uhi millennium institute, hotls - the role of the he academy

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The Role of the HE Academy

Enhancing Learning and Teaching

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Background

• In February 2002, the Teaching Quality Enhancement Committee (TQEC) was established to review the arrangements for supporting the enhancement of quality in learning and teaching in higher education.

• In January 2003, the TQEC published its final report proposing the creation of a single, central body to support the enhancement of learning and teaching in higher education - the Higher Education Academy.

• The Academy was formed in May 2004 from a merger of the Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (ILTHE), the Learning and Teaching Support Network (LTSN), and the TQEF National Co-ordination Team (NCT).

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Mission

The Academy's mission is to help institutions, discipline groups and all staff to provide the best possible learning experience for their students.

Strategic aims and objectives

• to be an authoritative and independent voice on policies that influence student learning experiences

• to support institutions in their strategies for improving the student learning experience

• to lead, support and inform the professional development and recognition of staff in higher education

• to promote good practice in all aspects of support for the student learning experience

• to lead the development of research and evaluation to improve the quality of the student learning experience

• to be a responsive, efficient and accountable organisation

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External Drivers of Change in Higher Education

• reduction in numbers of low skill/high salary jobs• constant need for up-skilling of workforce• increased rate of change of commercial processes • pervasive and continuing impact of ICT• more knowledge & skills from more people - the

“knowledge economy”

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Internal Drivers of Change

Need to Rethink Learning/Teaching

• recognition of different modes of thinking

(e.g. analytic, holistic)• different theories of learning/teaching

(e.g. social, structural)• different types of learning

(e.g. surface, deep, strategic)• shift from broadcast teaching to supported independent

learning – “Life-long learning”

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HE Academy: Core Functions

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Characteristics of Higher Education Professionals

• possessor and user of specialist knowledge and skills• achieves and self-controls standards of performance• committed to students’ achievement• committed to continuing development - long training • adherence to set of values - code of ethics; disciplinary

procedures• user of discretion, not only rules• interacts with others in the academic community -

socialisation

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Enhancing Professionalism

• Membership of the HE Academy: is a mark of recognition of professionalism as a teacher/facilitator of learning

• Membership requires initial entry criteria plus on-going continuous professional development (CPD)

• Routes to membership: • Individual Entry Route for Experienced Staff • completing an Academy-accredited programme

(e.g. UHI’s PGCert in Professional Development)• through a collaborative agreement between the Academy

and another professional body

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Why should I join?

The HE Academy offers:• a kitemark of experience and expertise in

teaching/learning support• membership of a community of learning

through which to share best practice and ideas• influence and the chance to shape the

direction and services of the Academy• a performance indicator for external scrutiny

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Six Areas: Basis of Evaluation• teaching and/or the support of learning in higher

education • contribution to the design and planning of learning

activities and/or programmes of study • assessment and/or giving feedback to learners • developing effective learning environments and

learner support systems • evaluating your practice and personal development • using your research, scholarly activity or relevant

professional work to inform and impact on your teaching/student support

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Conclusion - The Four Rs

The HE Academy provides:• Recognition of professional skills• Responsibility for public accountability• Resources for the development of teaching and

learning support• Relationships: it forms a community of teaching and

learning practice

The HE Academy also strives to keeps standards in the hands of the academic/learning support community

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How do I join?

• UHI supports all academic staff who wish to join the HE Academy and, currently (2005) meets all joining and membership fees.

• Teaching and Learning Workshops on how to join the HE Academy (and its predecessor organisation ILTHE) have been held in the following colleges – NAFC, Shetland, Orkney, NHC, Inverness, Moray, Perth, Lews Castle, Argyll and Lochaber. If you would like a workshop in the future, please contact your Staff Development Officer.

• Otherwise, this Powerpoint will take you through the basics of how to complete the membership application.

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Membership Forms

• The Individual Entry Route is primarily intended for experienced staff. You submit evidence directly to the Academy, demonstrating that you satisfy the registration criteria through your professional experience.

• For a successful Registered Practitioner application, you are likely to have experience of teaching or learning support in HE gained over a period of three years or more.

• Membership forms are downloadable from:

http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/IndividualEntryRoute.htm



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Application – Page 1

• complete all details in full• you wish to apply to be

recognised as a Practitioner

so ensure that you tick that box

• for Institution, enter in the form:

“UHI Millennium Institute (XXXX College)”

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• tick the first four boxes, if you are applying through the Individual Entry Route

• if you are applying because you have completed your PGCert Professional Development (or equiv-alent), check with your course tutor that this has not been done already

(N.B. page 3 is for accredited programme applicants only)

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• the first answer should total all your teaching exper-ience – school, FE & HE

• the second answer should be the total for HE only (minimum of three is suggested)

• complete your subject area – note that this is meant to be a broad catagorisation (tick at least one box; and no more than three)

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• read this page – about supporting information - very carefully

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• note that your career history should be brief- it is suggested that you complete the information with your most recent post first

e.g. 2001-present HE Lecturer, Inverness College UHI

1995-2001 FE Lecturer, Inverness College

1991-1995 FE Lecturer, Lauder College

• if you have undertaken a module or other award in the learning and teaching field, complete in a similar fashion

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• you have now reached the main part of the form

• read each section carefully and complete the answer as required

• NB – this is not meant to be an exhaustive answer – the HE Academy are looking for evidence that you know about the area, not a dissertation on its worth

• keep to the 500 word limit ± 10%

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• The information you provide in your answers is the primary evidence that the accreditors will use to reach a decision on membership.

• This is intended to be a route that recognises the value of accumulated experience and the Academy is looking for a concise statement about your teaching and learning support experience.

• Please do not provide additional material (such as student feedback forms, teaching observation notes or published papers), as the accreditors will not be able to consider it.

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Balance of description and reflection• The accreditors look for evidence that your approach to

teaching and learning support is informed by an understanding of how learners develop knowledge and learning skills. They look partly for a description of a range of activities with which you are involved, but more importantly for an indication that you use your understanding of the learning process, and knowledge of relevant scholarship, to select appropriate methods of teaching, learning support and assessment.

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Balance of description and reflection (cont.)• The accreditors will particularly look for indications of how you

evaluate the effectiveness of your teaching and learning support activities and how you develop your approach in the light of experience. Evidence of a critical approach to your experience should appear in all the relevant sections you have completed of

the form (not simply in section 5).

Evidence of coherence of approach• Your application should demonstrate a scholarly and coherent

approach to teaching and the support of learning. If your experience covers a broad spread of activities you may wish to outline the range of your work in the first section and then draw on particular examples in more detail in the other sections of the form.

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• Ideally your answer should take the following form:– what you do – why you do it in that fashion– what benefits your students receive by you doing it this way

• Ideally your answer should contain three separate examples for each section (which you should try not to repeat elsewhere in the form – so think carefully!)

• Crudely, if each example is 150 words long, then each explanation of what you are doing, why and for what pay-off only requires to be 50 words in length (Yes, it really is that easy!)

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Keep in the back of your mind the following guidance:

“Other people’s knowledge is just information”

• Effective teaching is helping people to turn information into knowledge

• by getting them to do things with the information• and giving them constructive feedback about their

attempts• and, if necessary, by repeating the learning process

until knowledge is gained

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Teaching and support of learning1. Please indicate the range of teaching and learning support

activities in which you are involved. Choose up to three activities or techniques you use and comment on how you came to use them and why you think they are successful. The activities might include teaching and supervision of postgraduates, studio, clinical, laboratory or workplace-based teaching, as well as lecturing, tutorial and seminar work. It may also include open and distance learning and/or the management of virtual learning environments. In some cases it might be relevant to include formal or informal development of colleagues as well as students, such as acting as a mentor to new lecturers or contributing to in-house learning and teaching programmes.

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Evidence Assessors Expect• The accreditors expect to see evidence of a rationale for

choosing activities and techniques used and how they relate to developing the learners' understanding of the subject.

• The accreditors will judge whether the range of teaching and learning support activities given is appropriate for the educational context (appropriate-ness to subject, level, intended learning outcomes and the student profile).

• The accreditors will seek evidence of a rationale for choosing activities and techniques used and how they relate to developing the learners’ understanding of the subject.

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1. Indicate the range of teaching and learning support activities in which you are involved.

PICK THREE EXAMPLES FROM:• lecturing• tutorial work• seminar-based teaching• fieldwork/summer schools• research project supervision• studio/laboratory-based teaching• workplace-based teaching• open learning support• distance learning support• management of virtual learning environments• mentoring new lecturers• contributing to in-house learning and teaching programmes

…or think of a different activity that you personally are involved in.

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1. Specimen Answer (not perfect, but you get the idea) “A significant proportion of my time is involved in lecturing [example 1; what I do]. I do this to allow me to give a large volume of core

information to a number of people at the same time, in a way that is both effective for the learning process and comfortable for the students (as indicated by regular course feedback). My lectures form a backbone to the course – giving structure to the learning process – and give me a first-hand opportunity to engage with the whole class on a face-to-face basis: passing on information; answering questions; indicating sources for further individual study; and posing questions which I return to in tutorials and later in the course – ensuring that the learning from the lectures links with the rest of the course. [example 1; why I do it in this fashion]. The students benefit from my lectures as they all have a common benchmark of information which through further study, discussion and supported reflection they can use to form the solid basis of their knowledge of the subject.” [example 1; what benefit is gained from this approach; example total: 162 words]. “In addition to classroom-based teaching, I also support my students when they engage in workplace-based learning. [example 2; what I do]. I choose to deliver part of my teaching in this manner as my subject – brain surgery – is highly practical and vocational and requires a marriage of practical “hands-on” experience with classroom-based theory. Originally, all the course was delivered in the classroom but, after discussion with academic colleagues, industry professionals and past students, I reflected that workplace-based learning would better allow the students to witness the day-to-day challenges of brain surgery in a practical environment. [example 2; why I do it in this fashion]. I feel that students benefit as a result of this approach by being able to debate the challenges of the subject based on “real-life” scenarios and also to link previously-learned theory with current professional practice. Students also benefit by being able to freely talk to industry professionals and experience cutting edge information and practice (I also benefit and my continuing professional development is enhanced by similar discussions). [example 2; what benefit is gained from this approach; example total: 156 words]. “As many of my students are non-traditional learners, I also am involved (with colleagues) in the active management of virtual learning environments [example 3; what I do]. My lectures and work-based placed teaching provide a staring point for discussion. Originally, all this discussion took place solely in tutorials but – as technology advanced and as my own staff development allowed me greater skills – it became clear that the part-time, mature and distance-learning students really appreciated more virtual engagement. Now, I support all my students in learning through the VLE with self-selected quizzes, email, bulletin boards and discussion fora. Twice a week, I have formal ‘engagement’ sessions through the VLE; more normally, learning is informal on my part: it is planned, directed and progressed by the student themselves (although I moderate some of the engagement for quality assurance purposes) [example 2; why I do it in this fashion]. The students benefit from my encouragement of this self-directed learning because they acquire subject-based knowledge and enhance their employability by growing their confidence, communication skills, IT skills and other skills transferable to the world of work. I also find that such an approach to learning allows me greater scope to pursue individual learning with specific students and to support students struggling with concepts/theories in privacy, and on their terms, without the need to involve the rest of the class.” [example 3; what benefit is gained from this approach; example total: 212 words; answer total 530 words].

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• complete as before• remember:

- what you do

- why you do it that way

- what the benefits are• unless absolutely necessary,

do not duplicate examples you have already given in previous sections

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Design and planning

2. Please identify the ways in which you contribute to the design and planning of learning activities. These might include involvement in the design or re-design of curricula, courses and programmes of study and/or identifying and planning different kinds of interaction with learners in various contexts for single sessions or larger programmes. Equally it might include indirect involvement through participation in validation panels, or contribution to the creation of learning resource packs and computer-based or open learning materials. It might also include the development of virtual learning environments.

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Evidence Assessors Expect• The accreditors expect to see evidence of a rationale

for choosing learning content, activities and techniques and how they relate to developing the learners' understanding of the subject.

• The accreditors will consider the evidence of course design and planning activities undertaken and its appropriateness for the activities to the educational context.

• The accreditors will comment on the applicant’s awareness of the relevance of the activities to the effective delivery of teaching and the support of student learning.

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2. Indicate your contribution to the design and planning of learning activities.

PICK THREE EXAMPLES FROM:• course preparation (annually, weekly, daily)• identifying and planning learner interaction• writing/re-designing new course material• varying teaching/assessment modes • developing online materials• contributing to student handbook/support materials• creation of learning resource packs • participating in course/module committee meetings• participating in UHI/college Academic Development processes• contributing to UHI/college Quality Committees• participation in validation panels• participation in QAA/HMI audit activities• responding to External Examiners • creation of open learning materials• development of virtual learning environments

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- what you do




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Giving feedback to learners

3. (i) Please indicate how you give feedback to learners (eg in writing, orally, as part of the supervision of research students). Describe how you try to ensure that the feedback you give to learners helps them to improve their performance and develop as learners.

(ii) Please also describe the types of assessment you use with learners, both formal and informal (formative and summative). Indicate how and why you choose the approaches and methods you use, in so far as this is your own decision, and to what

extent, if any, you are involved in designing assessments.

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Evidence Assessors Expect• The accreditors will expect to see evidence of a

rationale for choosing activities and techniques used and how they relate to developing the learners' understanding of the subject.

• The accreditors will consider the suitability of the range of assessment and feedback activities given.

• The accreditors will consider evidence of a rationale for choosing activities and techniques used and an awareness of their impact on learning development in relation to the educational context.

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3. Assessment and giving feedback to learners

PICK THREE EXAMPLES FROM:• Informal feedback - verbal or written; planned or unplanned• Formal feedback - guidelines; comments; pro-forma• Individual feedback to student• Group feedback to students• Individual feedback from you• Group feedback from you as part of a marking team• Peer review• As part of normal supervision• In separate feedback sessions• Through varying assessment modes• Student self assessment

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- what you do




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Developing effective learning environments & learner support 4. Please comment on the range of ways in which you contribute to

making the learning environment effective for learners. Learner support might include such activities as personal and academic tutoring, one-to-one advice, counselling, developing practice to meet the learning implications of widening access, or supporting learners with disabilities. Developing effective learning environments might include managing the physical environment or virtual environments so that they are appropriate to the learners’ needs. It might also include working with learners and service providers to ensure that learners have access to, and are able to make effective use of, a broad range of learning opportunities. It might also include liaison and planning activities in support of fieldwork or work placements.

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rationale for activities and how they relate to developing learning.

• The accreditors will consider the applicant’s approach to developing learning environments and student support activities.

• The accreditors will indicate whether they found evidence that the applicant has made reasoned and informed choices about the relevance of activities to the educational context.

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4. Developing effective learning environments & learner support

PICK THREE EXAMPLES FROM:• College design, lighting and layout• Room design, lighting and layout• Seating and site-lines• Access to appropriate computers, etc• Access to suitable labs, rooms, fieldwork• Teaching and Learning strategies• Placements/Years abroad/Work-place learning• Guest lecturers/tutors• Style of teaching - one-to-one advice/group teaching• Counselling and learner support• Guidelines, workshops and development tutorials• Supporting learners with special needs

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- what you do




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Evaluating your practice and personal development

5. Please include here a brief description of the means by which you evaluate your teaching/learning support activities, both formally and informally, and how you build on what you learn about your working practices. Please refer to how you seek feedback on your practice from colleagues and learners, how you evaluate this feedback and provide examples to show how you have used feedback in developing subsequent activities. You should also refer here to any activities you have undertaken to update yourself on aspects of teaching and learning, including staff development activities or conferences on learning and teaching. Also include participation in projects to develop learning methods.

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commitment to professional development and of the influence of development activities on your teaching and learner support activity.

• The accreditors will consider evidence provided of reflection and evaluation on teaching practice.

• The accreditors will indicate whether they found evidence of commitment to professional development.

• The accreditors will look for evidence that the applicant uses their own learning to inform development of teaching and student support activities.

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5. Evaluating your practice and personal development

PICK THREE EXAMPLES FROM:• Informal discussion with colleagues• Formal discussion with colleagues eg committees• Repeat known best practice over time• Develop new skills and apply to new teaching• At course, college, UHI or sectoral level• External Examiners/Course Leaders forums• Student feedback - formal or informal• Informal discussion with students• Student evaluations• Engagement in Staff Development• Scholarship on pedagogy• Conferences of Learning and Teaching

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- what you do




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Integration of scholarship with teaching and supporting learning

6. Please use this section to give examples of ways in which you draw on your subject research, scholarly activity or other professional activities in the support of teaching and learning. Activities undertaken as part of a group or team are valued as much as individual activities. The Academy does not require all Practitioners to be significantly involved in discipline-based research. If your main responsibilities lie outside this area, please indicate how you support your teaching and support of learning through other types of scholarly activity related to your discipline. Relevant professional activities may include those you engage in outside the higher education context.

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Evidence Assessors Expect• The accreditors will expect to see evidence that you

have actively sought opportunities to create links between your teaching or support for learners and your research and scholarly activity or relevant professional engagement with your discipline.

• The accreditors will consider the evidence provided which demonstrates how the applicant has integrated relevant research and/or scholarly activity and/or professional work into their teaching and learning support activities.

• The accreditors will comment on the interrelationships between design, teaching, learning, assessment and student support activities and their coherence.

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6. Integration of scholarship, research and

professional activities with teaching & learning

PICK THREE EXAMPLES FROM:• Engaging in Research - study• Engaging in Research - write and deliver papers• Supervising Research• Scholarship - books and/or websites• Scholarship - newspapers (eg THES, Guardian)• Scholarship - circulars• Discussions with peers - inter-UHI and extra-UHI• Attending conferences• Attending workshops/forums• UHI Subject Network/Faculty Development days• Discussion forums e.g. HE Academy Subject Networks• HE Academy membership

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• complete if required• you do not have to complete

this section, if you feel you have nothing further to add

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Application – Pages 14 & 15

• think carefully who your referees will be

• ideally, one referee should be a close colleague or line manager

• ideally, one/both referees should be members of the HE Academy (if not – get them to join!)

• you must approach your referees before sending away the application

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Referees

• The function of the referees is to provide an informed peer review of your eligibility to join the Academy, using their knowledge of your work and the context in which you teach and/or support learning.• The referees you choose should be people who know your professional work and understand the context in which your teaching and learning support activities take place. • They need not necessarily be very senior members of your department, but they should be experienced staff active in teaching and learning support and be able to comment knowledgeably and from first-hand experience of your work. • The accreditors find it helpful when referees are able to comment on your current role and responsibilities and any other relevant activities undertaken within the last three years.

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Referees• When you ask someone to act as a referee, you should provide them with the Guidance Notes for Referees, so that it is very clear from the outset what kind of reference is required in support of your Academy application. • The reference should focus on your experience and achievements in teaching and supporting learning in HE and on your research record insofar as it directly informs your teaching. • You should provide referees with a copy of your completed application form before they start to write, so that they can refer to and comment on the contents.



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Referees

• Please ask your referees to return the reference to you, to submit to the Academy with your application form. The references must be signed and authenticated and we cannot accept references sent by email.• Please send both references to the Academy together with your application. It is your responsibility to collect the references and the Academy cannot chase your referees on your behalf. • The Academy will only be able to start processing your application once they have received all the completed application documents and both references.

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Application – Page 16• complete, sign and date• collate with your two

references and any additional documentation (if required)

• get your Staff Development Officer, or someone else familiar with HE Academy, to read through your application and comment on it

• send it away – you should hear back in 6-8 weeks!

• Good luck!