[2003]		The Learning, Teaching and Assessment Newsletter of the Faculty of Science, LJMU
Ab		stract #8.2
1849		… to be no more than 865 words.				21^st Nov 2023
		Goodbye FOSTAs, hello FOSSEAs (Faculty of Science Student Experience Awards) All Science staff can be put forward for our new FOSSEA awards and the online nomination form will be circulated shortly by email. As in previous years, management teams will endorse nominations before the awards ceremony on Friday 1^st March. There is a single criterion: Nominees have made a significant and positive impact on the student experience through their practice over the past year.
Enhancing the student experience may arise from a range of activities: • administrative and wellbeing support, • employability and skills development, • laboratory, research, and placement support, • level and personal tutoring, • module and programme leadership, • promoting equality, diversity and inclusivity, • teaching/supervision, assessment, and feedback, • technology-enhanced approaches.
Teaching & Learning Academy’s Teaching Insights Series This new series of talks will focus on notable practice or key issues in teaching and assessment. The emphasis is on showcasing the work of colleagues within LJMU, the format being deliberately loose to facilitate different presentation styles and approaches. The inaugural event is: ‘Futuring under ambiguity’ in large-scale teaching contexts: Emerging insights from experimenting with a provocative practice and will be led by Prof Tony Wall.
If you would like to contribute to this series, please contact Liz Clifford in the TLA.
					Library Services Items Reading Lists Reading lists help students find the key resources you recommend to develop their knowledge and understanding. Each module in Canvas has a reading list link embedded in the course menu. You can add links to range of references including books and e-books, journal articles, databases, web pages and other relevant items.
Reading lists are checked to ensure links to references are correct and for any books added that are not currently available, an order is generated and the reading list is automatically updated once it is available. More details can be found at https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/microsites/library/support-for-academic-staff/reading-list-service . Open Textbooks Colleagues may have been contacted by publishers with their online e-textbook offerings. These are usually on an individual, single user licence and can be expensive without the benefits of a library ‘sharing’ model. An alternative approach are Open Textbook initiatives that have been around for a number of years now. These aim to ensure that students can have individual copies of suitable course textbooks at little or no cost. One of the best examples is https://openstax.org/subjects/science. Another benefit of open textbooks is that they can be edited, customised and republished under a CC licence, and Library Services can easily manage the ‘localised’ edition in their collection. If you want to explore this further, please contact Richard Davis R.M.Davis@ljmu.ac.uk in Library Services.
				Recognising extracurricular work-based experience Thanks to Katie Lawrence and Nicola Smith and Natasha Bowness LJMU’s Student Employability & Graduate Outcomes Plan (2023-30), objective 2 outlines that all undergraduates engage in work-based learning as a core feature of their course with a rich suite of extracurricular experiential learning opportunities organised.
The Faculty of Science Placement Learning Support Unit (PLSU), in collaboration with Student Futures, has put forward a proposal to pilot a new process that allows for recognition of extra-curricular work-based experience to fulfil module requirements for academic credit. A successful pilot, in which a process and documentation was developed, enabled a student from BES to successfully have their extracurricular Graduate Futures Internship approved for module requirements via this method. The pilot was based on short term placement activity e.g. L6 WBL module that required 135hrs and moving forward, the process will be based on this form of activity only. It won’t be applicable to sandwich year or programmes accredited, recognised, or approved by Professional Statutory Regulator Bodies. Recognising extracurricular work-based experience allows more flexible options and inclusivity of engagement in WBPL activity for students, taking accessibility to placement activity into consideration. With a review and update of the Placement Learning Code of Practice now underway, this new process and option will be integrated into a refreshed Work Based and Placement Learning Policy. Would you like to know more, or pilot engagement in this process? Contact scienceplsu@ljmu.ac.uk Alternatively, you can contact Danielle Anderson, Work Based Learning Consultant, d.m.anderson@ljmu.ac.uk
Support available from Student Futures at Byrom Street This e-flyer summarises the careers, employability & start-up support available through the Byrom St Careers Zone.
			AI Practice Exchange Event Science will be hosting an AI practice exchange event for the institution on Tuesday 19^th December 1330-1500h. The venue, BS/PJ205, is on the second floor of the Peter Jost Centre. Please reserve your place here: https://ljmu.libcal.com/event/4119992
Teaching-related snippets
>	The annual schedule of student survey activity is available here: https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/teaching-and-learning-academy/surveys
>	An event to celebrate the promotion of Equity in Primary STEM/STEAM education takes place 1130-1230h EDN Building 1st Floor 30th Nov 2023. Contact Vic Brennan <V.K.Brennan@ljmu.ac.uk> for details.
>	Screenshots from the Extension Application form, not accessible to staff via MyLJMU, are here.
>	Reports on the 2022-23 round of Curriculum Enhancement Internships, including those supervised by Science colleagues, have now been published here.
Phil Denton, Faculty of Science Associate Dean (Education and Student Experience) Maintained by SCSADE@ljmu.ac.uk. Last Update: 21/11/2023.