Projects

The Centre is involved in a number of projects which are funded by external agencies, such as the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), some in collaboration with other HE institutions. In addition the Centre has a role to play in a range of internal projects to develop and pilot innovations and introduce new ideas to the academic community.

PGT@QMU
This project is building on the outcomes of the national project on the LFIP taught PG student experience. Several subject areas are working with CAp to trial the LFiP Toolkit, and support transition to postgraduate study for QMU students.
Contact: Veronica Bamber

PETL
PETL projects are part of QMU's enhancement theme work. They showcase work carried out in a range of subject areas and departments to develop and support the curriculum.
Contact: Sally Anderson

Contemplative practices and retention project     
We’re offering a range of opportunities for students and staff to learn about and engage with contemplative practices and mindfulness. The aim of the project is to explore whether such practices are perceived to be of benefit to learning, teaching and engagement, all of which are likely to influence retention.
Contact: Iddo Oberski

Summaries of completed projects undertaken by members of the Centre for Academic Practice are presented below. For more information please use the email contact alongside each entry, or for general enquiries please contact us by emailing CAPAdmin@qmu.ac.uk                          

Learning technologies to monitor and aid student engagement

October 2012 - July 2013        

This project, funded through the QMU 'Widening Participation and Student Retention funding opportunity', seeks to explore how, and in what ways, our new Virtual Learning Environment (the Hub) can be galvanised to monitor and support student engagement in order to encourage retention. The project aims to consider:

• In what ways can the Hub be utilised to monitor students’ engagement with their learning?
• Can mobile technologies be used in conjunction with the Hub to reach out to our students in order to engage them fully with their learning?

Contact: Susi Peacock & Sue Murray

Blended Learning      

With the increasingly wide spread use of the VLE within QMU (WebCT from 2000-2012 and then the Hub from 2012 onwards), this project set out to show how to migrate from using a VLE purely as a notes delivery system to using the VLE to promote learning and understanding to specific students. Contact: Susi Peacock

Employability, Careers and Study Skills website   

A new, integrated website resource was launched in June 2010 as a joint venture between CAP and the Careers Service: http://www.qmu.ac.uk/futurefocus (The web site is no longer available to access) Contact: Fiona Boyle

Employability and Destinations of PhD Students  

In conjunction with the Quality Enhancement Unit, a project to survey graduate destinations of PhD students and their requirements regarding Careers and Employability was carried out between February and April 2009. Contact: Fiona Boyle

Enhancing Student Employability   

QMU led a cross-sectorial project entitled; "Enhancing Student Employability: Extending Work-Related Learning and Work Experience Opportunities in the Voluntary Sector" funded by the SFC. This project also involved representatives from the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations and Volunteer Development Scotland. QMU was also a member of the steering groups on:

• A web2.0 project to develop a repository of Employability resources
• A materials development project to provide PDP resources for PG taught students

All the above projects were in progress through 2009 with an evaluation of results within 2010. Contact: Fiona Boyle

Enhancing Student Employability   

QMU led a cross-sectorial project entitled; "Enhancing Student Employability: Extending Work-Related Learning and Work Experience Opportunities in the Voluntary Sector" funded by the SFC. This project also involved representatives from the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations and Volunteer Development Scotland. QMU was also a member of the steering groups on:

• A web2.0 project to develop a repository of Employability resources
• A materials development project to provide PDP resources for PG taught students

All the above projects were in progress through 2009 with an evaluation of results within 2010. Contact: Fiona Boyle

ESCalate        

This project aims to develop basic practitioner research skills for lecturers in FE and HE. It does this through planning and carrying out small-scale projects, linked to a relevant literature search, which relates to one aspect of an individual's teaching practice. http://escalate.ac.uk Contact: Iddo Oberski

Exploring the learner experience of ePortfolios for feedback       

Susi Peacock and Sue Murray from the Centre for Academic Practice (CAP), together with Alison Scott from Radiography, undertook a study, funded by the Health Sciences and Practice Subject Centre (HSaP), to investigate whether and how learners engage with formative and summative feedback delivered through ePortfolios. Using a focus group approach, the study explored the benefits and barriers of health science learners receiving feedback through ePortfolios and how this compares with their previous experiences of feedback. The project aimed to develop guidelines and case studies for educators to improve learner engagement with feedback through ePortfolios. Further information about this project is available on the CAP ePortfolio web pages and on the Health Sciences and Practice Subject Centre HEA web pages. Contact: Susi Peacock & Sue Murray

First Year Curriculum Design          

This QAA Scotland funded project aims to enhance knowledge of the current literature and practice of first year curriculum design in the higher education sector. A publication outlining the work and outcomes of this project is available here. Contact: Iddo Oberski

Hub @ QMU    

Hub @ QMU is an Internet based Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), which was implemented at QMU during the summer of 2012. The Hub replaces our previous VLE (WebCT). All programmes across QMU have module areas within the Hub and it provides a set of online educational tools to facilitate learning, communication and collaboration. It is a secure online system designed to support student learning. The CAP provides support to staff and run training events throughout the year.

Contact: Susi Peacock

GradeMark     

GradeMark is a recent extension to Turnitin where tutors can examine a student submission and mark it on-screen by inserting comments within the rubric. The remarks can be ad hoc or from a library of such remarks. Contact: Susi Peacock

International Student Volunteering Project         

QMU y delivered an innovative volunteering project, funded by the Prime Minister's Initiative Pilot Projects' Scheme, for international students; a collaborative venture from CAP, the Recruitment and International Liaison Office and the Students' Union. The first event was held in December 2008, which brought 55 elderly residents from the local community to the Students' Union for a tea-party, organised and hosted by the students with support from Fraser Doherty of Super Jam (young entrepreneur of the year). Further events being held in March include visits from local primary schools and a clear-up to support a National Trust property in the local town of Musselburgh. Contact: Fiona Boyle

ISLE   

The Individualised Support for Learning through ePortfolios Project (ISLE) was a collaborative project funded under the Scottish Funding Council’s Transformation Programme to look at how a shared model of Personal Development Planning (PDP) supported by ePortfolios can benefit the learning process. Further information is available on the JISC web pages and in a SFC / JISC report. Contact: Susi Peacock

PALATINE      

This 9-month project funded by the Higher Education Academy Subject Centre for Dance, Drama and Music focused on online synchronous learning environments such as Wimba and Eluminate in drama and cultural management.

Information about PALATINE (Performing Arts Learning and Teaching Innovation Network) is available at: http://www.palatine.ac.uk/ Contact: Sue Murray

Plagiarism @ QMU     

The project wiki contains information on workshops presented in the project series: Workshop 1 - Planning out Plagiarism sought to inform tutors of when and how they should communicate good practice in referencing and paraphrasing to their students. Workshop 2 - Designing out Plagiarism encouraged teaching staff to re-consider the design of their instruments of assessment. Workshop 3 - dealt with the regulatory aspects of dealing with a serious case of plagiarism. Plagiarism resources were rationalised and drawn together in a wiki for students and tutors at QMU - 'In your own words - understanding and avoiding plagiarism': https://sites.google.com/a/qmu.ac.uk/plagiarism/ Contact: Susi Peacock

TESEP                

The TESEP project (Transforming and enhancing the student experience through Pedagogy) was intended to enable the partner institutions to accelerate the process of transformation within their own Institutions to the benefit of learners, but will also provide Scotland’s Universities and Colleges with significant benefits for transformation within their own contexts. CAP's contribution was to share the experiences of the QMU Radiography Programmes in the transition from a traditional delivery model to one based on a Virtual Learning Environment. Contact: Iddo Oberski

TSIS   
The Third Sector Internships Scotland (TSIS) project is a programme which aims to support students to find paid work experience in the third sector. TSIS is part of the Scottish Funding Council’s Learning to Work 2 initiative, is open to students from all Scottish Higher Education Institutions, and is being delivered by Queen Margaret University, The Open University in Scotland and the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, with support from universities across Scotland and Student Volunteering Scotland. TSIS has already enabled over 130 organisations to employ more than 150 students across Scotland from  Islay to Inverkeithing and from Dumfries to Dingwall. For more information please visit: http://www.3rdsectorintern.org.uk/
Contact: Ann Hubbard