Reach Your Full Potential
Quality Teaching | Meaningful Learning
Plans for Enhancing Academic Practice
We are undertaking a project focused on the further development of the academic practice provision at the University of Northampton (March 2023 – July 2024).
During 2023, we are continuing to provide the current C@N-DO offer, including:
- the professional recognition process where staff can gain recognition as Associate Fellow, Fellow and Senior Fellow of the HEA
- Peer and Collaborative Observation of Learning and Teaching
- the programme of professional development workshops relevant to teaching and learner support at the University of Northampton.
Contact
If you would like further information about this project work, please contact us:Dr Erica Morris (Head of Academic Practice)Erica.Morris@northampton.ac.uk
or Marie Graham (Learning Support Administrator) Marie.Graham@northampton.ac.uk
Aims of the Project
As part of a phased approach, the aims of the project are to:
- Review the existing academic practice provision, and effective and relevant practice in the higher education sector, thereby informing an enhanced academic practice offer for the University.
- Rationalise, conceptualise and determine an enhanced academic practice provision for the University.
- Implement and promote an enhanced academic practice provision.
- Prepare for and complete a submission for Advance HE accreditation of the provision, aligned to the revised Professional Standards Framework 2023 (PSF).
- Produce a strategy that considers quality assurance and enhancement of the provision for the longer-term, alongside a framework to effectively assess the impact of the provision.
Approach to development
| Phases | Timescale | Example activities | |
| Phase one: Reviewing | 1 Mar – 31 May 2023 | This includes exploring institutional academic practice provision in the higher education sector (e.g. case studies of continuing professional development schemes). We are also drawing on existing sources of institutional information and gathering further evidence (e.g. through interviews with staff) to inform the development of an enhanced provision. | |
| Phase two: Determining | 1 Jun – 30 Sep 2023. | This involves conceiving of a new name for the enhanced provision and formulating a conceptualisation to facilitate awareness and understanding of the offer across the University. The variety of potential strategies or interventions that can form part of the provision (e.g. one-to-one sessions or drop ins, online guidance, seminars, video assets, workshops) is also being considered. | |
| Phase three: Implementing | Oct 2023 – 31 Jan 2024. | The focus in this phase will be enhancing the existing provision (e.g. integrating established workshops, developing new interventions), as well as facilitator and mentor development activities. We will also continue to prepare for the submission for Advance HE accreditation of the provision, aligned to the UKPSF 2023. | |
| Phase four: Consolidating | 1 Feb – 30 Jul 2024 | This will involve activity designed to promote the enhanced promotion, such as a launch event at the University’s Learning and Teaching Conference (June 2024). A strategy for the longer-term focused on the quality assurance and enhancement of the provision will also be created. |
A consultative approach is being employed for the project to enable the effective development of the academic practice provision. This will involve a range of academic and professional services staff across the University, including, for example, associate professors of learning and teaching, and workshop facilitators.
This project is also linked to a development to improve the induction experience of new academic staff who join the University, and the creation of a Skills Hub for staff led by Kate Coulson (Head of Learning and Teaching Enhancement).
Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice
We are not currently running a Postgraduate Certificate in academic practice, or teaching and learning in higher education. Although the University of Northampton has previously run this, due to changes in the area of Learning and Teaching Enhancement, this has not been running for around a year or so. In exploring how we can effectively enhance the academic practice provision, we are looking at what might be possible for the longer-term in terms of offering a Postgraduate Certificate that would be aligned to the revised Professional Standards Framework (2023) for teaching and supporting learning in higher education.