Newcastle University

EquATE: Equal Acclaim for Teaching Excellence

What is EQUATE?

EquATE is an innovative professional development opportunity for experienced colleagues from University Service Units e.g. Lecturers, Teaching Fellows, Careers Service and Library staff. The EquATE programme relates to Newcastle University’s strategic objective:EQUATE is an innovative professional development opportunity related to the university’s strategic objective:

to deliver international excellence in our learning, teaching and scholarship activities, whilst providing an excellent all-round student experience.

The EquATE programme is facilitated by a team from the Research Centre for Learning and Teaching, and will draw on successful models developed in Learning to Learn and other pedagogic and professional development research. Based on the principles of co-enquiry, EquATE provides a forum for sharing research and knowledge about effective teaching and learning and applying this to a range of projects. Case studies based on initiatives to enhance learning, teaching and the student experience in their academic or service units are presented as posters and conference papers.

Programme features

* Sharing research and knowledge about teaching and learning and applying this to a range of action research projects or ‘enquiries’

* Developing inclusive learning environments: improving communication and interaction in diverse student cohorts to enhance achievement, learner engagement and satisfaction

* Innovative pedagogies including thinking skills; metacognition and learning theory based on understanding how thinking and reasoning develops

* Developing university partnerships with schools, FE and other HE institutions

* Developing understanding of the internationalisation of the university and its impact on teaching, learning and institutional culture

* The role of technology in supporting learning through enquiry, (e.g. the video interaction guidance (VIG) method; weblogs; podcasting; e-portfolios)

* Developing effective assessment and feedback

* Developing an evidence base for promotion and award applications

Accreditation is available within existing frameworks at Master’s and Doctoral level. CASAP participants may also include their EquATE case studies in their module 2 submitted work

 

What might a commitment to EQUATE mean in terms of days and time of year?

The Programme is structured to support colleagues to conduct 2 cycles of themed professional enquiry/action research:

Academic year	Activities	Outcomes
September	2 days – induction and planning
October
November	1 day – update and practical input
December		Case study 1 of promising practice
January	2 days – sharing practice with schools and college L2L project partners
February
March
April	1 day update and practical input
May	1 day update and practical input
June		Case study 2 of promising practice
2nd July	1 day – knowledge generation and transfer	Conference
August	Opportunities for writing collaboratively	Publication, etc.

 

 

Equate Conferences

2nd July 2010

The first EquATE conference took place at the Research Beehive on Friday 2nd July, 2010. At the conference the following case studies of teaching excellence across disciplines and service units were disseminated. To view posters of these projects, please click on the relevant project title below:

EquATE Cohort 1
Project teams	Projects
Careers Service Gillian Mabbitt	An Investigation of why students choose to attend or not attend workshops and tutorials offered as part of the Career Development Modules
INTO Victoria Rafferty	What is assessment?
Robinson Library Sarah Bird Linda Kelly	How does firsthand experience of learning in a university library change Key Stage 4 students’ approach to learning history?
Agriculture, Food & Rural Development Tina Huddart Liz Jackson	Internationalisation of home students
Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials Jarka Glassey	Enhancing employability of graduates through improved curriculum delivery Self-reflection as a tool in improving student satisfaction with feedback.
Dental Sciences Undrell Moore Sarah Rolland	How/when do undergraduate dental students develop critical thinking skills and emotional intelligence? Perceived barriers in the transition from school to Dentistry at Newcastle
Education, Communication and Language Sciences Katie Scott	How do tutors ‘scaffold’ students in the reading process and induct them into ‘critical reading’? How might ‘guided’ reading support students?
Historical Studies Martin Farr	What is the best way of ensuring student engagement and satisfaction?
Medical Sciences Education Development Laura Delgaty Jane Stewart Richard Price	Can computer generated formative feedback be useful for a formative MCQ focusing on learning theories? What are the learner’s needs from an E-learning module in clinical education?
Modern Foreign Languages Andrew Grenfell Franck Michel Andrea Wilczynski	What impact will the introduction of an autonomous learning programme have on the development and learning experience of modern languages students?
Psychology Val Tuck Patrick Rosenkranz	Do students perceive the mentor group system as worthwhile? Do our mentor groups have a positive effect in terms of attendance for small group teaching throughout the degree?

 

8th July 2011

EquATE Cohort 2 participants presented at a poster session during Newcastle University’s Teaching and Learning Conference in the Research Beehive. To view posters of these projects, please click on the relevant project title below:

EquATE Cohort 2
Project teams	Projects
Education, Communication and Language Sciences Francis Barber   David Wright Mairin Hennebry	How to improve International Student satisfaction through setting, managing and explaining expectations during recruitment, marketing and conversion How can I use technology to foster a community of enquiry in my classroom? What are academic staff and international students’ understandings of the academic role and expectations of the other? Can cultural background be seen to be a factor?
Historical Studies Claire Brewster Keith Brewster	To raise student awareness of the multiple values of active participation in seminar preparation and participation.
Architecture, Planning & Landscape Paola Gazzola Simon Hacker	Exploring the gap between student expectations and satisfaction in undergraduate transition years (i.e. from year 1 to year 2 and from year 2 to year 3)
Computing Science Lindsay Marshall Marie Devlin   John Shearer Phil Heslop	What do students think makes a good lecture? We hear a lot about learning styles but nothing about teaching styles, why not? Does a second lecturer improve the students’ engagement with the subject?
Medical Sciences Richy Hetherington   Debra Patten	Assessment of individuals working in groups toward a common output and assessing teamworking Students often struggle with interpretation of cross-sectional images of anatomy; this project will investigate the strategies which experts in clinical image (e.g. MRI, CT or other cross-sectional images of anatomy) interpretation employ compared to novices.
INTO Boguslaw Ostrowski Keerthi Rajendran	Do international students see value in intercultural group working in class?
Business School Savvas Papagiannidis Rob Wilson	How can we extend using e-learning tools knowledge dissemination beyond the traditional course setting and stakeholders?
Modern Foreign Languages Sandra Salin Ann Uribe-de-Kellett	What impact do real translation group tasks have on students?

 

30th November 2011 Teaching and Learning Seminar: EquATE enquiry network for teaching and learning in HE

30th November 2011, 12:00 - 15:00 Room 2.22, Research Beehive
(lunch will be provided)
The EquATE project team will give an introductory paper as part of a lunchtime session. EquATE participants will then present their projects. Staff are invited to attend one or both parts of the event.

Please use the booking form here.

If you have any questions about this event please contact :- Lydia Wysocki
lydia.wysocki@ncl.ac.uk or tel: 0191 222 8952

 

Further Information

Should you wish to discuss anything further about the Programme please contact: Sue Robson