[:en]At the end of last year SALT began a series of  “In conversation with…” events, which are informal opportunities for staff to share their teaching successes. The first two events were In Conversation with…Martin Stringer, NSS Celebrating Good Practice.  If you were unable to attend either of these events here is a little synopsis, with video coverage of both below.  A list of the panel’s top tips will follow soon.

These two events focused on the courses and departments where things have gone particularly well according to the National Student Survey (NSS) in 2014-15.  Looking at the statistics from the NSS  it was interesting to see that there was marked success in different fields within the NSS question structure for each of the top six subject areas celebrated.  Each panel member discusses their particular area with some suggestions of how these ideas might be adapted for use in any subject within any school or college.  So for example:

Paul Dyson represented Genetics which is joint 1st in the country where Organisation and Management stands out in the NSS statistics, which is 13% above the Sector Median, with an impressive 100% in two areas.

Michael Draper represented Law which is 2nd in the country. Assessment and feedback stands out in the NSS stats and is well above the Sector Median, with a 15% rise from last year.

Ute Keller & Christiane Günther were invited to represent German, which is 6th in the country. Personal Development is the area that is prominent in their subject, a remarkable 99% satisfaction for 2015. 100% of their students said that as a result of the course they felt confident tackling unfamiliar problems, a considerable rise from last year and a fantastic achievement. It was also reported in the stats that Improvement in communication skills is also 100%, which is a steady increase from last year. Unfortunately Ute and Christiane were unable to attend either of the events.

Neal Harman represented Computer Science which is 2nd in the country. The course has done exceptionally well this year in all areas and has seen considerable improvements in over the last two years. Learning Resources can be difficult to have control over, but this department is well above the Sector Median.

Sian Rees is from Media Studies which is joint 1st in the country. The Teaching on the Media Studies course achieved 99% overall, 13% above the Sector Median. Sian gives a little insight to how her department achieves three areas rating 100% student satisfaction.

Mark Evans & George Fourlaris represented Materials & Minerals Technology which is 3rd in the country.  This department has been consistently high in its provision of Academic Support to its students.

Each of the panel conversations provided opportunities for the staff in the audience to share their own experiences as well as ask the panel for details of theirs.

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