Learning and Teaching Professional Development

At NTU, we promote active collaborative learning through the use of SCALE-UP as the preferred inclusive pedagogies. SCALE-UP is an active mode of learning where students learn through solving problems, sharing ideas, giving and receiving feedback, and teaching each other. As an alternative to SCALE-UP,  we are piloting Team Based Learning as a structured form of learning with a specific sequence of individual study, group work, immediate feedback and teacher facilitated discussion and debate, to create a motivational framework for student learning. Active Collaborative Learning has a proven impact upon reducing gaps in student engagement and attendance, attainment and progression.

The Curriculum Design offer supports those who teach and support learning by enhancing the design and construction of modules and courses. We provide knowledge and understanding of course design principles, constructive alignment with backwards course design, and learning outcome creation. Success for All beneficiary groups are considered throughout the curriculum design offer and introduction of the creation of student personas, encourages staff to test the robustness and inclusivity of their designs, against course data which is already available to them.

Staff development for Personal Tutoring is a key mechanism for providing personalised academic, pastoral, and professional guidance, whilst meeting the increasingly diverse needs of NTU students. Designed to support colleagues in enhancing purposeful and skilled personal tutoring practice in order to provide students with relevant support that aligns with their academic and personal development goals.

Support for assessment and feedback at NTU focuses upon ensuring that students actively engage in authentic assessment activities that will support them in accessing the careers of the future. Supporting staff to design effective assessment, with learning outcomes that are constructively aligned, academic standards are upheld while shaping learning that supports the development of successful graduate outcomes.

The student engagement and transition offer forms part of NTU’s significant investment to provide advice and support for our staff and course teams who work hard to deliver engaging and positive student experiences. These workshops provide a forum to discuss prevalent issues and provide a supported, collaborative opportunity to generate shared solutions on topics including designing for student transition, re-engaging low-engaged students and working with students as partners. Together, these workshops offer a space to develop an enhanced sense of belonging and community for students at NTU.

Staff development in support of Success for All is structured around aiding colleagues in enhancing the experiences of underrepresented groups at NTU. The Success for All initiative is designed to support academic teams and staff in developing their provision around this important aspect of the institutional strategy. Success for All represents our commitment to ‘improve equality of opportunity for underrepresented groups to access, succeed in and progress from higher education,’ as outlined in our NTU Access and Participation Plan.

Our offer is regularly reviewed and informed by the findings of research conducted by CADQ's ERET team with students and staff at NTU, alongside sector-wide research and practice.

The Apprenticeship, HTQ and Higher Nationals offer supports colleagues in designing and delivering vocational education. In 2021, UK Government set out plans to address significant skills gaps identified in the labour market in the Skills for Jobs white paper. The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Edward Peck, shared a vision of apprenticeship and technical training as a critical part of HE sector development in his role as a panel member of the Review of Post-18 Education and Funding (Augur review) and author of Technical Breakthrough: Delivering Britain’s higher level skills.