Two members of staff from the Keele Institute for Innovation and Teaching Excellence (KIITE) recently presented their work on choice in learner assessments at the Up North 19 Symposium.

Organised by York St John University, Up North is an exciting Learning and Teaching symposium which aims to provide an opportunity for those working in Northern Higher Education Institutions, in a variety of roles, to share and explore innovations and developments in Learning and Teaching.

Georgina Spencer, Academic Developer, and Matthew Street, Learning Technology Manager, presented ‘Choose your own adventure: giving learners choice in assessment.’

Georgina explains:

“We presented our recent work undertaken on the Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning with Technology, which is delivered predominantly to academic staff. There can often be tension within postgraduate education, between the rigour and standards of Level 7 study, and ensuring that the learning is centred on the development of relevant skills applicable to each participant’s practice. We’ve been exploring a mix of teaching approaches that encourage discussion, collaboration and sharing of experience and practice, which we found struck a successful balance of being challenging and developmental.”

Matthew adds:

“We created an engaging and relevant professional development and postgraduate opportunity that staff found accessible and inclusive. The collaborative and open approach that we developed proved successful in creating an engaging learning experience that developed participants’ practice and enabled them to select and evaluate the most appropriate approach for the learning need highlighted.”

Up North took place on 7th June 2019 and included a keynote interview on the topic of Visionary Learning with Dr David Roberts, workshops, presentations and practical ‘Gimme 5’ sessions.