No Images? Click here The CPD & Good Practice IssueSummer is here, and it's the time when most of us have the best opportunity to update our teaching materials. In this issue, we're introducing our brand new series of CPD sessions to help you think about any changes, updates and developments you've been meaning to make, but haven't found the time to think about yet. We also have a staffing update: Dr Scott Ramsay recently took on the role of Good Practice Adviser - more from him in his introduction, below. We've also got a couple of announcements: a save-the-date for the fourth Leading Enhancement in Assessment and Feedback Symposium (LEAF IV), and - relevant for those of you whose students do any work in teams - we want to highlight the University's new Assessed Group Work Policy. Lastly, we've got our regular Ask the Experts section. If you have any learning & teaching questions you'd like advice or an opinion on, email them to LEADS-Magazine@glasgow.ac.uk. This year, LEADS are offering a brand new series of continual professional development sessions aimed at helping you enhance your teaching and your students’ learning. We’ll make a full schedule available towards the end of the summer after venues have been finalised but, in the meantime, we want to let you know what sessions we’ll have on offer. We have 56 sessions spread across 5 themes, which reflect Glasgow’s institutional priorities as a leader in enhancing teaching. Whether you’re thinking of how to develop your teaching and assessment practice for the benefit of your students, looking to update the programmes you coordinate, thinking about promotion, or just considering the CPD opportunities offered by the University in preparation for your P&DR, take a look at our list. To these core strands, we’ll shortly add 6 sessions from invited external speakers. They’ll be able to share their expertise and bring perspectives on issues facing the sector from other higher education institutions Series strandsAssessment & Feedback
Scholarship of Teaching & Learning
Developing your Students
Active Learning
RET (Recognising Excellence in Teaching) Fellowship Framework
Alignment with UKPSF, and UofG policiesThe majority of our CPD sessions have been mapped against the UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF) in order that they can be included as evidence in support of application for recognition of your teaching. We've also written them with institutional priorities in mind. This means it will be easier to evidence your contribution to fulfilment of the University's strategic aims, and links will be made between the concepts covered in sessions and promotion criteria, where relevant. The full timetable and detailed session descriptions will be advertised by email later in the summer. They'll also be added to our existing list of titles over on the LEADS website at glasgow.ac.uk/LEADS/goodpractice/CPD. (Booking will open there when venues have been confirmed.) In the meantime, if you have any questions, you can contact Scott, the Good Practice Adviser, at LEADS-CPD@glasgow.ac.uk. Meet the teamScott has recently taken on the role of Good Practice Adviser. His role is to collect, collate and disseminate examples of good practice in teaching and learning from across the University, and from the wider Higher Education sector. His main responsibilities are coordinating the LEADS CPD series, and he'll soon begin work on developing the existing resources in the Good Practice Advice section of the LEADS website. He also now chairs the planning group for the Annual Learning & Teaching Conference for staff, he co-founded Let's Talk About [X] and [X]position for students (nominated for a Times Higher Education Award 2017/18 - Outstanding Student Support), and is the co-author of Writing for Science Students (awarded Book of the Year 2018). Save the Date: 4th Leading Enhancement in Assessment & Feedback (LEAF) SymposiumThe fourth Leading Enhancement in Assessment and Feedback Symposium (LEAF IV) will be held on 5 November, 2018, in the Senate Room. The themes will be:
Further information and the opportunity to register will be circulated nearer the time via MyGlasgow News and on the LEAF website. For now, save the date! Ask the ExpertsQ: So you've done one scholarship project and your head of school thinks that’s enough; where do you go? How do I get time for scholarship projects in amongst teaching / lecturing / planning / marking etc - how do I build scholarship into my schedule? Answer by Dr Matthew Williamson Brief answer (link to full response at the end): For staff on Learning, Teaching and Scholarship contracts, there is an expectation of ongoing scholarship, so a conversation with your head of school in this situation would seem appropriate. Scholarship is one of the criteria for promotion on this track, and contracts allow for a certain amount of time (differing with grade) to be spent in scholarship. Don't forget that scholarship doesn't just include research-type projects. As the promotion criteria says, it may include "peer-reviewed journal publications of national or international standing; external policy and professional reports; monographs, text books, book contributions; [and] professional guidance on learning and teaching (such as QAA, HEA reports/guidance)". Being strict about not agreeing to do other things in your 'scholarship' time can really help, and just keep reminding yourself that it is a key part of your work, the University values it, and you need to do it if you wish to be promoted. New Senate Policy: Assessed Group WorkDeveloped by the University's Assessment & Feedback Working Group after a request from the SRC, Glasgow's Policy for Assessed Group Work the has been approved by the University Learning & Teaching Committee and by Senate for implementation from the start of the new academic session 2018-19. It's designed to ensure fair and transparent processes around group work assessments. It features advice on best practice, as well as examples of how this might look in reality on your course. As always, if you're looking for advice on how to develop any teaching or assessments in your courses, LEADS has a list of College Contacts who'd be happy to help. Missed any previous issues?Browse our archive on the LEADS website. We keep links to back issues and collate all of our Ask the Experts answers in one place: glasgow.ac.uk/LEADS/Magazine. As always, keep sending us your questions about learning & teaching for the Ask the Experts section. Get in touch / feedback: |