Collaboration for Excellence in Teaching - University of Kent · Collaboration for Excellence in...

Collaboration for Excellence in Teaching:

Education Broker model for widening student employability opportunities.

Cate Cropper, Lis Rushworth & Helen Vaughan, Central Teaching Laboratory

@LivUniCTL

CTL

Physics

Chemistry

Archaeology

Environmental Sciences

CTL: The Building

Conceived in 2006, due to a need to refurbish existing laboratories.

Main drivers for collaboration:

• More Space

• Higher occupancy

• New equipment

• Facilities for new teaching activities

Main barriers to sharing space, equipment and pedagogy

Funding

OperationDiscipline pedagogy

Main benefits to sharing space equipment and pedagogy

Uni

vers

ity • Modern, professional teaching hub & conference venue

Exist

ing

Disc

iplin

es • Modern, accessible specialised environments & equipment St

uden

ts • Access to research & industry standard equipment

Oth

er • Focal point for scholarship

Benefit to University

• Modern and professional venue for learning and teaching

• Capacity for increased student numbers

• Hub of technical skills development in support staff

• Focal point for teaching innovation in sciences

• Professional and flexible venue for international conferences

Benefits to the UniversityOutward statement of University’s

belief in teaching and learning

Benefits to Existing DisciplinesBenefits to Existing Disciplines

• Modern, accessible laboratories and social space

• Access to specialised laboratory environments & equipment for all disciplines

• Flexible availability for non-timetabled access to support project work

• Promoting new and improved pedagogies e.g. comfortable environment for group work

Benefits to Students

• Access to research and industry standard equipment

• Access to internships

• Expansion of project opportunities

• Cross-disciplinary skills

• Improved opportunities to develop communication skills

Benefits to Students

Resulting in improved employability skills

Other benefits

• Focal point for scholarship• Venue for Outreach• Employers

Benefits to Students

Sharing has made us stronger• Improved

equipment• Focus on

teaching

• Sharing ideas, activities & space

• Making connections

Education Broker Model

Education Broker

Broker nouna person who acts as an agent for other people in buying and selling goods or property [usually for commission]

a negotiator or middleman

[ref.]John Murray Learning. (2017) Chambers –search chambers. Available at: http://chambers.co.uk/search/?query=broker&title=21st (Accessed: 11 January 2017).

Education Broker nouna scholar who acts as an agent for other academics in developing new or using existing resources and educational literature for scholarly commissiona negotiator and implementer of change in educational practices

Our definition is still in development

Faculty of Science and Engineering

Advisors Implementers Researchers

School of Physical Sciences

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology

School of Environmental Sciences

Education Brokers

CTL L&T

Education Broker team: where do we fit in?

A group of co-located satellite academics who orchestrate collaboration between disciplines

Traits of an Education Broker Team

Discipline specific lecturers with cross-discipline pedagogical interests and different administrative roles

Co-located

Other’s promotion

Freedom to be selfless

Core aim: to improve teaching in the Physical and Environmental Sciences

Education Brokers: Traits

Discipline & Public

Engagement Skills

Operation& Admin

Pedagogical Interests

Education Broker team activities: A richer student experience at all scales

Module developers / leaders

Programme developers / leaders

Collaboration with other departments & industry to

facilitate projects and modules

Direct supervision of BSc/Masters/PhD projects

Summer intern projects

• Physics with Education• Geology and Physical Geography

• Chemistry and Engineering(AEG)• MAST collaboration• Geoarchaeology• Physics and archaeology

• Electronic laboratory note books• Planetarium• Curriculum development

Education Broker driven activities for Outreach and Public Engagement: Supporting students to communicate with the wider community

Facilitating cross-university outreach &

public engagement activities

Supporting students & colleagues to deliver

outreach

Personal delivery of outreach activities

• Science Jamboree• HiPy

• “In house” science days for schools

• Science communication modules

• Ness Science Fair / VG&M events

• SIAS• Café Sci

Abilities of an Education Broker at CTL

• Network across University and with external parties • Coordinate• Negotiate• Investigate potential resources • Identify & act on opportunities• Implement and then hand over• Freedom to be selfless• Scholarly commission

• Ability to collaborate

Education Brokers: Traits

Discipline & Public

Engagement Skills

Operation& Admin

Pedagogical Interests

Organisational Culture (Gibbs, 2009)

Gibbs, G., Knapper, C., and Piccinin, S., (2009) Departmental Leadership of Teaching in Research-Intensive Environments. Final Report. London: Leadership Foundation for Higher Education

Collegium Bureaucracy

Enterprise Corporation

McNay, in Ramsden, in Gibbs et al (2009)

loose

loose

tight

tight

Degree of policy definition

Degr

ee o

f con

trol

of i

mpl

emen

tatio

n

“Decision-making is flexible & emphasises

accountable professional expertise.”

“Decision-making is consensual.”

“Decision-making is rule based.”

“Decision-making is political and tactical.”

What support does a team of Education Brokers need in different organisations?

Organisational Culture (Gibbs, 2009)

Gibbs, G., Knapper, C., and Piccinin, S., (2009) Departmental Leadership of Teaching in Research-Intensive Environments. Final Report. London: Leadership Foundation for Higher Education

Collegium Bureaucracy

Enterprise Corporation

McNay, in Ramsden, in Gibbs et al (2009)

loose

loose

tight

tight

Degree of policy definition

Degr

ee o

f con

trol

of i

mpl

emen

tatio

n

“Decision-making is flexible & emphasises

accountable professional expertise.”

“Decision-making is consensual.”

“Decision-making is rule based.”

“Decision-making is political and tactical.”

In January 2017 the team was awarded the Higher Education Academy’s (HEA) Collaborative Awards for Teaching Excellence

(CATE).

Please contact us for further details about supporting your university to learn about our model

Details on the flyers

Looking for hosts for Practitioner Workshops for academic teams to develop education brokers at different institutions

Case Study being written.Focussing on how Education Broker Model has influenced

institutional practice.