I attend the above conference on Thursday 15th and Friday 16th November 2012 in Birmingham. The conference focused very much on activities to identify what “good” or “excellent” teaching is and can this measured objectively along with a range of schemes to provide recognition and reward.
There were some really interesting papers that explored using interviews and videos to observe teaching and then identify specific activities about good teaching but there were also many discussions about should we focus on good teaching or is it about lecturers who enhanced student learning a slightly different focus. We need to consider much more how we measure the impact on student learning of the good or excellent teaching if we really want to see the impact.
There are a range of award schemes running around the country too which now increasingly include student led schemes but these vary in how they are undertaken too. Some have just student nominations then staff decide the winners, others have student nominations and voting online but then are approved by staff and then some like ours here at City University London are student nominated and decided.
Oliver Williams from the NUS made some excellent points both about how can we ask students what excellent teaching is when we cannot always agree but also in terms of the need to work with students to discuss their expectations and their role in education.
Here is the link to my blog of the sessions I attended http://pamconferences.blogspot.co.uk/
and here is the SEDA conference website where further information can be gained http://www.seda.ac.uk/index.php?p=14_2&e=427&x=1
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