Learning Cafe; 21st Century Universities

Shelley Seguaro said:

Lots of exclamation marks & question marks appear on our on the tablecloth! (??)

The discussion covered different kinds of research – how useful is it in teaching-led institutions post-RAE

• further longitudinal studies are needed with students not just on students;
• mentoring;
• who teaches the teachers? – particular those people who may be reluctant/hesitant to engage with these issues; how to inspire colleagues to join us on the journey.

During the the Learning Cafe we found the words ‘grow’ and ‘growing’ were important to the discussion – projects could be small flowers or saplings, as much as they could be large oaks.

Learning Cafe; Academic Leadership in HE

Steve Rayner said

• “Academic leadership is learning to lead for leading learning”
• change – is all change good? How does leadership link with change for good
• challenge – is it good, how do we face it/deal with it?
• exploring ‘concern’ – leadership & management should be about people, but change can bring about concern

Learning Cafe; TEL

Martin Jenkins said

• there is a need to identify barriers to accessing or using technology for learning, not just for preventing use, but restricting the use of the technology
• student expectations of technology is important – are we reinforcing students expectations to be ’spoon-fed’ learning

Research questions:

• curriculum design – researching the effectiveness of the design of curriculum across institutions and the sector as a whole
• web 2.0 technology – are these student-led or staff-led?

Learning Cafe; Diversity

Madeleine Howe said

• The discussion tended to focus on the changes resulting from increasinlgy demand-led HE. Students particularly valued diversity of opportuntities (eg WBL makes them more employable).
• Talked a lot about the supply of graduates and questioned whether the increasing diversity of students would add to the cultural capital or would more divers students mean that some would have more difficulty building their cultural capital
• Few HEIs had policies on how to support staff on how to support/respond/enable students not from the majority group of students.

Learning Cafe; Internationalisation

Nadine Sulkowski said

Two main trends in internationalisation:

• recruitment of international students
• exporting students overseas

Key issues:

• different learning styles
• assessment
• technology – E-learning, distance learning

Conclusion:

• a lot of focus on issues and challenges, but three key words are ‘Celebrate our Diversity’

Learning Cafe; ESD

Arran Stibbe said

• need for longitudinal studies on students once they have left university and gone into employment – what is their impact?
• imposition of values on students? ESD is often accused of forcing students to think in a particular way.
• research is needed on education outside the classroom – setting students assignments not just of WBL, but perhaps talking to elders in the community

Learning Cafe; Linking Research & Teaching

Chris Short said

• One of the key research questions national and institutional is main-streaming of linking teaching and research. Moving from modules to core to programmes, faculties; the evidence needs to be found – anecdotally resarh-teaching links are universally positive
• The students need to be open to their learning being integrated with research at the start (managing student expectation) and throughout their programme rather than the final year (as in some cases)
• ‘Reluctant colleagues’ – the individual ownership of research contrasts with the shared values of teaching – there is a need for reflection and evidence.