The University’s Centre for Learning and Teaching is supporting a number of projects which aim to enhance research teaching linkages within the University.
Four members of staff have been given awards as part of the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Programme 2008.
These competitive awards, which have a changing theme, are designed to help academic staff carry out new and exciting projects which are over and above their normal course activities and to disseminate good practice throughout the institution.
Staff were initially invited to submit proposals which contribute to the enhancement of the way that research teaching linkages are made within the University. This could involve the further development of a current innovation, the introduction of a new activity or undertaking a piece of relevant research. The topic was interpreted widely to include both the inclusion of research methods and results within teaching, or research on teaching and learning methods.
The winning projects included:
- Support for a digitised exhibition exploring the interaction between science, literature and culture in the 19th century
- The development of an interactive map and data bank of sites in Russia, prior to students visiting the sites on a field course
- The building of a 'Virtual Buddhist Monastery' to allow students to experience life within such a religious community
- The provision of a mobile reference database tool for students carrying out field work in the Alps
Dr Mark Young, Academic Director of the Centre for Learning and Teaching, was delighted by the diversity and standard of applications. He said: "We had to choose from 12 excellent applications for funds and it was extremely difficult narrowing the entries down. Unfortunately, we could only support four, whereas most were both eligible and exciting.
"The University is already carrying out a wide and innovative range of work with research teaching linkages, and we hope that these grants will help extend the scope of these even further."