Category: Higher Education

A robot delivering a lecture - drawn by the AI DALL-E

How has Higher Ed slumbered into an Artificial Intelligence Crisis?

Lee Fallin 7 Comments

It’s an honest question. Everywhere I look, there are discussion threads, social media posts and emails from Higher Education professionals obsessing over artificial intelligence. Most of these communications focus on ChatGPT, but some acknowledge other tools exist. These ‘new developments’ in artificial intelligence have prompted a dramatic response from the education sector. It has been described as a crisis, a moral panic, an ‘end to homework‘ and a threat to higher education. I think my favourite contribution this year comes from The Mail, which announces artificial intelligence could make ‘mankind extinct’.

Okay. Some perspective is needed. But my real question is this: How did the Higher Education (HE) sector not see this coming?

Artificial Intelligence has powered your work for years

In the UK, the vast majority of Universities use Microsoft (Office) 365 and the Windows operating system. Microsoft’s Outlook powers our emails, SharePoint/OneDrive stores our files, Teams manages our collaboration, and Office keeps us productive. Since 2016, Microsoft’s ‘Office Intelligent Services‘ have seamlessly integrated artificial intelligence-powered features into our everyday working lives. For most HE practitioners, the developments in artificial intelligence have been staring us in the face. Literally. The documents we write, the slides we develop, the emails we read, and the Teams calls we make have all been enhanced by Artificial Intelligence for YEARS.

Artificial intelligence in Microsoft (Office) 365:

  • Read aloud has turned text-to-speech, enhanced to use tone and inflexion.
  • Dictate has enabled speech-to-text, allowing people to talk instead of type. This includes
  • Optical Character Recognition has helped turn image-based text into readable characters.
  • Presenter Coach has analyzed people’s speech, language and body language to deliver real-time presentation feedback in PowerPoint.
  • Slide Designer has taken draft slides and automatically added design elements and images to make slides more effective.
  • Accessibility Checker has allowed the automatic generation of ALT text for images, using computer vision.
  • Microsoft Viva has provided detailed insights: reading your emails to identify unfinished tasks and checking your calendar to provide useful documents for meetings – in real-time.
  • Subtitles and Transcription have enabled PowerPoint and Teams to provide real-time subtitles for presentations, calls and recordings.
  • Excel has offered enhanced chart types (i.e. Maps) and real-time, streamed data (i.e. Stocks).
  • Editor has offered enhanced spelling and grammar advice, and has extended to use text prediction to save time when writing.
  • Translate has offered real-time translation from text, images and speech across up to 100 languages (and variants).
  • Scheduler has coordinated meetings between people – and even booked rooms.
  • Natural language queries in Excel have allowed people to use questions, not formulas.
  • Search enhanced with AI when using Bing.com
This screenshot shows how Viva Cortana emails, PowerPoint Presenter Coach, Immersive Reader, Editor, Designer, Alt Text and Translator surface in Office.
A series of Microsoft Office Intelligent Services

The examples above are just workplace, education and consumer applications. In industry, Microsoft-powered AI has been detecting facing, monitoring crops, enhancing video games, fighting fraud and detecting faults across hundreds of sectors. I can understand people not being aware of some of these applications – but the stuff listed above has been right in front of our eyes.

It was some relief to see ‘This shouldn’t be a surprise‘ published while I write this post!

How can any of these artificial intelligence developments be a surprise?

So. Reflecting on the list above, ‘Intelligent Services’ have supported reading and writing across the Microsoft (Office) 365 platform for over eight years(!!!). If you’ve been using Microsoft Office productivity applications like Outlook, Word and PowerPoint – I cannot understand how ChatGPT can be a surprise. Office applications have started:

  1. correcting your writing and predicting what you will say
  2. reading your emails to manage your diary and tasks,
  3. listening to you, so you don’t need to write,
  4. automatically making things accessible with subtitling and computer vision

The list goes on. If artificial intelligence has been doing all this for years – how is ChatGPT such a leap?

I can understand how ChatGPT feels like a significant step up from previous chatbots. But I don’t see how it can be all that surprising when we reflect on those daily developments and how artificial intelligence has slowly become part of the everyday. It isn’t just at work or in education. Your last test at the hospital might have been screened by artificial intelligence. Every time you make a purchase, the transactions are scrutinised by artificial intelligence for anomalies. It really is everywhere. I get how the quality of written response is shocking – but given what we’ve seen happen in Microsoft (Office) 365 over the last few years – I don’t think we can call it a surprise.

Why the last-minute response?

I honestly do not know the answer to this question. The radical potential of artificial intelligence has been staring everyone in the face for years. Every email. Every document. Every Teams call. Every PowerPoint. Artificial intelligence has been prompting, pushing, helping and enhancing for years. How can ChatGPT be such a surprise? I am absolutely shocked that schools, colleges, and universities are so late in reacting to the challenge artificial intelligence poses to traditional assessment. This should not be a surprise. Not at all. I cannot understand how future scanning and business planning did not identify this as part of long-term strategies. Emergency planning and task groups should not be necessary! Educational policies should have been prepared years ago.

But they weren’t.

As such, the kneejerk reaction has been to ban artificial intelligence in many educational establishments. Given the circumstances – this is probably the right answer. For now. In future, I urge educational leaders to reconsider artificial intelligence and look at how it can be used alongside the curriculum.

Artificial intelligence in the curriculum

Our students will be leaving the educational world to join workplaces that use artificial intelligence. It might not even be labelled as such – but it will be there in the background. The example of Microsoft (Office) 365 in this very post is a great example of this in application. As such, we need to equip our students for this. Not just the practicalities of using artificial intelligence – but the difficult questions around ethics and responsibility of use too. These skills cannot be developed under a ban.

  • Artificial intelligence reproduces the biases of society. Our students must be equipped to challenge this.
  • Artificial intelligence uses Machine Learning – but this is often targeted at a range of information- including high-quality, questionable and poor-quality sources. Students need to be able to identify fact from fiction.
  • Artificial intelligence supports accessibility, it can translate, see and write for anyone who needs support with it. While not perfect, those features cannot be turned off.

It’s fair to say – the news isn’t all doom and gloom. It’s been nice to see some new articles discussing how artificial intelligence won’t hinder creativity, will help schools teach skills for university and how it can be integrated into teaching. It is also interesting to see reflections on the OpenAI website (ChatGPT’s creator) about how it can support streamlined and personalised teaching – amongst many opportunities and threats.

The last word – The future of Higher Education with ChatGPT

I couldn’t help but close this post by handing over the conclusion to ChatGPT. I asked it to tell me the best-case scenario for the inclusion of artificial intelligence in university education.

The best-case scenario

In the best-case scenario, artificial intelligence (AI) will have a positive impact on university education. AI will help to improve the quality and efficiency of education by providing students with personalized learning experiences. AI-driven tutoring systems will be able to analyze a student’s performance and give immediate feedback and recommendations for improvement. AI can also be used to create adaptive learning systems that adjust the difficulty of tasks based on a student’s progress, allowing students to move at their own pace and make the most of their learning experience.

AI can also be used to automate administrative tasks, such as grading, making it easier for professors to focus on teaching and providing students with the best possible learning experience. AI-enabled analytics can be used to identify students at risk of dropping out, so appropriate interventions can be put in place to increase their chances of success. Finally, AI can be used to offer more engaging learning experiences, such as interactive simulations and augmented reality. All of this will enable universities to provide a higher quality of education while reducing costs and increasing student satisfaction.

(ChatGPT, 2023 – Published by OpenAI)

…and the worst-case scenario?


In the worst-case scenario, artificial intelligence (AI) could have a detrimental impact on university education. AI-driven tutoring systems could be overly rigid, unable to adapt to individual students’ needs, and lead to a one-size-fits-all approach to learning. AI-enabled analytics could be used to track student progress and create an environment of surveillance and control, where students feel that their every move is being monitored and judged. In addition, AI-driven automation of administrative tasks could lead to job losses, as universities reduce their staff numbers in favor of automated systems. This could lead to a decrease in the quality of education, as universities focus on cutting costs rather than on providing students with the best possible learning experience. Finally, AI-enabled simulations and augmented reality could lead to a decrease in critical thinking and problem-solving skills, as students become reliant on pre-programmed systems. All of this could lead to a decrease in student satisfaction and an overall decline in the quality of university education.

(ChatGPT, 2023 – Published by OpenAI)

Okay – I had a bit of fun with the conclusion. But ChatGPT makes a valid point… there is a lot of potential disruption – good or bad – coming to HE. The question still remains:

How did most HE practitioners not see this coming?

Answers in the comments 😅

Also see: Using AI to summerise emails: A use case for text-davinci-003

Teaching philosophy

The teaching philosophies of Learning Development

Lee Fallin 1 Comment

Introduction to Teaching Philosophy Statements

As part of undertaking my Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice, I had to produce a Teaching Philosophy Statement. I’m drawn to the approach the University of San Diego (2023) takes to introduce the Teaching Philosophy Statement, which I think sets the tone well:

The life of a teacher is an extremely busy one. From early morning until long after dark, teachers dedicate the better part of their day to their students. Amid the lesson planning, the snack breaks, the recess duty, grading and the myriad other daily tasks, it can be easy to lose sight of the why of teaching. 

Why are you drawn to the classroom, and what is it about your love of teaching that makes it a fulfilling career? What’s the overarching philosophy that guides your teaching practice? Even on the busiest school days, every teacher should be able to explain their “why” by returning to their teaching philosophy.

(University of San Diego, 2023)

A Teaching Philosophy Statement is absolutely something all Higher Education practitioners can reflect upon. It is not just the realm of academics. A teaching philosophy statement sets out core beliefs about the purpose of teaching, it sets out an individual’s approach and justifies why this is their approach. I found it a thoroughly enjoyable activity!

Lee – why share your Teaching Philosophy Statement now?

This is a good question! After all, I’ve technically left Learning Development. But, I have two very good reasons for sharing this now.

  1. I want to call on Learning Developers to write their Teaching Philosophy Statements and share them. Do it now! This will provide a rich discussion about the teaching philosophy of Learning Development. It will reflect the diversity of the profession, and allow further discussion around the values established by ALDinHE and how they are applied in the profession.
  2. I must acknowledge my teaching philosophy is changing. I am now a Lecturer in Education Studies. I want to share my Teaching Philosophy Statement as it stood a year ago. I promise to re-visit this in another blog post and update my statement for my new context. It will provide an opportunity to reflect on any similarities and differences. I think this is an exciting way to continue reflecting on that transition from thirdspace professional towards academic.

This is why my post is titled the ‘teaching philosophies’ of Learning Development. I think we need to acknowledge these statements will be numerous and diverse – just like the profession. Learning Development is a profession I still very much care about. While I may now work as a Lecturer in Education Studies, a core part of my scholarship and research will be dedicated to Learning Development. It’s why I am still involved closely with ALDinHE – and am a member of LearnHigher and the JLDHE Editorial Board.

So! Here it is – my teaching philosophy from my time as a Learning Developer…

My Teaching Philosophy Statement (2022)

My aspirations

As a Learning Developer, I feel my aspirations are very driven by my profession. Hilsdon (2011:14) defines Learning Development as the “teaching, tutoring, research, design and production of learning materials, as well as involvement in staff development, policy-making and other consultative activities” in support of student academic success. However, I believe student success can never be built on dependency, so for me, effective Learning Development must also build student independence and self-efficacy. As much as I aspire to help students, my true goal is for students to become self-sufficient so they do not need me.

Philosophical underpinning

The signature pedagogy of learning development is arguably academic literacies (Lea & Street, 1998; 2006). This approach acknowledges that writing, learning, and other academic practices are not isolated ‘skills’, but are complicated literacies situated within disciplinary discourses and power frameworks (Lea & Street, 1998). Acknowledging these complexities is vital for me to identify and confront what is not taught or is assumed – constituents of the null (Kazemi et al., 2020) and hidden curriculum (Hinchcliffe, 2020). As a Learning Developer, I work within the hidden curriculum to expose and challenge it. My role as a 3rd space professional (see: McIntosh & Nutt, 2022) is very much an enabler.

Teaching methods and assessment

The most established teaching method in learning development is the one-to-one appointment. As learning is both a complicated and individual process, such appointments allow students to engage in these complexities with full acknowledgement of what they already know and understand. As represented by Webster (2018), both students and Learning Developers bring knowledge to such appointments and operate with different levels of agency. Depending on the appointment, this can frame my role as mentor, listener, teacher, and coach. I often have to informally assess students to determine how to best support them, and which of those roles I might need to take.

The most significant challenge has been scaling Learning Development beyond appointments to help more students, and there are three approaches I have taken. Firstly, there is workshop-based instruction, which allows similar principles from appointments to be applied in a group situation, extending capacity. Second is the creation of self-support resources like University of Hull (2021) SkillsGuides. These allow students to access help at a time that is convenient. Finally, there is ‘integrated practice’ which involves directly teaching in timetabled sessions as part of the curriculum. Integrated practice is arguably the best and most inclusive way to increase access to Learning Development.

While I do not set or mark student work, I do have a role in assessment. One common task involves helping students prepare for an assessment set as part of their course. This can be as simple as demystifying the essay in an appointment or teaching a whole class the principles of public communication to help them write a wiki article. I also support students with formative feedback to help them develop their response to an assessment, or provide them summative feedback on a previously marked piece of work to help them develop further. For me, this is all about supporting student learning.

Inclusivity at the heart

Inclusivity is a core value of my practice. I have worked hard to promote inclusive practices, helping ensure students can be successful no matter their background, neurodiversity, or protected characteristics. This goes beyond legal obligation – it is simply the only ethical approach to teaching. Furthermore, I aspire to uphold the ALDinHE[1] (2018) Manifesto for Learning Development, which strives to increase participation in HE and legitimise different forms of student knowledge. As I work across all disciplines taught at Hull, I need to respect different approaches to knowledge too.

Looking to the future

For me, the PCAP is an opportunity to improve my teaching further. I now have over 10 years of experience working in HE, and I still have things to learn. I’m proud of my Senior Fellowship with the HEA and fully intend to work towards Principle Fellowship in the future. I’m also keen to maintain my professional accreditations with ALDinHE and Microsoft Education, as well as gain my accreditation with the Association of Learning Technology (ALT).

[1] Association of Learning Development in Higher Education – the professional body for learning developers

Writing your own Teaching Philosophy Statement

As I shared in my introduction, I’d love to see more Teaching Philosophy Statements shared from Learning Developers. If you want to know where to start, check out this guide: What Is a Teaching Philosophy? Examples and Prompts. Please share yours and pop the link in the comments section below.

References

ALDinHE (2018) Manifesto for Learning Development. Education, Association for Learning Development in Higher Education. Available online: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KJnC7e2l5xnA44FWsOxaKkKNx4SQKlX2/view [Accessed 19/04/2022].

Hilsdon, J. (2011) What is learning development?, in Hartley, P., Hilsdon, J., Keenan, C., Sinfield, S. & Verity, M. (eds), Learning development in higher education. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 13-27.

Hinchcliffe, T. (ed), (2020) The Hidden Curriculum of Higher Education. Advance HE.

Kazemi, S., Ashraf, H., Motallebzadeh, K. & Zeraatpishe, M. (2020) Development and validation of a null curriculum questionnaire focusing on 21st century skills using the Rasch model. Cogent Education, 7(1), 1736849.

Laurillard, D. (2002) Rethinking university teaching: A conversational framework for the effective use of learning technologies. London: Routledge.

Lea, M. & Street, B. (1998) Student writing in higher education: An academic literacies approach. Studies in Higher Education, 23(2), 157-172.

Lea, M. & Street, B. (2006) The “Academic Literacies” Model: Theory and Applications. Theory into Practice, 45, 368-377.

McIntosh, E. & Nutt, D. (eds) (2022) The Impact of the Integrated Practitioner in Higher Education: Studies in Third Space Professionalism. Oxon: Taylor & Francis.

University of Hull (2021) SkillsGuides. Available online: https://libguides.hull.ac.uk/SkillsGuides/ [Accessed 23/04/2021].

University of San Diego (2023) What is a Teaching Philosophy? Examples and Prompts. Available online: https://pce.sandiego.edu/teaching-philosophy-examples [Accessed 26/01/2023]

Webster, H. (2018) How to implement effective 1:1 tutorials, Association of Learning Development in Higher Education Annual Conference. University of Leicester, 26th – 28th March. Leicester: Association of Learning Development in Higher Education.

Header photo generated by DALL-E 2 AI

Cup of tea

Cup of TEA podcast: My doctoral research & transition to academia

Lee Fallin Leave a comment

I’m delighted to be this week’s guest on Cup of TEA – the Teaching Excellence Academy’s official podcast, exploring learning, teaching and assessment at the University of Hull.

Season 1 – Episode 3: Lee Fallin

This week we’re speaking to Lee Fallin from the School of Education. We talked about a range of topics including his research on learning spaces and also his recent transition from professional services to academia. Lee is really passionate about education and learning development and we think this comes across brilliantly in this really interesting chat. Lee has also kindly provided a list of related links to topics we discuss which can be found below.

Listen to the episode below:

Core links for the podcast episode:

Background links about the posdcast guest:

Have a Cup of TEA

My contribution aside, I highly recommend you check out the Cup of TEA podcast and bookmark it in your favourite app. In week 1, my colleague Kelly Dockerty and student Jess Gleisinger discussed PBL and authentic experiences, with week 2 showcasing Liz Wells and her transition from clinical practice to academia. Both are a great listen!

Journey into being a journal editor

Lee Fallin Leave a comment

Last year I had the great pleasure of joining the Editorial Board of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education (JLDHE). This started as a guest editor for the Special Edition, ALDinHE Conference Proceedings and Reflections. For this special issue I, alongside a team of other guest editors, had the opportunity to weave together the peer-reviewed conference abstract with community and author reflections. Based on my experience as a guest, I was excited to apply and interview for a permanent editor role. As you can safely guess from the title of this post – I was successful 😁.

Become an editor

I’ve been an editor for a handful of months. I’m still early on in my journey, but have already found it very rewarding. It’s a fantastic opportunity to support and mentor new authors, alongside helping more established writers get their work into press. The biggest surprise, for me, has to be the dedication and generosity of our peer reviewers. I am often overwhelmed with the interest in review, and often find it challenging to choose who to allocate.

It was stupid of me to be surprised. After all, over the last couple of years, it had become clear to me that peer review was a form of community building. This particularly resonated for the Compendium of Innovative Practice where, as a reviewer, I had myself really felt part of something. This is something that I feel is very special about JLDHE. It is a community – an argument well established in Alicja’s contribution to the conference proceedings.

Teamwork = dream work

Perhaps the single most rewarding part of being on the Editorial Board is the opportunity to work with an amazing set of colleagues. I have thoroughly enjoyed learning from them all, and getting to know them more through our work. I have to give Gita Sedghi, who has been my mentor a HUGE shout out. Gita has been the one who has answered my 200-300 questions about the journal, editing and our journal system. (Thanks Gita!).

Our Editorial Board is a great team (yes – I’m biased). We meet monthly to ensure everything is on track for upcoming issues, and there is a lot of work to keep on top of between these meetings. I’ve found the pace and challenge really refreshing. As you can see above – it’s also a rewarding role 😁.

The year ahead

Today drew to a close our Editorial Board Winter Residential – and so I write this post sat on a train back to Hull after what has been an intense couple of days working on journal strategy and plans. It’s got me really excited for the year ahead! I also got a chance to use the LEGO I had sat in my suitcase (a staple for any work trip away!).

  • LEGO for Communication
  • The ivory tower of academia
  • The campfire of inclusion

I’m really looking forward to developing in my role further. I’m also happy for the opportunity to take on more responsibility, and start to focus on different aspects of the journal’s work. Stay tuned! I really look forward to share more about this journey over the coming year.

Get involved!

I hope this post is encouraging for anyone who is thinking about getting more involved in journals – especially JLDHE. I recommend peer-review as a great place to start getting involved (it’s where I started!). It helps you contribute to a journal – and get a feel as to what is within it’s scope. JLDHE is always looking for more reviewers, so watch the LDHEN and SEDA JiscMail networks for future calls to review!

Five extremely diverse LEGO (toy) MiniFigures are standing in front of a white house with red framed windows.

Whose job is widening participation anyway?

Lee Fallin Leave a comment

Widening Participation is an important topic, and something cemented into Higher Education Policy through Access and Participation Agreements. Yesterday I had the great pleasure of attending the University of Hull’s inaugural Widening Participation conference. The main theme and question of the conference asked: ‘whose job is Widening Participation anyway?’.

Widening Participation is something I am passionate about. It is about ensuring someone’s circumstances do not impact their ability to enrol at a University and be successful. The end result should see more students enrolling from under-represented groups. This includes, for example, care leavers, low participation postcodes, disabled students, mature students, and some ethnicities. For social justice – it is an absolute no-brainer. While the crisis around student fees and the option for Universities to raise them from £6k to £9k has been disastrous for some, one good consequence was the requirement for institutions charging over the basic fee (£6k) to have an Access and Participation Plan.

All providers that are required to have an Access and Participation Plan need to ensure their plan addresses several key points. The plan needs to show how a Higher Education provider will raise participation from under-represented groups. The plan had to include their ambition for change, the plans for that change and what targets have been set. It also needs to be clear how that plan will be delivered and what investment it will take. While £9k fees will off-put some prospective students (even though the repayments are more affordable than the old scheme). One good outcome, however, was the absolute requirement to address access for any provided charging a higher rate.

Widening Participation: My journey to university

It is fair to say that Widening Participation is something that is personal to me. Technically, my own background would have been widening participation. While the postcode I lived in had high rates of participation, no one else in my family had ever gone to University – no one could ‘sell it to me’ or tell me what it is like. My mum was also severely disabled and out of work. While my dad did work as a manager, he had worked his way through the ranks to get there – though at this point he no longer lived in the family home. I was fortunate that my school raised those university aspirations, and my teachers helped me understand the importance of a degree and the experience of studying for it.

It’s also fair to say I’ve gone beyond that base expectation. My postgraduate certificates, my job in higher education and my doctorate — they are all things that people from my background did not do (certainly at the time I started out).

To return to the question – whose widening participation is it? For me, in my experience, it was MY widening participation. Obviously, the question is broader than personal experience – but I wanted to reflect on this for one reason. If I had anything less than an absolute commitment to widening participation, I would be pulling the drawbridge up to prevent people like me from having the same success. Here is where the situation can be insidious. Imagine if I were from a privileged background and did not fight to widen participation in Higher Education. Well… I’d be working to pull that drawbridge up to stop people not like me from being successful. On that reflection – it is appropriate to fully answer the question:

Whose Widening Participation is it?

Everyones.

That is because access and participation is fundamentally an issue of equality, diversity and inclusion.

Social justice requires progress in this area. The right to Higher Education should not be based on where someone is born, or what needs they have. It should be based on ensuring everyone can reach their potential. As such – everyone working in Higher Education has a duty to Widening Participation, no matter what their own background is.

And if we fail? Well. Not only are we not widening participation, but we are not being equal, inclusive and supportive of diversity.

The start of my academic career – one month in!

Lee Fallin Leave a comment

It’s now over a month since I left my ‘thirdspace‘ role working as a Learning Developer for the Brynmor Jones Library at the University of Hull to start my academic career. Being a Learning Developer, however, was a job I loved in a profession I adored. I had amazing colleagues, and we were so close we were like a family. I am happy to admit it was hard to walk away from all of that, but now that I am a month in, I am convinced it has been a great move.

The lead-in to my academic career in education

There was a time I would have thought I’d end up in a geography department. Yet – I’ve come to realise the School of Education has fit like a glove. I’ve done a Doctorate in Education; worked as a Learning Developer; worked as an Education, Research and Policy Co-ordinator; volunteered as a school governor, am currently the chair of governors at two schools; adopted three children with my husband, and am a trustee of a local community charity. How could I not see education as where I was meant to be?

More than anything, I am so thankful for working on a recent visit day with a local college. Speaking to those prospective students affirmed to me that I was in the right place and had the right experience to share. Everything I have worked towards led me down this career trajectory. Funnily enough, it was one of my new colleagues made this connection for me. I am, indeed, in the right place!

Teaching as an academic

The teaching has been everything I could have hoped. The master’s content is mostly pre-defined, and we’re delivering set content. This is great, as it ensures students get consistent provision, but our workshops provide enough flexibility to ensure we leave a mark and adapt to our students’ needs. The dissertation module has also been restructured, and it has given me some opportunities to get involved. I’ve covered some lectures for a colleague and have helped to develop the sessions around literature reviews. Alongside the level 7 content, I’ve been fortunate to be part of one of the new level 6 modules. As it is new, nothing is written – and it gives real freedom to write and teach content in the direction we like.

I’m yet to miss the materials I’ve previously delivered for the Skills Team – but given the modules I’m focused on, it’s been very similar content to what I’ve done before. I’ve also been able to retain support for the Postgraduate Training Scheme (PGTS), and I am still teaching on Modern Researcher 2. It’s been nice to keep something a little familiar and be able to continue this small piece.

One of the prime differences to this context of teaching from the Skills Team is that I am part of the team setting/marking the assessment. As such, when I give students assessment advice, I can do so in confidence – knowing it will link to the expectations of the course team.

I’m still awaiting my module allocations for trimester 2, and I look forward to seeing what that will bring. All in good time…

Students

Although students are at the heart of everything we do and permeate academic practice, it feels wrong not to draw specific attention to this. I’m really beginning to get to know some of the students, what motivates them and what their research interests are. As I’ve mentioned, we have a very international cohort, which has provided me with excellent opportunities to learn more about different educational systems. I’m so impressed with the passion and drive these students have, and I can’t wait to see what they do.

There is also some level of nerves. What will those mid-module reviews reveal? How will the summative module evaluation questionnaires reveal? At assessment – how will the students do? There are only some small nerves here, but I think this is important. It helps me keep student interest at the forefront of my mind.

Scholarly practice

Ironically, even though I have ‘left’ Learning Development, I’ve had more time for Learning Development scholarship this last few weeks than I have done in years. Don’t get me wrong – I’ve not got time to burn, but I have some scholarship time in my workload. That’s never happened explicitly before. I’ve been able to get a funding bid in with some colleagues, write a short journal article (brief communication) and serve as a guest editor of JLDHE, taking four articles through to completion. There is much more on the cards, and I have a book chapter to write for January, which I am looking forward to! Right now, however, my focus has to be the PCAP – and finishing my research project which focuses on analysing the Compendium of Innovative Practice: Learning Development in a Time of Disruption. More on that another time 😁

All this scholarship fits in so well with my new role – and I look forward to seeing how it can impact student learning in my modules and programmes. I’ve also joined JLDHE as a permanent editor, and as I teach on the level 6 and level 7 research and dissertation modules, it’s a great fit with my teaching practice too. I’m learning a lot more about research and peer review as every week goes by – and great learning to pass on to my students.

Key reflections on my academic journey so far

The Wilberforce Building - the home of two academic departments including the School of Education -- and my office!
The Wilberforce Building – My new on-campus home!

As I have reflected upon over several of my previous blogs, this role is giving me the thing I wanted more than anything – the ability to scaffold learning and develop meaningful relationships with students. I’m now in my seventh week of teaching, which means I’ve seen some of my students for over 14 hours of contact time. We’ve got to know each other, connect and work on contemporary educational debates. I can’t wait to see what they focus on in their assessments. Marking and feedback will also be something I enjoy – yet another part of the academic cycle I’ve long been excluded from in my previous role.

Dr Lee Fallin holding a spider plant.
New plant for the office!

So far, I’ve blogged about:

  • One of my early reflections focused on teaching my first workshops. I focused on those initial connections with students, and the joy of my allocated modules.
  • Next up, I was able to think about some of the contractual changes and broader opportunities/responsibilities associated with my first (official) week as a lecturer.
  • For week 2, I focused on re-engaging with assessment & feedback. I was intentional in calling this ‘re-engagement’ as I have done assessment and feedback before – it has just been some time!
  • Finally, my last post drew attention to Personal Supervision and to what extent it was new or not.

As you can tell from the introduction, this was a huge move for me. Leaving a workplace and career after ten years was a risk, but it is something that is paying off very well.

Building blocks

The journey into Personal Supervision (week 3)

Lee Fallin 1 Comment

Personal supervision is inherently… personal. This makes it hard to reflect on, but I do want to use his week’s blog as an opportunity to think about it in the context of leaving the thirdspace. At first, personal supervision felt like something inherently distinct to academic roles – but the more I’ve reflected upon it, I don’t think it is.

In the context of my previous Learning Development role, there was no personal supervision of students – or similar responsibility. But that is not the case for other thirdspace professionals. I’ve even seen some non-academic (thirdspace) roles dedicated to supervision, although this may not be typical. Student Success roles often fall into this space. Another such example was even Learning Development-based, centred on a single discipline where the Learning Developer supported academic skills development and supervision for all first years. The more I think about it, there may be more exceptions to the rule – especially for some institutions that have wholesale moved supervision away from academic workload and towards professional services.

Diverse approaches to personal supervision

It is also important to acknowledge that the specific duties of personal supervisors might be split in different ways across different institutions. This can change in time too – and Hull even trialled an academic-focused approach to supervision before moving back to a more holistic personal supervision model. Looking at any given responsibility for personal supervisors, there is almost always overlap with the thirdspace. Often, most pastoral issues are usually better supported in the thirdspace. This can even apply to academic-related issues where Learning Developers, Librarians and other professionals may be best placed to support. Yet – while supervision-related duties may fall into the thirdspace at times, I do think there may be something different about that academic-based personal supervision.

I’ve reflected on the last few weeks, and I think there is something special about the academic-based approach to personal supervision. Academics might not be best placed to know everything about the support services available to students, but they are very in tune with the requirements of the course. They should have a feeling for the rigours of the course, based not just on personal experience, but on reflective practice from former course runs. There is also that shared passion for the discipline (hopefully) and an awareness of career options.

Learning Development and personal supervision

Personal supervision stands out as a very different duty from my work in the thirdspace as a Learning Developer. In my old role, I would support different students, disciplines and levels of study. As with my lectures and workshops, as a personal supervisor, I see the same students regularly. This is a sharp contrast to the whole university support focus of my previous role. Don’t get me wrong – I loved that variety at the time. But after a decade of that, I wanted more. I needed a change.

Supervision is a good metaphor for that change for me. That is because, above all, good supervision should be based on connection. Personal supervision works best when supervisors and supervisees know and trust one another. Supervisees need to feel confident they can discuss issues with their supervisor. For this reason, it helps to build that rapport from early on. You just don’t get the chance to engage like that as a Learning Developer, where you are dropping in when needed – then leaving.

My first few weeks as a supervisor

I’ve really enjoyed meeting my students both individually and as a group. It has been great to get to know their motivations and learn more about them. Given the diversity of my supervisees, there is a fair chance I’ll be the one learning from them! One thing that is very similar to being a Learning Developer is the no-shows – but I also recognise life happens, and those circumstances will happen. We will try to re-arrange, I am sure. I had my first group sessions with my supervisees last week, and I hope to meet all of them individually (that want to) in the coming weeks.

It’s been nice to build those connections – and offer some initial support. It’s very much what I expected it to be – which is great. For me, I always think back to the excellent supervision I received as a Geography undergraduate. I just hope I can live up to that example as I move forwards into this role myself.

Earlier this month I reflected on leaving the thirdspace. This post continues my reflections on the transition to my new job!

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Re-engaging with assessment and feedback – week 2 reflections

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One of the defining characteristics of my time as a Learning Developer was that I did not get involved in assessment marking and feedback. There were a handful of exceptions, including some early work for the Business School and our contribution to the Postgraduate Training Scheme. Both of these opportunities were phased out early on in my career, and as such, I’ve not done marking in some time. I know many people who dislike marking – but it was always something I kind of missed. Marking assessments is an essential part of the academic cycle, and the provision of summative feedback helps students to develop moving forwards. I always missed not being part of that. It feels like one of the significant differences between many thirdspace professionals and academics.

While I didn’t do regular assessment marking and feedback, I was certainly up-to-date with the literature and theory in many places. Part of my role as a Learning Developer was helping students to understand their assessments – even if I didn’t set them. I think the vast majority of my appointments were with students focusing on an assessment. It was also a growing area for workshops, with many academics inviting us to run in-curricula sessions on specific assessments. These requests often focused on assessments that step away from essays and reports. I’ve run many sessions on posters, presentations, public communications and more. Yet… I didn’t actually mark the work or provide that summative feedback. That always made me feel like a fraud every time LTHE chat turned to assessment.

Re-engaging with assessment

That brings me back to my reflections on my new job as I finish my second official week as an academic. Assessment and feedback are very much within my remit now. In fact, we’ve just finished the first and second marking for all the postgraduate dissertations from the last year. Given my start date, I only had second marking to do – but it was so nice to get back into assessment. It’s made for quite an inspiring start to the academic year for me, reading about all the fantastic things our outgoing students did in their research over the last year. This has also energised me for the year ahead and the research supervision I will be doing in my own role.

Using assessment and feedback to reflect forwards

I should also note that assessment is exciting from a programme design perspective. The work that students produce gives us opportunities to reflect on how we can continue to improve assessment moving forwards. This could involve different support, new guidance, better clarification or fundamental change to assessment. As one academic year ends, another begins. With postgraduate courses, there is little gap in-between, but we must find the time to reflect on practice. I had the luxury of not being involved in the previous academic year, coming in fresh for 2022-23. Next year I will need to pay close attention to this transition and make sure I pen in time to reflect between the years.

I don’t feel like I can say much more on assessment at this point other than acknowledge that contrast to my previous role. Assessment and feedback are rarely in the remit of thirdspace professionals, and that is something worth unpicking in my reflections over the course of the year.

Reflecting beyond assessment

Before closing, I just wanted to note that other things beyond assessment happened this week as well. I got to deliver my first lecture for the MA programme, covering a lecturer who was away. I also got to see my supervisees for the first time and develop my understanding of personal supervision. Finally, all my weekly workshops took place, and I had the opportunity to get to know my students and their research interests further. More to unpack in a future blog.

Earlier this month I reflected on leaving the thirdspace. This post continues my reflections on the transition to my new job!

My first (official) week as a lecturer

Lee Fallin Leave a comment

A couple of weeks ago, I reflected on delivering my first workshops in my new role as a lecturer. This was, however, technically before my new contract started. Today I can now reflect on my first official week in post as a lecturer.

My first day was technically the 1st of October (the date stated on the contract). While it wasn’t a working day, I actually logged in on the 1st of the month to check my role had switched from ‘Academic and Library Specialist‘ to ‘Lecturer in Education Studies‘. It had. Phew! 😮‍💨 My main reason for doing this was so I could renew my library books which were currently on recall due to the contract change. It was also reassuring to know I’d still get paid at some point too. 😅

The system changes were more important than just Library access – they also gave me a route into the systems I’d need as an academic. I could finally see who my personal supervisees were – and access the data I needed to support them. Of course – this is all a strange aspect of my internal move and does not have so much to do with the roles themselves. It also represented the loss of access to the Library’s internal systems. In particular, I will very much miss using LibGuides and LibCal – part of the LibApps suite. These were excellent tools, although not something I will need day-to-day anymore. I’ve also lost access to (and responsibility for) the Library’s social media. Suffice it to say – my Twitter notifications have gone down significantly!

New role, new contact

This contract change to lecturer also represented my final step out of the thirdspace as I am now officially in an academic post. Having worked in the thirdspace for a decade, I know this is a significant change. In an academic role, I now have new opportunities for career development and progression. There are also clearer policies governing things like intellectual property and consultancy, which were always challenging in the thirdspace as there was an assumption no one in professional services would produce content in this scope. A lot of this doesn’t really matter right here and now, but it represents future opportunities. There is also much more freedom and control in the day-to-day work, more reflective of the duties than anything else.

My teaching workload is focused on educational research, and I couldn’t be happier. I am part of the teams working on the level 7 dissertation (60 credits) and research design and implementation (30 credits) modules. I am also supporting the level 6 extended research project module (60 credits). This essentially gives me the dissertation and research methods support at both levels 6 and 7, bringing foucs to my new role. These modules really fit in with my areas of expertise and I can’t wait to see that the students do with their research opportunity.

For me, the level 6 work is exciting as it is a brand new module, so we all have the opportunity to put our mark on it and shape the content. For the level 7 modules, the content is mostly developed so we can focus on delivery instead. This gives me time to prepare more thoroughly, and as we have a diverse and international cohort, I look forward to learning about educational concepts and theories beyond the UK.

In focus: My first week

Focusing on my first week in more detail, it was brilliant to deliver my second workshop for two of the modules I am part of. It was particularly nice to see the same group of students for a second week, something that is a novelty compared to my old role. As a Learning Developer, I would see a revolving door of students from every discipline and level of study. As a lecturer, I am supporting three modules and a number of personal supervisees. I will see the same students over and over again. We can learn names, get to know each other and build a relationship. This will allow us to build connections and trust, enabling higher levels of discussion and debate in workshops. I also hope it will allow honesty and candidness, which are enablers for topics like positionally and ethics. This will develop in time, but we were really able to hit the ground running this week after the groundwork set in the first session. I’ve already spoken with so many passionate students this last week; the whole experience has been totally energising.

With this role, there is also a lot of responsibility. Lecturers play a significant role in the student experience and are often the primary contact students have with the university. Given my module allocation, it is essential to acknowledge that supporting students with their dissertations is a significant undertaking as these assessments tend to have a high weighting. At level 6, the module is worth half of their final year. For level 7 students, the dissertation is the equivalent of one-third of their grade. These modules are essential for student success, and I will be doing everything in my power to make them a fantastic experience for my students.

Another area of responsibility is also personal supervision. As a personal supervisor, I will act as that first port of call for students in need. I have much to learn in this area, but there is also excellent support from the Faculty, so I feel very comfortable in this undertaking. I also have the benefit of my previous years working in the same institution, so I am very familiar with the services available. I’m looking forward to developing my role as a personal supervisor, and it will be great to get to know these students more in weeks to come.

Earlier this month I reflected on leaving the thirdspace. This post continues my reflections on the transition to my new job!

…and so it begins

Lee Fallin 3 Comments

Tomorrow marks my first day of teaching in my new role as Lecturer in Education Studies, and I’m very much looking forward to meeting the students I’ll be working with over the next academic year. My classes include the research and dissertation modules at both L6 and L7, which form significant milestones at the end of the UG and PGT programmes. Research philosophy and support is one of my significant areas of expertise, having supported hundreds of students across diverse programmes during my time working as a Learning Developer. I couldn’t be happier with this allocation.

What I am looking forward to the most is the opportunity to work with the same group of students beyond a single session. As a Learning Developer, I would see students in personal appointments, centrally-bookable workshops and in-programme lectures across every discipline. While this diversity was always fun – I would see so many people that it was impossible to learn names, see progression or develop those positive learner-staff relationships that build community. As a lecturer, personal supervisor and research supervisor, there will be opportunities for this. I know it won’t all be perfect – not everyone will engage or turn up – but there will be those opportunities! I think this is, perhaps, one of the most significant changes from working as a Learning Developer in the third space to being an academic member of staff. Time will tell if I’m right!

At the L6 induction, it really struck me that these students will be graduating in a year’s time. Over this academic year, I’ll have the opportunity to watch and support them in engaging in some pretty cool research projects. At the end of the year, I’ll get to see them walk across that stage. I want them to feel proud of themselves and what they have achieved. That, too, is something I wouldn’t see in the third space – or at least not in the same way.

I’ll leave this post as a quick one! This is all technically four days before my start date, and the early teaching is part of the benefit of an internal move. It’s also made the move from one role to the other super blurry. I am, however, VERY glad about this. I can’t imagine a hard start next week without any of the meetings, preparation and logistics (read: office move) of the last few weeks. I’m very glad the Library has facilitated this transition so well.