News

== Job reference A2986 Location Plymouth Salary £37012 to £44166 pa, pro-rata - Grade 8 Contract Type Full-time, Fixed-term Job category/type Academic/Research
 * NEW!! Academic Developer (Maternity Cover) **
 * Application closing date 07/12/2012 **

Plymouth University has a vacancy for an Academic Developer to join the Educational Development team. You will contribute to the further development of a university with an enviable record in teaching and learning/ educational development. The university was successful in gaining funding for four Centres of Excellence in Teaching and Learning and has been successful in the award of 14 National Teaching Fellows.

You will report to the Head of Educational Development with Pedagogic Research and work with the Educational Development/ PedRIO team. You will support the full range of academic and professional development activities including teaching on the GTA and PGCAP programmes.

You will have a higher degree (or equivalent) and preferably have undertaken an accredited course in teaching and learning in higher education. You will be an excellent teacher who is able to demonstrate flair, flexibility and self-confidence. You will have excellent interpersonal, verbal and written skills and proven ability to work independently and as a member of a team.

You will have at least 2 years' experience of teaching or supporting learning in higher education, as well as an understanding of the theory and practice of learning and teaching in higher education. Expertise in pedagogic research would be advantageous.

This is a full-time position working 37 hours per week, and is fixed-term to cover a period of maternity leave which is anticipated to be for approximately 6 months.

For an informal discussion, please contact Professor Debby Cotton, Head of Educational Development with Pedagogic Research on 01752 587614, or e-mail dcotton@plymouth.ac.uk although applications must be made in accordance with the details on the web-site below.

Plymouth University is committed to an inclusive culture and respecting diversity, and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.

[]

_______________________________________________________________________________________

NEW! Research Assistant post at Plymouth University Pedagogic Research - Education for Sustainable Development **Job title :** Research Assistant **Job reference :** A2870 **Application closing date :** 11/10/2012 **Location :** Plymouth **Salary :** £23121 to £26779 pa, Grade - 5 **Package :** Full-time, Fixed-term **Job category/type :** Academic/Research

**Job description :** We wish to appoint a research assistant to work within the Pedagogic Research Institute and Observatory (PedRIO) in undertaking data collection and analysis for research on teaching and learning in higher education. Working with Professor Debby Cotton and Professor Stephen Sterling, you will use qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate teaching, learning and the student experience. Work on a range of different projects may be required, but the main focus is on education for sustainable development (ESD) and previous experience in this area would be beneficial. (The Pedagogic Research Institute and Observatory web page gives more information about key topics and themes: http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/research/pedrio) You will be involved in data collection and analysis, as well as dissemination of the results through written and oral presentations. You should hold a minimum of a good first class degree or equivalent with a strong research component and ideally have experience of questionnaire design and analysis as well as interviewing/ focus groups. You should have excellent verbal and communication skills appropriate to the academic community, be able to work using your own initiative, set and work effectively to deadlines and be a creative thinker able to bring your own ideas and suggestions to the project. This is a full-time postion working 37 hours per week on a fixed - term basis for 12 months. You will be expected to take up the post as soon as possible. Part time/ job share applications will be considered. Job Description and Further Particulars

PedRIO members win funding from JISC
Dr Neil Witt and the Learning Technologies team from Plymouth University have been awarded a total of £135000 of JISC funding for 3 new projects:

1. SEEDPoD Digital Literacy project

2. XCRI project

3. APEL project

Congratulations to the team! ==

==

PedRIO members in Routledge Education Class of 2011
Two articles published by PedRIO members have been amongst the most popular articles published last year. The papers are listed in the [|Routledge Education Class of 2011] and will be made freely available and widely promoted by Taylor and Francis.

The papers are in two categories as below:

1) Further and Higher Education Category [|Cultural differences, learning styles and transnational education]  by Troy Heffernan, Mark Morrison, Parikshit Basu & Arthur Sweeney  //Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management//, Volume 32 Issue 1

2) Educational Media and Technology Category

[|Effective e-learning? Multi-tasking, distractions and boundary management by graduate students in an online environment] by Jennie Winter, Debby Cotton, Joan Gavin & Jon D. Yorke //Research in Learning Technology//, Volume 18 Issue 1

Congratulations to all the staff involved! =

=

Bob Brown from the School of Architecture is leading on the university space strategy research project. This project will examine the University’s space strategy in line with shaping both the future of the campus and enhancing teaching and learning and the student experience. The project will be carried out by a consultation team from the Architecture Department together with a steering group consisting of noted stakeholders from across the University.

For more information or to contribute to the project, please see: []


 * HEFCE announce measures to support Equality and Diversity in the REF **

The funding bodies and REF team take their duty to promote and support equality and diversity seriously. As such, we are developing a number of mechanisms tailored to the REF to encourage the submission of all excellent researchers. These will be detailed in the Guidance on Submissions. REF panels will also receive an equality briefing. To develop these measures, we worked with the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) to review the equalities measures taken in the 2008 RAE and identify potential improvements for the REF. We also undertook a quantitative analysis of staff selected for the 2008 RAE.

Further details are available on the HEFCE web-site:


 * [] **



= =