This year’s Learning and Teaching Symposium brought staff from across the University to tackle the theme of ‘innovation’ in Higher Education today.
Innovate! involved 120 staff from across all Faculties, Libraries and Curriculum Support and Corporate Services, in addressing how the changing landscape of Higher Education demands innovative approaches.
Professor Dilly Fung (University College London) provided an argument in favour of a ‘connected curriculum’ as part of her keynote lecture at the symposium. A ‘connected curriculum’ is one where research and enquiry are at the heart of the student learning experience, involved in addressing both local and global problems.
The symposium also included a series of thought provoking parallel sessions around the theme of Innovation (from problem-based learning to global engagement to Westminster case studies highlighting innovative approaches in course management).
Attendees also had the opportunity to visit a variety of posters reflecting on the theme of innovation.
A new addition to the Symposium this year was the round table where a panel discussed ‘What is Innovation?’ Chaired by Thomas Moore, University Director of Cross-Disciplinary Learning and Teaching, the panel examined some of the challenges and risks of innovation from the Westminster experience. A common theme of the discussion was of the importance of ‘doing innovation’ for the right reasons, whether to address inequalities in Higher Education (especially BAME students) or ensuring that our graduates are ready for the knowledge economy of the future.
Professor Roland Dannreuther, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Student Experience, reflecting on this year’s symposium remarked:
“This year’s Learning and Teaching Symposium really shows what can be achieved when colleagues, academic staff alongside our corporate services staff, work together in showcasing the innovative range of projects currently underway at the University of Westminster. In particular, when innovation helps students to see the real value of learner autonomy (of doing ‘real life’ research) then we know that this can make a big impact on the student experience and also boost future career prospects.”
We would like to thank the Staff Learning and Development team for their help in supporting the event, the House staff at Marylebone, the AV team for their help in setting up facilities, the educational technology team for their support in filming and the two Talent Bank students.
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