Teaching Innovation & Learning Enhancement
Bringing people from different disciplines and sectors together to discuss ways to overcome issues in education using evidence-based approaches.
A Student’s Lived Experience Account of Neurodiversity in Higher Education
By Samantha Jensen (she/her) When I first encountered the concept of neurodiversity and began to understand what it meant to be neurodivergent, I was embarking on my university journey. At that point, my awareness of my mild dyscalculia diagnosis had only emerged...
Useful Feedback Is Fair; Nice Feedback Isn’t Useful – A Summary
In this seminar, Dr David Playfoot presents four studies investigating students' perceptions on feedback. He outlines different characteristics of feedback. For example, feedback can be useful and contain concrete steps to take in the future, but it can also contain...
Blended Learning and Decolonising the Higher Education Classroom: Learning from Putting into Practice Theories of Digital Transformation – A Summary
In her talk, Dr Jess McLean takes us on a journey to help understanding the degree of colonialisation that is present in all areas of education and discusses ways to tackle the process of decolonialisation in education. From her presentation it becomes clear that the...
Rethinking One-Size-Fits-All: Education for Neurodiversity – A Summary
In this talk, Dr Lorna Hamilton presented new findings on the experiences of autistic young people in regard to school transitions from a longitudinal interview study. Essential themes that emerged were Learning & teaching at secondary school, Adjustments to the...
Trauma-Informed Education and Promoting Resilience in the Classroom – A Summary
In this talk, Dr Chelsea Robertson provided an informative overview of what trauma-informed education is, why it matters, and how it can be implemented. The main take-aways were that trauma can take many shapes and forms and is quite common in students. we need to...
Life in Scotland for LGBT Young People – Education Report 2023 – A Summary
In this talk Dr Kathleen Cronie and Michelle McCartney from LGBT Youth Scotland presented new data on the experiences of LGBT young people (aged 13-25 years old) in Scotland. Young people specifically in educational settings (e.g., schools, universities) highlighted...
Quality Provision and Support for Distance Doctoral Students – A Summary
An increasing number of people are opting to do their doctoral studies online as distance doctorate candidates. While this can mean flexibility for doctoral students, it can also bring some challenges. In some cases the decision to enter this endeavour is by choice,...
The Use of Vevox in Higher Education as a Method of Formative Feedback – A Summary
Feedback is a vital part of student learning. Students receive formative feedback in different ways which continuously develops their understanding of the material and their skills. In this talk, Dr Laura Jenkins outlines her approach to formative feedback: through...
TILE TALKS | December 2022 & January 2023
We are planning an exciting line-up for 2023 and wanted to share the next two TILE seminars with you. A variety of exciting talks from researchers and educators from around the globe are waiting for you - and we'll be revealing all talks soon. As always: All our talks...
Engaging Students by Creating a Positive Motivational Climate – A Summary
How to design a module or curriculum in which students experience empowerment, usefulness, success, interest, and caring? In this talk, Dr Brett Jones presents the MUSIC model that integrates all 5 aspects and allows measuring the motivational climate of your...
Navigating Work-Family-Study: How can we Support the Mental Wellbeing of Students with Work and Family Commitments – A Summary
Balancing work and life commitments can be challenging, but in many cases it is excatly what students need to do in order to succeed. In her talk, Dr Philippa Waterhouse presented research she conducted with online learning students on their experiences of managing...
Access Is Not Inclusion: Strategies for Supporting Inclusion and Diversity in Higher Education – A Summary
We had the pleasure to listen to Dr Gail Crimmins on the topic of inclusion and diversity in Higher Education. She provided an overview of the challenges and suggested concrete strategies on how to become truly inclusive in one's own teaching practice. While the...
TILE Seminar Talks | Autumn/Winter 2022
The new academic year is about to start and we have finalised our TILE Speaker Seminar line-up. We have a variety of exciting talks this year from researchers and educators from around the globe. As always: All our talks take place online on Zoom. We record all our...
Call for Speaker Nominations
The new academic year is approaching fast and we are crowdsourcing speakers for our 2022-23 TILE Network seminar series. With our TILE Network speaker series we span across educational sectors and disseminate best practice in teaching, learning, and education. ...
Green New Deal: Sustainability in Education – A Summary
In April we invited a powerhouse of speakers (students and staff) to discuss challenges and solutions to approaches for sustainability in education. We looked at demands raised from students to encourage a greener university, we learned about a student-led course on...
The Academic Writing Guide
By Sue Robbins & Chris O'Reilly The Academic Writing Guide (AWG) is an interactive web-based resource developed for the core Academic Development (AD) module of the University of Sussex Central Foundation Years programme which introduces students to the research...
Preprints: A Guide to Accessible Research for Teachers, Students, and Academics – A Summary
In this TILE seminar, we heard about preprints and how they make research accessible for all to read - before manuscripts are submitted or accepted for publication in scientific journals. Dr Emily Nordmann discussed various examples how to engage in this open science...
February Essays IV: Gender and Sexual Orientation in Psychology
By Ella Duff (she/her), Level 1 Psychology Student, University of Glasgow How has psychology historically pathologized gender and/or sexual diversity and what impact has this had on LGBTQ people? Gender and Sexual Diversity have been pathologized by psychology over...
February Essays III: Gender and Sexual Orientation in Psychology
By Emily Aikten (she/her), Level 1 Psychology Student, University of Glasgow How has psychology historically pathologized gender and/or sexual diversity and what impact has this had on LGBTQ people? In 1952, homosexuality was listed as a mental illness – or more...
February Essays II: Gender and Sexual Orientation in Psychology
By Emma Sancho (she/her), Level 2 Psychology Student, University of Glasgow Who are the notable psychologists associated with progressing research on LGBTQ people and why is it important to know about their work? Magnus Hirschfeld (1868-1935) was a German-born...
February Essays I: Gender and Sexual Orientation in Psychology
By Alisha Vaswani (she/her), Level 1 Psychology Student, University of Glasgow Question: How has psychology historically pathologised gender and/or sexual diversity and what impact has this had on LGBTQ people? The term LGBTQ+ is used to refer to individuals who...
Generating Internal Feedback from Self and Peer Review – A Summary
In this talk the speakers presented data on how students perceive activities of providing feedback to peers and receiving feedback from peers. They found that reviewing work of peers is perceived as a beneficial activity - even more beneficial than receiving feedback...
Framing Feedback Around Student Development
By Dr Helena Paterson & Dr Phil McAleer A key aspect of learning on any programme of learning is receiving actionable feedback that allows a student to develop their knowledge and graduate skills (Hattie and Timperley, 2007). Currently, across Schools, Colleges...
Breaking the Binary: Conceptions of Sex and Gender in Undergraduate Science – A Summary
We welcomed the LGBTQ Reading Group to our TILE Network Seminar in December and with that we had a slighlty different format: After a short presentation of the target paper, all attendees engegaed in a discussion and asked questions. We touched on important issues in...
Shifting the Dial to Include Those ‘Not in Education’ – A Summary
We had the pleasure to welcome Graeme Armstrong (best-seeling author of "The Young Team"), Emily Cutts (Director of The Children's Wood charity and the G20 Youth Festival), and Henry Hepburn (news editor at Tes Scotland) to our TILE Network. In an inspiring...
Staying Connected: A Toolkit for Effective Groupwork
By Dr Maxine Swingler, Lara Wehbe, Gayle Pringle-Barnes, Heather Cleland-Woods, Ellie Buglass, Valentine Conlan, Noor Sabha, & George Fournarakis Drawing on the literature, existing resources and student feedback on group work, we worked with students to develop...
Supporting Neurodiversity in Education – A Summary
We welcomed Dr Chiara Horlin and Dr Elliott Spaeth, co-founders of the Neurodiversity Network at Uni Glasgow, to our TILE Network External Speaker Series in October and they delivered an engaging and informative talk on Supporting Neurodiversity in Education. They...
Explorathon 2021: Bugs, Bees, Plants and The Great Outdoors – A Summary
On 20 September 2021, we had the pleasure to jointly organise an Explorathon 2021 webinar with the Scottish Network for Able Pupils (SNAP) on "Bugs, Bees, Plants and The Great Outdoors". We heard about a range of exciting school-based projects all of which have their...
How to Integrate Vevox Polling into Online Learning
By Dr Laura Jenkins The move to fully online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic brought questions about whether students would be as engaged online as they would be if they were in a lecture theatre or classroom. When teaching in-person, clickers were often used to...
The Graduate Attributes Roadmap
By Dr Maxine Swingler & Dr Dickon Copsey The Graduate Attributes Roadmap compiles case studies of the successful integration of graduate attributes and employability into the curriculum. These case studies offer practical advice to teachers in any discipline who...
The Difficulties of Starting a New Course, and How I Used Evidence-Based Strategies to Help
By Rupert Swallow In this post, I discuss my difficulties in making the transition from English to Law and how using spaced, interleaved active recall, specifically with the app Anki, hugely improved my learning experience. Introduction Perhaps a little unusually,...
Call For Best Practice Examples
Submit your best practice example to the TILE resource The TILE Network is putting together a best practice resource with teaching tips from the wider academic community. We are looking for examples of teaching, assessment, and feedback approaches and would...
Fearless: The Afghan Girls Defying the Odds – A Reflection
With great anticipation we welcomed Shabana Basij-Rasikh to our TILE Network speaker series. Shabana is the co-founder and president of the only boarding school for girls in Afghanistan, the School of Leadership Afghanistan (SOLA). In her inspirational talk, she made...
Equity Practices in Higher Education: The Importance of Dialogue – A Reflection
We had the pleasure to hear Dr Bryan Dewsbury's perspective on equity in education at our last TILE Network seminar. Bryan emphasied the importance of building relationships with students in the classroom. While he acknowledges that teaching of content and knowledge...
Transitions Into and Through Higher Education: Duck to Water, or Fish out of Water – A Summary
In this talk, Dr Julie Hulme, shared her experience when she started university and how she felt like 'fish out of water'. During the talk the audience shared similar experiences and we also heard of 'duck to water' experiences. Transitions from secondary school to...
Retrieval Practice In Action In The Classroom – A Summary
This TILE talk was dedicated to retrieval practice and how to implement that strategy in classroom teaching. We welcomed Kate Jones, Head of History at The British School Al Khubiarat in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, who is also a book author, consultant, and...
Transforming the Learning Journey with Retrieval and Spaced Practice
By Nikita Choudhary Introduction This blog is all about retrieval and spacing, which are techniques that I have been using for the last two years or so in education. Retrieval practice is all about actively bringing information to mind without looking at any...
My Cuppa Coffee and Tea: Natural Cognitive Enhancers
By Zuzanna Boguslawska The disruption in education caused by the COVID-19 outbreak has led us, students to face many challenges in learning. From speaking to my peers there is a feeling of uncertainty, studying in isolation, and lack of resources have affected our...
More Than 1+1: Supporting Highly Able Maths Minds In The Classroom – A Summary
On 24 November 2020, we had the pleasure to jointly organise an Explorathon 2020 webinar with the Scottish Network for Able Pupils (SNAP) on "More Than 1+1: Supporting Highly Able Maths Minds In The Classroom". The event featured speakers from across Europe who shared...
Exam Anxiety: Is It Something To Worry About? – A Reflection
In this TILE Webinar on "Exam Anxiety: Is It Something to Worry About?", Prof David Putwain shared insight into the role of exam anxiety for performance and for mental health in students. He presented eye-opening data that show that students reporting high levels of...
COVID-19 and the Shift to Online Learning
By Emily Moore Needless to say, the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 has provoked widespread change across society. University students are among those who have experienced a significant shift in their normal routines, with classes in Scotland and elsewhere having moved...
Influences On Early Mathematical Skills: What Counts? – A Reflection
In this TILE Webinar on "Influences On Early Mathematical Skills: What Counts?" by Dr Victoria Simms she shared her research on this topic and provided some practical guidelines resulting from rigorous research. In her talk, Dr Simms makes a case for...
Digital Learning In Our New Normal – A Reflection
In his TILE Webinar on "Digital Learning In Our New Normal" Tim Beattie shared many resources and tips on how they navigated online and blended learning at his school, Harris Academy in Dundee, UK. With a strong focus on progressing the teaching and using tools to...
To Take Notes, or Not To Take Notes During Class, That Is The Question
Why Take Notes? Notetaking has been the main way of recording information in class, as the information that has not been recorded in notes is less likely to be remembered than the one that has been noted (Aiken, Thomas, & Shennum, 1975; Einstein, Morris, &...
How To Deal With Test Anxiety?
What is test anxiety? Tests are general academic requirements in schools and higher education. However, taking an exam appears to be a stressful experience for most people, as tests are appraised as challenging, ego-threatening or harmful (Lazarus & Launier,...
What Do Students Want In Feedback?
Feedback is an important part of learning and assessment. Although some scholars have questioned the beneficial effects of feedback, students still use it to facilitate their development as independent learners and improve their performance through reflection and...
Back To School Webinar: What Did We Do? What Did We Learn? – A Summary
On 18 June 2020, we had the pleasure to jointly organise the first #BackToSchoolCPD as a webinar with the School of Education at the University of Glasgow. The event was attended by 250+ people who joined us on Zoom and YouTube. Primary and secondary teachers and...
10 Simple Rules For Supporting A Temporary Online Pivot – A Reflection
By Maria Radeva We held a TILE Network webinar in May and hosted Dr Emily Nordmann and Dr Jill MacKay, who talked about their preprint paper on supporting a temporary online pivot in Higher Education. The current situation has forced most educational institutions...
Mindset-Based Interventions In The Classroom – A Reflection
We held a TILE Network webinar in May and hosted Dr Yvonne Skipper who talked about her research into growth and fixed mindsets in school children and students in Higher Education. Yvonne presented three large-scale mindset intervention studies – all conducted in...
Horsing Around: Playful Learning in the Veterinary Curriculum – A Reflection
We held a TILE Network webinar in April and hosted Dr Jill MacKay who introduced us to a novel approach to teach and – most importantly – let her students experience ethical decision making and coping with failure. Jill explained that these two things are important...
How Do First-Year Psychology Students Study? Embedding Lecture Recording in Wider Study Practices – A Reflection
We welcomed Dr Kasia Banas to the TILE Network where she presented brand-new data on how students use lecture recordings and their attitudes towards lecture recordings. Kasia started with a statement that resonated with me: “The question is not ‘should we record...
Supporting Autistic Students: Understanding Drop Out, Camouflaging and First Impressions – A Reflection
We welcomed Dr Eilidh Cage to the TILE Network where she presented her research on contributing factors of drop out in Autistic students and their experiences and perception at university. The different potential risks for non-completion that she investigated were:...
Assessment Feedback Literacy 2-Day Event with Dr Naomi Winstone at the University of St Andrews
Inspired by Dr Naomi Winstone's TILE Network Talk on "The Psychology of Assessment and Feedback Processes in Higher Education", the Centre for Higher Education Research (CHER) and St Andrews Learning and Teaching Initiative (SALTI) have invited Dr Naomi Winstone SFHEA...
Effects of Seductive Details on Learning and Memory – A Reflection
The talk “The Effects of Seductive Details on Learning and Memory” by Dr Carolina Kuepper-Tetzel led to interesting discussions with people in the audience providing examples of seductive details that they use in their teaching and whether it is OK to continue using...
Applying a Cluster of Teaching Strategies in the Classroom Based on Cognitive Science
By Erik Anderson We are delighted to be able continue our 'TILE Share Best Practice' series by inviting Erik Anderson to talk about how he implements findings from cognitive science in the classroom. Many thanks to Erik for sharing his best practice! Research...
Retrieval Practice: Research and Resources for every classroom
By Kate Jones We are delighted to be able continue our 'TILE Share Best Practice' series by inviting Kate Jones to talk about her expertise on Retrieval Practice: Research and Resources for every classroom. One of her methods, the Retrieval Practice Challenged Grid,...
Powerful Teaching: Unleash the Science of Learning – A Reflection
On the 15th November 2019, the TILE network invited Dr Pooja K. Agarwal to share her expertise on practical and powerful teaching tools in the form of a webinar. As we have learned across many different TILE talks, there are different learning strategies that are now...
TILE Share Best Practice: Albyn School
The TILE Network is excited to continue its TILE Share Best Practice Series by taking a look into the changes Albyn School has implement into their teaching practices since receiving a talk about learning strategies by Dr Carolina Kuepper-Tetzel, TILE...
Lecture Capture: Pedagogy, Policy and Practicalities – A Reflection
On 30 October 2019, Dr Emily Nordmann gave a webinar on lecture capture presenting current research, important factors to consider, and practical recommendations for lecturers and students in Higher Education. Lecture capture or lecture recordings is a much-discussed...
TILE Share Best Practice: Harris Academy
The TILE network is excited to share what Harris Academy is doing to improve teaching practice and enhance the learning experience for their pupils and students. This post will be continuously updated with the accomplishments of the Harris Academy Learning and...
Cognitive Science in the Mathematics Classroom – A Reflection
In May, we welcomed Stuart Welsh (@maths180): A teacher at The High School of Glasgow, Head of Maths Department, and Research Lead at his school – and a person who is enthusiastic about applying findings from cognitive science to education. Tara Harper (@Korenth69),...
The Psychology of Assessment and Feedback Processes in Higher Education – A Reflection
In April, we had the honour to welcome Dr Naomi Winstone to our TILE meeting. I consider her as a guru in Assessment and Feedback in Higher Education. She has a vast amount of knowledge and expertise – and, more importantly – she is a brilliant speaker and science...
Why Don’t Students Use Effective Learning Strategies? – A Reflection
In February 2019, the TILE Network welcomed Dr Flávia Schechtman Belham to speak on the topic of 'Why don't students use effective learning strategies'. As the Chief Scientist at Seneca, a free homework and revision platform for KS3, GCSE and A-levels, Flávia applies...
Reduce Workload; Increase Impact – A Reflection
In November 2018, we welcomed Ross Morrison McGill from TeacherToolkit as our TILE network speaker on the topic of “Reduce Workload; Increase Impact” in teaching. In this reflection, I would like to try summarizing the issues Ross highlighted about teaching workload,...
Applied Research in Classrooms – A Reflection
In October, Dr Peter Verkoeijen came all the way from the Netherlands to give a talk on applied research in the classrooms as part of our TILE network external speaker series. He started off his presentation with a reflection on his journey from conducting fundamental...
Understanding How We Remember – A Reflection
In September 2018, we welcomed Dr Christopher Madan as our TILE network speaker on the topic of "Understanding How We Remember". As usual, a discussion followed with the focus on real-life application of what we had learned. In this reflection, I would like to try...
Genes, Environment, and Academic Achievement: An Interview with Dr Emma Meaburn
We are delighted to interview Dr Emma Meaburn as part of our TILE Summer Series. Emma, welcome to TILE! Can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers? Thank you for having me – it’s always nice to be given the opportunity to reach an audience outside of academia....
Bridging Cognitive Sciences and Education: An Interview with Dr Efrat Furst
We are delighted to interview Dr Efrat Furst as part of our TILE Summer Series. Efrat, welcome to TILE! Can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers? Thank you for having me, I’m excited to share my views with your readers, and hopefully hear thoughts and...
Educational Myths and Marking Effectiveness: An Interview with Daisy Christodoulou
We are delighted to interview Daisy Christodoulou as part of our TILE Summer Series. Daisy, welcome to TILE! Can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers? I am the Director of Education at No More Marking, a provider of online comparative judgement. I work...
Boost Student Motivation in the Classroom: An Interview with Dr Erika Patall
We are delighted to interview Dr Erika Patall as part of our TILE Summer Series. Erika, welcome to TILE! Can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers? Thanks so much for chatting with me Carolina. To introduce myself, I’m an Associate Professor of Education and...
The Myth of Sisyphus: Assessment and Absurdity – A Reflection
The 4th talk in our TILE network speaker series saw us welcome Robin Macpherson and “The Myth of Sisyphus: Assessment and Absurdity”. As has been the case with all our TILE talks much discussion was generated amongst the audience. The following are some thoughts that...
What Is Education For: A Defence of Knowledge, the Enlightenment, and the Academy – A Reflection
Our TILE network speaker, Dr Stuart Waiton, gave a quite controversial talk during our meeting in April. His talk was followed by a heated – but, I believe, productive – discussion afterwards. In this reflection, I would like to try to summarise Stuart’s main points...
Nothing Works Everywhere: Evidence-Based Approaches To Learning And Teaching – A Reflection
In March, Mark Healy gave a thought-provoking talk by outlining his perspective of the current educational system and ways teachers and lecturers can start improving their own instruction practice by using evidence-informed strategies. But, hold on, Mark raised three...
TILE network Kick-Off and Mission – A Reflection
Well, what a way to kick off the first in a series of our TILE network meetings with our very own founder, Dr Carolina Kuepper-Tetzel. The aim of the TILE network is to bring together people from different disciplines and backgrounds who are all interested in...
The Acronym TILE
The acronym TILE was carefully chosen because it conveys the ultimate outcomes of the proposed network when you write out the acronym: Teaching Innovation & Learning Enhancement, but also because a tile is symbolic for a piece of a bigger picture or a bigger...
TILE’s Mission Statement
Introduction to TILE Academics and teachers have accumulated a large amount of knowledge that has the potential to support learning and teaching in primary, secondary and higher education. For example, many findings from research on human learning and memory in...