Psychology E-Bulletin January 2012
- Publication Date: 31-01-2012
This bulletin will keep you informed with the latest news, events, resources and funding opportunities, on a monthly basis. If you have any comments or information you would like to include in future editions of the bulletin, please email Julie Hulme, discipline lead for psychology.
Feel free to forward this bulletin to interested colleagues; please get in touch with Julie, or use your ‘My Academy’ account to subscribe.
- HEA strategic plan
- Funding deadlines approaching
- Learning and teaching grants available
- UK travel fund
- Teaching biology and psychology in HE event
- HEA STEM learning and teaching conference
- Events call
- Tackling transition in psychology
- Psychology departmental contacts
- Teaching Qualitative Psychology
- Teaching CHIP
- News from the ATP
HEA news
HEA strategic plan
The new HEA strategic plan has been launched, and commits HEA to championing learning and teaching through four key priorities:
- to inspire and support effective practice in learning and teaching;
- to recognise, reward and accredit excellent teaching;
- to influence policy, future thinking and change;
- to develop an effective, sustainable organisation that is relevant to, and valued by, higher education.
Funding deadlines approaching!
Don’t forget that the deadlines for applications for funding for international scholarships and doctoral studentships are approaching! You have until 31 January 2012 and 10 February 2012 respectively to submit your proposals. Remember you can always find out more about any of our funding opportunities by visiting the funding webpage.
Learning and teaching grants available
A new round of funding for individual teaching development grants opened on 3 January 2012, with funding of up to £7000 for projects to explore enhancements to student learning. The deadline for submissions is 19 February 2012.
UK travel fund
The HEA’s UK travel fund has already helped many academics and students to attend learning and teaching events. If you would like to attend a conference, workshop, or other event to develop your teaching skills, HEA can help by paying your travel expenses. Many HEA events are free to attend! Search our events page to find something that interests you.
HEA STEM news
Teaching biology and psychology in HE event
Forty-eight people, including postgraduate students, researchers and visiting teaching staff attended this event at Keele University on 10 January 2012. The day started with a humorous and informative session from Anne Tierney, of Glasgow University, around what she wished she had known as a new university teacher, and Lin Norton (Liverpool Hope University) led us through an evidence-based approach to evaluating and improving teaching. In the afternoon, delegates worked as groups of psychologists and biologists in workshops looking at issues in their specific subjects, led by Patrick Tissington (Aston University), Anne Tierney, Julie Hulme and Nathan Pike (HEA). The day ended with a question and answer session with the panel, and a look at resources available to support early-career teachers. A full report and links to resources from the day are available. Thanks to everyone who attended for an enjoyable and stimulating day!
HEA STEM learning and teaching conference
Have you booked your place at the inaugural HEA STEM annual learning and teaching conference yet? This year’s conference is entitled “Aiming for excellence in STEM learning and teaching”. There will be a strong psychology strand, and with fees starting at just £100, this is a great value way to gain some professional development and inform your teaching. Don’t forget you can also apply to the HEA UK travel fund!
HEA psychology news
Events call
The HEA call for psychology events is still open, with £1000 available to host a workshop or seminar, plus up to £500 to cover speaker expenses. Applications are welcome from colleagues who would like to share good practice in any aspect of psychology teaching. Please email Julie Hulme for more information or an informal chat.
Tackling transition in psychology
HEA and the National Science Learning Centre (NSLC) are working together, with support from the Association for the Teaching of Psychology (ATP), to bring together psychology teachers from schools and colleges with university academics.
Making the transition from sixth form into university education can be difficult for students, who may be leaving home for the first time, and don't know what to expect from this new level of study. Evidence suggests that collaboration between pre-tertiary and academic departments can benefit students, and has advantages for teachers in both sectors.
On 7 February 2012, a workshop at NSLC York, entitled ‘Tackling transition in psychology’, will provide opportunities to network with individuals from both parts of the psychology education system, and to explore ways in which schools, colleges and universities can work together to "tackle transition".
If you teach psychology within travelling distance of York, and would like to attend, please contact Julie Hulme for more information.
Psychology departmental contacts
Our sincere thanks go to everyone who supported HEA Psychology Network in a ‘departmental contact’ role. With the HEA move away from paper mailings, to e-bulletins like this one, we can now send news to everyone on our mailing lists, rather than to just one individual in each department. This means that if the departmental contact is away, you can still receive news! HEA are therefore not operating a formal departmental contacts system. Departments can, of course, internally nominate someone to keep them informed about HEA news.
Teaching Qualitative Psychology
We are delighted to announce that the Teaching Qualitative Research Methods at Undergraduate Level (TQRMUL) group, who were previously funded by HEA Psychology Network, have been awarded funding from HEA to continue their work as a special interest group. The group have a new name, Teaching Qualitative Psychology, to reflect their support for teaching of postgraduate, as well as undergraduate students, and will be chaired by Dr Cath Sullivan, of UCLAN. News of their work, including a forthcoming text book, resources and events to support qualitative methods teaching, will be reported regularly in the psychology e-bulletin, so please watch this space!
Resource of the month
Our highlighted resource for January is the Psychology Student Employability Guide, a second edition of which was released in 2011. The updated guide provides comprehensive careers guidance aimed specifically at UK psychology undergraduates. In it you will find the original material (e.g. CV advice and samples; exercises to identify interests, skills, and values; highlights of emerging careers in areas such as neuropsychology and Increasing Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) plus enhancements including:
- suggestions for gaining appropriate experience to apply for postgraduate study;
- additional career case studies of psychology graduates;
- updated information regarding the current job market;
- guidance around writing covering letters plus example letters.
This popular resource has been integrated by a variety of departments into employability-related courses. It is available free from the HEA resources centre, can be purchased in hard copy from Amazon or can be obtained in larger quantities by contacting Caprice Lantz.
If you use some good resources in your teaching, please let us know so that we can feature them here!
Other news in psychology
Teaching Conceptual and Historical Issues in Psychology (CHIP)
2 April 2012, St Hilda’s College, Oxford
HEA and the History and Philosophy of Psychology Section (HPPS) of the BPS are working together to provide a continuing professional development event to support academics in delivering this key component of the psychology curriculum. More details will be available from the HPPS and HEA in February, but in the meantime, please put this date in your diary. Places will be limited, and in demand, so do get your booking in early if you wish to attend!
Interested individuals may wish to apply for support with their expenses from the HEA UK travel fund.
News from the ATP
The Association for the Teaching of Psychology (ATP) have been campaigning on issues arising from the government white paper on initial teacher training. They have started an e-petition to express their disappointment with the lack of bursary funding for graduates wishing to become qualified psychology teachers, a decision they say contrasts with the situation for all other science subjects, and is incompatible with the status of psychology as the fourth most popular A level subject (Joint Council for Qualifications, 2011).