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        <title>Staff Intranet - Blog</title>
        <description>Blog posts from Staff Intranet</description>
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            <title>Staff Intranet - Blog</title>
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            <link>https://www.abdn.ac.uk/staffnet/education/blog/world-suicide-prevention-day-our-shared-commitment-to-a-safer-more-supportive-community/</link>
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            <title><![CDATA[World Suicide Prevention Day: Our Shared Commitment to a Safer, More Supportive Community]]></title>
            <pubDate>Thu, 04 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0100</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[This time last year, on World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD), we launched the University&rsquo;s commitment to becoming a suicide-safer university. At the heart of this commitment is the creation of a robust, supportive environment and a culture of openness - where everyone feels empowered to talk about mental health, understands the routes to support, and is aware of the risks and warning signs.
Our approach is built around prevention, intervention, and postvention. It&rsquo;s about equipping our community with the knowledge, confidence, and compassion to take an active role in reducing the risk of suicide, accessing support, and challenging the stigma&#8230;]]></description>
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            <link>https://www.abdn.ac.uk/staffnet/education/blog/forget-about-the-grades-why-feedback-is-key-to-workplace-readiness/</link>
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            <title><![CDATA[Forget about the grades: Why feedback is key to workplace readiness]]></title>
            <pubDate>Mon, 30 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0100</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[When was the last time you were given a grade for a piece of work? For us, since embarking on our first &lsquo;proper&rsquo; jobs more than two decades ago, the answer is never. We have received feedback, guidance, support, and constructive criticism, but never a grade.
It was a step towards achieving our institutional &lsquo;Aberdeen 2040&rsquo; ambition to deliver work-based learning at scale, and we wanted to create something that didn&rsquo;t just talk about the world of work, but actively mirrored it.

&nbsp;
This led us to a fundamental question: if the workplace thrives on feedback, why does higher education&#8230;]]></description>
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            <link>https://www.abdn.ac.uk/staffnet/education/blog/maximising-impact-how-testa-can-transform-assessment-and-feedback-for-staff-and-students/</link>
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            <title><![CDATA[Maximising Impact: How TESTA can Transform Assessment and Feedback for Staff and Students]]></title>
            <pubDate>Mon, 30 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0100</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[First introduced at Aberdeen in 2022, TESTA is an innovative method of programmatic review which maps Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs), assessment and feedback practices across a degree programme (UG / PGT). Developed with flexibility in mind and facilitated by the Centre for Academic Development (CAD), TESTA can be tailored to meet the needs of participating disciplines, including aiding preparations for re-accreditation, supporting curriculum reviews and Internal Teaching Reviews (ITRs).&nbsp;
The TESTA process involves five key stages as outlined in the infographic available here.
Feedback from past participants in TESTA:

&ldquo;Working with CAD in the past had made it clear to&#8230;]]></description>
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            <link>https://www.abdn.ac.uk/staffnet/education/blog/developing-and-scaling-online-courses-and-programme/</link>
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            <title><![CDATA[Developing and Scaling Online Courses and Programme]]></title>
            <pubDate>Tue, 08 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0100</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[I&rsquo;m often asked for advice around developing/scaling online programmes/courses and what I&rsquo;m going to write is based my personal experience and views that I have developed over a period of almost 20 years &ndash; it&rsquo;s scary to think how quickly time flies.
My first experience of online began at the University of Edinburgh back in the days of WebCT. I launched a Masters programme online because the on-campus version was struggling to recruit and I was getting a lot of people keen to study part-time and it just grew from there.
I was very lucky to work in an environment&#8230;]]></description>
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            <link>https://www.abdn.ac.uk/staffnet/education/blog/advance-he-fellows-and-senior-fellows-are-you-interested-in-becoming-a-mentor/</link>
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            <title><![CDATA[Advance HE Fellows and Senior Fellows: Are you interested in becoming a Mentor?]]></title>
            <pubDate>Tue, 08 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0100</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[All existing Fellows and Senior Fellows of Advance HE are eligible to undertake a short CPD session and become a Mentor under the University of Aberdeen ABDN: PRS Scheme. &nbsp;The ABDN:PRS Scheme is experiencing high demand as more colleagues from across the University realise the benefits of gaining professional recognition with Advance HE and we now require more Mentors to meet this demand.
Mentors play a key role in the Scheme, supporting colleagues from across the University as they in turn put together their applications.&nbsp; Mentoring is also a great way to find out about how teaching and / or&#8230;]]></description>
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            <link>https://www.abdn.ac.uk/staffnet/education/blog/what-do-staff-and-students-think-about-genai/</link>
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            <title><![CDATA[What do staff and students think about GenAI?]]></title>
            <pubDate>Tue, 08 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0100</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[Research funded by AdvanceHE (Jan &ndash; July 2024) and led by the University of Aberdeen, in collaboration with Edinburgh Napier University, Heriot-Watt University and the University of Dundee, indicated:

GenAI usage varies, with 38% of staff and students reporting that they rarely or never use GenAI tools to support their professional practice / university studies,
Professional services staff used GenAI tools most often, with 48% of professional services staff reporting using GenAI tools frequently (once or more per week). This figure is 11% higher than the percentage reported by students and 16% higher than the percentage reported by academic staff&#8230;]]></description>
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            <link>https://www.abdn.ac.uk/staffnet/education/blog/do-international-students-understand-or-accept-their-role-in-inclusive-partnerships/</link>
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            <title><![CDATA[Do international students understand or accept their role in inclusive partnerships?]]></title>
            <pubDate>Thu, 20 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0100</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[According to the Universities UK, in 2020, 20.7% of the student population in the UK will be international. The figure below shows that international postgraduate students outnumber their undergraduate counterparts by three times. Since then, the numbers have grown to the largest ever recorded; the Universities UK opine that this latest increase is part of the post-COVID pandemic recovery https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/universities-uk-international/explore-uuki/international-student-recruitment/international-student-recruitment-data.

Figure 1 -&nbsp;2020 Universities UK breakdown of the international student population
Thus, it has become imperative for the UK higher education sector to adapt or create strategies to deal with the changing demographic and numbers we have seen in the&#8230;]]></description>
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            <link>https://www.abdn.ac.uk/staffnet/education/blog/the-misapplication-of-resilience-perspectives-from-international-staffstudent-observations/</link>
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            <title><![CDATA[The misapplication of resilience- perspectives from international staff-student observations]]></title>
            <pubDate>Thu, 20 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0100</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[The Online Etymology Dictionary defines resilience as with the following timelines &ldquo;1620s, "act of rebounding or springing back," often of immaterial things, from Latin&nbsp;resiliens, present participle of&nbsp;resilire&nbsp;"to rebound, recoil," from&nbsp;re-&nbsp;"back" (see&nbsp;re-) +&nbsp;salire&nbsp;"to jump, leap" (see&nbsp;salient&nbsp;(adj.)). By 1824, the physical sciences field defined resilience as "elasticity, power of returning to original shape after compression, etc." From these definitions, it is interesting to note how the roots of this word were often applied to &ldquo;immaterial things&rdquo; in the first instance. Vernon (2004) describes how resilience science has entered the realm of psychology via the &ldquo;serendipitous&rdquo; union of two fields, child psychiatry and&#8230;]]></description>
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            <link>https://www.abdn.ac.uk/staffnet/education/blog/sharing-and-enhancing-inclusive-practice-our-2022-symposium/</link>
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            <title><![CDATA[Sharing and Enhancing Inclusive Practice - our 2022 Symposium]]></title>
            <pubDate>Wed, 21 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0100</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[The University of Aberdeen Annual Academic Development Symposium &lsquo;Global Communities: Building Communities and Improving Collaboration&rsquo; in May 2022 was once again a huge success. This year, it was a genuinely hybrid event, with speakers and participants on-line and in person, with excellent colleague support to ensure that all were involved.&nbsp; This received positive feedback and highlighted the inclusive nature of the event. Colleagues who, for a variety of reasons, may be unable or choose not to attend in person could have an equal part in the day &ndash; from the online caf&eacute;, to on-line viewing and voting of posters and&#8230;]]></description>
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            <link>https://www.abdn.ac.uk/staffnet/education/blog/shamanism-and-the-new-age/</link>
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            <title><![CDATA[Shamanism and the New Age]]></title>
            <pubDate>Tue, 30 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0100</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[As part of the greater Contemporary Spirituality umbrella, I ask if holding a space for the spiritually questing within an extremely inclusive Shamanic practice would be welcomed?

In the spirit of celebrating&nbsp;diversity, I believe that the answer is YES.
Shamanism &ndash; a rose with many names
I believe Shamanism is as old as humankind. Certainly, cave drawings and ancient burial sites have been uncovered that depict some kind of shamanistic practice. Climatic difference aside, indigenous and tribal peoples across the globe share some basic tenets of the &lsquo;unseen world&rsquo; &ndash; all of creation, and how they connect with it.In traditional&#8230;]]></description>
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            <link>https://www.abdn.ac.uk/staffnet/education/blog/finding-your-reason-through-the-decolonisation-of-the-legal-curriculum/</link>
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            <title><![CDATA[Finding Your Reason through the Decolonisation of the Legal Curriculum]]></title>
            <pubDate>Fri, 05 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[In commemoration of this year&rsquo;s black history month, I have been invited to write this blogpost and I am pleased to do so. &nbsp;I am a qualified barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and an Energy Law Lecturer at the University of Aberdeen. The focus of this blog will be on the need to redefine one&rsquo;s reason for studying law. I present this blog from my perspective as someone from a minority ethnic group. &nbsp;I also share some reflections from my colleague, Dr Titilayo Adebola.
I got a call from my mother-in-law who is equally a lawyer.&#8230;]]></description>
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            <link>https://www.abdn.ac.uk/staffnet/education/blog/recognising-diversity-in-academic-study-conventions/</link>
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            <title><![CDATA[Recognising diversity in academic study conventions]]></title>
            <pubDate>Mon, 25 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0100</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[As the new academic year is now underway, Student Progression &amp; Transition Manager from the Language Centre, Alison McBoyle, reflects on a perceived need to welcome, &amp; acknowledge, the diverse range of educational &amp; cultural experiences of non-native English speakers studying at Aberdeen University.
Reflecting on studying in a second language
Students who are studying in a 2nd (or even 3rd or 4th) language may face significant challenges in a new teaching and learning environment.&nbsp; My observation comes from 20 years of working with academic students whose first language is not English.
Before starting academic study in an English-speaking context,&#8230;]]></description>
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            <link>https://www.abdn.ac.uk/staffnet/education/blog/race-equality-champions-in-academic-institutions-a-personal-perspective/</link>
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            <title><![CDATA[Race Equality Champions in Academic Institutions - A Personal Perspective]]></title>
            <pubDate>Tue, 10 Aug 2021 00:00:00 +0100</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[As a recently appointed Race Equality Champion within The School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition, Dr Sadaf Ashraf, a research scientist at the Centre for Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Health, reflects on what encouraged her to apply for the role.
Personal Experience:
My dad came to Britain from South-Asia as a teenager in the sixties and decided to settle in East London. &ldquo;Focus, work hard and get-on-with-it&rdquo; was a phrase that was often said by my parents. I was privileged to grow-up in an ethnically-diverse neighbourhood and attended multicultural schools. At university, whilst the student population was extremely diverse, there&#8230;]]></description>
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            <link>https://www.abdn.ac.uk/staffnet/education/blog/dr-jeannie-macleod-prize-diversity-in-medicine/</link>
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            <title><![CDATA[Dr Jeannie MacLeod Prize - Diversity in Medicine]]></title>
            <pubDate>Mon, 29 Mar 2021 00:00:00 +0100</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[Dr Leeanne Bodkin, Coordinator of the medical humanities programme and Megan Shaw fifth year medical student and the winner of the Dr Jeannie Macleod Prize in the Diversity in medicine category share their thoughts on the opportunity to celebrate diversity through these prizes.
This month we enjoyed hearing the student presentations by those shortlisted for the Dr Jeannie Macleod prizes in Medical humanities.&nbsp; In 1902 Dr Macleod was the second female graduate of Medicine at the University of Aberdeen and the third in Scotland. Tragically, shortly after beginning work at Aberdeen Children&rsquo;s hospital, she took her own life. These memorial&#8230;]]></description>
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            <link>https://www.abdn.ac.uk/staffnet/education/blog/reflecting-on-the-medical-curriculum-what-would-decolonisation-look-like/</link>
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            <title><![CDATA[Reflecting on the Medical Curriculum: What would decolonisation look like?]]></title>
            <pubDate>Tue, 23 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[In the wake of Black Lives Matter movement, universities are considering decolonising their curricula. Karina Chopra (5th year Medical Student) and Sohinee Bhattacharya Senior Lecturer and course coordinator Global Health talk about what decolonising the medical curriculum means for students, staff and doctors.
As a medical graduate from India I felt as though I should have strong feelings about decolonising the medical curriculum but wasn&rsquo;t quite sure what this involved. So when Karina proposed reviewing the literature on this topic as part of her medical elective, I said &ldquo;Yes, please!&rdquo; &nbsp;The murder of George Floyd triggered a worldwide reaction and&#8230;]]></description>
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