This document discusses strategies for improving student academic skills and developing learning and teaching at the University of Northampton. It provides tips for personal academic tutors to help students enhance critical thinking, conduct skills audits, and record evidence of skill development. It also outlines the university's strategic commitments to scaling up online and blended learning programs, developing an open education approach, and designing effective blended courses with different levels of online participation and collaboration. Finally, it discusses how the university's new campus will require changes to be more flexible, open, and globally competitive in learning and teaching.

1. School of Health
development day
Prof Alejandro Armellini
Institute of L&T in HE

2. Structure
• Part 1: Personal academic tutors
• Part 2: Northampton’s strategic commitment
in learning and teaching
• Part 3: A vision
• Part 4: Discussion

3. PATting students for academic
skills development

4. Purpose
To share practical ideas to enable you, as
PATs, to help students enhance their academic
skills.

5. Outline
1. Opinion v Evidence for critical thinking
2. Skills audit
3. Recording evidence in usable formats
4. Pointers

6. Opinion v Evidence for critical
thinking
A five-minute task

7. Skills audit
Skill: I can... Yes No Not sure Action
...interact with my peers effectively
as we tackle a task together
[teamwork].
...meet deadlines [time
management].
...take responsibility for our team
and its outputs [leadership].
...step into someone else's role at
short notice [problem solving,
negotiation].
...summarise project findings clearly
and concisely, both orally and in
writing [academic writing and
presentation].

8. Recording evidence in usable formats
Your skill areas Your self-
assessment
Evidenced by Actions to generate
evidence
Example:
Write clearly about complex
subjects in a form appropriate to
the purpose - e.g. report,
summarise, explore, persuade,
propose.
"I think I can do
that".
Not sure - feedback
from previous essays
suggests that aspects
of my academic
writing are weak.
Review submitted
work and feedback
with a CfAP tutor.
Synthesise information by bringing
together various sources and
presenting your interpretation
clearly and logically.
Evaluate and interpret numerical &
graphical data presented by others
Add your own!

9. Pointers
• PAT site on NILE
• CfAP: www.northampton.ac.uk/cfap
o Study Skills for Academic Success module
o Flying start
o NILE organisation
o Kate Littlemore, Head of CfAP
• Skills Hub: skillshub.northampton.ac.uk

10. Learning and teaching: strategic
commitments

11. Strategic commitment to scaling up:
11
• Re-design for online and blended provision
• CPD and accreditation
• Openness

12. The L&T Plan
12
• Intellectual capital
• Student experience
• Enhancement and innovation in L&T

13. 13
TheL&TPlan

14. NILE design targets
14
Level
Focus
Key
features
Founda'on
Delivery
§ Absolute
minimum
expected
§ Course
informa'on,
handbook
and
guides
§ Learning
materials
Intermediate
Essential in all
blended courses
Par4cipa4on
In
addi'on
to
‘Delivery’:
§ Online
par'cipa'on
designed
into
the
course.
§ Tasks
provide
meaningful
forma've
scaffold.
§ Online
par'cipa'on
encouraged
and
moderated,
but
not
essen'al
to
achieve
learning
outcomes.
Advanced
Essen'al
in
all
online
courses
Collabora4on
In
addi'on
to
‘Delivery’:
§ Regular learner
input
designed
into
course
&
essen/al
throughout.
§ Online
tasks
provide
meaningful
scaffold
to
forma've
and
summa've
assessment.
§ Collabora've
knowledge
construc'on
central
to
a
produc've
learning
environment.

15. Effective course design…
15
• Is team-based
• Focuses on the different types of interaction
• Is not obsessed with content
• Offers low cost but high value
• Requires digital literacy skills
• Must be innovative, participative and fun

16. Practical
Courses
(‘New
Teacher’)
< Level
7
Practical
Interventions
: Excellence
and
innovation in
L&T
(new and
existing staff)
< Level 7
L&T
Leader-
ship, HE
Policy,
Research
Supervision
etc.
Level 7
EdD
modules
Level 8
Associate
Fellow
Fellow
Senior
Fellow
20 Credits
PGCTHE
60 credits
Masters
180 credits
EdD
Peer Review
Mentoring
Scholarship
Level 7 Level 8Level 7Level 7
Qualifications

17. Open Northampton
17
Aim
To put Northampton on the global OER-OEP
map within 24 months.

18. Shift to…
18
• Appropriate ‘blends’
• Openness
• Flexibility
• Mobility

19. What will change with Waterside?
• Less physical space +
global competition for diverse and
demanding students +
innovation =
critical need to change the way we go about our
business
• The ‘learning and teaching landscape’:
composition and demographics of the student
population.