Dialogue Portfolio Guidelines: DI for AFHEA

1 General principles for preparing your portfolio

Your application will consist of a dialogue portfolio which consists of a number of short elements in a word document that are submitted prior to your dialogue. The portfolio is developed with the support of a mentor and must include evidence of two mandatory meetings with your mentor. Your portfolio provides a context and framework for a live assessed dialogue and signposts to where you believe you have evidenced the appropriate dimensions of the UKPSF. Supporting evidence should support your outline and précis and enable you to discuss how you meet the criteria for D1 with your mentor and with your reviewers during your assessed dialogue.

There are five elements to your dialogue portfolio:

Submitted before your dialogue:

1. An outline and précis of professional practice relating to learning and teaching (this should include bullet points and signposting to the relevant dimensions of UKPSF) = (500 words)

2. A CPD review and plan, include signposting to relevant dimensions of the UKPSF (500 words)

3. Two references4. Supporting evidence

NB: You will not be able to do your dialogue if these elements have not been submitted by the portfolio deadlines or that you do not follow the template expectations and + or – 10% for the word count.

Your assessed dialogue

5. 30 to 40 minutes recorded and assessed discussion based on the examples provided by you in your dialogue portfolio with two internal reviewers.

You should select and provide appropriate evidence to demonstrate how you meet the D1 criteria. Evidence should be focused and relevant to D1. In your supporting evidence you must include the following: A record of two meeting with your mentor, a reference list, supporting testimonials. You could also include any of the following; peer observation, scholarly papers, presentations, blogs, artefacts, audio or video recordings, external examiner reports, testimonials and comments on your practice from others,

All examples you choose should be related to work at level 4 or above and should be within the last five years. However you may reference events that are more than 5 years ago that are now influencing your current academic and professional practice.

Throughout your outline and précis you should signpost the appropriate dimensions of the UKPSF. For example,

“I believe every student should be given the opportunity to reach their potential. When I plan my teaching I try to vary the activities that I want my students to do so I can offer an inclusive learning experience. I follow up my teaching sessions by using a blog where students can post questions that they want clarifying. (A1, K4, V1, V2)”

You will have ample opportunities during mentoring to critically reflect and explore how you meet the dimensions of the UKPSF. The final assessed dialogue will be your opportunity to discuss dimensions that are not covered in depth by your dialogue portfolio, therefore, do not over claim, for example,

“In addition to over assessment I have been able to work with colleagues to address issues such as, retention, study skills, activities for learning and evaluating student attainment (A2, A3, K1, K2, K3, K4, K5, K6, V1, V2 V4).

Make sure that the claims made in your dialogue portfolio are supported, for example,

“I run additional workshops for my students to help with the practical skills (K2)”

How does this example evidence K2 (Appropriate methods for teaching, learning and assessing in the subject area and at the level of the academic programme)? You might run workshops but so what? Why do you do this? What are you hoping to achieve? What has been the impact? Why is this important in your subject area? Claims can be supported in the narrative or by the evidence you choose to include in your dialogue portfolio , for example, MEQs, external examiner, student or colleague comments.

In your application you should be making reference to other sources of information that you use to underpin your approaches. This is particularly important to evidence (V3) Use evidence-informed approaches and the outcomes from research, scholarship and continuing professional development), for example,

“Whatever session I plan I use the concept of constructive alignment (Biggs 1996) …”

When citing other sources of information you must use the University of Wolverhampton Harvard Referencing system that can be found at www.wlv.ac.uk/skills. References should be included on your dialogue portfolio.

In your application you should be making reference to other sources of information that you use to underpin your approaches. This is particularly

important to evidence (V3) - Use evidence-informed approaches and the outcomes from research, scholarship and continuing professional development), References to different sources of information must be included on your dialogue portfolio. When citing other sources of information you must use the University of Wolverhampton Harvard Referencing system that can be found at www.wlv.ac.uk/skills.

You should include corroborating evidence, particularly of impact in your dialogue portfolio. This could include testimonials and comments from ‘others’ (students, colleagues, externals etc.), for example,

“…. I received a JISC scholarship (V3). The following comment was made on my

scholarship application:

“We were very impressed by the sophisticated and research-based accounts of digital

literacies with which you are working and by the contribution to the important

internationalisation agenda”. SEDA (2012)”

Corroborating evidence can be woven into the narrative or included in your dialogue portfolio ‘Supporting evidence’ under ‘Authentication of practice’.

For D1, in addition to evidencing at least 2 areas of activity you must also demonstrate K1 and K2 from Core Knowledge and all Professional Values (V1-V4).

(K1) The subject material(K2) Appropriate methods for teaching, learning and assessing in the subject area and at the level

of the academic programme(V1) Respect individual learners and diverse learning communities(V2) Promote participation in higher education and equality of opportunity for learners(V3) Use evidence-informed approaches and the outcomes from research,

scholarship and continuing professional development(V4) Acknowledge the wider context in which higher education operates

recognising the implications for professional practice

You will have ample opportunities during two mandatory mentoring sessions to critically reflect and explore how you meet the dimensions of the UKPSF. The final assessed dialogue will be your opportunity to discuss dimensions that are not covered in depth by your dialogue portfolio.

You should consider the context of working at the University of Wolverhampton. Reference should therefore be made to the institutional vision, mission and core values:

Our vision: To be “The University of Opportunity” – renowned for creativity and innovation – developing students and staff who are entrepreneurial, eminently employable and well connected within a research and professionally informed environment.

Our mission: To be an employer-focused university connected with our local, national and global communities delivering opportunity and academic excellence.

Our core values, these values guide the decisions we make and how we engage with our communities locally and globally. At the University of Wolverhampton we will be:

o Ethical, Respectful, Transparent, Inclusive and fair, Challenging, Confident, Collaborative and Professional.

2 Writing your outline and précis of professional practice (500 words)

Your outline and précis of professional practice should give an overview of your approach to teaching and learning. What are your professional values? Why? How do these influence you? What approaches to learning and teaching do you use? Why? Which authors have influenced you?

Within your outline and précis, concentrate on 2 areas of activity from the list below (A1 – A4 of the UKPSF).

Areas of Activity

A1 Design and plan learning activities and/or programmes of studyA2 Teach and/or support learningA3 Assess and give feedback to learnersA4 Develop effective learning environments and approaches to student

support and guidance.

2.1 Examples of evidencing A1: Design and plan learning activities and/or programmes of study

This Area of Activity refers to all your professional educational activities where you are preparing for engagement with learners. For example you might:

Design or redesign curricula, courses and programmes of study; Identify and plan different kinds of interaction with learners in various

contexts, whether for single sessions or larger programmes; Participate in validation panels; Contribute to the creation of learning resource packs and computer-based

or open learning materials or the development of virtual learning environments.

If you are going to use A1 then you could address the following:

1. Ways in which you design and plan learning activities and/or programmes of study.

2. The reasons for your choice of:a. subject material;b. activities and techniques; c. the particular learning technologies included in your plan

3. How your choices facilitate your students’ learning in general and within their subject area

4. Which dimensions of the Core Knowledge you utilise, how and why?5. Which dimensions of the Professional Values were particularly relevant

and why?

You may choose to include materials, examples of activities from the VLE and lesson plans in your supporting evidence this could be via screen shots, photographs or hyperlinks.

2.2 Examples of evidencing A2: Teach and/or support learning

This Area of Activity is about your direct engagement with learners whether in groups or individually. These encounters may be in a wide range of environments, such as classrooms, seminar rooms, lecture theatres, labs, learning support centres, offices, etc.

Your teaching activities might include for example, lecturing, tutorial and seminar work, studio, clinical, laboratory or workplace-based teaching, distance learning and the use of virtual learning environments.

The support you give might include, for example, teaching and supervision of postgraduates, mentoring inexperienced staff or contributing to in-house learning and teaching programmes.

If you are going to use A2 then you could address the following:

1. Ways in which you teach and/or support learners.2. The activities or techniques you use and why.3. How you came to use them and why you think they were successful in

supporting student learning? Give reasons for your choice of activities and techniques and how they relate to developing the learners' understanding of the subject.

4. Which dimensions of the Core Knowledge you utilise, how and why?5. Which dimensions of the Professional Values were particularly relevant

and why?

You may choose to include teaching materials and activities, peer observations, video clips or photographs in your supporting evidence.

2.3 Examples of evidencing A3: Assess and give feedback to learners

This Area of Activity is about how you use assessment and feedback to foster and encourage learning, assess progress and make judgements about your students’ learning. The assessment you undertake may be formative or summative, formal or informal. Feedback may for example, be face to face, written through annotating students’ work, or through using electronic means such as podcasts and social media.

If you are going to use A3 then you could address the following:

1. Types of formative and/or summative assessment that you use with learners, whether formal or informal?

2. How and why you choose the particular approaches and methods you employ, insofar as this was your own decision.

3. How you ensure your assessments are valid indicators of what you want your students to learn, that your marking is reliable and the standards you set are appropriate.

4. How you give feedback to learners.5. How you ensure the feedback you give learners helps them to improve

their understanding of the subject or their performance and development as learners.

6. Which dimensions of the Core Knowledge you utilise, how and why?7. Which dimensions of the Professional Values were particularly relevant

and why?

You may choose to include assessment examples, student feedback, external examiner feedback or social media in your supporting evidence.

2.4 Examples of evidencing A4: Develop effective learning environments and approaches to student support and guidance

This Area of Activity is about how you make effective use of both the formal and informal learning environment to facilitate learning, and how you seek to meet the needs of your learners for educational support and guidance. It includes how you: Utilise and manage the full range of physical or virtual learning environments

so that they are appropriate to your learners’ needs Work with learners and service providers to ensure that your learners can

access and use a broad range of learning opportunities. Learner support might include such activities as personal and academic tutoring, one-to-one advice, counselling, developing practice to meet the learning implications of widening access, or supporting learners with additional needs.

If you are going to use A4 then you could address the following:

1. Types of educational environment in which you work and/or what kinds of support and guidance you give to your learners, whether formal or informal.

2. How you have contributed to making the learning environment more effective for learners.

3. The ways you have contributed to supporting and guiding your learners.4. Why you chose those particular strategies and how well they worked.5. Which dimensions of the Core Knowledge you utilise, how and why?6. Which dimensions of the Professional Values were particularly relevant

and why?

You may wish to include student comments, photographs or video as supporting evidence.

3 CPD review and plan (500 words)

Your CPD Review and Plan must address the Area of Activity A5

“Engage in continuing professional development in subjects/disciplines and their pedagogy, incorporating research, scholarship and the evaluation of professional practices.”

This section should concentrate on demonstrating how you have engaged with CPD, how this has impacted on your academic practice outside of the examples you have already given as part of the outline and précis, what you plan to do in the near future and what expected impact you hope this will have to enhance your academic practice in relation to teaching and/or supporting learners.

CPD activities are likely to be wide ranging, incorporating both formal and informal approaches, for example:

1. Presenting or participating in conferences on teaching and learning (often discipline-specific);

2. Attending workshops or training events;3. Engaging in peer observation or peer review of teaching;4. Less formal activities such as:

a. Regular departmental meetings where discussion is about teaching and learning issues,

b. Peer discussions about learning and teaching,c. Bidding for and involvement in projects or research on teaching and

learning;d. Implementing new approaches,e. Subject and other network activities,f. Reading,g. Visits to other institutions/organisations.

4 Two references

You should pick two referees that can comment on the evidence in your portfolio and its relevance to D1. Your referees should be familiar with the UKPSF and ideally at least one should hold a Fellowship from the HEA. One of the purposes of the references is to authenticate your practice so make sure you pick people who know your practice related to teaching and /or supporting learning another is to corroborate what you have evidenced in your application rather that to add additional information. You should send your referees your completed application for them to comment on. The references should be sent back to you so that you can include them in your portfolio prior to your assessed dialogue. Each reference should be no more than one side of A4. Your referees must provide contact details, these can be email addresses.

Make sure you leave enough time before the submission deadline to share your dialogue portfolio with your referees, for them to write the reference and send it back to you for you to include in your dialogue portfolio.

If a referee is from outside of the university please ask them to submit their reference on a headed template and to include their contact details.

5 Supporting evidence

Below is a list of core and optional supporting evidence that you should include in your portfolio. Supporting evidence should be seen as helping you signpost to the appropriate dimensions of the UKPSF and also as prompts for your dialogue.

Mentor meeting 1 & 2 – Core. You must meet at least twice with your mentor and you must include a summary of these meetings

Authentication of practice e.g. observations, peer review , supporting evidence from ’others’ e.g. testimonials, external reports - C

Your own research & scholarship activities related to learning and teaching – C. This must be related to learning and teaching and you should only include conferences where you have actually given a presentation or where you feel attendance has had an impact on your

practice. This should not be a list of everything you have done or attended, be selective

Learning artefacts e.g. hyperlinks , screen shots, pictures = Optional Other relevant evidence you would like to be considered – O.

For example you might include a screen grab of learning activities that you have created, (see example). You should think what evidence this provides for example this could evidence A1 (A1) Design and plan learning activities and/or programmes of study, or (A4) Develop effective learning environments and approaches to student support and guidance or (K2) Appropriate methods for teaching, learning and assessing in the subject area and at the level of the academic programme or (K4) The use and value of appropriate learning technologies For D1 you do not have to evidence K4 but you might decide to do this anyway to demonstrate your practice. When thinking about your evidence try not to duplicate things but look to demonstrate the breadth of you practice. You do not have to write a narrative around the evidence but make it clear why you have included it in your dialogue portfolio. Remember that this evidence will help your reviewers plan lines of questioning.

At the KUDOS Café you will start to think about what supporting evidence you can use and this will also form part of the first mentor meeting.

6 Mentor meetings

The mentor meetings are mandatory. The first mentor meeting is focused on helping you make sense of the evidence in your dialogue portfolio and to craft the portfolio to best support your application. The focus of the second meeting is to prepare you for your dialogue. In KUDOS we use a developmental mentoring approach based on Megginson et al (2006). In this approach the mentor is more experience in the issues relevant to the mentee’s needs so we will always match you to someone who has at least the same category of fellowship to the one you are applying for and who has completed KUDOS dialogue mentor/reviewer training. All our mentors also review applications so they know the review process very well. Your mentor will not review your application or take part in

your dialogue. Your mentor will help you make sense of your application and you should take their advice as they will have experience of the expectation of the KUDOS process and the UKPSF. Your mentor will not proof read your application but will help you towards personal insights from which you can steer your own development. Good questioning is key to the mentoring relationship and will also help to prepare you for your assessed dialogue.

7 What to expect during your dialogue: Associate Fellow (D1)

Dialogues will be held three or four weeks after the submission date, and you should be available during this week for your dialogue. It will last between 30-40 minutes.

There will be at least two people in the room with your during your dialogue. There will be two internal reviewers, one of whom will hold SFHEA or PFHEA. There may also be a trainee reviewer present too with your permission. The dialogues will be recorded for moderation purposes.

The dialogue has a clear structure and purpose – exploring and recognising professional practice – yet it should also be dynamic, flexible and personal. It is an opportunity for you to reflect on your practice: why do you do the things you do?

The reviewers will have access to your application before your dialogue and will ask questions based on what you have written and the evidence you have provided.

At the start, one reviewer will lead the questioning and typical questions might be: tell us why you have applied for fellowship? Or tell us about your approaches to teaching? When we feel we have covered a particular topic to our satisfaction we will move on to the next area.

After 15 minutes or so, the second reviewer will take over. These questions will usually be more focused to encourage you to talk about dimensions of the UKPSF that you have not yet covered or that we would like to hear you expand on.

The reviewers will make notes during the dialogue that will be used to provide you with feedback once a decision has been reached at the Recognition Panel. The final decision will be made based on your written submission and your final dialogue.

Reference:

Megginson, D, Clutterbuck D, Garvey B, Stokes P, and Garret-Harris R, (2006), Mentoring in action: a practical guide for managers. 2nd ed, London: Kogan Page.