A conference hosted by the Institute for Education Policy Research at Staffordshire University.

Date and Times
Friday 8th May 2009, 10:00am-4:30pm

Location
Ashley Building, Leek Road, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 2DF

Introduction

A possible effect of the changing student population in higher education and the increased emphasis on students to develop life-long learning attributes is that university teaching staff may wish to re-evaluate their approach to teaching and question more closely what student learning within higher education means. The annual Professional Development Conference at Staffordshire University is intended to help in that re-evaluation process and provides the opportunity for teaching professionals to talk with, and listen to, leading researchers into student learning. It is hoped that at the end of the conference participants will have a more informed approach to enhancing student learning and a clearer awareness of their own continual professional development needs.

Programme

Registration will take place in Room LT001. All presentations will take place in Room LT001. Lunch will take place in the Ashley Foyer. All venues are in the Ashley Building on the University's Leek Road Campus in Stoke-on-Trent.

About the speakers

• Professor Miriam David
  
  MIRIAM DAVID is Professor of Sociology of Education and Associate Director (Higher Education) of the ESRC's Teaching and Learning Research Programme at the Institute of Education, University of London. She has a world class reputation for her research on social diversity, gender and inequalities in education, including lifelong learning and higher education.
  
  Her forthcoming publications include editing Improving Learning through Widening Participation to Higher Education (2009, London: Routledge) and she was guest editor of a recent special issue of Research Papers in Education (vol. 23, no. 2) on the theme of 'Challenges of diversity for widening participation in UK higher education', which included 10 papers from the Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP) on widening participation to, and involvement in, higher education and lifelong learning.
• Professor Peter Hartley
  
  PETER HARTLEY is Professor of Education Development at the University of Bradford where he is now Director of the Centre for Academic Practice. He was part of the successful bids for the University's two partnership Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning - CETLs (LearnHigher and Assessment Learning in Practice Settings - ALPS) and remains active in the LearnHigher group work area.
  
  Peter has published multimedia software to support students' job-hunting through interactive virtual learning - The Interviewer - commercially published by Gower, 2004. His other publications include research on assessment feedback, and his work on teams (Group Communication, published by Routledge) and student project groups (the LearnHigher group resource at www.learnhighergroupwork.com) which provide the basis for this presentation.
• Paul Orsmond
  
  PAUL ORSMOND is a senior lecturer in biology at Staffordshire University. As a teacher researcher he has published extensively on assessment in higher education with a specialist interest in self- and peer-assessment. In this presentation Paul will consider peer learning at university, but outside the formal curriculum setting.

Booking a place

Bookings for this conference can be made online using our conference booking form.

The cost of the conference is £65 for external delegates.

Payment options:

• Cheque - (made out to Staffordshire University and addressed to Institute for Education Policy Research, Staffordshire University, Brindley Building, Leek Road, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 2DF)
• Debit/credit card - (please call our Cashiers Office on +44 (0)1782 294412 to make payment)

More information

For further information please contact: