ABSTRACT. This workshop will guide participants through the SoTL journey from conception to completion. After a short demonstration of the materials developed as part of our SoTL funding scheme project, participants will be able to spend time working individually or in groups (depending on their preference) to work through a SoTL Journey Log Book and the resources we are developing to support it. Members of the project team will be on hand to offer advice and to ask for feedback about which resources work well and what additional guidance could be development.

By the end of this session participants will:

• have had the opportunity to map out a SoTL project and consider the various stages of a SoTL journey

ABSTRACT. The learning and teaching landscape today is inescapably digital – from PowerPoint presentations to Moodle. Some of these commonly used tools can pose barriers for certain groups of students such as disabled people. However, you don’t have to have a lot of technical knowledge to understand and apply some basic principles to improve accessibility. In this hands-on workshop, we will guide you through making documents, resources and information more accessible.

By the end of the session, participants will have applied digital accessibility principles to one (or more) of the following, using the “SCULPT” principles:

• Word documents
• PowerPoint files
• LaTeX files
• Images

We will provide a digital and a hard-copy handout for you to take away and refer back to.

It is recommended that participants bring a laptop in order to fully participate in this workshop. 

ABSTRACT. This workshop will enable participants to reflect on and discuss their academic practice in facilitating and supporting active learning, which is a core pillar of the university learning and teaching strategy.  We will begin with a discussion of what active learning is at the University of Glasgow and consider some examples from the Active Learning Network.  Participants will then be encouraged to work up a case study or active learning design which they can use in their learning and teaching and to create scholarship outputs.

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Critically reflect and discuss active learning examples of academic practice
• Create a case study or active learning design
• Identify further opportunities for good practice sharing and collaboration between delegates

Participants are encouraged to think about any teaching materials that they might like to use or develop in this workshop and to bring them along to the session, although these will not be necessary for full participation in the workshop.

It is recommended that participants bring an electronic device so that they can fill out the case study digitally, but paper copies will also be available.

ABSTRACT. Recently there has been move toward making research and scholarship more inclusive in HE, but also in making educational practices more inclusive via universal design principles and decolonising curricula. However, classroom interactions still showcase traditional hierarchies in terms of academic privilege. By addressing such hierarchies, we can give students who are traditionally less privileged a space in which to articulate their ideas and to practice raising their voices to be heard in peer settings. In leaning and teaching, assessment communicates to students what we value as educators and as a field, however, assessment is often dominated by assignments that focus on individual achievement independent of collaborative work; are a transaction between only teacher and student; and rely heavily on formal written communication. All of these characteristics confer advantage to students who are already privileged, but also teach that we value individual work over teamwork and value a western ethnic and neurotypical model for what we value as evidence, despite an increase in internationalisation and diversity in our classrooms. By thinking about and addressing these underlying principles in our assessment structures we may help students to build skills and tools for appreciating different voices, different models for evidence gathering and practice collaboration. In this session we will work collaboratively to set out principles for assessment inclusive of culture, gender and diversity. Utilising the experience of the attendees, we will also gather examples and suggestions for inclusive assessment practices with the aim of creating a shared resource for exam assessments, coursework formative and summative assignments and models for collaborative project work.

By the end of this session participants will have had the tools to evaluate their own assessment in relation to inclusivity.

This is planned to be a hands-on session where we will write on post-it notes or white boards to map assessments. However, if you prefer to do this electronically or want to record your contribution another way, we are happy to support you.

ABSTRACT. Simulations are widely recognised as effective tools of active learning, across a wide variety of disciplines. There is growing evidence that simulations can be effective in fostering creativity and empathy as well as developing workplace skills by creating imagined models of the ‘real world’ in which students play assigned roles.

This session will introduce participants to games and simulations as tools of active learning and equip them with the tools for using these in their own teaching practice. The first part of the session will focus on the key principles involved in designing these exercises. The second part will be devoted to a workshop in which participants will collaborate to design games and simulations for teaching a range of different topics.

We encourage participants to bring their own (initial/partial/half-baked) ideas for aspects of professional, social and/or political settings that they may be interested in ‘simulating’ in their own teaching.

By the end of this session, participants should be able to:

• Understand the design principles involved in the development of games and simulations for teaching.
• Create a simulation or game that could be used in their teaching context, based on these design principles.

ABSTRACT. Working in ambitious, creative partnership with students is a key ambition within GSA’s Education Strategy and Student Partnership Agreement. Our experience of engaging in and promoting partnership has been that it supports effective and meaningful enhancement allowing staff and students to work collaboratively and reciprocally on agendas of mutual priority and interest. (1)

This workshop will explore a series of case studies exemplifying our approach to partnership working with students supporting students understanding of assessment and feedback; gaining insights into students views of good practice; and engaging students in curriculum review and amendment. 

We will present reflections on the effectiveness and impact of these partnerships and support participants to consider the opportunities and challenges for partnership and co-creation in their contexts to enhance learning, teaching, and the student experience. 

By the end of this session attendees will be able to:

• Recognise and describe the qualities and behaviours which underpin effective partnership with students.
• Reflect upon and identify opportunities for partnership working for enhancement within their own context.
• Consider the challenges and potential solutions to support meaningful partnership in their roles and context.

A portable device capable of accessing the internet would be helpful in order to engage with polling tools.

(1) Cook-Sather, Bovill & Felton (2014) Engaging Students as Partners in Learning and Teaching: A Guide for Faculty, Jossey Bass

ABSTRACT. The workshop will enlighten the audience about the approaches to enhancing soft skills using virtual environments. Leveraging the Metaverse’s immersive capabilities, the workshop aims to demonstrate how soft skills can be improved many folds through interactive role-playing within virtual yet realistic scenarios. Participants will be given the opportunity to practice their soft skills using avatars and will get AI-generated feedback to make informed improvements to their soft skills. The set of soft skills will comprise employability and communication skills through an industry-leading VR platform called Bodyswaps.

By the end of this session, the participants will be able to:

•  appreciate the step change brought through the innovative use of Metaverse for the teaching and training of soft skills in the academic and corporate sectors.

•  practically experience the Metaverse-based training of soft skills

Participants should bring a web enabled mobile device (mobile devices/tablets/iPads)

ABSTRACT. This workshop will mark the official launch of Interdisciplinary learning Projects (ILPS) as a pilot across the university, an exciting new course that will initiate the beginning of wider curriculum transformation at the University of Glasgow.

ILPs at the University of Glasgow will provide the opportunity for research-oriented learning through a short, 10 credit course (called ILP1) that addresses the enquiry design process, ethics, impact, knowledge transfer and the different ways of knowing. This course will expose students to ‘taster’ projects around specific embedded sustainable development goals, alongside specific embedded graduate attributes, and will involve authentic assessments that will enable students to articulate the skills they have learned.​

After completing ILP1 students will then get an opportunity to progress on to ILP2: a short, 10 credit research-based course (where students undertake original enquiry) that complements our world leading research-led teaching. ILP2 will involve selecting a project from a range of opportunities, each with specific SDGs and skills embedded. In ILP2, students from multiple year groups and disciplines will work together on these small ‘real world’ research projects all as part of their formal curriculum. 

In this workshop, the Learning and Teaching Curriculum Transformation workstream will showcase the pilot course, workshop participants will have the opportunity to share their thoughts and ideas regarding course content and consider suitable topics and ideas for ILP 2 projects. 

This workshop will be of particular of interest to those who, across all colleges, play a role in advising students, particularly for levels one and two. The workshop will also be of interest to academic and research staff who wish to be involved this new, transformational course.

By the end of this session participants will:

• know more about new opportunities available for students as part of the curriculum transformation workstream
• have a better understanding of the developing work that aims to introduce interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary learning as part of a central curriculum for life
• be inspired to consider their role in supporting the university’s mission to address local, national and global societal challenges through teaching or creating ‘interdisciplinary learning projects’

ABSTRACT. The purpose of this workshop is to allow participants the space to create a case study highlighting their assessment and feedback practice relating to the Learning Through Assessment document. Participants will have access to the Assessment and Feedback Exemplar form as well as members of the Assessment and Feedback Policy and Practice Workstream to discuss their ideas and examples.

By the end of this workshop participants will complete, or draft a case study to be considered as part of the Assessment and Feedback Resource Hub

It is recommended that participants bring a smart device so that they can fill out the Assessment and Feedback Exemplar form online.

ABSTRACT. The landscape around careers and employability is evolving, and fast! Think the changing world of work; how to better link learning to skills and future careers; work-related learning; an increased focus on graduate employability; and much, much more!

To help you navigate these changes, join Ann, Daniel, Dickon, Fiona and Katrina at this interactive workshop! As well as enhancing your understanding of the current drivers influencing this evolving landscape, they will help you to reflect on your current teaching practice and show you the positive impact that aligning curriculum development with career preparation can have on the student experience (... and it might not be as challenging as you first think!).

You’ll leave the session with the confidence to translate employability-related strategy into tangible practice, activities and ideas that you can use within your own teaching.

By the end of the session participants will have:

• An enhanced understanding of the current drivers influencing the evolving employability landscape.
• An opportunity to reflect on your current teaching practice and to meet like-minded educators focused on empowering students to confidently articulate the skills and knowledge value of their degree.
• An increased confidence of how to surface skills and embed employability-related activities within the curriculum.
• A range of ideas about how you can take strategies and policies related to skills and employability and put them into practice within your classroom/curriculum.