Spring/Summer 2022 Staff Development Programme
For our Spring/Summer staff development programme the Digital Learning Team have analysed feedback provided by students as part of the NSS. The sessions have been designed around three common themes that came out of this analysis: Engaging, Consistency, and Wellbeing.
Most sessions will run once on each campus and again online. Booking is not necessary for any sessions. Click the online session link at the appropriate time to access the Zoom room for the online sessions.
Note: Sessions on setting up online exams are also being held during April. Details are on the Online Exams Guidance page.
Theme: Engaging
Designing & Delivering Engaging Presentations: Roundtable
City (Owen 920), 9th June 10:00-10:55
An opportunity to come and discuss ways to improve your presentation design and delivery. Share examples of things that have been working well for you or listen to others examples and seek advice.
Designing & Delivering Engaging Presentations
City (Owen 920), 16th May 10:00-10:55
Collegiate (HC.0.32), 9th June 14:00-14:55
This session looks at various tools, methods and design techniques for creating more engaging presentations. Additional takeaway and training resources are provided following this session that can be used in your presentations and to help you continue with developing your own presentation design skills.
Producing engaging and integral bite-size pre-recorded teaching
City (Owen 920), 9th May 14:00-14:55
Collegiate (HC.0.15), 30th May 10:00-10:55
In this session we’ll look at how to put into practice some techniques for creating pre-recorded materials that encourage engagement from students and integrate well with the wider module, including how to add interactivity to recordings and methods for bridging learning between recordings and live activities.
Reflecting on / lessons learned from delivering teaching remotely: Roundtable
City, TBC
Collegiate, TBC
This session will provide an opportunity to reflect on digital learning delivery during the pandemic and hear from and share your own thoughts of colleagues from across the university. Participants will be encouraged to identify practices to keep, ones to adjust, and ones to abandon.
Transitioning back to face-to-face delivery
City (Owen 920), 12th May 10:00-10:55
Collegiate (HC.0.15), 20th May 14:00-14:55
This session will look at transitioning back to face-to-face teaching, including digital practices that are suited to f2f situations and how to make the most of the equipment in most teaching rooms. As many students will have been mainly taught online for the past two years, the session will also look at some techniques to ease them back into face-to-face teaching too.
Formative assessment and feedback
30th June, 15:00-15:55 – this session has been cancelled – to be rescheduled
Collegiate (HC.0.16), 13th July, 12:00-12:55
Online, 7th September 10:00-10:55
This session will outline the benefits of formative assessment and its impact on improving student learning. It will develop your understanding of the potential uses of, the best practice for, and how to make informed choices about technologies in supporting formative assessment and feedback approaches.
Designing relevant, creative and challenging activities and assessments
Collegiate (HC.0.16), 7th June 11:00-12:30 (subject to change)
City (Owen 920), 16th June 10:00-11:30 (subject to change)
Come along and engage in a discussion with colleagues who have turned their backs on traditional assessments and seen student attainment and satisfaction improve almost overnight.
Theme: Consistency
Communication (let me down)
30th June 11:00 – 11:55 – this session has been cancelled – to be rescheduled
Collegiate (HC.0.16), 8th July 10:00 – 10:55
Online, 5th July 15:00 – 15:55
Inconsistent/mistimed communications are a serious issue for students and result in stress, confusion, and reduced engagement. In this session we’ll look at ways to make communication with students more consistent, how to explain to students what they can expect on your modules and courses and what your own communication expectations are of them.
Creating an effective (and consistent) assessment brief video
City (Owen 920), 12th July 10:00-10:55
Collegiate (HC.0.16), 26th August 14:00-14:55
This session will cover how to efficiently create assessment brief videos that provide students with the information that they need to perform well in their assessments while also reducing the amount of follow-up questions to be dealt with.
During the session we’ll look at a couple of different ways of making the video – as a bespoke screencast and as a recording of a brief delivered during a live session.
Consistent Blackboard module design
Collegiate, 13th July 11:00-11:55 (RWB Annex E.1.01)
City, 21st July 12:00-12:55 (Charles Street 12.3.10)
Consistency in online module design and structure is important for students as it enables them to find what they need, when they need it rather than having to hunt for information and materials, which can increase stress. In this session we’ll look at how a consistent structure and design can be achieved while still allowing for staff creativity in the way they use Blackboard.
Optimising assessment workflows by selecting the appropriate feedback format
Collegiate (HC.0.16), 29 June 11:00-11:55
City (tbc), 28 July 15:00-15:55 (please note this date has been changed from 21 July) – this session has been cancelled
Online, 19 September 11:00-11:55 – this session has been cancelled due to the State Funeral for HM Queen Elizabeth II
This session will look at how the choice of feedback format can affect the efficiency of the overall marking and feedback process. We’ll look at different formats, why you might choose each one (where choice is possible), and how to streamline the process based around each format.
Theme: Wellbeing
Breaking Ice and Warming Up
City (Owen 432), 16th June – 8:30-9:00
Collegiate (HC.0.16), 23rd June – 12:15-12:45
Many students, even ones who are well into their studies, may have had little personal interaction with their peers. In this short session we’ll cover brief activities that can help students (re)build social relationships with their peers, or encourage students to be more active and alert during the teaching session.
This bitesize session will demonstrate some examples of these activities, highlight further activities and provide opportunities to share your own activities and experiences.
Encouraging social connections between students: Roundtable
City (Owen 920), 4th May 14:00-14:55
Collegiate (Oaklands 201), 12th May 10-11am
With the return to face-to-face teaching, many students may be meeting their peers in person for the first time. In this session, participants will be able to share their approaches to developing social connections between their students, ask questions of their colleagues, and get ideas to try in their own practice.