Exploring the Hinterlands: Mapping an Agenda for Institutional Research

Exploring the Hinterlands: Mapping an Agenda for Institutional Research Conference will be held at Southampton Solent University, UK, on the 25-26 of June 2008.

Southampton Solent University invites you to the first major UK conference focusing on Institutional Research. The event presents an exciting opportunity for dialogue and networking with UK and international higher education managers and academics who are interested in institutional research. We’ve got a full conference programme with speakers from America, Ireland, Portugal South Africa and the UK. The draft programme is now available to download on www.solent.ac.uk/irconference.

Keynote speakers/presenters:

Dr Randy Swing, Executive Director of the Association for Institutional Research, USA
Professor David Watson, Institute of Education, UK
Dr Nick Hammond, Higher Education Academy, UK
Emeritus Professor Roger Brown, Southampton Solent University, UK
Professor Bernard Longden, Liverpool Hope University, UK
Professor Mantz Yorke, Lancaster University, UK

What is the focus of the conference?

Institutional research is growing fast in the UK, although it has been established practice in the USA for the past 30 years. Universities in the UK are beginning to realise that they need information and research to underpin strategic decision making, particularly in areas such as the student learning experience, student profiling, market intelligence, environmental scanning, predictive modelling and reputation management. The conference seeks to explore these themes.

Why should you attend this conference?

Come and discover how other institutions are growing their institutional research to improve decision making, market position and the student experience.

Who should attend this conference?

The conference would be of interest to a wide audience ranging from higher education managers and academics, to professionals working in planning and information, marketing, as well as academic and educational development/research.

How can I find out more?

Please check the conference website www.solent.ac.uk/irconference or contact Lilian.Winkvist-Noble@solent.ac.uk.

Developing learning-centred curricula

Heriot-Watt, Edinburgh is pleased to welcome Dr Harry Hubball (University of British Columbia - UBC) on 12 June 2008 from 10.00-12.00. Harry's research and practice focus on issues of curriculum and pedagogy in higher education and active living/sports contexts. In 2007 Harry was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship, one of Canada's most prestigious university teaching awards, for his pioneering work on UBC's Certificate Programme on Learning and Teaching.

Harry will be talking about developing learning-centred curricula, and will draw on case study material from Ontario and British Columbia. His data suggest that context-specific, integrated and stage-specific frameworks for implementing programme-level learning outcomes are critical to enhancing student learning.

For more information on the session and to register for the event visit http://www.hw.ac.uk/edu/ltd/events.htm

Research Teaching Linkages: Enhancing Graduate Attributes

The Caledonian Academy Learning Communities Forum presents "Research Teaching Linkages: Enhancing Graduate Attributes" from 2.30 - 3.30pm on Tuesday 18th March 2008 at the Insight Area, H113, Caledonian Academy.

What skills do we aim to develop in our learners as we prepare them for employment? How can the research skills of teaching staff be utilised in developing the key skills which define a modern graduate. The development of linkages between research and teaching to enhance graduate attributes is one of the current Quality Assurance Agency Enhancement Themes[1]. This seminar will discuss some of the background to the theme and consider key issues which have emerged from it. We will consider current practice at Glasgow Caledonian University and how a commitment to developing these graduate attributes can be embedded in key institutional strategies and initiatives. This presentation will also provide you with an opportunity to put forward your own views on the linkage between teaching and research.

The Caledonian Academy is pleased to announce a Learning Communities Forum on 18th March 2008. This event led by Dr. Colin Milligan is open to all staff with an interest in the Research Teaching Linkages theme. We hope you will come along and join the discussion.

If you would like to attend, please respond as soon as possible to Elfrieda Callaghan E.Callaghan@gcal.ac.uk, Tel. 273 1319

Learning For All Conference 2008

Learning for All conference - Update 2008

The National Union of Students Scotland (NUS Scotland) and the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council (SFC) would like to invite you to our Learning for All conference - Update 2008 to be held at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh on Wednesday 26 March 2008.

This year's event will be our second annual conference to build on our implementation of this action plan and the update report on measures of success.
The event

The programme will include reflection on achievements to date and work to agree future priorities for the next year of the action plan's lifespan.
Speakers will include:

• Fiona Hyslop MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Education & Lifelong Learning
  
• James Alexander, President of National Union of Students Scotland
  
• John McClelland, Chair of SFC

The event will run from 10am to 3pm and will include voting and discussion sessions on key themes in widening participation policy.

To book a place, please complete the registration form (Word document) and return it to Joan Fairlie (email: jfairlie@sfc.ac.uk; fax: 0131 313 6507) before Friday
14 March 2008. For further information please contact Nick Stansfeld (tel: 0131 313 6574; email: nstansfeld@sfc.ac.uk).

CFP: "Crossing borders - Transforming boundaries” - Scottish Educational Research Association Conference 2008

A Call for Papers has been put out for the Scottish Educational Research Association Conference 2008 whose theme is “Crossing borders - Transforming boundaries”. The conference will be held in the Royal George Hotel, Perth, from Thursday 27th November – Saturday 29th November 2008.

The annual conference of the Scottish Educational Research Association this year emphasizes the need to look beyond established borders or boundaries whether sectoral, national or international. Papers which address this theme are particularly welcome but other topics will also be considered. These may include but are not limited to:

• Curriculum theory and practice
  
• Inclusive practices
  
• Research Methods and knowledge transfer
  
• Learning Teaching and assessment
  
• Social Justice
  
• School improvement and transitions

For more information, visit the SERA Website at http://www.sera.ac.uk/

Enquiry Based Learning Symposium at Glasgow

The University of Glasgow will host a one-day symposium on Enquiry Based Learning on March 27th 2008 from 10.00 - 16.00 in the Sir Charles Wilson Bulding.

This one day symposium will focus on enquiry based learning and academic enquiry. The keynote address is entitled: 'Integration and Integrity in Academic Enquiry' and will be given by Stephen Rowland, Professor of Higher Education at University College London and the Institute of Education. This will draw upon Stephen's recent book 'The Enquiring University'. The event will include an opportunity to hear about a series of Enquiry Based Learning projects that have been taking place at the University of Glasgow. These projects will be introduced by Dr Jane Pritchard, Learning & Teaching Advisor, HE Academy Engineering Subject Centre. There will also be workshops providing an opportunity to discuss enquiry based learning and academic integrity in more depth.

The charge for attending this event is £50 (free of charge to University of Glasgow staff). For further information contact Lucinda Dempsie (l.dempsie@admin.gla.ac.uk).

To book for this event, please complete the online booking form

Making Connections in the First Year: Challenges and opportunities for research universities

Professor Kerri-Lee Krause, Griffith Institute for Higher Education (Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia) will be giving a talk entitled "Making Connections in the First Year: Challenges and opportunities for research universities" on Tuesday the 26th of February 2008 at 4.00-5.00 pm at the University of Edinburgh in room 1.21, Paterson's Land, Holyrood Road.

The challenge of making a successful transition to first year university study is not to be under-estimated. For the majority of students, the first year is about learning the language of academe, and much may be lost in translation. This interactive workshop will explore some of the common challenges facing first year students, with particular emphasis on some of the potential issues facing students in transition to research-intensive universities. Drawing on recent research, the presentation will examine internationally applicable strategies for helping students to engage effectively with learning, teaching and the learning community in their first year. Participants will be invited to identify local challenges and to discuss strategies that they have used to support first year learning and teaching.

There is no need to register. Just turn up at the event.

Scottish Information Literacy Project funded by Learning and Teaching Scotland

In a recent e-mail, John Crawford announced:

"the Scottish Information Literacy Project has been funding by Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS) to undertake a project entitled: Adding value to LTS Information Literacy Online Service: Exemplars of good practice.

The proposal aims to identify exemplars of good practice within the cross curricular area of information literacy for dissemination through the LTS Online Service which offers an important mechanism to keep education authority and school staff informed and supported.

The Scottish Information Literacy Project will work with three partners, North Lanarkshire Council, Education Resource Service; Information and Learning Resources, City of Edinburgh Council and North Ayrshire Education Resources Service to identify exemplars of good practice in information searching in schools which will be matched against the National Information Literacy Framework standards being developed; a copy of which will be made available to LTS for publication as part of the information literacy section of the LTS Online Service."

For more information, visit the project website at http://www.caledonian.ac.uk/ils/

Creative Graduates Symposium

The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow will play host to a one-day symposium on the 18th of March, 2008, entitled Creative Graduates: learning and research in the creative arts.

The symposium poses the interesting questions: what makes higher education 'higher' and is some form of linkage between teaching and research a defining characteristic of 'higher education'?

For more information, download the symposium flyer (PDF) or visit the Enhancement Themes website.

Enhancement Themes Conference 2008

The Enhancement Themes Conference 2008 will be held in the Edinburgh Conference Centre hosted by Heriot Watt University on Wednesday 5th of March to Thursday 6th of March, 2008.

As befits one of the major events in the Scottish higher education calendar, this year’s Enhancement Themes conference will provide a stimulating and interactive platform to discuss and debate the enhancement of learning and teaching. The particular focus of the conference this year will be on the current Themes of, Research-teaching linkages: enhancing graduate attributes and the First Year Experience: engagement and empowerment. We are delighted to have a number of speakers who are international leaders in their fields to provide plenary sessions. However, we have also responded to your feedback on last year's conference and have allocated more time to interactive workshop sessions. This will allow the opportunity for practitioners to come together and share interesting and emerging practice.

The conference is being held over two days. While many participants will wish to attend on both days, we have structured the programme to facilitate attendance on either one or both days. In this context you should note that, in general, day one of the conference will focus on the First Year Experience: engagement and empowerment and day two on Research-Teaching Linkages: enhancing graduate attributes

For more information, visit the Enhancement Themes website at https://enhancement.qaa.ac.uk/events/detail.asp?ctrID=42.