Ep.9: Bridging Attainment Gaps in Higher Education

Welcome back to the #iProgress Podcast - JOIN US ON DISCORD: https://discord.gg/Ru5mt8PYpM

In this episode, your hosts - Dr. Dean Fido and Dr. Craig Harper - talk about attainment gaps in university degrees, and explore a recent article from Dean about three quick fixes to closing some of these disparities.

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Chapters:

00:00 - The Extent of Award Attainment Gaps

03:33 - Co-Design and Collaboration with Learners

08:46 - Make Feedback Clear and Accessible When It's Needed

14:46 - Break Down Barriers to Course Engagement and Access to Higher Education

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Resources

Dean's article for Times Higher Education: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/three-immediate-changes-academics-can-make-close-awarding-gaps

COVID adjustments led to reductions in attainment gaps: https://www.cctl.cam.ac.uk/mind-gap-toolkit/how-know/impact-covid

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CRIB NOTES:

-Welcomes & Scope of podcast episode

- Racial and socioeconomic disparities are large, in relation to both awarding levels and progression / drop-out rates

-Topic 1 - Co-Producing Teaching Materials

- Making sure examples and cultural references make sense

- Adapting to different learner abilities and styles

- Academics as experts, but with a responsibility to make content accessible

-Topic 2 - Effective and Accessible Feedback

- Continual feedback throughout teaching as vital to boosting attainment

- Consistency in feedback methods and presentation in summative assessments

- Developing effective ways to test knowledge in real time

- Topic 3 - Break Down Barriers

- COVID-19 adjustments led to reductions in attainment gaps

- Online learning as a leveller of the playing field via increased engagement

- Closing remarks

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Music by AlphaGaming | HarrisHeller