The UK is well placed to benefit from the new industrial revolution – and universities that focus on professional and technical skills are crucial to delivering the skills employers need (Industrial Strategy)- Equally, if our students are to succeed in a world shaped by next generation technology, we need to equip them not only with the knowledge and skills they need but also with the right personal aptitudes and capabilities; resilience and conscious curiosity; and personal social and cultural capital. (Social Mobility agenda)
- With this in mind, the Teaching Excellence Alliance will focus on sustained student success.
Alliance distinctiveness
By focusing on sustained student success in professional and technical education Alliance universities have developed areas of collective distinctiveness in learning and teaching. The TEA seeks to enhance and support these areas, which include but are not limited to:
| Co-creation/ Co-production | Cutting-edge technical and professional curricula co-created with our students, employers, community groups and service users; |
| Immersive learning and assessment | Progressive and innovative pedagogies which integrate live, employer-relevant challenges for learning and assessment with input from employers, community groups and service users, using real world environments and simulations to provide work-based learning opportunities |
| Alternative provision | Commitment to try alternative modes of provision (accelerated degrees, degree apprenticeships, low residency learning, etc.) |
| Responsive learning environments | Creating learning spaces that support student-focused and employer-led education |
Principles
The following principles will be embedded across TEA activities:
- Expertise: Strive to use expertise from across partners in all TEA activities, for mutual enhancement.
- Alliance Distinctiveness: Foster the distinctive UA approach to technical and professional education which underpins our excellence.
- Student Participation: Value and include students wherever possible in TEA activities.
- Employer Involvement: Include employers wherever possible in TEA activities.
- Interdisciplinarity: Stretch and challenge current practice by involving different disciplines.
Teaching Excellence Alliance Activities
The TEA recognises that sustained student success in professional and technical education is achieved through the expertise and commitment of individual teaching staff, of innovative course design teams, and of institutional-level interventions. The TEA has three interconnected strands of activity to enhance and develop UA teaching & learning:
- Shared and new CPD for teaching staff and those that enable teaching, to provide support for staff members to remain in good standing.
- A peer review college that will provide challenge and support on course design and curricula, and provide development opportunities for PRC members.
- Special interest groups that will support institution-wide enhancements for sustained student success.
