Students Supporting Students

Posted on June 19, 2013 by Caroline Peters

Professor Alex Hughes, Pro-VC External, attended the Academic Peer Mentoring (APM) awards ceremony and lunch hosted by the Student Learning Advisory Service in UELT on Friday 7th June. Colleagues from various Schools and past and current mentors attended. A showcase of the past year’s scheme highlighted the experiences of staff and students in Biosciences, KLS, and MSoP. Students/mentors from 2012-1013 received their certificates handed to them by Prof Hughes. Dr Louise Naylor presented a special award to Will Lowrie from Biosciences for his role, dedication and support of the APM scheme for the past two years.

The APM scheme started in 2007 initially with three schools: Biosciences, Computer Sciences and Physical Sciences. In 2012-2013, the number of participating Schools has risen with the addition of KBS, KLS, MSoP, POLIR, SECL, SMSAS and SSPSSR, with a further number of schools expressing interest in joining the scheme.

The aim of the APM scheme is to improve students’ learning and thus effectively improve their performance and retention. APM focuses on subjects rather than on high-risk students and is an excellent way to promote and encourage student-centered learning where student mentors help and support other students (mentees). This initiative depends on student volunteers and is very much a student-led response to help other students in a lower year benefit from their experience on the course.

Nevertheless, one size does not fit all and the Student Learning Advisory Service has been working closely with Schools to develop and adapt the scheme to suit each School’s particular needs.

Student mentors benefit greatly from the scheme as they develop further their understanding of the course content as well as enhance their employability skills. Both Kent Union and the Kent Enterprise and Hub recognize students’ role in the APM scheme – mentors’ efforts and time can count towards the KSCV and the employability points’ scheme.

As Will Lowrie, a 3rd year Biosciences student, mentions:
“The skills I got…were organisational, improved confidence, presentation skills with the added value of the consolidation of subject knowledge. The leadership role I had to take on as a peer mentor meant that I learnt to be confident, to develop my presentation and leadership skills – important employability skills especially as I want to become a teacher, in the future.
Overall a very helpful and fulfilling scheme that I would recommend! Everyone should be taking part in it.”

For more information on the Academic Peer Mentoring (APM) scheme, please visit http://www.kent.ac.uk/learning/school-support/mentoring.html
For more details, please contact: Allia Wilson email: A.M.Wilson@kent.ac.uk

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VALUE Programme 2012-13

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Joy Gould

Phase A of VALUE (revision sessions) is now complete.  Phase B (results support) takes place over the summer vacation.  The VALUE Student Conference (preparation for Stage 2) will be held on Friday, 27th September 2013.  Further information to follow.

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VALUE Programme 2012-13

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Joy Gould

Recruitment for the VALUE Programme 2012-13 is complete.  Phase A takes place from 7th-17th May 2013 and a Canterbury timetable is available on our website.  Registration is at 9.30am on Tuesday, 7th May 2013.  More information to follow in due course.

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E-Learning Forum (ELF) – Flexible, Blended & Distance Learning

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Caroline Peters

CANCELLED

This ELF has been cancelled and instead is being covered in the E-Learning Summer School which will run on the 4th and 5th September. To book a place on the E-Learning Summer School please email cpdbookings@kent.ac.uk

Wednesday 14th August 2013 from 12:00 to 14:00

UELT Building, Seminar Room

If you are considering creating or adapting a module or programme for delivery at a distance, or as a ‘blend’ with some distance delivery, there are many issues of which to be aware, including technical issues, legal requirements, designing the student’s experience, running your module/programme, and quality assurance.

In this ELF we will consider the issues, timescales and potential costs of developing and running your course for distance or blended delivery, including the support available through UELT.

Lunch will be available.

For more information on the E-Learning Forum, please visit http://www.kent.ac.uk/elearning/elf/index.html

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E-Learning Forum (ELF) – Postgraduate Taught Distance Learning (PGT DL) Pilot

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Caroline Peters

Thursday 23rd May 14:00 to 16:00 – UELT Building, Seminar Room

The Graduate School and Unit for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (UELT) have committed to supporting schools in developing a range of taught postgraduate modules and programmes which will be delivered part-time via blended and distance learning. The PGT DL Pilot project started in August 2012 and aims to develop  a range of blended / distance programmes over two years to demonstrate effective development and delivery. In this ELF we will review the development and delivery of the first programme from the PGT DL Pilot, the MA Advanced Child Protection, which launched in January 2013. We will also examine the current development of the suite of Social Policy programmes to launch in September 2013.

We will evaluate the successes and lessons learned, with a view to providing a robust framework for further distance learning development and delivery.

To book a place please email cpdbookings@kent.ac.uk

Refreshments will be provided.

For more information on the E-Learning Forum, please visit http://www.kent.ac.uk/elearning/elf/index.html

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Labyrinth Open Walk on 20 March – Cancelled

Posted on March 15, 2013 by kaf8

Please note that the Open Walk that was scheduled to take place on Wednesday 20th March in the Senate Chamber has been cancelled.

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CSHE Seminar: Thurs 21st March 2013 – Julie Hall and Jo Peat, Roehampton University

Posted on March 8, 2013 by

Thurs 21st March  4.30-6.00pm
Julie Hall and Jo Peat, Roehampton University
Empowering students: Troublesome Knowledge and the Student Voice

UELT Seminar Room, Canterbury Campus

Recent years have seen an increasing focus on engaging university students in teaching enhancement, and on their role as co-researchers and co-creators of knowledge. Writers such as Mann (2001), however, warn us that power differentials mean that students can be estranged from the language culture and practices of their HE context, finding themselves positioned as subject/object, and thus alienated from a pre-existing discoursal world. In this seminar, Julie Hall and Jo Peat discuss the participatory methodological approach taken in their Gender and Pedagogies NTFS project, which was carried out at the London Paolo Freire Institute at Roehampton,  and further developed in the ‘Re-imagining Attainment for All’ project. They also present some interim findings from both projects and explore the disjuncture between dominant pedagogic practices and academic discourses in HE, and how these are experienced by students.

Julie Hall is a sociologist and the Director of Learning and Teaching Enhancement at the University of Roehampton; she is also co-chair of the Staff and Educational Development Association (SEDA).
Jo Peat teaches on the BA Education and is a senior lecturer in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education at the University of Roehampton.

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E-Learning Forum (ELF) – Copyright Consideration in E-Learning

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Caroline Peters

Thursday 4th July 2013 12-14:00pm, UELT Building, Seminar Room

The University’s Copyright and Licensing Compliance Officer, Chris Morrison, will provide an overview of the issues involved in using copyright material in Higher Education, with a focus on e-learning and digital technologies. This will include a brief overview of UK copyright law, educational ‘exceptions’ and licensing of copyright works.

This presentation will be of interest to anyone creating and using digital content, working with print, manuscript, art, music, video and sound recordings or distributing content through Moodle and other technologies.

The event is open to all staff and students. Please book your place, by emailing cpdbookings@kent.ac.uk 

Lunch will be provided.

For more information on the E-Learning Forum, please visit http://www.kent.ac.uk/elearning/elf/index.html

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CSHE Seminar: Tuesday 12th March – Dr. Mike Nicholls, Centre for Professional Practice

Posted on February 21, 2013 by

Tues 12th March 2013 4.30-6.00pm
Dr. Mike Nicholls, Centre for Professional Practice, University of Kent
The Potential for Practice-led Professional Doctorates in Kent and Medway

UELT Seminar Room, Canterbury Campus

The ‘knowledge economy’ places a growing expectation on higher education to provide research and education that is to the needs of the work force and the competitive position of the economy in general. The Higher Education Academy report ‘Redefining the Doctorate’ (Park, 2007) draws attention to the need therefore to review the UK doctorate and evaluate whether it remains fit for purpose and effective in practice, meeting the needs of all the stakeholder groups.

Professional doctorates have been a significant area of development for UK universities since the early 1990s, and offer professionals in a range of sectors the opportunity to research and develop new approaches to sector and work-based practices. These ‘second generation’, sometimes ‘taught’ doctorates (cf. the ‘traditional’ PhD) have been created and used by practitioners in the context of a reciprocal relationship between professional practice and new professional knowledge, where each informs the other.

 An emerging ‘third generation’, sometimes called the ‘practitioner’, ‘practice-led’ or ‘work based’ doctorate gives the ‘professional student’ control of content, context and assessment and these are negotiated with the university and the professional body or employer. This represents a learner-managed pedagogy which is compatible with national recommendations for cultivation of higher order transferable skills and continuing professional development.

In the context of this background, Dr. Nicholls will present the findings of his research on the potential demand amongst a sample of senior staff from public services, private sector and professional bodies as to the perceived value of professional, including work-based, practice-led doctorates for their organisations. To give insight into the potential for provision, the results of a survey of senior managers and also academic departments from a sample of HEIs will also be presented.

The full report can be seen at http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/LLN/KMLLN_Practice_led_professional_doctorates.pdf.

All welcome

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E-Learning Forum (ELF) – Lecture Recording Pilot

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Caroline Peters

Tuesday 5th March 2013 2pm to 4pm – UELT Building, Seminar Room

In this session we will report on the feedback gathered from surveys about the University’s lecture recording pilot, along with an analysis of usage data and plans for the second phase of the pilot. Users of the service will share their experiences of teaching with this technology and show examples of their recordings. In addition, the University’s Copyright and Licensing Compliance Officer, Chris Morrison, will provide a briefing on the issues of copyright and consent related to this technology.

The event will be held in the UELT Building Seminar Room and is open to all staff.  To book a place, please email cpdbookings@kent.ac.uk. 

Refreshments will be available.

For more information on the E-Learning Forum, please visit http://www.kent.ac.uk/elearning/elf/index.html

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