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Previous TEALfest 2023

TEALfest 2023

20th - 21st June 2023 (Online)

Empowering students and staff through small teaching

This year the theme for TEALfest is on 'Empowering students and staff through small teaching' in a range of exciting ways. Small teaching examines the modest but powerful changes we can all make that lead to big enhancements for our students' learning.

This is a strategy (based on the science of learning) developed by James Lang and Flower Darby. They discuss the topic and share insights in the following freely available Teaching in Higher Ed podcast (full transcript available).Small teaching with James Lang ; Small teaching online with Flower Darby. James Lang also discusses the science behind small teaching in this recorded speaker series.

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TEALfest 2023 Programme

Running over two days, TEALfest 2023 hosted a range of discussions, presentations and workshops as well as online posters in our virtual poster space and inspiring keynotes.

Jump to: Tuesday | Wednesday 

Tuesday 20th June

10:45-11:00

TEALFest Welcome

11:00-11:50

The transformative power of video

Anna Donnelly and Jonty Leese, University of Warwick

This presentation will showcase the power of video as one of many approaches to support learning, in this case for Initial Teacher Education. We will examine how video can support ‘establishing the reality’ (Knight, 2021), how it can support a clearer link between theory and practise for Trainees and Partner schools and create links between theory and practice situation research into real life applications.

Type of Small Teaching: Small interventions in a module, programme or extended learning experience.

Event Sub-Themes: Wildcard

Session: Nano presentation

A picture is worth a thousand words

Kim Watts and Paul Philipson, WMG

Visual communication is all around us. In today’s modern world we are bombarded with communication in visual forms, across social media channels, live streaming platforms, packaging, branding etc… we absorb so much information from what we see alone such as genres and themes for entertainment purposes and quality, standards, and level of service in other areas. The University of Warwick is a world leading institution and the forms in which we communicate to our students should reflect that. Through small changes we can all make a big difference to bring a powerful, consistent, streamlined message. Visual communication is a universal language (Günay 2021), it’s interdisciplinary; we can apply it across all areas of the curriculum and, as David Sless says, “Visual communication is one of the most exciting and potentially useful tools in education if we can understand how to exploit its richness” (Sless, D. 2018).


Günay, M. (2021). ‘Design in Visual Communication’. Art and Design Review, Issue 9, p109-122. Available at: Doi: 10.4236/adr.2021.92012
Sless, D. (2018). Learning and Visual Communication. Oxon. Routledge. Available at: DOI: 10.4324/9780429021909

Type of Small Teaching: Small modifications in module or programme design, assessment or communication with your students

Event Sub-Themes: Wildcard

Let’s make it clear: improving communication and instruction in virtual learning environments with the use of visual design components.

Richard Clay, University of Warwick

This presentation will showcase the power of video as one of many approaches to support learning, in this case for Initial Teacher Education. We will examine how video can support ‘establishing the reality’ (Knight, 2021), how it can support a clearer link between theory and practise for Trainees and Partner schools and create links between theory and practice situation research into real life applications.

Type of Small Teaching: Small interventions in a module, programme or extended learning experience.

Event Sub-Themes: Wildcard

Session: Nano presentation

11:50-12:00

Break

12:00-13:00

Course Design and Digital Approaches to Learning

Lucy Chilvers, Emilie Hayter, and Olanrewaju Santa, University of Brighton

Jess Humphreys, Aishwarya Dere, University of Warwick

Making Digital Construals

Isabella Wasden, Jonathan Foss and Meurig Beynon, University of Warwick

'Making digital construals' is an alternative way to conceptualise computing as 'a mind engaged in sense-making' - a more primitive activity than 'following rules' intimately related to learning processes. To encourage academics across all disciplines to explore its potential for small teaching online, Meurig will demonstrate how an online environment can be used to explore a familiar topic: making sense of currency and transactions with coins.

Making a construal is also an alternative software development tool for building models, but construals are accessible to non-programmers. In addition, it is a new way to interact with the computer, which can reflect a human thought process. Isabella will discuss how 'making digital construals' can be used effectively as an educational tool.

In her third-year undergraduate Computer Science project, Isabella created the first portfolio of educational construals accompanying a syllabus. This was a proof-of-concept and one example portfolio, specifically for teaching core concepts in computer science to university students alongside a syllabus.

By creating this portfolio, 'making digital construals' was reviewed from an educator's perspective with a computing background. By sharing the portfolio with other undergraduate students, 'making digital construals' was reviewed by interdisciplinary students. The students suggested how they thought making digital construals could be used in an educational environment in the future.

The advantages of making construals as educational tools include the easy-to-build interactive visualisations and the personal nature of the digital artefacts. Making construals is a new way to share a thought process digitally.

Type of Small Teaching: Brief in session or blended learning activities

Event Sub-Themes: Building inclusive communities; Supporting interdisciplinary experiences; Co-creation e.g. with students, communities etc. ;S

Session: Presentation

13:00-13:45

Lunch and Posters

13:45-14:35

Communicating with care in a virtual online environment to build positive student-teacher relationships

Lauren Schrock, Maryam Masood, Ninna Makrinov and Asima Iqbal, University of Warwick

Communicating with care is an important activity for developing a positive student-teacher relationship. This is significant as a positive student-teacher relationship enhances student engagement and feelings of belonging, so students feel supported to succeed academically. However, there are several challenges to communicating with care in a virtual environment that can be exacerbated by a large class size, such as clarity and personalisation. Therefore, the presentation seeks to answer the research question, “How to communicate with care to a large class within a virtual learning environment?” By examining the ‘small’ actions of care that support student learning and community in a large blended transferrable skills module, the presenters share practical techniques for verbal and non-verbal communication that can enhance positive student-teacher relationships.

Type of Small Teaching: Small modifications in module or programme design, assessment or communication with your students

Event Sub-Themes: Student support and wellbeing

Session: Nano presentation

Using GoogleDoc to co-create and deconstruct assessment rubric in partnership with students to develop assessment literacy

Alice Lau and Brinder Rajpal,Coventry University

This Nano presentation will share how GoogleDocs was used in partnership with students to co-create and deconstruct assessment rubric in an online Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice course. The PGCert in Academic Practice is a requirement for all new academics joining the institution without an existing teaching qualification . The course aims to provide colleagues with opportunities to experiment, develop and enhance their learning, teaching and assessment practices. Through the simple, yet effective, use of GoogleDocs, the teaching team can expose and introduce students (who are also staff at the institution) to develop assessment literacy through co-creation and deconstruction of the assessment rubric. Students participants have commented positively about the experience, and many went on to implement this idea, and versions of this activity, in their own practice. We will share with colleagues how we approached this ‘small intervention’ and how it has resulted in a big impact on our student’s assessment literacy and practice.

Type of Small Teaching: Small interventions in a module, programme or extended learning experience.

Event Sub-Themes: Co-creation e.g. with students, communities etc.

Session: Nano presentation

Creating Connections and Building Community

Anne Haggerson, The United States Department of State English Language Programs

In this session, I will be showing an inspiring way to begin a class using a digital, community-building activity to draw upon funds of knowledge (Moll, L.C., Amanti, C., Neff, D., & Gonzalez, N, 1992) to create connections between school and community, help students get to know one another, and discuss topics of interest (Maley et al, 2014). It is important to open the classroom activity with an engaging hook to grab students’ attention from the start of class. Making this hook content-based, culturally relevant, and also a kind of game is an interesting way to build a more playful, inclusive learning environment.

Moll, L.C., Amanti, C., Neff, D., & Gonzalez, N. Funds of knowledge for teaching: Using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. Thoery into practice. 31 (2), 131-142. Qualitative Issues in Educational Research 1992.

Maley, Alan, Masuhara, Hitomi, Pugliese, Chaz. “C is for Creativity.” English Teaching Professional, Issue 95, 2014, p.14.

Type of Small Teaching: Small interventions in a module, programme or extended learning experience.

Event Sub-Themes: Co-creation e.g. with students, communities etc.

Session: Nano presentation

14:35-14:45

Break

14:45-15:45

Creating a community with peer-to-peer feedback in formative assessment by using OneNote

Patricia Perlman-Dee, University of Manchester

This nano presentation will discuss an innovative practise in educational technology for creating a community of learners building shared learning resources. Building on from the pandemic response, the session will share how OneNote is used for formative assessment, incorporating peer-to-peer feedback to create a community of learners. The course already supported and encouraged engagement with the wider community. The integration of OneNote learning resources and peer feedback supported a community of learners within the community. The integration of OneNote also encourage engagement with self-reflection. The approach can be applied in any higher educational setting that includes group work, practical work and/or build on a theoretical framework.

Type of Small Teaching: Small modifications in module or programme design, assessment or communication with your students

Event Sub-Themes: Co-creation e.g. with students, communities etc.;Equipping learners to contribute to a sustainable future;Building inclusive communities

Session: Presentation

Echo360: Leveraging EchoVideo for Flipped Learning

Chris Bull, Echo360

This short session will overview the capability within the EchoVideo lecture capture system to be utilised for flipped learning – an instructional strategy that involves the inversion of traditional classroom activities to enhance student engagement and foster a deeper understanding of the subject matter.

This session will present a scenario where a lecturer can swiftly re-format the course content by delivering pre-recorded videos, online resources and short assessments for students to access outside of study time. This enables the lecturer to dedicate the subsequent study session to interactive activities, discussions and problem-solving exercises – enabling students to apply their knowledge and engage in a collaborative learning environment.

The implementation of a flipped learning model such as this can lead to increased student participation, improved critical thinking skills and enhanced academic performance – and via the EchoVideo platform, can be created with the simple-to-use tools available.

Type of Small Teaching: Brief in session or blended learning activities

Event Sub-Themes: Building inclusive communities; Supporting interdisciplinary experiences;

Session: Presentation

15:45-16:00

Close

Wednesday 21st June

10:45-11:00

TEALFest Welcome

11:00-12:00

AI and the future of HE Panel Discussion

Charlie Reis, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
Chih-Hsiang Lo, VP for Education, Warwick SU
Isabel Fischer, University of Warwick
Jennie Mills, University of Warwick
Martin Compton, UCL
Morgan Dee, EDUCATE Ventures Research

12:00-12:10

Break

12:10-13:10

Bridging the Gap in Hyflex Learning: Building an Inclusive Active Learning Experience

Olivia Yiqun Sun, Xi'an Jiaotong, Yan Wei and Charlie Reis, Liverpool University

Hyflex learning presents unique challenges for instructors who need to balance the needs of diverse student groups in three modalities: classroom, synchronous online, and asynchronous online. Online students often feel neglected due to inadequate classroom technology, resulting in a feeling of being "blind" or "deaf," as well as “unsituated” as so many professional learnings are grounded in classrooms, rather than online or a combination of online and onsite learning (APA, 2022; Linzana & Lera, 2022). Another reason is that teachers tend to focus more on in-person students, resulting in unequal attention to online students or a lack of involvement in class activities.

In our presentation, we will showcase several strategies that we have used in our classrooms to create an inclusive Hyflex active learning experience using low-budget technologies, for example, tracking cameras, wireless microphones, a second digital device, and collaborative technologies such as Etherpad and breakout rooms, and student response system.

Type of Small Teaching: Small interventions in a module, programme or extended learning experience.

Event Sub-Themes: Building inclusive communities

Session: Nano presentation

13:10-13:50

Lunch and Posters

13:50-14:40

Enhancing accessibility with Blackboard Ally

Jim Judges and Nadine Stewart, University of Warwick

This nano-presentation will focus on quick wins and tips related to using the Blackboard Ally accessibility tool to improve the accessibility of activities and resources hosted in the VLE (Moodle). By using the course level tools and reports we will show how simple changes and a better understanding of some of the common accessibility pitfalls can make a big difference to all users. Small changes can make big wins and can help to build a more inclusive learning environment.

Type of Small Teaching: Small interventions in a module, programme or extended learning experience.

Event Sub-Themes: Building inclusive communities ;Student support and wellbeing

Session: Nano presentation

Embedding ESD through small teaching

Dr Maryam Masood, Dr Lauren Schrock, Dr Asima Iqbal and Ninna Makrinov, University of Warwick

Education for sustainable development (ESD) has garnered increasing interest from educators, industries, policy makers and students. Higher education institutes strive to provide university graduates the necessary skills and competencies to help achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs) by embedding the knowledge and skills in the curriculum. However, there are varying levels of complexities in incorporating ESD and the process is challenging due to reconciling different discipline-based practices and values. To address these challenges, this presentation examines the small interventions of an academic team to embed sustainable development in a multi-disciplinary research methods module taught to over 1,200 students in a blended format. Building on some of the specific interventions used, participants will be invited to consider how they can make small changes in their teaching to contribute to the big challenge that global sustainable development poses.

Type of Small Teaching: Small interventions in a module, programme or extended learning experience.

Event Sub-Themes: Equipping learners to contribute to a sustainable futu

Session: Nano presentation

Powering Up Your PowerPoint

Andy Clegg, University of Portsmouth

Death by PowerPoint refers to the experience of being disengaged through the use of PowerPoint in a very didactic and sequential nature. Yet, PowerPoint contains advanced functionality that can be used innovatively to create more engaging and effective learning activities.

The aim of this nano-presentation is to illustrate how the core functionality in PowerPoint that can be utilised to enhance the power of PowerPoint presentations. The session will focus on two specific aspects: (1) the use of animation to create opportunities for interactive engagement and (2) the use of the section tool to create non-sequential presentations where students can choose the structure of a session.

Moving beyond Death by PowerPoint requires a shift in approach from simply relying on slides to actively engaging with the audience. By drawing on advanced features in PowerPoint, educators can create more engaging and effective presentations that leave a lasting impact on learners.

Type of Small Teaching: Brief in session or blended learning activities

Event Sub-Themes: Equipping learners to contribute to a sustainable fut

Session: Nano presentation

14:40-15:30

Reflections from TEALfest 2023 and close

Any time activities

TEALfest 2022 Poster room is now open. You can access the room here -TEALfest 2023 Digital Artefacts padlet

You will find the following posters and digital artefacts in this space.

Using Reusable Learning Objects (RLOs) to enhance in session and blended learning activities
Abigail Ball and Miriam Averna-Joint, University of Warwick

Stop and think: An investigation into the introduction of short tasks to promote active learning in an online module
Jennifer Pulkkinen and Alison Xu, University of Derby

From Paper to Digital: Meeting Student Demands for Sustainable and Realistic Assessments
Adam Turner, Swansea University

A WebAR use case for practising materials selection
Shanshan Yang, University of Warwick

Introducing Video Annotation Software
Diana Shore, University of Warwick

Eight ways to use video annotation
Diana Shore, University of Warwick

Exploring the affordances of Video Annotation Software
Diana Shore, University of Warwick

Innovation by design
Diana Shore and Dr Ali Ahmad, Unversity of Warwick

Digital Pedagogy Library
Rebecca Stone and Jess Humphreys, University of Warwick