News

Oxford Brookes Teaching Fellowships 2006-8
National teaching fellows
HE Academy literature review on blended learning
HE Academy benchmarking
Symposium on social learning space

Oxford Brookes Teaching Fellowships 2006-8

Applications are now invited for the fourth round of Oxford Brookes' Teaching Fellowships. These fellowships reflect Oxford Brookes' commitment to learning and teaching strategy by seeking 'to encourage and reward teaching excellence and establish teaching and course delivery based on evidence of effective practice. Ten Fellowships are available to start in September 2006: six Teaching Fellowships, two Associate Fellowships (for less experienced staff), and two Learning Support Fellowships. Applicants are required to provide evidence of excellence in teaching and/or the support of learning, and to have a developmental project proposal. Successful applicants will receive an honorarium of £1,500 per year for two years, and £3,500 per year to fund the project. Applications are judged on two main criteria: evidence of the applicant's excellence in teaching or learning support and the quality of the proposed development project. For more detailed guidance on the three categories of Fellowship and how to apply, see the following web site: www.brookes.ac.uk/services/ocsd/fellowships/.

Applications should be submitted to Chris Rust by 20 February 2006. Interviews will be held on 31 March.

National teaching fellows

We have received the formal invitation for nominations to the NTFS 2006 from the HE Academy. Fifty individual awards will be made, each of £10,000, to be used for 'personal, professional and pedagogic development'. We are invited to nominate up to three individuals by 5 April 2006.

Winners will be announced in July and will be eligible, together with other National Teaching Fellows, for inclusion in institutional bids for a new second strand of funding for projects of up to £200,000 each. The details of this are still to emerge but the invitation to bid will be in September.

As in previous years, the first stage in our internal process is to identify individuals who are potential nominees and to ask them to draft a proposal using the guidance given on the NTFS web site (see below). We then have a selection process involving a small panel, chaired by Petra Wend, D-VC ( Academic). This is timed to allow us to give full support to those selected as our nominees in putting the final polish to their documentation. We have been successful in four of six years of the NTFS, more than many but not as successful as some, and I believe we should expect to be successful again this year.

Internal timetable

Identification of potential nominees. Recommendations from schools and directorates and expressions of interest from individuals (should have written support from their Dean, Director or line manager) to Clive Robertson by Friday 17 February 2006
Receipt of draft documentation from potential nominees to Clive Robertson by Monday 27 February 2006
Selection Process Panel considers draft documents and interviews potential nominees 9 March 2006
Final preparation of nominations Support given to nominees in preparing documentation 10 March - 4 April 2006

Further information on the NTFS is available at: www.heacademy.ac.uk/ntfs.htm

HE Academy literature review on blended learning

The Academy has awarded funding for five reviews of research literature on topics relevant to higher education policy and practice. The reviews will lead to evidence-informed approaches to policy and practice and explore different reviewing methodologies in order to help focus approaches to reviewing HE-related issues in the future. Oxford Brookes University was awarded the project to review the literature on the undergraduate experience of blended e-learning. The review will identify key issues, review existing evidence and make recommendations to guide future policy and research.

More information is available at www.brookes.ac.uk/virtual/news/healitreview/litreview_01.htm

HE Academy benchmarking

Oxford Brookes University has been chosen by the Higher Education Academy to participate in the pilot phase of the sector's e-learning benchmarking exercise.

Further details about the project, and the complete list of participating institutions are available on the HEA web site at:

Symposium on social learning space

The symposium on social learning space was held on 26 January, and brought together nearly 100 people from across Brookes, partner institutions for the Reinvention Centre and other Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, and Brookes managers and decision makers. The day offered opportunities to see how other places have defined and catered for 'social learning'. Definitions ranged from places where students could do group work, discuss and investigate issues and even in one case, hold birthday parties. The day resulted in a number of suggestions for the two spaces already identified at Brookes for social learning and possible future developments on other Brookes sites.