Start-up funding boost for T&L projects

Activities to better understand the impact of ChatGPT on learning, to make large seminars feel smaller and more engaging, and to enhance students’ sense of belonging at Reading are among the eight projects that have had a boost thanks to funding from the Centre for Quality Support and Development (CQSD).

The Teaching & Learning Enhancement Projects (TLEP) scheme offers start-up funding of up to £2,500 to encourage and enable staff involved in teaching or supporting teaching and learning to experiment and develop practice.

Following a competitive application process earlier in the year, the following eight projects are now up and running:

More about the projects

Some of the project leads have shared their perspectives on what they hope to achieve:

Sharon Sinclair-Graham

"I am thrilled to have been awarded this funding to enable us to work with student partners to look at how feedback rubrics can be updated to provide the type of feedback a student is looking for.  This will ensure that all students (especially those with learning disabilities) get the best possible feedback which they understand and can apply the feedback to other assessments and improve student experience."

Alison Silby and Stephanie Sharp

“This project aims to produce a resource to support dyslexic students during their work-based placements, which is being developed as a direct response to the lived experiences of dyslexic trainee teachers at the Institute of Education. Ultimately, it is the ambition of the project to adapt the resource for use within wider programmes incorporating work-based placements.”

Daguo Li and Elisabeth Wilding

“We are excited about the project, which will directly address the issue raised by student representatives: a lack of contact between NUIST and UoR students or staff, and a lack of a sense of connection with UoR. The project will enable us to develop collaborative exchange activities for students involved in programmes offered at both the NUIST Reading Academy and in the UK. We hope building sustained interaction will enhance the students’ feeling of belonging within our global university and that this sense of community will also have a positive effect on the overall student experience in both locations.”

Jackie Baines and Edward Ross

"We are delighted to have been given the opportunity, through the TLEP scheme, to investigate 21st century AI developments and how they can impact advances in the study of the ancient world, and in particular, advances in ancient language pedagogy, alongside the more traditional teaching tools and methods.  We aim to enable our students to gain a greater understanding of this fast-evolving technology, both for their studies within the -Department and more widely… With the growing prevalence of ChatGPT and other conversational AI models in our daily lives, it is crucial that we now take the time to consider how they can be used ethically to support teaching and learning rather than circumventing them."

Fabio Oliveira

“The success of the project will be achieved by engaging educators, students and external stakeholders with the usage of VR training. The funds provided by TLEP will enable VR workshops for faculty members across different departments and schools, careers centres, and students’ societies across the University, as well as teachers and Y11, Y12 students from local estate schools. These activities and data collection will support our ambition to start building a digital technologies centre of innovation, where the University and Regional community can learn how to use emerging technologies and develop business ideas through the technologies.”

Hong Yang

“ChatGPT, a powerful large language model, has significantly influenced global education. In this project, I aim to identify the challenges presented by ChatGPT in student learning assessment and develop diverse assessment methods to foster authentic evaluation. These methods will encourage deep, meaningful learning experiences and promote self-reflection among students.”

The TLEP scheme is overseen by CQSD, and reopens for applications in February 2024. For more information, see the TLEP Scheme webpage.