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News and opportunities
2025/26 Education Development Projects – strongly recommended workshop!
We’ve opened applications for the 2025/26 Education Development Projects! Apply for up to £1,500 of funding and critical friend support to deliver and/or evaluate an innovative teaching and learning project and disseminate outcomes across the university and beyond. This year, we’re looking for projects that fit three key themes:
- Generative AI
- Active learning
- Inclusive assessment
We’ve funded some amazing projects in the past (take a look at some past examples here – use the left hand column) and are excited to see what the next year brings.
If you’re considering applying for one of our Education Development Funds, we strongly advise you come to the workshop on 13 May 3.30 pm – 5 pm, which will outline the Theory of Change, a framework used to determine and demonstrate the effectiveness of your proposed project and is an essential part of the Education Development Project application process. You can sign up to the workshop here.
Interested in pedagogic research?
The BILT-funded Pedagogic Research Culture project has been busy creating online training modules to support colleagues to take their first steps in pedagogic research. These modules introduce participants to the types of data and data analysis that are used in pedagogic research, and help participants identify potential funding and dissemination routes. The three online, self-paced modules (each takes approximately 30-60 minutes) are designed to be followed by in-person attendance at a workshop where additional support will be available to help participants draft a research proposal and network with colleagues.
We are looking for colleagues to pilot the online resources and our first workshop (1st July, 3-5 pm, in-person at Berkeley Square). By participating, you can also choose to be entered into a draw to win a £20 Source café voucher. If you would like to help us, please complete this form: https://forms.office.com/e/5a9TMVB4wM
The Future in Focus – multimedia competition
We’re launching BILT’s conference gallery this year, adding another creative element to our event and inviting colleagues and members of the University to submit a multimedia piece reflecting our conference’s theme: education for a changing world.
We’re looking for contributions that show (directly or indirectly!) the impact that education is having in our changing world, as well as how education itself is changing as higher education becomes an increasingly diverse landscape.
Contributions can be in any multi-media format, taking on creative forms such as collages, soundscapes, photos, videos, music or images. Creations can be assisted by AI if preferable. You can also choose to have your contribution shared anonymously.
We will share the media in an online gallery as part of the conference and attendees will have the opportunity to engage with the pieces before, during and after the conference.
The winner will be decided by our keynote Professor Anke Schwittay announced at the BILT conference with a prize of chocolates and BILT goodies.
To share your multimedia piece, please email it to: bilt-conference@bristol.ac.uk by Monday 16 June 2025.
Blogs and resources
- Week 2 and Week 3 of the ‘Creating a new unit’ blog series
The series, written by Professor James Norman, continues with the second and third week’s instalments, taking a look at ‘Designing the unit content‘ and ‘The assessment‘. - Picture This: The ambitions of April and responses to March’s scenarios
BILT’s Joe Gould shares our newest scenarios and we welcome contributions from our readers to respond to the latest (and possibly final!) instalment in the series. We’ve also shared the responses to last month’s scenario, looking at personal tutoring, ambition and development.
- Turning an idea into a research project: reflections from the Study Skills team
Beckie Arden from the Study Skills team has shared her experience of the team’s journey to publishing in a journal with little personal academic experience beforehand, and celebrates the resources they utilised as part of the Research Services Hub.
Events
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.
BILT Show, Tell and Talk: Active and inclusive learning (2 workshops)
“Active learning engages students in the process of learning through activities and/or discussion in class, as opposed to passively listening to an expert. It emphasizes higher-order thinking and often involves group work” (Freeman et al., 2014).
Research also demonstrates that active learning can allow students to take agency in their own learning (Harris et al, 2020); can involve working in diverse groups on community and global issues (Pasquerella 2022) and can narrow achievement gaps benefiting all students (Inside Higher Ed, 2022).
Our final Show, Tell and Talk event of the academic year takes place on Wednesday 21 May in Room 1.20, 35 Berkeley Square, and consists of:
1 pm: A curriculum design workshop (90 minutes) – Providing an opportunity to hear about University priorities related to the theme, give space to reflect and develop your learning and teaching practices whilst also providing tips and advice for implementation best practice in your work.
3 pm: A sharing innovations workshop (90 minutes) – Providing an opportunity to hear about a range of staff led projects taking place across the University related to the theme. We have 7 presentations in total and there will be an opportunity for informal discussions with colleagues.
Register for either, or both workshops here.
Sustainability Champion Showcase, Wednesday 21 May, 12:00-14:30
Location: Bristol SU Living Rooms in Senate House (4th floor)
Join us to celebrate the 2025 cohort of Sustainability Champions and their efforts and impacts across the University! Enjoy a light lunch, and presentations and posters from the students following an introduction.
Note that attendance for the full 2.5 hours is not necessary, people can come for a part. However, there will be introductions and a series of live student presentations, with some mingling before and after.
Please register to attend, answering a few basic questions to help us plan capacity. Diary invitations will be sent.
Contact Shandin Rickard-Hughes, Education for Sustainability Lead at Bristol SU if you have any questions or accessibility requirements (shandin.rickard-hughes@bristol.ac.uk).
Blackboard Ultra Practice-Sharing Event
As we move to Blackboard Ultra, all staff are invited to get to know the platform and start building their course units with hands on support – at a practice sharing event on Wednesday 28 May.
This event is a great opportunity for staff who are designing and building course units to learn about good practices in Ultra, hear from colleagues who were a part of the early adoption phase and from students working with the move project.
Together, we’ll talk about potential challenges of the move, ways of addressing them as well as the opportunities Ultra offers to improve and enhance the student experience.
After the morning discussions and presentations, staff from the Digital Education Office will run a ‘build your unit’ workshop – to help you make a good start on your course units for the upcoming year.
By the end of the day, you’ll know more about Blackboard Ultra and see your 2025/26 course units take shape.
Whether you have used Ultra before, or are just getting ready to use it, we hope to see you at the event.
Morning tea/coffee and lunch will be provided. Sign up and view the event programme on Develop.
Programme Director Induction – June 2025
Taking place on 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: Monday 9 – Wednesday 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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