Learning and Teaching Strategy

Learning and Teaching Strategy 2012-2020 As approved by the Senate March 2013 Accessible Excellence: Access and Success

Contents Background 2 Objectives 2 Aston Graduates 3 Access and Success 3 Widening participation and access 4 Integrated placement year and success 5 Quality Learning 6 Student Experience and Satisfaction 7 Education for Social Responsibility and Sustainability 8 Implementation 9 Guiding Principles 9 Actions to deliver the 2020 Learning and Teaching Strategy 14 1

1. Background This strategy builds on Aston University s 2008-2012 Learning and Teaching Strategy: Creating an inspirational learning community. In 2008 the University took a major step forward in activity and investment, reaffirming Aston s commitment to offering an inspirational learning environment, embedded in the community, both locally, nationally and internationally. Founded in 1895 by the employers of Birmingham and a University since 1966, Aston University is known for its strong applied research, excellent teaching quality and its strong links with industry, government and the local community. It is also known for creating wide access to its diverse learning community and the strong employability of its graduates. This Learning and Teaching Strategy is linked to the overall Aston University 2020 Strategy. It brings together the following strategic areas which are at the heart of what makes Aston graduates so sought after: Accessible Excellence, a Quality Learning Experience and Highly Successful Employability. 2. Objectives Our key Learning and Teaching Objectives are: Access: ensuring high potential students from all backgrounds can gain the benefits of university education and the social mobility that comes from professional careers Success: for all our students and alumni regardless of their background Global Citizenship: a differentiator for employers in a competitive graduate marketplace, through language skills, intercultural training and international placements Employability and Entrepreneurship: world leading employability combined with confidence and business drive Quality Learning: developing independent critical thinkers who are investing in themselves and society A Great Student Experience: inspirational and supportive, delivering high student satisfaction and excellent performance Sustainability and Social Responsibility: committed to the UN principles of responsible management education, embedding sustainability and social responsibility into all aspects of University life, especially the curriculum, opportunities for students to engage with the local community at both an academic and extracurricular level. 2

3. Aston Graduates Aston will continue to recruit students with high entry grades to our degree programmes. At the same time we will ensure that students from all backgrounds still benefit from our ability to engage and challenge our learners, and to develop learning experiences based on the needs of students, delivered through a variety of different modes and channels. We remain committed to widening participation and success. We will focus on supporting and mentoring our students to achieve their full potential, delivering an increased percentage of top ranked undergraduate degrees and guiding postgraduate students to develop academically and professionally-relevant advanced skills or to develop skills in new areas. Our Student Charter explains and formalises the relationship between the Students Union, the University, the student and their academic School. We will continue to develop more personalised communications with our students, particularly via our personal tutor system, relaunched in October 2012. Today s Aston graduates will help shape tomorrow: highly professional, sought after by employers, NGOs and the Public Sector, innovative, entrepreneurial and equipped with the skills to be global citizens and to address global challenges. 4. Access and Success Aston is committed to the success of our students and alumni, regardless of background. We add value to all through work-based learning opportunities such as the integrated placement year, as well as mentoring, support for entrepreneurship and high quality careers advice. In the 2012 Sunday Times Student Guide, Aston was placed 5 th in the UK for graduate employability, with a better percentage of graduates entering graduate level jobs than Oxbridge. This is a ranking we are rightly proud of, and we will continue to dedicate resources so that it can be improved even further. 3

We pride ourselves in offering a challenging and relevant learning experience. University education is a great enabler of social mobility our commitment to widening participation at Aston literally transforms lives. We know that those who go to university are healthier, wealthier and more engaged citizens as a result 1. This certainly seems to be the case with our Aston alumni. We continue to work hard to keep the door open for students from low income and disadvantaged backgrounds who have the talent and potential to benefit from a degree or higher degree. Getting into university, progressing well, achieving a good degree and then finding graduate-level employment are critical steps in delivering social mobility, and the integrated placement year, pioneered at Aston, and access to work-based project work for postgraduates, is a key factor in delivering them. By 2020, all of our undergraduate students will benefit from the placement year. 4.1 Widening participation and access The environment after the government s 2011 White Paper is challenging, with universities looking for a balance between students from under-represented groups and those gaining the very top grades. The Scholarship policy at Aston is focussed on helping us achieve the appropriate balance. To ensure success it will be crucial for Aston to improve the number and quality of targeted relationships with a large number of schools and colleges across a range of subjects at a regional, national and international level. There will be a growing requirement to engage with alumni, business and individual academics to make this process more fruitful. We will continue to create role models for potential students and continue to promote the benefits of university in general and Aston specifically. We will develop strategic partnerships, such as that with the Aston University Engineering Academy, and our key partners abroad and in industry to assist us with this task. Our Schools and Colleges Liaison activities have an established record of high impact. Over 30,000 prospective students, teachers and parents visited the Aston University campus in 2011/12. We will continue to offer a varied programme into the future. This will include master classes, student conferences and campus visits, enabling our academic staff to engage with their future students. Student mentoring and volunteering in schools will continue to empower Aston students to raise aspirations, awareness and improve study skills amongst young learners in the region. The Schools Liaison team will also ensure that Aston continues to be highly regarded for information, advice and guidance on university choices. This will include an annual programme of teachers conferences, higher education conventions and HE guidance sessions. We will provide pre-entry access to online study skills and career planning resources developed by the Learning Development Centre and Careers Centre. We have set challenging targets in our Access agreement on intake. We will also ensure Aston is a popular choice for students from all parts of the UK, Europe and beyond. This will include a national programme of events and visits, along with targeted communications into schools, colleges and key advisers in both the state and the independent sectors. University is a place where students should meet, mix and learn to work effectively with others from many different countries, backgrounds, ethnicity, and of different genders, religions, ages and sexual orientation. Diversity drives innovation, and the ability to work in and lead diverse teams is a core skill for future leaders. We encourage our students to mix and to integrate through a number of programmes and events from intercultural awareness programmes, language provision and global citizenship education, to activities led by the Students Union. We continue to widen participation, whilst maintaining the diversity of our community and maintaining the high quality of our intake. 1 OECD Education at a Glance September 2011, page 193. http://www.oecd.org/education/highereducationandadultlearning/48631582.pdf 4

Reflection and analysis is paramount to enable us to monitor progress and put in place interventions where necessary. We will improve the range of contextual data we collect, and the profiling and benchmarking that we undertake. Progression rates will continue to be monitored by School and by degree programme and action taken to maximise the achievement of all students. We will expand our pre-entry programmes for students with non-standard entry qualifications and background. Our Learning Development Centre and Learner Enhancement team will take a major role in this. 4.2 Integrated placement year and success Going forward we expect that all undergraduate students in all Schools and disciplines should engage with integrated work based learning, for example by taking a one year placement in industry or a profession and/or a year abroad or a pre registration year. Research led by Aston shows that students who have engaged in work based learning are more likely to achieve a better class of degree and are more likely to get a graduate level job 2. The strategy for the placement year will be reinforced, ensuring that Aston students recognise the value of placements before arrival. There will be flexibility in defining and recognising what a placement is, and we will show this by accrediting volunteering or holiday work, or time spent across a range of industry placements. We look to develop summer placements for second year students, postgraduates and for graduates who are not yet working in a graduate level job. We will ensure the tuition fee for the traditional placement year is set at 1,000 (2012/13) or less, making placement affordable and accessible to all students. We continue to engage with professional bodies in order to improve our placement offer, but also in order that they become advocates and ambassadors for the placement year in their field. We plan to integrate the placement year much more closely with the final year using the experience of finalists where possible. We plan to ensure each School has an integrated Masters programme, building an element of work based learning and research into the post graduate environment, and that work experience is also integrated to all professional masters programmes. We are offering free foreign language tuition to all first year undergraduates, and strongly encourage as many as possible to take it up, especially students who may not have had the chance to learn another language at school. Employers say, and research confirms, that the ability to speak, write and think in a foreign language enhances job prospects 3. We will continue to offer a range of work experience to our students, through the Student Union Job Shop, through internships after graduation, via Graduate Advantage, and through improving exchanges with other universities in other countries, such as the ERASMUS programme. This will be underpinned by projects and research that look at how we can improve the employment prospects of our students even more. We continue to support our students who wish to start their own businesses, calling on Aston academics, alumni and partners to help stimulate entrepreneurship and foster 2 Green, Jones & Higson (2011), Student Engagement and Learning. The Pedagogical and Practical Value of Formal Work Placements. Submitted. Moores, E. and Reddy P.A. (2011). No regrets? Measuring the career benefits of a psychology placement year. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, in press 3 CIHE (2008), Graduate employability: what do employers think and want?, www.cihe.co.uk/wpcontent/themes/cihe/document.php?file=0802grademployability.pdf 5

mentoring programmes. We work in partnership with the Birmingham Skills for Enterprise & Employability Network (BSEEN) student and alumni enterprise scheme and our student Aston Entrepreneurs and Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) societies to achieve this goal. We link in with national enterprise schemes and competitions such as those promoted by the National Association of College and University Entrepreneurs (NACUE), UnLtd, Young Enterprise and Santander. We are sponsoring the Aston University Engineering Academy and support its mission to encourage 14-19 year olds in the city of Birmingham to consider a career in engineering or science. 5. Quality Learning Our overall aspiration is to empower our undergraduate and postgraduate students to become independent critical thinkers with a passion for learning, and to enable our staff to develop their learning and teaching expertise to enhance the student learning experience. Our staff will deliver inspiring, research-informed and professionally-focussed programmes that incorporate quality teaching, research-inspired teaching excellence, inspiring learning which promotes critical thinking, enquiry and lifelong learning, as well as integrated work experience in the UK and overseas. We will provide the opportunity for all of our undergraduate students to undertake work-based learning such as a placement year or study year abroad and ensure our postgraduate students are able to engage fully with the research process, both through their teaching programmes and their dissertations. We encourage all our students to reflect on their learning and become reflexive in order to integrate their work experience and their academic knowledge. As part of this we will encourage students to reflect on the feedback they are given, and make recommendations as to how their experience might be improved. We will continue to listen carefully to the student voice and work collaboratively with the Students Union and our diverse student body continuously to improve the quality of their experience. Our successful peer and professional mentoring schemes will be expanded so they are available to everyone. The postgraduate experience at Aston will continue to be offered in a number of different ways on campus, off campus, through blended learning, in company or through distance learning options. Professionally relevant cross disciplinary Masters programmes enhance career progression and enable professionals to widen their skills. At undergraduate level the use of project based and work based learning methods will be encouraged, building on the successful CDIO (Conceive, Design, Implement, Operate) programme in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. 6

One of our key objectives is to ensure that all our students have access to learning round sustainability and social responsibility and we will work to embed further these topics so that every student can benefit. Relevant professional development, continuing professional development, including our Postgraduate Certificate in Professional Practice for our academics and the Aston Certificate for the academics of tomorrow, will continue to be available to all staff to enable them to use a wide variety of approaches to deliver and assess learning as well as providing timely feedback. 6. Student Experience and Satisfaction Students are at the heart of everything we do within Aston s small and friendly community, centrally located in the centre of Birmingham, on one site. We believe in partnership in all aspects of Aston life the student experience is distinctive and unique at Aston because it is built and lived by both students and staff as equal partners in the relationship. Students are engaged in all aspects of their academic and social life at Aston; staff are genuinely interested in students, their success and their welfare, and are universally approachable and friendly. At Aston, we know each other. Aston s student experience is underpinned by academic excellence and a professional and efficient support service within a friendly and caring community a home from home. Our student experience is built on two principles: Our teaching is delivered by outstanding and enthusiastic lecturers and in many cases world-leading researchers The students we are developing into professionals and global citizens study and live within a professional global community this is a key aspect of their learning experience. The student experience is a focus that runs through each of the strategic aims of our Aston 2020 Strategy and by monitoring our progress and taking action via internal surveys, focus groups and NSS, PTES, PRES national surveys. We will continue to celebrate and support the diverse student population at Aston by further enhancing the student advice Hub and the Union Advice & Representation Centre (ARC), the Martin Luther King Multifaith Centre, and by encouraging intercultural activities that bring students from different backgrounds together and help them to cross boundaries and expand horizons. We will continue to connect with our alumni, increasing participation rates, keeping them involved with the University, and ultimately encouraging them to give back at stages in their lives when they are able to do so. 7

7. Education for Social Responsibility and Sustainability Education for Sustainability (EfS) will be an integral part of the nature of the Aston learning experience. Being an applied and technically-focussed university, Aston has a special responsibility for preparing students, staff and other stakeholders to deal with, manage and shape social, economic and ecological conditions in a direction that creates both human prosperity and social well-being. Education for Social Responsibility and Sustainability goes beyond the need for technical measures and technical solutions as it addresses the necessity of developing a socially and environmentally engaged staff and student community. It highlights the importance of formal and informal curriculum change that impacts upon four domains of learning namely: the personal, the professional, the organisational, and the social. We will move via the Sustainable Aston Working Group and the Centre for Learning Innovation and Professional Practice to introduce education for sustainability for each student by 2020 at the latest. At the 2012 Rio+20 Earth Summit, the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) confirmed that from 2013 Ethics, Responsibility & Sustainability would be incorporated into their own. Aston University was an early signatory to the UN sponsored Principles in Responsible Management Education (PRME). Education for Social Responsibility and Sustainability is, therefore, an explicit element in Aston University s revised Learning and Teaching Strategy. Sustainability will be identified and highlighted in existing modules and wherever possible be addressed both explicitly and implicitly in new ones. EfS will become an element of all new learning programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and will be addressed directly at the module and programme approval and review stages by the relevant School and the Learning and Teaching Committee, the Programme Approval Subcommittee, and the Programme and Periodic Review for example. Education for Social Responsibility and Sustainability will also be a theme running through Aston s own PGCert in Academic Practice. 8

Implementation The second part of this Learning and Teaching Strategy is about implementation, action and monitoring. The two parts can be used together or apart. 1. Guiding Principles In implementing this strategy and achieving our objectives we have developed a set of guiding principles: Our feedback tells us that the quality of our teaching and learning support is impressive in many areas, but that it is variable. We will continue to work to promote the best practice in each area across the whole institution Aston First. There will be an expectation that all staff undertake on-going Learning and Teaching CPD and that we will ensure maximum engagement with students. We will ensure that our partners and collaborators, in this country and overseas, also buy in to providing high quality learning and support. 1.1 Student Entry, Initial Experience and Transitions We will continue to provide a high impact, transformative experience for all students at Aston, with a core for all students that reflects the unique Aston experience; that includes the philosophy of sustainability, social responsibility and global citizenship, ethical thinking and working, self-awareness; multicultural awareness; enterprise and employability. The features of this are: An inspirational and transition to study at Aston where students are aware they count and matter Preparation for our students for their learning journey and careful consideration of the relative benefits of particular curricula design and assessment strategies Strong programme leadership so students feel from the offset that they have programme, School and University identity. Maximisation of progression, achievement and completion Awareness that first year students maintain high levels of contact with schools and colleges, and to the next and future intakes through social networking A lead academic tutor to pull the common first year together Development of an Aston Offer Holders Portal will assist us in developing relationships sooner, embedding 'The Aston Way' and preparing students for HE Clear, transparent marking and assessment criteria for students in all years Access to our most experienced and inspirational staff Work with students returning from placements to help them maximise their experience in the final year. 9

1.2 Building on Key Relationships that Enhance the Student Experience at Aston Aston is 'about' people We will be pro-active with respect to the relationship that students have with each other and we will work hard to create opportunities for students to form strong relationships with other members of the Aston learning community. This can be done through strong programme leadership and extra-curriculum activities in addition to curriculum design - for example by embedding team/group work activities from day one and through learning space and social space strategies, as well as the Students Union. In this way we will create a more personalised learning experience Ensuring the personal tutoring role is meaningful, encouraging good engagement by staff and students. Providing guidance for staff and students, to help develop an understanding of the other support available throughout the University Encouraging more students to take part in the excellent centrally-supported peer mentoring scheme so that there are effective student-to-student mentoring relationships throughout the student lifecycle We will continue to affirm our students decision to study here at Aston - supporting and rewarding them throughout their journey, recognising and celebrating their successes We will nurture the professional relationships that we have with our own students. Create ample opportunities for students to be seen and heard as individuals. To value the student voice and let them know that we are interested in them as individuals. Personal tutoring will play an important role here We will create opportunities within the curriculum for relationships to be formed with the professions and industry. Guest talks, career planning, personal professional development, corporate connections are not extra-curriculum activities, they are core to all that we do here at Aston and should be embedded within our programmes and modules. 1.3 Curriculum Design Our processes will continue to be designed to maximise effective student learning: Programme Design Modernising and enhancing the curricula, underpinned by good curriculum design Ensuring cohesive curricula both in content and structure Each curriculum team to get together to review their programmes once a year Provision of curriculum design workshops both generic and focused on disciplines Carpe Diem curriculum design events for programme teams if requested. Assessment and Feedback Clear assessment and marking criteria at all levels Review and reduce the number of assessment points in modules, especially the first year Ensuring that the assignments are aligned with the learning objectives Looking at assessment type and loading in the context of the whole programme Engaging with students to find out how feedback can work better for them Helping first year students to understand how to use feedback effectively Making sure that students realise they are receiving feedback. 10

Programme leadership Up-skilling Programme Directors Programme Directors provided with a role descriptor Empowering Programme Directors to engage with curriculum teams effectively. 1.4 Professionalisation of staff This is a central pillar of our strategy. We will: Expectations and PDRs Raise the expectation with regard the role of the professional academic and expected minimum standards Enhance recruitment practice to ensure that staff are made aware at interview that they will be expected to engage with L&T and be competent and effective teachers, even if they are mainly recruited for their research capabilities Incorporate at least one meaningful learning and teaching objective in every PDR for academic staff and student facing staff Enhance the prestige of high standards of learning and teaching innovation and delivery through reward and recognition, including by recognition by Subject Group Heads and School management. Peer observation and mentoring Continue our peer observation scheme in all Schools and disciplines All staff who teach, in School or provide learning support, will continue to be involved in a meaningful peer observation scheme Encourage staff to undertake a discipline-based class observation in a local school in order to understand the changes in teaching and learning in secondary education Continue potential for staff to request learning and teaching mentors. CPD There will be an expectation that all teaching staff will engage with CPD in learning and teaching. Roll out the internal route, The Research Inspired Teaching Excellence (RITE) programme, to Associate Fellow, Fellow, Senior Fellow and Principal Fellow of the HEA aligned to the UK Professional Standards Framework Continue the provision of CPD sessions and workshops through the Centre for Learning Innovation and Professional Practice (CLIPP), Centre for Staff and Graduate Development and Library and Information Services (LIS) for staff Continue to link CPD and reflection in the learning and teaching to promotion criteria. 11

1.5 Learning Environments Aston is known for its outstanding learning resources. Physical Environment The developments of the new campus on the former BCU site will be an opportunity to develop good quality learning environments. It will not be enough, however, to just provide more of what we have now but to look forward to think about what we will require in the future, e.g. more collaborative working and multi-functional spaces We will create opportunities to provide a range of appropriate spaces for private and social learning Staff will continue to take responsibility for letting room allocation staff know what kind of teaching spaces are required for each session well in advance of the start of the next teaching period to ensure that the most suitable rooms are allocated We will ensure that student learning environments are robust and evaluated regularly, with recommendations fed into the relevant user groups and committees. Technology Enhanced Learning, and Mobile Strategies We will ensure that student learning technologies are robust and evaluated regularly, with recommendations fed into the relevant user groups and committees We will ensure that standards for learning resources are monitored by School management to ensure they are of the highest quality We will ensure that all learning related systems, including Student Records System (SITS), are fully integrated wherever possible Run a range of learning technologies workshops to encourage and ensure effective use across the institution Investigate and monitor the effective and innovative use of learning technologies at other HEIs, including the use of smart phones and apps for mobile delivery Provide adequate resource to pilot the innovative application of learning technologies in individual Schools and/or across the institution as appropriate Develop a strategy for wider implementation of key learning technologies (including mobile technologies) following thorough and successful piloting Raise awareness that low tech options can also be effective. Distance Learning Ensure consistently high quality of experience for all distance learners Provide exceptional project based support which develops the Aston way as well as valuing discipline-specific differences Ensure the most appropriate technologies are used for delivery at a distance these may differ considerably from those used for on-campus Provide opportunities for interactivity and group collaboration Share good practice across the University Ensure that learning communities are developed for students on Distance learning and flexible programmes, e.g. through webinars, group work, discussion groups, etc. 12

1.6 Employability We will: Embed opportunities for students to enhance their employment skills in the curricula, e.g. group work, presentation and communication skills, through well considered assessment, etc. Placements are essential. The placement year will be a requirement and expectation on all undergraduate programmes Other opportunities for work placements, not focussed on the year-long model, will be developed for international and Postgraduate students, for example via Graduate Advantage. 1.7 Partnerships We will: Develop and maintain good partnerships with other institutions at all levels (locally, regionally, nationally and internationally), i.e. schools, academies, FE/HE providers other HEIs Ensure that the quality of L&T provision is of the same standard as that expected at Aston Develop strong and robust links with select international HEIs that can provide good opportunities for Aston students and mobility opportunities for partners students. 1.8 Celebration We will: Celebrate the success of students not only in terms of their academic success but also for their citizenship and social responsibility Develop the Aston 100 posters not just about research and numbers of millionaires, but also on community engagement by staff and students, L&T good practice and successes, e.g. the HEA award to develop the use of the ipad app for clinical supervision in Optometry, National Teaching Fellows, great teachers who are also primary researchers, recognition of staff contribution to L&T by professional bodies, etc. 13

2. Actions to deliver the 2020 Learning and Teaching Strategy We have set out some key actions for the next three years and we will review these annually as well as developing longer term plans. 2.1 Access and Success: Actions 2012/15 Develop Schools Liaison and Outreach activities to enable widening participation goals to be achieved Continue to improve range and quality of placements, with all Aston students taking part in integrated work experience, the majority on our renowned placement year or year abroad Increase the number of degrees which have a compulsory placement year Roll out foreign language tuition programme Develop further support to help increase completion, progression and achievement, such as the Progression Enhancement programme Continue commitment and support for schemes such as Graduate Advantage, BSEEN, encouraging entrepreneurship and developing employability Increase mentoring programmes Work experience, volunteering and mentoring accredited and integrated into degree programmes Grow the Aston University Engineering Academy links and integrate with the University (strategy to be developed in consultation with the PVC Strategic Academic Developments and Director of Recruitment and Outreach) Develop further strategic learning partnerships with companies and educational institutions in the UK and overseas. 2.2 Quality Learning : Actions 2012/15 Pilot and evaluate a new personal academic tutor system Improve the quality and timeliness of feedback and assessment and improve the National Student Survey position in this area Continue to expect 100% engagement of staff with the Postgraduate Certificate in Professional Practice Increase by 15% the number of staff that have professional membership of the Higher Education Academy facilitated by rolling out the HEA accreditation of CPD Successful roll out of Blackboard 9.1 with 100% staff engagement in using this in interactive ways to provide learning materials Increase the number of staff and students using Aston Replay Roll out an innovative curriculum design initiative Review methods of assessment and delivery to enable students to work in a more flexible way according to their needs at the time Reflect on and adapt the first year learning experience to ensure that transitions into university life are effective and that students can maximise their learning capacities Develop cross-university learning and teaching research activity which can make a difference to lecturers, learners and their achievements Audit the presence of sustainability and social responsibility in the curriculum and increase the number of programmes on which these topics are taught by 10% per year Carry out a Cross-University review of our portfolio of programmes and implement findings Review the role and status of Programme Directors Ensure that there are effective peer observation mechanisms in each School Carry out a comprehensive viewing of Learning and Teaching Committee and its Sub-Committees. 14

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