Registration Term 3 Workshop 25-26

Developing interdisciplinary pedagogic inquiry (DIPI) Workshop: 'Student Engagement, Attendance & Connection to Learning'

Professor Richard Smith, Applied Linguistics (SELCS); Dr John Kirkman, Academic Development Centre

Our Term 3 workshop showcases this new Faculty initiative which brings together Social Sciences colleagues to explore, question, and re‑imagine teaching and learning. It creates a space for staff to share ideas and potentially collaborate on pedagogic research linked to the Faculty’s ‘Big Questions’: What makes a good higher education? and What is the future of the Social Sciences?

The initiative welcomes teaching‑focused staff, academic staff, professional services colleagues and GTAs who are interested in:

• connecting with others engaged in teaching and learning scholarship
• exploring broader issues in higher education
• developing research questions and skills for interdisciplinary pedagogic inquiry

We hope you can join us for this cross-disciplinary dialogue. Please also consider bringing a colleague if you can! Attendance at previous sessions is not necessary.

The March 2026 DIPI session explored the question: ‘What are some important pedagogic issues for you and across departments?’. One emergent theme was: 'Student Engagement, Attendance & Connection to Learning' and the plan for the next session is to explore this further, with possible discussion including the sub-themes:

• Undergrad attendance issue

• Dwindling engagement in PGT
• Preparedness to connect meaningfully with content
• Engagement in large vs. small groups
• Avoiding shortcuts/bypassing effort
• Changing student expectations (e.g., feedback, delivery modes)

Possible discussion questions include:

• How do we design learning for a diverse, digitally mediated cohort?
• How do we sustain attention and motivation in large groups?
• What drives disengagement: workload, AI, expectations, or curriculum?

Please register for the workshop below and for more information on DIPI please visit here.

Details

Thursday 21st May 2026

12-2pm (12-1pm workshop, followed by networking)

R0.14

Light refreshments will be served.