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Vice-Chancellor’s Education Excellence Awards 2020

We are pleased to announce that the Vice-Chancellor’s Education Excellence Awards 2020 are now open for submissions.  The closing date is the 15  April 2020.

The Vice-Chancellor’s Education Excellence awards aim to raise the status of teaching and learning at Newcastle University by rewarding those individuals and teams who make a marked impact on enhancing our student educational experience.

The Award is open to all members of staff, at Newcastle, NUIS, NUMed and NUL, whose work enhances the student educational experience. In addition, applications are welcome from staff of associated employers with direct and substantive involvement in the delivery of the student experience at Newcastle, for example, staff of INTO Newcastle University. Groups of colleagues who work closely together are invited to apply for the team award.

The awards fall into the following 2 categories:

Category 1: Individual award

  • Up to 4 awards for individual members of staff (academic or professional services staff) whose contribution to education at Newcastle is exceptional.

Category 2: Team award

  • Up to 1 award for teams of staff (either academic or professional services staff, or teams consisting of both) whose contribution to education at Newcastle is exceptional.

For further information on the award, including the application process, please view the Appendix 1: Guidance notes, or visit the VC’s Education Excellence Award section of the LTDS website.

You can  find out more about last year’s winners who demonstrated an exceptional commitment to enhancing our students’ educational experience in this blog post.

If you have any questions about the awards or need any further information please contact ltds@ncl.ac.uk

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Advance HE: Good Practice Grants

The Advance HE Good Practice Grants are now open for applications. These grants will give Advance HE members an opportunity to develop and share innovative practice.

Newcastle University is an Advance HE member so all Newcastle University staff would be eligible to apply.

There are two funding strands:

  • Up to £1000 for ‘What Works’ case studies
  • Up to £4000 for solution-based proposals

Projects that use creative approaches and mediums such as film, animation, and infographic-rich reports are particularly welcomed.

Advance HE are also particularly interested in:

  • Good practice in inclusive leadership: What works?
  • Fostering a sense of belonging for staff and students: What works?
  • Successful transitions: What works for different student groups?

Application deadline is the 7 February 2020 and you can find full information on the Advance HE website.

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Transnational Educational Research Experience in TEL Project

By Bhavani Veasuvalingam, Newcastle Medicine Malaysia (NUMed).

Assessing Technologically enhanced learning (TEL) quality is a multifaceted method that, built on theoretical perspectives and on organised data collection, analysis and interpretation, leads to a decision that should promote a better understanding of quality of TEL and the enhancement of its quality (Casanova,2011). The Newcastle University’s education strategy attracts a great emphasis on bringing an educational experience supported and enhanced by technology. In this context, Newcastle University with its existing international branch campuses in Malaysia and Singapore triggers another element adding to TEL study, that is the transnational education.

Transnational education is defined as programmes located in a country other than the awarding institution (McBurnie and Ziguras, 2007, p.21). Newcastle Medicine Malaysia (NUMed) and Newcastle University Singapore (NUS) are international branch campuses who shares the same technologically enhanced learning tools from its parent institution and qualifications bear the name of the parent institution. Though branch campuses adopt much of its practices from its headquarters, the different location and the cultural differences may provide an added perspective to understanding TEL in higher education, considering globalization impacts every aspect of our lives. Mazzucato believes, local anchoring is crucial to obtain an in-depth knowledge of and this is important for our project TEL to gauge how globalized it has become.

Continue reading “Transnational Educational Research Experience in TEL Project”
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University Education Development Fund: Apply for up to £10,000

Are you interested in funding to support new teaching and learning ideas?

Staff can apply for up to £10,000 through the University Education Development Fund to support collaborative projects which deliver a real benefit to  students’ education at Newcastle University.

We got in touch with colleagues who have successfully applied to the fund to find out about their projects and experiences.

Dr Lana Liu, Newcastle University Business School worked with Dr. Mei Lin from the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences in a collaborative project: Enhancing critical moments in postgraduate taught programmes in Accounting and Finance and in Applied Linguistics and TESOL. 

“[There was an] easy application process with workshops, which were worth attending, as they were very informative. These workshops also helped to reduce the mist about the funding process. 

The feedback from the Panel was really useful and thought-provoking too. 

We now believe that we are in a much better position for our research investigation in this project.”

Dr Lana Liu, Newcastle University Business School

Karolien Jordens, Institute of Cellular Medicine worked with colleagues across HaSS, SAgE and FMS to explore: Postgraduate Study in Newcastle: the inter-cultural experience (PG-Nice)

“The  application process was quite straightforward. The funding helped us to get started with the practical side of our Student Experience research project. It gave us the opportunity to work with people from across the University and offer students the opportunity to get job experience while at the same time they’re part of a research project.”

Karolien Jordens, Institute of Cellular Medicine

There have been  a wide variety of strategic projects funded from across both academic units and central services in the university.

Staff from branch campuses are also encouraged to apply.

You can read more about the full range of projects on the LTDS website.

Interested in applying?

If you have an idea or want to find out a bit more about the fund you can view full information, including details of the application process on the LTDS website. The deadline for applications is Wednesday 15 May 2019.

We also recommend that you sign up to either a workshop or a webinar to find out more about the fund and hear from past successful applicants:

 University Education Development Fund Workshop, 25 March 2019, 12:00pm-1:00pm, BSTC 3.31, Bedson Building (Barbara Strang Teaching Centre)

University Education Development Fund (Webinar), 20 March 2019, 4:30pm-4:50pm

If you have any questions about the process or want to get some feedback about an idea please email:

educationdevfund@newcastle.ac.uk 

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Introducing the new University Education Development Fund

University Education Development Fund with a picture of Professor Suzanne Cholerton

Do you have an idea that could have an impact on students’ learning or teaching across the university?

Did you know that there is central funding available to support both local and institution-wide initiatives and projects?

The new University Education Development Fund offers a fantastic opportunity to propose and deliver projects with real benefit to students’ education at Newcastle University.

Envisioned and chaired by the PVC Education Prof Suzanne Cholerton this fund will support a wide range of projects from across all campuses and is open to all staff to apply.

Proposed projects must align with and further the aims and key themes of the Education Strategy.

Funding is available of: Continue reading “Introducing the new University Education Development Fund”

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National Teaching Fellowship / Collaborative Awards for Teaching Excellence 2019

The Higher Education Academy’s National Teaching Fellowship Scheme (NTFS) celebrates excellent practice and outstanding achievement in learning and teaching in higher education. The awards support individuals’ professional development in learning and teaching and provides a national focus for institutional teaching and learning excellence schemes.

The Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence Awards recognising outstanding collaborative work that has had a demonstrable impact on teaching.

More details about the scheme can be found on the HEA’s website.

We are pleased to announce the launch of the University process to determine the institutional nominees to the 2019 National Teaching Fellowship Scheme / Collaborative Awards for Teaching Excellence scheme.

Application to be an institutional nominee

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

    • Your personal practice and why this should be recognised as outstanding,
    • Your impact on colleagues, both internally and externally,
    • Your reflection on the above.

Nominations should be sent electronically to ltds@ncl.ac.uk by 12 noon on Friday the 9th of November 2018.

LTDS has developed a workshop that outlines the scheme and helps you consider whether you are ready to apply for the National Teaching Fellowship scheme. The workshop will take place on 17 October 2018, 12:30- 1:30 pm. Book your place now.

View the LTDS website for more information.

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NUHRI Challenge Labs 2018 Call now open

Newcastle University Humanities Research Institute (NUHRI) invites students to propose an interdisciplinary research challenge
for summer 2018.

The Challenge Labs scheme is:

  • open to all current Newcastle University students (undergraduate or postgraduate);
  • designed to support interdisciplinary approaches to humanities-related research challenges;
  • funding projects up to £3k (incl. student bursaries) over a three-week period in summer vacation 2018.

Continue reading “NUHRI Challenge Labs 2018 Call now open”

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Vice-Chancellor’s Education Excellence Awards

The Vice-Chancellor’s Education Excellence awards aim to raise the status of teaching and learning at Newcastle University by rewarding those individuals and teams who make a marked impact on enhancing our student educational experience.

The Award is open to all members of staff, at Newcastle, NUIS, NUMed and NUL, whose work enhances the student educational experience. In addition, applications are welcome from staff of associated employers with direct and substantive involvement in the delivery of the student experience at Newcastle, for example, staff of INTO Newcastle University. Groups of colleagues who work closely together are invited to apply for the team award.

For more information about the award and the application process, please visit the VC’s Award page on the LTDS website.

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Postgraduate Loans for Masters Study

Soon LTDS will be asked to complete the postgraduate course information return for the next academic year in relation to Postgraduate Loans. Ahead of the release of the details by the Student Loans Company (SLC) for 2018/19 programmes and applicants, this post serves as a reminder of the funding available to postgraduate student in the current academic year. Note that students who have commenced studies during 2017/18 may still be able to apply for funding and should be directed to the relevant funding body. Continue reading “Postgraduate Loans for Masters Study”