Welcome to the art of the possible week 2021. This week will focus on blended learning, effective practice, ways to share, and opportunities to learn from each other.
The art of the possible 2021 will:
Showcase the excellent practice developed across the University in blended and online learning over the past year by spotlighting case studies and interviews with colleagues across the University.
Inspire ideas for blended learning proposals for consideration by Faculties.
Re-focus minds on the education strategy objective for Newcastle University to become recognised nationally as a leading university for the use of technology enhanced learning to support campus-based education.
We have a week of online sessions including guest speakers, Helen O’Sullivan Chair of the Association for Learning Technology, and DVC at Chester University. Helen will be delivering a keynote session called ‘Preparing students for their future, not our past: How the pandemic pushed us past the tipping point into education 4.0.’
Independent researcher Helen Beetham will be delivering a two-part session on designing online activities for university learning.
There will two sessions focusing on canvas commons and sharing our ideas with each other.
We also have a session looking at virtual field work and how we’ve adapted during the pandemic.
You can visit elements to sign up, please note there is limited space available but please check.
The new Learning and Teaching @ Newcastle University Podcast will be released on Wednesday. This fortnightly podcast will explore some of the great things we’ve been doing in Learning and Teaching here at Newcastle University.
There is a new homepage for the podcast and on Wednesday you will find the first two episodes. Episode one is a welcome message from our new Pro-Vice-Chancellor education Professor Tom Ward. The second episode is a wonderful conversation between Dr Paul Fleet (Chair of the Academic Progress Board of Studies at Newcastle University) and Michael Atkinson (Lecturer in Medical Education and Mindfulness Teacher at Newcastle University) exploring how we can look after our mental health and mental wellness.
You can listen and download from our podcast page, or wherever you normally get your podcasts from.
Remember to download, like, and subscribe, and you won’t miss an episode.
We will be releasing new case studies highlighting how we have adapted to teaching online since March 2020 and some great stories about how colleagues are being creative and innovative with technologies, to give really effective education experiences for our students. You can view more information through the week here.
We hope you enjoy the art of the possible 2021. Get in touch at ltds@ncl.ac.uk
Welcome to the art of the possible week 2021 case study page.
This page will focus on case studies that will promote blended learning, effective practice, ways to share, and opportunities to learn from each other.
Select each link to find out more. Remember we will be releasing more throughout the week.
Case study one – The Language Resource Centre’s Online Tandem Board
In the past the Language Resource Centre used a physical tandem board, where students could come in and pin up a notice to say what languages they spoke and what languages they wanted to practice. With lockdown in March 2020 and no access to the physical centre, within a week an online version of the tandem board was set up to facilitate people being able to do language exchanges entirely remotely wherever they were.
Case study two – Peer-Assisted Learning (PAL) Language Practice Programme
Over the years the Language Resource Centre has offered a programme of student-led language learning groups during term-time. These groups provide an opportunity for informal speaking practice to all Newcastle University members who are registered with the LRC. With the March 2020 lockdown, the decision was made to continue this activity but to trial taking it online using Microsoft Teams. For the academic year of 2020-21 the programme was run entirely online and was also expanded, in terms of number of hours offered, the types of sessions and languages.
Iain Wheeldon from the School of Arts and Cultures runs the podcast Cultural Peeps; a series of interviews with Arts and Cultures professionals working across the sector. The interviews focus on their career journeys, and allow listeners to gain insight into real life careers in Arts and Cultures, and the various circumstances that influence their direction.
One of the high points for Stage 3 students is the annual poster competition normally held in a large venue with all students and supervisors simultaneously. This is something that could not happen this year due to the pandemic restrictions. Miro was used to set up a poster exhibition for around 80 posters which is simply accessible via a URL.
The Philosophy team needed a space for students where they could share important information, events and opportunities in a way that wouldn’t be overwhelming. They knew they wanted to avoid sending lots of emails, so a Canvas Community provided a great option.
Case study seven – Sustainable Futures in Focus – Global Partner Student Research Poster Competition and Forum
A collaboration with four other Universities provided students with a unique opportunity to showcase research related to UN Sustainable Development Goal 10: Reduce inequalities within and among countries.
Case study eight – Using Design Sprints to Stimulate Students Collaboration
A Design Sprint is a process condensed in time, objective and outcomes used to transform an idea into a prototype. This case study explores how this approach was used to gather students’ feedback on using data analytics to support their learning experience.
Case study nine – Assessing students innovatively via peer-reviewed small group video presentations
Students assessment through a pre-recorded oral group presentation submitted via Canvas. The assessment also included peer feedback.
Congratulations to the winners of the Vice-Chancellor’s Education Excellence Awards 2021. These awards reward individuals and teams who make a marked impact on enhancing the student learning experience. This year’s winners impressed the judging panel with their commitment to students, as well as the transformational impact of their work.
Professor Tom Ward, Pro-Vice-Chancellor Education congratulated the winners:
‘Since starting at the University in May, I’ve been impressed by the commitment of colleagues to work in partnership with students to enable the very best educational experience for our students.
The Vice-Chancellor’s Education Excellence Awards recognise and celebrate outstanding work happening across the University. This year’s winners have demonstrated passion, creativity and impact and I’m sure that you will all join me in congratulating them on their achievements.’
Awards and Recipients
Individual Award Winners
Dr Vanessa Armstrong, School of Biomedical, Nutritional and Sports Sciences
Recognised for: work as Academic Lead in Employability and the transformational impact within the School in this area. The development of the placement year within the School, influence on the wider view of placements across the institution, and research in this area was commended.
‘I’m really honoured and grateful to receive the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence in recognition for some of the initiatives and contributions I have made to teaching and learning since starting my role at Newcastle University in 2012.
It is great to get recognition for the employability-related projects that I have worked on that have had a positive impact on our student cohorts and helped them to gain confidence and go on to graduate destinations. Accessibility of opportunities for all is something that I am passionate about and hope to carry on working on and developing working alongside colleagues across the School, Careers Service and University.’
Dr Stacy Gillis, Senior Lecturer in Twentieth Century Literature & Culture, School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics
Recognised for: the scale of the transformational impact in the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics, across all levels. Numerous awards and positive feedback show how Stacy’s effective teaching is valued by students. The panel found the work undertaken with children in care was moving and particularly noteworthy, showing positive value for both students and the children.
‘In these days in which the humanities are under attack for a perceived lack of ‘value’, it is so heartening that the institution is recognising the work of those of us who teach in the humanities: the humanities is the study of what makes us human, and how we got to this point, how to respond to the challenges of today, and where we might go in the future. This award really marks the tremendous work of all my students (past, present and future!) in grappling with these complex – but ultimately rewarding – challenges.’
Team Award Winners
Combined Honours Centre, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Recognised for: the passionate and supportive environment the Combined Honours Centre provides for their students. This is clearly demonstrated by the excellent student feedback and numerous nominations for TEAs. The panel felt that an inclusivity document produced by Combined Honours was commendable and noted that the Combined Honours Centre clearly has an innovative approach to teaching and learning with co-creation and student partnership at the forefront, and this gives real value to the students.
‘The Combined Honours team wishes to dedicate this award to our strong and vibrant student community who have made such a vital contribution to the life of our centre and the university as a whole. We are truly humbled to have received such a prestigious award and delighted to have had the opportunity to share our passion for student engagement and student-staff partnership with the awarding panel. We hope that this experience will create further opportunities to promote our supportive culture, and approaches to collaborative learning and teaching across the wider university, offering support to others that want to do the same.’
Patient Pathways, Graduate School, Faculty of Medical Sciences
Recognised for: The Patient Pathways Workshop event sees proactive roles for patients in the teaching of Clinical Scientists as they share personal experiences of their pathway from discovering the first signs of head and neck cancer through diagnosis, treatment and subsequent after care with small groups of trainee Clinical Scientists. The panel found the project very moving with an excellent ethos and transformational impact for all people involved. The student experience is enhanced significantly through experiencing the patient stories, with a clear impact on practice in the NHS. The panel thought the project to be very innovative, were impressed by the co-design of the workshop, and feel this work should be championed across the Faculty and wider institution. The resilience shown by the continuation of the workshop during the pandemic was commendable.
Dr Chris Eggett, Degree Programme Director said:
‘I’m delighted and honoured to receive this award on behalf of the delivery team for our Patient Pathway Workshop. The success of this teaching session over the last five years has been due to the superb contributions from a broad team of enthusiasts. Local patients are key members of the teaching team working alongside NHS and academic colleagues from Newcastle, London and Liverpool to give our MSc Clinical Science students insight into all aspects of a patient care pathway from diagnosis, through treatment to recovery.’
For further information about the awards, including the application process, please visit the VC’s Education Excellence Award section of the LTDS website. The 2022 awards will open next academic year.
Do you know how analytics might help you in your teaching?
There are lots of definitions of learning analytics but the most widely cited definition that aligns with Newcastle University’s approach is what Siemens and Gašević’s describe as “the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of data about students and their contexts to help institutions understand and optimise educational processes, learning and the environments in which it occurs.”
With this in mind, colleagues came together at the latest NUTELA session to explore analytics and share what worked for them. We’ve included videos and some key ideas from each of our presenters below:
Using analytics to gain insights into students’ access.
Rachelle Maddison, INTO
Rachelle used analytics with a small group of international students during the lockdown to check if they could access resources on Canvas. Rachelle’s transparency about the purpose of using Canvas New Analytics promoted trust and partnership with students.
In this video, Rachelle explains how this helped her to make changes to her course content early in the academic year.
Using Canvas New Analytics for Course Review
Danny Homer, LTDS
Danny employed his analytics expertise using Canvas New Analytics reports with Power BI for in-depth analysis and visualisations of course participants’ online interactions. Danny explains how he was able to overcome the limitations of the available analytics interfaces using New Analytics reports.
ReCap Analytics as an insight into the instructional and content redesign for Executive MBA at NUBS
David Grundy, Newcastle University Business School
David used ReCap analytics with a small group of 15 students and a larger group of 220 students. See how David worked around video parameters to review the content and format and make ReCap videos more digestible to students.
How to use ReCap Analytics
Carol Summerside, LTDS
Carol introduces ReCap analytics which give insights into viewer interactions with recordings. She demonstrates how to access analytics and shares some practical tips for getting started.
NUTELA is a group of academics, professional service staff, and technicians who care about improving learning and teaching at Newcastle University.
Our termly sessions focus on technology in and for teaching. They’ve been a bit different this year but usually involve some pizza, pop and a chance to practice.
Microsoft Team
Join the NUTELA Team to continue the conversation about using technology in your teaching. The Team includes resources, upcoming events and the chance to connect with colleagues across the University. NUTELA advocates are also on hand to answer any NUTELA related questions you might have.
Knowledge Exchange for Learning and Teaching in HE
25 June 2021
If you are interested in attending this Learning and Teaching conference, there’s only a few days left to book/register !
Register here by the end of the day on Wednesday 23 June.
This 15th regional conference builds upon the success of previous partnership events held by the region’s Universities (Sunderland, Northumbria, Durham, Newcastle, and Teesside).
The aims of the Conference are to:
Develop the regional understanding of key issues in Learning & Teaching in Higher Education
Share effective learning and teaching practices
Draw new people into our Learning & Teaching support networks and providing a networking opportunity
Through the conference we encourage all staff involved in teaching and/ or supporting learning in their institutions to explore opportunities to develop their teaching practice. This event also welcomes others involved in L&T related research projects in their institutions, such as postgraduate researchers and undergraduate students.
Please book to ensure that there are no issues receiving the conference links by email. These links will be emailed to those who are registered on Eventbrite.
And please remember that we are restricting bookings to the North East Institutions and co-presenters. Please register using your university email address. Please email mark.proctor@sunderland.ac.uk if you have any questions about the conference.
Driven by a need to engage better with reflective practice, a strategic review of the University’s current ePortfolio system has taken place. In line with the outcomes of the review, and feedback from colleagues and students, the system will be redeveloped and relaunched as NU Reflect for September 2021.
NU Reflect will be relevant to all students and provide the tools to support personal, professional, and academic reflection in both modular and non-modular contexts, as well as providing opportunities for students to discuss their personal development.
Incorporating reflection in programmes and modules provides an effective way to support students to understand their own learning processes, and to develop their awareness of their own skills and abilities and evidence these, applying theoretical knowledge to real experiences and supporting employability.
NU Reflect will also support Personal Tutoring as colleagues can use the system to create and record meetings with any student. Meetings can take place in a variety of contexts, such as Personal Tutor meetings or group meetings for student projects. It will also offer access to individual records of all tutees including their UCAS Personal Statements, assessment marks through NESS, timetable, and student information from SAP.
Guidance and case studies on the use of reflective practice are available, and further information about NU Reflect will follow soon.
If you have any questions regarding NU Reflect, please contact ltds@newcastle.ac.uk
We are pleased to welcome Professor Helen O’Sullivan, Chair, Association for Learning Technology, Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Chester University who will be discussing the lessons we’ve learned during the pandemic and what we can take from the pandemic into the real world. Find out more about Professor O’Sullivan below.
Biography – Professor Helen O’Sullivan
BSc, PhD, MBA, PFHE
As Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor O’Sullivan is responsible for providing strategic leadership of the academic function of the University, including the development of the academic portfolio, enhancement of the teaching and learning experience and leadership of the Deans of Faculty. She joined Chester on 1st April 2021 and before that was Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education) at Keele University.
Helen graduated in molecular biology at the University of Liverpool before taking a PhD in bacterial genetics. After a postdoctoral fellowship, she moved to a lectureship in biological sciences at what is now Liverpool Hope University. She became interested in the psychology of learning and undertook a range of leadership roles including Dean of Sciences and Social Sciences.
Helen moved to the University of Liverpool in 2006 to lead the HEFCE-funded Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. The work of the centre helped to shape how medical professionalism is taught across medical schools in the UK. Her research focuses on the role of emotional intelligence in developing professionalism and leadership in doctors, and she was promoted to a Personal Chair in Medical Education in 2013. Her subsequent interested in how developments in digital education can support social learning as well as developing flexible, online and transnational education led to her appointment as Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor for Online Learning at Liverpool.
Helen is the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Association for Leaning Technology (ALT). She is a member of UUK International’s Transnational Education Advisory Board, a member of the Advance HE Board and is Co-Convener of Advance HE’s DVC/PVC Network.
The Art of the Possible
Taking place 5-9 July, the Art of the Possible is a week of online events and activities including presentations, workshops, case studies, and the launch of the Newcastle University Learning and Teaching Podcast. Find out how you can get involved.
Starting this September, Newcastle University is working with Advance HE to offer onlineExternal Examiner Training. The training will run over two months and is aimed at aspiring, new, or experienced examiners. It will support you to:
understand the role of the external examiner as articulated in the UK Quality Code for Higher Education, and be confident to undertake it;
develop a deeper understanding of the nature of academic standards and professional judgement, and explore the implications for external examining;
use evidence-informed approaches to contribute to impartial, transparent judgements on academic standards and the enhancement of student learning.
Participation in the course can be used as evidence towards gaining (Senior or Principal) Fellowship of the HEA.
The course begins on Monday 13 September 2021. You will be guided to complete five units over two months. Each unit takes 2-3 hours to complete, and on the whole there are 4 hours of online contact with the team.
As the 2021 academic year is coming to an end, Newcastle University Technology Enhanced Learning Advocates (NUTELA) brought together a panel of colleagues to share:
Reflections on moving so swiftly to online teaching
Rethinking delivery with some examples
Re-purposing digital content for a blended approach
From practical tips on encouraging student participation to wider discussions around creating student connections, here are the highlights from the session.
How would you approach a flipped classroom?
Dr Ahmed Kharrufa, School of Computing describes how he successfully incorporated videos, reading materials, live sessions and practical activities into a relaxed weekly timeline.
Director of Digital Education Dr David Grundy gives an overview of the Canvas features he used to help students navigate through their course and shares some of the innovative new digital projects recently funded in the Business School.
As a guest lecturer on over 40 different modules, librarian Emily Dott brought a different perspective to the panel discussion. Sharing how a non-synchronous approach works for the library team, Emily reflects on what worked as well as the elements of synchronous sessions that aren’t as easy to replicate.
Integrating digital skills into courses can be challenging but is now more important than ever. Dr James Stanfield from the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences, shares how the new module ‘Adventures in Digital Learning’ successfully addresses aspects of digital literacy. He also details how blogging can be a useful tool for reflective practice and shares ideas for increasing student connections next year.
If students could tell their lecturers one thing what would it be?
Dr Brook Galna shares some insights from Sport and Exercise Science students. From positive feedback about short, interactive lecture content to issues around access to technology, student reflections will have a real impact on next year’s teaching.
Find out more about NUTELA
NUTELA are group of academics, professional service staff and technicians, who care about improving learning and teaching at Newcastle University.
We have termly sessions focussing on technology in teaching. They’ve been a bit different this year but usually involve some pizza, pop and a chance to practice.
Microsoft Team
Join the NUTELA Team to continue the conversation about using technology in your teaching. The Team includes resources, upcoming events and the chance to connect with colleagues across the University. NUTELA advocates are also on hand to answer any NUTELA related questions you might have.
Chris Whiting, Professional Development Adviser, Learning and Teaching Development Service
The importance of reflection and the importance of writing.
Learning is not exclusive to education. It is something we start engaging with as babies and will continue to engage with every day for the majority of our lives. It is, in many small ways, a daily activity and in these small ways goes unconsidered, like breathing. Acquiring new knowledge and skills may require us to consider how we are learning, but the developing and refining of knowledge and skills is often allowed to pass without a second thought.
David Kolb’s widely accepted theory of the experiential learning cycle (1984) presents learning in four stages: Concrete Experience; Reflective Observation; Abstract Conceptualisation; and Active Experimentation. Graham Gibbs’ (1988) Reflective Cycle expands on these four stages with six prompts that develop our thinking behind this learning experience: Description; Feelings; Evaluation; Analysis; Conclusion; Action Plan. Finlay (Finlay, 2008, 2003, Finlay and Gough, 2003) offers a comparable mode of thinking about reflection in three stages: Introspection; Critical Reflection; and Reflexivity. Finlay further emphasises the importance of progressing through the entire cycle so that reflections do not simply reaffirm current beliefs (introspection) or lack a productive outcome (introspection and critical thinking).
Whichever way you find most comfortable to think about reflection (and there are other modes and models available), a thorough and complete reflection of experience is a powerful tool to fuel, enhance and motivate your learning. As such, reflective skills are an essential aspect of developing autonomous learners so that they can guide and drive their learning within and beyond formal education.
But if reflection is a mental exercise then why do we need to write?
Essays, theses, compositions, experiments, etc… are all products of mental exercises but are not explicitly derived from them. That is to say, we do not write essays in our heads. We think, write, edit, think, write, edit… until we are satisfied (or we hit our deadline). Our thinking diverges and converges. The essay is a product of both thinking and writing, and it is through writing that it comes into being and is refined. As we write we enter into a learning experience. We read our words and ask ourselves: ‘are we happy with this?’; ‘does it say what it needs to say?’; ‘could it be improved?’ and we take actions based on our answers. The writing is therefore an extension of our thinking. It allows us to scrutinise our reflections in a way that it is extremely difficult to achieve as a mental exercise.
Further to this, thinking is a fleeting experience and only relevant to the moment. When the idea is committed in writing, it commits you to a reflexive action (more so than just thinking) and is a marker from which you can trace your learning and navigate in the direction that you are intending.
Finlay, L. 2003. The Reflexive Journey: Mapping Multiple Routes. In: Finlay, L. a. G., B. (ed.) Reflexivity. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Finlay, L. 2008. Reflecting on ‘Reflective Practice’. Practice Based Professional Learning Centre. January 2008 ed. Milton Keynes: The Open University.
Finlay, L. & Gough, B. 2003. Reflexivity: A Practical Guide for Researchers in Health and Social Sciences, Wiley.
Gibbs, G. 1988. Learning by Doing: A Guide to Teaching and Learning Methods, FEU.
Kolb, D. 1984. Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development, New Jersey, Prentice Hall.
