EDUCATION SYMPOSIUM 2012
in Association with the HE Academy
The programme and abstract book for this meeting can be downloaded here.
Researchers - Teachers – Learners
We’re all in it together!
Charles Darwin House, London
27 – 29 March 2012
We welcome proposals from researchers who teach, teachers who research, innovators and newcomers (amongst others).
CONFIRMED SPEAKERS:
- David Asai (Howard Hughes Medical Institute)
- Celia Knight (GatsbyPlants/University of Leeds)
- Mark Langan (Bioscience Education/Manchester Metropolitan University)
- Carin Jarl-Sunnesen (Lund University)
- Julian Park (University of Reading)
- Jeremy Pritchard (University of Birmingham)
- Mary Williams (American Society of Plant Biologists)
- Peter Lumsden (UCLAN)
- Graham Scott (University of Hull)
- Debbie Smith (University of Manchester)
- Neil Morris (Bioscience Horizons/University of Leeds)
- Nathan Pike (HE Academy/Oxford University)
BACKGROUND
“The academic community in higher education is becoming increasingly fragmented, with arguably the greatest fault line between research and teaching. through the reinvention of the undergraduate curriculum to focus on student engagement in research and research-type activities, a truly inclusive community of academic practice can be created with consequent benefits to academics, students and support staff.”
(Smith and Chris Rust. 2011. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 48, 115-125)
In its strategy document 2012, the Education & Public Affairs Section of the SEB noted some significant shifts in the balance and importance of teaching and research which are starting to impact on the priorities of universities. On the national stage, the following are relevant:
- The new fees structure and the recent white paper are putting an increased emphasis on students as consumers
- An increased focus on the quality of teaching, not least using NSS outcomes
- The re-structuring of the HEA, with the disappearance of the well-established subject centres; it is likely that new structures will take some time to become established, possibly leaving something of a gap in terms of subject support.
At the international level, policy documents such as ‘Vision and Change’ published in February 2011 in the USA and, at the European level, the continuing issues of cross-border parity which surround the Bologna Process all act to pull us all in the same direction.
All the attendees are able to apply for HEA grants to cover the full cost of their travel. For more information please visit: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/travel-fund