News Archive 2002
Archive of News Items from 2002
Please note that this is an archive of past news items and therefore some entries may no longer be accurate.
- December 2002 - Learning & Teaching Swapshop for Environmental Sciences
- November 2002 - Call for papers for the October 2002 issue of CAL-laborate
- October 2002 - Special edition of Planet on Special Education Needs and Disabilities
- October 2002 - John Connell Memorial Award - £750
- September 2002 - Call for Papers - PLANET Edition 5
- September 2002 - LTSN-GEES User Needs Survey 2002: Responses
- September 2002 - Departmental workshop training event
- September 2002 - Geography Employability Researcher - Department of Geographical Sciences UNIVERSITY OF PLYMOUTH
- July 2002 - PLANET Edition 4
- July 2002 - e-Tutor of the Year 2002.
- July 2002 - Geography and Environmental Sciences have scored highly in this year's National Teaching Fellowships.
- July 2002 - Teaching Quality Enhancement Fund 2002-2005.
- July 2002 - 3rd Annual Skills Conference - Skills Development in Higher Education: Forging Links.
- June 2002 - Changing A-levels, Recruitment to HE and Widening Participation: The Shifting Agenda for Geography - A National Conference
- May 2002 - A Residential Workshop for Recently Appointed Lecturers 2002
- May 2002 - Fieldwork Education & Technology Workshop - A Call for Participation
- April 2002 - NEW User Needs Survey
- April 2002 - Curriculum Development Funding
- March 2002 - GEES 'Guides' Project
- March 2002 - Student Transition and Retention in Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences (GEES) - A national one-day conference
- March 2002 - 'Good Learning & Teaching Ideas' Swap Shops for Earth and Environmental Sciences
- February 2002 - Forthcoming Conference - Time to reflect? Promoting reflection among students and staff
Special edition of Planet on Special Education Needs and Disabilities.
A special edition of Planet on Special Education Needs and Disabilities is now available.
The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Act (SENDA) (2001) will come into force in September 2002. The Act introduces the right for disabled students not to be discriminated against in education, training and any services provided wholly or mainly for students enrolled on courses. This special issue of Planet is intended to review the new legislation and to help higher education staff in the GEES disciplines to consider the kinds of changes that they may need to make in learning, teaching and assessment for students with disabilities. This special edition has papers on disability and fieldwork, disability and lab-work and disability and assessment, among many other articles, including an overview of the new SENDA legislation.
Special edition of Planet on Special Education Needs and Disabilities.
Learning & Teaching Swapshop for Environmental Sciences
There will be a Learning & Teaching Swapshop for Environmental Sciences on Tuesday 14th January 2003 at the Royal Geographical Society, London. The Swapshop is free of charge and refreshments are provided.
Call for papers for the October 2002 issue of CAL-laborate
The international newsletter CAL-laborate focuses on innovative or interesting uses of IT to improve the teaching and learning experience in tertiary level science. There is now a call for papers for the October 2002 issue which will cover Physical Sciences and Geosciences (physics, chemistry, mathematics, statistics, computer science, geology and geography). Articles need to be submitted by Friday 25 October. If you are interested in writing an article for this issue of the "Physical Sciences and Geosciences" CAL-laborate please contact Anne Fernandez (Editor of CAL-laborate).
Anne Fernandez
Educational Technologist
UniServe Science - Science Clearinghouse
Carslaw Building (F07)
The University of Sydney
NSW 2006
Australia
Tel: +61 2 9351 5783
Fax: +61 2 9351 2175
Email: PhySciCH@mail.usyd.edu.au
Website: http://science.uniserve.edu.au/
John Connell Memorial Award - £750
Deadline now 1st October 2002
This annual award is for the best project paper or final year project on an environmental science-based topic submitted by a student in higher education.
LTSN-GEES User Needs Survey 2002: Responses
In May 2002, LTSN-GEES conducted a survey of user needs via our email discussion lists, mailing lists and web-site. A summary of the responses, together with our comments is now available. Thank you to everybody who took the time to respond. Any further comments, ideas or suggestions on learning and teaching issues and needs, or our services are always welcome:
drop us an email at info@gees.ac.uk
Call for Papers - PLANET Edition 5
The editorial board of PLANET are now seeking contributions for the next edition, due to be disseminated in January 2003. The deadline for submissions is Monday October 21st 2002. Information on types of submissions and a guide for contributors, can be found on our Planet web page.
Geography Employability Researcher - Department of Geographical Sciences UNIVERSITY OF PLYMOUTH
Ref: 4992/SCI
A full-time researcher is required for one year to support Prof Brian Chalkley's
work on geography graduate employability funded by his recently-awarded National
Teaching Fellowship. The work will also, in part, contribute towards the development
of an employability strategy for the Learning and Teaching Support Network
Subject Centre for Geography, Earth & Environmental Sciences (LTSN-GEES)
based at the University of Plymouth, for which Prof Chalkley is the Director.
Responsibilities will include:
- Identifying and reviewing relevant literature, resources and previous research on graduate employability and, where necessary, designing and conducting new surveys on graduate destinations.
- Liaising with employers' organisations, careers services, discipline-based professional bodies, other LTSN Subject Centres, and other relevant associations and agencies.
- Working with the LTSN-GEES staff to produce workshop and conference materials, and an employability resource pack.
- Preparing draft reports on the above work, and attending and contributing to relevant conferences.
It is anticipated that the Researcher will have a degree, preferably in Geography or a related discipline, and some postgraduate experience in higher education or in the work-place. They should possess excellent research, critical analysis and communication skills, and have a commitment to the enhancement of graduate employability. A knowledge of social science research and data analysis methodologies would be advantageous.
The Researcher should be prepared to travel occasionally and to have flexible working hours. The position is funded full-time for one year, however, a pro rata part-time arrangement may be considered (e.g. half time for two years). The job is located in Plymouth but, in exceptional circumstances for the right candidate, the majority of work might be undertaken elsewhere.
The appointment will be made on the Research Fellow salary scale up to point 4 (£17, 624 - £20, 311) dependent on qualifications and experience.
PLANET Edition 4
PLANET Edition 4, the LTSN-GEES learning and teaching publication should be in your department now. The edition contains main articles that include: teaching flood hazard management, the optimal use of MS PowerPoint for teaching, a courseware package for teaching geological field skills, assessing student skill transfer between years, C&IT and fieldwork, an overview of the new QAA Quality System, a progress report on the RGS-IBG Geographers into teaching project, an update on the LTSN-GEES learning and teaching resource database, as well as information on LTSN-GEES projects, events and wider educational developments. The fourth edition also contains an archive of all past PLANET contributions for reference purposes.
Departmental workshop training event
One of LTSN-GEES' key strategic aims is to identify and embed good practice in learning, teaching and assessment across the GEES disciplines. One way in which we have achieved this goal over the past two years has been through our extensive programme of departmental workshops, which have been well received by our community. To date, the Subject Centre has run over 30 departmental workshops across the UK on topics ranging from fieldwork to developing online courses.
While LTSN-GEES has been fortunate in being able to draw on the expertise and commitment of our existing discipline-based workshop facilitators, we would now like to expand this core team. We are therefore planning to consolidate and develop further our national programme of departmental workshops by enhancing the accompanying resources and by providing a training opportunity for staff who would like to become LTSN-GEES workshop facilitators and join our existing team.
e-Tutor of the Year 2002.
Are you teaching using a virtual learning environment? You can win £1,000.
The purpose of this competition is to identify and recognise such use and its potential to widen participation. The results will be disseminated widely, but it is not intended to be a competition to identify the best learning environment.
The closing date is 1200hrs on 31st July 2002. The winner will be announced and the prize awarded at The Association for Learning Technology Conference (ALT-C) 2002 in Sunderland on 10 September 2002.
This competition is organised in association with the Times Higher Education Supplement.
A Vintage Year for GEES
The National Teaching Fellowship Scheme (NTFS) is part of an overall programme to raise the status of learning and teaching in Higher Education. It was set up by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) in Northern Ireland and is managed by the Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (ILT). The high profile scheme celebrates excellence in teaching by recognising individuals who are outstanding as teachers and promoters of learning. The NTFS is the individual strand of the HEFCE's Teaching Quality Enhancement Fund (TQEF), and comprises 20 Fellowships, each worth £50,000, to be used to the benefit of learning and teaching in Higher Education.
Geography and Environmental Sciences have scored highly in this year's National Teaching Fellowships, with three out of the twenty winners teaching in these disciplines. These winners were chosen from 82 nominations from HE institutions throughout England and Northern Ireland. The nominations were judged by a National Advisory Panel chaired by Sir Martin Harris, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester.
The Geography and Environmental Science winners are:
Pauline Kneale (Department of Geography, University of Leeds)
Pauline Kneale is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Geography at the University of Leeds and has worked there for 17 years. Her work is mostly concerned with hydrological forecasting, water quality and wetlands, as well as research into learning and teaching in Geography. She is also a member of the editorail board for the JGHE and a member of the LTSN-GEES Steering Group.
Pauline's NTFS project will link three strands - skills, intrapreneurship, and business examples of personal development planning (PDP) to create a suite of experiential, problem-based case materials that embed employability themes in academic curricula. The more challenging (to teach) skills they will highlight include: networking, handling difficult colleagues, getting ideas across to colleagues, managing unfair criticism, changing goalposts, stress management and broader experience of teamwork and team writing. The cases will be trialed with undergraduates and postgraduates in geography, but their environmental and business basis will ensure that they have a broader, generic appeal.
Peter Hughes (School of Humanities and Environmental Studies, University of Sunderland).
Peter Hughes is a Senior Lecturer in Environmental Studies at the University of Sunderland. Peter has been at the University for eight years and his work is mostly concerned with environmental studies and geography, with a particular interest in values and the environment, international environmental politics, sustainable development and ecotourism.
Peter will spend his Fellowship money on examining the opportunities for, and constraints upon, the development of "autonomous learning zones" within HE. He will investigate whether traditional academic disciplines act as a barrier to the establishment of autonomous learning opportunities through explicit expectations as to how a student should perform, and through imposing boundaries on the sorts of knowledge they should engage with.
Brian Chalkley (LTSN-GEES and the Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Plymouth)
Brian has been at the University of Plymouth for 31 years and is involved in undergraduate teaching in human geography and directing the LTSN-GEES Subject Centre in its work of promoting good practice in learning, teaching and assessment.
Brian's project will look at how to enhance graduate employability, in particular in the discipline of geography, although the principles and practice developed will have implications for other areas of higher education. The main purpose of the project will be to identify, document, develop and disseminate ways of strengthening students' capacity to make an effective contribution in the workplace.
This makes a total of four Geography and Environmental Sciences NTF successes in three years, with Mick Healey (GEMRU, University of Gloucestershire and senior advisor for Geography to LTSN-GEES), having obtained the first of these fellowships in 2000. LTSN-GEES approached Mick to ask whether he could offer any advice to the winning teaching fellows of 2002. He replied: "Many congratulations! Do take advantage of the time and status provided by the fellowship to reflect and network widely".
Mick's project is concerned with investigating the way in which the scholarship of learning and teaching is embedded in HE and disciplines throughout the world. This is broad enough to let him reflect broadly and to network extensively both in the UK, and in Australsia and North America!
Further details of the NTFS and all of this year's winners, can be found at: http://www.ntfs.ac.uk/.
LTSN-GEES hope that there will be more National Teaching Fellowships awarded to colleagues in the GEES disciplines over the next few years.
Teaching Quality Enhancement Fund 2002-2005.
HEFCE have recently announced funding arrangements for the future of the Teaching Quality Enhancement Fund (TQEF). Institutions are being asked to submit revised learning and teaching strategies by the 26th July 2002. We would like, therefore, to alert you to this opportunity to contribute to the development of your institution's strategy.
Further details about TQEF can be found in the HEFCE 02/24 publication which is available on the web at: http://www.hefce.ac.uk/Pubs/hefce/2002/02_24.htm.
3rd Annual Skills Conference - Skills Development in Higher Education: Forging Links.
Wednesday 10th -Thursday 11th July, 2002 - University of Hertfordshire.
The conference will focus discussion on identifying and strengthening links between skills development in the HE curriculum and the factors that influence that development. Both external and internal factors will be considered including developments in schools, the workplace, pedagogy, quality assurance systems and staff support.
Changing A-levels, Recruitment to HE and Widening Participation: The Shifting Agenda for Geography - A National Conference
Wednesday 12th June 2002
As you will know the Geography community has been increasingly concerned about recruitment to the discipline in Higher Education over the last few years. In order to explore this important issue further, the Subject Centre would like to draw your attention to this conference.
The two (linked) themes of the conference are recruitment to HE Geography and the nature of changes to Geography at school level. The conference is timely given the concerns over recruitment, the Education Bill currently before parliament, the consultation on the 14-19 Education Green Paper, and the current Quality Curriculum Authority (QCA) project to review the geography curriculum.
A Residential Workshop for Recently Appointed Lecturers 2002
"Well worthwhile. Lots of practical tips and ideas for implementation"
"The sessions had clear objectives, concise content and (the delegates) had time to reflect more deeply on the issues"
"The huge diversity of teaching methods covered.... and dividing into small groups in each session"
"Top notch!"
These comments are typical of the responses to the LTSN Subject Centre for Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences' workshop for recently appointed lecturers held in May 2001.
This LTSN-GEES two-day residential workshop will take place in 2002 at Hornton Grange, the University of Birmingham, on Monday 20 and Tuesday 21 May.
The workshop aims to help newly appointed teaching staff learn about and evaluate a range of approaches, methods and resources for learning and teaching in the GEES disciplines. By being discipline-specific the event will complement any generic-based institutional courses that delegates are attending or have taken.
The event is being subsidised by the Subject Centre for GEES and delegates will therefore be charged only £50 (which covers all hospitality). There is a limit on the number of places available (30) and applicants will be treated on a first-come, first served basis with, in the first instance, a restriction of one member of staff per department.
LTSN-GEES Residential Workshop for Recently Appointed Lecturers 2002 - 21 May 2002
Fieldwork Education & Technology Workshop - A Call for Participation
Date: Wednesday 15 May 2002
Venue: University of Leicester
The objectives of the Fieldwork and Technology Workshop are to provide a forum at which delegates can display, exchange and develop ideas on the pedagogic use of C&IT in fieldwork. It will provide a guide to good practice, show tried and tested fieldwork projects as well as new and innovative ideas for the integration of technology in fieldwork.
Fieldwork Education & Technology Workshop - 15 May 2002
User Needs Survey
LTSN-GEES has produced a new user needs survey to give you a say in the further development of the Subject Centre. Which issues in Higher Education are important to you? What are the day-to-day problems you personally deal with at the "chalk face"? Which of our activities and services do you find of most use? What should be the priorities for your Subject Centre in the coming academic year?
Please do take 5-10 minutes to fill out this survey.
It is your Subject Centre. Please have your say!
GEES 'Guides' Project
Authors for the Guides to Support Learning and Teaching in Earth and Environmental Sciences have now been appointed.
More details about the GEES guides Project.
Curriculum Development Funding
Real World is a project with a national focus supported by the HEFCE Fund for the Development of Teaching and Learning. The project aims to enhance the employability of students within the disciplines of Agriculture, Environment, Forestry and Organismal Biosciences through the integration of work related learning activities in the curriculum.
The project is inviting bids from these disciplines for funding to support the development of work related learning activities for intended delivery in Semester 1 or 2, 2002-2003.
Development may include the enhancement of existing activities, or the creation of new ones. The project intends to support 10 such bids and funding will be to a maximum of £2,500 per bid.
For more information about Real world curriculum development funding please click here.
'Good Learning & Teaching Ideas' Swap Shops for Earth and Environmental Sciences
The LTSN-GEES in association with the Committee of Heads of Environmental Sciences (CHES), is hosting two 'Good Learning & Teaching Ideas' Swap Shops for Earth and Environmental Sciences. Both Swap Shops are free of charge (with the possibility of free overnight accommodation for long-distance travellers) but participants will have to pay for their own travel expenses. The first Swap Shop will take place at the TechnoCentre, Coventry on Tuesday, 26th February 2002 and the second will take place at the Millenium Hotel, Glasgow on Monday, 29th April 2002.
Student Transition and Retention in Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences (GEES) - A national one-day conference
Tuesday March 12th 2002 - The Technocentre, Coventry
Recent government initiatives to widen participation have resulted in a student cohort from an increasing diversity of backgrounds. This requires academics to consider the varied learning needs of the students in order to support their transition to HE and to increase retention rates. This conference will provide an opportunity for members of staff with an interest in transition and retention to discuss some of the key issues facing GEES, and will provide a forum for the sharing of good practice.
Student Transition and Retention in Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences - 12 March 2002
Forthcoming Conference - Time to reflect? Promoting reflection among students and staff
Tuesday 5th February 2002 University of Gloucestershire
Many would claim that reflection is the defining characteristic of higher education. At this conference delegates will have an opportunity to review what is reflection in Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, and discuss how to develop reflective learning exercises in their courses.
Time to reflect? Promoting reflection among students and staff - 5 Feb 2002