Classes for your students

Our team of Effective Learning Advisers and Maths & Stats Advisers have a broad suite of classes for your students each semester.

Class timetables for each adviser are listed under their respective areas of the student pages on the LEADS website:

Your students can keep track of our online advice across any of our platforms

Success for LEADS at the Herald HE Awards

Writing & Study Skills Coordinator, Dr Andrew Struan, said:

"LEADS has transformed the delivery of its service in response to a growth in student numbers and expectations. In what could have been a massive challenge, we adopted new and innovative models of provision to keep student needs and our commitment to the L&T strategy at the core of our objectives.

“We have achieved a year-on-year increase in student attendance and engagement, with our most recent annual increase being an additional 5,000 students.

“Our new model involved: expansion of class sizes to accommodate increased student attendance; enhanced specialism in provision through creation of new suites of classes (e.g. Communicating Science); a range of tailored 1:1 meetings; and extensive online provision of interactive materials and resources.

"With this new model, we were able in 2016-2017 to achieve a grand total of 29,638 student attendances throughout the academic year. This number comprises of, for example, 5,247 student attendances at LEADS classes, 1,134 one-to-one appointments, and 19,751 attendances at sessions embedded within the standard curricula.”

LEADS Podcast: Things to consider when approaching the academic year ahead

In this episode, Dr Matthew Williamson hosts Dr Jessica Bownes (Effective Learning Adviser for the College of Science & Engineering) and Dr Nathalie Sheridan (Senior Academic & Digital Development Adviser) to discuss things to bear in mind at this early point in the academic year.

Topics include transition points, approaches to learning, and issues surrounding mental health and wellbeing (for staff as well as for students).

External keynote speakers added to CPD series from LEADS

Routes to Dissemination event – representatives from a range of HE journals and book publishers will be available at a semi-structured speed-networking event for staff who teach or support teaching, and who are thinking about publishing scholarship - 22 Jan 19

Professor Gwen van der Velden (Deputy Pro Vice Chancellor, University of Warwick) – 'On Parity of Esteem for Research and Teaching: Prestige, Recognition, Values and Inequality' - 31 Jan 19

Dr Camille Kandiko Howson (Senior Lecturer in Higher Education, King’s College London) – 'Engaging Students in Their Learning: Voice, Partnership and Co-creation' - 27 Feb 19

Professor Rowena Murray (Professor in Education and Director of Research, UWS) – 'Supporting Doctoral Students’ Writing' - 5 Mar 19

Dr Martyn Kingsbury (Director of Educational Development, Imperial College London) – 'Supervising UG and PGT students' - exact title TBC - 12 Jun 19

Ask the Experts

Q: I would very much be interested in a summary of potential targets for outputs, e.g. suitable journals to publish in.

Answer by Nicole Kipar, Janis Davidson, Vicki Dale, and Nathalie Sheridan

Good journals to start with include:

• Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Development (JPAAP)
• Practice and Evidence of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (PESTLE)

JPAAP in particular was established to provide a supportive environment for those new to publishing in academic practice, and PESTLE is a suitable outlet for small scale evaluation within a course.

Some other good L&T in HE journals to submit to are:

• Higher Education Research & Development (HERDSA)
• Studies in Higher Education
• Higher Education: The International Journal of Higher Education Research
• Active Learning Higher Education
• Research in Learning Technology
• Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education
• Teaching in Higher Education
• The Journal of Educational Innovation Partnership and Change

New Role within LEADS: MOOC Manager*

John will be the lead for all MOOC activity across the institution, and he'll play a key role in leading the operational strategy in this area.

This institutional MOOC activity is a very important area for the university and is growing at a precipitous rate. MOOCs are no longer the simple course offerings they once were. They have matured, and are now firmly positioned as mechanisms helping to unbundle the traditional degree while offering the potential for endorsed CPD courses, blended components for on campus students, transition aids to online degrees, and the offer of credit for completion with a capstone assignment.

Glasgow has built a strong MOOC reputation over the past 5 years with many more exciting innovations on the way. We welcome John in LEADS and are looking forward to adding MOOC development and support to our portfolio.

If you'd like to know more about developing MOOCs and how they could benefit your subject area, please get in touch with John on john.kerr.2@glasgow.ac.uk.

*(MOOC = Massive Open Online Course)