SEDA research & evaluation small grants – 2016 grant holders

Grant Holder(s)Project TitleGrant Status
Dr Anna Mountford-Zimdars, Dr Claire Gordon, Alex Standen, Paul Seldon, Alison Ahearn, Jennifer Bright, Penny Burden & Robert Di NapoliDeveloping a shared situational judgement/ case-based training resource for supporting the development of Graduate Teaching Assistants in Higher EducationAs a result of the SEDA grant, Claire Gordon and Anna Mountford-Zimdars are now working towards a book chapter (co-written with Alex Standen) that will appear in an edited book by Alex Standen (UCL) and Jesper Hansen (UCL).  “Supporting GTA’s teaching development through using co-developed teaching scenarios: The experience of a cross-institutional teaching innovation project” Many higher education institutions in the UK rely on graduate teaching assistants (or postgraduate teaching assistants) (GTAs) to deliver a large amount of teaching to undergraduates – and sometimes master level students –  ranging from individual class teaching to laboratory assistance and the marking of assignments, etc. The academic development offered to GTAs new to teaching and supporting student learning varies considerably. Some have the opportunity to work towards AFHEA or undertake a PGCert, others only attend an initial induction or even begin teaching without any formal training. At the same time GTAs often report that they are under-supported and face challenging class-room situations. (Knewstubb et al 2015, p. 11-13). This cross-London GTA case-based scenario project, initially funded through a SEDA Small Grant, sought to adapt approaches from situational judgment tests, a method widely used in medical training to develop a series of teaching and learning case-based scenarios in collaboration with GTAs that could then be used/reversioned for online learning or for use in academic development sessions. (Wingert and Molitor 2009). The chapter explores the cross-institutional collaboration that emerged, the use of scenario-based learning, the co-development of these resources with members of the GTA community as well as how these resources are now being used to support the development of academic teachers. The chapter concludes with some suggestions for good practice in supporting the teaching development of GTAs and how scenarios can be used as part of this support package.
 Partially complete                                             
Dr Diane Nutt, Pieterjan Bonne, Will Carey, Erkki Harkonnen, Ed Foster, Harald Age Saethre & Herman van de MosselaerAcademics and professional teaching recognition in middle and Northern Europe: a case study approach to understanding, and learning from, similarities and differences.

Final report
 Complete

Dr Namrata Rao & Dr Anesa HoseinImmigrant academics in the pedagogic ‘foreign-land’: Factors influencing their pedagogic acculturation
Final report
 Complete
Dr Christine Smith & Simon Lygo-BakerThe intersections between digital fluency and teaching excellence: case study-based and media-rich explorations with HE tutors
Final report
 Complete
Dr James Wilson, Dr Dawn Johnson, Dr Jianmei Xie, Dr Henk HuijserImplementing and evaluating a Communities of Practice model to align diverse learning and teaching styles in a transnational university
Final report
 Complete