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Learning and Teaching Conference 2015

Supporting Student Success

Conference Evaluation Report

Dr Alison Eyden, FDLT Health and Wellbeing

How we responded to last year’s feedback After the 2014 conference, delegates were asked how we could enhance the Annual Learning & Teaching Conference for 2015. The table below shows how the majority of feedback was actioned.

Table 1, response to last year’s conference feedback

Feedback Action taken for 2015 Recordings made of the sessions and then made available as podcasts

Did not do this

Too much time taken up with thank you and less time for awards

Shortened the thank you time considerably

Produce a list of all Golden Apple nominees into conference pack with quotes

Did not do this as Golden Apples had a separate awards event this year

SALTS work was available for longer (missed out on it)- SALTS have a discussion rather than workshop

SALTS had a café slot

Allow people to book a workshop and rooms allocated afterwards dependant on size of the group- Useful to have workshop abstracts before choosing the workshops

Abstracts available online to aid booking choice Almost all delegates had 1st or 2nd choice of workshop

More physical space for refreshment breaks (Powell too tight)

TOSH had plenty of room

Tighter timings (shorter breaks) Day ran to time More students attending and presenting- More student innovations for delegates and presenting

Some students presented, still an area for improvement

Ability to go to more than one workshop in the morning and afternoon

3 blocks of workshops available

Workshops longer to allow for discussion Workshops were the same length (1hr) Shorter workshops for more time to listen to speakers

Workshops were the same length (1hr)

Involve more University partners Strong EK presence, also Bromley College More pedagogical content over key notes would be useful and enhance the day

Positive evaluation of keynotes

Too many stats from keynote speakers wanted more about learning and teaching

Positive evaluation of keynotes

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The 2015 Learning and Teaching Conference The focus of the 2015 conference was “Supporting Student Success”. We had a good response for workshops which led to John Lea implementing a “café style” set-up as well as traditional workshops. This enabled all the proposed workshops to have a presence at the conference in some form and gave us a very broad range. The conference had a seaside theme with corresponding marketing, colour theme and catering (fish and chips, ice-cream) (see poster, Appendix 1).

The evaluation was written in BOS and sent out shortly after the conference, we had 59 responses from a total of 155 delegates (38% response rate).

Feedback

1. Overall conference organisation, administration and catering

2. How did you hear about the event?

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Other

• Email • FDLT • Word of mouth • Through manager

The comments regarding the overall conference were very positive

“Well done to all concerned for the organisation. Great idea to do fish & chips outside which enabled a relaxed and enjoyable opportunity for further networking and discussion” “Really nice mix of lectures and workshops” “The transitions during the day were very smooth” “Very interesting - great themes and useful 'ideas' to implement. Thank you - we could almost do with two 'mini ones during the year to remind and drive some of these ideas forward” “As a rookie I found the day inspiring and motivational. Good to put faces to names and particularly enjoyed the guest speakers and Pro VC's address as well as the sessions”

There was some concern around the FE/HE split. For the 2016 conference we need to think about this differently.

“Being eager, I booked for the conference independently before the 'special FE' bit was added, so was a bit confused about where I should be. As it was I did a kind of pick and mix. I'm not sure that separating the two groups was relevant - might have created a bit of a split…….Really HE is HE, wherever it is delivered - splitting us does not seem a good way to build partnerships?”

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3. Morning Keynote Speaker – Terry Dray, Director Graduate Advancement and Employer Engagement, Liverpool John Moores University (presentation available on request) a. Quality of Presentation

b. Relevance of content to you

c. Comments

“Extremely interesting - I have lots of ideas to try out at Bromley”

“Very useful tips on employability”

“Slow to begin initially but became more animated and enthusiastic as he went on- thoroughly enjoyable speech”

“We didn't attend the keynote session due to separate East Kent College program which I felt was a real shame. This would have been really relevant to my own teaching practice”

“I would have missed this if I had been in the 'right' place”

Generally positive, though once again, a number of comments about missing out because of the FE/HE split timetable

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4. Afternoon Keynote Speaker – Keith Smyth, Professor of Pedagogy, University of the Highlands and Islands (presentation available on request)

a. Quality of Presentation

b. Relevance of content to you

c. Comments

“Really interesting challenges about the use of third space”

“Very useful for my role”

“As a EKC College member we were given a different programme, a little disappointing as I would have liked to have had access to all Keynote speakers”

Generally positive, though once again, a number of comments about missing out because of the FE/HE split timetable

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5. Workshops

There were 20 “formal” workshops and a number of café style workshops which were available to all delegates in the refreshment breaks. The table below shows the number of survey responses for each formal workshop. We do not have the data for the actual number of workshop attendees but the table gives a rough idea of the responses. Rather than spread the attendees evenly across workshops, we decided to give each attendee their first or second choice resulting in different sized workshops, but hopefully attended by those who wanted to be there.

Workshop number

1 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

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Number booked on

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37

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8 18

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Survey responses

1 7 9 6 20

3 7 4 11

6 3 7 2 8 4 6 9 1 4 10

Due to the very small numbers of responses, the graphs describing the workshop experience are quite limited and not a terribly good indicator. The workshop evaluation data is in appendix 2, the plan for the day can be found in appendix 3.

Overall the workshops evaluated well with the majority scoring “excellent” or “good” for quality and opportunities for discussion. Almost all the workshops were deemed relevant by the participants.

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6. What did you like most about the whole event? A sample of the many positive comments

“I was unable to attend the whole event due to other commitments but from the sessions I attended and the lunch there was a lovely, collegial atmosphere” “Camaraderie, networking and the feeling of being prioritised for development” “A chance to reflect on my practice and meet colleagues” “Enjoyed learning how to make a difference for students. I also felt valued” “The celebratory and forward looking ethos” “Chance to meet and discuss with other tutors, chance to think about what you do and remind yourself why. Some interesting takes on theme of employability and lunch on the green was excellent” “I enjoyed the mix of guest presenters and the ability to select workshops relevant to my area of work” “Welcoming atmosphere” “Networking and the key note speakers, Café style workshops, Fish and chips ”

Responses as a wordle:

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7. How could we enhance the conference next year? What would you like to see included?

There was a wide range of responses but the two main themes were around the FE/HE split programmes and the number and timing of workshops. We were expecting the latter as a theme as we knew from the start that the day was quite long and saw attendance decreasing as we got to workshop block 3. Enhancements

“I'd like to see perhaps workshops not extending until 5pm - we were all pretty - bushed, but perhaps a drinks reception at the end of the day (not a plenary - not useful) to chat and reflect together” “To take part in the main CCCU offer and not have our own workshops - for EKC Staff” “More student participation” “More workshops aimed at Professional Services Staff working within Faculties” “Maybe only 1 keynote to allow more time for Q&A” “Name badges, easier for networking”

Topics for next year

“Include aspects which fit with the University PIP and the areas where we do less well with NSS USS” “Research/Action research on Transitioning, more on managing feedback and assessment” “Rookie Corner - Q and A session re learning & teaching specifically - "ask the expert panel" re a problem experienced” “More focus on employability especially having seen/heard the positive reaction/feedback from some academic colleagues” “Anything considered topical at the time” “Students as collaborators in learning and teaching” “Sustainability” “It would be great to have a 'top' digital tips that have proved from other unis to make a difference. Some quick and 'easy' wins”

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8. What did you learn from the conference that might impact on your future practice?

Student support How to develop better approaches to student support and feedback Some ways to mainstream support for disabled students Idea around the student experience recorded on a video of timeline when they would experience different stages of their learning Great techniques on how to level the playing field when communicating with students from gaining insight into how they see their time here at the University, and how staff can make themselves more accessible to them Idea of 'letter of expectations' for new students to help me work better with them TEL Practical ways of using the accessibility features on everyday (mobile) technology Potential for mobile technologies as 'universal' design to enhance learning. working in partnership Use of VLE tools which will now be incorporated within my teaching- for distance learning in particular I learnt about some new technologies that I am hoping to use in my workshops and lectures Several new tools offered both by the University and free-to-use; these came from sessions as well as through conversation with other delegates Increasing the use of VLE/skype to enhance learning Employability Importance of employability; portfolio careers What is graduateness ?'- graduate skills, work related learning and world of work skills I found it really interesting how embedded employability and the World of Work certificates are at LJMU - it would be very exciting if similar initiatives at CCCU could be given similar backing How developing employability skills within HE is a key focus for Universities - it has been a key focus in FE for many years The importance of employability Further embedding of freelance skills set and entrepreneurial qualities for students within the Professional Practice Module Terry Dray's keynote raised many key points I will take forward with fresh thinking

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the importance of employability Importance of employability and how this should be fully embedded within the curriculum L and T New ideas for teaching delivery. More confidence with feedback and teaching of academic writing Strategies in relation to assessment feedback, new tools and games which enhance learning The need to be proactive in teaching academic skills Encourages to try out new approaches to make learnt experiences more useful and relevant to students Idea of set 'Readers' for students rather than just a suggested booklist - will extend my practice of this All the breakout sessions gave me strategies which I would like to trial and potentially implement into my future learning and teaching. A cross faculty conversation has been initiated because of the last session I attended which could prove interesting how to improve distance learning Several key aspects of good assessment practice Importance of discussion to improving writing - already use it, but good to have it endorsed Sustainability issues Alumni Thinking more about how to involve alumni Student Engagement Radical notion that it isn't all down to the tutor - the student has a responsibility, this seemed to come up in several parts of the conference. FE tutors told it is all down to them - this is something we should take from HE

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9. Recommendations for the 2016 conference

1. Have fewer workshops, in particular do not have a late set of workshops (4-5). Attendance for block 3 workshops was greatly reduced and conference fatigue was setting in.

2. Have a shorter day, 9-3.30? 3. Workshop registration, modify the process so we know how many actually

attended each workshop. 4. Think about whether an FE/HE split is required, there were quite a few

comments around this across the whole survey. 5. Consider the café style workshops and whether it should just be left as

networking/refreshment time. 6. Ensure the keynotes are aware of how much time they have 7. Evaluate the conference on the same day, think about whether tablets could be

used. 8. Continue with a small planning team, this worked very well 9. Consider not having an overall conference theme, have an L&T conference and

sub themes

10. Next steps

• Distribute report • Publicise the positive feedback • Discuss at the next FDLT meeting particularly around how to pick up the “what

people will do differently” feedback • Set the date for 2016 conference • Start planning earlier taking into account recommendations from previous page

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Twitter feed and highlights

From the keynotes:

From partners:

A perfect summary from Wayne Barry!

All #CCCLT15 tweets can be found here:

https://storify.com/HeyWayne/cccu-learning-teaching-conference-2015?awesm=sfy.co_t0hrB&utm_campaign=&utm_content=storify-pingback&utm_medium=sfy.co-twitter&utm_source=direct-sfy.co