Why study academic practice? | with the University of Liverpool Online

In this episode, we chat with Dr Sue Bolt from the University of Liverpool about the online MA in Academic Practice. Sue explains what the course offers, who it's for, and how it's helping teachers build their careers

Participants

• Emily Slade - podcast producer and host, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ»ÆƬ
• Dr Sue Bolt - head of academic development, University of Liverpool

Transcript

Emily Slade: Hello and welcome back to Future You, the podcast brought to you by graduate careers experts, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ»ÆƬ. I'm your host, Emily Slade and in this episode I chat to Dr Susan Bolt about the Master of Arts in Academic Practice programme.

Sue Bolt: Hi. I'm Dr Sue Bolt and I'm head of academic development at the University of Liverpool. I'm also director of studies for the Liverpool Online Master of Arts in Academic Practice programme. I'm also a national teaching fellow, a principal fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a member of the Liverpool online team that won a collaborative award for teaching excellence in 2024.

Emily Slade: Ohh, amazing. So let's go right back to the beginning. What was your career journey like?

Sue Bolt: So if I had to choose five words to describe my career journey, I would say my career in education has been varied, challenging, creative, innovative and rewarding. A career in education. Has given me a variety of experiences. And allowed me to adapt to the changing phases of my life. My first role was in a senior college teaching English as a second language to international students who were preparing entry into university. Later, I worked in independent and government merit select outcomes based schools, mostly in senior college. Settings. This gave me experience in settings at diverse ends of the pedagogical spectrum - from teacher-centred to highly student-centred education. I developed my passion for professional development during this phase of my career. Because of the difficulty that I personally had in accessing professional development due to limited resources.

Emily Slade: Fantastic. So let's talk now about the Master of Arts in academic practice.

Sue Bolt: Firstly, I want to explain what academic practice is and it's a set of values, knowledge and behaviours that those who teach and or support learning in higher education actually do. It's their job. It's just. They do. Secondly, I want to clarify what those who teach and or support learning in higher education may be employed in a variety of roles, different contract types, from academic to professional - full-time, part time or casual. And I say teach. Or support learning because people have a different understanding of what teaching is and it's a very different set of behaviours depending on the context, and I think that that's important to understand.

Emily Slade: How is it delivered?

Sue Bolt: While it's a fully online programme, all the resources are online. They're electric casts, case studies, asynchronous discussion forums, synchronous seminars, readings, podcasts, spaces for reflection, opportunities to work individually and collaboratively, and to engage with your lecturer. And peers. Assessments are submitted online and use a variety of formats, and there are no tests or exams.

Emily Slade: Amazing, how is the Master of Arts in academic practice structured?

Sue Bolt: The form programme is 180 credits in total. The MA is comprised of 815 credit modules. And a supervised 60 credit academic practice project in which students can conduct their own research to investigate a relevant topic of their choice while acquiring the research skills to do so. The MA is comprised of stepping stones along the way, one of those is the postgraduate diploma academic practice, which can be taken as an exit award and is 120 credits. The postgraduate diploma is eight. Of those 15 credit taught modules, with a focus on developing academic leadership and scholarship. Earlier down the pathway, the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice, which is an exit award and for 60 credits is comprised of 415 credit taught modules that enable students to develop their academic practice in global contexts, with the focus on planning, designing and enhancing learning, teaching and assessment. The 4th module focuses on developing your career in higher education. There are two entrance pathways. The standard PG cert pathway is for those with limited or no experience teaching in higher education settings. Those who are already teaching in higher education. Can do the PG cert plus fellowship of the Higher Education Academy. The taught modules are 8 weeks in duration. There are two assessments in each module, one in week four and one in Week 8. This helps students to be able to, you know, plan their learning and their study. The course is part time, requiring about 18 learning hours per week, but only about a third of those learning hours are directed. The remainder, the 2/3 is self-directed study. Which can include reflecting on work based learning for those who are already working in higher education. The PGCert can be completed in about 10 months and we're moving towards enabling completion of the full MA within a two-year period. The course is fully supported by academic and student support services, including access to online library facilities.

Emily Slade: Amazing. So, what type of student will do the Master of Arts in Academic Practice?

Sue Bolt: The students come from all over the world. Students typically range from about 25 years old to 64 years old. Most of them are in the the middle years. There they come from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds, for example. Education, science, healthcare, the arts, construction, security. There might be lecturers, professors, tutors and they could be librarians. Most students teach or support learning in higher education institutions and are eligible to do the PT Cert with fellowship of the Higher Education Academy pathway of the MBA Academic Practice. If students don't currently have a job, if they're not currently teaching in higher education, they are eligible to do the standard PG cert pathway and also do the MA in academic practice.

Emily Slade: Perfect. So, what will students learn by doing the Master of Arts in Academic Practice?

Sue Bolt: In a nutshell, students will develop their academic practice leadership and scholarship by doing the Master of Arts in Academic Practice. The syllabus covers contemporary approaches to teaching and learning in higher education, designing, learning and assessment activities on programmes, enhancing academic practice, developing your career in a higher education context, developing your leadership and scholarship, and how to design. And conduct pedagogic research projects.

Emily Slade: Brilliant. So, what qualifications or professional recognition will students gain by doing this course?

Sue Bolt: Students can gain a Masters level degree if they successfully complete all modules of the Master of Arts in Academic Practice, or they can exit with a Postgraduate Diploma Certificate. Or award, depending on the number of credits they've gained by successfully completing the PG cap. And FHA students can gain simultaneous professional recognition as fellows of the Higher Education Academy by showing how their practice all aligns with the professional standards framework requirements for fellowship, currently at the time of this recording, the University of Liverpool is the only online PG cap that is accredited by advanced HE for fellowship in the world and currently advance HG data states that there are about 200,000 fellows from 117 countries around the world. The UK's Eigher Education Statistics Agency, HESA, recognises all of the Master of Arts in Academic Practice and fellowship of the Higher Education Academy recognitions as teaching qualifications and increasingly, employers are requiring those who teach in higher education to have appropriate teaching qualifications to gain tenure.

Emily Slade: And how can the programme enhance career development?

Sue Bolt: So the Master of Arts in Academic Practice is a recognised qualification for teaching in higher education. Are evidence of teaching qualifications, enhances opportunities to secure tenured employment in higher education, evidencing effective and inclusive academic practice, leadership and scholarship, enhances prospects for promotion at the global emphasis. On this programme will be helpful to individuals with an interest in transnational education and those seeking to develop skills to work effectively with international faculty and students. Alongside the subject specific knowledge gained, you will also develop professional skills such as communication, digital literacy, teaching and research, which could improve your career prospects.

Emily Slade: And what are the students saying about the programme?

Sue Bolt: Firstly, I'd like to reiterate that the student voice and experience is very important to us and in addition to speaking to their online lecturers, students can provide feedback through the module and programme evaluations. Or directly to the student experience team, or through their course representatives to the Staff Student Liaison Committee, which is comprised of representatives from the Guild of Students, the library, the student experience team, the course representatives, and the academic, teaching and administrative teams. Also students. Who have done the PG CAP and were also participating in the transformative academic practice for higher education in the Philippines. Project provided video testimonials. About their experiences on the programme that you can view on our YouTube channel, so this is what some students have said based on feedback from some of those mechanisms. Students have said completing this module has been a wonderful and transformative experience for me, backing up my teachings with. With knowledge of learning theories has increased my credibility with my peers and with my line manager and this knowledge has helped me to pass a teaching interview, another student said. The reflective aspect is definitely a positive. It was the first course that I've done that actually incorporates. Critically, reflecting in that manner. So that's really a positive and other student said the cause was extremely well designed and easy to navigate. The material flowed cohesively and was suitably engaging and stimulating. Students were encouraged to interact in different ways with different online materials, and this could be done asynchronously from different time zones and other students said this module provided a comprehensive examination of assessment and feedback in higher education, integrating contemporary research theoretical frameworks. And practical applications, the structured progression of topics allowed for a deeper understanding of curriculum, design, feedback mechanisms, and the role of artificial intelligence in shaping assessment practices. Another student said we are drawing from the lived experiences and the experience of the people on this course. People on the course contribute hugely to that discussion about sharing their own lived experiences. Because we draw from a global context from many different cultures, people gain from that and through our each module, your city, your country, you know the wider global context. And that was very. Student. And finally, as student said, the PG camp and the ensuing discussions have allowed us to identify gaps that we in Philippine higher education need to address and we look forward to continued partnership with the University of Liverpool and advance HE to make that possible.

Emily Slade: Fantastic. And finally, what's the most exciting thing about the course for you?

Sue Bolt: The most exciting thing about the course for me is to be able to engage with a wide variety of people from different backgrounds and different walks of life from all over the world, all interested in enhancing, learning and teaching in higher education. And I think one of the exciting things about the course is that it's stimulating. It challenges people, helps them to think about things that they haven't thought about before. And reflecting on their practice provides a very cathartic experience, a very transformative experience, and enables people to progress in their careers and to be able to support student learning much more effectively and inclusively.

Emily Slade: Fantastic. And if potential students wanted to reach out to you, if they had any questions, are they able to do that?

Sue Bolt: Yes, we have an online page on the University of Liverpool, which gives you contact details. It gives you all the requirements for registering for the programme. It's got a form that you can fill in. The admissions team will be able to answer all of your questions. And get back to you in a very quick time.

Emily Slade: Fantastic. Well, thank you so much for your time today.

Sue Bolt: Thanks, Emily.

Emily Slade: Thanks again to Sue for their time. For more information on the course, check out the show notes below. If you enjoyed the episode, feel free to leave us a review on Apple or Spotify. Thank you as always for listening and good luck on your journey to future you.

Notes on transcript

This transcript was produced using a combination of automated software and human transcribers and may contain errors. The audio version is definitive and should be checked before quoting.

Find out more

• Take a look at the MA Academic Practice.
• Introducing MA Academic Practice.
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