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Provost on what makes a UCL education

22 April 2021

The 2021 UCL Education Conference explored lessons learnt and celebrated innovative practice during COVID-19, through a day of keynotes, live presentations, and asynchronous papers.

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‘Bringing us all together: Connected Learning, connected learners, and learning through collaboration’ was the theme for UCL’s Education Conference, held on Wednesday 14 April 2021. 594 delegates, over a quarter of whom were external guests, registered for the virtual event.  

The programme included a mix of sessions from invited speakers, and from UCL educators and students. There was a total of 123 presenters, across 51 presentations and 28 parallel sessions.

For the first time, the conference offered 26 asynchronous presentations alongside the live sessions, highlighting the best of innovative education practice at UCL. 

Provost thanks UCL educators

64 days into the role, UCL President and Provost, Dr Michael Spence opened the conference by thanking educators for their role in successfully delivering a UCL education during the COVID-19 pandemic — a sentiment echoed throughout the day.  

The Provost emphasised that it is incredibly important that we come together to reflect on the special culture that exists at UCL — one that strives to maintain high academic standards and provide unwavering support for our students.

Looking to the future, we should acknowledge the lessons we have learnt and use these going forward to continue to tackle education with the same energy displayed in the past 12 months.”  

Vision for a UCL education

Stressing the importance of intercultural competence, sustainability and the need for simplification, the Provost took the opportunity to outline some of the attributes he feels make up a distinctive education.  

T-shaped education - breadth and depth 

Students should get a ‘deep dive’ into their chosen discipline, but also exposure to opportunities to get involved in the wider culture of the university; to take part in activities outside of their discipline and to open their cognitive abilities in other areas.  

How we exploit social capital 

We should be using our vast connections and alumni network to ensure that our students can gain skills and experience that will directly help them step into a job role after education. We must enable them to be part of key teams that they can directly put on their CV, demonstrating their key skills and strengths.  

Watch UCL President and Provost, Dr Michael Spence's opening address:

MediaCentral Widget Placeholderhttps://mediacentral.ucl.ac.uk/Player/08ge5hIe

The future of the Teaching Excellence Framework 

In the first keynote, Dame Shirley Pearce, who led the independent review of the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF), stressed the importance of considering the holistic educational experience (including student voice and co-curricular experience) in quality metrics. Her presentation talked us through the recommendations from her TEF review and the recent government response.

Dame Shirley's review clarified that the purpose of the TEF is to drive education enhancement. The TEF had been too dependent on NSS data, and while student satisfaction is an important measure, institutions also should be collecting data on the teaching and learning environment, education gains and graduate outcomes, to build a picture of education quality.

View Dame Shirley Pearce's keynote presentation slides [PDF]

Intersectionality and higher education

During a lunchtime panel event, chaired by Dr Victoria Showunmi, the panellists Dr Maha Bali, Professor Heidi Safia Mirza, and Jim Onyemenam (Students’ Union UCL Postgraduate Students’ Officer) hosted a critical conversation on higher education through the lens of intersectionality.

Advocate for equity, care, empathy, compassion within your circles of control and influence, find allies each step of the way. Dr Maha Bali 

Drawing on bell hooks', "The Practice of Freedom in the Academy," Professor Mirza quoted: 

The academy is not paradise. But learning is a place where paradise can be created. The classroom, with all its limitations, remains a location of possibility.

Close and Education Awards shortlist announced 

At the end of a truly remarkable day, Professor Deborah Gill, Interim Vice-Provost (Education and Student Experience) reflected on some of the inventive practice this year, highlighting student-led parallel sessions on how staff-student dialogue has driven change at UCL, and how student interns supported the move to online learning during the pandemic. 

Professor Gill was also joined by Ayman Benmati (Students’ Union UCL Education Officer), who closed the conference with the announcement of the shortlist for this year's Education Awards. The awards celebrate the achievements of staff and students, and their contributions to UCL’s learning community. The award categories and nominees can be viewed here. The inspirational winners will be announced on Wednesday 9 June 2021.