Talking Learning and Teaching

In this fascinating episode, we hear from Nottingham International College's Emily Maddock Khan about all things mental health and wellbeing, the pandemic, and a few other things. Emily discusses the changes to the mental health and wellbeing of staff working in HE over the years and what factors might account for those changes. A big part of the conversation focuses on the impact of the pandemic on mental health and wellbeing among colleagues working in higher education contexts, to which Emily provides some important and interesting insights. Emily Maddock Khan is a Higher Education professional with over 15 years experience in the sector. Emily is currently Head of College Services at the University of Nottingham International College, a Kaplan International Pathways college, and is a Fellow of the Association of University Administrators (AUA). Emily is a DBA candidate in Higher Education Management at University of Bath with research focuses on EDI, AI, globalisation, and decolonisation, and is a member of the International Centre for Higher Education Management and the Society for Research into Higher Education. Emily has previously worked in registry, international development, admissions, and teaching across five UK universities, two HE colleges, and one pathway provider.

In this final instalment of our Block Teaching mini series, Victoria University's Kathleen Raponi discusses assessment and feedback on the Block. In this exceptionally insightful episode, Kathleen discusses the ways in which assessment on the Block differs from assessment in more traditional scheduling formats, highlighting the critical importance of diagnostic and ongoing assessment as part of the broader assessment process for a given unit or module. Kathleen also discusses the importance of feedback as a tool for learning on the Block, explaining how, given the time-constrained nature of Block unit delivery, feedback is perhaps even more critical on the Block than in other teaching formats. Finally, Kathleen rounds things off by giving us her top tips for assessment and feedback on the block. As ever, this episode is a must listen for anyone interested in effective learning, teaching and assessment, irrespective of whether they teach on the Block or not.

Kathleen Raponi is a Senior Lecturer in the First Year College and specialises in teaching first year law units in VU Block model. 

After completing her Bachelor of Laws (Hons), she was admitted to legal practice in the Supreme Court of Victoria and the High Court of Australia. She worked as a lawyer for a number of years.  

Since 2015, Kathleen has been working as a law lecturer at Victoria University. In addition, she is a contributing member of the Course Advisory Group Committee and the Teaching and Learning Committee. 

Kathleen is passionate about creating unique and experiential learning experiences for students. Her previous experience as a legal practitioner informs her approach to teaching. She has received the Australian Awards for University Teaching Citation for outstanding contributions to student learning, Vice Chancellor Citation Award for Excellence in Learning and Teaching and two First Year College Awards, recognising her innovative design and implementation of first year law field trips. 

In this fascinating third episode of our Block Teaching mini-series, Victoria University's Bert Oraison talks to us about supporting deep learning on the Block. Specifically, Bert discuses the ways in which we can approach Block teaching session design and delivery to better encourage learners to learn deeply. Bert also tells us about common pitfalls to avoid when teaching on the Block as a means of supporting deep learning among learners. Finally Bert gives his top tips for supporting deep learning on the Block. This is a must listen episode for anyone interested in effective learning, teaching and assessment practices, irrespective of whether they teach Block or not. Enjoy!

Bert Oraison is a senior lecturer with the First Year College. Coordinating the First Year, Bert had an active role in developing and transforming materials for the Block Model. Bert is a registered psychologist with experience in different settings, including government departments, prisons, refugee centres, rehabilitation centres and private practice. As an Academic Teaching Researcher in the First Year College, Bert is involved in teaching all psychology units, as well as engaging in several research projects in education and psychology. Bert received the Vice Chancellor’s Award for creating and developing the VU Kick Start Program. This program is the first in Australia that focuses on students who are the first in their family to attend university.

In this fascinating episode, University of Montana Western's Bethany Blankenship talks to us about learning to learn and study effectively on the Block. Bethany provides an enlightening insight into important aspects of successful study on the Block, including time management, trust, leadership, and self-assessment and reflection to name but a few. Bethany also provides some important insights into the importance of building learning communities, collaboration and providing regular actionable feedback to learners as critical supports to their success on the Block. This is a must listen for anyone with an interest in Block learning, teaching and assessment.

Bethany Blankenship is an English Professor at the University of Montana Western, the only public university in the U.S. to feature block scheduling. Bethany has been with the university since 2005, the first year of the full implementation of the block. The primary architect of Stretch English for Block, a class in college composition designed to help basic writers, Bethany uses classroom time to build confident writers. In 2019, Bethany was chosen to be a Regent Teaching Scholar by the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education. Her pedagogical scholarship can be found in the Modern Language Association’s Approaches to Teaching The Canterbury Tales and the forthcoming textbook, Block Teaching Essentials: A Practical Guide (2024).

She welcomes your questions at [email protected]

In this, the first episode of our Block teaching mini series, Dr John Weldon of Victoria University talks to us about how to design and deliver long teaching sessions, which are common to Block teaching approaches. On the Block approach, individual teaching sessions can last up to three hours, meaning that we need to rethink our traditional approaches to session design and delivery. In this episode, John provides a fascinating insight into the expectations placed on learners in the Block model, how content transmission works on the Block, how to keep learners engaged during Block sessions and how assessment can and should be brought into the classroom as part of the Block approach. John also shares his "top tips" for designing and delivering Block teaching sessions. This episode is a must listen for anyone currently teaching, or gearing up to teach in Block format. It's also a must listen for anyone with an interest in Higher Education learning, teaching and assessment. Enjoy!

In this special for Neurodiversity Celebration Week, DMU's Chris Knifton discusses his experiences as an academic with autism. In this fascinating discussion, Chris talks about his experiences of working in higher education as a person with autism, the challenges, his level of openness with colleagues and students about being a person with autism, and how we can better support colleagues with autism in our work as educational developers. This is a fascinating listen.

Chris is an Associate Professor of learning and teaching with a specific focus on dementia studies and cognitive care. Chris is also an Admiral Nurse, specialising in dementia care, as well as being a registered learning disability nurse and social worker. Chris is the co-chair of the Higher Education Dementia network, co-editor for the Journal of Cognitive Care, and is also a Senior Fellow of Advance HE. As such, Chris brings a wealth of experience and expertise in relation to supporting autistic learners.

In this fascinating episode, De Montfort University's Nikki Welyczko provides a enlightening insight into the phenomenon of contract cheating. Nikki helps us to define clearly what contract cheating is, its most common forms, the extent of contract cheating in UK HE, and the trends which may underpin it. Nikki also shares some important ideas on how we can battle contract cheating and also gives her view on the rise of Artificial Intelligence and the potential implications for academic misconduct. This episode is a must for anyone interested in learning, teaching and assessment. 

Nikki Welyczko is an Associate Professor and Associate Head of School at the Leicester School of Nursing and Midwifery at De Montfort University. As a key member of the School and Faculty’s leadership teams, Nikki works closely with the Head of School in providing strategic direction and academic leadership for the Leicester School of Nursing and Midwifery, making a significant contribution to Faculty and University priorities. She is an experienced DMU Teacher Fellow and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Nikki Chairs the School Learning and Teaching Group (SLTG), the Pre and Post Registration Programme Management Boards and is Deputy Chair Nursing and Midwifery Single Tier Assessment Board. A key focus of Nikki’s role is on quality and the continuing development of innovative learning, teaching and assessment activities across the School, Faculty and University. She represents the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences (HLS) at the University Learning and Teaching Committee (ULTC) as a Teaching and Learning Champion and is a Pedagogic Champion for the Centre for Academic Innovation and Teaching Excellence (CAITE). She established and leads the University’s Contract Cheating Working Group and represents DMU at the Midlands Integrity Group.

During the sixteen years Nikki has worked at DMU, she has held several key School and Faculty leadership roles. She has experience in module, programme and senior academic leadership and has been involved in the development and design of innovative curricula that enhance learning and teaching and ensure optimum student experience. She is an experienced external examiner, a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) quality reviewer and has also fulfilled the role of external advisor/panel member on multiple occasions for other HEIs. Nikki is an academic reviewer for several nursing publications and publishes regularly for Gastrointestinal Nursing and the Journal of Kidney Care. She is a member of the Nursing Standard’s Art a Science Advisory Panel and networks nationally with a range of academics and senior clinical practitioners advising about publishing content. Nikki is currently in the process of submitting her PhD: ‘Exploring resilience in pre-registration undergraduate nursing students: A constructivist grounded theory study’.

In this, the first of a new short-series on mental health and wellbeing, Susan O'Mahony of University College Cork talks to us about supporting the mental health and wellbeing of academic staff. 

Susan O’Mahony is a Coach, Facilitator and Trainer with a special interest in staff wellbeing.

She holds an MA in HRM Management and a MSc In Personal & Management Coaching from UCC.

Susan is Staff Wellbeing & Development Advisor at UCC with responsibility for developing and delivering wellbeing & development programmes for over 3,500 staff.

She has extensive leadership experience throughout her career, including executive and management positions in the public and not-for-profit sectors.

Susan works with managers and leaders who are interested in constantly learning and connecting with others in their teams and throughout the wider organisation to create a culture of wellbeing.

She offers practical applications for embedding individual and organisational wellbeing including one-one and team coaching programmes.

In this episode, Susan addresses some of the key reasons foe mental health and wellbeing challenges among academic staff, speaks specifically on the role of line managers in supporting staff wellbeing and provides some hints, tips and guidance on how to support wellbeing. This is a great listen! Enjoy!

Dr Jo-Anne Kelder is Adjunct Senior Researcher in the College of Sciences and Engineering at the University of Tasmania, working to embed scholarship and research informed teaching into STEM course curricula. She provides higher education consultancy services through Jo-Anne Kelder Consulting.

She has led institutional and national projects focussing on quality assurance of curriculum and enhancing student experience, as well as research to develop staff capability and practice in curriculum evaluation and scholarship, co-leading the inaugural Australian Council of Deans of Science Fellowship (2019-20).

She is editor of two higher education journals, Advancing Scholarship and Research in Higher Education and Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice.

In this fascinating episode, Jo talks to us about publishing learning, teaching and assessment related work in journals. Jo gives us the editorial insight into how best to go about approaching the publication process from the initial conception of an idea, through to the "nuts and bolts" of putting a high quality submission together. Jo also provides valuable advice around becoming a journal editor, outlining the experience needed as well as the benefits to be gained. This is a fantastic episode! Enjoy!. 

In his 2005 book, Taking an Intelligent Look at Emotional Intelligence, Guy Claxton stated that “learning cannot happen without emotion”. The process of learning is a deeply emotional one, and emotions often sit at the heart of learning experiences. For example, because learning is underpinned by the potential for both achievement and failure, the propensity for heightened feelings and subsequent emotions is augmented. Adjectives such as “frustrated”, “disappointed”, “exhilarated”,” thrilled”, and “excited” may all be associated with learning at given times, and possibly represent states experienced by anyone that has ever engaged in a learning experience. As such, we can all recognise the emotional component of learning.

In this podcast, Dr Kevin Merry will address the role emotion plays in learning. Specifically, Kevin will focus on the critical role emotions play in supporting learner metacognition, enabling learners to develop the learning expertise characteristic of a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) approach to instruction. Kevin will discuss the practical steps that teachers can take to learn about the social and emotional variability among their learners, and how such information can be used to reduce or remove emotional barriers to learning. An important part of the podcast will require listeners to reflect on the emotional atmospheres they create, and whether such atmospheres are conducive to effective learning for all learners. This session is a must for anyone involved in learning, teaching and assessment in Higher Education. Resources supporting the ideas in the podcast can be accessed at Kevin's website here https://drkevinl.wixsite.com/drkevinlmerry/learner-variability