An event hosted by Centre for Academic Practice Enhancement
Practices that aim to take back control in this challenging environment were explored – putting the focus on the growing requirement to capture metrics to drive evidence-backed interventions; the positioning of employability as a measure of learning gain; the opportunities and challenges of technology for teaching and learning; the benefits of diversity and the maintenance of the public responsibilities of universities.
The morning's keynote from Dr Helen King provided a whistle-stop but nevertheless comprehensive account of the changes brought about by the Higher Education & Research Act (HERA) 2017. The central change concerns the transition from HEFCE to the new Office for Students (OfS). The Act itself sets out a long list of duties for the new regulator. Last year’s White Paper states that
the OfS will be a “consumer focused market regulator” and will have competition, choice, and the student interest at its heart “for the first time”. Dr King concluded by saying that these significant changes will require continued collaboration, innovation and conversation in order to succeed.
In the afternoon Johnny Rich (HE consultant) outlined how employability is often confused with employment or skills and sometimes it is even placed in opposition to knowledge. He showed how, through better understanding and awareness, we can embed employability into all learning and boost the transformative power of education in social mobility.
In all an interesting thought provoking conference - times may be uncertain but the certainty is we need to focus on teaching and learning for student success and achievement.
To catch up on the conference sessions visit http://mdxaltc17.blogspot.co.uk/
