Last week (22-25 Oct) the National Forum hosted the first round of mid-term reviews of initiatives funded through the 2019 Strategic Alignment of Teaching and Learning Enhancement (SATLE) Funding. In all, 41 initiative teams across 18 higher education institutions showcased their work and participated in discussions with a panel of international reviewers as part of this first review round.
Reviewed initiatives focus on topics such as information literacy, employability, social justice, open education, wellbeing, virtual reality in the classroom, creativity, social innovation, learning analytics, professional development, online language learning, laboratory practice, and research integrity. A range of approaches have been taken by institutions and departments through their initiatives, such as the development of tailored modules, the embedding of innovative approaches to learning and engagement and the meaningful involvement of students in decision-making.
A panel of international experts provided constructive feedback and advice to teams over the four review days. The Panel included Prof Tom Baum, University of Strathclyde (Scotland, UK), Katie Deegan, Student Associate intern at the National Forum, Prof Alan Dow, Virginia Commonwealth University (US), Prof Ulla Hytti, University of Turku (Finland), Prof Julie Nightingale, Sheffield Hallam University (UK), Prof István Vilmos Kovács, Budapest Metropolitan University (Hungary)
Collectively, the 107 funded initiatives represent an investment of €5.57m focused on ensuring that teaching and learning within and across subject areas is characterised by innovation, coherence, connectedness and meaningful student engagement. In addition to fulfilling the government’s intention, outlined in Budget 2019, to allocate additional funding for teaching and learning capacity building across the sector, the funding of these initiatives is resulting in increased collaboration and alignment at local level in the achievement of ambitions set out in institutional strategies.
We extend heartfelt congratulations to all institutions on their remarkable work to date, especially in light of the challenges they have faced within the pandemic context. The National Forum team will meet with all SATLE teams again through an online event on 15 October and a second round of mid-term reviews is scheduled to take place in spring 2021.
You can view information on all ongoing SATLE initiatives here.
