Presented at Improving University Teaching Conference 2023 [Online presentation, July 14th]

1. Tracing the Ripples: evaluating the wider impact of
small institutional enhancement projects
Dr Rob Daley
r.a.daley@hw.ac.uk
Twitter: @RD531
Photo by Jo Szczepanska
Dr Anne Tierney
A.Tierney@hw.ac.uk
Twitter: @goze01

2. Heriot-Watt: A Global
University
Malaysia
Edinburgh
Orkney
Dubai
Galashiels

3. Background
•Based in Learning and Teaching Academy
•Enhancement of Learning and Teaching at HWU
•Mini-projects
•Enhancement Themes-QAAS (Resilient Learning
Communities 2020-2023)
•Previous work (Malcolm and Daley 2016)

4. The Mini-Project Process
• Annual call for proposals in Sept/Oct,
• Dissemination plan is included in proposal,
• Proposals considered by an expert panel,
• Decision to Fund/Not fund/suggest amendments,
• Final decision by panel.
30 projects funded across 3-years!
Total cost = £32,700.

5. Evaluation
The evaluation focuses on the impact of the individual projects at three distinct levels:
1. the impact on the intended beneficiaries of the project,
2. the learning gained by the project lead and others involved,
3. the wider benefits gained through post-project dissemination activities.
Evaluation Approach
• Survey of Project Leads (22 out of 30 responded, 73%),
• Semi-structured Interviews with 8 project leads,
• Review of project proposals, reports and other documents.
• Thematic Analysis of the survey and interview data.
Ethical approval was received from the HWU SoSS ethics committee (project 4805)

6. The Projects
Across the 22 projects for which survey data was collected:
• 60 staff were involved,
• 182 students involved, including 3 sabbatical officers,
• 4 of our 5 campuses were represented (None from Orkney),
• 15 projects involved just 1 campus (8 E, 5 M, 2 SB)
• 4 projects involved just 2 campuses (3 E&M, 1 E&D)
• 3 projects involved 3 campuses (2 E&D&M, 1 E&D&SB)
• All of our academic Schools were engaged in at least 1 project and 6
projects were led by Professional Services staff.
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All cross-campus
projects included
Edinburgh
participation.

7. Motivations
It was in response to
regeneration project request
from Energise Galashiels and
the Scottish Government.
While listening to a podcast on
Spotify, I realized that there was a
lack of podcasts for students to
motivate them to study and do
their assignments.
I was interested in exploring
collaborative learning.
This was an ongoing initiative to enhance
student learning experience especially to
assist students who need more academic
support for the challenging courses.
The initial problem that resulted on
the application for the project was
the need to revamp the module.

8. Outputs
• All projects reported some output from their work.
• 21 reported presenting their findings at an internal university event
(L&T Conference etc.),
• 12 indicated they completed an internal report,
• 5 had received invitations to present as guest speakers outside HWU,
• 6 had presented conference papers (5 academic papers and 2
Practitioner Conference papers),
• 4 Published papers and 1 book Chapter

9. Post-Funding Continuity
When asked
“Have the activities associated with the project continued?”
• 9 responded “Yes”
• 11 responded “Partially”
• 2 responded “No”
The course entry/exit
questionnaires and learning
materials are being used in
the second iteration of the
course.
We have expanded the
programme to run again this
year with a larger cohort ….
Similar findings were reported by Mackenzie et al., 2016.

10. Impact on Teaching Practice
• 82% (N=18) of respondents indicated that their learning
from the project impacted upon their teaching practice.
For the other 18%, they
either don’t teach (N=3) or
the project did not go ahead
(N=1).
Main Impacts:
• Enhanced knowledge or teaching skills (N=10)
• Reshaped teaching practice (N=4)
• Modified interaction with colleagues (N-1)
• Reshaped Curriculum (N=1)
• Enhanced focus on student wellbeing (N=1)
• Modified Assessment (N=1)

11. Impact on Teaching Practice
…reshaped my learning and teaching
approaches to be more student-centred
with a stronger emphasis on fostering
global collaboration and connections.
This project made me realised that the L&T practices
of many international students are very different
from what we are practicing at HWU.
Better positioned to suggest a similar
approach to embedding information
skills in other courses and programmes.

12. Impact on Teaching Practice
It taught me to be more aware of the
learning needs of the students, and that
I can encourage active learning amongst
students. I now delegate some
responsibilities to students to take some
ownership to their learning through peer
assistance/mentoring as well.
It allows me to realise to what
extent sustainability issues could be
incorporated into the teaching.
I am more aware of the importance of
collaborative activities, and having a
sense of community and belonging
for students' motivation. I place
greater emphasis on community and
collaboration in my teaching practice.
I changed my approach when interacting
with colleagues in a global teaching
team, by being more reflective.

13. Impact on Project Leads
•Enhanced sense of belonging at HWU.
•Enhanced confidence as an early-career academic.
•Highlighted the lack of formal reward for engaging in
enhancement activities.
•Appointed School Community-Engagement Lead.
•Led to mentoring some PhD students in outreach.
“Completing …a project has the potential to enhance personal and professional
development and staff commitment to teaching” (Thornton and Bonner, 2006)

14. Impact on Project Leads
I felt much more part of the School
community because, I felt recognised
by the academic. [A PS staff Member]
I think I’m much more confident to be
discussing doing similar things with
other academics and you know having
an example… [A PS staff Member]
Engagement of Professional Services staff in L&T Enhancement.

15. Other Highlights for project leads?
• “Working with great students”
• “Working with colleagues who are part of the project”.
• “Discovering the Scholarship of Learning and Teaching”
• Getting ethics approval.

16. Challenges and Barriers
• Competing work, lack of time for projects.
• Might need help writing the paper.
• Lack of student engagement in some elements of
projects.
• Lack of support with paying research
assistants/interns.

17. Overall Benefits
Staff
Indicators of Esteem*,
Improved teaching,
Enhanced satisfaction,
belonging, enjoyment
etc.
Students
Enhanced
Learning
Experience
Institution
Student Survey
results
Publications etc.
*See Blackmore & Kandiko 2011.

18. Conclusions
• The projects were completed successfully!
• Teaching practices were impacted upon!
• Dissemination was a very successful element.
• Wider benefits on the project leads included:
• Creation of “Indicators of Esteem”,
• Individual pleasure and satisfaction,
• Learning and enhanced confidence with processes,
• Identified need for further support and development for staff.
• How can we support staff to continue to build upon their projects?

19. Next Steps
• Sustained project funding offered through our Global Hub for Scholarship
and Educational Leadership.
• Development and support will be provided through the Global Hub for
Scholarship and Educational Leadership.
• External funding sources will be advertised, and applications encouraged.
• Development on preparing research project proposals (esp. costings).
• Explore how to continue to support staff to build upon their projects.
• Continue this evaluation and publish the findings.
• Continue to discuss these issue with colleagues across the sector!

20. References
• Blackmore, P., & Kandiko, C. B., 2011. Motivation in academic life: A prestige
economy. Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 16(4), 399–411.
• Thornton, M.E. and Bonner, D., 2006. Enhancing learning and teaching through
funded, in-house, learning and teaching projects: A report on a research project.
Journal for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching.(link)
• MacKenzie, J., Ramsay, S., Spurr, G. R., Tweed, H., & Scott, D.,2016. Strategic
learning and teaching enhancement through funded teaching interventions.
Higher Education Academy.
• Malcolm, I and Daley, R., An Alternative Vision: Tracing Education Improvement
Practices presented at SRHE Conference 2016, Newport, Wales, UK.
https://srhe.ac.uk/arc/16/0126.pdf

21. Thank You!