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Support for flexible learning from the Library and Writing Development Centre

Student working in the library

Our teams are here to support and collaborate with you as you rethink your students’ skills provision for the coming academic year.

In 2020/21, Library inductions for all undergraduates and taught postgraduates will be delivered non-synchronously online through the central University induction programme. Therefore, there is no need for you to book an induction session with us as part of a separate programme timetable. Our induction materials will introduce students to the services and resources we offer, and equip them with essential literature searching skills, including finding and accessing academic information via Library Search.

Beyond induction (for example, for students working on dissertations or projects), we‘re developing a range of adaptable online learning resources suitable for embedding into Canvas, and will work with you to develop content tailored for your subject area that can be embedded within your modules. These are very well-suited to non-synchronous delivery, with opportunities for further support via Q&A sessions, discussions etc.

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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.  

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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.  

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Learning Analytics Pilot

Books and a computer screen

New Analytics in Canvas is an interactive tool that helps you and your students better track performance and activity within individual courses. It can be accessed in the menu of any Canvas course and allows you to: 

  • Identify which students have viewed pages and resources  
  • Identify which students have participated in the course 
  • Compare grades across assignments by cohort or individual students 
  • Contact students, or groups of students, based on their interactions 

As part of the University’s Task and Finish group on learning analytics we will be running a pilot looking to gather some Newcastle specific information and feedback on the use of the tool. Our aim is to identify the functionalities within New Analytics that Newcastle colleagues find to be most useful in improving student attainment and engagement so that we can make recommendations to the University about how best to implement this system, or others, University-wide. 

As part of a pilot, all we would ask for would be a summary of what you did and how you measured any benefit for your students in terms of attainment or engagement. We appreciate how busy everyone is at the moment so are keen to make sure that taking part requires minimal extra work (setting up the New Analytics within your module assessments or workflow is quite intuitive) and fits in with your already established plans for online delivery in 20/21. 

If you would be interested in taking part, please contact LTDS@newcastle.ac.uk   

If you would like to know more about New Analytics in Canvas, please visit What is New Analytics? 

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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.

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what has the qaa ever done for me?

Over the last three years there have been huge changes in the external framework within which English universities operate. The creation of the Office for Students (OfS) in 2018 has had significant impacts that are still working their way through the sector. One of these was to change the focus and nature of the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA).

QAA still has a place in the external regulatory framework. It carries out reviews of higher education in England on behalf of OfS. It also supports development of the UK Quality Code (i.e. the things all higher education providers need to do to maintain and enhance educational quality).

The volume of this work for QAA has significantly decreased though over the last two years. In its place QAA has established a membership scheme to (as QAA put it) ‘improve quality and secure standards by giving exclusive access to expert advice, insight and valuable resources based on our extensive expertise’.

Newcastle is a QAA member. This means that we get access to a range of webinars, workshops and resources to help us in our work to give our students an outstanding educational experience while they are studying with us.

There’s an overview at https://www.qaa.ac.uk/membership/programme-2020-21, of what we have access to as QAA members. Not all of it is for everyone, but the opportunities and resources (https://www.qaa.ac.uk/membership/resources) cover a wide range of areas – including some you might not normally associate with QAA. To access these all you need is your Newcastle email address.

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be Canvas Ready

Canvas logo

We are getting closer to the 31 July 2020 when all access to Blackboard ends for colleagues and students and we go fully live with Canvas.

​​There are 5 key steps which will help colleagues to prepare for the transition date and for course delivery next academic year:

bit.ly/becanvasready

More information about each of these steps, as well as links to support, can be found on the Canvas website.

​​Don’t forget Canvas 24/7 support is available to all colleagues and students for any of your ‘How do I’ Canvas questions direct from the Canvas Help Menu or via telephone on + 44 808 189 2336.​

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

Student working on laptop

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. 

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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.