̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Cambridge Centre for Teaching and Learning

Advice and support under one roof at new Student Services Centre

sb726 — Thu, 25 Apr 2019 14:41:00 +0000

Part new build and part renovation of existing listed buildings, the centre houses the Cambridge Admissions Office, the Cambridge Centre for Teaching and Learning, the Cambridge Trust (relocating later in the summer), the Careers Service, the Disability Resource Centre, Education Quality and Policy Office, Student Operations (comprising the International Students Office, the Office of Student Complaints, Conduct and Appeals, and the Student Registry), and the ̽��ֱ�� Counselling Service.

Alice Benton, Head of Education Services, said: “Our students can now access support and advice on a range of issues at a single location in the centre of Cambridge, where staff can offer a much more integrated service.

“Good student support underpins academic success and a great student experience - and the ̽��ֱ�� is committed to providing an equally positive experience to all.”

Around 250 members of staff have relocated to the centre – part of the North Range of Buildings development – which features a dedicated visitor reception and information point, purpose-built counselling room and space for workshops and group activities. There is also an improved careers resource area, and flexible space for examinations, training and events, as well as meeting rooms and office space.

̽��ֱ��centre, which officially opened on 25 April, includes part of the old Cavendish Laboratory and Arts School and a new building on the site of the old Exam Halls.

̽��ֱ��reception will open 8.30am-5.30pm Monday to Friday, although individual services may also operate outside of these hours. Access will temporarily be through the arch on Downing Street/Pembroke Street.

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ��’s new Student Services Centre is now open. ̽��ֱ��facility – which brings together a number of support services and teams under one roof – is located at the New Museums Site in the heart of Cambridge.

Our students can now access support and advice on a range of issues at a single location in the centre of Cambridge, where staff can offer a much more integrated service

Alice Benton, Head of Education Services

̽��ֱ��new Student Services Centre

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Teaching celebrated across the ̽��ֱ��

ta385 — Wed, 21 Jun 2017 23:00:00 +0000

̽��ֱ��winners include a veterinary anaesthetist praised for developing an acclaimed Clinical Skills Centre, a pioneer of interdisciplinary Gender Studies programmes, and a Classicist as passionate about outreach as Ovid.

While the prizes reveal the diversity of teaching at Cambridge, certain themes emerge, in particular a focus on the individual student, the value of research-led teaching, the continuing importance of one-to-one teaching, innovation in teaching practice, interdisciplinary approaches, and above all, dedication to students.

̽��ֱ��Pilkington Prizes were initiated by Sir Alastair Pilkington – graduate of Trinity College, engineer, businessman and the first Chairman of the Cambridge Foundation – who passionately believed that teaching excellence was crucial to Cambridge’s future success.

̽��ֱ��Pilkington Prizes are organised by ̽��ֱ��Cambridge Centre for Teaching and Learning, which supports staff by providing training, developing networks, hosting events and encouraging and funding innovation. ̽��ֱ��Centre also provides a focus for strategic priorities within Cambridge and for engaging with national and international developments in higher education.

New films about teaching at Cambridge

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� has produced a series of films about five of this year’s Pilkington Prize winners. These films go behind the scenes to show Cambridge teaching in action as well as inviting winners to explain their passion for teaching and reveal some of their trade secrets. ̽��ֱ��films feature Lecturer in German Thought, Martin Ruehl; Physics Lecturer Lisa Jardine-Wright; Sociologist Mónica Moreno Figueroa; Zoologist Andrew Balmford; and Design Engineer James Moultrie. Watch the films.

Dr Martin Ruehl said:

"I was an undergraduate here myself so I want to give back some of what I received. I had a number of very charismatic teachers who inspired me back then. I think the trick is always to find something that’s growing out of your own research."

Dr Lisa Jardine-Wright said:

"It is only when you start teaching a subject that you really start to understand it and all of its nuances. ̽��ֱ��most important thing for me is that my students are willing to make mistakes, and learn from them."

This year’s winners in full are:

Dr Anthony Ashton (Department of Mathematics)
Dr Jackie Brearley (Department of Veterinary Medicine)
Dr Jude Browne (Department of Politics and International Studies)
Dr Menna Clatworthy (School of Clinical Medicine)
Dr Richard Davies (School of Clinical Medicine)
Dr Ingo Gildenhard (Faculty of Classics)
Dr Nigel Kettley (Institute of Continuing Education)
Professor Jochen Runde (Judge Business School)
Dr Martin Ruehl (Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages)
Dr Lisa Jardine-Wright (Department of Physics)
Dr Mónica Moreno Figueroa (Department of Sociology)
Professor Andrew Balmford (Department of Zoology)
Dr James Moultrie (Department of Engineering)

Read more about the 2017 Pilkington Prize winners here.

Thirteen Cambridge academics have been recognised for their outstanding teaching in the ̽��ֱ��'s Pilkington Prizes.

"I was an undergraduate here myself so I want to give back some of what I received. I think the trick is always to find something that’s growing out of your own research."

Dr Martin Ruehl, Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages

Teaching celebrated across the ̽��ֱ��

Dr Martin Ruehl, Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge

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Teaching excellence celebrated across the ̽��ֱ��

ta385 — Thu, 23 Jun 2016 11:55:29 +0000

They include a Philosopher praised for building intellectual confidence among her students, a Consultant Radiologist who bridges the gap between the classroom and the ward, a Neuroscientist famed for conducting ‘extreme’ experiments and a Material Scientist described by students as ‘a living legend’.

While the prizes reveal the diversity of teaching at Cambridge, certain themes emerge from this year’s awards including the effective use of digital technology; the development of confidence through the supervisory system; the value of research-led teaching; the continuing importance of face-to-face lecturing, innovation in teaching practice, and above all, dedication to students.

̽��ֱ��Pilkington Prizes were initiated by Sir Alastair Pilkington – graduate of Trinity College, engineer and businessman – who passionately believed that teaching excellence was crucial to Cambridge’s future success.

Twelve inspirational academics have been honoured for outstanding teaching in the ̽��ֱ��’s 23rd Pilkington Prizes.

̽��ֱ��2016 Pilkington Prize winners with the ̽��ֱ��'s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz (far right); and the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education, Professor Graham Virgo (far left).

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For image use please see separate credits above.

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Inside information: Students and prisoners study together in course that reveals the power of collaborative education

tdk25 — Tue, 26 Apr 2016 07:00:06 +0000

̽��ֱ��wealth of untapped academic talent inside the criminal justice system has been illuminated by a ground-breaking project in which people in prison studied in equal partnership with Cambridge students.

To date, 22 prisoners have participated in the Learning Together initiative at HMP Grendon in Buckinghamshire, which completed its second term last week. Many students have described it as a life-changing experience, and one student who is currently in prison has already had a paper accepted by an academic journal.

̽��ֱ��project was funded by the British Academy and consists of carefully-structured, eight-week courses involving both graduates studying for the MPhil in Criminology at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and students from the prison itself. All of the participants co-operate on equal terms, sharing exactly the same study materials, and working together in small group sessions.

In a report due to be published in the next edition of ̽��ֱ��Prison Service Journal, the organisers, Dr Ruth Armstrong and Dr Amy Ludlow, argue that the course has dismantled stereotypes and prejudice in both directions. While it overturns the assumptions of many prisoners that a university education is something that they will never be able to achieve, it does so by highlighting their ability to handle complex subject matter on an equal footing with their Cambridge peers.

̽��ֱ��forthcoming report argues that more should be done to develop models of prison education which, rather than teaching prisoners in isolation, are built around active collaborations with organisations beyond their walls. In particular, it presents powerful evidence – drawn from interviews with the students who took part – that the experience of studying with others profoundly affected the ways in which all students viewed themselves and thought about the future.

One participant, Gareth, has already written a review of an academic book that he will publish alongside Ludlow and Armstrong in a peer reviewed journal next month. In his graduation speech, Gareth said: “For a large part of my sentence, who I am has been entirely synonymous with the reasons I ended up in prison. Reflecting on the initiative, it seems that the overwhelming product was that I was reminded of being someone other than the person who committed these offences.

“I am someone who has valid and useful opinions, I have an interest in how society works, and the connectedness we feel with the other people who we share this world with. I am developing a sense that not only do I want to help people – I am starting to believe I can.”

̽��ֱ��course organisers suggest that such experiences point to the capacity of projects like theirs to improve current prison-based learning and transform the learning cultures of both prisons and universities, in ways that help all students to realise and develop their skills and talents to support social progress.

They point out that a pathway out of crime relies on something called “Diachronic Self-Control” – the idea that a person can have ideas about what they want to achieve in life, but that these will remain unfulfilled unless they can also access the places and connections which make them achievable. “People have to be able to perceive a different future to be able to move towards that future,” the study observes.

̽��ֱ��Learning Together course involves weekly sessions, each lasting two and a half hours, and covers a series of topics such as the legitimacy of power, and the rebuilding of non-offending lives.

Each week’s reading list typically involves an academic paper and a more accessible piece of content. For example, for the session on Trust and Democratic Voice, students were also asked to read an article about how marginalised groups in Tunisia used hip-hop as a means of self-expression with which to confront state power during the Arab Spring.

Armstrong, who is a Research Associate in Criminology at St John’s College, Cambridge, said that much of the course drew on ideas from more general research into education. In particular, it applies the principles that students learn better when they absorb new information through dialogue and shape it in light of their experiences, rather than through instruction alone. When students realise they have potential, they adopt a “growth mindset” and are more able to capitalise on it.

“When we move some of those ideas from the learning environment into criminal justice, what we show people in prison is that they are not fixed and defined by their offending, but that there are avenues for them to progress,” she said. “That’s a very powerful message.”

Ludlow, a lecturer in Law and Criminology at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, added: “That message is just as powerful for the Cambridge students. Many of them talked to us about how, before Learning Together, their world views were small. Studying together, in dialogue, helped everyone to see how individual ideas and experiences interact with bigger institutions, histories and social forces.”

Their views are echoed by extensive feedback from the students themselves, much of which is reported in the forthcoming journal article. In one particularly moving graduation speech, a student called Zaheer reflected: “It gave me self-esteem and confidence in my own abilities… Being able to put our past behind us and do something positive like this has helped our confidence, transforming our lives.”

̽��ֱ��project has received praise from the Secretary of State for Justice, Michael Gove. “We must be more demanding of our prisons, and more demanding of offenders, which means giving prisoners new opportunities but expecting them to engage seriously and purposefully in education and work,” he said. “I have seen for myself that the Learning Together Initiative at HMP Grendon provides the chance for prisoners to work towards their full potential and gain qualifications as a result. It does great work and it is a testament to the scheme and the hard work of those involved that so many are able to attend the graduation ceremony.”

̽��ֱ��Governor of HMP Grendon, Jamie Bennett, said: “ ̽��ֱ��therapeutic work of Grendon helps to explore and manage some of the profound traumas and problems experienced by the men in our care. Whilst doing this, it is also important to offer opportunities in which they can discover and develop their talents. This course is an example of that.”

Rod Clark, Chief Executive of the Prisoners’ Education Trust, highlighted the value of Learning Together as an initiative with benefits both for the students within the prison and those at Cambridge.

“Problems within prisons – safety concerns, overcrowding, limited access to classes – can make creating a healthy learning environment incredibly difficult,” he added. “Projects like Learning Together help to achieve just that, offering tremendous benefits for people on both sides of the prison wall. They allow prisoners to recognise their ambitions and motivations, while giving the student population an understanding of prison life.”

Armstrong and Ludlow are supporting the creation of similar partnerships between other universities and prisons and other departments within the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge. They are also involved with further collaborative initiatives focused on different skills, such as cooking and making music.

Their report calls for the development of an approach to prison education that is “more porous” in terms of its creative engagement with the outside world, and its approach to prisoners as potential assets to society rather than people who merely require correction.

Further information about the Learning Together Programme can be found here.

Additional images reproduced by permission of the Ministry of Justice/Learning Together project.

A highly innovative project in which Cambridge students and prisoners studied together at a Category B prison in Buckinghamshire has broken down prejudices and created new possibilities for all of those who took part. ̽��ֱ��researchers behind it suggest that more such collaborative learning initiatives could help dismantle stereotypes and offer prisoners a meaningful vision for the future after release.

I am someone who has valid and useful opinions, I have an interest in how society works, and the connectedness we feel with the other people who we share this world with. I am developing a sense that not only do I want to help people - I am starting to believe I can.

Gareth, a student on the Learning Together course at HMP Grendon

Learning Together/Ministry of Justice

Prisoner and guard.

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For image use please see separate credits above.

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