News and Events

 

5th March 2012

 

Social integration and student engagement with disciplinary knowledge.

 

The University of Nottingham, 10.00am - 4.00pm. (free event, registration is required)

The workshop focuses on the teaching and learning of social science. It is widely observed that engagement with the academic project of being at university is a key component of students persevering in and benefitting from higher education.  The workshop arises from a three-year ESRC–funded project called ‘Pedagogic Quality and Inequality in Undergraduate Degrees’ to be completed in January 2012 (http://www.pedagogicequality.ac.uk). The project aimed to theorise effective and egalitarian teaching practices by investigating social science degrees in four different universities, using a theoretical framework drawn from the work of the sociologist of education Basil Bernstein.                                  

The workshop will disseminate and build on striking findings about how, for students, good quality teaching supports their efforts to know and understand their discipline. Such teaching resides, above all, in (1) seminars which include authentic tasks and stimulating, challenging discussion in which all members partake and (2) good quality of relationships with tutors. The project has illuminated how these seemingly simple yet essential goals are difficult to achieve, and has also provided clues about how to achieve them.

 The goal of the workshop is to produce outcomes of practical use by:

1. Working with findings from a major research project demonstrating that the social and interpersonal aspects of learning are central to engagement with disciplinary knowledge.
2. Showing how Bernstein’s concept of ‘pedagogic rights’ can inform thinking about social integration in the academic sphere.

Please use attached bookings form to reserve a place: bookings form

8th November 2011

Rethinking Quality in the UK: Teaching and Learning in Higher Education - Tuesday 8th November 2011 at the Work Foundation, London. (By invitation only)

This event was convened for policy makers from a range of national and international organisations that represent government, students, universities, academics, employers and regulatory agencies.Further details (in pdf format)

Event papers:

Event Programme: Final%20Programme,

Research Findings: Policy%20makers%20event%20findings%20Final

Presentation: QEF%20Thematic%20Summary%20October%202010

Presentation: Developing and sustaining a collegiate approach to quality

27 January 2012

Nottingham Symposium (By invitation only)

This Symposium is for an invited group of 60 university teachers and students of social sciences, and higher education researches to discuss two inter-related themes: The value of learning social sciences at university and strengthening the teaching of university social science. The symposium is intended to be highly participatory with a panel of five people for each theme stimulating 'round table' discussions in groups chaired by members of the project's Steering Group. Programme and details will be available soon.

24 September 2009

Biographical Methods Day - Thursday 24 September 2009 at the University of Nottingham, in association with C-SAP and the SRHE Student Experience Network

The aim of the day was for participants to debate and begin to develop a co-authored paper(s) on the potential benefits and drawback of drawing upon students' own biographies to enhance the learning and teaching of sociology in universities. Further details (in pdf format).

Seven collaborative papers are being produced. Andrea Abbas and Monica McLean edit the collection.  The Chief Editor of the HEA Centre for Sociology, Anthropology and Politics (C-Sap) journal ELISS, has expressed strong support for a proposal based upon these papers. 

The outcome of the day is a collection of edited papers written by the participants and published by ELiSS now available here.