Welcome to the December 2010 LDC Blog
In the news this month:
Inclusivity Day
Showcase
Sign up for this month’s Good Morning City session – Gimme, Gimme, Gimme
Research Funding Opportunities with JISC – E-Content Projects
Winners of the LDC ‘Vision of the Future’ Competition
Dates for your diary
Inclusivity Day
Inclusivity in the curriculum has gained much interest over the last few years and covers a range of issues aiming to make education accessible to all.
On the 10th November 2010 the LDC hosted a one day Inclusivity Workshop in order to provide an opportunity to explore this topic and hear from those who have been involved in projects elsewhere.
In total 20 members of academic staff from across the University joined the day to hear from a range of experts in the field.
Dr Helen May Senior Advisor Higher Education Academy provided the start to the day with a presentation on what inclusivity in academia is and what the scope of this is with the benefits. This enabled all participants to consider their own definition of inclusivity. Helen’s talk provided both background information and points to stimulate further discussion about participants own programme and department policy.
This was followed by Dr Anne Qualter presenting the Summit programme that had been run at the University of Liverpool. Inclusivity for the curriculum was being approached across the entire university and this project enabled staff to work together to implement this. This presentation provided some discussion of approaches that can be used in different programmes to suit student needs.
There was then an opportunity for participants to choose to attend one workshop from a choice of two. One workshop was by Dr Val Chapman from the University of Worcester who focused on Inclusivity in Teaching and Learning. The workshop started with discussion of the Equality Act 2010 and our responsibilities related to this. There was also discussion about discrimination and indirect discrimination. This enabled participants to think about different aspects of practice. The second workshop was by Leonie Ramondt from Anglia Ruskin University and explored the issue of Inclusive curriculum design. The session started by getting all participants to consider when they had felt included and excluded and this provided a good range of discussion. We then considered different ways people view things that might lead to people feeling excluded. There was also reference to the Equality Act 2010. Leonie then discussed the equality proofing project which was focused on staff needs and training. Examples of some of the training were shared and participants were asked to discuss what happened at City University London.
There was then a further chance for all participants to attend one further workshop from a choice of two. One of these was by Dr John Butcher from University of Northampton and focused on inclusive assessment. This presentation focused on a project undertaken which looked at students who had struggled with assessments through data available and looked to see if there were shared characteristics such as students with dyslexia, overseas students and others including those with non-traditional entrance qualifications. There were also focus groups with staff to explore what they knew about inclusivity. The project then provided guidance for review of assessments and providing feedback. The other workshop was by Andrea Kenneally, Amanda Clements, Scot Dawson and Rebecca Lewis who all work within the student centre at City University London. The presentation was focused on good practice examples of working with students centres with a range of issues that met the inclusivity agenda. This enabled some case examples to be explored.
The day then ended with a question and answer session. All those who attended found the day useful and enjoyed the presentations and a chance to discuss these issues in relation to their own work.
Learning Development Showcase 2011
Learning Development Showcase – Wednesday 26th January 2011
4:00pm – Students’ Union
Improving Teaching & Learning Quality at City
Over a hundred people attended the LDC Teaching and Learning Showcase event held on the 3rd February 2010. It was praised by those who attended as “An excellent opportunity to network with other schools”, and a “Great showcase of learning resources to build into teaching”.
On January 26th 2011, the LDC will be holding the next Teaching and Learning Showcase in the Students’ Union and all staff are welcome to attend. The event will be structured around ‘Improving Teaching and Learning Quality at City’ and there will be demonstrations of the services and technologies that can assist you in teaching, as well as displays highlighting some of the Learning Development research both conducted and supported by the LDC.
The stalls will be organised around three strands of our work
Development Opportunities
– Academic Practice Programme
– PhD/M Phil in Professional Education
– Good Morning City Monthly Fora
– Learning Technology Training Sessions & Helpdesk
Expertise
– LDC Research Projects
– Brand new LDC Journal Launch
Celebrating Success
– Showcasing the work of Project Resource Officers around the Schools
– Learning Development Projects
– Award ceremony for Academic Practice Students
The Showcase offers a unique opportunity to learn about a wide range of ongoing work throughout City University and to ask questions and get the perspectives of the people making it happen. It is also an excellent opportunity to meet other staff and build networks across the institution.
The Showcase will also provide a great opportunity to network with colleagues with wine and nibbles served from 5pm.
If you have any questions about this event, please contact ldc@city.ac.uk.
To book your place at the showcase, simply fill in our online form, available here – http://www.city.ac.uk/ldc/events/Showcase_form.html The format of the Showcase is flexible and colleagues are welcome to attend any time between 4pm and 6pm, however you are encouraged to arrive in time for Professor Paul Curran’s address at 4.30pm.
Good Morning City Learning Development Forum
The theme for December is around giving good quality feedback fast.
Gimme, Gimme, Gimme
Giving good quality feedback to lots of students fast
All teaching staff are warmly invited to attend the third session in the LDC’s Good Morning City series on Wednesday 15th December starting at 8:30am until 9:30am in room E201 (The MILL). Andrew Oliver, Paul Izzard and Tom Sanderson will be hosting this mornings’ session looking at how we can rapidly process student assessment while providing high quality feedback on their performance.
Dr. A. MacFarlane, Senior Lecturer, Department of Information Science, will be sharing his experience on using the viva technique to provide rapid and quality feedback for high stakes assessment. This is set against a comparison with previous use of the more traditional written exam format.
Kate Reader, Educational Technologist, School of Social Sciences, will look at methods for rapidly delivering grades and feedback via Moodle.
Also contributing with related case studies involving innovative technology will be Shane Wohlers (E-Learning Manager for the School of Informatics and the School of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences).
In addition, there will be some time set aside for your questions and to discuss any issues related to the theme.
We would welcome your perspectives and opinions at this seminar, and if you would like to attend please email ldc@city.ac.uk
Research Funding Opportunities with JISC
JISC Research Funding Opportunities for E-Content Projects
Are you interested in conducting research into electronic content for your programmes? Do you need funding to get started?
The Joint Information Systems Committee are offering funding for up to 18 projects on different issues regarding e-content. The closing date for proposals for all the projects is 10th December 2010, so take a look at the details below and get writing!
JISC Grant Funding eContent
JISC invites institutions to submit funding proposals for projects to be funded as part of its e-content programme for 2011. Funding of up to £840,000 is available within two strands: Enriching via Collaboration, and Developing Community Content.
Up to 11 projects will be funded. Maximum funding for any one project is £100,000 Closing date 10 December 2010
Rapid Digitisation
JISC invites institutions to submit funding proposals for projects to be funded as part of its e-content programme for 2011. Funding of up to £400,000 is available for rapid digitisation.
It is anticipated that 5-7 projects will be funded and the maximum funding available for any one project is £100,000. Closing date 10 December 2010.
LDC Vision of the Future Competition
Vision of the Future winners announced
The winners of the Learning Development Centre’s ‘Vision of the Future’ competition were announced last month at the Vice-Chancellor’s Open House. The contest, initiated by Deputy Vice-Chancellor Julius Weinberg and coordinated by the LDC, called for descriptions of the University as it might be in 2025, 15 years from now.
Entries were surprising and entertaining and included a diverse range of visions. The winners were presented with their prizes by Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Curran on the 28th October, and were placed as follows –
1st Prize – Dr Tim Meldrum, City Research and Enterprise Unit
2nd Prize – Andrea Tinson, School of Social Sciences
3rd Prize – Louise Gordon, School of Arts
You can read the winning entries in full on the University website – http://www.city.ac.uk/news/archive/2010/11_Nov/151110_6.html
Dates for your Diary
The LDC is hosting a range of events, sessions and workshops this year, we do hope that you can attend at least some of these. The up and coming dates to note are as follows:
Good Morning City: Gimme, Gimme, Gimme – 15th December 2010
Learning Development Showcase – 26th January 2011
Researchers’ Development Day – 7th April 2011