Conference Themes

The major theme of the conference is how we ensure that our practice as staff and educational developers is underpinned by good educational research and principles, that we appropriately evaluate and reflect on the impact of what we do, and that we review our practice in the light of the evidence we generate.

Sub themes include:

What is the rationale for the staff and educational development approaches we use?
Are we addressing needs or setting the agenda?
Where and what is the impact of our actions?
How do we contribute to cultural and organisational change?
Where do new ideas come from and how are these related to practice?
How do we build capacity for research, evaluation and practice in educational development?
What does a scholarly approach to educational development look like?
What is the relationship between educational research and educational development?
How can we create the space to be more creative and supportive of innovation and excellence?

The Conference

The format of the conference will comprise keynote address, parallel sessions of workshops and discussion papers. The aim, as ever, will be to share practice, research, evaluation and experience in all aspects of staff and educational development in an open and constructive atmosphere.

Participants

The conference will be of particular interest to Educational and Staff developers in HE provision (in HE or FE) and anyone who has a commitment to enhancing the quality of Higher Education. This includes:

Policy makers and institutional academic managers
Teachers in further and higher education
National and institutional teaching fellows
Learning support staff such as library and information staff and student support staff
Educational technologists
Staff from the Higher Education Academy Subject Centres, FDTL projects, the Higher Education Academy and other initiatives such as widening participation, disability and employability

Pre-Conference Workshop Day

As in past years there will be a one day workshop preceeding the main event. This year the focus will be Development and Assessment with Portfolios. Further details of this event can be found on the SEDA website.

Conference Venue

This year’s conference will return to the Novotel, Birmingham Centre, located on Broad Street in the heart of the City Centre. Fully residential delegates will be accommodated on-site – all rooms are en-suite.

Birmingham is well served by the motorway network and parking is available at the hotel. New Street station is a short taxi ride away with regular rail links to Birmingham International Airport.

Registration

Following confirmation of your registration, delegates will be asked to forward electronically their choices of workshop and discussion paper sessions to enable us to allocate rooms according to demand. Details of all sessions can be accessed on the SEDA website from mid-September.

For booking form go to: http://www.seda.ac.uk/NovConference.pdf

Conference Organised by:

The Staff and Educational Development Association

www.seda.ac.uk email: [log in to unmask]