Teaching and Innovation in a Research-led University

1. Teaching and Innovation in a Research-led University Professor Nick Foskett Vice Chancellor, Keele University at Keele University Teaching and Learning Symposium 28 June 2012

2. Aims of this session 2 Reflection on the role of academic staff Exploring meanings and purposes of research-led teaching

3. The Role of Academic Staff

4. What are Universities for? Primarily…… Creation of Knowledge Dissemination of Knowledge Additionally……… Critical Friend for Society (speaking truth to power) Repositories of Knowledge and Culture What is Keele’s mission within this?

5. On Being an Academic…. • a passion for our discipline • not sufficient to know stuff for our own sake, but expectation that we know stuff for somebody else’s sake. Therefore we must: • be up to date in our knowledge of our own discipline (scholarship) • contribute to advancing knowledge in our own discipline (research) • communicate that knowledge through teaching, publication and academic dissemination, and through knowledge transfer

6. Professional Communities and Academics our academic discipline our professional discipline eg nursing the learning professional community for HE students the wider economic and social community Each has its professional obligations, ideals, systems, methods, values. An academic must operate as a professional in all of these communities

7. Traditional Model Traditional model of the relationship between research and teaching Brew, 2003:11 7

8. Research-led teaching

9. The Nature of Learning Research is simply one end of the spectrum of learning. It involves discovering knowledge that was not known before by anybody, and therefore contributes to academic and societal wisdom. All other learning is learning by an individual of things that were already known. It is new learning to that individual. Hence learning is simply a spectrum. 9

10. The Growing Importance of Research-led Teaching(Taylor 2007) More than 80% universities in the UK see themselves as research intensive/led universities Even teaching led universities value research led teaching 10

11. Staff Views of Research-led Teaching(Prosser et al 2008) 11 Multiple views, but among academics, it is about allocating teaching responsibility to people with a solid research background Other views include: teaching activities based on findings from research; teaching in which students are trained to become research skilled; embedding empirical processes in assignments

12. Tensions/Contradictions in the Practice of Research-led Teaching Organisational and strategic separation between research and teaching The dominance of research over teaching Down grading of pedagogic research in universities Separation of research and teaching universities Disagreement about supervision of research students. Does it count as teaching or research? Promotion policies which privilege research 12

13. Research-teaching nexus STUDENTS AS PARTICIPANTS Research-tutored Curriculum emphasises learning focused on student writing and discussing papers or essays Research-based Curriculum emphasises students undertaking inquiry-based learning EMPHASIS ON RESEARCH PROCESS AND PROBLEMS EMPHASIS ON RESEARCH CONTENT Research-led Curriculum is structured around teaching subject content Research-oriented Curriculum emphasises teaching process of knowledge construction in the subject STUDENTS AS AUDIENCE 13 Jenkins et al, 2007:29; based on Healy, 2005

14. Enquiry-based Learning Student-led enquiry versus tutor-led enquiry Stages of enquiry: Stage 1 What? Where? Stage 2 How? Why? Stage 3 What will? Stage 4 How ought? 14

15. Enquiry-based Learning Exploring and Acquiring Existing Disciplinary Knowledge Pursuing (information-active) Students explore the knowledge-base of the discipline by pursuing questions, problems, scenarios or lines of inquiry they have formulated “What is the existing answer to my question?” Identifying (information-responsive) Students explore the knowledge-base of the discipline in response to questions, problems, scenarios or lines of inquiry formulated by the staff “What is the existing answer to this question?” Student-led Staff-led Authoring (discovery-active) Students pursue their own new questions, problems, scenarios or lines of inquiry, in interaction with the knowledge-base of the discipline “How can I answer my question?” Producing (discovery-responsive) Students pursue new questions, problems, scenarios or lines of inquiry, as formulated by tutors, in interaction with the knowledge-base of the discipline “How can I answer this question?” Participation in Building Disciplinary Knowledge 15 Levy, P. And Petrulis, R., 2007

16. Modelling Cognitive Learning Bloom’s Taxonomy (1956) Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) 16

17. A Model of Research-Led Teaching Traditional model of the relationship between research and teaching New model of the relationship between research and teaching Brew, 2006 17

18. Assumptions or Myths ?(Jenkins and Healey 2003) 18 The mutuality between teaching and research activities The superiority of research informed teaching The commonality of status between research and teaching Teaching and research performance are positively correlated Good academics are both good researchers and good teachers Research and teaching can not be separated

19. Internationalisation – impact on learning and teaching practice Rama Thirunamachandran Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost 28 June 2012

20. Teaching Quality and Learning Support • Different learning styles • Multi-cultural learning environment • Language and Study Skills • Assessment and feedback • Curriculum

21. Internationalising the curriculum “…change to make the curriculum more engaging and relevant to students from different cultures… and change to prepare home students to live and work in settings where the culture is quite different from their own” McTaggartin Clifford and Joseph (2005)

22. Ideas for internationalising curricula • Encourage students to move beyond stereotypes, to discover rich perspectives by engaging with resources, people and media from multiple cultures and traditions • Recognise the global by developing staff and student awareness on how our local practices impact on other people, places and environments in the world • Include activities which require students to examine local and international standards/practice/approaches within the discipline • Where possible, incorporate a range of sources from around the world (journals, conference papers, research findings) • Include activities which invite staff and students to be aware of their own cultural positions, differences and starting points, reinforcing that ‘difference’ can be positive. Source: Dr Emma Dawson

23. The Distinctive Keele Curriculum Making it happen Professor Marilyn Andrews Pro Vice-Chancellor Education and Student Experience

24. The Why? The What and How?

25. ‘We live in a world where change is exponential and we are helping to prepare students for jobs that don’t yet exist, using technologies that have not yet been invented, in order to solve problems that we don’t know are problems yet. In short, we have a responsibility to prepare our students for a lifetime of uncertainty, change, challenge and emergent or self-created opportunity’. Professor Norman Jackson 2007 The Distinctive Keele Curriculum

26. Drivers for Change • Changing world needs a different type of graduate • Government Reforms: • Fees (Browne Review) • Funding – changes in recurrent HEFCE grants • White Paper implications • Business-University Collaboration (Wilson Review). • Drivers regarding course content: • Employability • Internationalisation • Sustainability (economic, social, environmental) • Inter-disciplinarity.

27. The Distinctive Keele Curriculum

28. Our Distinctive Keele Curriculum Graduate Attributes

29. Keele’s Distinctive Academic Curriculum The University offers: Range of subject combinations Flexibility and choice Foreign language instruction Undergraduate research International exchanges

30. Our Distinctive Academic Curriculum Overarching themes: Employability Skills International Perspective Sustainability supported by high quality learning and teaching

31. Our Distinctive Academic Curriculum is characterised by: the distinctive nature of each of our academic disciplines through which our students achieve ten distinctive graduate attributes which make explicit students’ achievements at graduate level and provide our graduates with a non-discipline language to articulate their achievements. and have the opportunity to engage in a range of developmental activities which will enable students to get the most out of their studies and hence improve their performance and achieve their full potential.

32. Our Distinctive Academic Curriculum • Development Strand Activities • Preparation for study in higher education • Personal and Professional development • Career development

33. Keele University and the Institute of Leadership and Management ILM Activities within the development strand – such as leadership and employability – will be recognised by the ILM. The ILM will accredit these elements of the Development Strand and therefore Keele graduates will be distinctive simply by the nature of their award bearing programmes. This is the first such arrangement in the UK.

34. The Co-curriculum • Attainment of the Graduate Attributes will be strengthened by engagement with the Co-curriculum • The Co-curriculum, formerly called ‘extra curricular’ activities, is a range of student focussed opportunities to assist the student develop a range of transferable employability skills • Some of these activities can be recorded on the Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR)

35. (some examples of) Co-curriculum Activities Student mentors and student ambassadors Elected positions in the Students’ Union, Representing Students StARs Sporting activities and Student Societies within the Students’ Union Volunteering activities Entrepreneurship activities, Starting a Business Keele Link Programme, working with schools and colleges Personal Development Planning Part-time work / Caring for others Study or Work Abroad opportunities (that are not part of the degree award) Work Experience, placement opportunities and internships (that are not part of the degree award)

36. Future Developments Develop further the links with the ILM to design, develop and deliver the Keele Award. Pilot and evaluate the Distinctive Keele Curriculum. Develop a suite of on-line learning opportunities.

37. The Distinctive Keele Curriculum " Our reforms are about empowering students and ensuring their university experience helps them succeed. I believe that a good student is not simply a consumer of other people’s knowledge, but will actively draw on all the resources that a good university can offer to learn as much as they can. A university experience should transform lives and career options. " I welcome the innovative approach that Keele University has taken with the Distinctive Keele Curriculum. This initiative will help your graduates to emerge with the breadth and depth of skills and knowledge that employers are looking for. " David Willetts, Universities and Science Minister 17.05.12

38. ‘We live in a world where change is exponential and we are helping to prepare students for jobs that don’t yet exist, using technologies that have not yet been invented, in order to solve problems that we don’t know are problems yet. In short, we have a responsibility to prepare our students for a lifetime of uncertainty, change, challenge and emergent or self-created opportunity’. Professor Norman Jackson 2007 The Distinctive Keele Curriculum

39. Any Questions?