All Cambridge Centre for Teaching and Learning courses

This meeting is convened annually to enable directors of teaching and senior tutors to share ideas, expertise and good practice, and to hear about and inform some of the collegiate University's larger conversations about undergraduate education.

This year’s annual meeting, hosted by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education, Professor Bhaskar Vira, continues our focus on addressing inequities in students’ experiences and outcomes through inclusive educational practices. As work gets underway to develop the next Access & Participation Plan (APP) 2024-28, this is a timely opportunity to reflect on what we have learnt and on the progress made during the period of the current APP and on the Collegiate University’s priorities for the next five years.

Colleagues from the Department of Engineering will speak about research with students aimed at developing a contextualised understanding of the factors giving rise to gender awarding gaps. The research will also consider how this understanding will inform improvements to curriculum design, teaching and assessment as part of the Engineering Tripos reform to Part I. There will be time for discussion and to identify ways in which colleagues may be supported in enhancing inclusive educational practices in their own contexts.

Pre-event Survey 2023
For this year’s meeting we are also wanting to include on the agenda departmental and college educational priorities, hence the purpose behind this pre event survey.

You may also be interested to know of a separate event: the annual meeting for Directors of Postgraduate Education and Postgraduate Tutors on Wednesday 27 September.

The Cambridge Teaching Forum is coordinated by the Cambridge Centre for Teaching and Learning and is open to colleagues across the collegiate University involved in teaching or assessment, at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.

The event will be opened by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education, Professor Bhaskar Vira, and will include an array of parallel sessions and plenary sessions with keynote speakers.

If you are interested in presenting, facilitating a session, or have any questions about the event, please contact Dr Cassie Lowe.

Do you have further questions following your recent supervising experiences? Do you have ideas or experiences that you’d like to share with others? This interactive session is for anyone who attended the workshop ‘An Introduction to Undergraduate Supervision’ and who has started supervising. This 90-minute session aims to follow up with new undergraduate supervisors on their teaching experiences and to answer any questions they might have.

The session will include:

• Q&A about supervisory experience
• Sharing of examples of supervisory practice
• Small-group discussions with peers on teaching experiences

Do you have further questions following your recent supervising experiences? Do you have ideas or experiences that you’d like to share with others? This interactive session is for anyone who attended the workshop ‘An Introduction to Undergraduate Supervision’ and who has started supervising. This 90-minute session aims to follow up with new undergraduate supervisors on their teaching experiences and to answer any questions they might have.

The session will include:

• Q&A about supervisory experience
• Sharing of examples of supervisory practice
• Small-group discussions with peers on teaching experiences

This annual Forum will be chaired by Professor Bhaskar Vira, the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education and is coordinated by the Cambridge Centre for Teaching and Learning.

This annual event will provide an opportunity for discussion about current practices, processes and opportunities for enhancement of assessment and feedback. A panel of Cambridge staff and students will share their perspectives, and Professor Philip Dawson (Deakin University, Australia) will discuss the latest approaches to AI and Assessment.

The Forum will be of interest to those engaged in activities related to assessment across the collegiate university. It provides a venue to explore opportunities and processes relevant to current assessment practices, particularly in light of the University's commitments to diversifying assessment and to eliminating awarding gaps experienced by students who are disadvantaged by high-stakes summative exams.

Further details, including the full programme of speakers, will be posted on the CCTL website in due course.

Students’ academic experiences during their first year of study provide strong foundations for their academic progress, outcomes and personal wellbeing. This Intercollegiate Forum is for College academic and professional staff and students who contribute to undergraduate students’ first-year academic induction and development, including (but not limited to) senior tutors and deputy senior tutors, directors of studies, librarians, academic skills tutors, heads of wellbeing and JCR officers.

The Forum will include a panel of invited Cambridge and external contributors and focussed discussion of key aspects of academic induction and development during the first year. We will consider ways of making positive differences within the distinctive environments of the Colleges to students’ experiences and outcomes, to share experiences and to reflect on opportunities for enhancement in 2023-24 and beyond.

The Forum is organised by the Cambridge Centre for Teaching & Learning as part of CCTL’s support for the collegiate University’s commitments to develop more inclusive educational environments and practices and to eliminate differentials in students’ assessment outcomes which cannot be explained through factors such as previous education and attainment (‘awarding gaps’).

Cambridge undergraduate education is distinctive, and Colleges as academic communities are key to students' educational experience. As Cambridge admits a more representative population of undergraduates, this Forum provides an opportunity to reflect on ways in which collegiate environments and collegiate education can contribute to all students’ becoming increasingly proficient in their learning, in managing curricular and extra-curricular commitments and in developing a sense of agency and ownership over their education.

The Forum is for College academic and professional staff and students, including (but not limited to) senior tutors and deputy senior tutors, directors of studies, supervisors, librarians, academic skills tutors, heads of wellbeing and JCR officers.

The Forum will include a panel of invited Cambridge and external contributors, as well as opportunities to share experiences and to reflect on ways of making positive differences to students’ experiences and outcomes in 2023-24 and beyond. The Forum is organised by the Cambridge Centre for Teaching & Learning as part of CCTL’s support for the collegiate University’s commitments to develop more inclusive educational environments and practices and to eliminate differentials in students’ assessment outcomes which cannot be explained through factors such as previous education and attainment (‘awarding gaps’).

Intercollegiate Forum Pre-event survey

Please could we ask all participants to complete the Intercollegiate Forum pre-event survey by Monday 12 June 2023, please see link: Intercollegiate Forum Pre-Event Survey

Please note: this Forum provides an opportunity to extend discussions at an earlier Forum (‘First-year undergraduate academic induction and development’, 3 March 2023), during which we explored how first-year students begin to earn how to learn within a Cambridge context. However, our Forum in June is a self-contained occasion and there is no requirement to have taken part in the March meeting in order to participate in June.

This 3-hour session is a bespoke programme for staff in senior leadership roles at the University and Colleges on the topic of mental health and wellbeing in their workplace and the educational context.

The session offers:

• An opportunity for senior leaders to support a whole institution approach to mental health and wellbeing, promoting an informed and compassionate higher education community which is conducive to wellbeing and supports the full academic, occupational, and social potential of all staff and students.
• A brief overview of staff and student mental health in Higher Education.
• Best practice guidance on identifying and responding to staff and students who may be experiencing mental health difficulties.
• Context-specific case vignettes and scenarios to improve staff confidence in intervening and applying skills in discussions with staff and students, including those who may be experiencing poor wellbeing, mental ill-health and thoughts of suicide.
• Evidence-based and practical strategies for promoting wellbeing throughout the higher education community, including self-care for staff.
• Key resources and services in place to support mental health locally and nationally.

Please note these are stand-alone training sessions and participants should only attend one session.

This training is provided free of charge to College and University staff thanks to a philanthropic donation. The cost of providing the course is £25 per participant.

Research into the learning and teaching experiences of students and staff is increasingly highly valued and useful in providing an evidence-base for improving educational experiences. Core ethical principles should always be followed in research design, whether you are designing your study for a publishable research outcome or evaluating teaching and learning for your own purposes or internal discussion. However, a formal ethics review will be required where your research project involves human participants, such as teachers and students, or where it involves personal or sensitive data, and where you have a plan to publish, present or publicly share your findings.

Cambridge now has a process for applying for ethics review of internal institutional educational research projects, supported by the Cambridge Higher Education Studies Research Ethics Committee (CHESREC). This will be of interest to staff and students initiating research studies of their teaching, learning, assessment or other related educational experiences within Cambridge.

This workshop will provide an introduction to the ethics application process for colleagues interested in developing, and eventually publishing, their teaching, learning or other related educational projects. It will:

1. provide an overview of ethical principles underpinning research with human participants (teachers and students)

2. clarify the difference amongst evaluation, evaluative research and research projects

3. discuss common ethical issues related to ‘insider’ or practice-based research

4. illustrate aligning appropriate methods with research questions and anticipated participants

5. demystify the ethics review process

6. offer practical tips about what you need to prepare for your ethics application

Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and seek advice about their potential higher educational research projects. All are encouraged to bring draft project ideas, and will be shown some exemplar ethics applications.

For more information contact CHESREC chesrec@admin.cam.ac.uk

This 4-hour mental health awareness training is intended for frontline staff at Colleges and Academic Faculties/Departments whose roles are pastoral or include responsibilities for responding to student welfare.

The session offers:

• A brief overview of student mental health in Higher Education.
• Best practice guidance on identifying and responding to students who may be experiencing mental health difficulties.
• Context-specific case vignettes and scenarios to improve staff confidence in intervening and applying skills in discussions with students, including those who may be experiencing poor wellbeing, mental ill-health and thoughts of suicide.
• Evidence-based and practical strategies for promoting student and staff wellbeing, including self-care for staff.
• Key resources and services in place to support mental health locally and nationally.

Please note these are stand-alone training sessions and participants should only attend one session.

This training is provided free of charge to College and University staff thanks to a philanthropic donation. The cost of providing the course is £25 per participant.

‘Student Mental Health Essentials’ is a focused introductory guide to student mental health tailored to the Cambridge context. The programme has been developed with Academic Departments, for Academic Departments, and is led by trainers from the University’s Student Wellbeing Service.

The session offers essential information and practical guidance relevant to the roles of academic and professional staff at Faculties and Departments and offers opportunities for discussion and analysis of authentic case studies with colleagues.

We welcome suggestions of practical scenarios relevant to your context to ensure the scenarios are appropriate and useful. Each session includes practical resources and information on services which will be circulated alongside the session slides for reference.

This workshop explores the principles of good postgraduate supervision, different approaches to supervising, how to deliver feedback for best results, and the teacher/learner roles of the supervisor-supervisee relationship. It is aimed at new or experienced postgraduate supervisors looking to develop their skills in effective and inspired pedagogy.

Outcomes:

• Understand the teacher/learner roles central to the supervision of postgraduate students
• Explore good practice for delivering feedback
• Understand possible issues and where to go for support in the Cambridge system

This workshop explores the principles of good postgraduate supervision, different approaches to supervising, how to deliver feedback for best results, and the teacher/learner roles of the supervisor-supervisee relationship. It is aimed at new or experienced postgraduate supervisors looking to develop their skills in effective and inspired pedagogy.

Outcomes:

• Understand the teacher/learner roles central to the supervision of postgraduate students
• Explore good practice for delivering feedback
• Understand possible issues and where to go for support in the Cambridge system
• Consider the elements of positive research culture in a group and lab

Cambridge is one of the world’s leading universities, yet Black British students are statistically less likely to be awarded a First or Good Honours degree at Cambridge compared to their white peers. This disparity is known as the awarding gap. Institutional statistical analysis of admission data has shown that this disparity cannot be explained by factors such as previous education, socio-economic background or other intersecting variables including gender. The University has made a commitment to eliminate these inequitable degree outcomes and the last four years has seen considerable investment in research into the reasons for these troubling statistics.

This one-day forum is open to all Cambridge staff and students as an opportunity to explore, learn, and contribute towards a shared understanding about the impact of awarding gaps on Black undergraduate students. It is also a chance to reflect and critically engage on strategies and practices to address inequitable educational experiences at Cambridge, including the range of decolonisation initiatives already underway across the university. We welcome your views, ideas, and questions to help the University move forward in a mutually beneficial way.

The programme is being co-coordinated and co-designed by a team of student and staff researchers involved in the Access and Participation Plan’s Participatory Action Research (the APP PAR Project). The forum is supported by the Black Advisory Hub, the BME Campaign, and the Cambridge Centre for Teaching and Learning.