Education : how far have we come and where do we go next ?
I am delighted to have joined Keele at last and to be working with colleagues on the exciting next phase of Keele ’ s journey of excellence in Education and the Student Experience . I join at a time when so much has already been achieved as we have responded and adapted over recent months to the Covid emergency . The seismic shift in Education which we have all experienced in response to the pandemic puts us in a very different starting position for the period ahead .
Editorial
Professor Kristyan Spelman Miller
Pro Vice-Chancellor ( Education ), Keele University
We have clearly transformed many aspects of the way we deliver Education , with the pandemic accelerating the trajectory for digital learning , teaching and assessment . Our model of learning and teaching more than ever before puts learning at the heart of design : that is , consideration of students ’ interaction with subject matter , their peers and their lecturer to learn effectively . Features of this approach include working collaboratively in smaller groups , completing tasks in advance of seminars , accessing content and resources asynchronously ( often chunked into shorter segments than a one hour traditional transmission lecture ), and the purposeful use of the classroom for active engagement .
We have also had to rethink on-campus assessment this year , with on-line tests and open-book alternatives displacing the traditional , often default mode : the time-limited , in-person , handwritten exam . We have taken the opportunity to reconsider why we assess in the way we do , and to reflect on whether alternative modes offer something which we should continue with into the future . On-line exams have , of course , brought challenges , in particular , academic integrity ; but the advances we have made in rethinking assessment in relation to learning outcomes should not be lightly dismissed or reversed .
Feedback from students has been , and should continue to be , of paramount importance in our redesign and delivery this year . Although last summer there was little time to co-design , during this year we have spent more time reflecting with students , through SVCs , module evaluations and surveys , to understand how students are experiencing this design . We ’ ve learnt that students generally appreciate high-quality active learning taking place in real-time , and the flexibility to access content in their own time and when convenient .
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However , the experience has also raised serious challenges and issues - of access to the right digital infrastructure , the importance of a streamlined experience ( consistency of digital platform used ), and the need to anticipate and support digital skills . We have learnt that we haven ’ t always done enough to help students navigate , prioritise and manage their workload and pace