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Issue One January 2001 From Only £24.99+ VAT Discovering Geology CD-ROMs enable you to learn many practical geological skills without even leaving your computer. Computer-Assisted Learning packages will take you on virtual field trips, while simulations of a petrological microscope, geological experiments and virtual kits provide a state-of-the-art laboratory. • practice fieldwork in virtual fieldtrips to classic areas • 'handle' & label the 70 samples from the digital kit • examine rocks using the digital microscope • explore rock forming environments, past and present • suitable for undergraduate and post-16 students • Activity Workbooks included For more information or to make an order call: 01908 858785 e-mail: ouwenq@ouw.co.uk or go to www.ouw.co.uk
Issue One January 2001 P L A N E T The GEES Guide to Higher Education Initiatives This question and answer guide attempts to explain the plethora of acronyms used to describe major learning and teaching initiatives in Higher Education in the UK (albeit that some have been focused only on England). After outlining the emergence of various funding initiatives, the guide summarises the main aims of, and key learning resources available from, several projects across our three discipline communities. So, if you are confused about FDTL, TLTP, TALESSI, HILP, TRIADS, SEED, GNU, IMAGE, CLUES, UKESCC, GDN, CTI, GEOCAL, TQEF, HEFCW, SHEFC, DENI and LTSN then read on! A more comprehensive guide to learning and teaching acronyms will soon be available at http://www.gees.ac.uk/ resource.htm. Sources of Funding Q: What Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) funding is available to support learning and teaching in Higher Education? A: During 1999/2000, the HEFCE announced a funding mechanism to support the development and enhancement of learning and teaching in Higher Education. A plan was drawn up to establish a single teaching quality enhancement fund (TQEF) that would reward high quality and encourage improvement through funding which covered three strands: the institution, the subject discipline, and the individual academic. The HEFCE agreed to allocate £24 million to the fund in 1999-2000, £29 million in 2000-01 and £30 million in 2001-02. The TQEF is an aggregated fund, and the long running Fund for the Development of Teaching and Learning (FDTL) (launched in 1995) and the Teaching and Learning Technology Programme (TLTP) (launched in 1992) have now been merged into this single programme. The largest component of the TQEF is the financial and practical support available for institutions to develop and implement their learning and teaching strategies. Some of you may have been involved in helping to prepare your institution’s policy. If on the other hand you didn’t know you had one, then find out about it! The subject strand of the TQEF aims to promote innovation and the sharing of good practice in the disciplines. It does this through the Fund for the Development of Teaching and Learning (FDTL). The FDTL was established to support projects aimed at stimulating developments in learning and teaching and to encourage dissemination of good practice. Bids were invited from HE institutions that were able to demonstrate high quality in their educational provision, as judged by the Teaching Quality Assessment (TQA) exercise. FDTL was the first programme to link high quality teaching assessment results to the allocation of funds in the Higher Education sector. The aim of the Teaching and Learning Technology Programme (TLTP) was to make teaching and learning more productive and efficient by harnessing modern technology. Universities were invited to bid for funding for projects to develop new methods of learning and teaching through the use of technology. Finally, the individual strand of the Teaching Quality Enhancement Fund aims to encourage Higher Education institutions to recognise and reward excellent learning and teaching support through institutional learning and teaching strategies. In addition, the HEFCE has given £1m to the newly established Institute for Learning and Teaching (ILT) to run the National Teaching Fellowship Scheme (NTFS) which rewards exemplars of good learning and teaching practice in Higher Education. Over the last 12 months, the HEFCE, the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW), the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) and the Department for Education in Northern Ireland (DENI) have also established a Learning and Teaching Support Network (LTSN) consisting of 24 Subject Centres. More information of the National Subject Centre for Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences is provided at the beginning of this publication. Other HEFCE funded initiatives include widening participation and supporting students with disabilities. The Fund for the Development of Teaching and Learning (FDTL) Q: What specific projects has the HEFCE Fund for the Development of Teaching and Learning (FDTL) supported? A: The FDTL has supported a wide spectrum of projects on developing teaching and learning in Higher Education and there is a natural link between many of the projects working in the same discipline. However, many projects have also come together because they are working on similar educational themes. Various institutions representing the three disciplines of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences were successful in securing FDTL funding. Although most of these projects have now come to an end, they have all produced valuable teaching and learning resources. The following is an annotated list of the ten funded projects across the three disciplines. The resources provided by these three projects are available to the entire UK Higher Education community. ‘Disseminating Good Teaching, Learning and Assessment Practices in Geography’ Geography Discipline Network (GDN) Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education Subject Area: Geography http://www.chelt.ac.uk/gdn/ Contact: mhealey@chelt.ac.uk Aims: To identify and disseminate good practice in the teaching, learning and assessment of Geography at undergraduate and taught postgraduate levels in Higher Education institutions in England and Northern Ireland. Available resources: The Geography Discipline Network has published ten excellent Guides covering a range of methods of delivering and assessing teaching and learning. It is possible to purchase copies of the Guides directly from the Geography Discipline Network. The GDN has also developed a good practice database for learning and teaching. This is currently being enlarged to encompass the wider community of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences. This valuable resource is being migrated to the Subject Centre and will become a searchable archive available from the http://www.gees.ac.uk and will be maintained by both staff at the Centre and Phil Gravestock of the GDN. (In addition, the GDN has also recently published a series of texts on key skills; these were produced as part of the Department for Education and Employment’s (DfEE) key skills project). ‘Developing postgraduates’ teaching skills in the sciences: a training and development programme for teaching assistants’ University of East Anglia Subject Area: Environmental Studies http://www.uea.ac.uk/sdto/project/welcome.html Contact: r.e.goodall@uea.ac.uk Aims: To produce a training programme, designed to develop postgraduates’ teaching skills in the sciences, which will be capable of being delivered by academic staff, senior postgraduates or staff developers in a range of contexts. Available resources: The programme offers the equivalent of 30 hours of workshops and seminars and includes guidance notes for tutors, a video, handouts, OHPs. ‘Teaching and Learning at the Environment-Science-Society Interface (TALESSI)’ University of Greenwich Subject Area: Environmental Studies http://www.greenwich.ac.uk/~bj61/talessi/ Contact: fdtl38@greenwich.ac.uk 21
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