Newcastle University Learning and Teaching Case Studies website goes live

Since December 2014 I have been employed by Newcastle University, working within the Learning and Teaching Development Service (LTDS) to review, amend and update the Case Studies of Teaching Practice resource. A new website has been created to host the case studies, and this week it has been launched and gone live!

Check it out...

http://teaching.ncl.ac.uk/casestudies/

The case studies offer examples of Newcastle University staff members' teaching practice. Their case studies aim to share what works for them and their students, and to support larger conversations about learning and teaching. 

Currently there are 100 case studies, with this number constantly increasing. The case studies are wide-ranging from the use of social media in lectures to the introduction of a student peer mentoring scheme.

The practices vary but the case studies are all based around the same 5-question structure:

1. What did you do?
2. Who is involved?
3. How do you do it?
4. Why do you do it?
5. Does it work?

The idea is that anyone interested in any of the case studies can contact the author of the case study for more information. It is hoped that the website will encourage staff to look at teaching methods used by different staff members, and from different faculties. 

My job involves corresponding or meeting with different staff members to assist in the writing and submission of their case study. I am fascinated by the teaching methods used and strategies employed in order to enhance the learning experience of students. I hope that you find the website as interesting as i do.

The Make Works Directory is live!

Make Works is an independent design company that facilitates, celebrates and debates design, craftsmanship and manufacture. They are interested in materials, machines and digital technology. 

Their mission is to make it easier for creative professionals to work with industry and produce high quality work locally. To do this they are opening up access to Scottish suppliers, trades and manufacturing in ways that are useful, informative and inspiring. The first of these is the Make Works Directory - a digital service that makes sourcing factories, fabricators, workshops and facilities simple. 

What a genius idea!

Browsing the directory is simple, partly due to the different subgroups that have been created to enable you to narrow your search, for example, by location or by material.

The site also consists of production guides which provide information about the way materials can be used.

There are a few case studies, and some articles about specific Scottish businesses.