Thanks to Dr Dawne Irving-Bell for contributing information on the National Teaching Respository for this post. Dawne is based at Edge Hill University, and you can find her on Twitter @belld17. Follow the National Teaching Repository on @NTRepository
“Citable, shareable and and discoverable, disseminating ideas that work”, the National Teaching Repository (NTR) is an open access online searchable database where tried and tested strategies ‘that work’ can be housed and harvested.
Context/Background: One aspect of my work in the CLT at Edge Hill University is to identify and collate notable good practice from external examiner reports, validation, and periodic review etc (work undertaken by AQDU) and then identify work that is suitable for dissemination outside of the faculty where it originated, from which I facilitate staff development events to support the effective dissemination of the very best ideas.
Developing the work further I initiated an institutional repository, where in addition to sharing practice, colleagues were able to gain recognition for their Learning and Teaching Practice, which they could then use in Performance Review, for promotion and for external awards such as FHEA and NTF. Also – informed by the data I was able to identify which items where of most interest to staff and when staff accessed the blog. As a result, I was able to schedule internal staff development activities accordingly.
Originating from work undertaken to share good practice across a single institution, I disseminated the model at AdvanceHE’s conference in Newcastle (2019). After this using funding I secured from Advance HE (a Good Practice Grant, 2020), and I’ve now developed the concept further to create a national repository.
The National Teaching Repository: The NTR is a space where colleagues can upload and share teaching resources, pedagogical research, approaches and ideas. Sharing these innovations and strategies will both help others and help contributors gain recognition, be acknowledged for and be able to show evidence of the impact of their work in practice. It is a database that anyone can search to access hands-on, practical ideas and resources, off the shelf ready to use or to adapt for implementation in their own settings. A repository that facilitates the ability to showcase practice in a range of non-traditional research formats including data, books, reports, code, videos, images, audio recordings, posters, and presentations.
The National Teaching Repository creates a central space where anyone with an interest in teaching and learning and supporting developments in this field can view, download, upload, share and browse the very best ideas. Either to use as ‘off the shelf’ transferable strategies for immediate direct application, or with adaption to meet the needs of their own context.
The aim of the repository is to share resources amongst teachers and researchers that will have a positive impact on teaching and learning. A space that facilitates the strategic implementation of effective interventions that lead to real improvements for students by providing access to high-quality support to as many colleagues as we can because ‘better’ support for staff enables ‘better’ outcomes for students. Within the repository we have created several folders called categories. You simply decide where your work sits best and upload. It is possible to have work that straddles two or more categories which is easy to do during the upload process and you can upload almost anything into the repository: Papers, Reports, Key Note Lectures, Power Point Presentations, Video, Teaching Resources and Materials. Use the categories and add key words to help people to find your work easily.
Our curators will help ensure your work is located in the most appropriate space and support you in making your work visible. You can link your work to your ORCID ID, request a unique DOI for each item you upload and altmetrics will help you to measure impact. The welcome information can be located here. We have curators and are supported by critical friends with affiliations from over 25 institutions and organisations.
CATE: I’m proud to be a part of the team who won a CATE Award earlier this year in recognition of innovative work that has had a demonstrable impact on teaching and learning. Sharing good practices in learning, teaching and assessment between the Centre for Learning and Teaching (CLT) and the Academic Quality and Development Unit (AQDU) was an aspect of that winning application. The links for quotes etc.. can be found here: https://www.edgehill.ac.uk/news/2020/08/accolade-for-collaborative-approach-to-teaching-and-learning/
If you want to know more about the Repository, please contact Dawne directly on belld@edgehill.ac.uk. Otherwise, sign up and get sharing!
