'Shaping the Student Experience Together: 20 Years of Enhancement'
QAA Scotland welcomed over 300 delegates to ‘Shaping the Student Experience Together: 20 Years of Enhancement’, our 5th International Enhancement Conference, in June 2023. The two-day event was held at Glasgow Caledonian University in the heart of Glasgow’s city centre.
‘Shaping the Student Experience Together: 20 Years of Enhancement’ was QAA Scotland’s second hybrid conference, delivering an innovative and engaging programme for in-person and online delegates. The plenary programme offered delegates the opportunity to grapple with issues and topics that significantly impact the student learning experience:
- Flexible and accessible pathways into and through university studies
- The future of learning technology and its relationship with pedagogy
- The impact of evaluation on enhancement
- The experience of diverse student and staff communities
The Conference’s parallel programme showcased innovative institutional and sector practices, inviting delegates to engage in constructive debate around enhancements to the student learner journey.
As the final event in QAA Scotland’s year-long campaign celebrating ’20 Years of Enhancement’, the Conference offered delegates an opportunity to come together, share successes and critically reflect on their enhancement journeys.
Recordings and resources
QAA Scotland is proud to share recordings of our plenary programme from ‘Shaping the Student Experience Together: 20 Years of Enhancement’.
Day one playlist
Day two playlist
We have published the presentations that our parallel session contributors produced. If you need more details about their presentations, we encourage you to reach out to them directly.
Day one
- Evaluation for all: The Scottish Enhancement Themes
Dr Liz Austen, Sheffield Hallam University | Professor Stella Jones-Devitt, Staffordshire University - Making the most of an ethnically diverse Scotland
Professor David Mba, Black Leadership Group
Day two
- Increasing flexibility and diversity in higher education: Does quality assurance help or hinder?
Professor John Brennan, Emeritus Professor of Higher Education Research, Open University and Visiting Professor, University of Bath - Pedagogy over technology: Learning technology futures
Steve Wheeler, Learning Technology Consultant
Day one
- Academic literacy and good academic practice: The fault lines of student academic misconduct
Dr Alex Buckley, Heriot-Watt University - BOLD: Blended and Online Learning Design approach to course design at the University of Strathclyde
Claire Jeffrey, Veronique Lemieux, Sean Morrissey and Katy Savage, University of Strathclyde - Building resilience to false information: A toolkit for engaging students
Bronte Chiang, University of Calgary - Creating and evaluating collaborative online international learning projects in the post-pandemic higher education context
Izzy Crawford, Robert Gordon University - Embedding employability through a cross-university academic, professional and personal development module in undergraduate degree programmes
Dr Alison Gilmour and Stephen Watt, University of the West of Scotland - Meaningfully embedding industry-relevant life sciences skills in the undergraduate biosciences curriculum
Claire Garden, Edinburgh Napier University
Day two
- Decolonisation, inclusion and the biological sciences: Getting started
Dr Eva Malone, Edinburgh Napier University - Decolonising the anatomy curriculum: Parting ways with the 'universal model' of the human form
Raeleen Araneta and Dr Asha Venkatesh, University of Aberdeen - Decolonising the disciplines: An interactive narrative storyboard
Professor Catriona Cunningham, Edinburgh Napier University - Embedding sustainability within the curriculum at Gray's School of Art
Lorraine Amies, Robert Gordon University
Day one
- Developing a resilient learning community beyond graduation: From engaged postgraduate taught student to engaged alumni
Dr Neneh Rowa-Dewar, University of Edinburgh - Student diagnostics driving institutional approaches to student success
Dr Luke Millard, Abertay University - Towards 'Authentic Belonging': Exploring the concept and enhancing practice
Dr Jackie Brodie and Dr Christine Haddow, Edinburgh Napier University | Simon Horrocks, University of Stirling | Brekhna Jamil, University of Dundee | Professor Alastair Robertson, Glasgow Caledonian University
Day two
- A Digital Accessibility Toolkit for STEM subjects
Shazia Ahmed, University of Glasgow - Co-creating compassionate classrooms: International students
Leila Neshat Mokadem, Robert Gordon University - Developing and validating Sense of Belongingness (SoB) scale
Brekhna Jamil, University of Dundee - Embedding a UDL framework across FE and HE to build resilient learning communities: Lessons learned from Ireland
Tracy Galvin, Glasgow Caledonian University | Dr Lisa Padden, University College Dublin - Intercultural competence training for inclusive learner communities at home
Dane Lukic and Thomas Peschken-Holt, Queen Margaret University - Preparing students for success
Dr Elaine Clafferty, Glasgow Caledonian University - Shaping educational leadership, inspiring enhancement: Reflections and future action
Professor Martha Caddell, Heriot-Watt University - Snack-size self care: Embedding holistic learning into the curriculum
Dr Emma Green, Glasgow Caledonian University - Student loneliness and social isolation: Research-informed projects
Linnea Wallen, Queen Margaret University - Supporting programme leaders to be resilient superheroes
Susan Lawrie, Robert Gordon University - Supporting resilient staff: Embedding reflective practice in our learning culture
Dr Heather Fotheringham, University of the Highlands and Islands - Trying to make equality, diversity, and inclusion accessible
Dr Katy Proctor, Glasgow Caledonian University - Walk, talk, learn and connect
Andrea Cameron, Abertay University
Day one
- College to university transitions revisited: Mind the Gap?
Dr Derek Robertson, City of Glasgow College - Exploring curriculum co-creation as a process of networked learning
John Owen, University of Manchester - Supporting student engagement practitioners: Resilience, professionalism and sustainability in representation and student voice
Simon Varwell, sparqs
Day two
- A unique perspective: The contribution of postgraduate researchers who teach to satellite campus students’ belonging, engagement and participation
Dr Anne Chapman, Glasgow Caledonian University - Embedding research on student engagement in learning: Lessons from the first Welsh Collaborative Enhancement Project
Dr Myfanwy Davies and Ms Nyah Lowe, Bangor University - Embracing and harnessing differentials in student-staff partnership to achieve sustainable outcomes: Overcoming power conflict, navigating trust crisis, and building self-authorship
Daisy Bao, University of Edinburgh - Engaging students who identify as under-represented in research designed to enhance the experiences of under-represented students
Rachael O'Connor, University of Leeds - Evaluating student partnership for enhancement
Mark Charters, Glasgow School of Art - Exploring community partnerships in learning, teaching and assessment’
Megan Brown, sparqs | Heather Innes, Highlands & Islands Students' Association | Micaela Levesque, Glasgow University Students’ Representative Council - How do students define "excellent teaching"? How to use student-led teaching awards to enhance learning
Chase Greenfield, St Andrews Students' Association - Involving students as ambassadors of widening participation in health programmes
Dr Glyn Morris, Queen Margaret University - Modelling compassionate feedback
Dr Marianne Greated, Glasgow School of Art - Putting cross-university collaboration and student co-creation at the heart of your mental health agreement
Jason Dickson, Eve Lochead and Barbara Robertson, University of the West of Scotland | Suzanne Ewing and Dr Glyn Morris, Queen Margaret University - Student engagement in a non-campus context
Ewelina Granka, Open University in Scotland - The impact of learning style on the student experience: A longitudinal study through fully online, hybrid and in-person semesters
Nicole Cizauskas, University of St Andrews
Day one
- Developing online degree apprenticeship programmes: The critical ingredients
Anne Hanlon-Bucher, University of Strathclyde - Join the dots: Schools, universities and student transitions
David Jones, The Brilliant Club - Resilient learning communities in transition: The journey of widening access students through undergraduate and into postgraduate studies
Dr Manuela Williams, University of Strathclyde - Whose knowledge counts? Using Bourdieu and Bernstein to explore tensions between academic and everyday forms of knowledge in degree apprentices’ transition to higher education
Dr Kevin Bryant, Anglia Ruskin University
Day two
- Choose your own learning and teaching adventure
Dr Sam Illingworth, Edinburgh Napier University - From novelty to maturity: The transition of a transition course
Dr Simon Carr, University of Strathclyde - Graduate apprenticeships: Principles, practice and impact
Dr James Paterson, Glasgow Caledonian University - Student transitions: Best practice examples from across the sector
Dr Emma Henderson, University of Strathclyde - The maths bridging Initiative: An institutional transition support programme
Professor Adele Marshall and Mr Joel Montgomery, Queen's University Belfast
Keynotes and contributors
Keynotes
PROFESSOR DAVID MBA
Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research, Knowledge Exchange and Enterprise, University of the Arts London and Black Leadership Group
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GRAEME DEY
Minister for Further Education and Higher Education, Scottish Government
PROFESSOR JOHN BRENNAN
Emeritus Professor of Higher Education Research, Open University and Visiting Professor, University of Bath
STEVE WHEELER
Learning Technology Consultant
DR LIZ AUSTEN
Head of Evaluation and Research, Sheffield Hallam University
PROFESSOR STELLA JONES-DEVITT
Director, SCoLPP research centre and Professor of Critical Pedagogy, Staffordshire University
Contributors
JAMES DUNPHY
Director of Access, Scottish Funding Council
DR KYRSTEN BLACK
Registrar, Scotland’s Rural College
ELLIE GOMERSALL
President, NUS Scotland
SUSAN STEWART
Director, Open University in Scotland