Lessons from moving a core staff-development module online

Teaching, Learning and Assessment within the Disciplines' is a core, 20-credit module, that sits within Strathclyde's Programme for Researcher Development, Academic Practice and Knowledge Exchange (SPARK). In addition to offering staff a route to a PGCert and a taught pathway to fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), the module plays an important role in modelling good teaching practice and connecting staff, in meaningful ways, to University strategy and policy.

Since its introduction in 2008 the module has always featured heavily in the development plans of early-career academics and, as a consequence, been oversubscribed. More recently, it was made mandatory for the majority of new academic staff as part of formal probationary requirements. This led to a significant increase in demand and introduced additional challenges, not least of all the fact that some staff are now reluctantly obliged to enrol in the programme!

To respond to these competing demands, in 2018 a decision was taken to pilot a new version of the course that would make use of MyPlace – Strathclyde's virtual learning environment – not just to supplement face-to-face teaching sessions, but to deliver the vast majority of teaching content through a range of individual and group-based activities.

This session will describe the process of redesigning Teaching, Learning and Assessment within the Disciplines in a new, heavily-online format. It will explore the rationale behind many of the choices that were made in the design and subsequently redesign of the course (including deciding to add face-to-face sessions back in). The presentation will focus on key areas of learning from 3 successful iterations of the module and present the main findings from module evaluation data on participant retention and satisfaction. We are delighted to report that both participant retention and satisfaction have increased dramatically in the new format.