This event is funded as part of the HEA STEM workshop and seminar series 2013-14. The workshop is free to attend for delegates from both HEA subscribing and non-subscribing institutions but booking is essential to secure your place as numbers are limited.

STEM_HEA-Logo_RGB_JPEGOur colleagues at Higher Education Academy (HEA) STEM will be holding their annual conference next year at the University of Edinburgh on 30 April – 1 May 2014.

Its theme will be “Enhancing the STEM Student Journey” and there’s a deadline of 22 November 2013 for the submission of full papers, abstracts for oral presentations and workshops.  In addition, the HEA are running the Technician of the Year Awards; a series of prestigious awards that celebrate the technician’s contribution to teaching and learning activities and to the wider HE student experience.  Awards will be presented at the Conference with the winners receiving £250 each of Amazon vouchers in recognition of their contribution to STEM education.  Nominations are welcome from technicians, academic staff, students and senior management.

Technician of the Year Awards
Launch: 2 September 2013
Closing date: 1 February 2014

In recognition of the valuable role technicians have in supporting the student learning experience the Higher Education Academy (HEA) is sponsoring annual awards for technicians who have provided outstanding support for the student learning experience.  The awards ceremony will take place at the conference and we are excited to announce that Professor Iain Stewart of BBC Earth fame will presenting the awards for the STEM Technicians of the Year and will be giving a talk after dinner about his subject area.

 

The Higher Education Academy

 
The HEA STEM conference entitled “Enhancing the STEM Student Journey” will take place at the University of Edinburgh on 30 April – 1 May 2014.

Presentations are accepted in the following formats;

  • Full paper – a maximum of 6 pages including references & eligible for publication afterwards,
  • Oral presentations – only an abstract is required and should not be more than 200-250 words,
  • Workshops – only an abstract is required and should not be more than 200-250 words,
  • Posters- only an abstract is required and should not be more than 200-250 words, we have three prizes available for Undergraduates, Postgraduates and Staff.

Topics could include but are not limited to:

  • Learning, Teaching and Assessment in STEM disciplines
  • Enhancing the employability skills of STEM graduates
  • Innovative STEM education
  • Transitions within the student experience
  • Students as partners
  • Laboratory and technical skills
  • Mathematical and Statistical skills in the disciplines
  • Internationalising STEM education

Important dates/deadlines:

  • 22 Nov 2013 deadline for the submission of full papers, abstracts for oral presentations and workshops
  • 10 Jan 2014 notification of acceptance of full papers, abstracts for oral presentations and workshops
  • 24 Jan 2014 deadline for submissions for poster competitions
  • 21 Feb 2014 deadline for the submission of camera-ready copies of full papers (undergraduates, postgraduates, support staff/technicians and lecturers)
  • 14 Feb 2014 notification of acceptance of poster abstracts
  • 14 Mar 2014 at least one presenting author to be registered.

Presentation Format: Pecha Kucha
This year, we’re taking a new approach to presentations, using a Pecha Kucha (literally translated: chitchat) presentation format to allow more time for interaction and discussions.

Submissions should be made via EasyChair

Poster Competition
Posters (A1 841 x 594 mm) will be displayed throughout the conference. There will be prizes for the best posters from Undergraduates, Postgraduates and Staff – good luck!

STEM Subjects

BioSciences Biology, Botany, Zoology, Genetics, Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Biophysics and Biochemistry, Others in Biological Sciences, Agriculture, Forestry & Arboriculture Food and Beverage studies, Agricultural Sciences
Built Environment Architecture, Building, Landscape Design, Planning (Urban, Rural and Regional), Urban Design, Others in Architecture, Building and Planning.
Computing Computer Science, Information Systems, Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Health Informatics, Games, Computer Generated Visual & Audio Effects, Others in Computer Science
Engineering and Materials General Engineering, Mechanical, Production and Manufacturing Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Naval Architecture, Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Chemical, Process and Energy Engineering, Others in Engineering, Materials and Minerals Technology, Maritime Technology, Others in Technology,
GEES Geology, Physical Geographical Sciences, Science of Aquatic & Terrestrial Environments, Human and Social Geography, Development Studies, Environmental Science.
MSOR Mathematics, Operational Research, Statistics, Mathematics and Statistics Support, Others in Mathematical Sciences
Physical Sciences Chemistry, Physics, Forensic and Archaeological Science, Astronomy, Others in Physical Sciences
Psychology Psychology, Counselling and Psychotherapy

 

 

STEM_HEA-Logo_RGB_JPEGUniversity technical staff make a vital contribution to the success of their institution on many fronts, not least the teaching and learning experience.

To recognise this, the Higher Education Academy offer the Technician of the Year Awards; a series of prestigious awards that celebrate the technician’s contribution to teaching and learning activities and to the wider HE student experience.  Awards will be presented at the HEA STEM Annual Conference 30 Apr 2014 – 1 May 2014 at the University of Edinburgh. The winners will receive £250 each of Amazon vouchers in recognition of their contribution to STEM education.  Nominations are welcome from technicians, academic staff, students and senior management.

Closing date; 1 February 2014.  

The day will include sessions on: Assessment and Feedback, OER (Open Educational Resources), Teaching for Diversity, Facilitating Small Group Teaching, & Professional Development and the HEA.

Successful engineering graduates require confidence in order to solve new problems, work with colleagues and excel in their careers. It has also been identified that confident engineering graduates are more likely to pursue careers in engineering. This workshop has been developed to consider how academics can enable engineering students to develop confidence through teaching, learning and assessment. In addition, the sessions have been designed to align with the appropriate NSS questions.

It is the first time that an NTT workshop has been sponsored by a professional engineering institution, the IET. Invited guest speakers (to be confirmed) will provide valuable context concerning employer expectations regarding desirable graduate abilities.
During this event delegates will develop Top 10 Tips for building confident engineers. It is envisaged that delegates will be able to create case studies of their new practices which can be disseminated amongst the community.

Academic staff who teach or directly manage degree programmes in the Engineering & Mathematics disciplines are invited to book onto the Changing the Learning Landscape (CLL) workshop ‘Social Media in Engineering & Mathematics’.

This free one-day workshop will provide a practical introduction to the use of social media to enhance learning and teaching practice in the STEM disciplines.  Through a series of presentations,  activities and discussions, led by academics from the Engineering & Mathematics discipline areas, participants will be introduced to social media approaches and see discipline-focused examples of social media applied in teaching practice.

Topics covered include:

• Assisting Engineering & Maths staff use social media in their teaching

• Using Facebook for Peer Assisted Learning in Mathematics and Computing Science

• Team based learning within Engineering Education: Bringing the social into the classroom

• The benefits of using Augmented Reality to enhance the student experience in Engineering & Maths.

Up to £5,000 of funding will be available to event attendees in total, ranging from £500 to £2,500 for small-scale projects to embed learning technologies into practice.

Please share widely with colleagues who may be interested.
Changing the Learning Landscape (CLL) is a HEFCE-funded programme supporting and encouraging higher and further education institutions to make a step change in how they adopt effective and strategic uses of online technology in teaching and learning.

The programme is a unique partnership between the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education, JISC, the National Union of Students, the Association for Learning Technology and the Higher Education Academy (HEA).

For general enquiries about this workshop please email Alex Fenlon alex.fenlon@heacademy.ac.uk.

The workshop is designed for postgraduate students who are new to teaching in Engineering. It will be delivered by experienced academics who are subject specialists in education and Engineering and the content and delivery will be discipline specific. There will also be a Moodle site with activities and resources to support your learning.

DRAFT PROGRAMME

11.00 – 12.00 Professional Development and the HEA, Nigel Purcell, Academic Lead, UKPSF and Recognition

12.00 – 1.00 LUNCH

1.00 – 2.00 Assessment and Feedback, Karen Fraser, Academic Development, Higher Education Academy

2.00 – 2.20 Coffee break

2.20 – 3.20 Teaching for Diversity

3.20 – 4.20 Small Group Teaching

4.20 CLOSE

Pre-session preparation:
Prepare a short (2 pages) outline of teaching activity you are involved in, including, topic, style of delivery, intended student learning outcomes, and any challenges faced. Don’t feel you have to get this right: the more messy issues, the better. And if you are wondering about something, you can guarantee that others are too – if you mention it, you’ll be saving them the effort!

On the 7/8 June 2012, the National HE STEM Programme, in conjunction with the Royal Society of Chemistry and sigma, held a two-day workshop aimed at supporting those wishing to engage in pedagogic research within the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in UK higher education. The event was attended by around 35 participants from across the higher education sector who engaged with a range of plenary, discussion and interactive sessions , and who were supported by the workshop facilitators to develop an individual action plan to help them undertake pedagogic research in the future. A series of video case studies of participants are available where they share their reasons for attending, plans for the future, and describe how this workshop has helped inform their future research activities and approaches.
Following the success of this initial event the STEM Education Centre at the University of Birmingham and the Royal Society of Chemistry, with generous financial support provided by the Higher Education Academy are organising a follow-on event scheduled to take place at Weetwood Hall Conference Centre (Leeds) on the 17/18 December 2012.

 

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