SCALE-UP: Sharing best practice and delivering effective training at London South Bank University

SCALE-UP (Student Centred Active Learning Environment with Upside Down Pedagogies) reached a milestone birthday at Nottingham Trent University (NTU) in the last academic year – it turned ten. Now, others across the sector look to us to share our insights and facilitation approaches of NTU’s signature pedagogy.

Context

In 2013/14, Nottingham Trent University (NTU) was the first UK university to introduce SCALE-UP across an extensive range of subjects. Evaluation of the pilot showed increases in student engagement and positive benefits for progression and attainment, securing NTU’s national reputation for innovative pedagogies. This culminated in the 2019 Guardian University Award for Course and Curriculum Design.

SCALE-UP transforms traditional lecture-based teaching into an interactive, student-centred learning experience. It emphasises active, collaborative learning where students work in small groups to solve problems, discuss concepts, and engage deeply with the material. This approach not only makes learning more engaging but also helps students develop critical thinking and teamwork skills (McNeil and Borg, 2022).

The University continues to build on this reputation, disseminating the findings of the OfS funded Scaling up Active Collaborative Learning for Student Success project (McNeil et al.,2020) and actively promoting the use of the pedagogy at other UK Higher Education Providers,

The project has allowed the partners to make a significant contribution to the evidence base for effective strategies to address barriers to student success. The evidence, along with the guidance on adoption at scale, will support other institutions to introduce active collaborative approaches (McNeil et al., 2020).

The SCALE-UP commercial package (created in 2024) is a mechanism by which we continue to promote and disseminate the SCALE-UP pedagogy and share best practice with other institutions.

Why now for NTU’s SCALE-UP commercial package?

The commercial package around SCALE-UP couldn’t come at a better time for HEIs looking at how they deliver interesting taught sessions that really mean something for all students. Students increasingly report that they are opting out of attending in person taught sessions due to the cost-of-living crisis, motivation, or in some cases due to perceptions of poor quality teaching and ‘a lack of enthusiasm for the format of lectures’ (Otte,24). Traditional didactic teaching methods often fail to engage students, leading to passive learning and lower retention rates (Freeman et al., 2014; Mazur, 1997). Engaging students actively in their learning is crucial for maintaining their interest and motivation to attend and is especially good for fostering a student sense of belonging to their course (Mercer and Dornyei, 2020).  Further, with increasing diversity in student populations, there is a need for teaching methods that cater to varied learning approaches and backgrounds. Finally, with pressure on institutions to improve student outcomes, including engagement, attainment and progression rates, innovative pedagogies like SCALE-UP can play a significant role in achieving these goals and its interactive and collaborative approach is well suited to meet the diverse needs of students (McNeil et al., 2020).

Testing the waters

London South Bank University (LSBU) had successfully implemented the SCALE-UP approach within their Department of Psychology in 2019 using knowledge shared with LBSU by a former NTU colleague. The initiative aimed to reduce the awarding gap between students from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic backgrounds and their White peers. By embedding SCALE-UP in a level-four Psychology module, LSBU observed several positive outcomes:

1. Enhanced Student Interaction: Students appreciated the authentic interactions facilitated by SCALE-UP, which fostered a more inclusive and engaging learning environment.
2. Increased Confidence: Staff noted a significant increase in students’ confidence when expressing their views in class, participating in peer interactions, and engaging in group activities.
3. Potential for Reducing Awarding Gaps: Although the initial implementation did not show significant changes in grades, the positive indicators suggest that SCALE-UP has the potential to close or reduce awarding gaps in larger-scale implementations.

LSBU’s commitment to embedding SCALE-UP extended beyond the Department of Psychology and the university’s broader strategy looked to include integrating SCALE-UP principles across various disciplines to enhance overall student engagement and attainment. This is where Jelena Matic and I, from the Educational Development team in the Centre for Academic Development and Quality at NTU, looked to test our SCALE-UP professional development commercial package. Our collaboration was borne out of a request from a previous NTU employee who had taken her love of SCALE-UP to LSBU. Having successfully bid on and received a grant to take this further, we were contacted with a view to delivering a training package for her colleagues in June 2023, with follow up sessions over the academic year 2023/24.

Collaborative co-design

We started with a needs assessment by engaging key LSBU staff in conversations over MSTeams. What skills did they want to develop in their staff ? How did they see SCALE-UP being developed at LSBU and in what contexts? Were they able to use rooms designed for use with SCALE-UP or were they needing to know how to adapt the pedagogy to their own environments? These conversations alongside our existing staff development training package supported our delivered training content. For instance, an emphasis on collaboration, adaptability, and communication skills resonated well with LSBU’s values and this step ensured that the training addressed specific gaps and aligned with their strategic priorities.

Rather than relying solely on lectures, the interactive workshops, both online and in person, mirrored the SCALE-UP pedagogy using flipped learning (pre-work), group working with roles and enquiry-based activities chunked into small sections of time. Participants engaged in hands-on activities and group discussions. This approach encouraged active learning and knowledge application.

After each session, we sought feedback from LSBU participants. Their insights helped refine the development of our professional package. Further we provided LSBU colleagues with access to online resources. These included relevant resources pertinent to particular subject areas. Encouraging self-directed learning complemented our face-to-face and online sessions.

Some feedback we received from colleagues at LSBU:

"In 2023, we invited the experts in SCALE-UP from Nottingham Trent University to train staff from many disciplines at London South Bank University in SCALE-UP. This training involved a mixture of online and face-to-face training sessions over a year. Anita Love and her team were enthusiastic and patient in teaching academic developers and lecturers the key skills to make students active learners. …We believe that students were more engaged in modules that applied SCALE-UP. We are keen to scale out SCALE-UP among teaching staff and we are holding bite-sized lunch-and-learn sessions on SCALE-UP in 2024-25. These lunch-and-learn sessions will focus on key tools, such as flipped learning, group roles and problem-based learning. We are grateful to Anita and her team for their expertise"  Dr Preethi Premkumar Senior Lecturer in Psychology. School Lead for Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity

"Many thanks for your great session. The attendees really enjoyed it and seem motivated to implement SCALE-UP." Nazmin Khanom, Learning Developer. Centre for Research Informed Teaching (CRIT) Teaching Quality and Enhancement

"This will be really useful as I work with the team to redevelop aspects of the module. (referring to further SCALE-UP resources) " Peter Nimmo Course Leader of BA(Hons.) Business Management, Co-Module Leader of LSBU Discovery Project.

Conclusion

Collaborating with LSBU was a rewarding experience and allowed me to reflect on my delivery of the SCALE-UP training and how little difference there is between how most academic colleagues and students absorb knowledge. Both are more engaged, interested and motivated when learning through an active collaborative experience and both, in the main, enjoy the interactions and collaborating with peers  that the SCALE-UP pedagogy facilitates. As educators, we have much to learn from each other. By sharing best practices and fostering cross-institutional partnerships, we contribute to a stronger higher education community.

NTU’s SCALE-UP professional package offers HE institutions a proven method to enhance student engagement and attainment. By adopting this innovative pedagogy, educators can create more dynamic and effective learning environments that support student success. In the current HE landscape, where engagement, diversity, technology, and outcomes are key concerns, SCALE-UP provides a comprehensive solution that addresses these challenges.

For more information on how to implement SCALE-UP at your institution, visit.

https://www.ntu.ac.uk/about-us/teaching/academic-development-and-quality/innovations-in-learning-and-teaching/implementing-scale-up-at-your-institution/implementing-scale-up-in-your-institution

References

Freeman, S., Eddy, S. L., Mcdonough, M., Smith, M. K., Okoroafor, N., Jordt, H., & Wenderoth, M. P. (2014). Active Learning Increases Students’ Performance in Science, Engineering, and Mathematics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111, 8410-8415.Available at
http://www.pnas.org/content/111/23/8410. [Accessed 6/11/24]

Mazur, E. (1997). Peer Instruction: A User's Manual. Prentice Hall.

Mercer, S. and Dörnyei, Z., (2020). Engaging language learners in contemporary classrooms. Cambridge University Press.

McNeil, J., Borg, M., Kerrigan, M., Waller, S., Richter, U., Berkson, R., Tweddell, S. and McCarter, R. (2020). Addressing Barriers to Student Success: Scaling up Active Collaborative Learning for Student Success. Final Report to the Office for Students. Available at: <https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/c116c0ad-4914-479d-878c-8bf88b9accd3/ntu-abss_final-report.pdf> [Accessed 6/11/24]

McNeil, J and Borg, M. (2022). SCALE-UP at Nottingham Trent University: The Adoption at Scale of an Active Learning Approach for Diverse Cohorts. 100 Ideas for Active Learning. [e-Book] Ed. By Tab Betts and Dr Paolo Oprandi. Available at: <https://openpress.sussex.ac.uk/innovationsinactivelearning/chapter/innovations-in-active-learning-in-higher-education-10/> [Accessed 5/11/24]

Otte, J. (2024).‘I see little point’: UK university students on why attendance has plummeted Guardian. Available at https://www.theguardian.com/education/article/2024/may/28/i-see-little-point-uk-university-students-on-why-attendance-has-plummeted#:~:text=A%20lot%20of%20students%20pointed,unlikely%20to%20improve%20their%20grades. [Accessed on 7/11/24]