TLD Bulletin January/February 2023

1.       Staffing updates

• Scheduling team

Rita Dowdall has joined as Teaching, Learning and Student Experience Administrator (Scheduling). She works three days a week and will be picking up general timetabling support and Resource Booker queries.

• Policy and degree apprenticeship team

Ellie Powell has joined us in a new role of Teaching, Learning and Student Experience Administrator (Policy and Degree Apprenticeships), working with Miriam Graham and Siobhan Cartwright.

• Taught Programme Enhancement team

Harriet Lander has joined the University as Teaching, Learning and Student Experience Administrator (Taught Programme Enhancement), working with Jo Hicks and Rebecca Tyson on programme enhancement activities.

2.       Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF)

A huge thank you to everyone who contributed to the TEF submission. The TEF Provider Submission was finally uploaded through the online portal on Tuesday (24/1) and the TEF Student Submission the previous Friday (20/1). A PDF version has been distributed to those directly involved but if you would like a copy, please email TEF@manchester.ac.uk. Feedback on the initial rating is expected in July/August and will be made publicly available from September. 

3.       Taught Programme Enhancement

• NSS now open

NSS has now opened and students are able to complete the survey online. The completion window that UoM has opted for begins on Monday 30^th January so from this point students will receive an email with a link to the survey, which closes on 30^th April 2023.

We would like as many students as possible to complete the survey so that the results are robust and representative. Although we can promote the survey to our students and encourage them to complete it, this promotion cannot influence the results of the survey and there are guidelines which we must follow as an institution. More information about this can be found on the OfS website: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/student-information-and-data/national-student-survey-nss/promotion-of-the-nss

The Student Communications and Engagement Team are working closely with us to raise awareness of the survey, and the importance of feedback, across University-wide channels including the MyManchester newsletter, the MyManchester Student Portal and social media channels. There are also incentives on offer including a prize draw and charitable donations. More information, including digital assets, is available at: https://www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/tlso/student-engagement/student-surveys/nss/toolkit/promoting

As always, we will endeavour to keep our central web pages updated with any changes and key communications as we move through the survey window.

4.       Information from other areas of the University

• AI and Assessment Project

About the Project

Andy Brass and Fran Hooley are heading up a project team exploring the attitudes and perceptions to the use of AI in assessment in Higher Education.  The University-wide study has recently been signed off by the ethics and aims to consult groups of students, staff and employers in order to answer the following three questions:

1. What factors influence perceptions of fairness in the use of AI in assessment?
2. How might AI be acceptable in different forms of assessment (i.e. formative and summative)?
3. How might AI and assessment impact a student's transition to, and performance in, the professional workplace?

The project will be in three phases, starting with a realist review of the literature on AI and assessment in phase one.  Interviews and workshops with members of the three groups mentioned above will be the focus for phase two and the final phase will trial some AI tools in a variety of courses to evaluate the attitudes and performance of the tools. 

Get involved and share your views

We would really appreciate your participation in phase two in order to understand your thoughts and opinions on this emerging  and potentially transformational topic.  There are two parts to this phase, these are:

1. Interview via zoom : If you would like to be interviewed it will take approximately 45 minutes to an hour and will be conducted on zoom.  Your answers will be transcribed and anonymised to inform the materials in the workshop
2. Online activity and campus workshop: You will complete a short (20 – 30 minutes) task individually online and then attend a workshop with other colleagues which will last for about 1 hour 30. 

The outcomes from the whole project will be summarised in a report to inform potential teaching and learning strategies across the institution.  There will also be some publications on the study.

Next steps

Please register your interest with Frances.hooley@manchester.ac.uk  for the interviews and / or workshops.

For more details, please see the poster at: https://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=65176

• AI, ChatGPT and teaching innovation

Prof Mairead Pratschke gave a very informative and thought-provoking talk on AI and Assessment to the SALC Teaching Innovation Collective on 25 January. This included how we should be developing our teaching and learning strategies to adapt to AI. It also covered the use of ChatGPT. You can access a narrated version of the presentation here: https://www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/salc/teaching-and-supervision/teaching-innovation/collective/2022-2023/

5.    Academic Integrity/Malpractice

There has been discussion taking place around the institution (and the wider HE sector) recently around academic integrity, including collusion and the use of software such as ChatGPT. Here are a few resources that may be of interest to colleagues:

• Several staff- and student-authored resources have recently been published on the topic of Collusion.The aims is to support discussion with students in class or in group advising sessions: a digital poster/infographic OK or NOT OK? Collusion versus Collaboration; a PowerPoint presentation, What is collusion? A guide for students; an article on Student News Collaboration or Collusion? (2-minute read, 04/01/23)

• There’s also a recent TEA: Teach, Explore, Apply blog post on smarter MCTs, with Prof. David Schultz https://blogs.manchester.ac.uk/itl/2023/01/20/designing-better-assessmenta-through-innovative-testing-methodology/

• The University’s Guidance on Assessed Group Work is available to guide students.
  

6.       Institute of Teaching and Learning (ITL)

• The Institute of Teaching and Learning Monthly Roundup 

There are a number of workshops coming up this month, as our Open Workshop Programme gets underway, and our TEA Blog posts weekly content on Teaching and Learning. New posts on a range of topics every Friday!

• Applications open for the Leaders in Teaching Programme 2023 – deadline 6pm, Wednesday 8 February 

The Institute for Teaching and Learning are delighted to invite applications for the 2023 Leaders in Teaching programme. The programme supports academic and professional services staff involved in, or aspiring to, teaching and learning leadership positions.  

Over the course of five months (March-July 2023), the programme will offer a combination of workshops, individual or group fieldwork, an online space for participants to access resources and support and challenge from your peers, as well as from external and internal facilitators. 

For more details and information about how to apply, please see:

• Leaders in Teaching programme

The deadline for applications is 6pm, Wednesday 8 February. 

• University of Manchester and Times Higher Campus+ Partnership Launched!

This month, ITL launched the partnership between Times Higher Education and the University, a partnership which offers us access to a large international pedagogical audience via resources and a plethora of blogposts and other content. Anyone, both support staff and Academic staff, has the opportunity to write for them, providing best practice, teaching and learning topics, or processes and practices, which have worked well and are worth sharing! 

If you are interested in this opportunity to boost your career, and reach out to other Higher Education professionals across the sector, fill in this form to register your interest!

7.       Contact

If you are aware of other staff members who would like to be added to the TLD Bulletin mailing list to receive future editions of the Bulletin, please contact Miriam Graham (email m.graham@manchester.ac.uk).

If you are from a Collaborative or Validated Partner and you are having difficulties accessing any of the linked documents or web pages, please also contact Miriam Graham (m.graham@manchester.ac.uk).