Campus News
Students give teachers top marks
February 25th, 2016
Students rate the quality of teaching and modules at The University of Nottingham very highly according to the latest feedback.
In the Autumn Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET) and Student Evaluation of Modules (SEM), teaching staff across all faculties scored highly in the assessment of their ability to communicate clearly, retain the interest of a class, their approachability and contribution to student learning.
Feedback on modules was equally positive with all five faculties scoring highly in the assessment of module objectives, teaching and assessment methods, appropriate academic level and workload.
The Evaluate SET/SEM programme asks students to respond to a series of positive statements about the ability of individual teachers and the quality of modules, selecting one of five options from ‘Strongly agree’ (1) to ‘Strongly disagree’ (5).
Student Evaluation of Teaching
Teaching staff in every faculty achieved mean scores between 1(Strongly agree) and 2 (Agree) in every question area, with four of five faculties also recording an aggregate improvement on 2014/15 figures.
*Scores are an aggregate of all five questions with 5 being the highest and 25 being the lowest score possible. The average aggregate SET score for the University for semester one 2015/16 was 8.3.
The SET asks students to rate how strongly they agree with the following statements:
- The teacher was an able communicator
- The teacher retained my interest
- The teacher was approachable
- Sessions were based appropriately
- Overall, this teacher assisted my learning
Student Evaluation of Modules
Students’ assessment of modules produced similar levels of consistency across the University with aggregate scores again rating between ‘Strongly agree’ and ‘Agree’ across all question areas, although three of five faculties witnessed a drop in performance compared to 2014/15.
All Schools make individual SEM scores available to students via the School Moodle module pages.
* Scores are an aggregate of all five questions with 5 being the highest and 25 being the lowest score possible. The average aggregate SEM score for the University for semester one 2015/16 was 9.26.
Evaluating Evaluate
The University introduced Evaluate in September 2014, replacing previous paper based surveys with a new wireless ‘in class’ tool to capture SET and SEM data. Following a successful launch last year, accurate year-on-year data is now available for the first time.
Professor Sarah O’Hara, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education and Student Experience, believes that the level of analysis available as a result will make a huge difference to teaching and learning at the University.
“Moving away from the paper based system is not only more sustainable but it means that we’re able to examine feedback much more closely. With the new system analytics are instantaneous, meaning that we can identify strengths and weaknesses much more quickly” she said.
“In the past we know that students have grown frustrated as they would like to see aspects of teaching to change. Evaluate also makes it much easier for us to provide feedback to students on their feedback to us.”
The Evaluate process also provides students with the opportunity to make open text comments on various elements of teaching and modules. Although anonymised, an accurate record is now kept of all open comments where they may have been otherwise lost in the old paper based system.
“I’ve been struck by the constructiveness of the comments that we’ve received via the latest SET/SEM” added Sarah. “It’s fantastic to see our students providing such respectful, measured and responsible feedback that will make a real difference to the University moving forward.”
More information on Evaluate can be found on the Professional Development web pages.
Peer Observation College – sharing good teaching practice
The University has also recently announced the launch of The Peer Observation College (POC), offering teaching staff the opportunity to be observed by an experienced academic from another school. The POC aims to support colleagues who wish to improve their teaching through observation of their teaching and learning practice.
Tags: Evaluate, feedback, Sarah O'Hara, SEM, SET, Student Evaluation of Modules, Student Evaluation of Teaching, teaching and learning
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Ravindra’s photo is bloomin’ fantastic
February 25th, 2016
Master’s student Ravindra Polisetty recently claimed first prize in the Nottingham in Bloom photography competition for his image of Sutton Bonington campus:
The competition is organised by Nottingham in Bloom, a city-wide partnership led by Nottingham City Council involving residents, businesses, students, schools, community groups and a wide range of volunteers.
Ravindra was presented with a £50 Amazon voucher and a print of his photo at the Sutton Bonington formal dinner on Thursday 18 February. His image will also be displayed on campus at Sutton Bonington in a location of his choice.
The Student Photography Competition was launched this year, inviting students to photograph our vibrant, green and colourful city. The Spring competition is now open for entries and will close on 4th March.
The Nottingham John Lewis store will display the winning entries and some of the best runner-up pictures so if your picture is shortlisted you may be in with a chance of seeing your photograph on public display.
If you would like to enter please send your entries to bloom@nottinghamcity.gov.uk There is no limit to the number of entries you can submit!
You can find out more about Nottingham in Bloom and further details of the competition at www.nottinghaminbloom.co.uk.
Tags: competition, Nottingham in Bloom, photography, Ravindra Polisetty, student achievement, Sutton Bonington
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American Stroke Association honours Nottingham stroke expert
February 24th, 2016
World-leading expert in stroke medicine, Professor Philip Bath has been honoured by the American Stroke Association (ASA) for his research into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of stroke and hypertension.
Head of Clinical Neuroscience at The University of Nottingham, Professor Bath has been awarded the William M. Feinberg Award for Excellence in Clinical Stroke at the International Stroke Conference 2016 in Los Angeles.
He is one of nine scientists globally to have their notable contributions to stroke medicine recognised by the Association. Professor Bath presented his latest work on the use of nitric oxide treatments to alleviate stroke progression and effects, including glyceryl trinitrate or ‘nitroglycerin’ in early treatment skin patches.
The Feinberg Award is named after Dr William Feinberg (1952-1997), a prominent stroke clinician-researcher and American Heart Association volunteer who contributed to a fuller understanding of the causes of stroke. The award recognizes a Stroke Council Fellow actively involved in patient-based research who has made significant contributions to clinical stroke research.
Bath is Stroke Association Professor of Stroke and consultant physician in inpatient and outpatient stroke and hypertension at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and is a National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) senior investigator. He was associate director (industry and prevention) for the NIHR Stroke Research Network, and chaired the Industry Roundtable of the European Stroke Organization.
His research interests involve the pathophysiology and management of acute blood pressure and haemostasis, which is the process that causes bleeding to cease, in stroke, stroke prevention, stem cell therapy and treatment of post-stroke dysphagia, or swallowing difficulty. He has authored more than 300 publications.
Among the highlights in his career as a researcher and clinical trial leader: He is or was chief investigator of the TAIST (Lancet 2001), ENOS (Lancet 2015), STEPS, PODCAST, TARDIS and RIGHT-2 multicentre randomized controlled trials. He coordinates international collaborations on acute stroke blood pressure management, and on optimizing the design and analysis of trials in acute stroke, stroke prevention and cognition. He also facilitates preclinical studies of stroke interventions.
Tags: American Stroke Association, award, Clinical Neuroscience, National Institute of Health Researchm Nottingham University Hospitals, NHS, NIHR, NIHR Stroke Research Network, Philip Bath, prize, research, stroke
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Success for Nottingham at the BUCS Nationals 2016
February 23rd, 2016
On Friday 19 February, hundreds of athletes from The University of Nottingham travelled to Sheffield for the 2016 BUCS Nationals.
It was a weekend of unmissable sporting action, with incredible victories, nail-biting close finishes and many athletes smashing their personal records. The University had an impressive line-up of athletes and we are extremely proud of all students who competed and supported our teams throughout the weekend.
Nottingham students left the weekend with a very impressive medal count of nine, which included:
- Silver – men’s senior kumite +84, Dan Nicholls
- Silver – men’s singles Badminton, Rohan Midha
- Silver – BUCS 6 men’s trampolining, Cameron Morgan
- Silver – women’s novice kumite +63, Gemma Gill
- Bronze – men’s (1 Kyu & Above) under 73kg, Guy Jucikas
- Bronze – women’s (1 Kyu & Above) under 78kg, Sophie Daniels
- Bronze – men’s senior kumite -75, Jacki Goody
- Bronze – men’s novice kumit, Ben Pepper
- Bronze – male team kumite, Dan Nicholls, Jack Goody, Christian Ollert, Edwin Thekkinen, Ian Richards, Christian Mendez
Other notable successes include fourth places for scholar Aubree Pipemarie in the women’s 3000m run, Emma Lowry in the women’s high jump, the men’s open 400m medley, who were beaten to third by a mere 1.56 seconds, and our mixed team kata.
There was also success for University of Nottingham students who won a huge 10 medals at the table tennis finals on Sunday 21 February in the Sports Centre. The team took home one Gold medal, three Silver medals and six Bronze medals.
A huge congratulations to all students who took part! These student victories are our inspiration for greatness and with the new £40million David Ross Sports Village slated to be completed in September 2016 the sky really is the limit for BUCS Nationals next year. To find out more about the weekend, visit the UoN Sport blog. You can also visit the UoN Sport website and follow @UoNSport on Twitter to keep up to date with sporting news across the University.
Image: Rohan Midha in the badminton men’s singles finals.
Tags: (BUCS), British Universities and Colleges Sport, BUCS Nationals, sport, University of Nottingham Sport
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Use hearing aids? Interested in digital games?
February 22nd, 2016
The Human Factors Research Group is looking for volunteers to take part in workshops which will ask you to evaluate the designs of digital games that have been created to help people learn about different hearing aid functionalities as well as enable them to practise changing between functionalities in different simulated situations to meet changing demands.
The games also aim to help people without hearing difficulties to understand how hearing loss can affect everyday activities and how hearing aids can improve people’s hearing in different situations. This study is part of the Horizon 2020 funded project called 3D games for tuning hearing aids (3D-Tune-In) which is being carried out by universities and game developers across Europe.
The group is looking for groups of people aged from 7 years onwards with mild to severe hearing loss (but not completely deaf) who must be users of BTE, ITE, RIC and CIC hearing aids (i.e. no hearing aids which require surgery). Participants must be English speakers who are able to communicate without the need for sign language interpreters. All participants should be interested in using technologies to improve their hearing.
Your participation will involve filling in a questionnaire and attending a group workshop. At the workshop you will be shown designs for digital games and asked to tell the researchers what you think about them. There will be individual and group activities involved in this evaluation. As compensation for your time, you will receive a £25 Amazon voucher on completion of the workshop.
There will be a number of workshops during February and March and participants will be organised into the following age groups: 7-14; 15-18; 19-40; 41-60; over 61. A date for your workshop will be agreed once enough participants for your age group have been recruited. The team will try to ensure that the date is acceptable for all participants. Workshops will take place at the Human Factors Research Group office, University Park, The University of Nottingham.
For more information about the study, or to sign up please email M.Hallewell@nottingham.ac.uk or call 0115 951 4040 and ask for Maddy Hallewell.
If you would like more information about the 3D-Tune-In project, please visit the 3D Tune-In website. You can also find the project on Facebook and Twitter.
Tags: 3DTune-In, hearing, Human Factors research group, Maddy Hallewell, money, research, study, take part
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Dr Bike dates for March
February 22nd, 2016
Appointments are now available for March’s free Dr Bike maintenance service.
Book yourself into a 30-minute slot:
- Tuesday 1 March – Portland Building, University Park
- Wednesday 2 March – Jubilee Campus
- Thursday 3 March – King’s Meadow Campus
- Friday 4 March – Sutton Bonington
- Thursday 17 March – Coates Road, University Park
Tags: bike, cycling, Dr Bike, free, maintenance, sustainability, transport, travel
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National Student Volunteer Week 2016
February 17th, 2016
National Student Volunteer Week is taking place from Monday 22 to Sunday 28 February. As it is the Student Volunteer Centre’s 50th birthday, they have organised 50 opportunities for students to take part in throughout the week.
With projects lasting from a couple of hours to a full day, you can take part whatever time you have to spare. You can find all of them on their website.
You can find information about National Student Volunteer Week on their website.
Tags: National Student Volunteer Week, National Volunteers' Week, Student Volunteer Centre, Students' Union, volunteer, volunteering
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Bridging the Gaps funding – apply now
February 17th, 2016
Three sources of funding are now available from Bridging the Gaps – Awards, Visiting Scholars and Undergraduate summer projects.
The basic criteria is for applications to involve an applicant from the engineering and physical sciences side and another from the biomedical side. Applicants from other areas (eg social sciences) are welcome to be involved provided that this criteria is met.
Bridging the Gaps awards support discipline bridging activity which could include feasibility studies, collaborative travel, secondments, and other activities. The forms and guidance are available on the funding section on Workspace and on the website.
All applications are due on or before 4pm Thursday 31 March and must be submitted to h.moriarty@nottingham.ac.uk.
To receive instant updates about Bridging the Gaps follow them on Twitter @bridgingthegaps. You may also want to respond to or place an advert on their researchers seeking collaborators page on Workspace.
Tags: AMR, antimicrobial resistance, Bridging the Gaps, funding, scholarships
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Strategy 2020 Organisation Design Review update
February 17th, 2016
Changes to the University’s Professional Services structure have been announced following the Strategy 2020 Organisation Design Review.
The review considered the impact of Project Transform — which includes the creation of the new Student Services department under Chief Student Management Officer Breda Walls — on the organisation design of Faculties and relevant Professional Services.
The Registrar’s Department now comprises the following areas:
- Deputy Registrar’s Division
- External Relations
- Human Resources
- Libraries, Research & Learning Resources
- Strategy Planning and Performance
With the establishment of the new Student Services department led by Breda Walls, Chief Student Management Officer, as part of the Transform Organisational Design, the Academic Services division will not continue in its current form.
The name of Student Operations & Support has changed formally to the Deputy Registrar’s Division and Stephen Dudderidge has taken on the title of Deputy Registrar.
Kerry Law, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, will continue to lead an expanded External Relations department. New teams and activities that will fall under the department are:
- Widening Participation — formerly in Student Operations and Support and now also incorporating the Academies Unit
- International Student Recruitment activity (all other international activities will continue to report to the PVC Global Engagement)
“These changes are intended to make a real difference in terms of enhancing service delivery and will help with cross-team working across the whole department,” said Dr Paul Greatrix, Registrar. “Key to the future though will be the close collaboration between our teams and the CSMO’s new Student Services department as well as with new Faculty administrative structures as we seek to provide joined up services across the University for all of our students.”
The Faculty Pro-Vice-Chancellors have been reviewing their administrative structures and are currently consulting with APM staff at Levels 5 and 6 regarding proposals for the senior APM structure within Faculties. This is a University-wide process which will be completed with confirmation of staff appointments by 1 March. The review at APM Levels 1-4 will be managed at Faculty level and will follow the appointments to posts at Levels 5 and 6 to enable these senior colleagues to be involved in shaping proposals at Levels 1-4. Details of the APM 5 and 6 proposals and timeline can be found on the Strategy 2020 Organisation Design Workspace.
To view department structure charts, please see the links below:
Tags: External Relations, Global Strategy 2020, International Office, Paul Greatrix, Registrar's, Strategy 2020, Strategy 2020 Organisation Design, Strategy 2020 Organisation Design Review, structure
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