Manchester Metropolitan University

Earlier this month, the Manchester Evening News used Freedom of information requests to find out the levels of detected plagiarism in local universities. The results make interesting reading, as so some of the quotes from students!

The AMBeR study has been looking at the range and spread of penalties available for student plagiarism among UK Higher Education Institutions. It has analysed plagiarism policies from 153 UK HE institutions and has found that there is “substantial variation throughout the HE sector in the penalties available for student plagiarism and in the procedures involved in their recommendation“. This “substantiates concerns expressed by previous commentators, including The Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education, Baroness Deech” and it seems reasonable to assume that a more consistent sector approach will be recommended in the future.

The full report from this initial phase of the study is available on the JISC Plagiarism Advice Service website.

The project is now going on to complete a questionnaire survey of all UK HEIs to identify the number and range of penalties applied under the current regulations, and then to look at case studies in a representative sample of HEIs to determine the actual penalties applied in particular situations.

Academic Insight Conference
Date: 26th June 2007 – 27th June 2007
Location: Microsoft, Menzies Stourport Manor, 35 Hartlebury Road, Stourport
on Severn, Worcestershire, DY13 9LT
Cost: Free
The Academic Insight Conference is now a 100% fully subsidised event!
Register now as places are limited!
Organized in partnership with Microsoft.
Come and experience two days of technical education, discussions and
hands-on experience to help you understand and teach Microsoft .NET 3.0 and
ASP.NET 2.0.
* An intense, dynamic and interactive event led by first-class
instructors from DevelopMentor and by Microsoft technology experts
* Deep technical insight into the principles and practice of the .NET
Framework 3.0, including Windows Presentation Foundation, and Microsoft’s
web platform, IIS and ASP.NET.
* A chance to focus on higher education teaching and applying new
technologies in your teaching
* All training, meals and refreshments provided
NB: We encourage you to bring your own laptop to participate further in the
onsite training. VPC images of the training tutorials will be provided at
the event for installation on a voluntary basis. Further information will be
made available post your registration.
The event is designed for people who teach computer science in higher
education and who want to better understand the latest Microsoft
technologies.
Further information and registration details can be found here or email
ukmsacad@microsoft.com
Cost:
All training, meals, refreshments and 1 night’s accommodation are included within the 100% Subsidised fee
Contact:
For booking enquiries please telephone: 0870 166 6683

Barbara Hunter
Administrator
Higher Education Academy
Tele: 02890 368020
email: ba.hunter@ulster.ac.uk

The Foundation Year Network, in association with the Academy, is holding a workshop on Developing the Independent Learner. This is the first event of its kind, designed to encourage debate, collaboration, sharing of good practice and research into Level 0 provision. It is primarily intended for staff involved in the teaching and administration of Level 0 programmes in HEIs. For details please contact Peter Lassey, School of Lifelong Education and Development, University of Bradford, p.lassey@bradford.ac.uk . MMU staff can obtain details and register directly by contacting Nicola Hughes (n.t.hughes@mmu.ac.uk).

Are you interested in podcasting, but are not sure where to start? This handy little guide produced by BT Education, covers all the basics in an accessible way. Let us know in the LTU if you are using audio in teaching. There is a podcasting community of practice which discusses techniques and approaches if you would like to share your experiences and find out more about what others are doing.

SPACE (Staff-Student Partnership for Assessment Change and Evaluation) is a three-year HEFCE funded Project, based at the University of Plymouth, developing and promoting alternative forms of assessment as a way of facilitating a more inclusive approach to assessment.

The Resource for Change report argues that assessment should be designed with all students in mind, that ‘special arrangements’ for certain groups of students are not desirable or necessary. The report has had a lot of positive feedback includes suggestions and case studies to refer to when planning assessment.