Welcome to the Academic Development & Student Learning blog

This blog comes to you from the department of Academic Development & Student Learning at Glasgow Caledonian University. We lead on professional development, digital learning development, and professional recognition for all staff who teach. We’ll be updating on issues in learning and teaching, national news and trends, key achievements for the team, and other things …

Learning to teach – what does it take?

By Chris Bateman Image by geralt from pixabay What does it take to be a teacher in Higher Education (HE) today? Is it expert subject knowledge? Or perhaps you need to be a great planner, with exceptional organisational skills? Maybe it is about being a great communicator; being able to explain sophisticated and complex ideas …

I…We…Us

GCU Forensic Investigation students with lecturers Kaitlin Ramsay and Kate McAuley at GCU Community and Public Engagement Science pop-up as part of Glasgow Science Festival. By Susan Grant, GCU Community and Public Engagement Coordinator Susan.grant@gcu.ac.uk @GCUEngagement Having spoken to many volunteers in my role as GCU’s Community and Public Engagement (CPE) Coordinator, I have learned …

Socialisation at University

The Best of Both Worlds? By Suzy Houston, Senior Lecturer in Academic Development and Student Learning at GCU Freshers' Fayre at GCU 2021 Last week was Fresher’s Week here at GCU and it felt reassuring to witness the physical campus again providing the backdrop for student social events and welcome gatherings and that at least …

What difference does HEA fellowship make beyond the institutional metric? – daring to ask the question …

Dr Alison Nimmo, Head of Academic Development and Student Learning Photo by Patricia Serna on unsplash.com Back in June 2020 my colleague, Fiona Smart, and I posed this provocation to colleagues of ours who hold Principal Fellowship (HEA): Fellowship and Covid 19 "Don’t get us wrong. We are strong advocates of Fellowship of the HEA …

Supporting Masters Development in South East Asia

By Dr Colin Milligan, Senior Research Fellow in Educational Research and Evaluation Anyone who has received an email from me over the past year or so might have noticed the above logo in my email signature. That’s because I have a small role in TRUST (Financial Technology and digital innovation to modeRnise and develop cUrricula …

Widening Participation: unpacking a portmanteau concept

By Dr Karen Campbell, Research Fellow in Educational Research and Evaluation  Photo by Raquel Brepohl @Unsplash This post explores the current use of the term ‘Widening Participation’ in the context of implications for policy and practice in the post-pandemic landscape. Inequalities exacerbated In his interim report on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on fair access to higher …

Reflections on Community Engagement during the pandemic

By Susan Grant (@GCUEngagement) Community and Public Engagement Coordinator Science on the Sofa 2020, positive mental health activity I went down to my local high street for a take away coffee one Friday morning and seeing four women from the bank on their tea break laughing and chatting away really brought home to me the reality that …

An explicit commitment to Educational Research and Scholarship

By Dr Colin Milligan, Senior Research Fellow in Educational Research & Evaluation As if the trials and tribulations of COVID were not enough, Academic Year 20-21 has been a key year in GCU’s strategic cycle. Our new Strategy 2030 was launched, accompanied by the consultation and development of our Research Strategy, and Strategy for Learning. All this …

Making time for CPD? Or making decisions about CPD?

By Dr Suzy Houston, Senior Lecturer in Academic Development Creative Commons licenced by Susan Wardell, June 2021 A couple of weeks back, a New Zealand academic, Dr Susan Wardell, shared an interesting graphical representation of the multi-faceted role of the modern academic on Twitter (for an accessible version download the updated model as a PowerPoint or Google …

Strategies to squeeze Accelerate into your working week

This is a guest post by Jennifer Turnbull, Lecturer in Radiotherapy and Oncology, and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Last month I was delighted to learn that I was successful in my application to become a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). The process to achieve this began last summer when …