Learning and Teaching Committee

LTC12-M2

Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 29 March 2012

Members: Prof. Morag Bell (in the Chair) Dr Jane Horner

Dr Keith Pond Prof. John Feather

Dr John McCardle Prof. Michael Kong

Prof. Memis Acar Prof. Ray Dawson

Prof. Ruth Kinna Prof. Fred Yeadon

Dr Brian Jarvis Dr Jennifer Nutkins

Jan Tennant Dr Phil Richards

Jayde Savage Prof Simon Austin

James Carrol Dr Robert Hamilton

In attendance: Rob Pearson, Nigel Thomas, Dr Maurice FitzGerald (for item 12/24)

Jo Wilkins (for item 12/25)

12/22 Minutes

LTC12-M1

1. The Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 16 February 2012 were confirmed.

12/23 Matters Arising from the Minutes not otherwise appearing on the Agenda

12/05 Annual Programme Review 2011/12

1. Action taken to resolve slow login speeds in IT Services managed labs was welcomed.

2. It was reported that slow log in speeds were being experienced in IT facilities managed by the School of Aeronautical, Automotive, Chemical and Materials Engineering. The School was encouraged to invite IT Services to help resolve the issue.

12/09 Code of Practice on Student Feedback Questionnaires

1. Senate had approved revisions to Appendix 13 at its meeting on 9 March 2012. The revised Appendix 13 had been added to the AQPH and was effective immediately. The committee had been given delegated authority to revise the questions used in the feedback process. The questions were currently being reviewed to ensure Data Protection Act compliance. Further guidance would be forthcoming.

12/11 Research-informed Teaching Award

1. A guidance note on the award and the criteria for selection would be circulated to members following consideration at the next meeting of the Academic Leadership Team.

12/13 National Student Survey

1. The latest response rates were noted. The NSS would run until the end of April.

12/24 Joint Honours degree programmes – review and recommendations

Received: LTC12-P19

Noted:

1. The committee welcomed the review of the delivery and management of joint honours programmes and thanked Dr FitzGerald for the production of the report.

Agreed:

2. The committee endorsed the recommendations of the report and agreed that the Academic Standards and Procedures Sub-Committee would be asked to oversee their development.

12/25 Student Feedback on Central Services

Received: LTC12-P20

Noted:

1. The committee welcomed the overview of responses to student module feedback from central services and thanked Jo Wilkins for the production of the report.

2. Matters relating to teaching rooms had either been addressed or were being addressed.

Agreed:

3. In response to the recommendations arising from library related feedback, the committee determined:

i. Schools / Departments should contact the Library as soon as it was apparent that there was an issue with a module, so that appropriate and timely action could be taken.

ii. Schools / Departments should invite their Academic Librarian to attend an appropriate meeting of their Staff Student Consultative Committees and other appropriate Departmental meetings. The Head of Academic Services would be asked to contact School AD(T)s to with a view to agreeing appropriate contact people within Schools / Departments.

iii. Due to different disciplinary conventions it was not always appropriate to provide reading lists for project modules.

iv. Academic staff must avoid infringement of copyright when providing access to electronic full text resources on Learn.

v. It was noted that the Library supplemented the advice and guidance to students from Schools on how to find, evaluate and use information.

12/26 Essential course texts

Received: LTC12-P21

1. The committee welcomed the report from the Head of Academic Services and noted progress that had been made in light of the discussion at the last meeting.

Agreed:

2. In regard to the recommended terminology to be used on the University’s online reading list system, it was agreed that a key text should be an item that students ‘will’ be asked to use regularly in support of a module. It was agreed that the terminology should be communicated to Schools via Academic Librarians.

3. In the case of key texts LTC noted that there might need to be additional copies available in the Library.

4. The Secretary would ask the Library Head of Planning and Resources to circulate to members a report on how students use reading lists.

12/27 Student reprographic charging and recommendations

Received: LTC12-P22

Noted:

1. Three options were presented for the future pricing of generic student reprographic services, with a view to making a recommendation to Operations Committee.

2. The discussion highlighted a significant variation in practice across the University in regard to the expectation on students to print and / or copy lecture notes or other materials for use in the classroom and for submission for assessment.

Agreed:

3. Student pricing for the use of the generic print service should be equal to the cost for staff, reflecting the economic cost of delivering the service.

4. The University should bear the cost of handouts, worksheets etc. that students are required to use interactively to successfully participate in formal teaching sessions.

5. Students should bear the cost of printing materials for submission for assessment purposes.

6. Providing students with printer credits at the start of the academic year was not supported due to the variation between Schools in the requirement on students to make use of reprographic services.

7. The final proposals would not be submitted to Operations Committee until further work had been undertaken to develop a greater understanding of the variation of practice across the University. This would include consultation with staff and with student representatives.

Action:

8. The VP Education would invite the Director of IT to a meeting of the Programme Presidents.

9. The Director of IT would map out the requirements / expectations of Schools, reporting back to LTC prior to a case being made to Operations Committee.

12/28 Programme proposals

Received: LTC12-P23; Annex A; Annex B

Noted:

1. AD(T)s welcomed the input of the Teaching Centre into programme development.

Agreed:

2. The proposed actions would be noted at this stage and used to inform a wider review of the process for programme approval. A framework for the review would be developed over the coming months and would include reviews of:

· timescales for approval

· the documentation required for programme approval

· whether distinct approval routes were required for UG and PGT provision

· guidance on the creation of programme specifications and the use of learning outcomes

12/29 Review of Undergraduate Condonement 2010/11 Academic Year

Received: LTC12-P24

Noted:

1. The Committee welcomed the report and confirmed it was satisfied that condonement being applied appropriately.

Agreed:

2. The Academic Registry was asked to develop a risk-based approach to reporting on condonement in future years.

12/30 APR: School update

Received: LTC12-P25

12/31 UK Quality Code for Higher Education, Chapter B5: Student engagement - draft for consultation

Received: LTC12-P26

12/32 Any Other Business

Noted:

1. Curriculum Sub-Committee had asked the e-Learning Advisory Group (ELAG) to consider whether WebPA could be developed to enable lecturers to specify the proportion of marks that would be allocated for peer review and for group work. ELAG had agreed with the principle of openness, but it had determined that it would not be technically feasible to include this development in WebPA. It was noted that students were informed in advance how their marks would be allocated by their lecturers.

12/33 Dates of Meetings 2011/12

Dates of remaining meetings:

3 May 2012, 9.30 am

14 June 2012, 2.00 pm

Author – Rob Pearson

Date – April 2012