Celebrating Swansea University’s 700th person with HEA Fellowship recognition

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Celebrating Swansea University’s 700th Colleague gaining a Category of HEA Fellowship!

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Dr. Aled Singleton, School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics, AFHEA

In the HEA Fellowship blog, we’re continuing to measure the impact that HEA Fellowship has on teaching practices, on students and on the practices and approaches of peers. We’ve also asked for some suggestions when teaching/supporting learning online!

Darren Minister from SALT’s Recognition team interviews Dr. Aled Singleton from the School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics to gain his reflections on his impetus for gaining Associate Fellowship (AFHEA) recognition as post-doctoral staff member.  Aled offer tips for other researchers who have some responsibilities for teaching and/or support student’s learning in preparing their AFHEA claim.

(You can watch more tips from Aled and Marcos Quintela-Vasquez at our June 2023 Effective Practice seminar.)

 

Aled’s Top Tips – Give yourself time, attend seminars, come to the SALT Conference

 

Tell us about your discipline, the skills you teach, how long have you been teaching in Swansea and in HE

I’ve actually come to teaching sort of mid-career really. I spent most of my professional life managing place-based and regeneration projects. My discipline is Geography broadly, and about how our relationship with place and time. My first degree is actually in Computer Science, which is massively different to Geography, especially Human Geography, that I do now.

I came to Swansea to do a PhD which was about ageing and broadly about our relationship with places over our life. Studying these kind of emotional attachments to places led me more towards Geography as a discipline I wanted to concentrate on for the future, especially in terms of teaching. During my PhD, I did a bit of teaching on the Creative Writing Non-fiction course in English, because one of my supervisors is a writer. I did some tutoring during the pandemic on online tutoring, through the Brilliant Club.

In the last couple of years, I’ve taught workshops on research methods with Master students and PhD students. I also did a bit of work with Year Two geography students in 2022. But then this year I’ve taken up a role doing teaching and tutoring in Geography, so first and second year students. We’ve been covering subjects like globalisation and health, and different human geography techniques. Also, I have been tutoring 40 students in the first and second year. In March we went to Berlin on a lower carbon field trip. Plus, I work two days a week as a Research Officer.

 

You gained Associate Fellowship in November 2022 congratulations. You’re also a seven hundredth colleague within Swansea University to gain a category of HEA Fellowship. So why was gaining HEA Fellowship important to you and why did you apply?

As I was coming towards the end of my PhD, I started to realise more clearly that the University is not just about research. In fact, you can quite easily, as a researcher, just wander around the university campus and not even notice how many students there are. I know it sounds strange, but you operate in very different worlds. You go to different conferences and, especially in the pandemic, we weren’t here on campus very much.

A different motivation was that I struggled quite a lot in my first and second year as an undergraduate. After 20 years I guess that I thought a bit more clearly about wanting to do teaching. Moving to the Geography Department for a postdoc year meant that there was a lot more contact with students. I asked if I could do some teaching and they gave me some opportunities. Then last year I just realised that having the HEA Fellowship recognition was definitely going to be critical to taking my teaching forward. Also, I realised that I didn’t have any sort of formal recognition. The Brilliant Club was really good in terms of their training. They give you lots of guidance, and they make sure that you follow lots of online learning before they let you do any work with students. For example, when I got interviewed for the Brilliant Club they made me think hard about being in the classroom, and they even pretended to be young students when I had to give them a mock class. However, it doesn’t seem to be quite the same at university. You seem to just get chucked into things. The HEA framework was a good as it was structured, and it’s something which applies to every HE institution. I can talk a little bit more about the support here at Swansea, but the HEA framework felt like a structure, and it felt like some basic teaching principles to follow.

I think it was quite good that the HEA scheme does appreciate that people have to start somewhere, and the different levels mean that you can prove what you’re doing as you go along. It’s long-term commitment and a transferable qualification as well. Since getting the recognition I’ve done bits of teaching, not just at Swansea, and it’s been helpful to show that I’ve got that qualification. So, I think altogether it was something to aim for back in 2022. It took me a while to put together my application, and to plan ahead where I was going to gain my experience.

You mentioned online learning, so how have you continued to apply the standards of the UKPSF in your work since gaining recognition. Also, do you have any tips for anybody teaching online or supporting learning online?

I now spend a lot more time physically at the University. The Geography Department seems to be pretty good when it comes to arranging tutorials as one-to-ones and group tutorials outside of lectures. I can certainly see how that goes beyond what happens in the classroom, and particularly, offers more than an online scenario where you turn up and you deliver online and make a video recording there.

The tutoring helps to fulfil A4: supporting and guiding. For example, by creating different environments outside of the formal classroom or the online space. It’s been really good to help individual students and help them work together as well. The smaller spaces means that they’re a bit more confident. I can see how they’ve got more confident, certainly in terms of how to discuss ideas and help each other. For example, the first years looked at referencing and critical reading skills, and I think they’ve benefited a lot from that. It’s a very different scenario to standing up and delivering lecture that you have prepared. With the tutoring it’s a bit more directed by the students. This is now really apparent to me, having come away from the phase of teaching online.

One of the things that’s opened up for me is an opportunity to write a chapter for a book about Outdoor Learning. This was a link made by one of your colleagues in SALT, Louise. The book is being done through SEDA and will be published by Routledge. This is something that’s been chugging along in the background and means that I get to share some of the work that we do here at Swansea to the wider world. These scenarios, these opportunities, are helped by connections made through Twitter. In fact, the people I’m working with on the book, I’ve never actually met them in person, and it’s all been through online contact. This collaboration with others enhances what we do at Swansea and shares it with other people. Hopefully we will be able to bring in a lot of the other contents of that book to teaching here too. Did you ask about tips?

Is there anything that you learned about teacher online that you now apply in any face-to-face teaching? Or you are specifically supporting students as they get more used to face-to-face teaching again?

I found that using Mentimeter was really helpful when we were doing stuff online, because we could get the students to give some feedback and help shape the different teaching. Using Mentimeter in the classroom is something which I’ve carried on with since the pandemic. Also, it gives an anonymity to the students as, for some of them, it takes a while to get used to asking questions in class. It’s very visual as well, it goes up there on the screen during the lecture. This means that I can incorporate their feedback into the lecture recordings, and I also put it on Canvas afterwards. So that’s been really useful.

I think generally that Canvas means we can assemble lots of other materials, and not just the lectures. I think also, being able to offer online one-to-one meetings is a good thing as not all of the students live close to campus, nor the staff either. That’s been really helpful to be able to carry on using things like Zoom for the different meetings. I think one of the good things about Zoom, or whatever else people use, is you add links into the chat and incorporate resources straight away. Probably because I’m still ‘newer’ to teaching than lots of other people, the technology doesn’t daunt me: it’s all useful, plus, my first degree was in computer science, so I understand how it all works as well.

Sometimes when you are newer to teaching you are not as encumbered with as much ‘baggage’ as it were, so you are more willing to maybe try things which later on, as you get stuck in routines and everything, you maybe become bit less reluctant to do so, having that sort of mentality is really nice.

Yeah, I think things like using Panopto to record lectures doesn’t always work quite as we expect. Sometimes you get thrown by a room having different AV equipment to another room. But I think videos are pretty good; the way that we can just share stuff with students. Also, the deeper I get into teaching, the more I understand that students have got lots of work to do and other reasons, so digital recordings really help those students who, for whatever reason, can’t come to lectures. Furthermore, we can turn around the editing really quickly. I mean I generally just do lecture, come back, edit, get it out, and that’s something which I assume didn’t happen before the pandemic. I basically wrote my PhD Thesis during the pandemic, and finished my PhD in the pandemic, so working remotely wasn’t as big an issue for me. But I can see how it probably was for people who were used to doing everything in the classroom itself.

For someone not sure about applying for HEA Fellowship recognition. What words of encouragement would you offer?

I think, first of all, like everything in the academic world it is effectively based on peer review. So, it’s based on people reviewing each other’s work. Initially you have to get two referees to support your application and that involved one colleague coming to one of my lectures and giving an observation on my lecture. The other person was my mentor.

It is in the University’s interest to have more people go through this particular scheme and it is great, and actually quite surprising as well, to be the 700th person. In my case, applying for the Associate Fellow, set a direction for me in 2022. It made me think about what I needed to discover, what I needed to follow and it pushed me a bit harder. The thought of applying for full Fellowship this year is also pushing me harder as well; things like writing that book chapter, and any even things like writing a blog after the Berlin field trip. Thinking about made me think a bit more clearly about sort of what we could offer the students on that on that trip. Actually, one colleague, they’ve mentioned how students use things like Instagram as a way of telling us how they’re getting on with the field trip.

The process of applying for the Associate Fellowship was pretty rigorous. At times I did think is it worth it? Because it did feel like so much extra stuff to do. But they [SALT] did give you some useful guidelines, and it means that you can transfer these skills to other places as well.

So, what top tips would you offer to someone preparing an Associate Fellow application?

Tip 1 is about asking for help. I would say that the whole set up at Swansea is really well organised, and you can see which members of staff are behind it. The whole thing is devised as a Canvas course which takes you step-by-step through what you need to do, and the SALT team are very experienced. Sometimes it does feel a little bit overly structured, but having completed it I can see why now. Everything you need to find is on that Canvas course, which is useful.

Tip 2 would be to give yourself time to actually attend things like seminars. I went on quite a few seminars by BERA and I also went to the RGS (Royal Geographic Society) Geography Conference last year. There was quite a bit of content there which was about learning and teaching, some of them were recorded so you could listen to them again. I think each discipline will have its own sort of education angle. Like I said, for me, coming from that more research background and applying this education, it took me a while to find these things.

Point 3, I would go to the SALT Conference, and also pitch an abstract to the conference as well. I sent one last year, and it was really helpful for me to get some feedback from people and just make some useful connections. Quite a few connections have come from me doing that presentation plus I actually used it in my application as well. Make sure that you are part of what SALT does. Various members of stuff have been really helpful to me to take things further. And you know, like talking to you today, you can see that it is taken seriously by the University.

For Further Details

Visit SALT’s webpages for details of the internally accredited programme leading to Associate, Fellow or Senior Fellow and for links to Principal Fellow resources.

This year’s SALT Conference is July 12th 2023 at the Bay Campus.  Further details and to register, see SALT’s website:

 

HEA Fellowship – supporting effective practice and guiding colleagues as an assessor

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In the HEA Fellowship blog, we’re continuing to measure the impact that HEA Fellowship has on teaching practices, on students and on the practices and approaches of peers. We’ve also asked for some suggestions when teaching/supporting learning online!

In this post, Adesola Ademiloye from the Faculty of Science and Engineering shares his story of gaining HEA Fellowship (FHEA) recognition through the PG Cert teaching in Higher Education programme and of the tremendous benefits to his practice he gains by mentoring and guiding others in his assessor role.

 

“I find the opportunity to mentor others in their journey to become better teachers and gain recognition for their teaching practices to be incredibly fulfilling, even as an academic on the enhanced research pathway

 

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Dr. Adesola Ademiloye, Department of Biomedical Engineering

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Gaining a Broader Perspective – the value of being an assessor

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In the HEA Fellowship blog, we’re continuing to measure the impact that HEA Fellowship has on teaching practices, on students and on the practices and approaches of peers. 

Mariolino Carta recorded a blog interview with Darren Minister from the Recognition Team on 26th October 2022. He discusses the value that being an assessor gives to enhancing his practice:

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Mariolino Carta, FHEA

…I’m assessing some of the HEA Fellowship applications and this gives me this extra perspective I was talking about. Sometimes I get very good tips from sound applications.

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Gaining HEA Senior Fellowship recognition and the value of being an assessor

In the HEA Fellowship blog, we’re continuing to measure the impact that HEA Fellowship has on teaching practices, on students and on the practices and approaches of peers. We’ve also asked for some suggestions when teaching/supporting learning online!

In this post, Desiree Cranfield, from the School of Management discusses her HEA Senior Fellowship recognition (SFHEA), with pointers to the impact on her practice that has arisen by her being an assessor on Swansea’s Experiential route:

Being an assessor has been an eye opener … inspiring me to think of other innovative approaches as I read and assess the submissions.

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HEA Senior Fellowship – Within a Team, make Sure you explain YOUR Impact

Words: We Hear You

In the HEA Fellowship blog, we’re continuing to measure the impact that HEA Fellowship has on teaching practices, on students and on the practices and approaches of peers. We’ve also asked for some suggestions when teaching/supporting learning online!

In this post, Sophie Leslie, Student Partnership & Feedback Development Officer in Academic Quality Services shares her story of helping staff to engage with student feedback and the important role of mentoring others in gaining her HEA Senior Fellowship recognition (SFHEA).

“A large part of my role is to support staff engagement with student feedback and quality enhancement and therefore the mentoring and coaching part of this is vital

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Leading in Teaching and Learning: A Professional Services Perspective

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We’re continuing to measure the impact that HEA Fellowship has on teaching practices, on students and on the practices and approaches of peers. We’ve also asked for some suggestions when teaching/supporting learning online!

Fellowship isn’t however restricted to just academic staff who teach.  A range of professional services staff who also support learning have this recognition and we feature one of these in this month’s blogpost.

The Senior Fellowship to me was about leadership within teaching. It enables you to review what has worked well, but more importantly to look forward as a leader as to what your subject area needs and how you can implement this”

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HEA Fellowship – an opportunity for cross-cultural pedagogical reflection

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In the HEA Fellowship blog, we’re continuing to measure the impact that HEA Fellowship has on teaching practices, on students and on the practices and approaches of peers. We’ve also asked for some suggestions when teaching/supporting learning online!

In this post, Gisselle Tur Porres from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Science shares her story of reflecting on both pedagogical and cultural differences in supporting learning helped frame her claim for HEA Fellowship (FHEA).

“As a reflective practitioner myself, the Fellowship recognition process has allowed me to reflect, rethink learning and teaching experiences and work towards further development of my teaching practices, with cultural pertinence

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Associate Fellowship recognition – supporting student learning as a demonstrator

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In the HEA Fellowship blog, we’re continuing to measure the impact that HEA Fellowship has on teaching practices, on students and on the practices and approaches of peers. We’ve also asked for some suggestions when teaching/supporting learning online!

In this post, Xiaorong Li from the Faculty of Science and Engineering shares her experiences of supporting learners as a demonstrator and how, in reflecting on that, gained Associate Fellowship recognition (AFHEA).

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Supporting Staff in Assuring and Enhancing Quality of Learning and Teaching

James Bennett

In the HEA Fellowship blog, we’re continuing to measure the impact that HEA Fellowship has on teaching practices, on students and on the practices and approaches of peers. We’ve also asked for some suggestions when teaching/supporting learning online!

In this post, James Bennett from Academic Quality Services (AQS) shares how he was able to draw on his work in supporting staff in developing new and revised programmes of study to gain HEA Associate Fellowship and the adjustments needed to support staff in changing delivery modes in the pandemic.

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Being an Associate Fellow and adapting to online support – a view from the Archives staff

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In the HEA Fellowship blog, we’re continuing to measure the impact that HEA Fellowship has on teaching practices, on students and on the practices and approaches of peers. We’ve also asked for some suggestions when teaching/supporting learning online!

In this post, Katrina Legg, Assistant Archivist in the Richard Burton Archives shares her story about the impact of Associate Fellowship recognition and how she (and the rest of the Archives staff) had to adapt to supporting learners and staff online.

About Katrina’s support for learners and researchers

I started at Swansea University in 2007, initially cataloguing the Co-operative Societies of South Wales Collection and the papers of Raymond Williams as well as transcribing the diaries of Richard Burton; but my role developed and included supporting existing teaching sessions and developing new opportunities.

The sessions delivered or resources created usually give an introduction to the Archives at Swansea University and to what archives can offer to students and researchers and can have a generic or specific approach. The Archives have worked with colleagues in History, English, Nursing, Geography, Linguistics and Social Policy and there’s scope to go to other disciplines too.

Why did gaining Associate Fellowship recognition matter to you?

It validated not only what I did but what the Archives offered to staff and students across the university. It showed that there was an appreciation of these sessions and helped to raise the profile of the service.

It opened up opportunities to do other things, including working with SALT such as CPD sessions and the co-authoring of ‘Applying the seven principles of good practice: archives in the 21st century university’ for Archives and Records (https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa53509).

It was interesting to analyse the pedagogical and theoretical aspects of learning and teaching as well as the practical, which tend to take precedence.

How have you continued to apply the standards of the UK PSF in your work during the move to online teaching/support for learning?

The Archives has been keen to continue supporting learning and teaching. As part of this sessions that were previously delivered in person in lecture theatres or in the Archives Reading Room have been reviewed and developed.

We have provided short videos for lecturers to include in sessions. Online in person teaching sessions via Zoom have been delivered and it has been interesting to add aspects that can only be done online to these, e.g. searching online catalogues and portals. This type of interactive element has also been included in a CANVAS Non-Accredited Course: Using Archives that has been developed for anyone at Swansea University.

We’ve also created a series of research guides to promote the collections and show some of the immense potential. Attending sessions at the online SALT conference 2021 was a really useful way of finding out what approaches colleagues are taking and we were pleased to deliver a live, interactive workshop – More than Documents and Digitisation! Archives for Learning and Teaching – now available online.

What top tips would you offer to someone delivering online teaching/learner support in HE?

Think about what you already offer and how this can be translated into an online world, as well as how an online version may give different opportunities. There’s lots of different ways to do things online.

Give yourself time to learn the technology, prepare and deliver/create. With other commitments it can be a fine balancing act so do take advice and get support from the outset.

Have support on hand for live sessions via Zoom. We’ve found that it’s good to have two members of staff so that one can deliver the session and another can keep an eye on chat / technical issues as well as providing a second voice.

Be prepared to speak to a lot of blank screens, which can be a bit disconcerting!

For someone not sure about applying for HEA Fellowship recognition what words of encouragement could you offer?

It’s a really useful way of exploring what you already do and thinking about why you do particular things, how they can be improved and what you might like to do in the future.

It gives you recognition and validation of the work that you’ve done and how it’s had a positive impact.

It highlights connections between colleagues and suggests other ways of working, to reach and support more staff and students across the university.

What top tips would you offer to someone preparing an HEA Associate Fellow/Fellowship application?

Start listing things that you’ve done – you’ll be surprised at how much you’ve achieved that is relevant to the process

Talk to colleagues in SALT – they’re really friendly and helpful

Look at the SALT and Advance HE websites – great for information and inspiration

Talk to colleagues in your department and elsewhere who have either gone through the HEA application process or are also considering it

For Further Details

Visit SALT’s webpages for details of the internally accredited programme leading to Associate, Fellow or Senior Fellow and for links to Principal Fellow resources