Keynote Speaker | Sarah L. Bunnell, Ph.D.

Associate Director and STEM Specialist, Amherst College Center for Teaching and Learning

Past President, International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Dr. Sarah Bunnell is the Associate Director and STEM Specialist for the Amherst College Center for Teaching and Learning, located in Western Massachusetts (USA). She is also Past-President and the 2022 Distinguished Service Award winner of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. An experienced SoTL researcher, her research explores inclusive teaching practices, the role of psychological factors in learning, such as empathy and metacognition, and best practices in faculty development. Her book, Being Human in STEM: Partnering with Students to Build Inclusive Practices and Communities, was published this year by Routledge Press. She holds a Ph.D. in Cognitive and Developmental Psychology from the University of Kansas (USA).

Plenary 1: SoTL as a Transformative Process

Thirty years ago, Lee Shulman (1993) called for “putting an end to pedagogical solitude” and instead urged us to approach teaching as “community property.” What does that entail? Importantly, it means thinking about our teaching in the same way that we think about our research: Sharing our teaching questions, evidence, and results with others so that we can learn with and from each other as scholarly communities. Now more than ever, higher education needs scholarly teaching communities, engaged in research about what works in our classrooms, for whom, and under what conditions, to shape what teaching and learning can and should look like for our ever-evolving student populations. Many of you are already engaged in the work of scholarly teaching - applying evidence-based practices in your classrooms and asking questions about what is, what works, and what’s possible (Hutchings, 2000). Indeed, that is the power of SoTL: To help us stay curious, life-long learners in our classrooms. In this talk, we’ll discuss ways of expanding our evidential toolkit, to think expansively about forms of evidence that can meaningfully inform your teaching practices and impact your students’ learning. Further, we’ll discuss the power of pedagogical communities, learning with and from each other across disciplines and roles at our institutions, to enrich what we know about teaching and learning.

References:

Hutchings, P. (2000). Approaching the scholarship of teaching and learning. In P. Hutchings (ed.) Opening Lines: Approaches to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, pages 1-10. Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Shulman, L.S. (1993). Teaching as community property; Putting an end to pedagogical solitude. Change, 25(6), 1-3.

Plenary Speaker | Dr. Kay Hack

Principal Adviser (Learning and Teaching) for Advance-HE

catherine.hack@advance-he.ac.uk

The keynote will prompt delegates to consider the extent to which we need to integrate AI into learning, teaching and assessment to provide  experiential learning and prepare the next generation of learners for living, learning and working with AI.

Session Workshop 1 | Dr. Kay Hack

Principal Adviser (Learning and Teaching) for Advance-HE

catherine.hack@advance-he.ac.uk

Professional educators equipped with the necessary expertise and skills are critical to providing the transformational higher education experience our students want and employers need. Through the Professional Standards Framework (PSF2023) Advance HE fellowship recognizes the critical role of educators in shaping learning and the student experience. Institutions and individuals that have adopted the PSF2023 and fellowship have found that it fosters a culture that rewards and values excellence in teaching, stimulating further professional development, encouraging collaboration and increasing research into teaching and learning. This workshop will support participants in exploring and reflecting on all their roles as academics in teaching and supporting learning and how they align with PSF2023.

Session Workshop 2 | Dr. Joel Armando

Director of Client Experience for EMEA and APAC, Anthology

Joel.Armando@anthology.com

Let Blackboard Learn Ultra do the hard work for you: Save time using the AI design assistant and the flexible grading experience

In this workshop participants will learn about Blackboard Learn Ultra latest enhancements and explore how to use them to improve their course design and grading experience.

With Blackboard Learn Ultra’s latest AI Design Assistant, we aim to empower instructors so they can better harness their subject matter and pedagogical expertise where it matters most.

Our Trustworthy AI Approach ensures instructors and institutions are in control while using these tools to support the design and development of digital learning experiences.

These AI Design Assistant tools include:

• A course-builder aide for instructors that create draft modules, titles, descriptions, etc. The integration of Azure OpenAI Service will enable instructors to streamline content creation processes, saving valuable time and effort.

• Content-based test generation. AI-powered algorithms analyze a document's content and quickly generate a diverse set of questions. This allows educators to allocate more time to other important tasks, such as lesson planning and individual student support.

• Rubric creation. Rubric creation powered by AI streamlines the rubric creation process and ensures consistency and fairness in evaluating student performance. Educators will have the ability to customize and fine-tune these AI-generated rubrics according to specific learning objectives and assessment criteria, providing a balance between automation and instructor expertise.

Blackboard Learn Ultra’s new interface prioritizes intuition and efficiency by providing instructors with a Flexible Grading experience. Flexible Grading from Blackboard Learn empowers instructors with unprecedented flexibility and efficiency. This groundbreaking update enables grading by question or student and even mix-and-match approaches. The enhanced experience extends to assignment submissions, ensuring a comprehensive and cohesive grading journey.

Panel Discussion

Navigating the AI Frontier in Higher Education: Transforming Teaching, Learning, and Assessment

This panel discussion delves into the profound impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on higher education, focusing on its transformative influence on teaching, learning, and assessment. As AI technologies continue to evolve, educators and institutions face both unprecedented opportunities and challenges. The panel will explore how AI is reshaping pedagogical approaches, enabling personalized learning experiences, automating administrative tasks, and revolutionizing assessment methods. Join us for a comprehensive exploration of the evolving landscape where educators harness AI to enhance the quality and accessibility of higher education while navigating the ethical and practical considerations that come with this technological frontier. Experts from academia and industry will share insights, strategies, and visions for the future of AI in higher education.