The takeaway slogan was "dialogue not monologue" (apparently coined by David Nicol) and there were discussions around the way institutions react to the NSS, different surveys used (e.g. the US & Australian NSSE), the differing attitudes of VCs around the possibility of improving feedback and making use of institutional agendas and issues (which may not on the face of it have anything to do with feedback) to improve practice.
Sheffield Hallam had focused on getting students to understand the varieties and types of feedback they received and the different people it could come from (not just tutors, but also peers, employers, family, themselves ...). Graham Holden shared some resources created at SHU, but also pointed out that raised awareness may also affect NSS results negatively; so be prepared!
Chris Rust told us how at Oxford Brookes a compact on feedback had been agreed which had driven a course design initiative and which is now part of all module handbooks. There are resources about feedback on the ASKe CETL web site and Karen Handley (also from Brookes) directed us to the FDTL5 project report "Engaging Students with Feedback".
Paul Osmond, from Staffordshire University, argued for the need for a cultural change among tutors to recognise that students are already talking about their work and their feedback, but to make more effective use of and harness it to develop students' evaluative skills. He pointed out that we have a role to help subject experts make sense of and draw from the pedagogic literature.
Mirabelle Walker, from the OU, challenged us to think about what is going on in our institutions and to share practice and told us about her work to develop critical evaluation in students using a staged approach and exemplars.
Other issues that were discussed included:
Performance indicators for individual staff review - how do we recognise and value teaching & learning practice?
Is it about hitting PSF level 2, teaching fellowships & excellence awards? How can staff demonstrate they are doing the job well? What are the teaching & learning outputs akin to research outputs? Do we need to include prompts to get people talking in our DPR processes, because otherwise this can get lost in the homogeneity and one size fits all forms?
Developing strategic partnerships to develop our staff - how can we help each other in these cash straightened / reduced capacity times?
Use of negotiated study modules building on workshops attended across different institutions.
How do we ensure parity of access, what agreements need to be in place, is it a case of being an expert elsewhere and swapping offerings so staff don't see the same people all the time?
What about building an online resource from which we can all draw?
Is this a regional thing?
Make use of visiting critical friends for example - find out who visits your institution for other purposes.
The political landscape for educational development - considering issues raised by Higher Ambition and Lord Browne's fee review (more on that at a later date as notes were typed to be circulated).
¶ 1:43 pm
