Manchester Metropolitan University

 

HEFCE has launched a grant programme to research, develop and evaluate institutional practice relating to links between higher education institutions, schools, colleges and academies. Applications are to be made by Friday 27 February 2009.

 In October 2008, the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and the Department for Children, Schools and Families jointly published ‘National Council for Educational Excellence:recommendations

http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/circlets/2009/cl01_09/

The document places further emphasis on the need for the higher education sector to work with schools and academies. School-HE links, including links with colleges, are widely regarded as critical to the success of national strategies designed to raise the attainment of learners, widen participation and promote learner progression to the full range of HE available. 

We recognise that the development of sustainable school-HE relationships can be a complex process. We wish to offer grants to selected institutions to undertake research that will provide evidence of effective practice in models of school-HE links. Once identified and fully researched, we will provide opportunities for those models to be discussed by the HE sector so that individual institutions can select and then apply those aspects that are most appropriate to their needs and strategic priorities.

During 2009 up to 10 projects will each receive between £40,000 and £60,000 to research, develop and evaluate the nature, scope and cost effectiveness of sustainable models of school-HE relationships. Following the completion of the research, we will subsequently provide funding for three of the 10 projects to develop practice further over two years. Each project will receive an additional £60,000 to £80,000.

Please note that this invitation for proposals is for the first phase of the research only. We expect to receive proposals by Friday 27 February 2009 and the projects to begin by 1 April 2009. We expect to receive the reports by 28 August 2009.

Underpinning Academic Practice with Research and Scholarship

7-8 May 2009
The Thistle Hotel, Brighton

This SEDA conference aims to reflect the rich variety of approaches to researching learning, teaching and assessment initiatives and aims to share experiences of creating and developing scholarly communities. In 1999 SEDA ran a successful spring conference entitled ‘Research and Practice in Educational Development(s): exploring the links ’. Ten years on the theme remains even more relevant in a sector which demands change and an evidence base and analysis of impact. The last decade has seen the development of new approaches to research, scholarship and evaluation, new conceptions of what it means to teach and learn and facilitate change in 21st century further and higher education and new ways in which research can inform our practice.

Conference Themes
The conference will seek to address the following themes:

• Evaluating learning, teaching and assessment practice
• Promoting research in the curriculum
• Supporting the scholarship of learning and teaching
• Developing pedagogic research communities
• Getting funded and getting published
• Creative methodologies
• Linking research and teaching to enhance learning.

Further details, programme and booking.

Wednesday 25th February 2009, Barbican Centre, London EC2

This conference will bring together representatives from across the higher education sector to look at issues facing the modern student and how to keep them in higher education. Drawing on successful case studies, it will set out strategies for student retention: how to tackle financial difficulty and ensure students have the right guidance and support when making decisions about progression in higher education.

Further details and booking.

Thursday 4th June 2009, Edge Hill University, UK

The SOLSTICE Centre for Excellence in Teaching & Learning at Edge Hill University is pleased to announce its 4th international conference.

Enhancing learning with technologies presents many challenges for practitioners, not least in terms of how the learner’s experience and behaviours can be understood and evaluated. To this end, innovation, research and development cannot exist independantly of one another. The relationship between the three is therefore a key factor in ensuring the ‘intelligent’ deployment of technologies.

The 4th SOLSTICE Conference will actively explore the ‘blend’ between innovation, research and development of supported and blended online learning. The SOLSTICE conference attracts colleagues from the higher education sector worldwide wishing to share knowledge, expertise and skills relating relationships between research, innovation and development to the enhancement of student learning through the intelligent development of technologies.

Further details and registration

From the plagiarism mailing list: 

“Plagiarism: A Cut and Paste Generation”, which was broadcast on Teachers TV this week and is now available to view at: http://www.teachers.tv/video/30749 It features a Netskills workshop for secondary schools, funded as part of the Eduserv Information Literacy Initiative, along with case studies at Ripon Grammar School, Hemsworth Arts and Community College and the University of Leeds.

Although aimed at schools I think it will be useful for anyone interested in plagiarism in education.”

An HEA Business, Management, Accountancy and Finance Subject Centre Event

DATE: 12 Jun 2009
LOCATION/VENUE: Ulster Business School

The workshop aims to underline why students are finding it increasingly difficult to make the transition from secondary to tertiary education before offering a number of solutions to the problems both staff and students face at universities.

The first two presentations will look at the changing nature of A levels and methods of spotting problem students, and the subsequent three will then offer some practical solutions for coping with students who are unprepared for university study, namely: cooperative learning amongst students; making lectures more interesting; and having a dedicated student retention officer as a point of contact for students disengaging from the process at an early stage.

It is hoped that the workshop will be of interest to any teaching staff who are dealing with first year students or who have an interest in retention generally.

During the lunch break there will also be an opportunity to look at an accountancy simulation package that one of the lecturers from the University of Ulster has created.

Further information and booking

An HEA Business, Management, Accountancy and Finance Subject Centre Event

DATE: 11 Mar 2009
LOCATION/VENUE: Regent’s College, London

2nd Internationalisation Special Interest Group Workshop 2008/2009

 The speakers confirmed so far are:

• Chris Shiel, Director of the Centre of Global Perspectives at Bournemouth University who will talk on ‘Internationalising the Curriculum’
• Dr Wai Mun Lim from Plymouth University whose presentation will cover ‘A Positive Intercultural Team Working Experience: Rhetoric or Reality?’
• Mingzhu Wang who has recently joined Oxford Brookes University Business School and will discuss ‘Learning and Teaching Accounting and Finance: comparison between the UK and China’

Further information and booking

An HEA Business, Management, Accountancy and Finance Subject Centre Event

DATE: 29 Jan 2009
LOCATION/VENUE: Centre for Entrepreneurship at Napier University Business School, Scotland

Education Agenda: How do we add value?

Employability & Enterprise Agenda: How do we better enable graduates from all subjects to decide on suitable career paths?

Further information and booking

An HEA Business, Management, Accountancy and Finance Subject Centre Event

DATE: 23 Jan 2009
LOCATION/VENUE: Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh

3rd BMAF Employability SIG Workshop – hosted by the School of Business, Enterprise and Management at Queen Margaret University and supported by the BMAF Subject Centre.

This free to attend participatory workshop aims to generate discussion and debate about the practice of enhancing the employability of BMAF students.

The employability special interest group invites you to present your experience of enhancing employability within the theme of sustainable employability.

We are particularly interested in how you are developing employability skills and knowledge to ensure 21st century graduates can keep and develop their jobs.

If you would like to present your work please e-mail a short abstract (200 words maximum) to Fiona Boyle (FBoyle@qmu.ac.uk).

You will be invited to give a short presentation on your employability initiative but full papers will not be required. We welcome presentations from those new to employability as well as those more experienced practitioners and researchers.

The day will also include a presentation from QMU entitled ‘Sustainable Employability from Entry to Graduation’ and Martin Stepek, CEO of the Scottish Family Business Association will present a talk on ‘Employability and the Family Firm’.

The remainder of the day will provide an opportunity to share existing practice concerning employability in the BMAF subject area. You are also welcome to join the workshop without making a presentation,
 

There will be no charge for attending the workshop but a fee may be made where those registered do not attend the event.

Further details and booking

An HEA Business, Management, Accountancy and Finance Subject Centre Event

DATE: 19 Jan 2009
LOCATION/VENUE: University of Ulster, Ireland

The main aim of the workshop is to motivate and provide guidance to non-research active staff who teach at university level.

Integrating research into Financial Accounting topics, Finance Topics, Management Accounting topics

The workshop is intended for all university lecturers who have not incorporated research into their lecturing; lecturers who would like to update/gain ideas about their lecturing approach in this area and PhD students/individuals who wish to pursue a career in University teaching.

Further details and booking.