Upcoming IAD events

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The Institute for Academic Development (IAD) runs a range of events over the academic year to support staff, including short workshops on learning and teaching and researcher topics, and occasional larger conferences and forums.

Learning and Teaching Conference 2025: save the date 

We look forward to welcoming you back to the annual Learning and Teaching Conference in 2025. This brings together staff and students to celebrate and share good practice and innovation in learning and teaching.  

We encourage you to save the date: Tuesday 17 June 2025. 

The conference, with the theme ‘Transformative Assessment and Feedback’, will be a one-day, in-person event held at the Nucleus building, King’s Buildings. Delegates will have the opportunity to watch keynote talks and selected presentations via live-stream, and these will also be recorded. 

Key dates for your diaries: 

  • Call for proposals: Early November 2024 
  • Deadline to submit proposal: Wednesday 22 January 2025 
  • Submitters informed of reviewers’ decisions: Early March 2025 
  • Registration opens for internal delegates: Late March 2025 
  • Registration opens for external delegates: Mid-April 2025 

If you have any questions, please contact the Learning and Teaching Conference organising team on lt.conference@ed.ac.uk. 

Please visit the Conference webpages for updates and more information:
Learning & Teaching Conference 

People being taught in lecture theatre

WriteFest 2024  

November is Academic Writing Month, an annual event to support, raise awareness and celebrate academic writing.

During November 2024, the IAD will be running morning and afternoon Writing Retreats and Researcher Writing Hour sessions for Postgraduate Researchers and Research Staff. There are also writing retreats and a PI Power Hour for Principal Investigators (PIs) and research leaders at the University.

In addition to writing workshops and retreats, the IAD will also be blogging each week, about writing related topics, whilst also getting different perspectives via guest blogs. A WriteFest Padlet (virtual bulletin board) is active, to allow researchers to share writing support and celebrate writing achievements:

WriteFest: Writing Top Tips & Achievements

They also have a number of writing resources, that have been created to support researchers with their writing projects. Please visit our webpages for more information and consider joining the WriteFest community to focus on your academic writing this November:

WriteFest 2024

IAD support and training for Principal Investigators and Research leaders launch 

The IAD have launched a new suite of support for Principal Investigators (PIs) and Research leaders, offering a range of support from bite-size events to full leadership programmes.  

If you are a member of staff who is responsible for the intellectual leadership and overall management of a research project, or who may lead or manage individuals or teams, then this is for you!  

For more information, please visit our newly updated webpages: 

Principal Investigators

Developing your digital teaching practices course  

Spaces are now available for our ‘Developing your digital teaching practices’ course, a safe and playful space for colleagues to reflect and share ideas on digital pedagogy, and inspire you to innovate your teaching practices.  

The asynchronous course has been specifically designed to be flexible, meaning you can participate online at your convenience over the three weeks. During the course you will be invited to explore and contribute to the Museum of Digital Teaching Practices, a virtual collection of shared ideas and approaches to digital teaching in your practice.  

This course is running 422 November and is open to UoE educators. 

Events & workshops

Practical Strategies series  

The Practical Strategies series is designed to provide staff with a space to talk about their teaching and reflect on their practice. The aim is that colleagues will leave the sessions with practical ideas they can take away and apply in their own context. 

Upcoming workshops include:  

Practical Strategies for… Pass/fail grading as a form of compassionate assessment, Tuesday 5 November 2024, 2pm – 3.30pm

Practical Strategies for… Interdisciplinary teaching and assessment, Tuesday 26 November 2024, 2pm – 3.30pm

 

Explore the series: 

Practical strategies series

Edinburgh Network: Growing Approaches to Genuine Engagement (ENGAGE) 

The Edinburgh Network: Growing Approaches to Genuine Engagement (ENGAGE) aims to bring together University of Edinburgh students and staff interested in creating genuine and meaningful interactions between students and staff focused on learning, teaching and assessment. Engage network events take place once a month. 

Upcoming workshops include:  

Co-creating assessment and feedback: exploring examples, challenges and opportunities, Thursday 14 November 2024, 4pm – 5pm, Prof Cathy Bovill, Co-director IAD 

Meaningfully engaging a diversity of students in experiential learning – what has worked for SACHA (Students as Change Agents), Wednesday 4 December 2024, 4pm – 5pm, Ruth Donnelly, Emma Taylor and SACHA student participants.

Book and explore workshops 

Edinburgh Network: Growing Approaches to Genuine Engagement (ENGAGE)