The Future of Learning in HE: February 2015

Leading change: Embedding research-based education at UCL

Anthony Smith Vice-Provost | Education and Student Affairs @AnthonySmithVP

UCL – the recent past

•  30% increase in faculty numbers •  75% increase in research spend to £375 million •  40% increase in student numbers to 38,000 •  3 overseas ventures •  Opening UCL Academy •  Mergers – School of Pharmacy, MRC Clinical

Trials Units, Institute of Education

National Student Survey vs Research Excellence Framework

REF (GPA)

NS

S

http://www.wonkhe.com/blogs/teaching-research/

UCL 2034

•  Academic leadership •  A global leader in the integration of research and

education •  Addressing global challenges •  An accessible, publicly-engaged organisation •  London’s global university •  Delivering global impact

“At UCL, our top strategic priority for the next 20 years is to close the divide between teaching and research. We want to integrate research into every stage of an undergraduate degree, moving from research-led to research-based teaching”

Professor Michael Arthur, President and Provost, UCL April 2014

What do we mean by research-based education?

After Healey and Jenkins, 2009,

A global leader in the integration of research and education, underpinning an inspirational student experience (UCL 2034 Strategy)

•  People •  Places •  Practice

Places

•  £1.2 billion spend over next 10 years •  Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park campus

New learning spaces

Our students

Full partners in the future of UCL

UCL 2034

(After Dunne and Zandstra 2009)

UCL  ChangeMakers  

UCL  ChangeMaker  Projects    

•  Opportuni4es  for  students  at  all  levels  to  iden4fy  an  aspect  of  their  educa4on  that  they  would  like  to  enhance,  develop  or  innovate  

•  Funded  research  projects,  leading  to  recommenda4ons  and  research  ‘outputs’  at  a  UCL  ChangeMakers  Conference  

hBp://www.ucl.ac.uk/changemakers    

People

We have struggled to substantiate our commitment to parity of esteem between research and teaching

and other activities in relation to the reward of academic staff.

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ucl-2034/key-enablers/staff

People – the relationship between research, education and professional practice

•  Separate endeavours in competition or necessarily interdependent?

•  Recognise education’s relationship with academic practice more widely, and with leadership, gives basis for transformation.

 A  space  for  dialogue  about  educa;on  

•  Encompasses  wider  dimensions  of  academic  prac4ce,  including  building  a  research  career  

•  Welcomes  you  if  you  teach,  supervise  research  and/or  support  students’  learning,  no  ma&er  what  your  job  0tle    

•  Wide  menu  of  opportuni4es  –  Learning  and  teaching,  curriculum  design,  

assessment  and  feedback,  student  support  and  educa4on  leadership  

•  Leads  to  HEA  Fellowship  awards  

People: Job titles, reward and recognition

•  Address inequalities of opportunity and reward for all those who contribute to the institution’s ecology

•  Does the division between ‘teaching’ and ‘academic/research’ roles serve our needs?

•  Linking HEA awards and promotions criteria •  Building on opportunities for promotion to

Professor through leadership in education –  underlines parity of esteem in institutional culture.

Practice – reforming curricula to emphasise research-based education

•  BASc •  Global Citizenship Programme •  Connected Curriculum

Practice Bachelor in Arts and Sciences BASc

•  Student demand •  Employment, careers, future lives •  Intellectual and academic

Students

•  Asked for more choice and flexibility in their undergraduate programmes

•  Are taking a wider mix of Sciences, Arts and Humanities at A-level

•  Rise of International Baccalaureate (IB)

Employment and futures

•  70-80% of graduate jobs open to a graduate in any discipline (CBI)

•  ‘Learning agility’, ‘flexibility’ more prized than specialisms

•  ‘Versatilists’ –  Apply depth of skill to wide scope of situations

•  Interdisciplinary working and sophisticated teamwork to solve complex problems –  business, health, politics, engineering, transport,

technology, media

BASc degree structure

Core 50% of study time

Pathways 50% of study time

The Interdisciplinary Core – Giving breadth, facilitating connections, fostering creativity, creating researchers Foreign Language Methods courses Research-based courses

Spanish, Mandarin, French, German, Arabic, Japanese, Italian, Russian

Quantitative Methods – Estimation, designing systems, modelling, coding, algorithms, optimisation, strategy, statistics.

Approaches to Knowledge – Interdisciplinary Epistemology. Sociology and history of knowledge and the disciplines. Superconcepts.

Interdisciplinary Research Methods - Qualitative or quantitative research? Data collection and analysis. Surveys, interviews, ethnography, qualitative coding.

Object-based learning – Interdisciplinary research and project work, in multidisciplinary teams.

Qualitative Thinking – Humanities’ approach to range of topics, critical thinking, what can and can’t be measured, connoisseurship.

Interdisciplinary electives – Module s based on UCL’s interdisciplinary research.

The Arts and Sciences pathways Cultures Societies Health and

Environment Sciences and Engineering

Anthropology Archaeology Anthropology (Biological)

Chemistry

Art History Geography Biochemistry Computer Science Design History Biomedicine Earth Sciences

English International Relations

Ecology Economics

Film Law Environmental Sciences

Engineering

History Philosophy Life Sciences Mathematics

Languages Political Economy Pharmacology Physics

Literatures Politics Psychology Science and Technology Studies

Philosophy Sociology Science and Technology Studies

Statistics

UCL GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP PROGRAMME

UCL Global Citizenship Programme An overview

Education for Global Citizenship

Produces graduates who:   Look beyond their individual and local interests

  See the complexity of an interconnected world

  Understand the nature of the challenges that face that world

  Are aware of their social, ethical and political responsibilities to that world

  Are ready to work together to change it for the better

Encompasses all aspects of UCL education   Degree programme content, extra-curricular activity, study abroad, language requirement, etc

  Epitomised in UCL Global Citizenship Programme – two-week, post-exam intensive course for undergraduates

UCL Global Citizenship Programme | Autumn 2014 25

UCL Global Citizenship Programme Why?

Bring students together across disciplines   Preparation for further study and research or world of work

  ‘A-ha’ moments and experience of working in teams

Complex problems mimic world beyond UCL   Increasingly connected world needs graduates ready to work in it

  Epitomises research-based education from year one of degree

Team-based problem-solving hones employability   Students ready to step out into world during study as well as after

UCL Global Citizenship Programme | Autumn 2014 26

Programme structure

Choose to take part each year Programme is non-linear, so students don’t have to take part every year if unable (e.g. departmental activity)

UCL Global Citizenship Programme | Autumn 2014 27

Second year Voluntary Sector Employability Enterprise

UCL Grand Challenges-themed courses First year

Final year

The Danube Grand Challenge: Intercultural Interaction

Overview   Explore both sides of the river’s role in bringing cultures together and keeping them apart, through history, politics, environmental science and literature

  Lectures, skills sessions and PGTA-led tutorials – 6hrs a day

  Taster lessons in Danubian languages (e.g. Hungarian, Serbian)

Outputs   Poster exhibition

  ‘Danube-on-Thames’ documentary film interviewing Danubian communities in London

UCL Global Citizenship Programme | Autumn 2014 28

“I had a fantastic two weeks and it definitely counts as one of the best things I’ve done the entire year”

UCL Global Citizenship Programme | Autumn 2014 29

“Thank you for giving UCL students this amazing opportunity. This is why UCL stands out!”

A  new  approach  to  research-­‐based  educa4on  

A  Connected  Curriculum  for  UCL    

Students    learn  through  research  and  

enquiry    

A  ‘throughline’  of  research  

ac4vity  is  built  into  each  programme  

Students  make  connec4ons  

across  subjects  and  out  to  the  world  

Students  connect  academic  

learning  with  workplace  learning  

Students  learn  to  produce  outputs  –  

assessments  directed  at  an  audience  

Students  connect  with  each  other,  

across  phases,  and  with  alumni  

Students  connect  with  staff  and  their  world-­‐leading  

research  

hBp://www.ucl.ac.uk/teaching-­‐learning/strategic_priori4es/connected-­‐curriculum    

UCL’s  Connected  Curriculum  (Fung,  2014)  

“There  are  many  contemporary  ideas  for  curriculum  change  in  higher  educa4on.    They  include  research-­‐based  educa4on,  interna4onalisa4on,  the  global  classroom,  interdisciplinarity,  public  engagement,  ease  with  the  digital  age,  students  as  authors  of  their  own  texts  and  the  development  of  students  as  cri4cal  ci4zens.”      

“The  extraordinary  thing  about  UCL’s  ‘Connected  Curriculum’  ini;a;ve  is  that  it  is  aDemp;ng  to  do  jus;ce  to  all  of  these  possibili;es.    The  world  of  higher  educa;on  will  be  watching  with  fascina;on  to  see  how  this  very  ambi;ous  strategy  unfolds.”  

Professor  Ronald  Barne&    Emeritus  Professor  of  Higher  Educa0on,  UCL  Ins0tute  of  Educa0on  

Connected  Curriculum  

UCL    ChangeMakers  UCL  Arena    

Connec4ng  people  and  prac4ce  

Acknowledgements

Dilly Fung Clare Goudy Carl Gombrich John Mitchell Tim Beasley-Murray Josh Blacker