Want to be an External Examiner?

All degrees in the UK have an External Examiner (EE) appointed to ensure the quality of the award is in line with other UK degrees. The EE is someone who is independent and has the requisite knowledge of both the subject area, expected standards and quality assurance mechanisms.  Staff at the Coventry University Group are encouraged to be EEs at other universities to both uphold national standards and support their own personal development, growth and profile.  Advance HE are working with a range of higher education providers across the UK (including Coventry University Group) to deliver the “Professional Development Course” for EEs. The aim of the course is to enable aspiring, existing or experienced examiners to develop their understanding of the EE role.  The next course will be run in April 2024.  The course will be run over 2 half days and if you sign up you will be required to undertake pre-course online learning (most participants find that these take around 4 hours to complete) as part of this training. Upon completion of the pre-course learning, attendance at the 2 half day sessions and completion of a reflective summary you will be added to the register of trained EEs by Advance HE, which will be beneficial when applying for EE posts. Feedback from previous attendees:

Active Learning CoP: Creative Pedagogies

Just before the end of the year, we welcomed colleagues from the University of Glasgow to share their practice on creative and active learning pedagogies. 

Vicki Dale introduced the concept of creative pedagogies and how we can engage the 'head, heart and hands' in learning.

We had  expert inputs from Gareth Beale on fieldwork and film-making in archaeology, acknowledging the importance of inclusion, and Matt Offord sharing his thinking around ecopedagogy in relation to students exploring and reflecting on campus-based fieldwork in relation to management of the built environment.

The session was well attended and a lively discussion was generated with our colleagues across the Coventry University Group who shared their own practice and experience as well.  We heard about the creative ability model, and thoughts on how campus-focused investigations can promote a sense of belonging. Further discussions reinforced the value of enabling students to consider problems from different perspectives while acknowledging some of the challenges of active learning, particularly in postgraduate courses. 

Within AEPD we like to celebrate our successes and last month our colleague, Erika Hawkes, was awarded Senior Fellowship of Advance HE.  Well done Erika and good luck in the future!