October 2011

Journal

Volume 2: Issue 1, October 2011

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SUPPORTING STUDENTS WITH ASPERGER SYNDROME IN HIGHER EDUCATIONWednesday 23rd November - 9.30 - 4.30

Keynote Speaker: Dr Luke Beardon, Senior Lecturer, The Autism Centre, Sheffield Hallam University.

Topics covered:

Introduction to Asperger Syndrome

Supporting students with Asperger Syndrome in learning, teaching and assessment activities

The student experience

Employment opportunities for graduates with Asperger Syndrome

Cost per delegate: £95.00 For bookings and further information contact Patricia BannisterEmail: p.bannister@leedstrinity.ac.uk or Tel: 0113 283 7138

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tfj October 2011 3

Ralph Sanders

To coincide with the launch of the new look tfj, an online presence has been created on the Edinburgh Napier Education Exchange (ENEE) at http://www.napiereducationexchange.com/pg/groups/10882/teaching-fellows-journal/. Here you will find all of the articles from the Journal itself, plus any extra content we couldn’t fit in the PDF edition, along with breaking news, diary dates and follow-ups to featured articles.

It also provides the ability to comment on the content of the current edition as well as upload Teaching Fellow news stories in between editions of the tfj.

We hope it will become a key resource in the Teaching Fellow community, where you can keep up to date and learn from your fellow members. You can also download the PDF of the tfj from the OVP Teaching Fellow web pages.

Editorial: Turning challenges into opportunitiesAngela Benzies

Welcome to the first edition of the tfj for the session! You may have noticed that we did not publish in June and this was due to us needing to reconsider the future of the tfj in the light of recent reorganisation. In responding to this challenge there was an opportunity to stop and reflect on what the tfj is for, who reads it and why and, if we

continue with it, how might we as a community wish to see it develop, especially in the light of increased activity across the University through grant-aided project work (p21) and our Special Interest Groups (SIGs, p15-19).

I am convinced that we ‘punch above our weight’ in Edinburgh Napier in terms of the quality of our learning, teaching and assessment work and, if there is a failing, it is in perhaps in not publicising it enough. The recent QAA Enhancement Led Institutional Review provided affirmation of our high standards and recognised the Teaching Fellow contribution to that achievement (p7).

The vision for the tfj is that it continues to do the good things it has done in the past but that the new format will better reflect our current portfolio of activities and enable effective dissemination. So, the tfj will still provide a place for colleagues to gain confidence in publishing, to share across School and Faculty boundaries, and to provide practical information to support our work, but it will change to accommodate more reporting on our development activities, to stimulate ideas for new ventures, and to help make links between individual pieces of work as well as foster more and stronger connections between people. To help us achieve that, we have the opportunity to take the tfj to a new internal audience, and also to make provision for more regular updates by means of a news blog to run alongside the main publication, which is in line with current practice in the publishing industry. In order to maximise advantage of this redesign opportunity, the work has been done as a Teaching Fellow project with a team drawn from the Office of the Vice Principal (Academic), the Teaching Fellow community and the School of Arts & Creative Industries, which has allowed us to effectively tap into the creativity of our staff and students. See project report on p22.

However, without the ongoing involvement of the Teaching Fellow community and other colleagues we would have no publication so thank you to all who have contributed directly by writing articles and to those who have given their comments. There is plenty of opportunity to contribute to regular sections and features so I look forward to receiving your suggestions for future editions.

Contents

3 Editorial Best of the Blog

4 Comings and Goings

4 Senior Teaching Fellows

5 Learning Lunches: Feedback Unbound

6 Resources Spotlight Eureka!

7 ELIR 2011 HEREN Workshop

8 The Professional Development Page

9 Student Focus: Engagement

10 Diary Dates

12 Conference Report

14Around the Faculties

15 SIG-Int

16 SIG-Inc SIG-M

17 New SEDA PDF Award in Mentoring and Coaching

18 SIG-TEL

19 Write-TEL Online Supported Scholarly Writing in Technology-Enhanced Learning

21 Grants Panel Update

22 Project Report: Revamp of the tfj

24 Contacts

Best of the Blog

4

Angela Benzies

Last session we said goodbye to Jennifer Graham, who retired after many years of service. Jennifer was one of the original Teaching Fellows, appointed when the Scheme was first launched at the University, and she became a Senior Teaching Fellow in 2008. We are grateful for her contribution to the work of the Business School and across the University over the years and wish her well in life beyond Edinburgh Napier.

The Teaching Fellowship Scheme Appointments Panel met on 12 October to consider five new applications for Fellowship and a number of renewal applications. Four new Fellows were appointed and seven renewals confirmed; the new Teaching Fellows are:

•Dr Samantha Campbell, School of Life, Sport & Social Sciences

•Mrs Margaret Conlon, School of Nursing, Midwifery & Social Care

•Mr James McDougall, School of Financial Services, Accountancy & Law

•Mrs Jackie Nicol, School of Nursing, Midwifery & Social Care.

Fellows appointed for a further three year term were:

•Jyoti Bhardwaj, School of Computing

•Brian Davison, School of Computing

• Ian Lambert, School of Arts & Creative Industries

•Robert Mason, School of Engineering & the Built Environment

•Alun Fotheringham, School of Accounting, Financial Services & Law

•Grahame Steven, School of Accounting, Financial Services & Law

•Hazel Powell, School of Nursing, Midwifery & Social Care.

Our congratulations to our new and renewing Fellows - we all look forward to working with you over the next three years.

Anne Evans retirementKate Durkacz

Ann Evans, who has lectured in Engineering Mathematics at Edinburgh Napier University since 1985, retired on 26th August 2011.

She was one of the early Teaching Fellows, joining the scheme in 1999, and specialising in the use of graphical calculators and in using software designed for solving problems in engineering mathematics. Working on a project at Heriot-Watt University, Ann was one of the team which developed the Walter tests for Foundation Mathematics, which are still in use today at Edinburgh Napier University. Another one of her achievements was the introduction of the TI-83 graphical calculator, and development of its use on the maths modules, which are studied by all engineering students. Ann was a very enthusiastic lecturer and was very popular with the students, who regularly recorded “Ann” as the best thing about the module on their module questionnaires. MathsPlus, the maths support clinic, was initiated and developed by Ann at Edinburgh Napier University in 1988 to help students with their maths skills. She was ahead of her time; now most universities run something similar, but generally the support is provided by student services, or occasionally by a specialist support unit such as the

Maths Centre at Loughborough University.

The Maths Group, the staff in the School of Engineering

& the Built Environment and all our students will miss Ann, but we

realise that all good things must come to an end. Farewells were said at a leaving

party for her, which was attended by SEBE staff, Teaching Fellows and a selection of retired

mathematicians and statisticians. It is well known that old mathematicians never die, they just become irrational, and we hope Ann enjoys retirement to its infinite limit!

Senior Teaching FellowsAngela Benzies

Normally Senior Teaching Fellows (STFs) meet twice per year to discuss a variety of topics relating to that role and within the Teaching Fellow community and wider University.

Most of us managed to make the meeting at the end of August and we were delighted that Rowena Pelik was able to join us to talk about her perspective on STFs from the point of view of holding the Leader of Academic Strategy and Practice role within the newly created Office of the Vice Principal (Academic). There were updates from the Faculties on local activities, and we considered how STFs could help lead and support that, including discussing how agreed programmes of work may be encouraged and resourced by line managers. As we are now three years into the STF role being a Senior Lecturer post within the academic promotions structure, it is probably a good time to evaluate current status and consider how to develop the role in the future.

Comings and Goings

tfj October 2011 5

Learning Lunches: Feedback Unbound

“If we

break the

link between

formal

assessment

and

feedback

then we

may be able

to fertilize

learning

in many

parts of our

teaching

previously

untouched

by feedback.

”

voluminous or quickly delivered they may be) as passive consumers, but should be engaging with and challenging what they are told and should expect us to change as a result. This is difficult and exciting; what might it mean in practice? There are numerous possibilities, both modest and fundamental. It might mean embedding peer or self-review right from the start in a module. It might mean building in question and answer sessions even in large classes. It might imply using and interrogating exemplars and model answers. It might lead to the co-design of assessments and whole modules and the negotiated change of learning outcomes. Skilful use of these (and many other approaches) will open spaces in our modules where we can talk about learning – where students can understand and shape those ‘goals and standards’ to which they aspire and where we can help them reflect on how they currently compare with them. If we can do that, ‘feedback’ won’t need fixing.

Nicol, D., & Macfarlane-Dick, D. (2006). Formative assessment and self-regulated learning: A model and seven principles of good feedback practice. Studies in Higher Education, 31(2), 199-218.

Mark Huxam

‘Feedback unbound: A space to talk about learning’ is the first in what we hope will become a regular programme of learning lunches

We all know something isn’t right with feedback; the poor NSS results, the student complaints, the handwringing in the Times Higher.

So how to fix it? For some, including for many students, the answer is simple: more and faster. And of course where students are simply not getting feedback or are not receiving it for months then we do need to apply basic standards of service. But for most of us ‘more and faster’ won’t work; in a finite world there is a trade-off between these. So the feedback debate becomes an opportunity to ask fundamental questions about what feedback is and how it fits with student learning.

The past thirty years have seen a revolution in how academics view assessment. No longer does it lurk outside our teaching, a mysterious and terrifying presence to be wrestled with after a period of initiation. Now we see it as a fully integrated part of the learning process. It is time for feedback to follow suit. Nicol and Macfarlane-Dick (2006) define feedback as ‘information about how the student’s present state (of learning and performance) relates to… goals and standards’ where the goals and standards referred to could include ‘specific targets, criteria, standards and other external reference points (e.g. exemplars)’. Importantly, there is nothing in this definition that limits feedback to assessment tasks as usually construed. If we break the link between formal assessment and feedback, then we may be able to fertilize learning in many parts of our teaching previously untouched by feedback. And it might allow us to ease the impossible and mounting pressure for ‘more and faster’.

The Edinburgh Napier LTA strategy defines feedback as ‘...an on-going and developmental dialogue...’. WOW! Just think what that means in practice. ‘On-going’ implies that feedback needs to start early in a module and continue throughout and beyond it. ‘Dialogue’ means that it is two-way. That students are not expected to receive lumps of information (however

Learning Lunches

Angela Benzies

Just to reassure you that Senior Teaching Fellow meetings are not just a ‘talking shop’. One of the outcomes of the last one was the set up of a new initiative called ‘Learning Lunches’, suggested by Mark Huxham. The idea is to have regular, 40-minute slots from 1.10 to 1.50pm which are open to all colleagues, not just Teaching Fellows, where we can informally discuss aspects of learning, teaching and assessment. We use the standard OVP events booking system to manage these so look out for announcements on the intranet and email. If you have any good ideas for discussion and/or would like to lead a session on your own or with others, then please get in touch with Mark directly – he would love to hear from you!

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Resources SpotlightWorking with Cultural Diversity in Higher Education

Edited by Monika Foster

This Special includes an introduction from Monika Foster and overviews from Yvonne Turner and Jude Carroll. Its 16 chapters are structured into four parts: Supporting induction and transition to UK higher education; Teaching on cultural diverse programmes; Enhancing the experience of Chinese students; and Enhancing the experience of Indian students.

The cost of this publication is £12 and can be ordered from http://www.seda.ac.uk.

Higher Education Academy project funding

The Higher Education Academy has a number of funding opportunities, including teaching development

Eureka!

grants (individual and departmental), support for running workshops and seminars, and contribution towards UK travel in connection with peer engagement and the exchange and dissemination of good practice in learning, teaching and assessment. Full details are available from their website at http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/funding.

Calls open on 27 February 2012 for the Collaborative Grant Scheme, which may award up to £60,000 for an 18-month project that involves cross institution and/or interdisciplinary collaboration. The project lead must be a Fellow of the Academy, and matching support should be sought from the participating higher education institutions. Successful bids will demonstrate longitudinal impact and will include evaluation and dissemination criteria.

learning difficulties, suggested I submit it to Cosmopolitan. My gas was, as they say, at a peep. I suppose at least with Cosmo I might have got a fee!

4 Not many people will read your workLook! OMG! Isn’t she the woman who wrote that piece on Pedagogies of Puzzlement in Studies in Higher Education?’ It’s just not going to happen. If you want to reach a wide audience, go on YouTube. Many serious academic journals have a tiny circulation, and often your nearest and dearest won’t read your papers, even if you send them copies as Christmas presents.

5 It will take agesMost journals have a very slow process for both review and publication. It can take a year or more for a paper to see the light of day, by which time you may well have completely rethought your position on the topic.

6 It will be there for a very long timeIt’s good to leave something for posterity. But remember there is no delete button, and no way of saying ‘what I actually meant was...’

7 You will look like a sad individual…when someone catches you checking to see if anyone has cited you. (Nobody had. Still haven’t.)However…there’s always the chance that your ideas and the way you express them will have a profound impact on one person who reads your paper. I don’t mean the kind of impact that can be calculated by making league tables of journals and counting citations. I’m thinking of those times when the light comes on or a shadow shifts and suddenly something makes sense. For me, that chance makes it all worthwhile. What do you think?

Eureka! provides practical insights and advice, sometimes with a humorous twist! This is one of our favourites from the archives that links to the recent workshop on getting published, reported on p7.

SEVEN PAINFUL TRUTHS ABOUT WRITING FOR PUBLICATION

Daphne Loads, with contributions from Sara Wasson and Grahame Steven

1 You will be rejectedWhen you’ve finally come to terms with not being invited to Jamie Wilkinsop’s 5th birthday party and not being picked for either the football team or a slow dance at the High School Disco … it can be hard to discover there’s a whole new world of potential rejection out there in the form of academic journal editors.

Of course it’s not you personally that’s being rejected. It may be that your paper just doesn’t fit the remit of that particular journal. It’s worth checking this carefully in the ‘information for authors’ section of their website. Perhaps you’ve misjudged the style that is required. Sometimes you haven’t got your timing quite right. Your hot topic may have gone cold. You may be ahead of your time. I find this last explanation particularly comforting.

2 You won’t get paidThis one came as a bit of a shock to me.

3 You will be misunderstoodSome years ago now, the editor of Community Care, having read my incisive inquiry into the concept of age appropriateness in relation to people with

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tfj October 2011 7

ELIR 2011Angela Benzies

The Quality Assurance Agency Enhancement Led Institutional Review (QAA ELIR) took place in March 2011 and the final report was received in August.

Teaching Fellow work featured strongly in the Part 1 visit presentations and in the Part 2 follow up. This input from the Teaching Fellows was very important to the University, and those coordinating the visit from the former Academic Development service very much appreciated the time given by individual Fellows to the process. We were delighted to see that the QAA team recognised the Scheme as an institutional strength, which is a credit to all who are involved with it. Some extracts from the full report are below, just to give you a flavour of what the QAA team thought.

“There is clear evidence of the embedding of a quality enhancement culture, with many initiatives which contribute to the enhancement of the student learning experience. Individual staff enthusiasts, in particular the teaching fellows … play an important role in driving such enhancement.” (From full report, paragraph 131.)

“The Teaching Fellow Scheme is well-established, and the 2006 ELIR report regarded the Scheme as having an important quality enhancement role. Since 2008, teaching fellows have been supported by a Teaching Development Fund of £70,000. The University has introduced Teaching Development Fund grants to encourage projects which support the achievement of the LTA Strategy, and to ensure that the work of individual teaching fellows and group projects are disseminated across the University and, as appropriate, externally. Examples of the projects supported by this funding reflect a wide range of topics and innovate approaches, which together demonstrate the University’s commitment to the enhancement of academic practice. The teaching fellows, in conjunction with the Academic Development unit, organise biannual teaching and learning conferences which align with institutional enhancement priorities. Teaching fellows also provide informal support to other academic staff, and the recent establishment of interest groups led by teaching fellows will assist in further disseminating good practice. Overall, the Teaching Fellow Scheme plays a significant role in providing a proactive approach to

disseminating good practice across the University.” (Full report, paragraph 138.)

Further information on the ELIR process and submissions (which includes the Teaching Fellow DVD), along with the full and summary reports, may be found at: http://staff.napier.ac.uk/services/academicdevelopment/ELIR/Pages/report.aspx.

Karen Strickland

HEREN was delighted to welcome Professor Sally Brown, Emeritus Professor of Higher Education Diversity in Teaching and Learning at Leeds Metropolitan University, Visiting Professor at the University of Plymouth and Adjunct Professor at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, to facilitate a workshop on Getting Published on Friday 23 September. Sally is an accomplished author of numerous books and journal articles and former journal editor.

The workshop was attended by 14 staff from across the University who are budding authors, some with experience of writing for publication and some new to publishing but with great ideas. Sally helped the participants to focus on how to publish work relating to learning, teaching and assessment innovations and helped to explore some techniques for getting down to the writing and preparation of material already written for publication.

The workshop stimulated lively discussion around participants’ reasons for wanting to publish along with exploring a range of outlets for publishing, including refereed journal articles, books, conference proceedings and newspaper articles.

The workshop was highly participative, focused on practical solutions for making us more productive in our writing and drew upon the expertise of the widely published workshop leader (who also had some gruesome tales to share).

This event also provided an opportunity for participants to discuss how best their future writing for publication could be encouraged and enabled at the University through critical friend support, peer networks or other means. As a means to provide ongoing support through HEREN, follow up working lunches will be set up to offer mentoring from more experienced writers and peer support. This can also help serve as a wee prod to help keep up the momentum!

For more information about HEREN, to see what we are planning and how to become part of the HEREN community please visit our webpages at: http://staff.napier.ac.uk/services/academicdevelopment/HEREN/Pages/HEREN.aspx.

HEREN Workshop

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8

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Fiona Campbell

This page will be a regular feature in the new-look tfj and aims to provide links to projects, sessions and initiatives of interest to you. Professional Development and the Teaching Fellow Scheme already enjoy a close working relationship through session facilitation, conference contribution and project development, and we hope this page will help that to continue to flourish.

Professional Development Programme: tailored provision

The Professional Development Programme 2011-12 aims to provide participants with a range of learning opportunities to facilitate the enhancement of academic practice, to promote innovation in academic provision and to underpin researcher development across the University. This academic year, we are extending our tailored professional development with the balance of our provision moving from University-wide to customised provision by bringing you sessions focused on the aims and priorities of your Faculty, School, subject group, programme team or specific

academic role. These sessions, run at a time and location that suit you, aim to meet your particular needs and can either be developed as new sessions or can be adapted from either the University-wide sessions or the growing menu available on our website. To launch this provision, we are offering each Head of School six hours of tailored development for their area this trimester which can be allocated to any type of development that meets current or future academic needs. For further information about these opportunities and how to arrange them, visit tailored professional development at: http://staff.napier.ac.uk/services/academicdevelopment/professionaldevelopment/Pages/tailored.aspx.

The Programme Leading project

This ongoing project is being led by Teaching Fellow Fiona-Jean Howson, on part-time secondment to Professional Development from the School of Nursing, Midwifery & Social Care. The project aims to enable the development, support and recognition of Programme Leaders, to add clarity to the Programme Leader role and facilitate the growth of the Programme Leader community. Fiona-Jean writes:

The Professional Development Page

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“I very much appreciate the contribution Teaching fellows have already made to the project though membership of the Programme Leading

Working Group, involvement in university wide and local developmental and community events. Please visit the Programme Leaders new website to find out more about the project and contact me if you are keen to get involved. Following on from the very successful evening event for Programme Leaders held on 22 September, I very much hope you will be able to participate in and contribute to the Programme Leader Symposium which will take place on the morning of Friday 6 January.”

The Edinburgh Napier Radio Show

This Teaching Fellow project, led by Courtnay Mcleod and managed and delivered by Colin Gray, aimed to use radio as a platform to engage with staff. Colin writes:

“The radio show project sought to provide staff with quick and easy access to news and professional development in a new and engaging way. The show offers colleagues the opportunity to learn about new developments in technology enhanced learning, share ideas on teaching and learning and to contribute to debates and discussions in this area. Four radio shows were provided on a bimonthly basis and covered a wide range of LTA issues, discussing relevant and timely HE developments, highlighting interesting work from within and outside the University, and showcasing and promoting Teaching Fellow activities. Although the project has now concluded (project report available here: http://www.thepodcasthost.com/enradio/report/), we plan to continue producing the radio show in the future. The show will be

tfj October 2011 9

linked with developments in the Edinburgh Napier Education Exchange, allowing our listeners opportunities to discuss the issues raised in the broadcasts and collaborate on related developments.”

You can find previous episodes of the radio show here: http://www.thepodcasthost.com/enradio.

Professional Development Events

Most Teaching Fellows will know Fay Wilson as she is the first point of contact in discussing bookings for events and a well kent face on the conference registration desks. With the move to HR Connect, Fay

has been creating event information and booking details on the new system which is due to go live with piloting in some Schools and services in mid October. The only difference you should notice once your own School is involved is the ability to manage your booking online within the HR Connect system – HR will be offering full training! But if you experience any difficulties or want to speak to a real person, please contact Fay by email or phone.

Student Focus: engagementJill Robertson

Edinburgh Napier has endorsed the intent to broaden and deepen its commitment to student engagement, and move deliberately towards students becoming genuine partners and co-creators of their curriculum. This will contribute to the University’s approach to the new QAA Enhancement Theme Developing and Supporting the Curriculum. As a first step, we would like to identify areas of existing practice within Edinburgh Napier; examples of students actively working with staff to shape how they learn, and also examples of student and staff exploring flexibility in what to learn, to achieve the module’s established learning outcomes. It is hoped that the TF community will be able to support this initial stage.

“...we are

extending

our tailored

professional

development

with the

balance of

our provision

moving from

university-

wide to

customised

provision...

”

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HEA Professional Standards Framework

The revised Professional Standards Framework, UKPSF, will be launched on 2 November this year and is designed to help HEIs seeking to enhance the learning experience of their students by improving the quality of their teaching and learning support. The aim of these post-launch events, being run across the UK, is to introduce and explain the revised framework and explore how it can help you to perform your role.

By participating in the event, attendees will be able to:

•outline the changes to the framework and evaluate their rationale;

•assess its implications for their own professional practice;

• identify and appreciate its potential uses within their institution;

•outline and utilise the services provided by the HEA to support them in your uses of the framework;

•plan their next steps in using the framework.

Full information is available at: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/events/detail/2011/academyevents/09_November_2011_UKPSF_Post_Launch_Event_05_Dundee.

HEA Workshop and Seminar Series

The Higher Education Academy invites all subscribing institutions in the UK delivering higher education to be part of a workshop and seminar series. Funding has been provided to enable offer grants of £500 to institutions to host and deliver a workshop or seminar on teaching and learning in a discipline context.

Workshops and seminars will be held throughout the 2011-12 academic year and are organised into themes and disciplines. The call for a thematic workshop has a deadline of 3 November 2011, but proposals for discipline workshops may be received at other times. Further information about this, including the call document and proposal form, is available at: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/seminar-series.

Engaging hearts and minds Innovation Forum, University of Salford Wednesday 7 December 2011

A showcase of best practice in engaging with academics in the use of technology-enhanced learning.

http://www.ucisa.ac.uk/en/groups/ssg/asg/Events/2011/engaging-academics.aspx.

Booking deadline: Friday 18 November 2011.

The Academic Support Group of the Universities and Colleges Information Systems Association (UCISA) Support Services Group would like to invite you to a one-day event showcasing best practice in engaging with academics and other e-learning users in the use of technology-enhanced learning (TEL). The event will draw on a set of case studies that will form part of a Best Practice Guide.

The event will be of benefit to learning technologists, e-learning managers and other staff responsible for encouraging the use of technology enhanced learning.

The event comprises six case studies from the upcoming UCISA best practice guide and includes:

•Developing TEL communities of practice.

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Diary Dates

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tfj October 2011 11

• Incorporating TEL into Postgraduate Certificate courses.

• Developing TEL training programmes.

• Providing financial incentives for TEL development.

•New TEL support models.

For the full programme please see the event website.

JISC Innovating e-Learning 2011: Learning in transition 22-25 November 2011

Now in its sixth year, the JISC Online Conference offers an invaluable opportunity to engage with the latest developments in technology-enhanced practice in UK further and higher education. Register now to take full advantage of both the main conference programme and the pre-conference activity week commencing 15 November 2011.

• Inspiration and challenge: Outstanding keynote speakers

•Updating your knowledge: Pre-conference activity week with 20+ sessions and demonstrations from the community, ranging from workshops on social media to guidance on mobile learning

•Thinking time: Six sessions divided into two themes; topics include technology-enhanced assessment, students as agents of change, open practice and curriculum design

•Making yourself heard: Opportunities to take part in live and asynchronous debates

•Social time: Networking in the conference’s social area, following the conference blog, meeting new friends

•Convenience: No need to leave home; catch up and join in when you can

•Value for money: Four days of conferencing; live sessions recorded if unable to attend at the time; action-packed Activity Week. All for £50.

Find out more from: JISC On Air’s latest Radio Show: http://jisconair.jiscinvolve.org and the conference webpage: www.jisc.ac.uk/elpconference 11

Empowering Learners in Higher Education. Fifth Annual University of Glasgow Learning and Teaching Conference Tuesday 17 April 2012

The conference is open to all members of the university community and there are also a number of places for external contributors. The conference will focus on the following themes:

•Supporting success with student diversity.•Feedback and assessment.•Developing graduate attributes.•Enhancing the curriculum.•Learning transitions.•Using technology to support learning.• Interdisciplinary learning.

Submission date for abstracts is 30 November 2011. Further details available at: http://www.gla.ac.uk/services/learningteaching/events/annuallearningandteachingconference/.

Call for Papers: Journal of International Education in Business special issue on Frontiers of Distance Learning in Business Education

Papers should be submitted by 31 January 2012 to Hooman Estelami (estelami@fordham.edu). Submissions can be considered for a related conference held at Fordham University on 8-9 June 2012 titled Frontiers of Distance Learning in Business Education More information at: http://www.bnet.fordham.edu/estelami/distancelearningconference.html.

SEDA Spring Teaching Learning and Assessment Conference 2012 The Student Journey 17-18 May 2012, Chester

Conference Themes:

•Student transition.•Engaging students in their learning design and /or

assessment.•Students as researchers.•The student voice in staff professional

development.•Preparing students for work.

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Conference Report

“The

conference

was very well

attended by a

cross section

of UK and

International

universities

and

educational

organisations

”

The conference was very well attended by a cross section of UK and International universities and educational organisations. This was also reflected in the variety of the presentations and the presenters. Scotland was represented by our University, Edinburgh, Strathclyde, Robert Gordon, Glasgow Caledonian and Glasgow Universities. Included in this mix was a representative of the Glasgow International College.

Each day was packed with plenary sessions, paper presentations, workshops and a roundtable session. The plenary sessions were very interesting and informative with an opening address and two plenary sessions on day one and a repeat of this on day two. Please check the link to the conference programme: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/York/documents/ourwork/internationalisation/programme_full.pdf.

The large numbers of the delegates at the conference meant that for the plenary and larger sessions the seating for the room with the speaker in it was on a ‘first come, first served basis’ with the rest in a room next door with video link up. This meant that we could see and hear the speaker very well but we rarely got to see the slides or images they were showing for more than a brief moment. Any questions from the overflow room were to be written on a post it note and handed to an assistant who would trot next door. Few wanted to do this so a significant number of us missed out on the interaction.

Although there was a great value in listening to some innovative examples of good practice, the format of the presentations left us a bit disappointed. There were three separate hours of presentations with two in each and up to four different sets to choose from. The content was generally excellent but with 20

Monika Foster & Kendall Richards

Internationalisation of pedagogy and curriculum in higher education: exploring new frontiers

HEA/UKCISA Teaching International Students (TIS) project conference in partnership with the Centre for Academic Practice and Research in Internationalisation (CAPRI), and the Centre for Internationalised Curriculum and Networking (CICIN) University of Warwick, 16-17 June 2011

Main themes:

•What are the challenges and opportunities for universities, teachers and students of increased student mobility (both inbound and outbound)?

•How can we use the diversity of student and staff perspectives and experiences for more internationalised learning for all?

•How can these shifts shape imaginative and creative approaches to teaching, learning and assessment, curriculum and programme design and delivery, research paradigms and epistemologies, interactions and transnational partnerships?

•How can these inform more complex issues such as global citizenship and intercultural learning, and foster respectful dialogue between and among diverse cultures and knowledge traditions on university campuses and across the communities in which they exist? Is ‘internationalisation’ an exclusively Western (or ‘Westernising’) notion or are there other cultural academic paradigms or perspectives that can inform a wider debate?

We attended the above conference with the assistance of two Teaching Fellowship funds. Both of us presented our sessions on the first day.

First of all, it’s worth mentioning how well organised the conference was, how smoothly it ran and by being impressed by the state of the art conference facilities at Warwick University.

tfj October 2011 13

but also colleagues. We feel from this presentation that perhaps this is an area worthy of investigation here at Edinburgh Napier.

Other presentations which were of interest included Sabine McKinnon’s work at Glasgow Caledonian University on working out what international students make of employability skills. Sabine’s research highlighted the need to take into account students’ home employment context, culture and what matters to them. The soft skills that we often concentrate on so much here in the UK may not be what the students feel is most important to them to get good

jobs back home.

A session on using group work as a mechanism for

student integration took us through

a journey of discovery

what would make international

and home students equally engage with

group work. Christine Edmead and her colleagues

at the University of Bath found that many students didn’t want

another workshop on group working skills; they felt they had the skills, but

they wanted to get to know each other better first. So, a key pre-task stage is

proposed in the shape of a social activity, giving time for group members to work out their group

dynamics before they are asked to engage with a task.

The workshop

Finally, the workshop, which turned out to be a long presentation, included a demonstration of a toolkit for practitioners to explore the degree to which we’re internationalising our own teaching. The toolkit includes a diagnostic exercise to see what areas may need further work and then a resource bank with hints, tips and case studies how this may be implemented. The toolkit is very practical, user friendly but transparent in its outcomes. You can find the toolkit at this link: www.tinyurl.com/62umbkh.

We left the conference feeling pretty tired but full of ideas after two days of listening to and thinking about new ways we can approach the internationalisation of our pedagogy and curriculum. We have made new friends with like-minded colleagues who share our interests. This is probably the biggest single benefit of the conference and we look forward to developing these new contacts further.

minutes presenting and 10 minutes questions there was little scope for interaction. Monika went to a ‘workshop’ which turned to be a longer presentation (one hour instead of 30 minutes). The ‘roundtable discussion’ at 5pm after a daylong of listening to presentations turned out to be yet more presentations but four packed in an hour instead of 2!

Kendall’s presentation, A scaffolding framework for dialogicality, or: reanimating assessment terms with dialogue through an ‘anti-glossary’ approach was based on a research project which Nick Pilcher and Kendall have been working on with assistance from the Teaching Fellowship. Kendall had over 20 people engaged in activities and a very animated discussion which continued throughout the rest of the conference over lunch, dinner and even breakfast.

Monika’s session, Engaging students in enhanced academic transitions – a case of two projects using student voice and technology to personalise the experience was based on her ongoing work on the online study skills resource SPICE and the E-mentoring project with Indian students. The audience wanted to know much more than can be said in 20 minutes, so all of us carried on the discussion well into lunch and beyond. It was interesting to draw on similarities with other innovative projects in the English universities.

Of the presentations, a number of interesting areas were covered ranging from developing critical thinking, engaging students in peer learning, narrative analysis of international lecturers to learner identities and intercultural competencies. While we found all of the sessions we attended to be worthwhile and interesting, we were pleased to note that there was nothing really new compared to some of the initiatives and approaches in existence at Edinburgh Napier. It seems some of the practice we champion at Edinburgh Napier is really cutting edge compared to some English institutions where addressing internationalisation is only just beginning to take a more practical approach.

The narrative analysis of the experience of academic staff from an international background at a major Australian university was a bit of an eye-opener in terms of how we induct and support not just students from a different academic, linguistic and social college

Office of the Vice Principal

(Academic)

Business School

Faculty of Health, Life &

Social Sciences

Within the School of Marketing, Tourism & Languages, Monika Foster has set up an informal group comprising Teaching Fellows and other colleagues interested in local initiatives to develop learning, teaching and assessment practice, as well as to inform colleagues about Teaching Fellow activity, including grant-aided projects. The group intends to invite speakers from outside the School to present on their LTA initiatives or pedagogic research.

School of Management Teaching Fellows have undertaken a Teaching Fellow project to create a new Business School-wide resource for Research Methods teaching.

A new Teaching Fellow has been appointed in Financial Services, Accounting & Law.

Angela Benzies is about to start a new project in conjunction with James Blair of IS to enhance our TF database. Angela is also working with Elaine Mowat and others on the new mentoring award.

Keith Smyth is active in making links between key OVP technology-enhanced learning initiatives and the community’s work, partly through his leadership of SIG-TEL.

Karen Strickland is on secondment from SNMSC and working two days per week in the OVP, one to support further development of the LTA Strategy and Resource Bank and one on taking forward our educational research.

Around the Faculties

Faculty Teaching Fellows were successful in obtaining Teaching Development Funding of almost £18,000, spread over twelve projects.

Mark Huxham has just initiated the Learning Lunches seminar series.

Two new Teaching Fellows have been appointed in the School of Nursing, Midwifery & Social Care and one in the School of Life, Sport & Social Sciences.

Faculty of Engineering,

Computing & Creative

Industries

The Faculty of Engineering, Computing & Creative Industries is delighted that two of its Teaching Fellows have become Senior Teaching Fellows (Sally Smith, Head of Computing) and Sara Wasson (School of Arts & Creative Industries).

STFs/TFs are active across the Faculty. Here is a flavour of some of the activities our STFs/TFs are engaged in:

•Sara Wasson is leading a pilot for a peer mentoring/peer support project for academic staff, to support reflective practice and to encourage collaboration and sharing of SACI’s rich teaching expertise.

•Kendall Richards (with Nick Pilcher from Edinburgh Napier Business School) contributed an article to a HEA newsletter on Teaching International Students.

•Teaching Fellows in Computing hosted an LTA conference focusing on Technology-Enhanced Learning.

A number of staff have expressed interest in applying for Teaching Fellowship. Mentoring is available and peer support networks have been set up in SEBE and SACI.

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Around the Faculties

tfj October 2011 15

SIGInt Internationalisation

and applying for grants such as TF grants or the HEA £1.5m of funding available on the themes of internationalisation or employability. We will have our inaugural meeting in November and will shortly set up an online forum for like-minded people interested in internationalisation to share ideas and find useful information.

Alison Varey, Director of Academic Development and Senior Teaching Fellow, School of Computing and Dr Monika Foster, Senior Lecturer and Senior Teaching Fellow in the School of Marketing, Tourism & Languages, are the joint leaders of the SIG Internationalisation (Int for short). They welcome your ideas how to join in and suggestions for themes we could explore within this SIG.

This new SIG-Int is an exciting opportunity for like minded people to celebrate a shared expertise in internationalisation, to mentor each other in developing learning and teaching and research in internationalisation, and to jointly develop further expertise by tapping into internal and external resources and new developments.

Summer SeminarKaren Strickland

In July, Edinburgh Napier University was pleased to welcome Professor Sharon Metcalfe (pictured) of the Western Carolina University, USA, who presented her work on international collaborative mentorship of future nurse leaders to a group of staff and nursing students. Karen Strickland, who with colleague Wendy McInally had recently worked with Professor Metcalfe in Ashville, led the event. Students from across the branches of Nursing programmes attended and responded very positively to Professor Metcalfe’s presentation with thought provoking questions that initiated some in-depth discussion.

The presentation was timely for students enrolled on a new International Module designed to encourage the exploration of healthcare systems in other countries.

The partnership, initiated through links with clinical practice, developed further through a Teaching Fellow project, TF1074, Offering a virtual international experience for student nurses, led by Liz Adamson working with Karen Strickland, Carolyn Blight and Wendy McInally. The partnership is also expected to provide opportunities for international clinical placements for students within both countries.

Alison Varey and Monika Foster

Internationalisation has been a key driver on the agenda of higher education for some time and is a strategic priority for Edinburgh Napier. The University is committed to being an international university and to embedding an international and intercultural dimension into its curriculum and all of its policies and strategies.

The Academic Strategy reinforces this with the statement “the responsibility of the deliberative structure related to learning and teaching to help to promote and develop an appropriate international dimension for all academic programmes”.

So what does internationalisation mean? Recruiting, teaching and supporting international students is an important aspect but so too is providing an international education to home students to produce citizens prepared for 21st century careers. Graduates’ best opportunities for work might be overseas, and UK-based jobs will be increasingly internationally focused. Employers value international skills developed through increased mobility (student exchange programmes, work placements abroad) and cross cultural capabilities developed through an internationalised curriculum.

The University has been successful in recruiting international and EU students, and currently over 40% of our student population is from overseas, with nearly half of these studying with our partners overseas. This has led to a wealth of staff experience and good practice as evidenced in the LTA Resource Bank. Examples include support for international students such as the online study skills resource SPICE International, which provides pre-arrival study skills induction, and also examples of providing home students opportunities of going abroad with an International Project week in Engineering and a Design student exchange programme with our partner ZZULI in China. But there is much more innovative work going on in the institution, and we would like to be able to share this experience and knowledge.

The SIG-Internationalisation will be a supportive community for Teaching Fellows and other colleagues who have an interest in internationalisation in higher education. In line with the HEA, the focus will be on teaching and supporting international students; internationalisation of the curriculum; and students’ academic mobility with a view to improving their employability.

It will provide a forum for discussion and collaboration and to share research evidence and experiential practice. The community will also encourage and help support colleagues in writing research proposals

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SIGInc

InclusivityCharlotte ChalmersThis special interest group will be headed by Charlotte Chalmers and Christine Pollock (FHLSS), who will liaise with staff and students across the University to develop the group. The aims of the group could be summarised as “the support and development of staff involved with teaching, in fostering and maintaining an inclusive ethos in teaching practice.” We felt it was important to make sure that we did not replicate work already done by other sectors in the University, so our first meeting was with Kev Head (Pastoral Support Advisor, SNMSC) and Anne Ireson (Head of Disability and Inclusion in Student and Academic Services). This article will outline the discussions held at that meeting.

In 2010, the Equality Act replaced the previous anti-discrimination laws with a single Act. The new Act has brought together the three existing equality duties on race, gender and disability and strengthened protection against discrimination in the areas (known as protected characteristics) of sexual orientation, age, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity and gender reassignment. Under this Act, public bodies are required to give due regard to the need to:

•eliminate unlawful discrimination;

•advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it; and

• foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.

The University’s Equality Scheme and Action plan 2010-2013, written in anticipation of the new Act, states desired outcomes for the student journey as: “The University can demonstrate equity in the student journey from pre-application to graduation.”

The involvement of the teaching community is therefore important as a source of evidence of good LTA practice to allow this outcome for all our students, and the Teaching Fellows can act as catalysts for this involvement.

The following are some actions we felt that the SIG could achieve within the next 12 months:

•Produce a summary “who does what” document for teaching staff to clarify the roles of, for example, SDCs and PDTs.

•Liaise with School disability contacts to identify areas of possible overlap/areas in which TFs can be proactive.

•Develop some “case studies” of good practice in inclusivity (possibly for the LTA Resource Bank, in a named folder).

• In liaison with Academic Development, respond to training needs for staff in developing inclusive LTA practice.

• Interact with students (possibly through the NSA) to identify areas of good LTA practice identify.

SIG M

MentoringCaroline Turnbull

As many fellows will be aware, moves are slowly underway to establish a Teaching Fellow Special Interest Group to support Teaching Fellows and other colleagues from across the University who are already active in mentoring or have an interest in becoming mentors. SIG-M is keen to support, develop and enhance mentoring work done in relation to Teaching Fellow and HEA Fellow applications, but recognises that this is only one of a number of areas of mentoring activity which Teaching Fellows routinely support. As well as recognising the work done in developing colleagues, the SIG aims to support Teaching Fellows and other active colleagues within their mentoring roles, offering the opportunity to reflect, share practice, consider external resources and develop networks. There is also the very exciting opportunity to work with colleagues in the Office of the Vice Principal (Academic) in the development and implementation of a SEDA mentoring/coaching award.

If you are interested in joining the group or finding out more, then please contact Caroline Turnbull (c.turnbull@napier.ac.uk). An inaugural lunchtime meeting of the group is currently scheduled to take place on Thursday 17 of November at 12.30pm in Craiglockhart (room TBA). If you are interested in finding out more, please grab your sandwiches and join us. Again, drop Caroline a note so we have an idea of who to expect. We look forward to working with you on this exciting opportunity.

tfj October 2011 17

connection with a range of educational development work, e.g. through grant-aided Teaching Fellow projects, as part of School-based learning, teaching and assessment enhancement work or as tutors or School mentors for students on the PgC TLHE. In considering all this, it is clear that there is huge potential to recognise existing achievement as well as to develop capacity in mentoring to support academic and professional development.

Coaching has been included alongside mentoring in the award title and learning outcomes, which allows institutions flexibility about how they will develop one or other or both within their own programmes. We are yet to make the final decision on this but at present are likely to offer options to our participants that match their specific needs. The curriculum includes identification of where mentoring and/or coaching may be beneficially used and the development and implementation of strategies and plans for appropriate schemes or for the mentoring/coaching of individuals, all referenced to the theory within the relevant literature. The assessment involves reflection on actual mentoring/coaching work done by the participant during the course so is orientated towards practice and our particular environment.

A full description of the new SEDA award may be obtained from the PDF web pages at: http://www.seda.ac.uk/pdf.html.

Where to now?

Writing the SEDA PDF award was stage 1 of a two-stage process, and stage 2 is not insignificant as the curriculum needs to be completed, materials gathered, assessment finalised, an external examiner appointed, an online presence created (in Moodle) and the official recognition event conducted. However, we are progressing well and I’m delighted that Elaine Mowat of the Professional Development team has joined me to form the programme team, bringing her particular expertise in technology enhanced learning, and we have a number of Teaching Fellows who wish to be part of the pilot in 2011/12. I’ve had further discussion with LJMU colleagues about their mentoring award and our Teaching Fellow Scheme, with a meeting in Edinburgh on 19 October and a visit to Liverpool planned for November.

One area we have been looking at recently, partly through the work of Professor Mark Huxham, is how we involve students in the development of the curriculum. I’d like us to take this approach within this mentoring programme, especially as the participants currently signed up are experienced and highly committed individuals with much to offer in terms of contributing ideas on what they would like to learn, how they would like to learn it and how they wish to be assessed.

New SEDA PDF Award in Mentoring and CoachingAngela Benzies

At the Teaching Fellow Appointments Panel in September 2010, there was a discussion about how we might develop our use of mentoring to support applicants for Fellowship. A year later, we have a new national award available through the Staff and Educational Development Association (SEDA) and are working on plans for an Edinburgh Napier programme that could make a significant impact on educational development in the broadest sense, far beyond the Teaching Fellow community.

SEDA PDF

Many of us will be familiar with SEDA, partly through their accreditation of academic programmes offered by the Office of the Vice Principal (Academic), i.e. the Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (PgC TLHE) and the Master’s Degree in Blended and Online Education (MSc BOE). SEDA’s Professional Development Framework (PDF) provides a flexible way to accredit professional development activities within institutions. There are a number of named awards which essentially form templates that institutions can use to write their own programmes. Up until this summer there was no award covering mentoring or coaching specifically.

Developing the idea

The Teaching Fellowship Scheme’s external assessor, Professor Diana Eastcott, is a nationally recognised expert in mentoring and offered her assistance in developing this area within the Teaching Fellow community at the outset. Diana’s experience of setting up and supporting the operation of the Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) mentoring programme (which was based on the Action Research PDF award) was particularly helpful, as was the generous assistance of Carol Maynard from LJMU, who is also a SEDA PDF committee member and our PgC TLHE external examiner. Supported by the SEDA PDF Committee Chairman, Stephen Bostock, Diana and Carol, I developed a proposal for the new award that was approved by the PDF committee in June, with finishing touches made over the summer.

The Edinburgh Napier Mentoring/Coaching award

Many existing Teaching Fellows act as mentors to those making applications for Fellowship, as well as supporting colleagues in applying for Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy. Quite apart from this, Fellows are often involved in mentoring others in

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where TEL is being effectively harnessed to better support large cohorts, improve assessment and feedback, and enable effective collaboration within and across different cohorts. TEL is becoming increasingly central within our taught postgraduate provision too, with a number of fully online Masters programmes currently in development.

For our staff, we have a rich Professional Development programme offering hands-on workshops and ‘bite sized’ online opportunities for exploring and engaging with TEL. Many colleagues are also enrolled on our SEDA accredited MSc Blended and Online Education, some as part of an initiative to ensure there is an accredited online educator in every School.

Finally, in terms of meeting wider student support needs, we need look no further than TEL-based initiatives like Getting Ready for University Study; A message of support: exploring the potential of mobile technologies to enhance support for articulating students; and Edinburgh Napier University Podcasts. This is to mention only three of several such projects!

Yet in what is still a relatively young area of educational practice, challenges remain around engaging those who have yet to think about what TEL could offer within their own teaching and student support activities, and in bringing to the fore the good practice of colleagues who have much to share that could benefit others but who perhaps don’t yet realise this!

We are also in a transient period relating to TEL within the institution, as we prepare to make the move to a new VLE and introduce the new Benchmark for the Use of Technology in Modules which emphasises, as a starting point, all modules making one or two ‘active’ uses of technology to enhance key aspects of the learning, teaching or assessment experience.

It is against this backdrop, and with a view to what lies ahead, that the Teaching Fellows Special Interest Group in Technology-Enhanced Learning came together for their first formal meeting in late September 2011. Following previous communications, the purpose of this first meeting was to agree the purpose of the SIG and the activities it could most usefully dedicate itself to in such a broad area. The meeting was a productive one, with the SIG identifying their main objective as being ‘To promote and facilitate good practice in technology-enhanced learning, teaching and assessment’. Other key decisions taken at the first meeting included:

•Organising a ‘TEL Fair’ event open to colleagues across the University and which would also help introduce the SIG to the wider institutional community.

•Having an initial main focus for 2011/12 and into 2012/13 on supporting the cascading and

As such an approach fits with our work on student engagement and the current QAA Enhancement Theme, Developing and Supporting the Curriculum, we could learn from the process as well as the result of this programme development.

There are other mentoring initiatives ongoing within Edinburgh Napier at present and my strategy has been to maintain links with colleagues in HR and FECCI in particular so we can be aware of developments and, where possible, share expertise and outcomes. My thanks are due to Jill Meighan, Mohammed Hameed, Sandra Cairncross and Marie Kane, who have taken the time to discuss this with me over the summer. Each mentoring scheme has its own specific aims but it is clear that there is much overlap.

The availability of an externally accredited mentoring award at Edinburgh Napier is a significant development with the potential to recognise existing good practice, enhance it and build capacity for learning and teaching development across the University, including development of our external reputation. I welcome feedback on this initiative and would be interested in any assistance you feel you could offer. Further details of the award will be reported through the tfj in due course.

Update and InvitationKeith Smyth

For over a decade, the University has been strongly committed to developing good practice in the area of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL), both as a means to provide an effective learning experience for our students through increased choice and flexibility in their studies and as an enabler in meeting wider support needs and key strategic priorities.

This has resulted in a rich range of TEL activity across a number of areas. In terms of our taught provision, use of the Virtual Learning Environment is well embedded in our programmes and modules and we are also seeing an increasing number of staff looking beyond the VLE to support their students through a range of other technologies, including handheld voting systems, blogs, wikis, simulations, podcasts and social networking platforms.

In terms of pedagogical issues, we can see in our undergraduate programmes excellent examples of

SIGTEL

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tfj October 2011 19

embedding of the new Benchmark for the Use of Technology in Modules.

•The importance of working with colleagues already heavily engaged in TEL, and of widening the membership of the SIG to any colleagues within the University who have an interest in TEL and a willingness to get actively involved!

•Establishing an online home for the SIG on the Edinburgh Napier Education Exchange.

At the time of writing, work is well underway in meeting each of the points above, and the SIG will be in touch with colleagues in the Teaching Fellows Community and beyond as plans become clearer. For now, this article should also be read as an open invitation to any colleagues who would like to join the SIG. Come and get involved – you’d certainly be very welcome!

To join the SIG, or to ask about the work currently being planned, please contact the SIG’s co-ordinator, Keith Smyth, in the Office of the Vice Principal (Academic), or alternatively speak with the current SIG member for your Faculty. Faculty SIG members are Karen Campbell and Karen Strickland (FHLSS), Robert Mason (FECCI) and Joan McLatchie (The Business School).

Write-TEL Online Supported Scholarly Writing in Technology-Enhanced LearningKeith Smyth, Senior Teaching Fellow, Office of the Vice Principal (Academic)

Nicola Whitton, Research Fellow, Education and Social Research Institute, Manchester Metropolitan University

Julia Fotheringham, Lecturer in Academic Practice, Office of the Vice Principal (Academic)

With the strong emphasis across the sector on research-informed teaching, scholarship of learning and teaching, and of course the upcoming Research Excellence Framework, writing for publication is an issue on many an academic’s mind. However, finding the time and support to write up our own learning and teaching related initiatives, and knowing where to start if we are new to this particular area of scholarly activity, can be a daunting prospect.

The Write-TEL project (Writing for Publication in Technology-Enhanced Learning), which was funded by a

Teaching Fellowship Grant, was developed as an online staff development initiative to support scholarly writing in technology-enhanced learning (TEL). Aimed primarily at colleagues within and also beyond Edinburgh Napier who had yet to disseminate their TEL work through peer-reviewed publication, Write-TEL was led and facilitated by Keith Smyth and Julia Fotheringham (Office of the Vice Principal, Academic), and Dr Nicola Whitton of Manchester Metropolitan University, who also led all the online workshops.

The concept for Write-TEL originated within Edinburgh Napier’s MSc Blended and Online Education (MSc BOE). Within the first run of the module Customised Study for Blended and Online Education, several participants on the programme expressed an interest in writing up TEL initiatives they had undertaken as part of their coursework for publication through relevant journals or peer-reviewed conferences. This was enabled through an approach that involved participants negotiating a focus and outlet for their work, and a plan of activity including further research or evaluation, drafting, review, and preparation for submission to a suitable peer-reviewed outlet. One of the Write-TEL team, in their role as Programme Leader for the MSc BOE, facilitated this process while Dr Whitton provided expert input into the process via an online workshop exploring key issues in writing for publication in the area of technology-enhanced learning. When several of the cohort for the first run of the CSBOE module had full papers accepted for international conferences and publication in associated peer-reviewed proceedings, there was a commitment to explore the possibility of broadening the approach to encourage other educators to write their first TEL-related publication.

Write-TEL ran as a series of four synchronous ninety-minute writing for publication workshops, held in Elluminate at monthly intervals between April and July this year and structured around the themes: Preparing to write for publication; Writing for your chosen outlet; Drafting and review; and Preparing for submission. Interspersed between the workshops were a small number of peer review and other activities, which took place in a Write-TEL group space that was set up within the Edinburgh Napier Education Exchange (Figure 1). Each participant was also supported by one of the Write-TEL team in a ‘critical friend’ role.

While originally limited to 12 places, of which six were to be offered internally and six externally, the interest in Write-TEL led to sixteen places being taken by Edinburgh Napier staff and colleagues from a number of other HE and FE institutions across the UK. All participants were active in technology-enhanced learning, but with the exception of two participants none had published their TEL-related work through peer-reviewed channels.

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At the time of writing, almost all of the participants who completed Write-TEL (thirteen of the original sixteen) have tangible published outputs or are working towards this with the continued help of their ‘critical friend’. Published or peer reviewed outputs and work in progress include:

•Three papers accepted for publication in the proceedings of the 10th European Conference on e-Learning (ECEL 2011) to be held in the UK in November.

•One short paper presented at the recent ALT-C 2011 conference.

•Two recently-completed final drafts ready for submission to chosen journals.

•Short paper presented at an internal conference on learning and teaching.

•Conference poster with follow-up written paper about to be undertaken.

The TEL-related topics covered across these outputs include enhancements to classroom-based teaching, student and staff adoption of educational technology, design of collaborative cross-cohort online projects, and gamed-based learning. In addition, as a result of connections made during Write-TEL, two participants have also had proposals for a forthcoming edited book accepted. Furthermore, a requirement for all who

participated in Write-TEL is to produce a case study for Edinburgh Napier’s LTA Resource Bank.

Evaluation of Write-TEL is ongoing and about to enter a qualitative stage involving interviews exploring the nature, challenges and benefits of Write-TEL for participants. However, our initial evaluation through an online survey has highlighted very positive experiences overall, with one participant nicely capturing the entire point of Write-TEL in stating that it “has significantly moved me forward from believing I could be a published scholar to actually being one”.

Our evaluation work has also highlighted key areas for enhancement for any future running of Write-TEL, and with considerable interest from prospective participants and institutions who would like to become involved in the delivery Write-TEL 2 is almost certainly on the cards!

So too is exploring how the Write-TEL format could be adapted to supporting writing for publication in other discipline areas, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, writing up Write-TEL itself for publication is also an important priority for the Write-TEL team. We’re off to a good start here, both with this tfj article and also a case study on Write-TEL that will feature in a best practice guide in engaging academics with technology-enhanced learning to be published shortly by UCISA (Universities and Colleges Information Systems Association).

Figure 1. Write-TEL Group Space within Edinburgh Napier Education Exchangehttp://www.napiereducationexchange.com/pg/groups/4584/writetel/

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Grants Panel UpdateAngela Benzies

In this new regular feature we’ll aim to provide news about what is happening with the Teaching Fellows Grants Panel and its associated work. See other articles on recent projects in this edition of the tfj.

Panel remit and membership

Any current Teaching Fellow or Senior Teaching Fellow may apply to the Teaching Development Fund for a grant to fund pedagogical project work, for help with learning, teaching and assessment events in their area, or for personal support, such as a contribution towards conference attendance.

The Teaching Fellow community has a say in the use of the money and this is done through consultation with Fellows on policy and, at a practical level, the Fund is administered by a Grants Panel comprising two representatives from each of the Faculties working with the Teaching Fellow Coordinator. The current membership is: Angela Benzies (convenor, Office of the Vice Principal (Academic)), Norrie Brown and Janis Deanne (Faculty of Health, Life &Social Sciences), Linda Juleff and Norma D’Annunzio-Green (The Business School) and Ian Lambert and Courtnay McLeod (Faculty of Engineering, Computing & Creative Industries). I am most grateful for the contribution of Kate Durkacz of the School of Engineering &the Built Environment, who has provided cover for maternity leave for the last several months. It is the intention that Faculty representatives will typically serve for a period of three years and then retire, which disributes the workload among the community and will allow other Fellows to gain experience of the work of the Grants Panel.

New developments

Since its inception three years ago, the Panel’s business has grown as the number of bids for funding has increased, so we have been developing our procedures to enhance the level of support given to applicants. I am very keen to make information on current activity and the portfolio of completed work more readily available to the community and other colleagues across the University, so have had discussions with Information Services about how we may extend our current online facility for submission of funding bids to achieve this. The aim is to be able to disseminate grant-related information widely in order to effectively build on previous work rather than ‘reinventing’, to foster links between people and projects in different areas across the University, to provide ideas for new projects and to support internal and external quality processes such as subject review and ELIR. By re-writing our information system to align with current institutional standards we also hope to simplify routine administration of the Teaching Fellow Scheme.

Recent Grant Awards

TF1102MarkitEasy Upgrade Alison

Varey£1,000

TF1103Scan-TEL (Environmental Scanning in Technology-Enhanced Learning)

Keith Smyth

£2,060

TF1104An international learning experience for Scottish & Australian Student Nurses

Liz Adamson

£1,228

TF1105 Peer tutoring Susan Watt £1,660

TF1106LTA Seminar in SNMSC Karen

Strickland£300

TF1107

A systematic review and exploration of the use of mobile learning technologies for practice based learning in nursing

Karen Strickland

£3,000

TF1108

Virtual World Nursing: Evaluation of a Wiki Based Module to enhance the International Learning Experience for undergraduate nursing students

Karen Strickland

£3,620

TF1109 Feedback First: the potential impact on MSc students

Kathy Velander

£3,490

TF1110

Refreshing and broadening the 2010 ‘Podcasting project’ to include all nursing and midwifery students

Christine Pollock

£1,000

TF1112

Scoping project of practice placements to consider a Hub and Spoke approach for the BN Child Health programme

Christine Pollock

£1,000

TF1114Dialogue in the lecture hall: using bootgrit and textwalls to start a conversation

Mark Huxham

£4,270

TF1115 Assessment of online discussions

Marjorie Keys

£1,462

TF1116Child protection conference, student essay and poster competitions

Marjorie Keys

£917

TF1117Approaches to networked learning using social & institutional technologies

Keith Smyth

£2,578

TF1118

It is claimed that ‘assertion and reason’ questions test higher order thinking – what safeguards can be put in place to ensure that this claim is valid?

Marjorie Keys

£1,770

TF1119 Attendance at SEDA Annual Conference

Joan McLatchie

£780

TF1120 Revamp of the Teaching Fellows Journal

Angela Benzies

£1,200

TF1121Attendance at SEDA Annual Conference

Karen Campbell

£1,195

Next funding round

The submission date for bids for the second and final round of Teaching Development funding for 2011/12 is 23 November. The Grants Panel will meet on 12 December to consider these requests, with results available at the beginning of January 2012.

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Project report: Revamp of the tfj

Angela Benzies

In summer 2011, the Teaching Fellow Coordinator explored the possibility of student project work on the Teaching Fellows Journal (tfj) with a colleague from the School of Arts & Creative Industries (SACI), Derek Allen. The brief was to evaluate the current format of the tfj and propose alternatives, re-consider the objectives and re-focus as required, to make recommendations for a sustainable operational framework, and to publish the October edition. The new look tfj needed to remain within Edinburgh Napier brand guidelines and also build on the Teaching Fellow branding work done by one of our BDes Graphic Design students the previous year.

Teaching Fellow project TF1120 was subsequently approved, and Ralph Sanders of the MSc in Publishing started a three-week assignment to the Office of the Vice Principal (Academic), supported by Angela Benzies, Derek Allan and Avril Gray of School of Arts and Creative Industries, OVP Information and Project Officer Anastasia Dragona and OVP Publications Officer Sarah Murray, Joan McLatchie and Kate Durkacz, Teaching Fellows in the Business School and School of Engineering & the Built Environment respectively. The tfj is still published online, but may also now be downloaded as a PDF and printed to enable reading away from a computer. And we’ve added a blog feature using the Edinburgh Napier Education Exchange to facilitate more reporting of news and to invite feedback.

We have covered a lot of ground in a very short space of time and Ralph’s contribution has been invaluable, both in terms of his creativity and technical competence and his ability to work with the ideas and requirements of others to produce an excellent publication that we feel helps us to achieve the objectives we set. From Ralph’s perspective, “This project has really allowed me to practice and stretch my technical and creative skills, and I hope that the end result will take the tfj out to a wider audience and encourage even more cross-Faculty collaboration and support in the existing Teaching Fellows community”.

We would like to know the view of our readers so invite you to comment through the Education Exchange at: http://www.napiereducationexchange.com/pg/groups/10882/teaching-fellows-journal/.

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Angela BenziesSenior Teaching FellowTeaching Fellows Coordinator

t: (0131) 455 6105e: a.benzies@napier.ac.uk

Sarah MurrayPublications Officer

t: (0131) 455 6122e: s.murray@napier.ac.uk

Ruth LoughTeaching Fellows Administrator

t: (0131) 455 6360e: r.lough@napier.ac.uk

Edinburgh Napier University is a registered Scottish charity. Reg. No. SC018373

Edinburgh Napier University Office of the Vice Principal (Academic)

Sighthill Campus Sighthill Court

Edinburgh EH11 4BN

e: TFAdmin@napier.ac.uk

http://www.url.napier.ac.uk/tf

Teaching Fellows Journal Contacts

Anastasia DragonaInformation and Project Officer

t: (0131) 455 5018e: a.dragona@napier.ac.uk