No images? Click here Unlock Your Academic Potential!The Academic Enhancement and Professional Development (AEPD) NewsletterYour Gateway to Transformative Teaching and Learning at Coventry University GroupThe AEPD newsletter is your gateway to transformative teaching and learning experiences at Coventry University Group. Subscribe now to get exclusive early access to sector-level insights, innovative teaching techniques, and a wealth of opportunities that can elevate the student learning journeys you create.Why Subscribe?
Our newsletter celebrates the diverse voices that makeup Coventry University Group. From faculty features to student success stories, we offer a rich tapestry of perspectives that foster a culture of academic excellence and inclusivity. Ready to Elevate Your Teaching and Learning Experience? Click Here to Subscribe Now Know Someone Who Can Benefit? Forward this newsletter to spread the knowledge. Image created using Adobe Generative AI prompted by Ian Upton The Untapped Potential of AI in Transforming Teaching and LearningWhen adopting innovative approaches in higher education, apprehension often outweighs excitement...As academics, we have long thrived on robust debate, critical thinking, and traditional pedagogy. While these pillars are fundamental, they should not deter us from exploring new avenues for educational delivery. Enter Artificial Intelligence (AI)—a powerful tool often relegated to big data analytics and plagiarism but scarcely considered a companion in our pedagogical journey. AI offers an array of opportunities for us to enhance and revolutionise the learning experience. Whether it is automated grading systems that free up time for one-to-one student interaction or chatbots that provide instant answers to students' frequently asked questions, the impact is palpable. This transition does not suggest an abdication of our roles but rather a reimagining. AI affords us the bandwidth to focus on what we excel at—igniting curiosity, facilitating critical discussions, and creating an inclusive learning environment. Sceptics may raise ethical or philosophical concerns, yet we must remember that every technological advancement comes with its own challenges. Let us not forget the initial hesitations around adopting the Internet and online learning platforms. Not to mention calculators and spelling checkers. If we confront these challenges with openness and a collaborative spirit, we can create a hybrid educational model that capitalises on the best of both worlds. As active proponents of pioneering teaching methods, we must investigate, debate, and eventually embrace these changes. The question is not whether AI has a place in academia but how we can leverage it to provide an enriched, personalised, and equitable educational experience for all. So, as you read this article, ponder over its origins. Human or machine? Regardless of your guess, the mere fact you are contemplating it signifies that AI has already found its way into our academic discourse. Join us for our Light Bite Workshop AI in Teaching and Learning: Beyond the Hype. Aimed at those new to AI, we will explore this new and exciting technology from the perspective of teaching and learning. Text created using ChatGPT4 prompted by Ian Upton An Invitation to Consult and CollaborateWe are redesigning our Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice in HE (PgCAPHE)... In line with Coventry University Group’s re-approval cycle, the PgCAPHE is undergoing a process of review and re-design. This will focus on themes identified within the 2030 Education and Student Experience Strategy and the new Professional Standards Framework 2023. The review timescale includes opportunities for consultation and collaboration with PgCAPHE participants, alumni, and stakeholder groups through questionnaires, focus groups, and participatory workshops with the expectation that delivery of the new PgCAPHE will begin in January 2025. If you are interested in contributing and would like to help shape the new PgCAPHE with your feedback and suggestions, please complete this PgCAPHE Review and Re-Design Form. Image created using Adobe Generative AI prompted by Ian Upton. Your Academic DevelopmentAcademic Development OpportunitiesAcademic Development opportunities come in many shapes and forms. The Academic development team is offering an extensive programme of activities to enable you:
For further information and for the latest updates refer to our website. Development NarrativesTo support you with navigating the maze of academic development opportunities, the Academic development team has developed a proposed path for specific teaching roles. We refer to those as Development Narratives. Those proposed paths are currently available for the below roles:
Even if your role is not one of the above you could still find a lot of useful information on recommended academic development activities around the 6 different themes of academic practice:
Inspera: our latest EdTech Ecosystem additionThe Inspera Assessment platform has recently been added to our EdTech Ecosystem. Inspera is a cloud-based assessment platform that has been selected by Coventry University Group as its digital assessment platform. The long term vision is to use this platform to manage all our assessment workflows exploiting its role based functionality. For Academic Year 2023-24 the focus will be on transitioning to use Inspera for both quizzing (to replace Moodle from September 2024) and as a platform to move from paper-based formal examinations to digital provision focused on a BYOD approach. A programme of training will be provided through this academic year by OTL and the Education Technologists, starting in November. Colleagues will be invited to attend introductory training before being added to a test server to allow the opportunity to explore the platform. Please look out for details of the training that will be provided locally for you. If you are interested in learning more about the Inspera platform and its role based structure then a suite of demonstration videos are available on the Inspera Help Centre website. In addition support articles are being developed for the Teaching and Learning Knowledge Base (search for Inspera). Integration of Inspera with Aula is not expected to be completed until April 2024. For this reason, initial use of the Inspera for quizzing will be managed with a focus on smaller modules. If you are interested in using Inspera for quiz assessments, please contact either Paul Cashian or Martin Jenkins. Op-ed - Time for assessment to be the “main course” in the curriculum design processCurriculum development principles have gone through many phases over the years and competing local, national and international stakeholder interests can make curriculum design a confusing space for staff. Backwards design (Wiggins &Tighe, 2005), Universal Design for Learning (CAST, 2023) and constructive alignment (alignment of the outcomes, content and assessment, Biggs, 1999) are all key concepts that academic staff are regularly introduced to when considering curriculum design. All of the aforementioned concepts and approaches need to be underpinned by the requirements and guidance of the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), through the Quality Code and subject benchmark statements. The subject benchmark statements for a discipline give staff developing course curriculum a clear picture of what is expected both of the course and of the students undertaking the course, including briefly the expectations around assessment. However, should both the impact of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools (such as ChatGPT) and continued student focus on assessment (rather than learning) be driving curriculum design in a different direction? Is it not now time to make assessment the main course in the assessment design meal rather than the dessert it often is? Student outcomes give a clear indication of “road of travel” and after forming active outcomes, designing assessments that achieve these that are authentic, challenging, problem-based, group-delivered and reflective helps solve many issues. Firstly, assessment can really be the focus that students need and expect it to be; engaging, challenging and future focussed. Secondly, AI can become a useful tool in the assessment process, rather than an unwelcome tool to undertake assessments. Finally, having assessment at the forefront of curriculum design allows the taught content to be developed with a focus on active and problem-based learning, surely a benefit for all involved in higher education. Anyone wishing to examine fore-fronting assessment design in the curriculum development process, please contact Peter Harrison at aa2189@coventry.ac.uk Congratulations! As part of the AEPD newsletter we like to recognise and promote achievements of staff within the Team. This month we would like to say “congratulations” to Dr Peter Harrison for completing his doctorate at CBiS, Coventry University. Peter’s thesis focusses on understanding why transnational higher education (TNHE) partnerships are successful and what the key success factors are. Using Coventry University Group (CUG) and selected partner institutions as a case study, the research gives a voice to international partners often missing from existing literature. Findings indicate that complementary goals and the building and maintaining of trust, at all levels of a partnership, are key to success. The research further examines the practices, people and processes of partnering at CUG and makes a series of recommendations for the institution to evaluate. Recommendations include the building, recognising and supporting of the Link Tutor role between institutions. Further recommendations focus on embedding the language and practices of trust building across departments and people involved in TNHE, based on increasing the “bandwidth of trust” which exists between partnerships. Well done Peter, you are never too old! Initial evaluation of curriculum transformation changesOver the last year the Curriculum Development Team within AEPD have been working with staff from across the Group to develop and embed best practice as part of the Curriculum Transformation Project (CTP). From a student perspective the main aim of CTP is to ensure a smoother and supported transition into higher education (HE) at level 4. Through this supported transition the targets are to reduce student failure in assessment, increase progression and ultimately increase student success. Work will be undertaken with both staff and students over the coming weeks to evaluate the initial impact of changes such as the introduction of the “Course Hour”, new Aula templates and changes to assessment practices. If you have any feedback regarding how any of these changes have impacted on you or your students we would be grateful if you could share this with us. Please email any feedback to curriculum@coventry.ac.uk so that we can include this as part of a holistic and ongoing evaluation process of the changes. Academic Developers from Coventry University deliver capacity building sessions for Erasmus+ project Dr Christina Magkoufopoulou (academic developer) and Martin Jenkins (Academic Development Lead) from the Academic Enhancement and Professional Development Team, were invited to offer a two day capacity building workshops on blended learning design for the multinational Erasmus+ Climate Change and Policy Law (CCP-Law) project in Pune, India. The CCP-Law project aims to develop, test and adapt new postgraduate curricula in the field of Climate Change (CC) Policy (P) and Law, that will be offered across higher education institutions (HEIs) in Malaysia, India and Vietnam. The project aims to support the modernization, accessibility and internationalization of higher education systems in the above countries and address the challenges that those institutions face. Amela Bogdanovic and Dr Matthew Blackett from the School of Energy Construction and Environment, College of Engineering, Environment and Science are leading work package 2 of the CCP-Law project that focuses on Capacity Building. Christina and Martin led the delivery of a two-day workshop on blended learning design. The workshop was attended by academics from six universities in Vietnam, India and Malaysia, as well as European partners from Spain and Greece. The workshop offered opportunities for knowledge exchange, and sharing best practices while identifying common challenges in blended and student-centred learning design that goes beyond the institutional limits. The workshop was positively received and followed up with support sessions between Academic Developers at Coventry University and each of the institutions. If you would like to discuss with the Academic Development team the delivery of bespoke sessions on learning design or other aspects of academic practice, contact us at aepd@coventry.ac.uk CQEM Training for StudentsAttention course directors!! you're likely familiar with the Course Quality Enhancement & Monitoring (CQEM) process, a crucial mechanism that supports the development of a student-focused approach to course improvement. You can encourage your Student Representatives to reserve a spot in the upcoming CQEM Training session. This training is designed to provide them with the necessary guidance for crafting the Student Statement, an integral component of your interim or annual CQEM reports. Our ongoing series of training sessions is tailored to this specific purpose. During these sessions, student representatives will be guided through their roles and provided with a clear understanding of the expectations tied to their involvement in the CQEM process. To ensure attendance, kindly direct student reps to complete the CQEM training booking form. This training opportunity is open to all student representatives. When registering, please advise students to use their official student email addresses rather than personal email addresses. We are eagerly anticipating the chance to meet your students during the training sessions! Sharing Success StoriesWould you like to see your success stories, publications or conference presentations featured in our newsletter? If so, let us know by completing this form. 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