Summary
We were delighted to hold our first MA in Academic Practice (MAAP) symposium on May 15th, 2024, to offer an opportunity for past and present students of the programme to share their experiences of how it has continued to inform their academic practices. The event featured a history of the MAAP, six engaging lightning talks, and a presentation by our very own Professor Jane Secker and Dr. Luis Pereira in LEaD on their emerging findings from a research project investigating the impact of the programme on students’ digital skills and open practices.
Main themes of the symposium
- One central theme that emerged from the event was the importance of reflective practice and continuous professional development. The presenters emphasised how the MAAP has encouraged them to pause, reflect on their teaching approaches, and engage with educational theories and literature to shape and refine their practices.
- Several presenters discussed how the MAAP has helped them to adopt more student-centred approaches to teaching, learning and assessment design.
- The role of technology in academic practice was a recurring topic, with presenters sharing their experiences of digital literacies, open practices, and the integration of various technologies to support blended learning environments.
- The symposium highlighted the development of leadership skills and the value of collaborative learning for academic and professional practice.
An overview of each lightning talk
The history of the MAAP
The symposium opened with an interesting reflection on the history of the MAAP by Professor Pam Parker. The programme dates to 2001 and has maintained a modular structure, covering consistent topics in areas such as learning, teaching and assessment; student support and personal tutoring; curriculum development; and digital literacies and open practices. The MAAP has experienced steady growth, with 17 students currently enrolled in the dissertation module . Over the past five years, 23 students have successfully completed the full MA and, for those seeking to continue their development beyond this, there is the PhD in Professional Education, introduced in 2010.
Pam also reminded everyone that City staff can take optional individual modules as CPD opportunities without needing to complete the associated assessments or pursue the full MA.
A notable update to the programme is the addition of a module on Assessment Design and Feedback. For more information about the MA in Academic Practice programme, please visit this page: MA Academic Practice – Master’s degree • City, University of London
From Reflection to Action: Transforming Teaching Practice
Anjli Shah, a Careers Consultant at City, discussed how the Learning, Teaching, and Assessment (LTA) module has helped her reflect on and refine her session planning, teaching, assessment, and feedback practices.
She stressed the collaborative nature of the programme, how she had learned from participants from a diversity of disciplines. She also commented how being a student on the module had enabled her to empathise with her students’ challenges with learning. This was an ‘aha’ moment for her as by reflecting on her own experiences and practice, she had become alert to the value of adaptive teaching, including scaffolding techniques, to provide support congruent with students’ needs.
PG Laws and Skills Mapping
Sophie Odgers-Roe
, a former student of the MAAP and, currently, a Careers Consultant at the University of London, introduced us to the “Skills Mapping” approach used by the Careers service. Being on the MAAP programme encouraged her to integrate regular opportunities for evaluation to shape the design of career micro-modules. Sophie demonstrated how the approach of mapping core employability skills across different specialisms, including “Medicine and Law” equips students and academic staff with insights into how these transferable skills are developed within the curriculum.
I’m not a teacher, am I?
Kathryn Drumm, an Education Technologist in LEaD, shared her humorous journey of recognising herself as a teacher within her various past and present roles.
Despite thinking initially, “I don’t teach people, I train them”, Kathryn realised that pedagogical principles underpin much of her practice, such as supporting staff with the various features of Moodle. Kathryn was honest about finding reflective practice challenging and credited the EDM 112 Personal Development Planning MAAP module with helping her to see herself as a teacher. Engaging with the scholarship of teaching and learning is a valuable part of her role as she helps staff not only to navigate the technical elements of digital technologies such as Poll Everywhere but also to consider their affordances in the learning process.
The future is AI?
Diane Bell, a Research Librarian at City, graduated from the MAAP in 2017. As part of the process, she completed a dissertation on the factors which influence the digital tools and skills used by doctoral students. Diane has continued to explore educational digital technologies and talked about the potential impact of AI on education. She discussed her experiences of upskilling in AI technologies, sharing insights from a journal club discussion, a JISC MOOC, and a team skills sharing presentation on AI opportunities and concerns in AI.
Gaining from the MAAP programme
Teopista Ssemakula, a Senior Practice Development Nurse within the Operating Department Theatre in an NHS Trust in London, provided an overview of the various modules she has undertaken as part of the MAAP programme.
She commented that she had learned something from each module and the knowledge gained had increased her confidence and enhanced her credibility in supporting both staff and students in different health-related disciplines. This includes an improved knowledge of learning theories, stakeholder engagement, research methods, and data analysis tools. Teo is currently undertaking a research project as part of the MA programme and will be presenting her emerging findings at City’s Learning and Teaching conference on 19th June. More information about the conference and Teo’s presentation can be found here: Learning at City Conference 2024 – Learning at City
How the MAAP helped to shape my academic practice
Lisa Baker, an Educational Technologist, recounted her interesting and varied job history and how, like Kathryn, she started to realise that teaching was an integral part of her role. Initially motivated to learn more about HE pedagogy, she ended up completing the full MA over five years. She discussed how over this period she gained an informed understanding of what lecturers do and the challenges they face. Additionally, she gained skills in module planning, reflective practice, conducting interviews, analysing data and critical thinking and writing.
Research on Digital Literacies and Open Practices
Professor Jane Secker and Dr. Luis Pereira then shared their insights from their research project exploring the impact of the EDM122: Digital Literacies and Open Practice module on MAAP students. Their study investigated the development of staff and students’ digital literacies, motivation and barriers to open educational practices, and the influence of the Covid-19 pandemic on these areas.
Preliminary findings from their research highlight the transformative impact of the EDM122 module on students’ conceptualisations and appreciation of open practices. Jane and Luis plan to further analyse the data from interviews and reflective narratives and publish their findings in a suitable open access journal.
Concluding remarks
We would like to thank all the presenters for taking the time to share their experiences with us, everyone who attended the symposium, and the organisers. The diverse perspectives and experiences of the presenters highlight the transformative power of the MAAP in shaping academic practices and fostering a culture of continuous learning and professional growth within the higher education community.
Feedback on the event has been very positive and we plan to make it a regular annual event. See you next year!
