How much of what kind of assessment?

Chris Rust and Mandy Jack initiated an exchange about assessment volume, kind and equivalence on the SEDA maillist. Hours are most easily countable (and even that is not easy). There are also the number of assessment points and the "weight" given to each assessed point. Chris asserted that: the only meaningful comparison is student hours … Continue reading How much of what kind of assessment?

Last of the summer wine

Took my last day of annual leave before the new leave year today. So, I spent several hours moving this domain from Gandi.net to WordPress.com and then importing the posts from "My work blog", rworld2.brookesblogs.net. I previously lost about 20 posts two years ago from the previous host of the rWorld2.net domain and personal blog. … Continue reading Last of the summer wine

Shaping an Identity: hacking the human?

Higher education shapes identity on many levels. We can readily identify three: the individual student/academic; the institutional characteristics of the higher education sector; and wider transnational cultural-historical activity. This slicing into comprehensible tranches is characteristic of my pragmatic approach to knowing, characterised by a logic of effectiveness in the present: sure, it is a continuum, … Continue reading Shaping an Identity: hacking the human?

Knowing authentic learning experiences

Evidence is one truth condition. There are at least three others. These give us a way of knowing authentic learning experiences and provide indicators of engagement, participation and outcomes. They are, also unsurprisingly, aligned with conceptions of authority and power. Badiou (2014) recognises four truth conditions: four ways that truths or a truth may be … Continue reading Knowing authentic learning experiences

Scaffolding Ed Dev conversations: a response to Roxå, T., & Mårtensson, K. (2017)

Roxå, T., & Mårtensson, K. (2017). Agency and structure in academic development practices: are we liberating academic teachers or are we part of a machinery suppressing them? International Journal for Academic Development, 22(2), 95–105. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2016.1218883 Roxå and Mårtensson (2017) argue that the discourses of academic development as mediated through formal education and training programmes by … Continue reading Scaffolding Ed Dev conversations: a response to Roxå, T., & Mårtensson, K. (2017)

Teachers professional development as an NSS action?

I read our recently issued NSS action table in the context of preparation guidance for staff annual Performance and Development Review (PDR): For academic and other student facing staff, are they adhering to the Brookes Charter (Regulation E3) and the 8 NSS Principles. One of the NSS actions (dressed up as principles) and echoing the UK PFS … Continue reading Teachers professional development as an NSS action?

Flipping icebergs: a neo-liberal curriculum?

It feels to me like an iceberg about to tip. Ultimately this is an argument for qualitative research into the so-called subjective realms of values, beliefs and feelings. Because, in part, I suggest it is the enclosure of the subject for the reward of a few, which is at the root of the general mess … Continue reading Flipping icebergs: a neo-liberal curriculum?

A hidden curriculum

Published on: Jan 18, 2018 I examine two related concepts: hierarchised identity formation and the enclosure of desire as a hidden curriculum. A hidden curriculum is, I suggest the collection of assumptions, often about power (Brookfield 2017, chapter 2) that is communicated alongside and through the practice of overt curricula. A hidden curriculum is conveyed … Continue reading A hidden curriculum

Where risk lies for HEIs: the conflation of regulation, reputation and enhancement

I had a conversation with our head of QA about the consultations current in HE regulation. Her pragmatic approach is refreshing. I thought I might share the gist of my side of the conversation. I am working through documents at a more leisurely pace than the folk at Wonkhe. And I did read David kernohan's A game of … Continue reading Where risk lies for HEIs: the conflation of regulation, reputation and enhancement

Tinkering with algorithms

I read Franklin Foer's Facebook's War on Free Will the Guardian's "Long read" for Tuesday 19 September 2017. He recapped a familiar argument: you are Facebook's product. But when he hit "data science" I turned up my sensors. He says, "There’s a whole discipline, data science, to guide the writing and revision of algorithms". Then he … Continue reading Tinkering with algorithms