Support for innovation and best practice in teaching

The School organises a seminar series for all staff and post-graduate students, entitled the 'Teaching Circle’, which arranges events focusing on innovation in teaching and learning and sharing best practice.

The Teaching Circle normally takes place two or three times per semester. All teaching staff are invited to contribute and/or suggest topics and speakers.

The organising committee consists of:

Wendy Ugolini - Director of Postgraduate Studies
Catriona Pickard - Director of Undergraduate Studies
Joanne Rowland - Lecturer in Archaeology

Planned events for 2020-21

Semester 1


Date	Title	Location
Tuesday 20 October 2020, 13.00-14.00	Alice Rae: 'Creative differences : an introduction to the writing process and neuro-diverse adult learners'	Blackboard Collaborate [see email invitation]
Thursday 12 November 2020, 13.00-14.00	Daryl Green: ’Working with and in the Centre for Research Collections’	Blackboard Collaborate [see email invitation]

Planned events for 2019-20

Semester 2

Date	Title	Location
Thursday 6 February, 13.00-14.00	Skills teaching for tutors Session by Lyn Kane (Careers Service) and Azwa Shamsuddin (PTAS researcher) giving tips and advice on how to draw out transferable skills in pre-honours tutorials, and engage students with employability ‘without dumbing down’.	G.16
Monday 17 February, 09.30-12.30	Just write! We have booked a seminar room for EdTA mentees wishing a dedicated space for working on their EdTA blogs and an opportunity to discuss things with other mentees.	G.14
Date and time tbc	Visit to the Signet Library The Signet Library will open its doors and holding to all HCA staff to show their collections and building, and dicuss the ways in which these can be used for HCA students.	Signet Library, Royal Mile

Date

Title

Location

Thursday 6 February, 13.00-14.00

Skills teaching for tutors

Session by Lyn Kane (Careers Service) and Azwa Shamsuddin (PTAS researcher) giving tips and advice on how to draw out transferable skills in pre-honours tutorials, and engage students with employability ‘without dumbing down’.

G.16

Monday 17 February, 09.30-12.30

Just write!

We have booked a seminar room for EdTA mentees wishing a dedicated space for working on their EdTA blogs and an opportunity to discuss things with other mentees.

G.14

Date and time tbc

Visit to the Signet Library

The Signet Library will open its doors and holding to all HCA staff to show their collections and building, and dicuss the ways in which these can be used for HCA students.

Signet Library, Royal Mile

Semester 1

Date	Title	Room
Thursday 10 September, 1.00-2.00pm	Jessie Paterson, 'Experiences with Hybrid Teaching' Dr Jessie Paterson from the Vet School will be discussing her approach to hybrid and digital teaching.	n/a
Thursday 10 October, 1.00-2.00pm	Stuart Nicol, Lee-Ann Simpson & Lorraine Spalding (Learn Foundations), 'Delivering a better online student learning experience' To make the Learn virtual learning environment (VLE) easier and more consistent for students to use the University is investing in improvements over the next few years. These improvements are being delivered through a multi-year service improvement programme called Learn Foundations. Key to the project is providing improved support for staff who design, develop and teach courses that use Learn and the various tools that comprise the University’s online teaching space. In this session we would like to discuss how, once basic issues of consistency and usability are addressed, the project team can begin the more valuable work of ensuring teachers are supported and encouraged to use the online space in more productive ways that will have a positive impact on face to face teaching. The session will be led by Stuart Nicol (Head of Educational Design & Engagement), Lee-Ann Simpson (Learn Foundations Project Manager), and Lorraine Spalding (LTW Communications Manager for academic engagement).	G.16
Thursday 31 October 1.00-2.00pm	Cordelia Beattie & Tereza Valny , 'Discussing sexual violence in the classroom’ Global statistics indicate that in a given group of women chances are high that there is a sexual assault survivor. We also know that men can be victims of sexual assault. For those of us teaching sexual violence as a part of our curriculum (for example, in the context of genocide) the presence of survivors of sexual violence has become a concern in recent years, particularly given the indications of PTSD studies and unquantifiable impact. Many teachers have since incorporated trigger warnings or other forms of acknowledging that the discussion might well be relevant to students in the room. However, this affects not only those of us teaching sexual violence explicitly but also those who dissect and analyse texts that deal with rape and other forms of assault. This teaching circle will discuss tactics for dealing with such content in the classroom. One area will be to highlight the experience of tutors who do not directly focus on sexual violence but their material does: where does this occur (in textual analysis, for example), and how can this be tackled in a way that acknowledges the potential presence of trauma without appropriation of experience and the sensitivity that is due in this situation? Another focus of this teaching circle will be to raise the possibility that sexual violence is being taught not only to victims but to bystanders and perpetrators, which brings up a series of questions from the vantage point of the course instructor. In an attempt to generate a series of helpful guidelines and/or compare approaches regarding the aforementioned topics, this teaching circle will provide a platform to discuss, in an open and safe space, the problematics of teaching sexual violence in a classroom. Suggested reading: Sharon James, “Talking Rape in the Classics Classroom: Further Thoughts,” in From Abortion to Pederasty: Addressing Difficult Topics in the Classics Classroom, ed. Nancy Sorkin Rabinowitz and Fiona McHardy (Ohio State Uni. Press, 2015). (We will circulate a pdf in advance.)	G.16

Date

Title

Room

Thursday 10 September, 1.00-2.00pm

Jessie Paterson, 'Experiences with Hybrid Teaching'

Dr Jessie Paterson from the Vet School will be discussing her approach to hybrid and digital teaching.

n/a

Thursday 10 October, 1.00-2.00pm

Stuart Nicol, Lee-Ann Simpson & Lorraine Spalding (Learn Foundations), 'Delivering a better online student learning experience'

To make the Learn virtual learning environment (VLE) easier and more consistent for students to use the University is investing in improvements over the next few years. These improvements are being delivered through a multi-year service improvement programme called Learn Foundations. Key to the project is providing improved support for staff who design, develop and teach courses that use Learn and the various tools that comprise the University’s online teaching space. In this session we would like to discuss how, once basic issues of consistency and usability are addressed, the project team can begin the more valuable work of ensuring teachers are supported and encouraged to use the online space in more productive ways that will have a positive impact on face to face teaching. The session will be led by Stuart Nicol (Head of Educational Design & Engagement), Lee-Ann Simpson (Learn Foundations Project Manager), and Lorraine Spalding (LTW Communications Manager for academic engagement).

G.16

Thursday 31 October 1.00-2.00pm

Cordelia Beattie & Tereza Valny , 'Discussing sexual violence in the classroom’

Global statistics indicate that in a given group of women chances are high that there is a sexual assault survivor. We also know that men can be victims of sexual assault. For those of us teaching sexual violence as a part of our curriculum (for example, in the context of genocide) the presence of survivors of sexual violence has become a concern in recent years, particularly given the indications of PTSD studies and unquantifiable impact. Many teachers have since incorporated trigger warnings or other forms of acknowledging that the discussion might well be relevant to students in the room. However, this affects not only those of us teaching sexual violence explicitly but also those who dissect and analyse texts that deal with rape and other forms of assault.

This teaching circle will discuss tactics for dealing with such content in the classroom. One area will be to highlight the experience of tutors who do not directly focus on sexual violence but their material does: where does this occur (in textual analysis, for example), and how can this be tackled in a way that acknowledges the potential presence of trauma without appropriation of experience and the sensitivity that is due in this situation? Another focus of this teaching circle will be to raise the possibility that sexual violence is being taught not only to victims but to bystanders and perpetrators, which brings up a series of questions from the vantage point of the course instructor. In an attempt to generate a series of helpful guidelines and/or compare approaches regarding the aforementioned topics, this teaching circle will provide a platform to discuss, in an open and safe space, the problematics of teaching sexual violence in a classroom.

Suggested reading: Sharon James, “Talking Rape in the Classics Classroom: Further Thoughts,” in From Abortion to Pederasty: Addressing Difficult Topics in the Classics Classroom, ed. Nancy Sorkin Rabinowitz and Fiona McHardy (Ohio State Uni. Press, 2015).

(We will circulate a pdf in advance.)

G.16

This article was published on 17 Jul, 2023