Accessible Academia

The session was led by Syd King (he/they), the Disabled PTO for the Students’ Union. Chair of the Disabled Students’ Society & Disability Representative for the National Union of Students and covered the topic of Accessibility in Academia. With 19% of students at the University of Manchester being DASS registered (and more being disabled), accessibility […]

Decolonising the Curriculum

Sam Rodgers, a Senior Lecturer in Nursing, lead a session on Decolonising the Curriculum, with a particular focus on work done by Keele Universities Decolonising the Curriculum network. Keele University defines Decolonisation as ‘the withdrawals from its colonies of a colonial power; the acquisition of political or economic independence by such colonies’, and also emphasised […]

Transforming Assessments

The session was led by Sally Hickson. The session focused on the principles of good assessment, the benefits of alternative assessment and the importance of including students in assessment design. At the beginning of the session, the group were asked ‘Why do we assess students?’, and answered on JamBoard – you can find their answers […]

LGBTQ+ Inclusivity in Academia

The session was led by Syd King (he/they), with guest speakers Daz Skubich (they/them), Doron Cohen (he/him) & Stacey McKnight (she/her). The session focused on the importance of LGBTQ+ inclusivity in academia, starting by defining some common LGBTQ+ related terminology & talking about the importance of Language, followed by getting people’s pronouns correct and what […]

Opportunities in Flipped Learning: Student Voice & Inclusive Curricula

The masterclass was run by Dr Nick Weise, from the Institute of Teaching & Learning, and covered student voice and inclusive curricula in flipped learning. The session covered the general principles of learning, including active, reviewing and passive learning and how to best encourage students to engage in both. Dr Weise mentioned students’ preference for […]

Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself

Rebecca Farrington and Enam Haque delivered this session on inclusivity in academia, with a particular focus on anti-racism. The session covered how academic institutions have a duty to be more inclusive and anti-racist, but often fall short of this, some studies were highlighted that suggested the issue was most prevalent in medical subjects due to […]

Academic Advising – what could we do better?

Jennie Blake, Head of Teaching and Learning Development at the University of Manchester Library, delivered this interactive session focussing on academic advising and how to improve student support. Jennie discussed her project from the Institute of Teaching and Learning which highlighted issues surrounding academic advising especially; feeling unable to support students with health concerns, feeling […]

Supporting International Students – Challenges and Opportunities

Colleagues from International Relations, Counselling, the Students Union and Lecturers in FBMH delivered an interactive session alongside student participants on ‘Supporting International Students – Challenges and Opportunities’.  The session was co-created and delivered by current students and colleagues from across the University.  The session explored academic attainment, culture and culture values and transition issues as […]

55 Behaviours of Transformational Educators

Dianne Burns and Judy Williams gave an interactive Masterclass based on their research findings which identifies the 55 core behaviours of ‘transformational educators’.  They encouraged participants to reflect on ways in which they adopted such behaviours and how they could support colleagues to develop them as well.  The session enabled participants to reflect on their […]

Teaching-focused Lecturer Network

Doron Cohen (Senior Lecturer) and Nick Weise (Lecturer) introduced their structure and concept of the new Teaching-focused Lecturer Network. The network provides a space for early career teaching focused staff to come together no matter what contract type they have (teaching focused, teaching and research or research only) to discuss common issues. The network is […]