News
Our theme for the month: Wellbeing
We’re continuing with our theme of ‘Wellbeing’ this week and sharing a couple of articles we enjoyed reading, offering a little boost to the week which began with the dreaded ‘Blue Monday’ but is hopefully ending with a ‘Feel Good Friday’…?!
- How to be happy in academia (Times Higher Ed, log in required).
- Protect your emotional wellbeing for a happier writing experience (Times Higher Ed)
We’re also sharing the first post in a four-part series about the recent Hackathon we ran with international students in December, where we aimed to find out more about their experiences of teaching and learning. The first post, aptly, is about one of the key themes that emerged, wellbeing. Read it here.
This brilliant set of resources on creating welcoming classrooms for international students is available on the Campus website, which we’d highly recommend for anyone who wants to ensure their classroom is an inclusive and rich environment for all.
New blogs and resources
- Publishing a book in two and a bit years
We’ve been following James’ story for two years now, and the book is finally released! Check out the final post in this series, reviewing the timeline and the highs and lows along the way.
- AI buzzwords and developments
Aisling Tierney has shared the latest in our ongoing AI series, looking at two recent buzzwords and highlighting some other interesting developments.
- So, how often does feedback improve work?
In the second post in this series about feedback, Joe Gould looks at the some of factors involved in what makes students engage with feedback.
- Experiences of International Students’ Teaching and Learning: What did we learn at the hackathon? Part 1.
We hosted a hackathon with international students in December, taking a deep dive into their experiences of teaching and learning. Amy Palmer shares the first in a series of blogs looking at what we discovered in this enlightening event.
Upcoming events
Active learning spaces: staff voice focus groups
Join the BILT team for a deep dive into active learning spaces. We want to hear your views and needs for different types of flat bed teaching spaces across the whole University. In particular, we want to learn what you need from technology.
These focus groups will use interactive prompts to generate discussion and feedback from attendees. Afterwards, the team will analyse the data and use it to inform decision making for campus spaces in the future.
You can attend in person or online. This is a staff-only event.
More details and registration here.
Embedding sustainability in the curriculum through community engaged learning pedagogy
Tuesday 6th February, 12pm – 1.30pm. Room 3.27 – HH Wills Physics Lab, BS8 1TL
Hosted by the Education for Sustainable Development network (ESD) and the Community Engaged Learning Forum (CELF).
Join the ESDN and CELF (formally the Engaged Learning Community) to hear from academics, students and community partners about using community engaged learning as a method for embedding sustainability into the curriculum. As well as learning from good practice at the university, there will be an opportunity to explore your own curriculum.
Tea, coffee and cake will be provided. You are welcome to bring along your own lunch.
This event is free to attend and open to all.
Please register here by Wednesday 31st January.
Feedback Practice Sharing Event
Tuesday February 27th, 9.30am – 3.30pm, Bill Brown Suite.
On the 27th of February, Engineering will be holding a sharing event, open to students and staff, focusing on exploring good feedback practices. This will be an opportunity to share examples of excellent feedback practices from Engineering colleagues, hear what works for students and learn more about what research says about feedback. This event is predominantly aimed at Engineering staff and students, but it is also open to other university staff.
For more information and the booking form, please visit this page.
If you have any questions, please contact ania.udalowska@bristol.ac.uk.
The BILT annual conference will take place on Wednesday 10 July 2024 and will focus on student agency, empowerment and co-creation. More details coming soon!
Show Tell and Talk series
Our next session, Show, Tell and Talk: Designing for all – inclusive assessment – Bristol Institute for Learning and Teaching Blog (bilt.online) takes place at lunchtime on Wednesday 14 February.
We’ll be running three more workshops covering the key BILT themes for this academic year between now and May 2024, and they are all available to register now.
Visit our blog post to read more about this series and book your place on upcoming events.
Case studies
Are you doing something innovative or exciting with your large group teaching this year? Or even something relatively ‘normal’ but is receiving a good reception? We are looking to share good practice of large group teaching – get in touch with us if there’s something you can share with us!
We’re also always looking for case studies on:
- Decolonising the curriculum
- Assessment, particularly group assessment, inclusive assessment and engaging with the AI revolution
- International students’ experience
Contact us at bilt-info@bristol.ac.uk.
