Continuing Professional Development Events

Turnitin produces a similarity score for each assignment, which makes it tempting to judge the quality of a piece of work on whether that number is over or under a threshold. In this session we'll look at what scores mean in terms of a student's academic writing and evaluate the merits of using such a cut-off. We'll then look at how you can discuss Turnitin similarity scores (and the mark up applied to the text of each submission) with your class to help students develop good academic practice and improve their writing skills.

In this workshop we will identify barriers to both giving and receiving effective feedback, and consider ways of addressing these. We will discuss feedback proforma design and varied approaches to delivering feedback and facilitating student engagement with that feedback. There will be particular focus on the use of reflection and grade withholding, and on audio-visual feedback as an alternative to traditional written feedback. We will share our own experience of working with taught postgraduate students and encourage discussion of good practice examples from participants who we hope will bring experience from across the spectrum of University provision.

This session will look at how the use of rubrics can help enhance the student learning experience. It will provide an overview of how to create sustainable rubrics and how rubrics can be used to help create meaningful, criterion based assessment, and provide more focused feedback to students. You will also get the chance to see examples of rubrics from colleagues on campus, and ask them about their experience.

We'll discuss ideas of meaningful assessment and provide examples of what we mean by this. We'll then address meaningful assessment in the context of your own teaching, and help you to consider how you might make the assessments you use throughout a course and/or programme authentic, meaningful and relevant.

Students spend a lot of time creating work to be assessed, and academics spend a lot of time marking that work and creating feedback to help each student learn. This workshop will introduce you to assessment blueprinting, which enables you to link assessments across a Programme and make the feedback you provide meaningful for the next relevant assessment. Through this linkage, you show your students how the assessments support learning and that the feedback is relevant and useful.

Expertise and excellence in teaching and in SoTL are core to the notion of the LTS track, and can be a vehicle for developing leadership, esteem, and evidence for academic promotion. This session focuses on developing an understanding of SoTL, introduces the four scholarships of Boyer's 'scholarship reconsidered', and finishes with a framework for SoTL project design. During the session, we'll present examples of SoTL to give a feel for what constitutes SoTL in Higher Education. 

NB: Prof. Fischbacher-Smith has recorded some preliminary advice on academic promotion already. We ask that you watch her short presentation before attending (3 videos, ~25 minutes total)

This session moves from formulating scholarship questions towards deciding how you'll answer them. What counts as data? What kind of data do you require in order to actually address the issue at hand, and how can you plan your data collection, management and analysis to make sure that's achievable – especially when the data might be of an unfamiliar form?

Depending on the details of a given scholarship projects, specific ethical approval might need to be applied for, reviewed and approved before the work can begin. This session will explore ethical considerations for scholarship of learning and teaching, with an emphasis on research into the experience of the learners. We'll also examine the process of designing an ethically sound methodology. Relevant ethics application forms and associated documentation will be used to give this session a significant practical 'workshop' feel. This workshop will appeal to staff preparing to undertake scholarship in any of the four colleges. College-specific documentation will be circulated to allow participants to contextualise their queries in relation to their own college.

Questionnaires can notoriously be interpreted in different ways by different respondents, making your analysis of the responses difficult. Good question design can help to eliminate ambiguity and help respondents to provide you with meaningful answers. This workshop will combine theory and practice and will be delivered in three parts: 1) the theory of designing evidence-based questionnaires, 2) practice at developing a questionnaire, 3) feedback and discussion on proposed questionnaire designs, and issues arising.

This workshop will appeal to staff in all four colleges who are interested in undertaking scholarship, particularly around learner experience research

When we analyse qualitative data, such as responses from human participants via interviews or open-ended survey questions, we may choose to coding as our method. Coding of qualitative data is versatile as well as varied, and the focus of this session is on coding that aims for categorisation and theme development. The session introduces a variety of coding techniques, and we’ll investigate why coding can be useful, what the benefits are, and what pitfalls to be aware of. This session is particularly useful to anyone who is undertaking a SoTL project, especially if you are at a stage where you have collected some data already. You will get the opportunity to practice coding on your data during the workshop. If you don’t have your own, we will provide some real-life data.

You might find it useful to watch this video on coding qualitative data for categories and themes before attending.

This session explores the more positivistic side of educational research, such as interventions, pseudo-experiments comparative studies, as well as touching on larger-scale surveys. With a nod to sequential and concurrent designs, we'll discuss the power and limitations of more quantitative scholarship designs, ensuring that you leave with an understanding beyond what might be your own 'typical' methodology.

Ethnography is a method of investigation that looks at the situation (in this case, the teaching scenario) from the point of view of the culture and behaviour of the subjects being studied. This session will explore what ethnography is, how it works as a research approach in an educational context, what methods are related to ethnography, and some of the principles of ethnographic research. The session also introduces case studies as a methodology and explores their purpose within research and scholarship in higher education.

This session offers an overview of the principles of observation as a research method. We'll discuss issues around observation bias, interference with the observed, 'going native', and the significance of data derived through observation.

In publishing scholarship of teaching and learning, interviews allow you to get deeper responses than surveys, and also to follow up based on initial answers.

This workshop is aimed at anyone undertaking research interviews for the first time. We'll examine aspects such as preparing good interview questions, choosing effective interview environments, having relevant documentation, and approaches to recording interviews.

This session outlines what Grounded Theory - a type of research methodology for questions that don't begin from a hypothesis - is and isn’t, and gives a short overview of classic Grounded Theory (Glaser &Strauss) and its developments (Strauss &Corbin). It introduces the principles ofConstructivist Grounded Theory (Charmaz). We will discuss CGT in relation to educational scholarship, and how Grounded Theory methods may be applied to Scholarship of Learning & Teaching.

You might find it useful to watch this video on the origins and development of Grounded Theory before attending.

Focus groups let you examine your participants' experience of a teaching situation in more depth than a survey, and with more data sources than a one-on-one interview. This introduction to how and why to use focus groups for data collection covers how to prepare for facilitating them, and includes some of the key issues to consider in focus group design, such as sampling and planning issues, as well as anticipating problems.

If you're thinking of presenting your scholarship at a conference poster session but don't have much experience of actually creating a poster, this session will give you a chance to see some good examples and consider what makes them effective. You'll also get an insight into the design thought processes of a member of staff who produces University communications, and learn how to make the best use of some of the design tools available to you on standard University software.

A majority of scholarship projects use qualitative data whereas quantitative data is often overlooked, perhaps due to the diversity of disciplinary backgrounds of those conducting teaching and learning research. This session will try to demystify data analysis methods that are often intimidating to non-statisticians.

We will introduce various free online resources, including:

• interactive applications that perform data visualisation and statistical modelling, all built using the open source statistical computing software “R”
• materials that allow anyone to start learning and/or grow in confidence using some of the most common statistical techniques.

Please bring a laptop/tablet for this session.

We would also like to know about the type of data you might already be collecting, and the type of analysis you plan to use or the research question(s) you hope to answer. If this is relevant to you, please let us know in advance of the session.

In addition to the CPD sessions, Dr Nathalie Sheridan will be hosting regular online drop-ins on the 3rd Friday of each month, and facilitating an online group for anyone conducting scholarship into their learning and teaching. The group exists to help you:

• share project ideas and resources related to research in higher education
• find out who else is active in scholarship in your subject area
• identify which journals might be most suitable for your manuscript
• find out where to apply for funding
• integrate SoTL into your career development

Drop-in to the online sessions on Zoom using the links below, and contact Nathalie.Sheridan@glasgow.ac.uk if you'd like to be added to the group on Microsoft Team for ongoing discussion outside of these times.

Participants will be given a chance to set and share their own goals for the session in the opening few minutes, and the rest of the time will be for writing on your own devices. You can leave your sound and camera on to benefit from the feeling of being part of a writing group, and to feel the encouragement of a little bit of peer pressure. Alternatively, you can mute everything while you write and use the text chat option if you become stuck or want to have a quick check in.

You can drop in at any point during the session; just send the host a chat message on arrival if you join after 9am, and you'll be able to set your goals without disturbing ongoing writing.

For anyone across the institution to share ideas and questions when they find themselves stuck with something, want to run an idea past a colleague, or for anyone seeking a colleague to collaborate with on a project.

This session focuses on what plagiarism actually means in an international context, and will demonstrate that (in some instances, at least) plagiarism is the result of cultural differences and not a crime! This session is based on a recent review of plagiarism-focused literature, and gives guidance on how to make your teaching, your expectations, and your materials more accessible and more explicit.

NB: This is the same session as advertised under the 'Supervising Students' strand.

We know that students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) feel more able to learn if their classrooms are welcoming and inclusive. We also know that lots of people want to make their classrooms inclusive, but don’t know how to do so, or what to say. This workshop provides an opportunity to start to understand why making your classroom inclusive is important, and suggests simple changes you can make that could make a big difference. Please know that you are not expected to know anything about LGBT ‘issues’ or the ‘right’ language before you come.

This session will consider the challenges students using English as a second language face when listening to extended speech. We will cover the listening skills students are likely to have on arrival, the specific challenges they face, strategies they use to cope, and techniques you can use to make your lecture and seminar content more accessible.

This session introduces recent research into the important role of academic practice in student wellbeing, the role of self-efficacy, and the strong correlation between mental wellbeing and student academic performance.We will be investigating our own localised and institution-wide situation through technology-aided nominal group technique, aiming for concrete actions.

Interaction is a key driver of second language acquisition. This workshop will look at the techniques that language specialists in Academic English use to maximise incentives and opportunities for students to engage in discussions. We will give you practical suggestions for how you can apply these techniques to your HE teaching context to create a richer, more engaging learning experience for all.

There are many barriers that can affect students’ learning. Some relate to disabilities or lifelong illness; others are a result of poverty, gender and ethnicity; others still are related to the learning environment. This session focuses on issues of disability and hidden disability in order to make learning better for all. Considering case studies, practical strategies and pedagogy, participants will examine ways to improve retention and success, and enhance the learning experience for all students. This session also considers how we can achieve our University mission to bring inspiring people together and create a world-class environment for learning and research.

How can staff awareness be raised of the fundamental role that language plays in ensuring inclusive assessment practice?In responding to this question, this session identifies common communicative issues and obstacles in assessment practices in HE, within the wider context of increasing linguistic and cultural diversity among student cohorts. Topics covered include: • staff use of language in formative and summative feedback• students’ comprehension of written and oral feedback• clear communication of assessment tasks • language skills required for students to successfully perform in different kinds of assessments• evaluation and grading of students’ use of language in assessed work, particularly those with English as an additional language.Manageable tips and techniques are proposed as solutions to these challenges, the implementation of which poses minimal burden to already busy staff, but facilitates greater inclusivity in assessment practices.

This session will consider approaches to helping students using English as a second language deal with reading complex academic texts. We will outline the challenges academic reading pose, strategies that can facilitate more effective reading, and provide practical examples of approaches we have embedded on PGT courses in English for Academic Study.

We know that students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) feel more able to learn if their classrooms are welcoming and inclusive. We also know that lots of people want to make their classrooms inclusive, but don’t know how to do so, or what to say. This workshop provides an opportunity to start to understand why making your classroom inclusive is important, and suggests simple changes you can make that could make a big difference. Please know that you are not expected to know anything about LGBT ‘issues’ or the ‘right’ language before you come.

The University of Glasgow is committed to ensuring that all students can equally participate in every aspect of the learning and teaching process by mainstreaming adjustments in teaching practice. We aim for our learning environment to be as inclusive as possible, so that individual interventions are the exception and not the rule. This session will explore accessibility versus inclusivity to provoke enhancements to your teaching practice at the point of design.

This short demonstration will showcase some of the tools in Microsoft Office software that will help you improve the accessibility of your materials. We will cover accessibility from a legibility and comprehension perspective, which make things easier for *any* student, as well as specific features of Microsoft Office that are designed to work with screen reader technology.

With the campus redevelopment under way, an increasing number of rooms are being built or adapted to give you greater flexibility in your modes of teaching. This session gives an introduction to active learning and examines the concept of Glasgow's learning spaces, both physical and online. It introduces the resources generated through the MALT (Moodle Active Learning and Teaching) LTDF project, which demonstrate how active learning can be used creatively to facilitate face-to-face, blended, and online learning. These resources include material to support co-operative and collaborative approaches to teaching, learning, and also assessment - all underpinned by the values of active learning.

Is your reading list fulfilling its purpose? Are your students enthusiastic readers? We will use some studies on students' reading habits at UK universities to reflect on the challenges of getting students to read even the essential readings. We will suggest some strategies to encourage them to go beyond their lecture notes and become more independent learners. We welcome your own experiences / observations from your subject area.You might also be interested in the complementary session 'How to Create an Online Reading List – Reading Lists @ Glasgow', which will walk you through using the university's online reading list system.

Glasgow has equipped an increasing number of rooms as Technology Enhanced Active Learning (TEAL) spaces. These teaching spaces will become an integral part of the campus redevelopment, and so this session draws on the experience of teaching staff who have already successfully used them. The session introduces the concept of active teaching and learning in these environments to promote student collaboration and problem-solving, and gives you a chance to hear about successful teaching approaches (and perhaps also warnings!). As this takes place in a TEAL space, you’ll have the opportunity to engage with it from the student perspective.

This hands-on session will provide an opportunity to create an online reading list using the University system Talis Aspire. To aid student learning, you will learn how to create list structures, add resources (books, articles, webpages, audio and visual resources) and use the system to advise students on reading requirements and the importance level of course materials. You can sign up for access to the online system in advance by emailing library-readinglists@glasgow.ac.uk. You might also be interested in the complementary session 'Motivating your Students to Read More', which explores evidence for why students sometimes don't engage with the reading list.

The College of Arts have delivered 4 varied and very successful MOOCs to date, all with very different rationales for development. This session will look at the college’s work with MOOCs, looking at different the pedagogical approaches taken in design and delivery, examining what we are learning and where we are going next.

In this session, participants will gain a deeper understanding into the important role that MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) play at Glasgow. We'll explore the current direction of MOOCs, degrees on FutureLearn, and open courses on Coursera. We'll focus on the processes of announcing, designing and running a MOOC, and investigate the impact they've had on our face-to-face learners along with how they support our distance programmes. Drawing on examples from all four colleges, this workshop will appeal to teachers and teaching support staff from any discipline.

The Media & Digital Development experts in LEADS will take you through the basics of practical videography and explore the best use of software and equipment available for creating your own content. They'll also give you an introduction on how to prepare and work with our team on developing professional videos.

An overview of how the Vet School VLE has gone from a lecture dump to an integrated blended learning experience.

This session is aimed at anyone planning for blended or online learning, and who want to create videos as part of these resources. There will be a showcase of a variety of resources from Glasgow's MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) and courses sponsodered by BOLD funding (Blended and OnLine Delivery - an internal funding initiative spread over the past several years).

An overview of how the Vet School has developed Mahara Portfolio as a resource bank to extend and enhance Moodle, and an introduction to SmartEvidence frameworks to map portfolio evidence to learning outcomes and competencies.

This hands-on session will provide an opportunity to create an online reading list using the University system Talis Aspire. To aid student learning, you will learn how to create list structures, add resources (books, articles, webpages, audio and visual resources) and use the system to advise students on reading requirements and the importance level of course materials. You can sign up for access to the online system in advance by emailing library-readinglists@glasgow.ac.uk. You might also be interested in the complementary session 'Motivating your Students to Read More', which explores evidence for why students sometimes don't engage with the reading list.

Meaningful dialogue between students and staff is central to enhancing learning. In the College of Arts the use of the Mahara e-portfolio system is allowing staff to regularly assess the progress of students on work placement, and provide a means to encourage student to staff as well as student to student exchange, allowing the formative feedback to enhance the learning.

Subjects in the College of Arts are using recording tools for online delivery and exploring a flipped classroom approach. This session will look at differences in, and how to get creative with, each piece of software as well as discussing our first steps towards a flipped class approach.

Staff in the College of Arts undertook some basic training in video editing which has allowed them to create their own short informative videos, on location, at important sites students can’t access easily. This session will look how training in the basic principles of video editing software can enable individuals to produce their own quality videos. Come see some examples of the work and try it out for yourself.

The purpose of this session is to give staff a clearer understanding of the challenges and obstacles encountered by dissertation students. We'll consider common issues met by students as they transition through their dissertation, as well as the student perception of support offered by supervisors. By considering the research process from the point of view of the inexperienced student, we can better support their academic performance.

This session focuses on what plagiarism actually means in an international context, and will demonstrate that (in some instances, at least) plagiarism is the result of cultural differences and not a crime! This session is based on a recent review of plagiarism-focused literature, and gives guidance on how to make your teaching, your expectations, and your materials more accessible and more explicit.

NB: This is the same session advertised under the 'Accessibility, Inclusivity & Internationalisation' strand.

The purpose of this session is to give staff a clearer understanding of the challenges and obstacles encountered by dissertation students. We'll consider common issues met by students as they transition through their dissertation, as well as the student perception of support offered by supervisors. By considering the research process from the point of view of the inexperienced student, we can better support their academic performance.

This session will explore expectations of students’ academic integrity and whether we can encourage them by situating their work in the wider context of research integrity. We will cover student and staff responsibilities relating to academic integrity (e.g. regarding plagiarism, handling data, ethics, supervision etc.). Then we will explore further how to encourage critical thinking and critical literacy with relation to research findings and public trust. Useful resources & ideas for teaching will be shared.