Valuing tourism in higher education: Capitalising on HE-Industry links. Oxford, 8-9 December 2011

Posted on: 9 December 2011
By: isadm
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The annual conference of the Association for Tourism in Higher Education considered the following themes: Making the case for tourism in higher education; What has tourism in HE done for the industry?; The place of tourism within the Research Excellence Framework; Tourism research and progress/best practices/highlights; International/ collaborative partnerships; Funding potential; Government perspectives on tourism in HE; Employability issues. Presentations from the two keynote speakers are available online.

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Using digital technologies to support teachers in designing effective technology-enhanced learning (TEL)

Posted on: 6 December 2011
By: mackene
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Innovative software to help teachers stay at the forefront of the digital revolution in education has been developed by researchers funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). The project has adopted an iterative research-design process to build the means by which the teaching community can collaborate further on how best to deploy TEL. It aims to lower the TEL threshold so that the majority of teachers can engage with it in a way that draws on good practice by others and is informed by the findings of pedagogical research, thereby optimising the benefits to their learners.   [loaded 6 December 2011]

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Education for Sustainability: Guides for teaching and learning

Posted on: 1 December 2011
By: mackene
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Education for sustainability (EfS) uses approaches specific to the content and concerns of different programmes and subject areas, but also draws upon shared teaching and learning priorities. Critical pedagogies geared to futures and systems thinking, participatory and experiential learning, critical thinking, partnership working and values reflection, are all widely used in EfS across varied disciplines and in inter-disciplinary contexts. To support academic staff in curriculum enhancement in this area, the University of Gloucestershire has developed an institutional framework to provide guidance about these teaching and learning approaches. This covers basic pedagogic methods, approaches to curriculum design and signs of demand among students and organisations for sustainability skills in the graduate employment arena. Using consultation internally and across the sector, the following materials have been developed:

EfS: A guide for university managers on needs and opportunities

This explores strategic needs, benefits and the potential for EfS in the curriculum and in partnership with external organisations, including recent research evidence of demand and interest among students and employers.

EfS: A guide for educators on teaching and learning approaches

This  provides orientation on the aims and principles of EfS, to inform curriculum development work, including pedagogic approaches, definitions and entry points, as well as different ways to bring EfS to life in programmes.

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Interactive Resources for Interdisciplinary Sustainability

Posted on: 5 October 2011
By: mackene
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The Interactive Resources for Interdisciplinary Sustainability (IRIS) website, developed by lecturers and students from the BSc Environment & Sustainability programme at Keele University, aims to help students embarking on an interdisciplinary sustainability-focused degree at university gain a greater understanding of interdisciplinary approaches to sustainability problems, what to expect  throughout the degree and issues they may encounter whilst studying at university level. The core of this project is to explore links between different discipline areas within the environment and sustainability field, especially crossing the traditional natural-social science divide. Understanding and tackling real-life environment and sustainability issues requires a holistic approach and the ability to draw upon many disciplinary perspectives and techniques. This resource contains a series of activities and advice.  [loaded 5 October 2011]

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2012 legacies for learning

Posted on: 4 October 2011
By: mackene
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The HLST (Health, Leisure, Sport and Tourism) Subject Network was recently awarded funds for the development of Open Educational Resources (OER) by JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) within a twelve month project. Open Educational Resources are digital learning materials which are placed in repositories for open access, normally under licence, to be used, improved and re-used. The aim of the project is to identify, develop as necessary, make accessible and promote resources which can support higher education programmes in engaging students in learning through opportunities afforded by the Olympic and Paralympic Games and their legacy.

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New Pedagogic Research and Development Project Final Reports

Posted on: 4 October 2011
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Final reports and resources from various HLST-funded Pedagogic Research and Development Round 11 projects are now available. The latest reports are:

Minding the gap: Developing the commercial awareness of hospitality, leisure, sport and tourism studies
‘Minding the Gap’ is aimed at developing useful practices for addressing a concerning employability skills gap recognised in Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism [HLST] students – namely, their lack of commercial awareness.

Motivational vulnerability in first year undergraduates: A self-determination perspective
This research project aims to identify the motivational profiles of first year students in terms of motives for enrolling on their degree programme and examine whether these groups differ in terms of satisfaction with university, perceived academic ability, emotional experience at university (anxiety, enjoyment, boredom), performance (overall first year grade) and engagement (attendance and number of times online materials are accessed).

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Learning for Sustainability

Posted on: 4 October 2011
By: mackene
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The Learning for Sustainability (LfS) website highlights the wide range of social skills and processes that are needed to support constructive collaboration, and indicates how these skills and processes can be interwoven to achieve more integrated and effective outcomes. It brings links to several hundred annotated on-line resources from different sectors and geographic areas together in one easy to access place, and it concentrates on providing links to open access materials. New papers available on the site look at complexity, engagement, adaptation and social capital. One particular paper, Forests and climate change: Linking adaptation and mitigation, explores the linkages between the two options of adaptation and mitigation in order to understand their trade-offs and synergies. This paper explores this issue using Latin American examples.

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SkillZone for facilities management

Posted on: 30 September 2011
By: mackene
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The British Institute of Facilities Management has launched an interactive online learning portal, SkillZone, to help FM professionals develop essential knowledge and skills. Subjects for the eight online courses include negotiation skills, advanced negotiation, key performance indicators, conversations with customers, managing professionals for results, budgeting in the real world, innovation and strategic thinking.

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Strengthening climate change in urban education: Cities and Climate Change Academy (CCCA) Global Workshop

Posted on: 16 September 2011
By: mackene
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UN-HABITAT’s Cities and Climate Change Academy aims at strengthening urban course modules of universities around the globe by providing easily adaptable climate change courses and by building the capacities of teaching staff of urban planning, urban development and related departments. The ultimate goal of the initiative is equipping urban professionals with the know-how and tools to respond to climate change. This workshop, held in Bonn on 1-2 June 2011, is a milestone in the development of these course modules. The objectives of the workshop were: to exchange experiences on how to strengthen education on climate change and cities at university level; to reach a common understanding on how to develop generic course material for the Cities and Climate Change Academy; to agree on priority topics for the development of initial courses; to agree on partnerships (including universities from the North and South) for the development of selected courses, and to agree on a road map for 2011/2012.  [loaded 16 September 2011]

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4th International Conference on Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship. Bournemouth, 8-9 September 2011

Posted on: 8 September 2011
By: mackene
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The fourth ‘Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship’ conference takes the title of ‘Global Vision, Local Action’. It aims to address the overlapping themes of sustainable development, internationalisation and global citizenship, together with the interconnections between the themes and how local action addresses global concerns. The conference organisers adhere to the belief that these are not separate issues: holistic approaches that encompass all aspects of university life are important if higher education is to contribute effectively to global sustainability. Presentations are available online.

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