Academic Development

Annual Learning and Teaching Conference

The Conference Theme: Reflecting on Twenty Years of Learning, Teaching and Assessment

2027 marks the 20th year of the University of Glasgow’s Learning and Teaching Conference, providing us with an opportunity to look back across two decades of learning, teaching and assessment, reflect on how the landscape has changed and consider what this can tell us about where we might go next.

At first glance, many of the topics that concern us today might seem remarkably familiar to those that concerned us twenty years ago. Questions about how students learn, how we teach, how we assess, and how we support an increasingly diverse student body are far from new. Yet while the broad questions may remain, the contexts in which we ask them, the challenges we face, and the ways in which we respond have changed considerably.

Over the past twenty years, our understanding of learning and teaching has been shaped by changing technologies, educational policy, student expectations, institutional priorities and wider social and cultural developments. At the same time, we have acquired new evidence, approaches and tools with which to address longstanding questions. The lenses through which we view learning, teaching and assessment have changed – and so, inevitably, have the questions we ask.

This conference invites us to reflect on where we have come from, what has changed, what has remained stubbornly familiar, and what we might learn from looking back. We invite contributions that explore the evolution of learning, teaching and assessment over the past twenty years, and that use this history to help us think critically and creatively about the next twenty.

Sub-themes

In order to explore and co-create responses to these questions, this year’s conference will be arranged into four subthemes, all chosen to align with the institutional priorities set out in the Learning & Teaching Strategy.

Across all four subthemes, we particularly welcome contributions that explore what it means to work with students as partners, recognising students as active participants in shaping their learning, teaching and assessment.

Transforming curricula

Over the past twenty years, our curricula have evolved in response to changing student needs and a more diverse student body. This theme invites us to reflect on approaches to curriculum design and delivery, including interdisciplinary and inclusive curricula, emerging pedagogies, and the changing relationship between academic expertise and student experience. We particularly welcome contributions that explore students as partners and co-creators in shaping learning and teaching in the classroom and at course and programme level, as well as opportunities for interdisciplinary learning.

Student skills and futures

The skills and capabilities that students need for their futures have long been a focus of learning and teaching, but the nature of those futures – and our understanding of what students need to navigate them – continues to change. How can we move beyond preparing students for an uncertain future towards working with students as partners to develop the skills, confidence and agency to navigate, contribute to and shape their futures?

We are seeking contributions that demonstrate how employability and skills are intentionally developed, made visible and connected to students’ futures through the curriculum; explore how students reflect on and articulate their learning; and consider how experiential learning helps students apply their knowledge and skills in new contexts.

Learning Through Assessment

Assessment has remained one of the most enduring features – and challenges – of higher education. This theme invites us to reflect on the evolution of assessment practices and to consider how assessment can support rather than simply measure learning. We are particularly interested in contributions that explore inclusive and meaningful assessment and feedback practices co-created with students. How might students as partners challenge or reshape our assumptions about assessment, feedback and success? All submissions must evidence how the Learning Through Assessment Framework has been used when designing those assessments.

Student Voice

The idea that students should have a voice in their education is not new, but the ways in which we understand and enact student voice have changed considerably. Over the past twenty years, approaches have developed from gathering student feedback towards more active forms of engagement, participation and students as partners. This theme asks what we mean when we talk about student voice, whose voices are heard, and what happens when we genuinely act on what students tell us. How have our approaches to listening, responding and working with students evolved? We invite contributions that explore student voice and partnership in learning, teaching and assessment, and that reflect critically on the opportunities, challenges and tensions involved in moving from doing things for students or to students, towards working with students as partners and co-creators of their learning.

.  

Call for submissions

The call for submissions to the 20th Annual Learning & Teaching Conference is now open. We are soliciting proposals for: 

• Workshops for the first, on campus day, which will be in the form of one hour long interactive workshops 

• presentations for the second, online day which will be in the form of pre-recorded 10 minute video presentations which address the Conference theme, and which focus on one or more of the Conference sub-themes.  

Please note that: 

• facilitators can only be named on one workshop 

• presenters can only be lead presenter on one video presentation and co-presenter on one other.  

Submissions open at 9am on Monday, 14th September. Please submit your abstracts by Friday 6th November via EasyChair 

The submission form is composed of the following sections: 

• Presenter name(s) and email address(es)
• Title
• Abstract (500 words)
• Key words (3-5)
• College/Service
• Subtheme
• Relevance to theme
• Session type
• Structure of workshop (if applicable)
• Description of student involvement
• Ethical approval received (if relevant)
• Data analysis (if applicable)
• References (if applicable)
• Any other information