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 …

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 …

Did you know that ‘stressed’ is ‘desserts’ spelled backwards?

This is a guest post by Alison Barclay, and Elaine Coulter, Physiotherapy Lecturers in the School of Health and Life Sciences. Cakes created as part of the Great Neuro Bake Off challenge The 2020/21 teaching year can only be described as ‘challenging’ for all, and who hasn’t felt stressed this year? Online learning has required …

Reflecting on my teaching journey: moving from the Chinese to the UK context

This is a guest post by Dr Vicky Loi, who completed her PhD in Marketing this April, in the Glasgow School for Business and Society. Vicky gained her Associate Fellow of the HEA in May 2021. Prior to embarking on my PhD, I was a University Lecturer teaching hospitality and tourism related topics in a …

What’s Going on out there? Part Two

By Jennifer Jackson, IT Training & Development Team. Read part one of Jennifer's reflection here. Image Credit: unsplash It’s the big reveal! The results are in from the challenge I set myself to participate in a selection of online training. In my preceding April blog entry What’s Going on out there? Part One I identified an opportunity, through …

Late enrolment and student performance: does a causality exist?

This is a guest post by GCU London staff Ruth Marciniak, Quality Assurance Lead, Anne Chapman, Academic Development Tutor, and Stefan Hollins, Student Life and Campus Professional Services Manager. Photo by Andy Beales on Unsplash In academic year 2020-21, over a third of taught postgraduate students arriving at GCU London enrolled late, with almost 10% arriving more than …

Have you ever been asked to ‘Shut Up and Reflect’?

This is a guest post by Julie Smith, Academic Librarian, Sir Alexander Ferguson Library Photo by Milada Vigerova on Unsplash   Looking at our own reflection in the mirror is something we probably all do on a daily basis but how often do you reflect on your work practice? Is reflection a task that features regularly on your ‘to …

‘Tails’ of engagement

By Dr Fiona Kennedy, Senior Lecturer in Academic Development Image by ljami from Pixabay I think my puppy has separation anxiety.  No, you haven’t stumbled onto the wrong blog post… there is relevance I promise you, but you need the context of my puppy ‘tail’ (see what I did there?!) to set the scene.  So …