Dr Matthew J. Williamson PFHEA, Director, Learning and Teaching Centre

As announced in the original call for abstracts, the 11th Annual University of Glasgow Learning and Teaching Conference will again have slots for ‘lightning talks’.

These short talks will give colleagues the opportunity to share an intervention, innovation or practice you have used. This could be an approach to teaching in the classroom or online, a way of enhancing assessment or feedback methods, or another approach to supporting student learning that you have used successfully.

Lightning talks will be five minutes in length, plus three minutes for questions. You will be required to provide two slides to accompany your talk. When writing your proposal, please think about how you can convey your work within these boundaries. Deadline for proposals: noon on Tuesday 9 January.

Theme and sub-themes 

The title of this year’s Conference is ‘Learning Spaces’ and your proposal should be linked to at least one of the Conference’s six sub-themes:

  • Visualisation in learning and teaching - novel use of digital technologies for visualisation. We welcome abstracts that show the application of digital technologies in visualisation related to learning, teaching and assessment. Particular areas of interest would be 3D applications, and the use of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR).
  • Learning in a virtual space - the modern web offers a plethora of opportunities for interaction and collaboration for today’s learners, and challenges educators to harness the power of these participatory tools and to use them meaningfully in order to enhance student learning. We invite submissions that outline innovative use of web 2.0 services for teaching, learning and assessment. Proposals describing more traditional types of virtual spaces, such as Moodle and other VLEs, are also very welcome.
  • Promoting active learning in the classroom - whilst newer spaces can be developed for new ways of teaching, existing space can be used in different ways to promote active learning in the classroom. Disciplines can learn from each other about how space can be used to enhance student engagement during contact time and with increased focus on the time spent in a classroom, thinking about how to make the most of that time is becoming increasingly important. We welcome abstracts that showcase innovative and novel ways to engage students during contact time, including abstracts that show cross and inter-disciplinary implementation.
  • Learning in practice - learning through experiential and work-related opportunities beyond the traditional learning spaces provided on campus can prove invaluable for developing skills and knowledge, for supporting professional development, as well as for employability. We welcome abstracts that discuss approaches to creating effective learning opportunities off campus, with a focus on the application of knowledge and experience of real-world environments to develop professional competencies, attitudes and values.
  • Independent learning - student learning happens both within and outwith the classroom, with the bulk of student work taking place independently. The promotion of independent learning skills and self-directed learning environments is a crucial element of students' university experience that feeds into: student work, assessment and engagement with feedback. We encourage abstracts that focus on promoting students' independence in learning.
  • Inclusive and accessible spaces - how can we develop and support a culture of accessibility and inclusion that helps students to reach their full potential, while also enjoying their time at university? What types of teaching practices can help to support student mental health and wellbeing? We invite submissions describing strategies designed to help students build confidence and minimise the stress of making the transition to independent learning. We also welcome abstracts that outline adjustments that can be made to make it easier and more enjoyable for all students to engage with learning environments in an inclusive manner.

Call for proposals 

  • Submit your lightning talk proposal via the online booking tool.
  • Deadline: noon on Tuesday 9th January. 

The lightning talk proposal form is based on the template used in the GUSTTO Teaching Tips database, and suitable proposals will be encouraged to submit to GUSTTO as well.

Lightning talks will be selected on the basis of how interesting or useful the proposed talk will be to other delegates at the conference, so please think carefully about how to make your work transferable to others.

Conference registration

Registration will open early in the New Year, when the full programme will be announced. Full details will also be published on the conference website.

Building on the success of previous Conferences, I look forward to your participation in what I am sure will prove to be once again, a lively and engaging event.

All best

Matthew

Director, Learning and Teaching Centre

 

First published: 4 December 2017

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