It was great to see so many faces at this year’s virtual Annual Learning and Teaching Conference. One of the highlights for me was to be able to celebrate our 5 Exemplary Course Award Winners. Since the start of the pandemic we haven’t been able to acknowledge our winners at graduation like we have done in previous years, so the ECA winners session is a way to share the fantastic and innovative practices taking place.
We’re about to start our course creation process for the academic year 2021-22. So, if you want some inspiration, take a look at the module tours linked from the text below.
Winner:
Dr Hanna Binks, Department of Psychology: PS11320: Introduction to Research Methods
This core, first year module equips students with the skills that they need for their duration of the degree in Psychology. The innovative assessment design, bilingual content, consistent organisation, and clear communications with students saw Hanna win this year’s competition. If you want inspiration on how to tie together learning outcomes, assessment, and content then take a look at this module.
Take a look at the PS11320 module tour.
Highly Commended:
Dr Martine Garland, Aberystwyth Business School: AB27120: Marking Management
Martine’s second year module foregrounded the importance of collaboration and reflective learning activities with the use of discussion boards and clearly arranged content. With over 900 discussion board contributions throughout the module, and the use of the syllabus tool in Blackboard, Martine was able to manage a large module. Martine’s also blogged about her approach to discussion board engagement on our blog and also gave a presentation on this at AULTC21.
Take a look at the AB27120 module tour.
Prysor Mason Davies, School of Education: ED30620: Children’s Rights
Prysor’s approach to content organisation was exemplary – content was arranged in weekly folders and the tasks for each week presented clearly to students. Students’ skills and knowledge was scaffolded throughout the construction of the module, and there were plenty of varied opportunities for students to reflect on their learning in manageable chunks.
Take a look at the ED30620 module tour.
Dr Rhianedd Jewell, Department of Welsh and Celtic Studies: CY10920, Trafod y Byd Cyfoes Trwy’r Gymraeg
This module is designed to assist second language Welsh speakers. Rhianedd has built in lots of opportunities for students to listen to and practice their learning. The co-created glossary and the fostering of a learning community in and out of class really strengthened the module content. Students were given the opportunity to engage in a mentor scheme, promoting group learning.
Take a look at the CY10920 module tour.
Mary Jacob, Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit: PDM0520: Action Research and Reflective Practice in HE
This postgraduate module helps its participants to develop their Higher Education teaching skills. Mary’s approach seeks to foster and build a community of practice, which is achieved through curation of external resources, the novel use of Twitter, and the weekly resource round up. The feed forward assessment design really helps participants to develop their teaching practice.
Take a look at the PDM0520 module tour.
If you’ve got any questions about how colleagues have used these tools, then get in touch with us (elearning@aber.ac.uk).
We’re looking forward to being able to celebrate our colleagues’ achievements in person in the future.
If you’re interested in applying for an Exemplary Course Award then take a look at our webpages and follow our blog.