The University seeks to support and promote a "research-informed teaching environment" and renewal of professional experience through the provision of semester-long/six months University learning and teaching sabbaticals.
Objectives of the University Learning and Teaching Sabbaticals
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Keeping the curriculum up-to-date and active, effectively supported by appropriate learning resources linked to recent research
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Enabling staff to engage with developments in their field and link to developments in their teaching
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Ensuring that courses are designed in ways that support the development of learning outcomes appropriate to the knowledge economy, including appropriate pedagogy – that is, students experiencing research, and developing research skills
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Embedding research-informed teaching in institutional structures, including human resources strategies and quality assurance processes.
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Engaging with the wider external academic community through the appropriate dissemination of the project undertaken.
Each University Learning and Teaching sabbatical will:
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Undertake a project to be completed within the 6-month period of the sabbatical which contributes to the promotion and support of a research-informed teaching environment
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Promote and disseminate the outcomes of the project.
The Academic & Professional Development Unit leads and supports the University Learning and Teaching sabbaticals.
The University currently has eight University Learning and Teaching sabbaticals.
2008-2009
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Name
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School
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Title
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Corrine Barrow|
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Health and Social Sciences
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A Qualitative Investigation of Clients' Descriptions of 'Self' During the Course of Therapy'
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Claire Brierley|
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Games, Computing and Creative Technologies
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Digital Humanities and Computational Methods for Analysis of Texts
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Adel Elsayed|
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Centre for Materials Research and Innovation
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'The Use of Conceptual Structures to Support Learning'
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Shaz Kerr|
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Arts Media and Education
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'Blurred Boundaries, Converging Media: Creating Imagery for a Smart, Visual Environment'
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Chris Mulryan|
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Health and Social Sciences
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'Developing the Role of Simulation in Teaching Clinical Skills to the Primary Care Workforce'
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Pam Ramsden|
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Health and Social Sciences
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'Investigation of the Relationship of Psychological Resiliency, Vicarious Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Fear of Terrorism/Violence'
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Barbara Thomas|
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Arts Media and Education
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'Is it all talk? – Is there a Relationship Between Learning, Teaching and Research'
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Matthew Welton|
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Arts Media and Education
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'Words and Music'
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Corinne Barrow, Health and Social Sciences
Email:
c.barrow@bolton.ac.uk|
A Qualitative Investigation of Clients' Descriptions of 'Self' During the Course of Therapy (2008-2009)
During my sabbatical, I propose to undertake a piece of exploratory research in an area of applied psychology within which I have recently undertaken professional training. A coherent sense of identity is essential for psychological well-being; my research will employ qualitative research methods to look for changes in clients' 'self' descriptions, particularly with respect to whether disturbing events are satisfactorily accommodated within their identity. The research will not only inform my teaching and contribute to my professional development but will also help provide opportunities for strategic development of programmes within Psychology.
Claire Brierley, Games, Computing and Creative Technologies
Email: c.brierley@boltonac.uk|
Digital Humanities and Computational Methods for Analysis of Texts (2008-2009)
This project follows on from experimental work over the summer, now written up as a book chapter. Running over two semesters, this 0.5 sabbatical could involve writing a paper for the Digital Humanities conference in Maryland, USA in 2009 but is more likely to work towards a journal publication e.g. for Literary and Linguistic Computing and/or writing a paper for Corpus Linguistics 2009 in Liverpool, where the deadline for abstracts is sometime in December. Depending on the topics and texts chosen, it might draw on resources such as a prosody and part-of-speech lexicon and/or other computational linguistics tools for semantic analysis of different text genres, possibilities being blank verse and at the opposite end of the spectrum, transcripts of computer game character speech. It is hoped this project will have interdisciplinary appeal, combining both scientific and humanities approaches to investigation, evaluation, interpretation and reflection. Computational linguistics tools and techniques offer new ways of querying texts and plenty of scope for experimental and learning design: eg in choice of reference text and potential for group-work.
Adel Elsayed, Centre for Materials Research and Innovation
Email: a.elsayed@bolton.ac.uk|
The Use of Conceptual Structures to Support Learning (2008-2009)
The notion of conceptual structures is not new and has been developing for some time at various levels. It has started as a result of an early psychological investigation into how humans build mental conceptual models and how they map lexical representations to meaning. This work gave rise to such developments as the semantic network by Collins & Quillian and lexical mappings as used in the WordNet project. This is in addition to schema theory which builds on similar principles to explain the representation of knowledge in human memory.
Using tools that have been developed elsewhere, as well as a cognitive-support tool that has been developed in the M3C Research Lab at this University, we're planning to run a pilot to evaluate the uptake of conceptual externalisation, more often referred to as conceptual or mind mapping, as a learning/teaching support activity in some courses around the University.
Shaz Kerr, Arts Media and Education
Email: s.kerr@bolton.ac.uk|
Blurred Boundaries, Converging Media: Creating Imagery for a Smart, Visual Environment (2008-2009)
A cross-disciplinary research/teaching and learning collaboration between the schools of Arts, Media and Education, Centre for Materials Research and Innovation and Built Environment and Engineering partially funded by the University's Research Strategy Fund for the development of a smart material prototype based on a system that reacts to a user's physical behaviour.
The boundaries between television, cinema and computers are blurred. The passive viewer has changed to an active user of imaging technologies. As a film director I'm adapting my visual storytelling skills toward user centred imaging environments. Building on my narrative storytelling background in drama and multi-media installations I seek to create a soothing, stimulating environment that imbues a sense of calm for the viewer in potentially stressful, therapeutic situations. During my teaching and learning sabbatical I will develop still and moving imagery for the smart material prototype.
From this research I will develop and trial an undergraduate module that will act as a taster for a potential, new, innovative cross-disciplinary MA/MSc. The module would act as a platform for research that has common and overlapping interests within the general domain of interactive participatory experiences, particularly where art, new technology and built environment/engineering overlap.
Chris Mulryan, Health and Social Sciences
Email: c.mulryan@bolton.ac.uk|
Developing the Role of Simulation in Teaching Clinical Skills to the Primary Care Workforce (2008-2009)
In recent times the scale of medical error has been recognised and much effort has been invested to improve the safety of patients whilst under the care of health professionals. Part of this investment has been in changes to the way that health professionals are educated. Simulation similar to that which is used to train and test airline pilots has been proposed as a way of exposing health professionals to scenarios that are life like and test knowledge and skill in a realistic yet safe environment. While the concept of simulation has met with great acceptance in acute and emergency care, little is described in the literature about the role of simulation in training and testing those involved in primary care. With the primary care being the location where the majority of NHS care is being increasingly delivered this is a major oversight.
This sabbatical project will investigate the role of simulation as a teaching and learning tool for the primary care workforce. It will involve a review of the way in which clinical skills are taught both within Bolton and other universities. Resources will then be developed based on the review, that will enable simulation to be built in to the curriculum at Bolton. These will make use of an advanced patient simulator and computer technology in order to ensure that students graduating from Bolton receive the best possible preparation for their clinical roles.
Pam Ramsden, Health and Social Sciences
Email: p.ramsden@bolton.ac.uk|
Investigation of the Relationship of Psychological Resiliency, Vicarious Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Fear of Terrorism/Violence (2008-2009)
My sabbatical will enable me to complete a line of research in the area of psychological resiliency, post traumatic stress disorder and vicarious trauma that I will incorporate in a new module that I have designed for third year students in Psychology, Health and Social Sciences as well as submit for wider dissemination by means of publication and presentation at conferences. This line of research will contribute to the knowledge base of students in the area of applied psychology and the possible long term effects of terrorism on the general population. As students begin working in various organizations and employment agencies they will have a better knowledge base concerning psychological resiliency and stress levels that are generated from acts of violence. This line of research could also be utilized by professional mental/health workers to provide support and services to the general population. Currently in the UK there are few academic centres that provide specialist information and training on the psychological effects of vicarious trauma due to terrorism/violence within the general population.
The aims and objectives of this project are to investigate the relationship of psychological resiliency, vicarious post traumatic stress disorder and fear of terrorism/violence. Another element of this project is to identify whether psychological resiliency can insulate us from the psychological anxiety that is caused by fear and if this construct can be incorporated into the psychological well-being of an individual. The results of this research will be disseminated by academic publication, conferences and integrated into teaching.
The research undertaken and completed during the course of this sabbatical will act as a change agent utilizing the outcomes of the project to promote and support teaching and learning as well as dissemination of information nationally. It is anticipated that this line will provide wider support with the application of external funding and the possible establishment of an academic centre on trauma and terrorism/violence. The project will also enable me to engage with new and current developments in the field and make connections in Europe and the United States. Students will benefit at the University of Bolton because they will have the advantage of participating in a module that has real life applications as well as the research findings incorporated into the various topics of the module. Additionally the information may provide for short-courses to be taught at the post-graduate level.
Barbara Thomas, Arts Media and Education
Email: b.e.thomas@bolton.ac.uk|
Is it all talk? – Is there a Relationship Between Learning, Teaching and Research (2008-2009)
The project aims to investigate the perceptions of staff about Research Informed Teaching (RIT) across the School of Arts, Media and Education (SAME), gathering and analysing a diverse range of understandings about RIT, how it is supported and managed and how the outcomes are applied in different disciplines.
A project undertaken for the Art, Design Media subject centre of the Higher Education Academy (ADM-HEA) with departments of Art and Design in the North West of England exploring the RIT agenda (2006-7) resulting in some key recommendations:
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re-defining what is meant by 'research' for the post RAE agenda
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recognise a broader definition and its role in enhancing the students' learning experience
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institutional support strategies for linking research and teaching
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reward through recognition.
It is from this basis that I wish to develop the proposal and explore further how staff in a multi disciplinary school engage with research (in all its forms) and its impact on the student experience. Is it all talk or is there a relationship between individual research and supporting and developing new curriculum, students' understanding of employment, approaches to Learning and Teaching (L&T), and externalising those experiences.
Recent research shows that in the current climate it is becoming increasingly important for all disciplines to articulate the relationship between research and teaching.
"…it is becoming clearer that those students who are not learning in an HE environment that is informed by research, and in which it is not possible to access research-related resources, are at a disadvantage compared to those who are…"
Linking Teaching and Research (2006)
Matthew Welton, Arts Media and Education
Email: m.welton@bolton.ac.uk|
Words and Music (2008-2009)
My sabbatical project involves me in writing the words for a new opera on which I am collaborating
with Larry Goves, who is writing the music. Over the last three years Larry and I have worked together on a number of song cycles and with this project we plan to take an experimental approach to the traditional features of opera. We are being supported by an Aldeburgh Music Fellowship. For its theme, the piece will centre on the New York poet and curator, Frank O'Hara, and will be structured as a series of set pieces. The project reflects my ambition to extend my writing to incorporate forms besides poetry. I anticipate that the experience of writing this opera will inform my work on the creative writing programme, on which we have already incorporated lyric writing, in response to demand from students.
Dr Deborah Abdel Nabi, Health and Social Sciences
Email: a.nabi@bolton.ac.uk|
The Use of Screen Recorders to Achieve More Informative Assessment of Students' Understanding (2007-2008)
The project that I conducted during my sabbatical set out to evaluate the effectiveness of using a fairly new IT innovation, screen capture technology, (which allows the user to capture the dynamic content of their computer screen and overlay an oral narration) as a teaching, learning and assessment tool. The aim was to demonstrate that screen recorder software could be utilised to initiate a multimedia dialogue between tutor and student that would reveal the depth of the students' comprehension and, thus, improve the quality of tutor feedback.
The results were recently presented at two conferences: the Higher Education Academy Psychology Network's Psychology Learning & Teaching Conference, (2008|),| and 'Assessment in Higher Education' (2008|)|. A paper has also been submitted for publication to the Psychology Learning & Teaching Journal||.
Additionally, HEA Psychology Network funding of £10,500 has been secured to continue the research. The second phase of the project aims to explore the versatility of screen recorder assessment techniques in other areas of the psychology curriculum and its potential applications in informal learning contexts and exam preparation.
Dr Julian Coleman, Games Computing and Creative Technologies
Email: jlc1@bolton.ac.uk|
Active Learning in Supply Chain Management Education (2007-2008)
From September 2007 until January 2008 I undertook a sabbatical with the objective of underpinning our active approach to teaching Supply Chain Management in the Business Logistics, Innovation and Systems Centre.
A number of our modules have supply chain role plays and simulations, around which the theory is taught. We wished to understand more clearly how successful this approach is with students from different learning and cultural backgrounds.
The research consisted of the following hypotheses:
That aspects of the MSc SCM where teaching/learning was predominantly active would be better understood than components taught with a more passive learning style.
That students on the UK and Malaysia versions of the MSc would have different preferred learning styles.
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That preferred learning styles would make a difference to how effective the active learning exercises are.
Via a number of questionnaires and analysis of assessment results, accompanied by the use of the Felder Index of Learning Styles, we concluded that hypothesis one and two were upheld, but that more data was required to fully investigate hypothesis three.
The work has been written up, and a paper accepted for publication in the International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations. For me personally the sabbatical was an opportunity to better understand some of the teaching and learning style theory in order to apply it within a growing portfolio of courses.
Dr Gerard Edwards, Built Environment and Engineering
Email: g.edwards@bolton.ac.uk|
A Research Collaboration between the Department of Physics, University of Nanjing, China and the Department of Built Environment and Engineering, University of Bolton in the Field of Solid State Electronics, to Fuel Inspiring Research Informed Electronics Teaching (2007-2008)
Dr Edwards visited Professor Zhang, a Full Professor of Experimental Physics, at the Department of Physics, Nanjing University, China during August 2007 to initiate a research collaboration on the understanding of the optical properties of III – N (GaN/AlGaN) wide band gap semiconductors.
Nanjing, led by Professor Zhang, is providing the skill in experimental physics. Nanjing has the facilities and know-how to grow multi layer III – N structures, characterise the samples and then carry out optical measurements, which reflect the material properties. Dr Edwards has provided complimentary expertise in theoretical semiconductor physics and developed a MATLAB based software simulator, to calculate the full GaN strainedquantum mechanicalbandstructure. The software bandstructure simulator is being used to assist in the interpretation of the Nanjing experiments.