Events

If you would like to lead one of our events, or use some time during one of our events to get feedback on a project or host a discussion about learning/teaching careers, we’d love to hear from you! Please let us know by emailing either louise.e.taylor@brookes.ac.uk or burgessKV@cardiff.ac.uk

Past events (scroll down for details) are available to watch on our YouTube channel

Coming up – to receive email links to events, please subscribe

Tuesday 24th June 2025 1:10pm-2pm Hosted by the Division of Academics, Researchers and Teachers in Psychology (DART-P) for the British Psychological Society

Dr Madeleine Pownall, University of Leeds

Talk Title: Pedagogical Research Needs Metascience

Description: There has been increased attention in Higher Education on encouraging scholars to engage in pedagogical research (or the scholarship of teaching and learning). Pedagogical research is important to ensure that teaching and learning is always evidence based. In this talk, I will show how this area of research may benefit from adopting some of the meta-scientific tools that are increasingly mainstreamed in psychological research. I will also argue, more broadly, that meta-scientific considerations (e.g., conversations about construct use, methods, and implementation science) are increasingly necessary in pedagogical research.

Bio: I am an Associate Professor in the School of Psychology at the University of Leeds, and my work is broadly interested in feminist social psychology, pedagogical research, and open science/scholarship. My research focuses on enhancing psychological literacy and promoting inclusive, evidence-based teaching practices. I am active in communities such as the Framework for Open and Reproducible Research Training (FORRT) and I collaborate internationally on projects centred around meta-scholarship and psychological literacy.

Join the event online: To join the event online, please subscribe to our mailing list and we will send you a zoom link to the meeting. You can subscribe here: https://buff.ly/geTnBsT

Join the event in person (at the DART-P conference): Whilst this seminar will be hosted online it will also be streamed live at the DART-P conference (more details to follow).

(reverse chronological order)

Thursday 22nd May 2025 14:00 GMT+1

Dr Emily Nordmann, University of Glasgow

Talk Title: Teaching track 4 life

Description: In this talk I will discuss my career journey and in particular the importance of having LTS mentors and role models in addition to clear and specific routes to promotion. More broadly, I will discuss why I believe the T&S track is vital and what is possible for the individual, the institution, and the sector when you give people the space to truly excel in learning, teaching, and scholarship.

Bio: I am the Deputy Director Education for the School of Psychology and Neuroscience and incoming Associate Dean for Learning and Teaching in the College of Medical, Veterinary, and Life Sciences at the University of Glasgow. My research predominantly focuses on lecture capture, how it can be used as an effective study tool by students and the impact on students from widening participation backgrounds as well as those with disabilities and neurodivergent conditions. In all my work, I draw on theories of learning from cognitive science and self-regulation, as well as theories of belonging and self-efficacy.

My leadership roles have centred around supporting those on the learning, teaching, and scholarship track. I am the former centre head for the Pedagogy and Education Research Unit in the School of Psychology and Neuroscience, as well as the lead of the College of MVLS LTS Network.

See her open access educational resources here! https://www.emilynordmann.com/

Monday 24th March, 10:30 GMT, Professor Alison Cook-Sather, Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania

Alison holds a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education, an M.A. from Stanford University, and a B.A. from the University of California at Santa Cruz. Between 2011 and 2015, Alison was the Jean Rudduck Visiting Scholar at Homerton College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England. In this role she ran the Cambridge Student Voice Seminars that brought together scholars, teachers, students, and policy makers from around the world. Alison’s research focuses on how differently positioned participants in education can work together toward more equitable and inclusive learning. She is an internationally recognized scholar on student voice work, particularly student voice in teacher education and professional development, and on pedagogical partnership in higher education.

Alison has consulted on pedagogical partnership at over 80 institutions on six continents and published over 100 articles and book chapters and eight books, including Co-Creating Equitable Teaching and Learning: Structuring Student Voice into Higher Education, Promoting Equity and Justice through Pedagogical Partnership, and Engaging Students as Partners in Learning and Teaching: A Guide for Faculty. 

Monday 24th February, 2025, 12 noon GMT ‘Speed SOTL’ session

Kindly hosted by Laura Stinson, from Nottingham Trent University.

Speed SoTL will provide an opportunity for multiple conversations facilitated through discussion cards. There will be four opportunities to engage with someone new and to hear a diverse range of experiences and practice across the session.

It is important that we have space to establish a sense of our practice and how this is positioned in relation to others. Being able to have that social comparison and the opportunity to put one’s own practice into context through purposeful yet informal discussions with peers can really help us to take things forward. This session will give participants dedicated and facilitated space to meet, share and establish new connections.

There might be a spark with someone and you might find you can take your discussions further but whatever happens you will go away having learned something. 

Wednesday 22nd January, 2025 12:30 – 14:00 GMT

Working class students and male students are underrepresented in Higher Education throughout the UK, and in particular males are highly underrepresented in Psychology. Many universities, including the University of York, have an Access and Participation Plan for underrepresented student groups. At the University of York, one goal is to increase the percentage of students who live in an area of socio-economic deprivation (measured by the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) Quintile 1) from 10% to 13% by 2028. In addition to widening participation, it is good practice to support those underrepresented students during their time at University. Indeed, if we are to encourage students from widening participation backgrounds to come to University, we have a duty of care to provide enhanced support for these students when they do arrive, particularly when the evidence suggests they face emotional, financial, and academic challenges during their time at University. For example, in the Psychology Department at York, there is an award gap whereby 93% of women get a good Psychology degree classification, compared with only 84% of men. In addition, 97% of higher SES students get a good degree classification compared with only 90% of lower SES students.

This interactive presentation will first provide a brief overview of underrepresentation of student groups in the UK Higher Education Sector. I will then outline the work I have done in the past 2 years to support working class students and male students in the Psychology Department at York. To engage with these groups of students and to provide specific support, two separate initiatives were developed: a working-class students community group and a men’s student community group. This presentation will share some of the successes and challenges associated with providing support for underrepresented groups. There will be time in the presentation for attendees to reflect on and share the support available for underrepresented groups in their own Departments. This presentation aims to share good practice and encourage the development of support for underrepresented student groups throughout the Teaching-Focused University Network.

Friday 29th November, 2024, 13:00-14:30 GMT Inaugural Launch Event

Shining a spotlight on scholarship: building and developing your profile in an education-focused career.

A copy of Julie’s slides are available to download here as google slides and a copy of the recording can be found on youtube here