Promoting teaching and learning

This was one of the largest events of its kind in the UK university sector, comprising  nearly 40 presentations in conference sessions,  30 demonstrations and posters in the associated exhibition and many opportunities for informal discussions over the two days.

Organised by the Education & Information Support Division (EISD), the conference drew contributions from teachers in all UCL's faculties. Opening the conference, Professor Roland Rosner, Director of EISD, stated that the primary objective was to create a collegial forum for exchanging ideas and good practice on teaching and learning in the multidisciplinary context which characterises UCL.

In a stimulating keynote address, Professor Diana Laurillard from the Institute of Education speculated on the potential for communications and information technologies to change the paradigm for teaching and learning, noting that the web, though barely 20 years old, was already transforming the landscape.

Topics addressed in the event's wide-ranging programme included an ambitious scheme for widening participation in the UCL Medical School, the ingenious deployment of technologies for the teaching of advanced phonetics, challenges facing UCL students in entering the global job market and the use of the web to enhance tutorials in molecular biology.

Summing up in the conference's final session, Professor Michael Worton, Vice-Provost (Academic & International), remarked on the evidence of creativity and ingenuity and the strength of commitment to UCL's agenda of global citizenship: "I am both uplifted and humbled by the breadth and depth of teaching and learning which has been covered at this conference. We must build on what we have learnt from what others are doing."

To find out more about the conference, UCL Teaching & Learning or EISD, use the links at the bottom of this article.

Image 1: Professor Roland Rosner, Director of UCL EISD, opens the conference
Image 2: Professor Trisha Greenhalgh (UCL Primary Care & Population Sciences) participates in lively discussion following her presentation

• Links:
• Conference website
• UCL Teaching & Learning
• EISD