Yearly Archives: 2018

E-Learning Forum: Facilitating Peer Assessment with Teaching and Learning Technologies

To coincide with the launch of a brand new peer assessment tool in Moodle 2018, the e-learning team invite colleagues to an e-learning forum on Facilitating Peer Assessment with Teaching and Learning Technologies taking place on Tuesday 4 December, 12.00-13.30 in the UELT Seminar Room, Canterbury.

Peer assessment can enhance student engagement with the marking process as well as ease the marking of group summative assessment. It encourages students to engage with marking criteria and to use their own judgement to apply the criteria to the work of others. It can also assist with the marking of group work in which contribution is assessed.

This e-learning forum explores how peer assessment can be supported by both Moodle and Turnitin. We’ll be looking at our brand new peer assessment activity in Moodle and at Turnitin’s PeerMark tool. Academics who have used or are using these tools with their students will be sharing their experiences. There will also be time for questions and discussion about how best to use peer assessment and the technologies to support it.

Please feel free to bring your lunch with you. Tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided.

To book a place please complete the online booking form here.

Dr Bike free bike check-ups

What is Dr Bike?

Get your bike checked and adjusted for free by ‘Dr Bike’. The Dr Bike service is provided by Chris and his team at ByCycle, working with the Transport Team, Estates department. Additional work will be quoted individually but will always be at a special reduced rate.

Canterbury campus:

You can find Dr Bike at the Cycle Hub by the Pavilion on Park Wood road every Wednesday during term time 08.30-15.30.

Medway Campus:

Dr Bike visits Medway campus on a monthly basis during term-time. Dr Bike will next be at Medway campus Thursday 15 November 2018. Find Dr Bike outside the Student Hub 11.30-14.30 for your free bike check-up. The service is available to University of Greenwich and University of Kent students and staff.

More information here.

2018 John Burton Lecture ‘The (in)efficiency of mediation in contemporary conflicts: A question of design?’ – Professor Marie-Joëlle Zahar

The School of Politics and International Relations and the Conflict Analysis Research Centre (CARC) is delighted to invite you to the 2018 John Burton Lecture. Details on the speaker, date, times and venue can be found below.

This year’s speaker will be Professor Marie-Joëlle Zahar, Department of Political Science, University of Montreal. Marie-Joelle has written widely on the dynamics of political violence, mediation and institution building after violence across a range of cases, including Lebanon and the Balkans. Marie-Joëlle has crossed over between academia and practitioner activity in peacebuilding efforts, and from 2013-2015 served as Senior Expert on Power Sharing on the Standby Team of Mediation Experts at the UN Department of Political Affairs. The title of Marie-Joëlle’s lecture is ‘The (in)efficiency of mediation in contemporary conflicts: A question of design?’

Te details of this years John Burton Lecture are below:

‘The (in)efficiency of mediation in contemporary conflicts: A question of design?’ – Professor Marie-Joëlle Zahar, Thursday 15 November 2018 6.00 -7.30pm in Grimond Lecture Theatre 2 (GLT2), University of Kent (drinks reception afterwards in Aphra Foyer).

All University staff and students and the general public are welcome to attend, no booking is necessary.

The lecture will be live streamed and can be watched by University staff and students (must have a University IT account) here.

Kent Pint of Science is back! Get involved!

The Pint of Science festival is an international public engagement festival taking place over 3 days each May. In 2018, nearly 300 cities globally took part. In 2019, 35 UK cities will hold ~500 events including Kent, now in its third year. Over 1000 scientists will have the opportunity to explain their research in an accessible form to the general public – mainly in bars and pubs.

The idea is to provide a platform which allows researchers to share their research with the public. This is a fantastic opportunity to engage the public with Kent research.

Call for expressions of interest

In 2019, we will again be holding Pint of Science events in Kent in three locations: Canterbury, Medway and Tonbridge. We have selected a number of pubs and are looking for expressions of interest from speakers, particularly Early Career Researchers and final year PhD students looking to develop their skills and experience in talking about their research.

If you are interested, please email us at pintofscience@kent.ac.uk with the following details by 23.59 on Sunday 13th January:

1. Your name and school
2. A summary of your research (max 100 words)
3. Your plan for an interactive session of 20-30 minutes (max 100 words)
4. An explanation of how you will make it engaging for the public audience – an important interactive component (max 100 words).

The Kent team plan to contact everyone by the end of January with the outcome.

Please direct any queries to the team at pintofscience@kent.ac.uk

Good luck!

FREE IELTS and Cambridge Exam Preparation Taster Sessions

If you are an international student at Kent and are preparing to take either the Cambridge or IELTS exam or if you would just like to improve your English, Study Plus are offering free Cambridge and IELTS exam preparation taster sessions.

The IELTS taster sessions are designed to give you an overview of the skills you need to prepare for the IELTS exam. The Cambridge taster sessions will give you an overview of the language and examination skills required and familiarisation with the test formats. Both courses will be taught by an experienced IELTS/Cambridge teacher.

The courses will take place during weeks 8-11 at the Canterbury campus.

If you would like more information, please visit the Study Plus website.

Book your place via SDS.

Canterbury campus drone tour

See a different perspective of our Canterbury campus; take to the skies and see the campus and Canterbury with a drone tour recorded this summer (which seems a long time ago now!). Sit back, relax, and enjoy the views as the drone explores the sights, old and new, on our 300-acre site.

The Development Office commissioned a company with a CAA licence to undertake filming over the summer, to be used to in our communications with alumni and to promote the Footsteps path. The flight was approved by the University’s Safety, Health and Environment Unit, and took place early on a Saturday morning outside of term time.

If you’d like to use any of the footage in University videos, please contact Chris Wenham (c.wenham-455@kent.ac.uk).

Canterbury campus drone tour

Professor Matthew Goodwin: Book Launch and Q&A with Gavin Esler

The School of Politics and International Relations is delighted to invite you to what promises to be a fascinating and highly topical talk and Q&A with University of Kent Chancellor and journalist, Gavin Esler and the School of Politics and International Relations very own Professor Matthew Goodwin. The talk, Q&A and book launch is entitled: National Populism: The Revolt Against Liberal Democracy.

All are welcome to attend (university staff and students and the general public). Free to attend but booking is necessary.

In this talk, University of Kent Chancellor Gavin Esler and Professor of Politics and International Relations, Matthew Goodwin will explore the roots of the current populist revolt in the West, from Brexit to Donald Trump, to Marine Le Pen in France and Matteo Salvini in Italy. Across the West, there is a rising tide of people who feel excluded, alienated from mainstream politics, and increasingly hostile towards minorities, immigrants and neo-liberal economics. Many of these voters are turning to national populist movements, which have begun to change the face of Western liberal democracy. But to what extent are these voters angry, old white men? Are their grievances economic or cultural? And is this political volatility a short-term protest or long-term realignment? With a presentation of new findings, a discussion and Q&A session, this event will “dig deep” to look at what is really going on and challenge some conventional wisdoms along the way.

Signed copies of Matthew Goodwin’s new book will be available to buy at the event.

National Populism: The Revolt Against Liberal Democracy
Thursday 8 November 2018, 19.00
Gulbenkian Café, University of Kent

Further information and booking site.

Interfaith Week 2018 events

A series of events are taking place on the Canterbury Campus, to which all are welcome.

These begin, on Monday 12 November, with a presentation about the ‘spiritual’ diarist and Holocaust victim Etty Hillesum by visiting speaker Dr Philip Knight (17.30, KLT 2) and continue on Wednesday 14 November with an invitation to visit Canterbury Mosque (14.00-16.00, Giles Lane) and, later on, an evening Symposium led by a variety of speakers on the theme of ‘Knowing God’ (KLT5, 18.00-19.00 and followed by vegetarian buffet).

On Wednesday 21 November a paper ‘Luke’s Gospel and The Qur’an: an Inter-textual Study’ will be given by Revd Dr Stephen Laird, Anglican Chaplain (CNWsr2, 13.00-14.00).

Contact chaplaincy@kent.ac.uk for further details.

Note-Taking session available

Learning and Development’s full catalogue of courses is now viewable via Staff Connect. We still have places available on our Note Taking session, running on the 21st November, 9.30am-12.30pm. Please use Staff Connect to see further information and to book a place.

We are running a number of drop in sessions to demonstrate the training and appraisal modules, and dates can be found on our website.