I am a lecturer in Academic and Digital Development.

My background is Erziehungswissenschaften (Sciences of Education). My current focus is the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). I have a strong background in Creative Learning and Teaching and Culture Education. I have volunteered and worked in the education sector for over 25 years, initially, in museums and culture education and, for the last 15 years, predominantly in Higher Education.

Things I am currently involved in:

Coordinating the University of Glasgow SoTL Network. For our blog and resources go here or follow the network on Twitter. I organise regular Write and Shine sessions and SoTL network meetings. If you are a member of staff at UofG and interested in SoTL join our MS Teams SoTL group. 

What else? If you are interested in sharing Working Out Loud and Open Practice you can submit your work to the National Teaching Repository, where I curate the SoTL section. All documents, or online resources will get a DOI and thus can be referenced academically, and protect your IP. I am also member of the ALT ELSIG Scholar Group, where I am an organising member and mentor for the participating scholars. In addition I am member of the International Society for SoTL Membership Benefit committee.

I have always been interested in equity in education and worked with refugee children, or in museums education providing access to educational experiences for marginalised learners. On that note part of my move into higher education has been to develop and share open educational resources, which I have recently begun to move into the NTR and onto my Figshare profile: Nathalie Sheridan (figshare.com).

Developing my open practice has recently led me into the world of podcasts and resulted in starting a podcast to support our SoTL Network called SoTLcast. You can find it either here or in most of the major podcasting platforms. 

Wait don't go yet! I have an announcement! 

We have just launched a project very close to my heart! An open access, no hidden fees, highly accessible online SoTL journal called Open SoTL! And are delighted to share the announcement for contributions to the first addition with you. Get your SoTL groove on because we need to get this published as we already have a special edition request for publication in December 2021! 

Last but not least...

I know this should be called 'all the links to follow' and not biography. I started writing a blog in 2006 when beginning my PhD; predominantly to develop my English and share the trials and tribulations of undertaking a postgraduate degree. Over the last year, I have redesigned and rebranded the blog, since I seem to have settled into a career path now. Have a look. It shares open resources, and reflections on all kinds of topics relating to academic development, academic writing, learning and teaching, and other adventures from the ivory towers (well recently my attick office). Adventures in Academic Development – Hochschuldidaktik, Play and Creativity in Higher Education, SoTL (acdevadventures.blog)

More Biographic Resources

Introductory Video: Meet the Team Video

More details about my work history lives on LinkedIn 

Key Interests

• Creative learning and teaching in higher education
• Integrating play & gamification into Higher Education Didaktik 
• Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
  • particularly creative research methods
  • transdisciplinary approaches

Current Projects

Collaborations

A Community of Practice definition of SOTL

In the beginning of the year Dr Linnea Soler and Dr Nathalie Sheridan hosted an LTHEchat event (#LTHE CHAT 165) around the topic of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). After the event it became clear that not only was this one of the most active events with participants from across the world but also that it resulted in valuable contributions and discussions around definition and processes of SoTL.

The purpose of this project is to analyse public data, available on Twitter, to collate a definition and core purpose and application of SoTL as perceived by the LTHEchat community. This is a valuable endeavour since a cohesive definition of the term SoTL is lacking within the sector, both nationally and internationally. Furthermore, there is disagreement on which terminology to use.  Finding some common ground in the analysis of these discussions has the potential to inform the sector, both locally and worldwide.

PGCAP2b: Active Pedagogies: Case study vignettes and practitioner inquiry through conversation

A collbarotaive project with Dr Vicki Dale and Course Participants, from the PGCAP course. This is an ongoing project, the first output is currently under revision by a journal. Further outputs are planned.  Active learning and creative/disruptive pedagogies increasingly coming to the forefront of discussions about learning and teaching in higher education (Hedberg, 2011; Park and Choi, 2014). There is also an institutional imperative to embrace active learning, epitomised in the new learning and teaching hub and greater use of online and blended learning (Adekola et al., 2017a; Adekola et al. 2017b). Our staff need to be adequately prepared to engage in this space. This work seeks to showcase good practice, using case study examples from course participants, as we know that the ‘reluctant majority’ can be persuaded to engage in innovative practice through mentoring and examples from early adopters (Dale, 2018). Because the course was co-created, we wish to acknowledge the creative input and intellectual property of our course participants, and give them appropriate recognition for their efforts, while giving them the opportunity to disseminate their good practice as joint scholarship outputs. This also gives them the opportunity to reflect on – and enhance – their own teaching practice.

Adekola, J., V. H. M. Dale, K. Gardiner, J.-A. Murray and M. Fischbacher-Smith (2017). Institutional and student transitions to into blended learning 3rd International Enhancement in Higher Education Conference: Inspiring excellence - transforming the student experience. Glasgow, QAA Scotland.

Adekola, J., V. H. M. Dale and K. Gardiner (2017). "Development of an institutional framework to guide transitions into enhanced blended learning in higher education." Research in Learning Technology 25: 1-16.

Dale, V. H. M. (2018). Identifying characteristics of innovative and less innovative teachers, and opportunities to enhance their digital academic practice, in science and engineering. MEd, University of Glasgow.

Hedberg, J. G. (2011). "Towards a disruptive pedagogy: changing classroom practice with technologies and digital content." Educational Media International 48(1): 1-16.

Park, E. and B. Choi (2014). "Transformation of classroom spaces: traditional versus active learning classroom in colleges." Higher Education (00181560) 68(5): 749-771.

Evaluation of the ALT-ELESIG Scholar Scheme Pilot

This project is led by Dr Jessica Humphreys at Warwick University and Dr Denise M. Sweeney Nottingham University.  

The field of learning technology/digital education research tends to be dominated by small case studies, practitioner researching their own projects, is poorly theorised and is still in a process of maturation, this makes it hard for early years researcher to find a foot hold.

The focus of this research project is to evaluate how the scheme has worked and the experiences of colleagues participating in the ALT-ELESIG Scholar Scheme. This scheme has over 50 participants from academic and professional services roles at Higher Education Institutions across the UK. Through the evaluation we will explore how engagement with the scholar scheme supports professional development ambitions and increased capabilities in SoTL activities.

Through reflections and interviews with advisors and those new to SoTL - we will explore how this approach to staff professional development can impact upon the dialogue and shared understandings around digital education that will arise from their engagement in the scheme and inform their practice in the current context (Thomson & Trigwell, 2016).

Solo Projects

The Impact of Gamifying a Research Methodology Course

I gamified a 20 credit, year-long postgraduate course about designing educational inquiries. The reasons for which are complex from improving continuous student engagement and positive effects on health and well-being (Johnson et al., 2016). This course was initially designed around authentic and assessment and the students were working on their summative assessment throughout the course, with the opportunity to obtain peer and tutor feedback on a regular basis. This lent itself to using design principles of role-play games as curriculum design tool (Schell, 2008, Rouse, 2005). The peer groups will go through the various stages of planning a research project, being introduced to theories, methodologies, and methods, in conjunction with this they have to fill in an ethics application, addressing the different aspects of this journey. Each of these quests and side-quests, comes with various tasks. The tasks have different levels of engagement such as self-study or collaboration and production. Depending on the effort (e.i.: time needed to undertake a task) the tasks are linked to a currency system. Collecting doubloons, coins, and dragon eggs. Once the students have collected three dragon eggs, by the end of the year, they will become owner of a dragon (I designed, or bought digital artefacts the students can collect).

Whilst gamification has been established as an effective strategy to enhance learner engagement and participation (e.g.: Sailer & Homner, 2020), experientially there seems to remain a lack of understanding about the process and purpose outside the community of people whose scholarship or research specialises on gamification, a recent seminar has highlighted this to me again. Additionally, gamification typically is used for elements of a course, or even for elements of a lecture or seminar. Gamifying complete course (one year twenty-credit postgraduate research methodology), within the MEd Academic Practice is not a usual approach and will provide some insights to the wider community about the strengths and weaknesses of such an approach.

I want to explore the course participants’ perception of the gamified course, for two reasons:

• They hold a particular interesting position as students in my course but lecturers in their own courses, so their perspective enables to include different viewpoints
• To understand the impact of gamifying a whole year 20-credit course on learners

As this is a first foray into exploring students’ experience of a gamified course this project is framed as a case study, employing exploratory and participatory research methods, which include observing the participants while the take the course and engage in conversations about their experience, both of which are part of the course anyway. However, I would like to add group discussions at the end of the course to afford a space for reflection and direct feedback, and be able to raise questions that might still be open at the end of the academic year.

Johnson, D., Deterding, S., Kuhn, K. A., Staneva, A., Stoyanov, S., & Hides, L. (2016). Gamification for health and wellbeing: A systematic review of the literature. In Internet Interventions (Vol. 6, pp. 89–106). Elsevier B.V. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.invent.2016.10.002

Rouse, R. (2005). Game Design: Theory & Practice Second Edition.

Sailer, M., & Homner, L. (2020). The Gamification of Learning: a Meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 32(1), 77–112. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-019-09498-w

Schell, J. (2008). The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses.

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Credit Bearing Courses

I am leading two postgraduate Courses: 

CREATIVE PEDAGOGIES FOR ACTIVE LEARNING EDUC5985

University of Glasgow - Course Catalogue - Course

Course Introduction Video

APPROACHES TO EDUCATIONAL ENQUIRY EDUC5991

University of Glasgow - Course Catalogue - Course

Course Introduction Video

and our Master in Academic Practice Dissertations:

MASTERS PROJECT IN ACADEMIC PRACTICE EDUC5993

University of Glasgow - Course Catalogue - Course

Continuous Professional Development Sessions: 

I am teaching on our institutional CPD programme predominantly focussing on topics around the Scholarship for Teaching and Learning as well as running some sessions for our Recognition of Excellence in Teaching fellowship programme. 

University of Glasgow - MyGlasgow - Learning Enhancement & Academic Development Service - Good Practice Resources - Continuing Professional Development Events

Editorial boards

• 2021: oSoTL
• 2021: JPAAP Special Edition

Professional & learned societies

• 2020: Member, Deutsche Geseschaft fuer Hochschulbildung
• 2020: Member Benefit Committee, International Society of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
• 2020: Committee Member, ALT ELESIG Scholar Scheme
• 2016 - 2011: Student Committee Member, Schottish Eucational Research Organisation

Resillient Learning Communities--Decolonising the Curriculum in the Time of Pandemic

I am involved in the AdvanceHE funded project: 

Resilient Learning Communities - Decolonising the Curriculum in the Time of Pandemic (enhancementthemes.ac.uk)

The collective will to decolonise the curriculum is stronger than it has ever been. A curriculum that ignores how colonial history has shaped academic disciplines fails to educate students to recognise and challenge the harm done by the resulting structural inequalities. At the same time, the conditions created by COVID-19 and the move to online teaching have particular implications for BAME students, including negative impact on mental health, higher risk for financial hardship, and more limited access to resources.

This project aims to work with staff and students to expand and deepen sector-wide understanding of what decolonising the curriculum means in practice.

Call to Action!

We are currently looking for student interns and institutional participants and collaborators. Get in touch if you are interested. More soon. 

Learning and Teaching in Higher Education Tweetchat

About | #LTHEchat

I have been an active member of this online international and interdisciplinary network for years. Having hosted the chat during the pivot to online learning at the dawn of the Covid19 pandemic. I am the mentor for the hosting team during the spring term 2021. This is a very welcoming and open learning network, which in its current state runs a live one hour chat every Wednesday evening at 8pm BST (GMT respectively). Simply follow the hashtag #LTHEchat or have a look at the Twitter profile for instructions how to join.  

A bit of fun at the end

I think I covered the key things in this profile. There is some work in the making which I will share once it is in the shareable stage of being. If you want a little respite and like poetry and mixed media art have nosey at my other blog: Storyfae – poetry and mixed media art