Inclusive Curriculum and Assessments Workshop Series 2024
In higher education an inclusive approach in our teaching practices is vital as it recognizes students from a range of diverse backgrounds who differ by age, gender, class, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, and faith. They have varied learning styles, confidence, self-esteem, educational experience, and cultural capital. This diversity is a key strength, and our approaches should be inclusive and place the student at the heart of the learning process. A series of workshops are planned at institutional level to train staff on the fundamentals of inclusive curriculum and assessments, share best practices and understand the sector wide approaches in reducing degree awarding gaps. These workshops are aimed at practitioners and staff who interact with students as part of their academic studies.
Key Information
Objectives:
- To train staff in fundamentals of inclusive curriculum and assessments.
- To develop a fundamental toolkit and repository for use by all staff across the institution
- To take a unified approach that includes skills, approaches to build inclusivity in our teaching.
- Embedding inclusivity in quality enhancement and management processes
Audience:
- Lecturers
- Programme or module leaders, curriculum partners.
- Colleagues with related responsibility for inclusive teaching and learning and/or curriculum review.
- EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) leads/managers
- Education and Student Experience managers or those with student facing roles are also welcome.
Venue:
All sessions will be hosted online, via Microsoft Teams and Zoom for the Advance HE sessions, in half-day facilitated workshops.
Spotlight Series:
Workshop attendance will be limited to ensure effective delivery. Places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. All of the dates are confirmed, except for workshop 4 which is still to be confirmed. We will contact those who have completed the expression of interest forms with the finalised details once they are fully confirmed.
All times listed are UK times.
Workshop 1: Inclusive Curriculum
Date:
- 19th April, 10AM - 2PM (Cohort 1)
- 2nd May, 9.30AM - 1.30PM (Cohort 2)
Aims: The session aims to support institutions with their approaches and understandings of inclusive curriculum design, review, and enhancement. It will;
- Describe the wider sector context for inclusive curriculum design, review, and enhancement.
- Identify different approaches and interventions being used to enhance or embed inclusion and equity into curricula.
- Explore and understand common challenges in developing or reviewing curriculum with an inclusion and equity lens.
- Critically reflect on their own curriculum design, delivery, or practice.
- Discuss issues of inclusive curriculum with others with confidence.
Delivered by: Advance HE
Note: Certificates will be issued by Advance HE for attending and taking part in this workshop.
Workshop 2: Inclusive Equitable Assessments and Feedback
Date:
- 30th April, 9.30AM - 1.30PM (Cohort 1)
- 8th May, 1PM - 4PM (Cohort 2)
Aims: This session aims to empower educators with practical strategies for creating fair and supportive assessment practices. It will:
- Establish the importance of inclusive assessment and its impact on student success.
- Explore the principles and components of inclusive assessment.
- Examine bias in assessment and strategies for promoting equity.
- Explore feedback as an integral part of assessment.
- Engage students in the assessment process.
- Encourage participants to reflect on their learning and commit to actionable steps.
Delivered by: Advance HE
Note: Certificates will be issued by Advance HE for attending and taking part in this workshop.
Workshop 3: Inclusive Design
Date: 14th May, 11.30AM - 2PM
Aims: The aim of this workshop is to address inclusive curriculum and authentic assessments at the design stage of the programme. Programme teams will highlight case studies from MHS (Medicine and Health Sciences) and Pharmacy, collaborative approaches with students and including those with protected characteristics. Topics will include:
- Student-Staff collaborations - How Do We Do It Effectively? How do we ensure inclusion for all students?
- Design for constructive alignment that supports learning.
Delivered by: Curriculum Nottingham, Educational Development Team, along with University of Nottingham academic staff and students at our UK campus
Workshop 4: Data to Inform Action
Date: 17th May, 10AM - 1PM
Aims: Data is the foundation to make informed decisions and to design targeted approaches. Our data analytics team will go through some of the key areas relating to OfS (Office for Students) benchmarking for degree awarding and continuation gaps. Insights will be given on APP (Access and Participation Plan) longitudinal dashboard, data on demographics breakdown at module level on assessment types. This workshop will provide insights on designing targeted approaches and interventions.
Delivered by: University of Nottingham Data Analytics Team
Workshop 5: Academic Skills for Student Success
Date: 22nd May, 10AM - 1PM
Aims: The Academic Skills team sits within Libraries Learning Development and supports students with their study skills throughout their university journey. The University of Nottingham Libraries Academic Skills team has resources and bookable sessions for incorporation into modules and during orientation. Topics covered in workshop will include:
- An introduction to the Academic Skills team and the provision they offer.
- Confidence to Contribute - a workshop which aims to build student confidence and facilitate participation in seminar and group learning scenarios.
Delivered by: University of Nottingham Libraries Learning Development Team
Workshop 6: Enhancing Equity, Agency, and Transparency in Assessment
Date: 24th May 10AM - 1PM
Aims: The awarding gap for key demographics of students is an established problem, and one which urgently needs addressing, especially for Global Majority ethnicities and international students, as well as students with neurodiversity or disabilities. There is a strong movement in the sector towards equity and inclusive practices in both teaching and assessment, but we still have a long way to go. There is substantial research done notably in developing assessment feedback practice in higher education. There are however inherent challenges in using this information effectively to enhance assessment practice at all levels within an institution to sustainably manage student and staff perspectives. This online workshop will focus on ways in which we can empower students of all backgrounds through assessment and ensure equity of opportunity in those assessments. The workshop will surface the challenges that our students face regarding assessment – challenges which are exacerbated for certain student demographics. A toolkit developed for implementing research-informed participatory assessment framework will be highlighted to put learning into practice.
Delivered by: Prof. Steve Rutherford, Professor of Bioscience Education at Cardiff University, UK. Steve recently led the ‘EAT-Erasmus’ project, an Erasmus+ funded project to develop assessment tools and resources for the European HE community. Steve is a National Teaching Fellow and SFHEA, and researches assessment, inclusive learning communities, and student learning development.
Teaching and Learning Conference 2024