Event Details

"To improve educational practice it is necessary be exposed to, to reflect on, and to incorporate the excellent practices of others...

"To improve educational practice it is necessary be exposed to, to reflect on, and to incorporate the excellent practices of others."(Janet Finlay, 2012)

This year's Sharing Practice day will reflect back at our teaching practice, and forward as we take from what we have learnt towards innovating our teaching in the 21st Century. How do we ensure that we do not lose sight of our core aims to improve the quality and reach of our teaching in order to prepare our graduates to lead responsible, intellectually curious, productive and fulfilling lives within a complex and inclusive global society. [Education Strategy 2020]

Reflecting back, moving forward: Experiences & learning in teaching practices.

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Programme

Morning abstracts

Afternoon abstracts

We welcome two internal colleagues who will reflect on their own teaching and student learning, they will offer an insight into how the their practices have changes and shaped over time as a result of the changes at Lancaster University and the wider HE sector, yet they remain buoyant, optimistic and enthusiastic about teaching and students for the future.

Keynote: Dr Patrick Hagopian, History & American Studies, FASS

Title: Anonymised versus person-centred teaching and assessment

This talk will draw on Patrick Hagopian’s practice as a teacher to oppose the recent proposal to anonymise the marking of students’ coursework. The talk will draw attention to the risk to the student-teacher relationship when one does not know the name of the student author because it has been transformed into a number. Engaging with relevant scholarship to assess the purported benefits and costs of anonymisation, the talk will set this specific problem in the wider context of evidence-based institutional decision-making.

There are two main arguments offered by proponents of anonymised marking: the first is that it will guarantee fairness by removing any personal prejudice from the marking process. As one advocate puts it, he is marking the piece of work in front of him, so he does not need to know who wrote it. This view, however, assumes that the only reason for reading the student’s work is the provision of a grade. We are not simply graders: we are also, and primarily, educators. Giving students feedback provides an opportunity for personalised advice, taking into account the students’ prior work and setting them on a developmental path. This personalised approach is an integral part of the support we offer and, often, of the relationship-building that can be crucial to student attainment. Patrick will draw on examples from his own practice as a teacher to show what may be lost if we sacrifice a person-centred approach to the disconnectedness demanded by anonymity.

In the current proposal for anonymised marking, the “fairness” argument has become entangled with the issue of the attainment gap between Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) and white students. (The attainment gap is the difference between BME and white students’ academic attainment that cannot be explained by factors such as their prior educational qualifications; in some higher education institutions it is large.) Those who propose anonymised marking say that the attainment gap could be the result of unconscious bias by the marker and that, if so, anonymised marking could make a contribution to narrowing the attainment gap. This talk will advocate an evidence-based approach to assessing this argument; and it will press us to consider whether the introduction of anonymised marking is likely to make such a contribution, or may in fact have effects that run contrary to its purported aims.

Keynote: Jane Pye for the Interprofessional Education Team. Winners of the 2019 Pilkington teaching award.

Title: Breaking Out of Silos: An Inter-Professional Educational Journey

The four faculties and their departments provide a clear and helpful structure to our sizable and complex university. This presentation explores the educational opportunities that arise when we think beyond these boundaries. In busy terms with packed timetables, it is a challenge to even contemplate anything outside of primary teaching responsibilities. However, through the curiosity and dedication of a small group of colleagues from clinical psychology, medicine and social work, these subject areas have made space to think together and, over time, form a close and productive team. The result has been a rich, demanding, challenging and rewarding experience for all involved. This team has worked together to test out and experiment with the idea that students from different disciplines learning together could, and should, be a positive developmental experience. The focus of this work has been ethics but there is certainly scope for the broadening out of topics.

This talk will explore inter-professional learning or education from the student and the ‘educator’ or ‘teacher’ perspective. There is much evidence to suggest that students from different disciplines learning together is a powerful experience. In a context of professional education, it is easy to imagine how experiences of working and learning together at a pre-qualifying stage provides the foundational skills and knowledge to inform effective professional working relationships. The ‘hidden curriculum’ is a key but perhaps an under explored concept in relation to inter-professional education in this context and this presentation will explore some of the positive unintended student learning that has been observed

A less considered outcome of the inter-professional educational journey so far is the impact that it has had upon those responsible for teaching and facilitating the learning of students, particularly in relation to professional development. This talk will aim to capture some of the subtle and hidden learning for staff involved. The presentation will conclude by considering whether there may be further opportunities for inter-professional or inter-disciplinary education across the university.

Jane Pye is one of this group of colleagues and will share through this presentation some insights and thoughts about the inter-professional education journey so far.

About the annual sharing practice day

The aim of the day is to promote discussion, questions and above all for sharing our learning and teaching practices, which could include, The areas of; inclusivity, distance learning and how we globalise our curriculum, programme focus curriculum development, assessment, feedback, student engagement, and learning technology. The day is open to all staff and colleagues because this year’s theme reflects on changing teaching practices, and change is part of all our lives.

TO REGISTER: click on the Contact Details Website link below and register via LibCal