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 […]

Pedagogy Journal Club: April 2022

The journal article was called ‘Social networks, social capital, social support and academic success in higher education: A systematic review with a special focus on ‘underrepresented’ students’. A systematic literature review which considers the social factors that affect academic success with a focus on underrepresented groups. The group began by discussing unexplained awarding gaps, and […]

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 […]

Pedagogy Journal Club: January 2022

The paper was ‘English as an Academic Lingua Franca: discourse hybridity and meaning multiplicity in an international Anglophone HE institution’ by Sami Alhasnawi. The paper considers data on English for special or academic purposes and how this shapes their classroom discussions. Attendees discussed the differences between understanding English, English as a Lingua Franca, and being […]

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 […]

Pedagogy Journal Club: June 2021

Internal Feedback The journal article was called ’The power of internal feedback: exploiting natural comparison processes’.  The article made the case for capitalising on a student’s natural comparisons that they already make and helping them to develop their own internal feedback capacity. They explore the benefits of using a blend of both analogical and analytical […]

Pedagogy Journal Club: February 2021

Professional Identity The journal article was called ‘Teachers telling tales: the narrative mediation of professional identity’ and it was presented by the author, Julian Williams. It considered the biographical narrative of two successful maths teachers who had different approaches to teaching college students (16-19 year olds). John described himself as ‘traditional’ and Sally described herself […]