Dr Steve Briggs, University of Bedfordshire; Professor Julie Hulme, Nottingham Trent University; and, Professor Sam Elkington, Teeside University
The Committee for the Association of National Teaching Fellows (CANTF) was well represented at the University of Bedfordshire’s 2024 Learning and Teaching Excellence Conference on the 11th of September. This annual conference is organised by Bedfordshire’s Academy for Learning and Teaching Excellence – which is led by Dr Steve Briggs (CANTF Deputy EDI Officer). This year’s conference programme included two fantastic keynotes delivered by Professor Julie Hulme (CANTF Deputy Chair) and Professor Sam Elkington (CANTF Pedagogic Research Officer).
Sessions overview
The conference kicked off with Steve launching the University of Bedfordshire’s three year Assessment Transformation Programme. Building on the University’s new Curriculum Framework, this session provided a roadmap for the parallel processes of further embedding assessment principles whilst at the same time undertaking projects to progressively enhance assessment infrastructure. This scope of the first year of this programme includes:
| Bedfordshire Assessment Transformation Project Year 1 |
| Assessment principles | Assessment infrastructure projects |
| Authentic assessmentReducing assessment related distress and anxietyCo-creationPromoting ethical use of generative AIEnsuring academic integrityChallenge-based learningIncreasing choiceOptimising accessibilityEmbedding graduate competenciesClarity of assessment briefs | Assessment brief template reviewFacilitating increased assessment choiceReview of assessment handling processesEnhancing availability and use of awarding gap dataReviewing internal moderation processesUpdates to assessment and feedback policy and regulation |
This was followed by Sam’s keynote which was entitled: ‘Assessment Transformed: Creating Future Authentic Learning Experiences’. Sam challenged attendees to reflect on the future of assessment in higher education and provided some practical guidance and tips related to how to embed the aforementioned Bedfordshire assessment principles.
| Sam’s keynote abstract: Our shared experiences of recent events have revealed that authentically future-facing assessment designs need to be inclusive and adaptable, ideally offering an element of flexibility and agency to students which helps them to continuously connect what they are learning – ideas to thinking, principles to problems, theory to practice, learning to life. The increasing ‘hybridisation’ of HE provision is a critical aspect of the emerging requirements of flexible learning environments, blurring the boundaries between distinct contexts of learning and their activities (Goodyear, 2020). This raises critical questions about how best to position university assessment to be relevant and authentic to student learning both now and in the future. The proliferation of digital learning tools and technologies has hastened the movement toward seeking greater flexibility, inclusivity, and authenticity in assessment along with the recognition that traditional models of assessment do not, and cannot, fully reflect what learning and development in increasingly uncertain professional settings is really like. Crucially, students are already using the affordances of the varied digital ecologies they are part of to discover and construct knowledge that is meaningful to their individual learning needs, circumstances, and aspirations. Add to this the growing accessibility of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools such as ChatGPT, and we begin to see how designing assessments to support future authentic learning experiences will necessarily involve negotiating an increasingly complex set of practices, technologies, and resources. GenAI applications, like any other technologies, have the potential to significantly enhance the learning process. Whilst commentators have been quick to point out how such developments run the risk of undermining the academic integrity of our pedagogic approaches, this will only be the case if we proceed to take insufficient account of the disciplinary and situated nature of knowledge and practice reflecting the entangled relationships between people and technologies (Bearman and Ajjawi, 2023; Fawns, 2019). We need a new kind of assessment system – one which is open rather than closed, and not biased only toward stable performative measures of student success, but is instead based on relevance, recognises diversity and values difference(s). In this talk, Sam presents the case for and potential of embedding flexibility, inclusivity, and authenticity as fundamental and active principles in a transformed outlook for university assessment. Sam draws upon the latest research and sector best practices to demonstrate how such assessment arrangements can be created to allow for a valid representation of student achievement with respect to the diversity inherent within our student cohorts amidst unprecedented challenges and disruption. Sam brings together a range of practice strategies for how educators can effectively and with confidence move assessment forward into such environments in ways that prepare students for a multitude of future possibilities. |
Julie then led a second keynote entitled: ‘Shining a spotlight on scholarship: building and developing your profile in an education-focused career’. Julie discussed the emergence of education-focused career pathways and provided advice for how delegates can work smarter in terms of creating opportunities to disseminate their educational practices (including forthcoming work related to the assessment transformation programme) and through doing so build their institutional, national and international profile.
| Julie’s keynote abstract: The number and proportion of academics employed on education-focused career pathways have grown considerably in recent years (HESA, 2023), but the nature of their role and their contributions to universities above and beyond teaching and educational leadership can be misunderstood and sometimes undervalued. In this talk, Julie will share her scholarship journey and her national work in supporting education-focused professorial promotions. She’ll lead us through exploring the nature of scholarship, the diverse ways in which scholarship can be ‘done’ and disseminated, and discussing what it means to develop a meaningful academic career and expertise to the professorial level while on an education-focused career pathway. She’ll also get us thinking about how all of this can be done while still having a life beyond the job! |
Our reflections on the conference
Steve says: “The Learning and Teaching Excellence is a real highlight of the year and it was fantastic to welcome Sam and Julie this time. Feedback from attendees has been brilliant in terms of the guidance that they shared with attendees.”
Sam says: “What a great event. I really enjoyed the balance between framing strategic priorities, institutionally, and being given the scope to challenge staff at a practice level in how they want to move their work in the assessment space forwards. I wish more events were this well thought through and organised. The presentations from UoB staff were inspiring and really showcased the drive for innovation in learning and teaching the university is trying to promote. As is the case with all good events – I am stealing a lot of the ideas I heard about! Julie’s talk was typically engaging and accessible, really inviting colleagues to seek out the opportunities for scholarship in their learning and teaching practice. I’m excited to see where the University and staff take this work next – it’s sure to be ‘transformational’.“
Julie says: “I loved every minute of #BedsConf24 – what a fantastic day! There was a really positive and collegiate atmosphere, and I learned a lot about assessment from the morning talks on assessment transformation. The policy from Steve’s team is crammed full of evidence-based approaches; I’d love to see it being rolled out across the sector. Sam was his usual inspirational self, and challenged us to think authentically and critically, rather than in buzz words. And the internal speakers demonstrated beautifully how all of these principles are being put into practice at the University of Bedfordshire, across a range of different subjects, with an eye to compassion to both staff and students, and developing future-proof employable graduates. It was fabulous to see so much excellent pedagogy, and I’m very much looking forward to seeing transformational assessment scholarship in my newsfeeds as colleagues progress their projects and disseminate them to the rest of us!“
More information and resources from the Bedfordshire Learning and Teaching Excellence conference us available via the conference website.
References
Bearman, M., and Ajjawi, R. (2023). Learning to work with the black box: Pedagogy for a world with artificial intelligence. British Journal of Educational Technology, 54(5), 1160-1173. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13337
Fawns, T. (2019). Postdigital education in design and practice. Postdigital Science and Education, 1(1), 132–145. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-018-0021-8
Goodyear, P. (2020). Design and co‐configuration for hybrid learning: Theorising the practices of learning space design. British Journal of Educational Technology, 51(4), 1045-1060. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12925
WonkHE (2024). HESA spring 2024: Staff in outline. WonkHE: https://wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/hesa-spring-2024-staff-in-outline/
X (formerly Twitter): Follow @drstevebriggs; @julieh_psyc; @sd_elkington for more information
