Seven Principles for Good Practice in
Undergraduate Education:
A useful driver?
Mark Russell Deputy Director of Blended Learning Unit (BLU)
Lauren Anderson Technology Mentor BLU
Elizabeth Terry Marketing Assistant BLU
Helen Barefoot Deputy Head of the Learning Teaching Institute(LTI)
The Learning and Teaching Institute incorporating
The Blended Learning Unit a Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Seminar
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Original study - background
Suitable for us at UH?
Relating to practice
Student thoughts
Concluding thoughts and discussions
The Learning and Teaching Institute incorporating
The Blended Learning Unit a Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Brief history of the 7 principles
The Learning and Teaching Institute incorporating
The Blended Learning Unit a Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Brief history of the 7 Principles
• Invited small task force of scholars (12)
• React to 8 principles – produce a list of no
more than 9 at end of two days
• Wanted emphasis on the how rather than the
what of effective undergraduate education
• Insisted that principles be “accessible,
understandable, practical and widely
applicable”
The Learning and Teaching Institute incorporating
The Blended Learning Unit a Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Going public …
• Published in March 1987 issue of AAHE
Bulletin
• 250 participants
• Inventories published Autumn 1989
– Faculty inventory
– Institutional inventory
The Learning and Teaching Institute incorporating
The Blended Learning Unit a Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Good practice in undergraduate education…
1. Encourages contact between students and
lecturers
2. Develops reciprocity and cooperation among
students
3. Encourages active learning
4. Gives prompt feedback
5. Emphasises time on task
6. Communicates high expectations
7. Respects diverse talents
and ways of learning
The Learning and Teaching Institute incorporating
The Blended Learning Unit a Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Institutional Inventory
1. Climate
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St & fac, student reps, hard work!
2. Academic Practices
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Work / life, graduates, clear criteria …
3. Curriculum
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Hands on, choice, cultural diversity
4. Faculty
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On campus, time for CPD, fac feedback
5. Academic and student support services
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Counselling, studs act as advisors, help for poor record
6. Facilities
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Classrooms, public transport, café, comfy spaces
The Learning and Teaching Institute incorporating
The Blended Learning Unit a Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Relevance for UH?
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Good common sense
Accessible language
Stood the test of time
Not subject specific “address the teacher’s
how, not the subject matter what…”
• Considers ‘student experience’
• Positive feedback from staff
The Learning and Teaching Institute incorporating
The Blended Learning Unit a Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Principles in practice
• Research literature
• Case studies
• Quick ideas / hints tips - general
Quick ideas
Scholarship
A domain of scholarship?
Number of people
Student Thoughts
The Learning and Teaching Institute incorporating
The Blended Learning Unit a Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Video
The Learning and Teaching Institute incorporating
The Blended Learning Unit a Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Summary of student’s comments
Negative comments
 “ You don’t have a good relationship with your tutors and are not
encouraged to talk to them therefore you end up working on your
own”- #1 Student-staff contact
 “Teachers get defensive and don’t answer the question given very
well”- #1 Student-staff contact
“I’m not actively learning anything they just give us the task and we
do it by ourselves”- #3 Active learning
 “We get given a task that should take half an hour but it gets given
to us for a whole hour so I’m just sitting there bored and not learning
from it”- #6 Communicate high expectations
 “Staff should say when they are available and when they’re not to
stop people turning up at pot luck”- #1 Student-staff contact
The Learning and Teaching Institute incorporating
The Blended Learning Unit a Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Summary of student’s comments
Positive comments
 “In engineering my lecturer wrote down examples on a tablet
PC and put this on to StudyNet…”- #3 Active learning
 “I make maximum use of the LRC and journal”- #7 Respects
diverse talents and ways of learning
 “Most of my law lecturers record the lesson so I can watch it
back when I like”- #3 & #7
 “My most enjoyable learning experience was when I used a
voting system”- #3 Active learning
 “In Spanish we use the labs which I have never used before so
that was quite cool”- #3 & #7
The Learning and Teaching Institute incorporating
The Blended Learning Unit a Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Effective Assessment
#5 Time on Task
#6 Communicate high expectations
#3 Active learning
The Learning and Teaching Institute incorporating
The Blended Learning Unit a Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Effective Assessment
#4 Prompt feedback
#6 Communicate high expectations
The Learning and Teaching Institute incorporating
The Blended Learning Unit a Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Effective Assessment
#1 Encourages contact
between students and
staff
#2 Develops
reciprocity and
cooperation among
students
#7 Diverse talents and
ways of learning
The Learning and Teaching Institute incorporating
The Blended Learning Unit a Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Effective Assessment
#4 Give prompt
feedback
#2 Develops
reciprocity and
cooperation among
students
The Learning and Teaching Institute incorporating
The Blended Learning Unit a Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Where next?
• How should we use the Principles?
• Levels of granularity
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Students ?
You ?
Module teams ?
Programme teams ?
Schools ?
UH ?
• How to take forward