BU Research Blog

I recently travelled to Brighton for the annual Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) Associate Conference.  This conference is designed for all KTP Associates with a view to share experiences and celebrate successes.

The conference welcomed circa 50 delegates of both current and past KTP Associates and people like me who wanted to find out more about KTP.  The day started with a series of presentations from past and current KTP Associates about their experiences and achievements.  The scope of the projects talked about were broad and it was down to former Associate, Jugal Desai to open the conference and talk about his KTP experience and how it changed his life and made him reach his career goal.

Before lunch, 30 KTP Associates were given 2 minutes each to give an overview of their project and invite delegates to view their poster following lunch.  This continued into a poster competition where delegates formed part of the judging panel to highlight the top 3 posters in a ballot.  BU was represented by one of our KTP Associates, Neil Smiley who is working on a classic KTP with a local security company.

It was great to see the variety of topics supported by KTP and demonstrated the scope of innovation in this country.

The next KTP Associate conference will be held in Glasgow in 2015.

Monday

The launch of University Alliance’s HELP UK proposals was picked up in the Conversation last week:

• Student loans should be for life, say universities (The Conversation)

Social Mobility

The persistent focus on getting disadvantaged pupils into ‘top universities’ continues after research looking at the educational trajectories of disadvantaged children by the IFS is published by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission. 

• Progress made by high-attaining children from disadvantaged backgrounds 

The report suggests that “nearly 2,200 fewer poor children are attending elite universities than would be expected if they followed the same educational trajectory throughout secondary school as their better-off peers with similar levels of attainment at age 11.”

• Poor progress of disadvantaged pupils a waste, says Milburn (The Guardian)
• Poverty blights pupils’ path to elite universities (BBC)
• Poor, bright children missing out on top universities: More than 2,000 are overtaken by less able pupils after getting lost in the ‘secondary school maze’ (Mail Online)
• Bright pupils seeing their talent ‘squandered’ at school (The Telegraph)

International & Immigration

HEPI have today released results of a survey which indicates that 78% of Conservative candidates think international students should be excluded from any target for reducing migration. 

• ‘Don’t count foreign students as migrants’  (The Telegraph)

Sascha Auerbach, a lecturer in modern British history at the University of Nottingham comments in the Guardian that teaching at US universities is “broad and superficial compared with the UK.”

• Don’t be seduced by the US – UK universities offer a richer education (The Guardian)

Teaching & Learning

A report, by scientific bodies including the Academy of Medical Sciences, says the quality of graduates is under threat by universities undervaluing the importance of teaching in academic careers.

• Universities view teaching students as low-status work  (The Times, see attachment)

Whilst an analysis of previously unpublished surveys of students and reveals that many tutorials and lectures are being taken by postgraduates rather than lecturers and professors. 

• Student anger at ‘B-team’ teaching  (The Sunday Times)

Tuesday

Widening Participation

The Department of Education has released official date showing that disadvantaged pupils in inner London are more likely to go to university than much better off youngsters outside the capital.

• Poor pupils in London outstrip rich in rest of country (BBC News)

Dr Sarah Lewthwaite, an independent researcher in disability, accessibility and higher education, warns in The Guardian that “cuts to the Disabled Students’ Allowance have repercussions for higher education as a whole, not just students.”

• Funding cuts to disabled students will hit some universities hard (Guardian HE Network)

Research

Professor Stephen Caddick, Vice Provost of UCL argues, “for commercialisation to thrive it is vital that the UK invests appropriately in the entire pipeline of development, from early-phase frontier research through to technology development and thereafter commercialisation.”

• Letters: Market success for university research (The Independent)

Staff pay

Peter Scott, Professor of higher education studies at the Institute of Education, complains that “Universities have avoided financial crises by skimping on wages and outsourcing jobs while vice-chancellors’ pay has soared.”

• Opinion: Why academics need stronger trade unions (The Guardian)

Wednesday

Value for Money

A new survey by Which? Has found that nearly half of 1^st and 2^nd year students don’t think their degree is worth the money they’ll pay back, although nearly three-quarters say it will get them the career they want. University value for money questioned by students (Which?)

Election Policy

Lord Adonis has asked for a Labour government to set a science and research budget for the entire Parliament, and to give universities a bigger role in driving local growth. Labour should set science budget ‘for full Parliament’ (THE)

Women in STEM

A new study has revealed that women are massively underrepresented in the laboratories of the highest-achieving male biology professors in the US. Prize-winners’ labs ‘least likely to hire women’ (THE)

Careers Services

In a comment piece a 2^nd year undergraduate has written about the need for university style careers services to be extended into schools. He also calls on other universities to follow the example of institutions such as Oxford Brookes and offer entrepreneurship focused modules. The ‘real world’ needn’t be so daunting (Telegraph Comment)

Comparison Test

Oxbridge and other UK universities are opposing attempts by the OECD to introduce Pisa-style tests to compare students from HE institutions around the world. Top UK universities oppose global comparison tests, says OECD (FT – Attached)

Thursday

NSS

The a HEFCE study of the NSS has shown that UK students in general are more satisfied with their university experience over the past decade, with overall satisfaction levels having risen by 5 percentage points between 2005 and 2013.

–       Student satisfaction ‘is on the rise’, survey shows (BBC)

–       Student satisfaction with university education on rise (Guardian)

The study was released alongside a review of the NSS which has recommended adjusting the NSS questions to counter a trend in students giving the same answer to every question. Spike in NSS ‘yea-sayers’ could weaken survey data (THE)

Student Visas

In a comment piece John Gill of THE argues that universities must take responsibility for oversight of international students. Leader: Visa issues at heart of problem (THE)

Fears that London branch campuses run by UK universities could have been targeted by criminals running visa scams have arisen as the Home Office investigation begins. Visa fraudsters ‘preying on’ London branch campuses (THE)

Government Policy

A survey of vice-chancellors has revealed striking levels of anger and frustration with the government and their policies. Vice-chancellors voice frustrations with policies (THE)

Future Graduates

David Sweeney, director for research, innovations and skills at HEFCE, has urged the sector to focus on producing graduates who will engage with society. University still a bastion of social elite, says Hefce official (THE)

Friday

Employment

HESA employment PIs, released earlier in the week, have shown that on average 92% of students were in employment 6 months after graduating. 8% of UK graduates still unemployed six months after finishing university (Independent)

Maths Education

A Nuffield Foundation report has found that changes to GCSE and A-level maths might put students off the subject. Maths changes ‘may put students off’, warns report (BBC)

Craig Tiley from the Teachers’ Pension Scheme will be visiting BU on Monday 7^th July 2014, 10:00-11:00, Talbot Campus to give a presentation on pension provision for staff.

All Academic staff are welcome to attend, regardless of whether they are already members or are thinking of joining the scheme.

The presentation will be approximately 45 minutes with some additional time available to ask questions.

You may also be interested in the following websites for more information:

• Teachers’ Pension scheme

To book on or for more information please visit the Staff Development and Engagement Pages on the Staff Intranet.

There has been a lot of discussion as to the merits and demerits of MOOCs for academic knowledge and HE. In this post, I would like to share my own experience from successfully completing my first MOOC in Copyright, offered by the University of Harvard .  Going back to being a student again –let alone a Harvard student- has not been easy: the endless hours of listening to lectures on YouTube, preparing for the real-time online seminars but mostly having to take written exams that closely resemble the exam administered to students in the Harvard Law School course was a mentally challenging experience. And now that it is over –as amost students do at the end- I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed it.

According to a recent European Commission report on web skills (May 2014), a MOOC is defined as a “an online course open to anyone without restrictions (free of charge and without a limit to attendance), usually structured around a set of learning goals in an area of study, which often runs over a specific period of time (with a beginning and end date) on an online platform which allows interactive possibilities (between peers or between students and instructors) that facilitate the creation of a learning community. As it is the case for any online course, it provides some course materials and (self) assessment tools for independent studying”. Ever since their emergence in 2007, MOOCS have been met with disbelief and skepticism. Often argued to be a disruption to current HE business models, MOOCs have been heavily criticized for their low academic quality and limited pedagogical values and have been branded as an instance of technological disruption: in times of financial insecurity , the temptation to succumb to cheap alternatives, bringing down the costs of education is  strong.  On the other hand, keeping the entry costs low, MOOCs have been praised for their democratizing effect in offering education for all. Of course, distance learning and online education is not a new thing. Yet, since the early days of MOOCs in 2007, many things have changed: from 2011 onwards there has been a “digital  tsunami” of MOOCs, most of which –although open and accessible to all- diverted from the original aim of offering open content hosted on non-proprietary platforms and open software.

Are MOOCs really an educational start up closer to venture capitalists rather than academics or do they offer an attractive online alternative to those unable to finance their studies?

CopyrightX is a course running for twelve-weeks, offered yearly under the auspices of Harvard Law School, the HarvardX distance-learning initiative, and the Berkman Center for Internet and Society.  Advertised as a “course [that] explores the current law of copyright through a combination of pre-recorded lectures, weekly seminars, live webcasts, and online discussions, [helping participants to critically] examine and assess the ways in which law seeks to stimulate and regulate creative expression”, Copyrightx is rather different from most MOOCs, not quite ticking all the boxes. In this sense, although open in general, enrolment is limited to only 524 participants chosen by the course’s administrators. This has certainly not been one of those MOOCs that mere attendance is required, if at all. During the course of this unit, all students have the same responsibilities with the 100 Harvard law students attending the same unit on campus. Each week all students were required to watch a series of pre-recorded lectures delivered by the Director of the Berkman Institute, Prof. William Fisher, complete the readings and actively participate on a real-time seminar, led by a Harvard TA for over two hours on Adobe.

While the technology is still lacking the capacity to fully facilitate the needs of an online seminar group, this has certainly been a rewarding experience. Not only were we able to discuss on contemporary copyright issues and note future challenges but we were also able to gain insight to a broader perspective, each one of the participants sharing experiences from their own cultural background and academic expertise. Personally, I was pleased to share my views on digital copyright related issues and inform the relevant debate as well as get to know the other’s views and experiences, especially those from non-academic/legal domains. This interaction among peers is probably one of the most notable features of Harvard’s CopyrightX: not only was this possible during the weekly seminar real time, but it was also further facilitated in the form of two forums: one for each seminar section (garden) and a general forum open to all sections (forest). Of particular interest was also the material provided for further studying in the form of interactive online maps, prepared using the MindManager mapping programme. Last a series of special events featuring guest speakers helped in further contextualising all knowledge gained: Joshua Redman’s talk on creativity in music and Justin Hughes (principal negotiator on behalf of the United States of the 2013 Marrakesh Treaty  to Facilitate Access for the Visually Impaired) account on negotiating copyright treaties have been equally thought provoking events.

Having completed probably one of the most competitive and demanding MOOCs out there, I was able not only to boost my copyright skills but also to gain great overview and overall experience in online learning and technology supported teaching. Is MOOCs the way to go for HE or the academic business model of Universities is still unrivalled? My view is that the things offered in both cases are different and in any case they can complement each other aiding better access to knowledge: MOOCs appear to be offering a learning experience, which presupposes absolute autonomy of the student. Although there are still certain weekly tasks and assessment upon successful exams at the end of the course, MOOCs would qualify more as a great tool to boost existent knowledge or build on already existing skills rather than create independent learners. As an academic, I benefited in various ways from this: in what could be described as a “participatory teaching environment”, all students were both tutors and tuttees, benefiting from their online interaction and exchange of expertise.

At the same time, in spite of the multifaceted ways in which one can benefit from MOOCs, the academic business model and Universities at large are still the basis of HE.  The ethos and values of an academic environment, this agora of free deliberation among the students and the tutors cannot be replaced by online learning. The latter is merely transferring skills; the former is about building capacities and achieving personal development. As such, the success of MOOCs presupposes and relies heavily on a solid educational model of on-campus learning. This distinction should be made clear. In the words of Professor Darryl Tippens, provost of Pepperdine University: “If we aren’t careful, we will bifurcate education into two separate and unequal systems: the residential college education, which involves rich interactions between professors and students, enhanced by an array of heady co-curricular experiences with the goal, not just of information transfer, but transformation—the formation of competent, ethical citizens and whole human persons. The other model will promise less: somewhat depersonalized, “objective” and fact-based training; skills development that leads to certificates, badges and degrees—valuable, but carrying less prestige.”

The first RKEO coffee morning was a huge success and we’d like to continue this at our next event, this Thursday (19th June) at 9am in R303, Royal London House. We’ll be there until 10am. Come along for a pastry and an informal chat with members of the Research and Knowledge Exchange Office. We look forward to seeing you!

For your diaries, our next coffee morning is at Talbot again, in the new academic year – 30th October at 9.30am in the Retreat.