BERA conference report

Emma Clayes and Khristin Fabian from Perth College UHI report on their attendance at the recent British Educational Research Association (BERA) conference The conference, which covers education research in the UK from early years and school to further and higher education, started on a Tuesday morning in a sunny Newcastle. The keynote opening lecture was …

University Mentoring Scheme week: the luxury of a residential …

The final two days of the University Mentoring Scheme week (#UHImentoring) brought together over twenty colleagues in a residential programme  hosted in the STEM Hub in An Lochran on Thursday 30 and Friday 31 August.  The programme aimed to develop practical mentoring skills for those new to mentoring or experienced mentors who were keen to …

Talking learning and teaching – Reflection on Perth College UHI Staff Conference

Keith Smyth and Heather Fotheringham from the Learning and Teaching Academy (LTA) visited Perth College UHI on August 24 to take part in their staff conference, hosted at Perth College UHI's new Academy of Sport and Wellbeing. In what was possibly our largest venue to date (see pic below- it was HUGE!), Keith gave a short presentation about …

NSS 2018: Staff conference

The 2018 NSS staff conference took place on Thursday 30 August, following a hugely successful NSS 2018 result that saw the university achieve 85% Overall Satisfaction, placing us joint 5th in Scotland.  The conference provided a great opportunity to celebrate this result amongst colleagues. Professor Chris O’Neil, Principal of Inverness College UHI, opened the conference …

Reflecting on Digifest18: Highlighting digital opportunities for educational institutions

Despite the potential of bad weather induced non-running trains and cancelled planes, Scott Connor and Ann Tilbury made it to Digifest18 – billed as “a unique opportunity to see, hear and share the latest thinking to inspire and prepare for the digital challenge ahead”. Held in Birmingham’s International Conference Centre, the event was opened by …

These Women Can!: a reflection on our International Women’s Day event

Thursday March 8th saw the advent of These Women Can! Hosted by the Learning and Teaching Academy, These Women Can! was our first university wide event to celebrate, debate and explore the challenges women face in FE, HE and Research.  It was also International Women’s Day and 100 years since women won the right to …

Teaching with synchronous technologies – symposium reflections

Friday 15th December saw colleagues from across the university participate an entirely online symposium exploring and debating synchronous technologies. The symposium kicked off with Tara Morrison from Inverness College UHI, presenting through Blackboard Collaborate Ultra to explore the use of online synchronous communication. Tara took the participants through how she makes use of the functions …

A year in review

We're looking back on a busy 2017 here at the Learning and Teaching Academy, and feeling just a little bit proud of what we have achieved, particularly for such a small team. Much of what the LTA offers relies on friends and colleagues across the university supporting what we do, and being willing to get involved, and so …

Transforming assessment

The Learning and Teaching Academy held a two-day event on assessment in November in which presenters from within and outside the university spoke about different approaches to assessment. This event was the first of many planned to explore the how values from the University's new Learning and Teaching Enhancement Strategy might be put into practice. …

Strategising at North Highland College UHI

On Tuesday 22 August 2017, Keith Smyth and Heather Fotheringham from the LTA attended North Highland College UHI's Learning and Teaching Conference in Thurso, the focus of which was assessment and feedback. Discussion sessions in the first part of the day were structured using the work of Dylan William, Emeritus Professor of Educational Assessment at …