- Institution(s):
- University of Nottingham
- Region(s):
- Midlands
- Date first submitted:
- 27 Oct 2010
- Date last modified:
- 27 Oct 2010
- Focus:
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- Researcher-led activities
- Personal effectiveness
- Academic practice
- Knowledge exchange
- Audience:
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- Postgraduate researchers
- Range:
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- Faculty
- National/regional
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Rationale, aims and outcomes
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What is the rationale for doing this?
How does it fit with institutional strategy?
What are the main features of the provision?
What are the aims and expected outcomes?
This programme:
· takes a practice-led approach and delivers training specifically designed to develop the skills necessary for delivering and evaluating practical PE events;
· offers researchers practical experience in targeting and developing content for diverse audiences;
· establishes networks between academics and researcher developers from more than one HEI and professionals working in PE in the museums sector;
· delivers transferrable PE skills which students can deploy in new contexts;
· models a qualitatively different approach to training than that currently available within participating institutions by being practice-led;
· is aligned with the AHRC Research Training Framework’s acknowledgement of the value of non-traditional delivery methods;
· delivers on key researcher skills as identified in the JSS and the Concordat.
This 2-year initiative aims to make PE training and practice part of the standard researcher development offer in the region. In Year 1 it focuses on a research-led public programme (ResearcherCurator) in partnership with the Galleries of Justice museum and archive.
The project will generate a re-useable training resource in partnership with NCCPE which will be disseminated through VITAE annual conference and its hubs.
In Year 2, the project will begin to embed public engagement practice across the region by offering start-up funding for cross-institutional researcher-led public engagement projects, working with new external organisations. Successful bids will be offered scaffolded support through the project leaders and their own institutions.
Key longer-term objectives include:
· the development of training resource for PE in the arts & humanities in partnership with the NCCPE;
· the development of re-useable learning objects for the two GoJ-based public engagement events;
· an ongoing relationship with GoJ and a model for establishing similar schemes between any/all of the participating HEIs and other industry partners;
· enhanced cross-institutional network of researchers trained in public engagement;
· to use case studies derived from the scheme to raise profile of PE in the arts & humanities;
· to work with the NCCPE and associated partners to use the project outcomes to help inform the national picture around PE training and delivery.
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Engagement
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Are there any pre-requisites for engagement, e.g. levels of skill, years of experience, essential pre-activities?
How many participate in each 'activity'?
24 postgraduates from the Universities of Nottingham, Trent, Leicester, De Montfort and Loughborough
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Evaluation: benefits, challenges and next steps
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How do you monitor effectiveness?
Who do you seek feedback from?
Do you have benchmarks?
An audit of PE skills training offered at the six participating institutions showed provision for non-vocational researchers did not relate explicitly enough to organisations outside HE with an interest in public engagement (e.g. museums) and that training was not clearly tied to a practical output. This project brings together for the first time expertise offered in researcher development (UoN), academically rigorous foundation and practical experience in the museums sector(NTU) and knowledge of local audiences and exhibition/programme design (GoJ) to offer PE training and practice. It also offers experience of targeting and developing content for different audiences. Year two of this project is an opportunity for students to use the skills gained in a new context.
Key challenge for participants is to work as a team of 24 from 6 different HEIs.
Key challenge for project leaders is project sustainability.
The project leaders will:
1. Develop a learning resource from the training programme available to researcher developers nationally through VITAE;
2. Develop case studies based on participants’ reflective journals, published via the AGC web-pages and submitted to VITAE for inclusion in the Rugby Tem Impact Framework Annual Report;
3. Disseminate project findings In partnership with NCCPE.