The Higher Education Academy (HEA) is the UK body which champions teaching excellence in higher education. I recently got my fellowship. I decided to do the presentation route and got a distinction mark (91%)

1. Dr Sara Barrento
Swansea University’s internal
application for fellowship of
the Higher Education
Academy
12 February 2018

2. Overview
Who am I: my professional journey
Case study 1: teaching large groups
Case study 2: using the teaching
space
K1-K6A1-A5 V1-V4UKPSF
My teaching philosophy

4. communication
communicare
fromLatin
word family
to share
“true
communication is
communion”
common
community

5. Learning SpaceDr Sara Barrento…
2004 Marine Biology and
Fisheries 5yr degree
K1A4
Subject area
Students
Physiology
Ecology
Fisheries
Tourists

6. 2009
Planned
Designed
Delivered
Dr Sara Barrento…
2010 PhD Animal
Science
2006 Science
Communication
Workshop
2009
Professional
trainner
2010 Web
JournalismK1
A1-A5
Workshops
Vets
Food
inspectors
Biologists

7. Dr Sara Barrento…
2013
Planned
Designed
Delivered
TRAINNING
MATERIAL
Mussel
farmers
2012 -15
Research
Fellow
ONLINE
TUTORIALS
K1,K3, K4
A1, A4
2011 -15
Research
Assistant - SU

8. Dr Sara Barrento…
2015 SU
Tutor
2016 SU
Lecturer
2016-18 SALT
PGCert
Laboratory Skills
Molecular Biology & Biochemistry
3
3
Professional Skills for Biologists
Fisheries & Aquaculture
3
6
Molecular and cellular Biology4
Molecular & Evolutionary Biology4
A1, A2
A5

9. My teaching
Philosophy

10. Dr Sara Barrento… 2016 SU
Lecturer
2016-18 SALT
PGCert
3 4 6 Undergraduates
Master
PhD
A2, A5

11. it suits
Lecturing is the most common teaching
method in HE:
(Edwards et al., 2001).
the lecturer
the institutions
students still expect it to be
the norm at a university level
BUT
should
we still
lecture

12. yes, if it
engages students,
unleashes their curiosity
and the freedom to be
puzzled

13. BUT engagement involves not
only the teacher and his/hers
pedagogical effort;
(Bamber and Jones, 2005)
but it also includes the institution
and the learning context (e.g.
learning culture and spaces),
and it devolves some degree
of onus to the student
Trowler (2010)

14. “Learning is more critical than knowing”
(Siemens, 2005)

15. Case study 1:
teaching large
groups

18. Molecular and Evolutionary
Biology storyboard
E
B
M
B
Molecular
biology - MB
Dr Barrento
Evolutionary
Biology - EB
Dr King
Lab1
Coursework
Lab2
Coursework
Cancer
biology
Prof.
Rowley
Rev
PCLab
Coursework
Presenattion
Coursework

19. Intervention on year 1
Improved Power Point design & storyboard
Interactive activities1
Added extra content on Blackboard
to accommodate learning styles (VARK)2 V1
K2, K3, K4
Introduced TEL tools and
formative assessment
3
K3, K4A3

20. Trigger
curiosity
Concept
definition
Concept
application
Revision of
concept
Improved Power Points
design and content1
K2, K3, K4

21. Population genetics of eye colour
Blue eyes first seen in
humans around 6000
years ago
Previously, all ancestors
had brown eyes and
population not
polymorphic
Mapped to HERC2 gene
which has nothing to
do with eye colour
HERC2 is upstream of
OCA2, which is
responsible for eye colour Promoter for OCA2 in
HERC2
HERC2 OCA2
Promoter for OCA2
Single nucleotide
change = those with
blue eyes have G,
brown eyes have A

22. gettyimages
Siobhan connally
80% of population in northern Europe
have blue eyes but outside Europe and
Mediterranean, blue eyes are rare.

23. Population genetics of eye colour
Blue eyes first seen in
humans around 6000
years ago
Previously, all ancestors had
brown eyes and population
not polymorphic
OCA2, is responsible
for eye colour
HERC2 OCA2
Promoter for
OCA2
Single nucleotide change
in the promoter = those
with blue eyes have G,
brown eyes have A

24. Variation in populations
Population = group of
interbreeding individuals of the
same species who inhabit the same
space at the same time
Gene pool = sum of all the genetic
information carried by members
of the population
Gene pool changes over time with
mutation, introduction of new individuals,
departure from the population or death
https://www.openstaxcollege
.org/textbooks/anatomy-
and-physiology/resources

25. Population = group of interbreeding
individuals of the same species who
inhabit the same space at the same time
Gene pool = sum of all the genetic
information carried by members of the
population
Gene pool changes over time with
mutation, introduction of new individuals,
departure from the population or death

26. Interventions on year 1 – students feedback
Improved Power Point design & storyboard1
K3, K4A3
Anonymous student BIO108
“Dr Barrento explained very hard content in an
easy and understandable way”

27. Interventions on year 1 – students feedback
Extra online content on Blackboard2
Introduced TEL tools to the lecture room3
“(…) I also loved the use of clickers and slido.com
in her lectures”
“Dr.Barrento's flashcards that she used in the
quizlet were very useful and the online
resources she included such as the videos were
quite good as well.”
K3, K4A3
Anonymous student BIO108

28. “Cancer biology was still an
interesting lecture but seemed oddly
placed between the two main units of
the module. If the information is
important, could it be integrated more
into the rest of the module?”
Anonymous student BIO108
Re-design the storyboard & assessment1
V3

29. ” Some parts of the molecular biology
section could be confusing but further
reading generally cleared this up.”
Flipped Classroom2
V3Vaughan et al. (2013)
Anonymous student BIO108

30. Intervention on year 2
Flipped Classroom2
Re-design the storyboard & assessment1

31. The new storyboard
E
B
M
B
Molecular
biology -MB
Dr Barrento
Lab1
Coursework
Lab2
Cancer
biology
Dr Rowley Rev
Evolutionary
Biology - EB
Dr King
PCLab
Coursework
Coursework
Coursework
INTRO
Theend
K6
“Ability to see connections between fields,
ideas, and concepts is a core skill.”
Connectivism
Siemens (2005)

32. The Flipped Classroom

36. Collecting Feedback
Mid Term
feedback
128 students
Final
feedback
41 students
2017-2018 intervention 22016-2017
Final
feedback
23 students
K5
47 students

37. Overall
Satisfaction
4.5
4.4
Blackboard
Resources
4.6
4.5
Academic
year 17/18
Academic
year 16/17
23
11
Students replying to the final
questionnaire (%)
Students Feedback
Stimulating
4.7
4.5
K5, K6

38. independent learners
My aim: to make students think &
become
“My favourite module by far,
very thought provoking”
“I liked the
independent learning”
K5, K6

39. Case study 2: using the
teaching space to:
a) benefit learners
b) trigger career development
c) contribute to the wider community

41. 2017Career development
and contributions to the wider community
Outreach V2
Swansea Science Festival
Conferences A5
National
2017 The 9th Annual SALT Learning
and Teaching Conference –
Swansea University, UK
International
Cooperation for Growth, 17-20
October 2017, Dubrovnik,
Croatia.
Projects V4
Deliver Capacity Building Foresight
workshop: Promoting Innovative
Teaching through Collaboration in the
International Aquaculture Sector
EURASTiP

42. Conferences
2018
A5
SUSALT18
Career development
and contributions to the wider community
Outreach V2
STEM girls
MRes Double
Degree in
Aquaculture
V2, V4
Projects
EURASTiP K6
ERASMUS
staff traveling fund
V4

43. • Anderson LW, Krathwohl DR, Bloom BS. A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching,
and Assessing : A Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives.
(Anderson LW, Krathwoh D, eds.). New York: Longman; 2001.
• Ayres, R. (2015). Lecturing, working with groups and individual support. In H.
F. Ketteridge & S. S & Marshall (Eds.), A handbook for teaching and learning
in higher education (pp. 94–106). Abingdon: Routledge.
• Paternostro, M. (2014). Teaching in Large Group Lecture Classes. Retrieved
February 15, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4d8bKmhkyg
• Siemens, G (2005). Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age,
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, Vol. 2
No. 1,
• Trowel, V. (2010). Student engagement literature review. The higher education
academy. Retrieved
from https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/studentengagementliteraturer
eview_1.pdf
• Vaughan, N. D,Cleveland-Innes, M., Garrison, D. R. (2013) Teaching in
Blended Learning Environments: Creating and Sustaining Communities of
Inquiry. AU Press, Athabasca University. p1.
• Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy?: An Animated Conversation with Noam
Chomsky (2013) by Michel Gondry
References

44. Acknowledgments
my colleagues
my students
inquisitive minds
Thank
you
Dr Sara Barrento
s.i.barrento@swansea.ac.uk
Biosciences Department
Centre for Sustainable
Aquatic Research