Spring Meeting

In the Spring meeting of the QAA Programme Leader Network, Chairs Sam, Emma and Lucy were joined by Dr Andrew Holliman, Associate Professor and Academic Head of Learning and Teaching at the UCL Institute of Education. With representatives in the meeting from right across the UK, we launched into a fantastic hour focusing on using data to inform and evaluate. 

Andrew led an informative session asking what actually counts as data, how to choose and interpret evidence, and how to use data ethically. This was an insightful event with participants noting how useful and thought provoking they found it. We look forward to furthering the conversation at our next meeting in the summer. 

Autumn Meeting

At our autumn meeting we were delighted to welcome participants from more than 50 different QAA members from across the UK. Chairs Lucy Leake and Emma McDonald were joined by Tammy Thiele, and Julie Freeborn, to talk about using theory of change in challenging times.

Julie Freeborn is a Chartered Occupational Psychologist and recent winner of the British Psychological Society Innovation in Practice Award. Acknowledging that the higher education sector is facing particular challenges in the current climate, Julie started our session with a focus on how academic leaders can support their teams, and their students, to manage change.

Tammy Thiele is the Widening Participation (WP) Evaluation and Evidence Manager at the University of Warwick. Her research focuses on examining inequalities in student outcomes and the effectiveness of policy interventions aimed at reducing these disparities. Tammy  introduced us to 'Theory of Change' and using her work at University of Warwick as a case study, discussed how we might use this to inform our own practice.   

A fantastic and insightful hour, with rich discussion, we look forward to seeing you at our spring network, where we will be taking a lively look at using data to inform and evaluate.