Events and Awards – Page 8 – Learning and Teaching @ Newcastle Blog

20 October, 202022 October, 2020

Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence

The Advance HE Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE) celebrates collaborative work that has had a demonstrable impact on teaching and learning.

LTDS support applications to CATE, and work with the National Teaching Fellows/CATE winners in the University to promote their work and teaching excellence. Each institution can nominate one team to each round of the scheme. In 2020 there was success for the E-Learning Unit in the School of Mathematics, Statistics & Physics, who received the Award for promoting the use of technology to support the teaching and learning of mathematics in the School, University and wider community.

More details about the scheme can be found on the Advance HE website, as well as guidance for participants and institutions for their 2021 scheme.

2021 Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence

We are pleased to announce the launch of the University process to determine the institutional nominees to the 2021 Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence.

Application to be an institutional nominee

Nominations are welcomed from teams who feel their work has a major, positive impact on student teaching and learning. Collaborative teams who would like to be considered should provide a maximum of 1000 words, which address the following criteria:

Evidence of excellence in the team’s collaborative approach
Excellence in the impact of collaborative working

All higher education providers are eligible to enter one team. Your team’s submission should be sent to LTDS@newcastle.ac.uk by 12 noon on 16th November 2020.

Advance HE Criteria

1. Excellence in the team’s collaborative approach: Evidence of excellence in the team’s approach to working collaboratively; commensurate with their context and the opportunities afforded by it.

This may, for example, be demonstrated by providing evidence of:

having a clear set of aims, objectives and rationale for the team’s approach and how the group constitutes a team and developed as a team;
demonstrating direct engagement of students within or with the team;
illustrating how the team has contributed to wider thematic and sector priorities, for example, assessment and feedback; retention, employability, staff development; students as partners; technology and social media;
working collaboratively with a range of stakeholder groups;
embedding practices across different programmes, disciplines, campuses or institutions;
being flexible and creative in working to address unanticipated situations or events;
measuring the impact or outcomes of collaborative work.

2. Excellence in the impact of collaborative working: Evidence of the team having a demonstrable impact on teaching and learning beyond their immediate academic or professional area.

This may, for example, be demonstrated by providing evidence of:

the reach of the team’s work;
the benefit or value derived from working as a team;
the impact of supporting colleagues and/or influencing support for student learning;
the impact on student learning or outcomes;
the impact of any outcomes/outputs of collaborative work.

How LTDS can help:

We can provide support and advice on the CATE scheme and the application process. For all queries please contact LTDS@newcastle.ac.uk

2 October, 20202 October, 2020

Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence Roadshows

The Advance HE Collaborative Awards for Teaching Excellence (CATE) celebrate collaborative work that has had a demonstrable impact on teaching and learning.

LTDS will be promoting further details of the application process to become an institutional nominee soon. Advance HE are running webinars for those thinking of applying. Details below:

Prof Mark O’Hara, CATE-Net Co-ordinator, Advance HE, will be facilitating four webinars – three (repeated on different dates) focusing on helping those applying for CATE in the 2020/21 academic year, and one focussing on helping those thinking of applying further in the future. Details of these CATE webinars are as follows:

Applying for CATE in 2020/21

If you are planning to submit a claim for CATE in the 2020-21 cycle these briefings will introduce you to the nature of the Award and its associated professional and institutional benefits. It will help you to understand the process and timelines and will offer practical suggestions and advice from previous CATE winners.

17 August, 202019 August, 2020

National recognition for Newcastle University’s teaching excellence

For the second year in a row, three Newcastle academics have been elected as National Teaching Fellows.

Awarded by Advance HE, the fellowships recognise excellence in enhancing and transforming student outcomes and teaching. Newcastle University’s Dr Clare Guilding, Professor Simon Tate and Dr Iain Keenan are among this year’s 56 new National Teaching Fellows. 

In 2017, Dr Guilding took up the position of Dean of Academic Affairs in Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia (NUMed), leading the development and implementation of Newcastle’s new MBBS curriculum there. She also played a key role in developing the British Pharmacological Society’s (BPS) new undergraduate pharmacology curriculum, now used to develop pharmacology curricula nationally and internationally. 

17 August, 202016 September, 2021

Prestigious teaching award for University team

Christian Lawson-Perfect, George Stagg and Chris Graham

The E-Learning Unit in the School of Mathematics, Statistics & Physics  received the national Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE), which recognises collaborative work that has had a demonstrable impact on teaching and learning.

The successful team is made up of Dr Chris Graham, Christian Lawson-Perfect and Dr George Stagg.

Chris, Director of E-Learning, School of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics said:

“We are absolutely delighted to receive the Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence, recognising our E-Learning Unit’s contribution to our School, institution and wider community, in enhancing the teaching and learning of mathematics, with initiatives such as the Numbas e-assessment software. 

“The award celebrates our collaborative approach to establishing Numbas as a tool used here at Newcastle by over 3,000 students each year in Schools across all three faculties, and at our Malaysia and London campuses. And recognises our role worldwide, with several key international partnerships, a role in high profile national projects in primary and secondary education, and over 2,000 teachers worldwide using our assessment software. 

6 August, 20206 August, 2020

CONGRATULATIONS to our new National Teaching Fellows and to the Winners of the Collaborative Award in Teaching Excellence

For the second year in a row, three Newcastle academics have been elected as National Teaching Fellows, at the same time the University has won a Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence.

Awarded by Advance HE, the fellowships recognise excellence in enhancing and transforming student outcomes and teaching. Newcastle University’s Dr Clare Guilding, Professor Simon Tate and Dr Iain Keenan are among this year’s 56 new National Teaching Fellows.

There was further success for the E-Learning Unit in the School of Mathematics, Statistics & Physics Development Team received the Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE). These awards recognise collaborative work that has had a demonstrable impact on teaching and learning, highlights the key role of teamwork in higher education.

Find out more and hear from the winners.

2 July, 202017 September, 2021

Flexible Learning 2020 Webinars, Drop-ins and Q & A sessions

Webinars, Drop-ins and Q & A sessions are now available to support you with the planning and delivery of your modules for 2020/21.

Webinars

Rethinking your module design
Make your own module intro video
Canvas: Fundamentals, Professional Services, Assignments, Collaboration and Communication, Quizzes and Online Marking and Feedback
Turnitin

Q & A sessions

Based on the relevant sections in the Flexible Learning 2020 course that all staff have access to via Canvas (https://ncl.instructure.com/courses/28542 ), we are running Q&A sessions on the following topics:

Rethinking Lectures, Project Supervision, Online Assessment, Seminars and Small Group Teaching, Laboratory Based Learning, Content Accessibility, Building a Learning Community and Making, Producing and Creating.

Come along and bring your module design questions with you. We can share examples of effective practice and talk through your ideas.

Daily Drop-ins

You can bring any of your questions to these drop-in sessions. We also have some themed drop-ins (covering a range of topics from audio and video to Canvas, to hosting effective online discussion), but you can bring any question or issue to any drop-in session – even if it doesn’t fit with that session’s specific theme.

View the schedule or visit the webinars and support information pages to find out more.

Further support is available on the Flexible Learning 2020 web pages which includes useful resources and information and all colleagues have access to the Flexible Learning 2020 Online Course in Canvas.

23 June, 202016 September, 2021

Success at the International e-Assessment awards

The Newcastle University Digital Exams Service has won the Best use of Summative Assessment Award at the International e-Assessment Awards 2020.

Delivering real improvements

The winners were announced at an online awards ceremony on the 16 June. Finalists had been selected from a range of education sectors and the submissions included a number of exciting and creative projects and solutions.

When announcing the award for the Best Use of Summative Assessment, the independent panel of judges praised the Digital Exams Service for demonstrating a high level of success, delivering at real scale and meeting a defined need. They also commented that the work on supporting accessibility was particularly noteworthy.

Excellence and innovation

Professor Suzanne Cholerton, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Education said:

‘’I am extremely pleased that the hard work and dedication of colleagues has been recognised with this international award which represents a commitment to excellence, innovation and collaboration across the University.

The Digital Exams Service has been successful in diversifying online exams with the introduction of digital written exams and a bring your own device approach. This has enabled more authentic assessment and has enhanced the accessibility of exams for our students.’’

Collaboration

The Digital Exams Service is founded on collaboration between academic and professional services colleagues in academic units across the institution, together with the Learning and Teaching Development Service, NUIT, and Exams and Awards Office.

The e-Assessment awards

The e-Assessment Awards programme holds a unique position, as it encompasses all sectors of education: from schools, through further and higher education to workplace training and professional exams. The Awards programme was launched in October 2016 to highlight and celebrate the outstanding and positive contributions that technology makes to all forms of assessment, and has gone on to showcase the best practice, research and innovation in the sector. Find out more about the awards and criteria on the e-Assessment Awards website.

4 June, 202016 September, 2021

E-Assessment in Mathematical Sciences (EAMS) 2020 Conference

The Numbas team in the School of Mathematics, Statistics & Physics is running the third international conference on E-Assessment in Mathematical Sciences (EAMS), taking place between 22nd June and 1st July 2020. The conference brings together researchers and practitioners with an interest in e-assessment for mathematics and science.

Following successful events here in Newcastle in 2016 and 2018, EAMS 2020 will be an entirely online conference, featuring a mix of live sessions and web-based activities, with plenty of opportunity for discussion and collaboration.

As many of us prepare to continue delivering teaching and assessment online, EAMS 2020 presents an opportunity to hear from experts in the field and get hands-on with software, including Numbas, which is used extensively across the University, in subjects that include Biomedical Sciences, Chemistry, Engineering, Maths, Physics, Psychology and Sports Science.

Live talks will take place over Zoom at 9am or 4pm BST (UTC +1) each day, with recordings available later. We hope that the online format and longer timescale will allow participants to engage more deeply with the material presented.

The call for talk and workshop proposals is currently open. If you have some research or an innovative technique related to mathematical e-assessment that you would like to present, then please submit an abstract at https://eams.ncl.ac.uk/call-for-speakers.

To attend the conference, please register for free at https://eams.ncl.ac.uk/register.

29 May, 202029 May, 2020

Newcastle University Digital Exams Service announced as finalist in the e-Assessment Awards

The e-Assessment Association has announced the shortlisted finalists for its international awards programme, The e-Assessment Awards.

We are delighted to announce that the Newcastle University Digital Exams Service has been shortlisted in the ‘Best Use of Summative Assessment’ category.

Professor Suzanne Cholerton, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Education, recognised this excellent acheivement:

“The nomination reflects the fact that we are a leading institution in the sector for digital exam provision. It also recognises our commitment to ongoing innovation, exemplified by the recent introduction of digital written exams that students can take using their own devices.
The Digital Exams Service plays a pivotal role in providing our students an educational experience supported and enhanced by technology, which is one of the four key themes of the University Education Strategy. Delivering a diverse range of summative exam types in a secure online environment enables authentic assessment, enhances the accessibility of exams for all of our students, and supports the University’s commitment to lowering its environmental impact by reducing the amount of paper required for exams.
The success of digital exams at Newcastle University is founded on collaboration between academic and professional services colleagues in academic units across the institution, together with the Learning and Teaching Development Service, IT Service, and Exams and Awards Office. This commitment to collaboration and innovation provides a strong foundation as we prepare to meet the challenges of delivering rigorous, authentic, and accessible assessment in the new educational landscape resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic.”

The Digital Exams Service here at Newcastle has also been recognised as an example of good practice and innovation in the recent JISC report: The future of assessment: five principles, five targets for 2025.

e-Assessment Awards – Selected finalists showcase, 3 June 2020

13 March, 20201 April, 2020

Examining Different Learners’ Development of Critical Learning Skills: University Education Development Fund

Dr Lana Liu, Newcastle University Business School and Dr Mei Lin, School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences.

Critical thinking is one of the core skills for academic success but can be one of the biggest challenges for students studying one-year taught masters programmes.

Dr Lana Liu, Newcastle University Business School and Dr Mei Lin, School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences set out to explore how critical thinking can be enhanced in their most recent project, funded by the University Education Development Fund:

Examining Different Learners’ Development of Critical Learning Skills in Postgraduate Taught Programmes: A Comparative Study in MSc Accounting, Finance and Strategic Investment and in MA Applied Linguistics and TESOL

This collaborative project is well underway with surveys and first round of interviews with postgraduate taught students nearly completed and evaluation of the transcripts about to begin. We caught up with Lana and Mei to find out more:

What motivated you to begin your project?

We teach on Masters courses in quite different subject areas. Over the years we both identified common challenges in terms of lack of critical thinking our students were demonstrating when they started their course. This may arise from our expectation, as we were assuming a high level of critical thinking skills because of our set entry criteria to masters programmes. However it became clear that not all students were working at the same level. This was evident from in class discussions, the questions students were asking and in some cases we directly asked students about their understanding of critical thinking at both the start and end of their course. This has led both of us to investigate underlying issues.