In this Section:
Working with Departments
Staff of the Engineering Subject Centre, including its Associates, are pleased to receive invitations to visit a department (or school/faculty) in order both to meet with staff and to engage in working with a department on an aspect of its learning and teaching provision.
The Centre can draw on a broad spectrum of experience and expertise in the pedagogy of learning and teaching in engineering, enabling the Centre to offer consultative advice and support to staff and their department in effecting change to practices in their teaching. This support can range from attending and participating in staff meetings and Learning and Teaching Days, to establishing and facilitating a bespoke developmental event, for example as a meeting, a seminar or a workshop.
The Centre has an established portfolio of pedagogic topics at both strategic and operational levels, from which your department can identify a topic that is supportive to the development of staff in their learning, teaching and assessment practices in engineering. The current list of the topics is given below.
If you would like to discuss either a topic from this list or would like to discuss something more specific to your requirements in how we might work with you, then please email our Academic Advisor, Simon Steiner.
List of topics
Programme Design and Learning Outcomes
This topic is run as a workshop and will be of interest to those involved with writing module and programme specifications. The aim is to introduce key features of a programme or module specification, including learning outcomes and level descriptors. Activity sessions tailored to the needs of the department will provide an opportunity for those attending to discuss the terminology used in academic programme documentation, to gain an awareness of the principles of top down approaches to programme design and the use of level descriptors to show student development through a programme. The workshop is particularly relevant for those programmes being considered for re-design and submission for accreditation under UK-SPEC.
Assessment for Learning [sample PPT]
Assessment for Learning (AfL) sets out to use assessment to foster student development, using feedback to enable the student to take responsibility for evaluating, judging and improving their own performance. Through balancing formative and summative assessment the learning process is not obstructed by an unhealthy focus on accumulating marks.
Assessment for Learning (AfL) is run as a workshop that looks to:
- employ the formative function of assessment, enabling all students to understand their achievements
- verify student performance whilst reducing the dominance of summative assessment over learning and teaching
- encourage the use of a wider range of authentic assessment methods
- enable students to become active participants in their assessment, developing autonomous learners
Examples of the use of AfL will be described which illustrate how it may be used to support learning. These examples employ a range of techniques which set out to support learning through formative feedback allowing summative assessment tasks to be rigorously applied.
Feedback to students [sample PPT]
This topic (which can be combined with complementary topics such as assessment and student engagement) is run as a workshop and will be of interest to teaching staff who provide feedback to students on submitted work - for example, as draft written reports, assignments and dissertations. The aim is to encourage staff in their motivation and mentoring of students with the use of feed-forward approaches that can assist students in meeting the learning outcomes for the report/assignment/dissertation. The emphasis is through 'learning on the task' rather than learning through summative feedback “after the task”. Attendees will work with exemplar materials that will advocate the use of this style of positive and formative feedback.
Large Group Teaching [sample PPT]
This workshop will be of interest to teaching staff who have the challenge of teaching to large student groups, usually in formal teaching environments. The aim is to introduce ways for teaching staff to enhance their students’ engagement, firstly by reflection on current practice and the rationale in teaching in large groups, and then by consideration of alternate approaches as introduced by exemplar case studies. Attendees will then have chance to discuss and relate these approaches to examples from their own current teaching, and to formulate a basis for their subsequent adoption and implementation.
Student Engagement [sample PPT]
There is an increasing responsibility and expectation being placed on teaching staff to ensure that students have the benefit of the optimum learning experience whilst studying in HE. One way to move toward this is by seeking better ways in which the students can engage with their learning - both in the practice and in the provision of that learning. This topic is explored through a workshop whereby attendees explore their own teaching practices, learn of novel approaches to consider for the delivery of their teaching. The workshop considers issues of large class sizes and pre-defined learning spaces, and offers the chance to explore the use of group-based working and enquiry/project based learning practices when it is preceded by a carefully-considered assessment strategy.
Project Work [sample PPT]
Engineering students can undertake a wide diversity of project-based work as part of the learning process during their programme of study - where the project can involve group-working, engagement with industry/commerce, and interdisciplinarity. The project can range from being part of an assessed coursework through to the student's significantly credit-weighted individual/final year project. This workshop will consider group-working, engagement, assessment and feedback, and the topic of project-based learning (PBLE) - including for Masters/MSc projects and for those involving international students.
Enquiry Based Learning in Engineering
Today's engineering graduates are required to have a range of attributes including the ability to work effectively in teams or lead teams; interpersonal skills such as negotiation, presentation and communication skills; problem solving skills; information skills; and the capacity to work independently and take responsibility for one's own actions. Enquiry Based Learning is gaining global recognition as an effective environment in which students develop these and other skills. It encourages active participation of the student in determining their own lines of enquiry; negotiating team responses and actions to an investigation; and the finding, evaluation and communication of sources of information. This topic is run as a workshop that will introduce the rationale, methodology, relevance, benefits and practice of Enquiry Based Learning in an engineering context.
Creative Use of Emerging Technologies
This workshop will be of interest to teaching and development staff who are looking for opportunities to engage with digital media to support course design and enhance the student learning experience. The aim is to stimulate creative thinking around the use of emerging technologies, enabling participants to consider a range of different tools for communication and collaborative opportunities among their student groups. Attendees will work on a design challenge within a time restriction, encouraging them to make judgements on the relevance and worth of the tools and resources presented, and a plenary session will enable each participant to identify personal action points to take forward from the workshop.
Students' Induction into HE
The early days and weeks of a student experience on the campus significantly impact on the motivation and experience of students. Induction activities with an emphasis on socialising students on to the campus need to be properly designed. Trouble shooting existing induction programmes is an excellent starting point where a change in emphasis away from information overload to motivational and informative activity can be facilitated. In addition to the induction of new first year students, those coming to university from college (often into later years of programmes), also need to be made aware of the issues surrounding transition from further to higher education. This workshop is intended for year tutors, admissions tutors and anyone involved in supporting students and/or co-ordinating induction; in attending, participants will be aware of areas of local good practice and can compare with what is working in other institutions. Examples of induction activities will be provided and discussed. Suggestions will be made about how to make improvements and an action plan will be developed which will provide both short and longer term goals. The event will therefore be a participative half day workshop, followed three months later by a lunch time seminar.
Students' First Year Experience
The first year experience for engineering and technology students presents a significant challenge. Drop out rates in many engineering departments are normally higher in first year so it is at this stage that the greatest change and improvement can occur. Change for the better will only happen if the current experience is evaluated, problem areas and blockages are identified and challenged, areas of best practice are highlighted and different approaches are taken to design the student experience. This workshop is intended for year tutors, admissions tutors and anyone involved in supporting students; in attending, participants will be aware of areas of local good practice and gaps in the student experience will be highlighted. Suggestions will be made about how to make improvements, and an action plan will be developed which will provide both short and longer term goals. The event will therefore be a participative half day workshop, followed three months later by a lunch time seminar.
Student Retention
The retention of engineering and technology students within their programmes so that high completion rates are achieved is a major issue impacting on university league table results. Ensuring that academic staff and students are working in partnership can be helped by absence management, an early intervention strategy and by listening and responding to the student voice. Methods of gathering data and feedback from students in real time, rather than waiting for historical information at the end of a module or programme can translate into action points for staff to explore. This workshop is intended for year tutors, admissions tutors, programme administrators and teaching academics; in attending, participants will be aware of areas of local good practice and can compare with what is working in other institutions. Examples of real time student evaluation will be provided and discussed. Suggestions will be made about how to make improvements and an action plan will be developed which will provide both short and longer term goals. The event will therefore be a participative half day workshop, followed three months later by a lunch time seminar.
The Sector Skills Councils (SSCs)
This workshop will be of interest to all those who wish to improve their knowledge of how to relate their teaching to the needs of industry. Sector Skills Councils were set up to identify training needs in industry; each Council covers a discrete area of industrial activity. Working with industry, the SSCs developed Sector Skills Agreements (SSAs) which document the skills that industry say they need. The councils initially concentrated on lower level skills and have since begun to take an interest in higher levels, firstly with the design of a number of foundation degree specifications and now they are developing Sector Qualifications Strategies (SQS) to rationalise qualifications so that only qualifications that meet the needs of industry are acceptable. Following the Leitch Review, Sector Compacts are being drawn up to raise the demand for skills training.
An understanding of the role and activity of the SSCs is essential to all those involved in course planning. The work of the SSCs will not only change the qualifications being offered by entrants to HE but will impact on the design of HE offerings. This workshop looks at the role of the SSCs and how an HE institution could make use of their activities to enhance its delivery of HE provision.
Embedding Employability and Enterprise into your curriculum – Practical Solutions
This workshop will be of interest to teaching staff that have the challenging situation of a crowded curriculum within which they have to find space to embed further generic skills for their students such as employability. The aim is to introduce ways for teaching staff to review their present module content, delivery mode and methods of assessment and to map these against generic employability and enterprise skills to highlight what is already been covered by the academic. Then by the introduction of effective practice through exemplar case studies and discussion, attendees will have the opportunity develop strategies with in their teaching to address previously highlighted gaps.