Internal seminars and workshops

A Workshop for Academic Staff by Associate Professor Helen Sword The University of Auckland, New Zealand

‘Publish or perish’ is the mantra of the successful academic. Yet few academics have been explicitly trained as writers, and fewer still have been schooled in the intricate art of maintaining research productivity without sacrificing work-life balance.  Helen Sword, author of Stylish Academic Writing, has interviewed more than 90 successful academics from across the disciplines to find out about their professional formation as writers, their daily work habits and their habits of mind.  In this interactive workshop, she will present a smorgasbord of evidence-based strategies for colleagues who aspire to write more confidently, stylishly, engagingly, daringly or simply more prolifically.

Helen Sword is a scholar, poet, and award-winning teacher who has published widely on modernist literature, higher education pedagogy, digital poetics, and academic writing.  Her books include Engendering Inspiration  (1995),  Ghostwriting Modernism  (2002), The Writer's Diet  (2007), Pacific Rim Modernisms (co-edited 2009), and Stylish Academic Writing (Harvard University Press 2012).  She is an Associate Professor in the Centre for Academic Development at the University of Auckland, where she received a 2007 Teaching Excellence Award for Innovation in Teaching.  See her website (www.helensword.com) for links to her books, her digital poetry and the Writer’s Diet, a free diagnostic tool for writers.

Join us for a thought-provoking day of keynote speakers, practice sharing, learning and networking at this year’s Learning and Teaching Forum, Wednesday 26^th June 2013.

Keynote speakers:

- Dr Quintin Cutts, University of Glasgow, School of Computing Science
- Professor Carolin Kreber, University of Edinburgh, Moray House School of Education

Breakout sessions:

These sessions will explore recently completed and ongoing Principal’s Teaching Award Scheme projects in a variety of subject areas including:

- Websites and the creation of community (English Literature)
- PeerWisdom: Evaluating and boosting biology student benefits from the PeerWise online learning tool
- Introducing psychology via public engagement
- Defining non-technical skills in doctors
- Ways of thinking and practising in Chinese and Japanese studies

There will also be time for discussion, networking, and to view posters from current IAD academic secondees.

Background: The Principal’s Teaching Award Scheme (PTAS) has been running since 2007, with annual funding of around £100,000. It offers academic staff at Edinburgh the opportunity to apply for grants for either discipline-specific pedagogical research projects or development projects aimed at enhancing teaching, learning or assessment practices within their School.

The programme is available at: http://edin.ac/130lnCf 

In March 2013 we will be running PGT lunchtime college sessions, providing PGT staff with an opportunity to hear more about the College level priorities.

March 13: Science and Engineering (SCE) - Professor Lesley Yellowlees

All sessions are 12.30 (lunch and networking) and 13.00 - 14.00 for the discussion.

Personal Tutor System for PGT - Professor Ian Pirie

This session will include an overview of the Personal Tutor system; a brief demonstration of the UG model; and an opportunity to discuss how it will transfer to the PGT community.

The series provides an opportunity to explore and discuss issues of relevance to
Masters provision at the University of Edinburgh.

Eligibility: staff engaged with PGT provision

A networking opportunity and lunch will be available outside Lecture Theatre 1 from 12.30pm. The discussion session is from 1-2pm in Lecture Theatre 4.

Supporting Masters students through Library, IT & e-Learning Services - Professor Jeff Haywood

Information Services provides facilities and services for all students in the
University, both on- and off-campus.  Increasingly, these are digital in nature, but physical provision is still vital for most PGT students (e.g. library collections, study spaces, specialised hardware-software).  As the PGT population has increased, IS has sought ways to engage with them about their needs.  Some of what IS have discovered, and the need for further understanding will be explored in this session.

The series provides an opportunity to explore and discuss issues of relevance to
Masters provision at the University of Edinburgh.

Eligibility: staff engaged with PGT provision

A networking opportunity and lunch will be available outside Lecture Theatre 1 from 12.30pm. The discussion session is from 1-2pm in Lecture Theatre 3.

Support Services for PGT students - Dr Sue Rigby

Postgraduate taught students are largely international, and have a hectic and brief time at the University.  Support and enhancement for such students is a challenge which will be partly addressed through the introduction of personal tutors, and partly through the work of the Student Support Project.  Most visible as part of the latter project are the Student Information Points.  Prearrival support for english language and study skills will come on line next academic year.  You are invited to come to find out about planned developments in these areas and to have an input into the material being planned and designed so that they are of maximum benefit to your students.

The series provides an opportunity to explore and discuss issues of relevance to
Masters provision at the University of Edinburgh.

Eligibility: staff engaged with PGT provision

A networking opportunity and lunch will be available at Old College, Raeburn Room and the lunch will be next door in the Carstares room (Old College)

This is a participative workshop which aims to challenging you to think about whether you encourage or discourage your students to take risks.  The aim is that you will leave inspired and equipped with a few ideas as to how you can support, and perhaps model, some sensible risk taking.

This workshop invites you to reflect on how you can best give written feedback comments to your students, in your subject area, in ways that make the most of the time available.

The workshop looks not only at published advice on written feedback in universities, but also at how that compares with the research evidence — findings on how lecturers and tutors actually comment on students' work, and how students perceive and respond to their teachers' comments. It also considers how feedback varies across disciplines, and by level of study, and what possibilities there are for greater cross-fertilisation.

Learn how to use comedy and humor in your teaching - and the basics of how to become a stand-up comedian in two hours!

Join Susan Morrison, MC at the Stand comedy clubs in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle for a lighthearted look at the serious world of teaching and communicating.

In this fun and interactive workshop you'll be working to create and deliver comedy in a no-pressure environment. You'll be exploring the links between comedy and academic research, and learning comedic performance skills to enhance your presentation skills - as well as boost your confidence.

Attendees for this workshop are encouraged to bring a little comic material with them - remember the most embarrassing gaffe you've ever made? Bring that memory along and we'll turn it into comedy.

This workshop is intended for staff who are involved in running large undergraduate courses. Through discussion with experienced course organisers we will look at what this task involves in different parts of the university, and at how some of the challenges of organising large courses might be met.

We would also like to discuss the possibility of setting up a network for organisers of large undergraduate courses, and how this might operate.

This event is open to all staff

This short information session will consider different assessment approaches and supporting technologies as well as providing an overview of some of the existing applications used at the University, including: WebPA; Grademark; PeerMark; and Pebblepad. There will be a case study focusing on WebPA, as well as practical advice on implementing different assessment methods. The speakers will outline the benefits, including the provision of richer feedback to students and easy to manage workflows.

Speakers include colleagues from the School of Geosciences, Information Services and the Institute of Academic Development. There will be an opportunity to ask questions and share experiences.

Please feel free to bring your lunch with you. Refreshments will be provided.

On booking: you will be asked if you have any specific questions about assessment and we hope to answer these during the session.