Physcial Sciences Newsletter - February 2012

Welcome to the Higher Education Academy Physical Sciences e-bulletin update. This bulletin will keep you informed with the latest news, events, resources and funding opportunities, on a regular basis. If you have any comments or information you would like to include in future editions of the bulletin, please e-mail Paul Yates.

Appointment of Discipline Lead for the Physical Sciences

Paul Yates has been appointed as the Discipline Lead for the Physical Sciences. He joined the Higher Education Academy at the end of last year, having previously worked at Keele University in posts in chemistry and staff development. He has particular interests in the development of mathematical skills by physical science students, and has previously run Europe wide summer schools for newly appointed teaching staff. Paul is looking forward to working with staff in astronomy, chemistry, forensic science and physics, and invites them to contact him at paul.yates@heacademy.ac.uk.

Become an Academic Associate

The HEA is building a community of Academic Associates to deliver and develop support for learning and teaching in higher education. Expressions of interest are sought from academics with current experience, who can work as part of a team, and who share the HEA’s ambition to improve learning and teaching and the student learning experience.

For an informal chat about how you might get involved with the HEA in this way, contact Paul Yates.

Workshop and Seminar Programme

The Academy has launched an ongoing call for bids from partners in Higher Education to host workshops and seminars that will enhance learning and teaching. Participating institutions will each receive a grant of £1000 to host and deliver a workshop or seminar that promotes better learning and teaching. Further funding is also available towards speakers’ expenses.

We would like to encourage those working in the Physical Sciences to take advantage of this opportunity to run an event (or a series of events) with the Academy’s financial and advisory support.

Full details, including information on how to submit a proposal, can be found on the HEA's workshop and seminar series page. If you would like to informally discuss the possibilities before submitting a proposal, please get in touch.

The first workshop in this series was held at the University of Edinburgh in early December. Clickers Reloaded was attended by approximately 70 delegates. Further workshops are scheduled as follows:

• 19 March - Developing the virtual laboratory, Durham University
• 15 May Improving the learner experience in forensic science higher education and practitioner training, Cranfield University
• 31 May Developing independent learning skills in the physical sciences, University of Reading

Academy STEM Conference

The Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) academic group of the Higher Education Academy will be holding its annual conference in London on 12 & 13 April, 2012. The Physical Sciences will be well represented during this two-day conference, and calls for papers are now closed. You can, however, still register to attend.

Academy UK Travel Fund

The HEA’s new UK travel fund will enable staff and students in UK higher education to exchange and disseminate good practice in learning, teaching and assessment and engage with their peers. The funding may be used to help the applicant(s) attend conferences, network meetings and special interest groups that are being run in the UK. Please note that funding may not be used for events that are being held outside the UK.

This is an open call running throughout the academic year 2011-12. Please consult the application document for more information.

Find out more about the HEA UK Travel Fund, including how to apply.

Teaching Development Grants

Over the next year there will be a total of £1.5 million of funding available for individual grants, departmental grants and collaborative grants on the themes of internationalisation or employability. This bid-based development grant funding exists to stimulate evidence-based research and encourage innovations in learning and teaching that have the potential for sector-wide impact.

Journal: New Directions

Plans are being enacted to support the continuation of the popular Academy journal New Directions. The next edition will be published in July 2012, and we are seeking the following as contributions:

1. Reviews of topics in physical sciences education and educational research
   These are normally contributions from 'expert' practitioners. Typically they would be informed, accessible articles of up to 3000-4000 words and would cover the teaching, learning and assessment literature for the previous 12 months. Examples would be: Pedagogic research in the physical sciences; E-learning; Assessment; Outreach and recruitment.
2. Communications
   These might include: innovations, effective practice, what worked for me, what failed for me etc. These articles should present the context, the problem, how it was tackled and the evaluation and possible further work. They should not be just descriptive or narrative. Communications will typically be up to 1500-2000 words although longer contributions will also be considered.

These might include: innovations, effective practice, what worked for me, what failed for me etc. These articles should present the context, the problem, how it was tackled and the evaluation and possible further work. They should not be just descriptive or narrative. Communications will typically be up to 1500-2000 words although longer contributions will also be considered.

If you would like to contribute, in the first instance please send an abstract with full contact details to new.directions@heacademy.ac.uk by 21st February 2012. The deadline for full 'Communications' reports is 8th May 2012. Would-be contributors are advised to visit our web site.

New Change Programmes

The HEA has opened calls to three new change programmes to support learning and teaching in higher education.

Each of the new change programmes draws on the expertise gained through the highly successful Change Academy programme, launched in 2004 by the HEA in partnership with the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education.

The new discipline change programme is designed for departments or disciplines. It will support them to explore and address issues based on results from the National Students Survey (NSS) for their department or discipline. Participating teams will have the opportunity to plan a strategic change programme, tailored to their individual needs, which will make a real difference to their students’ learning experiences.

Each of the HEA’s four discipline clusters, Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, STEM and Health Sciences, will be running a discipline-focused change programme, and the closing date for bids is 13 February 2012.

Talent 2030

Talent 2030 are looking for further case studies and content for their website. If your organisation has a good initiative, or a programme that helps to encourage young people consider future careers in the physical sciences then please contact them.

Subscribing

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