Reflections on the Education Conference Festival Fringe: supporting colleagues in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (part 2)

 By Tim Herrick

What was the Festival Fringe?

Here’s the quick explanation: the Learning and Teaching Scholarship Network, in collaboration with Elevate, ran a series of workshops around the Education Conference that we called the “Festival Fringe”, supporting colleagues’ development of confidence and skills in undertaking the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.  There were seven events, taking people through the cycle of a scholarship project; and this, plus an earlier blogpost, report what some of the session leaders said about their workshops, including key insights shared by participants.  You can see that first blogpost here.

Ethics in scholarship practice

This workshop aimed to explore the process of applying for ethics approval in conducting research into learning and teaching.  Participants had interests in developing their theoretical understanding of ethics for scholarship work, how to consider protecting human participants and data, and using scenarios to explore ethical behaviour as an ongoing duty.  

A key focus of the session was on how ethical considerations and methodology go hand in hand; this led onto problem-based learning, in which participants both online and in person, explored how they would act in a range of scenarios.  Links were provided to Elevate support resources and all university guidance, as we aim to support all colleagues in their work to link practice and scholarship, whether they are new to this mode of knowledge creation and reflection, or highly experienced on SoTL.  Peer discussion was the central method of learning during the workshop, and is at the core of the Learning and Teaching Scholarship Network.

(Matt O’Connor, Elevate)

Analysing research data

This session discussed the different ways in which data can be analysed and the value of each. Scholarship research lends itself to several data analysis methods, from descriptive and inferential statistics to qualitative thematic analyses of written text or verbal data (eg, interviews). The session described when each type of analysis is relevant and the type of research question it can answer, and how quantitative and qualitative analyses can complement each other in mixed-method research.  Attendees commented they found the session helpful, confirming and giving confidence in existing knowledge, and giving some new ideas to implement in their scholarship work.  The post-session discussion extended into the loss of the Prism statistics package and how people got started in alternatives including R, SPSS, and the AnalysisPak statistics add-on in Excel.  All in all, a very enjoyable session and one agreeing with the meta-analysis finding that the biggest impact on student learning is “collective teacher efficacy” (education staff getting together to share their practice and support each other).

(Jenny Burnham, Mathematical and Physical Sciences; Janet Chamberlain, Medicine and Population Health; and Matt O’Connor, Elevate)

Disseminating your work

In this session, we explored why and how to share findings from your scholarship with a wider audience.  This looked at traditional (and perhaps more intimidating) forms of academic dissemination, such as peer-reviewed journal publication; and more contemporary methods, such as online publication, podcasts, and less formal seminars and symposia.  We pointed to the list of SoTL conferences held by Elevate and the LTSN, and talked about encouraging a culture of sharing experiences of writing and other forms of dissemination - it may sometimes be an independent activity, but it doesn’t need to be an isolated one.

(Tim Herrick, Education)

Overall, sessions were very well-received by participants, with one saying they “provided a lot of information and relevant content all within one week, revolving around scholarship of learning and teaching.” We plan to run another Festival Fringe around next year’s Education Conference, as well as continue supporting colleagues throughout the coming academic year.  If you’d like to sign up to our mailing list, you can do so by completing a short form.  Thanks to everyone who ran the events and who participated - and we hope to continue fostering a culture in the university of excellent education, informed by critical engagement with practice, and transparent sharing of outcomes.

Tim Herrick, on behalf of the Learning and Teaching Scholarship Network Steering Group, who are Jenny Burnham, Janet Chamberlain, Matteo Di Benedetti, David Hyatt, Matt O’Connor, Louise Robson, Richard Steadman-Jones and Mo Zandi