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SEDA Conference April 2003 - call for contributions

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Joint Staff and Educational Development Association (SEDA)/Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) Conference

The Scholarship of Academic and Staff Development: Research, Evaluation and Changing Practice

Wednesday 9 - Friday 11 April 2003

Wills Hall, University of Bristol

This conference will provide the opportunity for those engaged in research, evaluation and changing practice in further and higher education to explore opportunities for engaging in these activities as well as networking and collaboration. The conference will be of interest to teachers, educational developers, researchers and policy makers with an interest in change in further and higher education, with a particular emphasis on those changes that affect the student learning experience.

As with all SEDA conferences, the emphasis will be on presenters and participants engaging interactively with the themes of the conference as presented through a variety of session formats.

SEDA Research Committee

Following the setting up of the SEDA/SRHE Educational Development research network in 1998, the SEDA Research Committee was established in October 2002, with an emphasis on promoting research and scholarship in staff and educational development in its widest sense. This conference represents the Committee's first major event.

The Staff and Educational Development Association (SEDA) is the professional association for staff and educational developers in the UK. Its aim is to promote innovation and good practice in teaching and learning in higher education, including HE delivered in further education.

The Society for Research into Higher Education, established in 1965, exists to stimulate and co-ordinate research into all aspects of higher education. It aims to improve the quality of higher education through the encouragement of debate and publication.

Andresen (2000) and others characterise scholarship as follows:

  1. critical reflectivity as a sensibility, a habit of mind;
  2. scrutiny by peers as permitted, for example, by publication;
  3. and inquiry as a motivation and drive.

    4. We anticipate that these scholarly characteristics will be reflected in this conference and hence contribute to The Scholarship of Academic and Staff Development.

    Conference Themes

  4. Developing a scholarship of academic and staff development
  5. Researching and evaluating educational development practices
  6. Building capacity for research and evaluation
  7. Examining the links between research, evaluation, policy and changing practice, including teaching,  assessment and supporting learning

    8. Staff and educational development is taken to include: Higher Education development (including HE in further education); changes to learning, teaching and assessment practices and environments; institutional change; the management of educational change; and action research that links development and research outcomes.

    Full Conference Presenters

  8. Professor Liz Beaty, Director (Learning and Teaching), The Higher Education Funding Council for England

  9. Dr Glynis Cousin, Academic Development Adviser, The Centre for Academic Practice, Warwick University

  10. Dr Keith Trigwell, Principal Research Fellow, The Institute for the Advancement of University Learning, University of Oxford

    11. Session Formats

    We welcome proposals which examine current practices in learning, teaching and assessment; completed or 'in progress' research and evaluation; and the links between research, evaluation, practice and policy. However, the emphasis should be on reflection and evaluation of practice, sustainability, dissemination and transferability, rather than merely on describing what is happening. It is also a long-standing tradition at SEDA conferences to have sessions which involve delegates in active participation and, consequently, preference will be given to

    proposals that reflect these emphases.

    We are designing the conference around the following activities:

  11. Workshops - (45 or 90 minutes) with the emphasis on high levels of participation

  12. Papers - (45 minutes) giving an account of research, evaluation, policy or practice with the emphasis on drawing out lessons for others and involving participants in engaging with you findings

  13. Round tables - (45 or 60 minutes) involving two or three short paper presentations (10 minutes each) of work in progress, following which participants engage for the rest of the session with one of the presenters. The conference committee will combine short papers into a round table.

  14. Symposia - (90 minutes) 2 or 3 presenters may wish to group together and submit a proposal for a symposium or, alternatively, the Planning Committee may combine 2-3 proposals together into a symposium and appoint a chair.

    15. There will also be opportunities for 'reflection' sessions during the conference to allow participants the
    opportunity to discuss more informally the general themes of the conference.

    There will also be a series of methodology 'master classes' (90 minutes) around a major aspect of research or evaluation to support 'new' practitioners in developing their professional skills.

    Participants

    The conference will be of interest to those who are interested in educational developments in further and higher education, including:

  15. Teachers in further and higher education
  16. Educational and staff developers
  17. Researchers, postgraduates and those engaged in evaluations
  18. Learning support staff such as library and information staff and student support staff
  19. Academics and managers with responsibility for learning and teaching policy developments
  20. Staff from LTSN Subject Centres and similar

    21. Venue

    The conference is to be held at the University of Bristol which is situated in the heart of the historic, maritime city of Bristol, in the Wills Hall, Stoke Bishop. Bristol is built on dramatic hills, and Stoke Bishop, 3 miles to the north of the City Centre, offers visitors the calm of park and woodland high above the Avon Gorge. From Sea Walls, on the very cliff edge, there are panoramic views across the Bristol Channel to the Welsh Hills.

    For more information on the venue and how to get there visit www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/Conferences/

    Submitting your proposal

    A proposal form for contributions can be found on the SEDA web site at www.seda.ac.uk.

    The deadline for submissions is Monday 27 January 2003. They should be no more than 300 words in length. Please send an electronic copy, in Word or WordPerfect to the [log in to unmask] and specify which of the sessions formats listed above you would prefer and whether you would be prepared to present in a different way.

    Proposals should include the main aims of the sessions, an outline of what will be presented and in the cases of workshops, the methods of presentation.

    It is normal practice at SEDA Conferences to accept only one contribution from an individual so as provide the opportunity for as many people to contribute as possible.


    Criteria for acceptance of proposals

    Each proposal will be reviewed for acceptance at the conference against the following criteria:

  21. Relevance to the conference theme and sub theme(s)
  22. Clarity and coherence of the proposal
  23. Reflection and evaluation of practice and or/policy
  24. Contribution to scholarship, research and evaluation of change in further and higher education
  25. Clear opportunities for participants to actively engage in the session and, particularly in workshops, to reflect on transferability to their own practice