2019 Conference

LTconference 2019 web banner v2

Creating valuable learning partnerships in the contemporary university

Date: Friday 21st June 2019

Though the content may vary, nearly all the learning communities have three things in common. One is shared knowledge. By requiring students to take courses together and organizing those courses around a theme, learning communities seek to construct a shared, coherent curricular experience that is not just an unconnected array of courses in, say, composition, calculus, history, Spanish, and geology. In doing so, they seek to promote higher levels of cognitive complexity that cannot easily be obtained through participation in unrelated courses. The second is shared knowing. Learning communities enroll the same students in several classes so they get to know each other quickly and fairly intimately in a way that is part and parcel of their academic experience. By asking students to construct knowledge together, learning communities seek to involve students both socially and intellectually in ways that promote cognitive development as well as an appreciation for the many ways in which one’s own knowing is enhanced when other voices are part of that learning experience. The third is shared responsibility. Learning communities ask students to become responsible to each other in the process of trying to know. They participate in collaborative groups which require students to be mutually dependent on one another so that the learning of the group does not advance without each member doing her or his part

Keynote Speaker: Dr Ruth Healey, NTF, University of Chester “Developing learning communities through staff-student partnerships”

2019 Conference Programme

The conference programme is included below. Click on the links for session abstracts.

08.30 Conference organisers available / poster set up in P/T005 and P/T005a
09.00 – 09.30
Exhibition Centre Foyer		 Registration opens with tea and coffee and Poster Presentations
09.30 – 09.50
P/X/001 Lecture Theatre		 Welcome: Students and Dr Glenn Hurst, Chair of Learning and Teaching Forum
09.50 – 10.45
P/X/001 Lecture Theatre		 Keynote lecture and discussion:
Developing learning communities through staff-student partnerships
Ruth Healey, University of Chester
10.45 – 11.05
P/X/001 Lecture Theatre		 Lightning Talks

  • Supporting colleges as learning communities
    Sam Bayley
  • Supporting first year students’ transition into university life
    Julia Kolkmann, Katy Mann Benn, Marina Cantarutti, Ryan Quinn
  • Study student guidance with lecture capture
    James Youdale
  • Green Machine: systems thinking via game-based learning
    Jonathan Miller, James Clark, Glenn Hurst 
11.10 – 11.55 Workshop A (4 concurrent sessions):
Session A1:
P/L/006		 Peer assisted learning for life sciences
Setareh Chong, Sarah Tindall, Tamlyn Ryan and Sarah Crellin
Session A2:
P/T/007		 Death and disaster: using Lego to explore complex real-world problems
Jo Rose and Beth Hardy
Session A3:
P/T/006		 Building the ‘University of the Future’ in partnership with our students
Sam Bayley
Session A4:
P/L/005		 Using Belbin and Tuckman to inform student understanding of learning dynamics in workshop groups
Scott Slorach, Patrick Gallimore
11.55 – 13.00
P/T/005 and P/T/005A		 Poster Presentations and lunch
13.00 – 13.30
P/X/001 Lecture Theatre		 Panel Discussion on Learning Communities

  • Ruth Healey (Associate Professor in Pedagogy in HE, University of Chester)
  • Dr Karen Quigley, Lecturer in Theatre, Department of Theatre, Film and Television
  • Nigel Lowe (Director of Teaching and Learning, Department of Chemistry)
  • Cecilia Lowe (Head of Learning Enhancement and Deputy Director, Academic Support Office)
  • James Hare (Academic Officer, YUSU)
  • Ellen Roberts (National Teaching Fellow, Department of Social Policy and Social Work)
13.30 – 14.30 Oral Presentations (3 presentations per session):
Session 1:
P/L/005
  1. Counting all backgrounds: how do accounting students navigate an interdisciplinary module
    Jane Neal-Smith
  2. Building effective learning communities for IPC Foundation students at the University of York
    Julia Lancaster
  3. Treading in the footsteps of giants: Creating communities of practice for teaching & scholarship academics
    Jane Neal-Smith, Gill Bishop
Session 2:
P/T/006
  1. A blended-learning approach to overcoming the challenges of teaching data analysis and programming to large cohorts when they are not a student’s core discipline
    Emma Rand
  2. Fostering Learning Partnerships with heritage organisations to facilitate the outdoor classroom
    James Taylor, Dav Smith, Matt Jenkins
  3. Social capital and peer-mentoring as strategies to foster social and academic integration in higher education
    Maria Chavana Villalobos
Session 3:
P/T/007
  1. Reflections on an Archaeological Learning Community: Undergraduate Year 2 Experimental Archaeology Practical Skills and Independent Project
    Aimée Little, Andy Needham, Andy Langley
  2. In search of validity – direct assessment of student skills in laboratory practical sessions
    Nick Wood
  3. Multidisciplinary workshops to develop graduate skill sets in the circular economy using systems thinking
    Rob McElroy
14.30 – 15.00
P/T005 and P/T005a		 Afternoon tea and Poster Presentations
15.00 – 15.45 Workshop B (4 concurrent sessions):
Session B1:
P/T/007		 Let’s engineer a musical instrument together:  Creating effective staff-student partnerships for problem-based learning in engineering
Jude Brereton, Frank Stevens, Andy Hunt
Session B2:
P/L/005		 Creating partnerships for interprofessional education (IPE): lecturer and student perspectives on an innovative learning event
Helen Bedford, Alison Smalley, Katie Graham, Carole Lindsey
Session B3:
P/L/006		 Learning Together: building a community of learners within and beyond prison bars
Rachel Vipond
Session B4:
P/T/006		 Collaborative learning: intercultural virtual student peer-assisted learning
Carmen Álvarez-Mayo
15.55 – 16.15
P/X001 Lecture Theatre		 Academic Support Office SummaryInspired by ideas from the Conference?  The Academic Support Office can help you to turn them into reality, whether it’s programme and assessment design, use of learning technology, online learning, innovative teaching or developing student skills.  This session will give a quick overview of the advice and resources that are available.

Nigel Dandy, Head of the Academic Support Office

Conference poster award and close

John Robinson, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Teaching, Learning and Students