Slow Higher Education

Slow education appears in the printed media at regular intervals as a metaphor to counter the constraints of target and assessment driven education, and this article explores whether the notion could travel to Higher Education

Designing a flexible support system in dialogue with students to meet their needs

A more stringent financial climate, alongside technological and lifestyle changes, have diversified student needs and promoted the use of inclusive learning and support strategies. This paper reports on the development and evaluation of academic skills centres at an English Higher Education Institution and considers ways in which the service is able to benefit users and providers, it goes on to argue that, by fostering a dialogue with students and using a range of delivery models, the provision has been made flexible, diversified and student centred and thereby addresses issues of current significance within the institution and sector more broadly

Music performance anxiety and higher education teaching: A systematic literature review

This systematic review includes a search of the literature covering the period 2005-2021 to understand what preventative teaching approaches and interventions have been developed in higher education to reduce music performance anxiety (MPA). The focus here is on identifying interventions that are applicable to higher education teaching practice, in an attempt to support music educators to reduce the negative effects of MPA, and, by so doing, support better learning outcomes. A systematic review of the literature on MPA (2005-2021) was undertaken to explore the teaching strategies that are used to help students in higher education. The researchers performed independent assessments of the literature based on the inclusion criteria. Discrepancies between the two reviewers were resolved through discussion. Each of the articles that met the research conditions was classified using four treatment modalities: cognitive interventions, behavioural interventions, pharmacological treatment and complementary. The initial scoping resulted in a total of 116 research articles. This was reduced to 18 articles that fully met the inclusion criteria. There is a wealth of literature exploring MPA; however, very few teaching approaches or interventions have been found that can easily be embedded in music education. The findings indicate that interventions deriving from promising reactive treatment have been developed, but that these are rarely generalisable to typical teaching practice

Tag to track? Analytics to measure the impact of educational policies

Analytics, or the utilisation of user data to enhance education, derives from business intelligence and has received considerable attention over the last few years (Cooper, 2012; Goldstein and Katz 2005). In the context of institutional research, it is argued that data can aid the decision making, implementation and analysis of policy and change (e.g. Saupe, 1990), and that new forms of online data collection make the incorporation of educational data more accessible and analysable for this purpose (e.g. Campbell and Oblinger, 2007). An academic analytics approach has been used to evaluate the impact of two recently introduced educational policies designed to enhance the student experience at a London based university. These are a revised academic framework, which resulted in the redesign of most courses; and an online submission, marking and feedback policy. Each has had significant implications for the use and uptake of technologies to support learning, teaching and assessment. The virtual learning environment of the institution has been used to collect longitudinal user data, including through customized page tagging, to enable the impact of the policies to be visualised and assessed. This paper discusses the findings

Manga, graphic novels, and comics in Higher Education?

Particularly known for playing a key role in the daily entertainment of millions of people worldwide, this article explores the relevance of manga, graphic novels, and comics to diversify curricula and making learning more engaging, and explores why this is of value for Higher Education

Tag to track? Analytics to measure the impact of educational policies

Analytics or the utilisation of user data to enhance education derives from business intelligence and has received considerable attention over the last view years (Cooper, 2012; Goldstein & Katz, 2005). In the context of institutional research it is argued that data can aid the decision making, implementation and analysis of policy and change (e.g. Saupe, 1990), and that new forms of online data collection makes the incorporation of educational data more accessible and analysable for this purpose (e.g. Campbell & Oblinger, 2007). A London based HEI recently introduced two educational policies to enhance the student experience which had considerable implications for the use and uptake of technologies to support learning, teaching and assessment (LTA). Longitudinal user data from one of the core technologies the virtual learning environment (VLE) to support LTA has been collected, using customized page tagging and traditional methods, which allows a comparison before and after the introduction of the policies and to visualise its impact. This presentation/paper will present some of the findings which indicate that the data collection methods used demonstrate the impact of both policies. The implications and various degrees in which this is visual will be explored in more detail together with a discussion on the findings

Retrospection and reflection : the emerging influence of an institutional professional recognition scheme on professional development and academic practice in a UK university

Raising the quality and profile of teaching and student learning is something universities across the UK are aspiring to achieve in order to maintain reputations. Currently, the UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF) provides a standard by which academic staff can gain professional recognition for their academic practice and many UK universities are now offering professional development opportunities via in-house recognition schemes, based on retrospection and reflection, to enable staff to achieve an HEA Fellowship. This paper provides a case study of one such institutional recognition scheme and discusses the impact it is beginning to have on experienced academics. The findings suggest that recognition schemes contribute to participants’ staff development, provide opportunities for the enhancement of practice and that those who participate in the scheme identify value in the reflective process for reconciliation, confirmation of achievements and reinforcing commitment to teaching and/or supporting learning

‘One of those things you need to do?’ Exploring the influence of HEA Fellowships on academic identities

How the Higher Education Academy (HEA) Fellowships might influence academic identities is the focus of this study. Increasingly, Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in the United Kingdom have their Continuous Professional Development frameworks accredited by the HEA to support academic staff in obtaining an HEA Fellowship. HEIs’ attention to the HEA Fellowships needs to be understood against the volatile HE policy landscape, and growing influence of the university league tables. To strengthen institutional reputations for teaching and learning, universities stimulate academics’ engagement with the HEA Fellowships through different means, including revised policies for probation and promotion. The emerging literature has investigated the influence of the HEA Fellowships on teaching and related practice. This study provides an original contribution by exploring how the HEA Fellowships might offer new ways in which to conceive and support being an academic in HE and how they might develop academics’ career pathways. The aim of this study is to explore the influence of the HEA Fellowships on academics’ identities. An interpretive approach to the research guided its design. The data was collected using in-depth interviews with academics (n=15) at two universities with similar policies for probation and promotion, but different reputations for teaching and research. The data was analysed using thematic and narrative analysis. The findings suggest that the influence of the HEA Fellowships needs to be understood against the institutional setting, in particular the institutional mechanisms and policies that stimulate engagement. The HEA Fellowships, in combination with the institutional requirements for probation and progression, result in different academic identity trajectories, confirming and strengthening, as well as reconstructing and renegotiating teaching and research identities. Hereby a marked difference was found between academics that moved on to a teaching career pathway in comparison to those on a research pathway. This study concludes by discussing the implications of the findings for academic developers, leaders and policy makers. These include the delivery of HEA accredited professional development, the allocation of resources, and development opportunities for academics on teaching career pathways

'One of those things you need to do?' Exploring the impact of HEA fellowships on academic identities

How the Higher Education Academy (HEA) Fellowships might influence academic identities is the focus of this study. Increasingly, Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in the United Kingdom have their Continuous Professional Development frameworks accredited by the HEA to support academic staff in obtaining an HEA Fellowship. HEIs’ attention to the HEA Fellowships needs to be understood against the volatile HE policy landscape, and growing influence of the university league tables. To strengthen institutional reputations for teaching and learning, universities stimulate academics’ engagement with the HEA Fellowships through different means, including revised policies for probation and promotion. The emerging literature has investigated the influence of the HEA Fellowships on teaching and related practice. This study provides an original contribution by exploring how the HEA Fellowships might offer new ways in which to conceive and support being an academic in HE and how they might develop academics’ career pathways. The aim of this study is to explore the influence of the HEA Fellowships on academics’ identities. An interpretive approach to the research guided its design. The data was collected using in-depth interviews with academics (n=15) at two universities with similar policies for probation and promotion, but different reputations for teaching and research. The data was analysed using thematic and narrative analysis. The findings suggest that the influence of the HEA Fellowships needs to be understood against the institutional setting, in particular the institutional mechanisms and policies that stimulate engagement. The HEA Fellowships, in combination with the institutional requirements for probation and progression, result in different academic identity trajectories, confirming and strengthening, as well as reconstructing and renegotiating teaching and research identities. Hereby a marked difference was found between academics that moved on to a teaching career pathway in comparison to those on a research pathway. This study concludes by discussing the implications of the findings for academic developers, leaders and policy makers. These include the delivery of HEA accredited professional development, the allocation of resources, and development opportunities for academics on teaching career pathways