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NUTELA Learning and Teaching Conference Award

Newcastle University Technology Enhanced Learning Advocates (NUTELA) are passionate about promoting technology in teaching and supporting colleagues to explore technology enhanced learning.  In recognition of some of the fantastic work that is delivered by colleagues across the University the NUTELA Learning and Teaching Conference Award was introduced in 2018.

The award is open to anyone who is selected to be part of the Learning and Teaching Conference programme who is effectively using technology in their teaching.   All  eligible abstracts are judged by members of the NUTELA Steering Group and should include:

• Elements of technology enhanced learning
• Innovative teaching and learning practice
• Student engagement in teaching and learning
• Practice which can be transferable to other disciplines or areas of study.

The top three abstracts are awarded up to £150  to further the work of their projects or disseminate their findings.

2019 Learning and Teaching Conference NUTELA award winners
  • 1st Prize: Dr Alesssio Ianetti, Teaching Fellow, School of Pharmacy Who wants to be a millionaire: A game for the Pharmacy curriculum
  • 2nd prize: Dr Emma Cockburn, Lecturer, School of Biomedical, Nutritional and Sports Sciences Fusing team-based flipped learning and animations 
  • 3rd prize: Dr Chris Graham, Director of E-Learning, School of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics  Building flexible and accessible web-based course material 

Dr Alessio Ianetti shares more about his project and how he used his award in this blog post.

If you are interested in finding out more about the learning and teaching conference visit the conference website. Registration and the call for submissions will open on the 1st October 2019.

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Parent-Child Modules

Many staff often request for modules to be joined together on the Virtual Learning Environment where the content delivered on those modules is the same. When this happens, we create what is called a parent-child module. The existing modules become child modules of a newly created parent module. Combining the modules in this way means that the content only has to be added to the parent, but students continue to see the content via the child module they are enrolled in.

For example, a lecturer requests modules K1920-ABC2000 Introduction to Newcastle and K1920-ABC2004 Introduction to Newcastle (Erasmus Study Abroad) to be combined as all Continue reading “Parent-Child Modules”

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NUTELA Learning and Teaching Conference Award

Dr Alessio Iannetti, School of Pharmacy

At the Newcastle Teaching and Learning conference in April, I  received a NUTELA award for my presentation “Who wants to be millionaire as a game for Pharmacy Curriculum”. I have used an adapted version of this game as part of my biology seminars for Stage 1 Pharmacy-students. I did this to make the seminar sessions more fun and engaging thanks the competitive nature of the game, but at the same time to test a new approach to facilitate student knowledge retention on a difficult topic of biology, such as immunology is.

The game worked well and the data collected showed that it augments student knowledge retention. Student feedback showed that the game activity was very engaging and that students appreciated working in teams for the game. Therefore, a second aim to keep this game in the seminar sessions, is to help students to practise the team-work skills that they will need in their career. In the feedback form, students acknowledged that they prefer a game activity to a seminar and underlined how enjoyable this is.  One student said:  “Much better than seminars” Another student said: “Thoroughly enjoyed the session”.

Thanks to the NUTELA award, I was able to fund part of my journey to the Biennal Monash Pharmacy symposium in Prato (Italy) last July, where I presented my work to Pharmacy educators coming from all the world. It was a great experience, I networked with a number of colleagues who expressed interest in the game and in applying it in their own institutions.

Read the full case study on the Case Studies Website.

Find out more about NUTELA.

 

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National Teaching Fellows

The Advance HE National Teaching Fellowship scheme is a prestigious, national competition where nominees submit a reflective account of their approach as an educator, hoping to be one of the 55 NTF’s created annually. The University is delighted to announce that all three of the institution’s nominees have been awarded National Teaching Fellowship.

Dr Lindsey Ferrie, School of Biomedical Sciences

Dr Lee Fawcett, School of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics

‘I feel lucky to be part of an institution that promotes the development of excellent teaching practice.   I’m now excited about joining a community of National Teaching Fellows across a range of disciplines, to share examples of good practice and to further develop the impact of my teaching.’ Dr Lee Fawcett, School of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics

Dr Helen Webster, Writing Development Centre

‘Learning Development is an exciting new field, and I’m very proud that this award demonstrates how Newcastle is leading best practice nationally and internationally.’ Dr Helen Webster, Writing Development Centre

Find out more from the winners on the Newcastle University website.

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Reducing Contract Cheating – International Opportunities For Action Webinar

Turnitin have organised an interactive webinar on contract cheating, presented by Dr. Thomas Lancaster and Dr. Irene Glendinning.

The webinar will discuss contract cheating, including recent developments in the contract cheating industry and consider why we need to take action to address contract cheating.

The webinar will launch the fourth International Day of Action against Contract Cheating, which takes place on October 16, 2019, and provide opportunities for you to make suggestions and ask questions about the event.

The first webinar will be on Wednesday 14th August at 11:00 British Summer Time.  Register here.

The second webinar will be on Monday 16th September 14:00. Register here.

Anyone interested is most welcome to join.

 

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Who are Newcastle Educators?

Newcastle Educators is a peer-led community of educators, who value the opportunity to get together and discuss common interests and who are committed to continued professional development and peer review.

Newcastle Educators bring together this community through a series of events called EduBites.

These lunch-time sessions cover a wide range of topics related to learning and teaching, and are a chance to hear from colleagues, make connections with other educators and share ideas, all over a spot of lunch.

We also run an informal and supportive peer observation scheme – get in touch to find out more.

Follow us on twitter: @NewcastleEduca1
We blog at: https://ncleducators.wordpress.com/ 

Who is Newcastle Educators for?

Newcastle Educators community is for all academics and professional service staff with an interest in learning and teaching at the university. From those just embarking on their careers to those with a wealth of experience to share.

How do I get involved?

Newcastle Educators Teams Page

Join the Newcastle Educators Teams Page to:

  • Access materials from Edubites sessions
  • Find out about conferences and meetings
  • Get information on pedagogic opportunities
  • Have conversations with colleagues

All are welcome to join us.

Mailing list

To join the mailing list complete this quick form: Join our mailing list.

Notifications about upcoming events and opportunities will be sent to the mailing list.

Have you got something you want to share?

Have you got an idea for a session, or something you’d like to share?

Or do you know of interesting work from colleagues that you think the wider network would benefit from hearing about?

Contact us at Educators@newcastle.ac.uk

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Changes to the Learning and Teaching Development Programme from September 2019

By Graeme Redshaw-Boxwell, Learning Enhancement and Technology Team Manager

Following on from a University wide consultation undertaken at the start of the academic year, LTDS have further developed the Learning and Teaching Development programme for 2019/20.

From September 2019 the Learning and Teaching Development programme will move to a combination of both face to face and online support.

This new holistic offer will include pathways through the programme which can support:

  • Staff new to Newcastle University:
    o Looking for how they can get started with Newcastle University supported teaching, learning and assessment tools, techniques and pedagogies with a set of Learning and Teaching Essentials online, face to face workshops and webinars.
    o Needing to evidence their work for professional recognition by Advance HE against the UK Professional Standards Framework through the Newcastle Education Practice Scheme for probationary requirements.
  • Professional services and academic staff wishing to take advantage of support in evidencing their work for professional recognition by Advance HE against the UK Professional Standards Framework through the Newcastle Education Practice Scheme (NEPS).
  • Existing staff in using technologies and exploring pedagogies to enhance learning, teaching and assessment through new Quick Guides online, and scheduled workshops and webinars in September and January.
  • Programme teams in developing new or revising existing programmes or programme portfolios with bespoke sessions.
  • School based bespoke sessions which build on Learning and Teaching Essentials and Quick Guides.

What’s different?

A new set of Learning and Teaching Essentials and TEL Quick Guides will be available online, for reminders and self paced familiarisation with tools, techniques and policy related to learning and teaching at Newcastle University. There will be fewer scheduled workshops and webinars, which, from September 2019 will be focussed in September and January.

Scheduled workshops continue to be listed at http://elements.ncl.ac.uk and all LTDS run workshops described there can also be offered as school based bespoke sessions.

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The new accessibility regulations – what does this mean for the University?

By Graeme Redshaw-Boxwell, Learning Enhancement and Technology Team Manager

What are the new requirements?

In September 2019, the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No.2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 comes into effect in the UK. These regulations attempt to ensure that all students have equal and fair access to learning opportunities without any barriers as a result of a disability. This covers websites, services and content.

The University recognises that compliance with the Regulations will not happen immediately. A staged programme of work will embed training on compliance for new learning and teaching websites/service and content within the existing Learning and Teaching Development Programme which will be available both as open workshops and bespoke school/service based sessions. The trajectory for compliance is detailed below.

What is the University doing for the start of 2019/20?

Each website/system requires an accessibility statement, providing information about the accessibility of individual websites/systems. The Learning and Teaching Development Service will co-ordinate the creation of accessibility statements across all central University learning and teaching systems. This includes Blackboard, MLE, ePortfolio and others. All centrally supported teaching and learning systems will have an accessibility statement by September 2019.

What do academic units/services need to do for the start of 2019/20?

No specific actions are required for the start of the next academic year. Individuals should consider how they can make any new learning and teaching content accessible, and to start to change practice when creating content in readiness for 2020/21.

What will happen in 2019/20 to make us more compliant for 2020/21?

  •  The new Learning and Teaching Development Programme has Accessibility in Practice workshops that support academic and professional services staff in how to create accessible and inclusive learning and teaching resources. There are some simple tools built in to familiar desktop tools, such as Microsoft Office, that will help to create and check the accessibility of resources.
  • There are some small simple changes staff can make that will help all students on their programme, not only students with a disability. LTDS will prepare a range of online how to guides that will support staff in the creation of accessible documents.
  •  As part of the rollout of the new VLE, LTDS will run a large number of training sessions. The creation of accessible content will be embedded within these sessions.
  • The Newcastle Education Practice Scheme (NEPS) is the replacement for the CASAP programme. Accessibility and inclusion will be a core element, and the creation of accessible resources will be part of the programme.
  • We will renew the University site license for Sensus Access which enables staff and students to easily convert documents into an accessible format. Many file formats are supported, including the main Microsoft Office document types. Use of this tool will be built into the workshops detailed above.
    For further information please email ltds@ncl.ac.uk
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Game-Enhanced Learning

Photo of the GEL group during the Escape room

By Cameron Hubbard, PGT student, School of Natural and Environmental Sciences

Students don’t like being lectured. You can see it within the first 20 minutes of a lecture: eyes go dark, phones come out, their attention fades away. Lecturers are constantly trying to increase student engagement but trying to do this via traditional “talk and chalk” methods is flawed. In addition, some content just doesn’t lend itself well to a lecture-based format – especially things like lab and field skills. Thus, novel methods of presenting content are required that capture students’ attention whilst also having an educational benefit. An emerging pedagogical technique is teaching through games, which has been the focus of my internship in the Game-Enhanced Learning (GEL) project.

NU GEL logo

Continue reading “Game-Enhanced Learning”

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The Art of the Possible

Dr Chris Graham, School of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics

Thank you to everyone who took part in the launch of the Education Strategy Series ‘The Art of the Possible’ on 1-5 July 2019. It was excellent to see so many staff from across the campus engaging with this first week of activities under the theme Technology Enhanced Learning.

Throughout the week we explored The Art of Accessible and Inclusive Digital Content through interactive practical workshops, lightning talks showcasing some excellent approaches to creating accessible and flexible resources, and video case studies. We also welcomed Alistair McNaught, Subject Specialist in  Accessibility and Inclusion on Thursday 4 July. Alistair delivered a mixture of practical, strategic and collaborative sessions to raise awareness and confidence in digital accessibility, and the new public sector web accessibility legislation.

Feedback from all of the events was really positive. Some of the most valuable aspects were: Continue reading “The Art of the Possible”