On these events and opportunities pages we hope to keep you informed of events to hear the research of other members, visiting speakers, and opportunities to present your own research locally, nationally, and internationally. Specific upcoming events are listed below. More information about other general events and opportunities are listed in the other pages listed.
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SEDA Teaching, Learning and Assessment Conference 2020
April 2, 2020 - April 3, 2020
Rethinking the Remit of the University in Uncertain Times
Context and themes
In an age of supercomplexity, a new epistemology for the university awaits, one that is open, bold, engaging, accessible, and conscious of its own insecurity. It is an epistemology for living amid uncertainty. (Barnett, 2000: 420) (1)
- the quality and focus of undergraduate degrees, challenging the Education Secretary’s evaluation of “’low-value low quality degrees’” (2) and the continuing characterisations of ‘Mickey Mouse degrees’. (3).
- freedom of speech on university campuses, with obvious implications for the development of students’ critical skills. Complaints of online abuse have fueled suggestions that “critical thinking is becoming an unwanted skill.” (4)
- ‘spiraling grade inflation’ (5, 9), following the OfS reporting a “significant unexplained increase in first-class degree awards” (6).
- increasing debates about student well-being and mental health (7) alongside accounts of “the crippling stress university lecturers face” (8).
- Programme design
- Module and learning design
- Course/programme assessment and feedback strategies/initiatives
- Professional development for staff
- Learning and mobile technologies
- Digital capability and institutional support
- Curriculum leadership and staff roles
- Initiatives relating to student and staff ‘wellbeing’
- Effective pedagogy/support for students with Specific Learning Difficulties
- Apprenticeships
- Development of students’ critical abilities and capacities
- Changing student perceptions about the nature and value of university education
- Transnational/online education
- Learning analytics
- Staff/student partnerships
- Widening participation
1. Barnett, R. Higher Education (2000) 40: 409.
https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1004159513741
2. Quoted in iNews, 23/5/2019.
https://inews.co.uk/news/education/damian-hinds-low-value-low-quality-universities/
3. For example, see the article in iNews, 12/8/2019.
https://inews.co.uk/news/education/a-levels-2019-science-grades-subjects/
4. See article in THE, 2410, 30 May- 5 June 2019, p.24
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/are-these-dying-days-genuine-liberal-arts-education
5. Reported on BBC News, 11/7/2019
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-48951653
6. Report available from Office for Students
7. See recent work by Jisc which both summarises problems and offers potential solutions
8. Quoted by Wales Online, 18/11/2018
9. See article in New Statesman, 21/8/2019