Pedagogic research

During the 2015/16 academic year, a number of activities were initiated to develop pedagogic research across the University. A key driver has been our link with the Pedagogic Research Institute and Observatory (PedRIO) at Plymouth University with Professor Pauline Kneale's keynote 'Reflections on building a pedagogic research community' at our Engage conference in 2016. Professor Debby Cotton also gave the seminar Supporting and developing pedagogic research in HE in November 2015.

The focus on pedagogic research has emerged at a time when there is greater emphasis on multidisciplinary research about teaching and learning across the higher education sector with the advent of the Teaching Excellence Framework and the Stern Review of the Research Excellence Framework.

Since the 2016/17 academic year, Dr Simon Pratt-Adams and Mark Warnes have been building a pedagogic research community at ARU. The community aims to:

• support university learning, teaching and research strategies and plans
• establish interest groups as cultivation of universities' pedagogic research community
• support early career researchers with their writing
• run seminars, including visiting speakers
• contribute to learning and teaching conference
• encourage external networking
• support faculty learning and teaching research groups
• participate in pedagogic research writing retreats to support the development of publications.

In 2016 Dr Simon Pratt-Adams and Mark Warnes began running informal monthly seminars on both Cambridge and Chelmsford campuses for those interested in the field to talk about their work. View the Upcoming events section below for more information.

The Pedagogic Research Directory was launched at our annual Learning and Teaching conference, Engage, in June 2016. It's a searchable database containing all publications resulting from University Teaching Fellowship Awards and Learning and Teaching Project Awards. It also aims to develop new knowledge of relevance to learning and teaching in higher education.

Teachers as Designers of Learning Environments: The Importance of Innovative Pedagogies

This series of books from the OECD's Centre for Educational Research and Innovations provides the results of OECD work on innovation in education. Buy the book.

Action Research: Practice Guide

The Higher Education Academy has released a practice guide on Action Research by Dr Lydia Arnold, Harper Adams University, and Professor Lin Norton, Liverpool Hope University. The guide was written specifically for higher education practitioners who are interested in improved students' learning experiences through the process of researching their own practice. It is accompanied by a separate document with case studies from a range of disciplines and topics.

Developing Educators for the Digital Age: A Framework for capturing knowledge in action by Paul Breen

Evaluating skills and knowledge capture lies at the cutting edge of contemporary higher education where there is a drive towards increasing evaluation of classroom performance and use of digital technologies in pedagogy. Developing Educators for the Digital Age provides a narrative account of teacher development geared towards the further usage of technologies (including iPads, MOOCs and whiteboards) in the classroom presented via the histories and observation of a diverse group of teachers engaged in the multiple dimensions of their profession.

Independent Social Research Foundation

 

The Independent Social Research Foundation (ISRF) is a public benefit foundation funded by a group of private philanthropists with interests in academia and social science, founded in 2008. It is dedicated to advancing the social sciences through the promotion of new modes of inquiry and the development of interdisciplinary expertise and methods, and through better understanding of social entities and processes.

They award prizes through grant competitions and for essays concentrating on Social Theory, Economics, Organisation Studies, and Digital Social Science.

Prize for newer researchers, Society for Research into Higher Education

The Society for Research into Higher Education, in collaboration with the Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, invites applications for its prize for newer researchers. This supports early stage researchers in the field of higher education research by enabling them to undertake a research project in their own right, or develop research skills which will help advance their research career.

Applicants must be researchers with a minimum of a first undergraduate degree and currently registered as a student with, or undertaking research associated with, a university or college department, who also have an interest in pursuing a career in higher education research. The awards do not support study towards a postgraduate qualification or research work intended as the basis for a PhD submission. Applicants must be within six years of completing a PhD or equivalent professional qualification.

Grants are worth £3,000 each. The prizes include the support of a society senior researcher as mentor, publication of a paper related to the research project, presentation of the final paper at a society conference, one year’s free membership, and one year’s free subscription to the society’s main journals.

Closing date: 31 March 2019. View more information.

Special TEF edition

Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching has published a TEF special edition of their open access journal. The opinion pieces review the value of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) and examine common concerns such as the chosen metrics and viability of the framework.

International Journal for Students as Partners

The International Journal for Students as Partners (IJSaP) has just published its first issue, Vol. 1, No. 1 (2017). IJSap is a new journal about learning and teaching together in higher education. IJSaP explores new perspectives, practices, and policies regarding how students and staff are working in partnership to enhance learning and teaching in higher education. Mick Healey, who will be leading the Reflections on developing the scholarship of teaching and learning workshop, is senior editor and can be contacted by emailing ijsap@mcmaster.ca. 

New journal article

Mike Mimirinis (FHEMS) has published the journal article Variability in University Students' Use of Technology: An 'Approaches to Learning' Perspective.

AERA Open

AERA Open is a peer-reviewed, open access journal published by the American Education al Research Association. The journal emphasises rapid review and dissemination of high quality education research, and articles are published on a continuous basis as they are accepted. Read the editors' Inaugural Editorial and consult with the editors. You can also submit your manuscript.

Routledge Publishing: Legal Pedagogy Series

Routledge Publishing has commissioned the Legal Pedagogy Series, consisting of multi-author texts that explore best practice in the law school curriculum and teaching methodologies. The aim of the Series is to promote discussion as to how best to teach components of the law degree and ensure the ongoing validity of the law degree. Please contact Series Editor, Kris Gledhill, AUT Law School, Auckland, New Zealand, if you have a suggestion or proposal for books that might fit within this Series.

The LearningWheel – A model of digital pedagogy by Deborah Kellsey and Amanda Taylor

Educators are being forced to consider their educational practices due to the influence of digital technologies on the world and not all have been socialised professionally to use these technologies. This book adds to the emerging conversations about the use of technologies to support and – indeed – replace traditional teaching methodologies in a range of educational settings. The LearningWheel is an innovative approach focused on bridging the knowledge gap and provides an opportunity for readers to engage with technologies for teaching and learning purposes.

Buy the book and use the voucher code LW1216 to receive a 20% discount.

The Open University publishes a series of reports entitled Innovating Pedagogy. The series explore new forms of teaching, learning and assessment for an interactive world, to guide teachers and policy makers in productive innovation.

• Innovating Pedagogy 2019
• Innovating Pedagogy 2017
• Innovating Pedagogy 2016
• Innovating Pedagogy 2015
• Innovating Pedagogy 2014
• Innovating Pedagogy 2013
• Innovating Pedagogy 2012

Scholars' Press  provides high-quality academic publishing and supports research. They offer authors services such as marketing, production and distribution. Visit the website.

Tansy Jessop, Professor of Research Informed Teaching at Solent University, gave an Open Lecture on At home everywhere and nowhere: the place of pedagogic research in higher education.

In July 2018, Professor Mick Healey, Higher Education Consultant gave the workshop Reflections on the Scholarship of Learning and Teaching. View the slides and handouts in the dropdown menu Workshops.

Monthly meetings

Theme: Starting your project
Monday 7 October, 4.30–6pm, Chelmsford, SAW 103
Tuesday 8 October, 4.30–6pm, Cambridge, HEL 207
Theme: Collaborating with others
Monday 11 November, 4.30–6pm, Cambridge, HEL 207
Tuesday 12 November, 4.30–6pm, Chelmsford, SAW 103
Theme: Applying for funding
Monday 9 December, 4.30–6pm, Chelmsford, SAW 103
Tuesday 10 December, 4.30–6pm, Cambridge, HEL 207
Theme: Choosing your Methodology
Monday 10 February, 4.30–6pm, Cambridge, HEL 114
Tuesday 11 February, 4.30–6pm, Chelmsford, SAW 103
Theme: Applying for Ethics
Monday 9 March, 4.30–6pm, Chelmsford, MAR 205
Tuesday 10 March, 4.30–6pm, Cambridge, HEL 313
Theme: Collecting and Analysing Data
Monday 20 April, 4.30–6pm, Cambridge, HEL 313
Tuesday 21 April, 4.30–6pm, Chelmsford, MAR 213
Theme: Presenting and Publishing
Monday 18 May, 4.30–6pm, Chelmsford, MAR 213
Tuesday 19 May, 4.30–6pm, Cambridge, HEL 207

 

Writing café/drop-in sessions

Monday 21 October, 4–6pm, Cambridge, HEL 309
Tuesday 22 October, 4–6pm, Chelmsford, SAW 103
Monday 25 November, 4–6pm, Cambridge, HEL 207
Tuesday 26 November, 4–6pm, Chelmsford, SAW 103
Monday 24 February, 4–6pm, Cambridge, HEL 114
Tuesday 25 February, 4–6pm, Chelmsford, MAR 101
Monday 27 April, 4–6pm, Chelmsford, MAR 125
Tuesday 28 April, 4–6pm, Cambridge, HEL 113

Pedagogic research writing retreats

Friday 17 January 2020, 9.30am–4.30pm, Hughes Hall, Cambridge

Email the Centre for Innovation in Higher Education to register your interest