Hello, my name is Dr Heather Meyer and I'm the director of
studies at the Institute for Advanced Teaching and Learning,
or shortened IATL.
In this presentation, I'm going to tell you a little bit about
IATL and the modules that we have on offer to all
undergraduate students here at Warwick for the academic year
2023/24.
So what is the Institute for Advanced Teaching and Learning?
IATL undertakes a number of activities that support and
develop the university's education strategy. In
particular, we work in the areas of interdisciplinary teaching
and learning, student Co creation and student research.
We also offer funding for education related projects to
students and staff.
Our department offers a number of innovative interdisciplinary
or transdisciplinary modules for both undergraduate and
postgraduate students. These modules also feature academics
from a range of disciplinary and professional backgrounds.
So here's an overview of some of the key features of our modules
for undergraduate students.
Taking an IATL module gives you the opportunity to work with
students and lecturers from right across the university,
developing connexions between ideas, experiences and practise.
These skills of working with people from different
backgrounds and developing complex understandings of
concepts are increasingly valued by both students and employers
alike, and offer you ways of engaging with some of the big
questions facing us today.
In an IATL module, you're not merely learning about the world,
you're working with others to develop new ways of
understanding it. And in this sense, they feature some of the
core elements of interdisciplinary learning. They
are collaborative, problem based, and student focused.
IATL modules are available to undergraduates in years 2-3 and
4 with Home Department approval.
These modules are usually taught in two hour sessions per week.
The first hour may well feature a guest speaker, with the second
hour being an interactive session involving group
activities and discussion.
Many of our modules are taught by subject area specialists from
different departments across the university.
In addition, you'll be learning alongside students from
different departments to your own. This means that in your
group work, you'll very likely be working in multidisciplinary
teams.
Assessment methods vary across our modules, but might include
assignments like organising events, creating blogs,
eportfolios, reflective journals, podcasts,
presentations, videos and student devised assessments or
what we call the SDA.
IATL student led assessments encourage creativity and mean
that it assessments can be tailored to suit your own
learning style and requirements, while also offering the
opportunity to learn new skills by learning a new medium or
format to share your ideas.
The SDAs often offer you the opportunity to really explore
the modules content in a way that is unique to you, with many
of our students reporting that they really enjoy doing the
assignment.
As they have a passion to complete it and at the end it's
something that's very, very personal to them.
If you want to find out more about our approach to
assessments, including more information on the student
devised assessment, then please do explore the IATL website.
OK, I'm now going to very quickly provide an overview of
each module we have on offer in the autumn term of 2023.
Please do note though that these slides include a lot of text and
this is there for you actually on purpose so that you can pause
the video where relevant to have a closer look at the individual
modules key features. So let's get started.
The Navigating Psychopathology module is delivered by Dr Viv
Joseph. The module looks at psychiatry and mental ill health
through a number of different lenses, including neuroscience,
psychiatry, literature and philosophy. The module is
offered in both the autumn and spring terms.
The Applied Imagination module is taught by Naomi de La Tour
and features many guest expert contributors. During the course
of the module, you'll explore the topic of imagination and
consider questions such as what is imagination, why do some
people appear more imaginative than others, and what benefits
are there in being imaginative in your working life.
The Entrepreneurship is taught by Dr Vish Roy.
This module will help you think about your potential to be an
entrepreneur, to consider how you would work in an
interdisciplinary team effectively to be successful,
and to learn from the experiences of a number of
different entrepreneurs.
The Understanding Wellbeing module is taught by Dr Elena
Riva and the topic of well-being is looked at through a number of
different perspectives and includes contributions from
guest lecturers as well as the Counselling team, Warwick Sports
and the Arts Centre.
Public Engagement connecting communities to research is
convened by Professor Katherine Astbury of the School of Modern
Languages and Cultures and Naomi Kay from Public Engagement.
On this module, you'll have the opportunity to work in an
interdisciplinary team to deliver a public engagement
event and to learn from the experienced members of Warwick's
public engagement team and the academics in the Warwick
Institute of Engagement.
Local and Global Shakespearience is delivered by Dr Ronan
Hatfull, and it will challenge your perception of what can be
perceived as an adaptation of Shakespeare.
Each seminar will involve practical explorations with a
diverse group of artists, including comedians, comic book
artists, film Makers, rappers, and theatre practitioners.
This module is called the Slow Movement: Interdisciplinary
Adventures in Time and Pace, and the conveners are Dr Joanne Lee
of the School of Modern Languages and Cultures and Dr
Liz Blagrove of the Department of Psychology.
This module will explore the mental, physical, societal and
environmental impacts of the so-called cult of speed and
explore how the principles of slow have been applied to areas
such as food, travel, town planning, education, scientific
research and marketing.
Global Connections takes a transdisciplinary approach to
consider important globally oriented topics such as natural
resources and global trade, migration, climate change,
cultural flows, peace, violence and conflict,
and global health and wellbeing issues.
This module is run as an official unit of the European
University Alliance, Utopia, and you'll have the opportunity to
connect to connect across borders with peers located at
universities around Europe through a small
interdisciplinary collaborative project.
OK, I'm going to cover now the term 2 spring modules that will
be offered in January 2024.
Note again, as mentioned at the beginning of this presentation,
that the slides contain quite a lot of information, and the idea
is that you pause and read up further on the modules that are
of interest to you.
OK, so first up is Forms of Identity, which offers a
fascinating look at the topic of identity from a number of
different disciplinary perspectives, and you'll be
encouraged to synthesise this learning to understand the topic
in an interdisciplinary way.
The Science of Music module is convened by Dr Oksana
Trushkevych of the School of Engineering and features a new
collaboration with the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.
It explores the relationships between science, music and
mathematics, and you'll have the opportunity to undertake a group
project supported by a member of the module team, as well as an
opportunity to visit the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
building, where you'll be able to listen to exceptional
musicians perform on their instruments in spaces with very
contrasting acoustic properties.
Censorship in Society is convened by Dr Roxanne
Bibizadeh.
This module explores the theme of censorship across a range of
contexts, including disciplines, countries, time periods and
cultures.
Creating Digital Futures is convened by Dr Isabelle Fischer
from the Warwick Business School and Dr Claire Rocks from the
Department of Computer Science.
This module will offer you the opportunity to work in diverse
interdisciplinary teams in response to a digital innovation
competition brief set by Warwick's creative features
incubator.
Post module, students will have the option to apply to a global
external competition.
Reinventing Education is a module that's convened by Naomi
de la tour.
It's a really interesting one for anyone interested in
education.
On this module, you'll challenge existing theories on education
and have the opportunity to create your own educational
utopia or dystopia.
Genetics, Science and Society is convened by Dr Elena Riva.
And it will prompt you to consider the pros and cons of
genetic discoveries, particularly in terms of the
societal and ethical questions.
Please note that this particular module is pending for next
academic year. That's 2023/24
And we'll have information on whether it will be offered and
when in due course.
You'll be able to find updated information on our website.
Serious Tabletop Game Design and Development is convened by Chris
Evans and Dr Devon Allcott from WMG.
The module covers a lot of different topics related to how
a game is created.
The module is your chance to learn about the mechanics,
messages and motivations of serious games so that you can
build your own educational tabletop game influenced by the
degree you are studying at Warwick.
The module Change: Critical Understanding Practises and
Action, convened by Naomi de la tour, is a topical module where
you'll be asked to take a critical approach to the concept
of change and how this translates to action.
This is particularly important when considering, for example,
the change required to tackle emergencies such as the climate
crisis.
Rethinking Health Science, convened by Dr Viv Joseph, will
explore how social, intellectual and cultural movements have
impacted science and medicine and vice versa, and will also
ask you to consider the benefits and limitations of science and
medicine.
If you were interested in taking one of our modules, please note
that you will need to pre register for a place on any IATL
module to do this. Please visit the link provided here to
complete a registration form.
If you'd like to find out more about our modules, please do
visit our website.
You're also invited to come to our module fair on Wednesday the
26th of April and have a chat with our module conveners and
students who have already taken an IATL module. You can drop in
any time between 12:30 and 2:30 PM on the day.
We have now opened our module registrations and you can
register your interest for a module and be allocated a place
by completing our online form via the link given here.
If you have anymore questions, please do reach out to us and
get in touch at IATL.modules@warwick.ac.uk.