a range of perspectives.
Everyone is invited and welcome to attend as many of the sessions as they wish.
As always, Edubites offers you the opportunity to share your practice and discuss issues or points of interest with other colleagues, so please do come prepared to contribute.
Lunch will be provided, so please register if you wish to attend.
The Higher Education Academy conference will be held on 4th, 5th and 6th July 2017 in Manchester and will concentrate on ‘improving the quality of teaching and learning in the age of the Teaching Excellence Framework.’
Structured over three days, the conference will provide a platform for higher education professionals to share their experiences, ideas, research and good practice in a community of their peers and learn from internationally respected speakers.
The conference format allows for cross-fertilisation of pedagogies, with a day dedicated to addressing sector priorities, such as retention, assessment and employability, sandwiched between two days of discipline-led activities.
The conference is an ideal opportunity to meet like-minded peers, build networks, and expand your knowledge of sector issues and innovations, thus strengthening your own professional practice and reputation.
Proposals for posters are invited from higher education professionals that relate to this year’s chosen theme and/or one of the sub-themes below:
Transforming assessment;
Student access, retention, attainment and progression;
Embedding employability;
Internationalising higher education;
Student engagement through partnership;
Flexible learning;
Curriculum design;
Student choice landscape;
Leadership of learning and teaching in the disciplines;
Vice Chancellor’s Award-Winning JC Penet talks about good practice, employability and why he is happiest when teaching.
Jean-Christophe Penet, a teaching fellow in the School of Modern Languages has a number of strings to his bow.
An accomplished teacher, he’s seen his professional practice grow to become a huge influence on his life and on the institution.
Penet, who started life at the UWE before moving to Newcastle to take up a teaching fellowship in 2010, has won one of this year’s VC Awards, recognising his work in learning and teaching, in SML and across the Institution.
JC outside the School of Modern Languages, where he teaches.
‘These awards represent a really important way of recognising learning and teaching and the crucial role they play in the University.
‘I like especially that these awards are not based simply on module evaluations or peer review but on a more holistic approach to teaching and learning, taking in lots of elements of professional practice.’
Some of Penet’s major contributions have been above and beyond the realm of classroom teaching or delivering information, focussing on a key student concern: employability.
He’s worked on two key projects in this area for SML, each begun as a response to student demand.
‘The first was in response to a focus group report which we received about concerns students had about employability.
‘We started by running a networking event in which alumni and the companies our students have gone to work for in the past, come in to meet the students of the present.
‘Often I think SML courses are seen as vocational, that you will certainly go into translation or teaching but we wanted to show that there was lots more you could do.
‘We started a blog, run by Joss Harrison in the School called Careers Translated which looks at all the options with a degree in Modern Languages.
‘We now also have an alumni evening where alumni come back and meet with students to discuss what the options are after finishing their degrees.
‘The evening raises money for the Modern Languages Society, so that they can pay for trips etc. throughout the year.
‘We also organised an afternoon event to help students to meet with potential employers and to showcase different careers for languages students.
‘All of these events have drawn really positive feedback from both students and the businesses involved.’
As well as this event, JC is involved in recruitment in the school, running events which bring together local sixthformers, UG and PG students such as ‘Meet the Translators/Interpreters’ to look at transition and progression between school, university and postgraduate study.
Alongside these achievements JC was recognised for his contribution to teaching and learning across the University and is a familiar face on committees and in cross-faculty groups.
He is a founding member of Newcastle Educators, a group started by teaching staff across the University to provide support, advice and a forum for discussion of all things teaching and learning.
He still views this as one of his proudest achievements: ‘It’s changed my professional life having that community to draw on. Having peers to offer advice on teaching but also books, applications and career options.’
Do you have a colleague who goes above and beyond in the name of learning and teaching? Or know someone who has a particularly innovative approach to their teaching?
We are pleased to announce that this year’s Vice Chancellor’s Distinguished Teachers Award winners are Jean-Christophe Penet (SML) and Clare Guilding (SME).
Both Clare and JC will receive their awards in congregations taking place today.
The awards were launched in 2010 in order to celebrate and recognise outstanding teaching at Newcastle.
Each year three types of award are made; two for academic staff – a general award and an award for staff working within the societal challenge theme; and one for professional support staff.
Candidates for the awards are expected to demonstrate leadership in teaching and learning and to innovate across the areas of pastoral care, supervision and curriculum design.
Clare said: ‘I’m delighted to receive this award which shows Newcastle University’s continued commitment to supporting good teaching practice and teachers in the institution.’
She has also been nominated for numerous Newcastle University Student Union Teaching Excellence Awards for Innovative Teaching Methods, Contribution to Pastoral Support and last year picked up the Overall Outstanding Teacher Award.
She has also received the Association for the Study of Medical Education (ASME) EDG Educator Innovator Award (January 2016) and British Pharmacological Society Education Prize (December 2015).
Jean-Christophe is a lecturer in French and Translation studies in the School of Modern Languages.
A founding member of the peer-support network EDUBITES and a committed advocate of peer support for teaching –focused staff, he’s the Employability Officer in his School and runs a range of initiatives with local businesses.
He said: ‘I like especially that these awards are not based simply on module evaluations or peer review but on a more holistic approach to teaching and learning, taking in lots of elements of professional practice.
‘It’s so important to recognise the value of great teaching and to support and encourage that across the University.’
Unfortunately there were no nominations in the Professional Support Staff category this year – we hope that this will be rectified next year and would like to encourage staff to nominate support staff who have made an outstanding contribution to learning and teaching.
You can read profiles of each of the VC Award winners and hear more about what they think makes for outstanding teaching on the LTDS blog next week!
Nominations are now open for the NUTELA Peer Recognition Awards 2017.
Has someone helped you? Has another member of University staff gone out of their way to help you use technology? Would you like her/him to be recognised? If so, let us know!
NUTELA is once again offering two peer recognition awards this year. We are looking for nominations of staff members who have contributed to peer support or the mentoring of others learning about and/or working with technology. It might be someone who has helped you understand the purpose of a specific learning technology, or someone who has been instrumental in progressing TEL (Technology Enhanced Learning) initiatives in your unit. You are welcome to nominate any member of staff at Newcastle University.
The nomination process is simple. In 500 words or less, just answer these two questions and send your response to nutelaops@ncl.ac.uk.
How has this staff member contributed to your learning, working or development with TEL?
2. How has this contributed to the Learning, Teaching and Student Experience Strategy
The deadline is November 30, 2016. NUTELA will review the applications and make a decision. All nominees will be told they have been nominated, and will be invited to present their work at the year-end NUTELA conference.
The award will be presented at the 4Ps event in January 2017 and the winners will be invited to the Vice-Chancellor’s Celebrating Success event.
In a neat follow-on from Nutela’s latest event on flipped classrooms, Edubites will be running a flipped curriculum event next week.
Edubites is an educator-led network based at Newcastle, encouraging collaboration and cooperation between peers to share ideas and good practice in teaching. You can find out more by reading founding member Katie Wray’s guest blog about the inaugral EDUBITES.
The event, drawing on the flipped classroom model, will look at how to put students in control of what they study, allowing them to design or influence curriculum design.
The session will question whether this approach is feasible or even desirable in the academy, allowing teaching staff to compare notes and ideas.
The event will take place next Wednesday 8th June 12-1pm in Bedson 1.19 and lunch will be provided.
NUTELA will be hosting another of their successful 3Ps workshops on 20th May.
As usual the workshop will take place from 12-2pm, with plenty of pizza and pop and lashings of practice.
The theme for this session is flipped classroom and there will be number of sessions exploring what this term really means, how it can be useful and plenty of examples of good practice from across the University.
The event will be held in the Committee Room in the Robinson Library.
With increasing developments and discussions around teaching excellence in the sector, the Edubites sessions this year will be delivered as a Teaching Excellence Series to discuss this topic from a range of perspectives.
