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News and opportunities
Bristol Teaching Awards – cast your votes now!
The BTAs recognise and celebrate individual staff and teams (both academic and professional services) who have made an outstanding contribution to teaching, the provision of support for students’ learning and/or enhance the student learning experience.
Students and staff are invited to nominate in a range of award categories. Find out more, share with staff and students and nominate.
Visit the Bristol Teaching Awards website.
Student Hackathon: AI and Education
We are hosting a hackathon in April and are looking for 50 students to take part and share their thoughts and experiences of using AI in Education.
Students who take part will get a £50 Love2Shop voucher and lunch on the day, as well as a brilliant opportunity to connect with other students.
The hackathon takes place on 25th April from 9.30am – 4.30pm. Please pass this onto your students (any student can take part!) and they can sign up via our website.
Student collage competition
Our Student Fellow, Miyambo, is looking for students to take part in a collage competition! Entries will form part of a zine about agency and choice in assessment and the winning collage will get a £50 prize! The deadline is 6th April and full details can be found on the form by visiting the link. The competition is open to all students – please share this with anyone you think may be interested – especially those with an artistic flair!
Students can sign up using the poster QR code/link.
Sharing success stories relating to Open Research
The Bristol Reproducibility Network are looking for your success stories relating to ‘Open Research’. If you, or colleagues in your network, have personal success stories relating to Open Research please do take this opportunity to share them. This will help local disciplines, divisions and ultimately UoB to formulate clear, tangible, and inspiring answers to the question ‘What can Open Research do for me?’. Examples do not need to be long or detailed. This call compliments work currently being undertaken for the People Culture and Environment (PCE) preparations for REF 2029, where open research (currently addressed in the ‘Connectivity’ enabler of the PCE Pilot) will be very likely to be an area of focus.
While this is a persistent form, and so can be added to at any time, if you believe you have relevant examples relating to PCE, please submit them by Thursday 3rd April.
Please contact bristol-reproducibility-network@bristol.ac.uk for more information.
Blogs and resources
- AI, compassion and the future for HE
BILT Lecturer Dr. Aisling Tierney shares this reflection from a session at the recent QAA insights conference on two different perspectives in this fast-moving space.
- Pedagogical Research with Special Category Data
Dr. Anca Dobrescu and Dr. Jessica Fielding have shared an infographic they created as part of the Education Development Project last year, looking at how to manage data as part of their research into inclusivity in assessment.
- The ‘Agency in Assessment’ Art Gallery
BILT Student Fellow Miyambo Kabwe recently ran a session with a group of students looking at their experience of assessment and how they felt when they had (and hadn’t) been given choice and agency as part of that. They produced art work to represent their experiences, which you can view on the blog.
Miyambo has also shared a longer piece, looking at art-based research and how she went about designing and organising the session, plus her personal reflections on the experience. You can read this here.
- The rise and rise of the machine
Imogen Shaw has written this piece about her experience of teaching international students and their use of translation tools and AI to support them in their work, but questions the ability for said students to complete so much of their degree without ever actually speaking.
- Picture This blog series: contributors answer February’s scenario and we launch March’s scenario
We have two new blogs available in this new series this week! The first is the responses to our second set of scenarios, with contributions from colleagues across the university. The second is our next set of scenarios, which take a look personal tutoring. All the blogs in this series can be read here.
- Demonstrators Assessmble: a pedagogical approach to the demonstrators’ Briefing in the School of Biological Sciences
Amy Palmer has shared this blog about her visit to the lab in Biological Sciences and what she learnt about the ‘demonstrator’ role and its impact on the students’ experience. - The UoB Check In App: Why do we have it, and why is there student resistance?
BILT Student Fellow Kat Rooney has shared this balanced view of the UoB Check In App, exploring the benefits and potential issues that can arise.
Events
Show, Tell and Talk: ‘Active learning for large groups’ sharing innovation workshop
Date: 19th March, 12.30pm – 2pm.
This sharing innovation workshop (90 minutes) provides an opportunity to hear from a range of colleagues sharing their practice and for you to ask questions.
Read more about the event and book here.
Other Show Tell and Talk workshops coming soon:
2 April Research-rich learning and teaching: Students as researchers
3 April Employability
21 May Active and inclusive learning
Teaching and learning in the international classroom (multiple dates)
This event is a curriculum design workshop (120 minutes) – led by colleagues in CALD, this workshop will:
- explore the challenges and opportunities in our learning, teaching and assessment encounters in with international students .
- consider lecturer and student experiences in international classrooms and how they are affected its diversity of language and culture
- share practical strategies, resources and reflect on why certain activities are of value
- provide space for you to reflect and develop your learning and teaching practices and consider how to implementation best practice in your work.
View the dates available for this workshop here.
Annual SWEETS 1-day Workshop
Date: Tuesday 13 May 2025, 10.45 am – 4 pm, University of Bristol
Registration Details: Registration form available here.
The annual SWEETS (Southwest Workshops in Economics Education, Teaching and Scholarship) workshop is a 1-day workshop held at a Southwest institution to provide a space to discuss new teaching ideas and find new collaborators for scholarship projects. The theme for the 2025 Workshop is The Future of the Economics Degree: Who? What? How? It will consider how we expect economics degrees to change in the coming years and how we will adapt our teaching to match. It will cover topics such as the role of data science in the curriculum, improving diversity and inclusion, and the changing physical or virtual taught environments.
Programme Director Induction – June 2025
Various dates throughout June
The Programme Director Induction is a series of short workshops suitable for new Programme Directors or existing Programme Directors seeking a refresher.
The overall aims of the induction workshops are to:
- Introduce the key responsibilities of the role
- Explore how to fulfil the role sustainably and effectively
- Outline key resources and sources of support
Registration is now open for all workshops. We strongly recommend attending all three workshops, particularly if you are a new Programme Director. You can mix and match between online or in-person to suit your own schedule.
More details and registration links here.
Summer School on Experimental Methods for Scholarship Research
Dates: 9 – 11 June 2025, University of Southampton
Registration Details: Registration form available here.
This SWEETS workshop, in collaboration with C-BEAR and NCRM, is for anyone who wants to enhance their scholarship research portfolio by improving their understanding of experimental research methods. Participants will learn about how they can test and evidence impact of interventions in the classroom and translate this into scholarship publications. Experts sharing their knowledge include Fabio Aricio (UEA), Caroline Elliot (Warwick), Doug McKee (Cornell), Paolo Spada (Southampton) and Jadrian Wooten (Virginia Tech).
The BILT annual Conference: Education for a changing world
Date: Wednesday 25 June 2025, 9 am until 5 pm, Victoria Rooms
Higher Education (HE) is at a crossroads, navigating rapid technological advancements, evolving societal expectations, and increasingly diverse student needs. The conference, “Education for a changing world” invites staff and students to come together and explore innovative approaches to pedagogy that prepare students and institutions for the challenges and opportunities that face us both today and in the future.
The conference will address key questions, including:
- How can education embrace change and foster innovation?
- What strategies and practices can ensure teaching remains inclusive, sustainable, and impactful in an ever-evolving global landscape?
- How do we balance current good practice with innovation to meet the needs of tomorrow’s learners?
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