BEEC Journal Issue 1

Welcome to the first edition of the in-house Brunel University London journal called JET - Journal of Education & Teaching, the aim of which is to share and showcase work that is being done across campus to enhance the academic experience of our students. 

There is, inevitably, much work that has to be done behind the scenes to get an edition of a journal (even an in-house and online one!) up and running, and a big thank you must go to the reviewers who volunteered their time to peer review anonymised versions of each of the papers.  The reviewers are drawn from the growing Academic Education community and Senior Fellows of the HEA at Brunel and this is one example of how they work closely with BEEC.  More broadly, the introduction of this journal illustrates the growing interest in scholarship and an evidence-based approach and I look forward to more engagement with all interested staff in the future.

The range of projects showcased here in this first edition all seek to add to our knowledge for the purpose of enhancing our academic practices.  The articles range from the report of a project which examined the types of feedback that are most useful to students in helping them to improve their work; the use of blogs as a teaching tool; an interim report on an innovative trial to use an online interactive textbook and a project funded by the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education into the development of academics as leaders.

What connects all these papers is a commitment to enhancing the student experience through practicing the scholarship of teaching.  I very much hope that as many of you as possible will take the time to read the articles, reflect on your own practices, and that, through the process of reflection, you will feel better equipped to try new ways of teaching and working with students and staff.  I would also like to encourage all of you to consider writing articles for future editions of the journal, in order that we can all continue to contribute to the growing knowledge base to support educational enhancement at Brunel.

As ever, support is available through BEEC to help staff engage with reflective practice and pedagogy and we would encourage you to visit the rest of the BEEC website for further information.  Please do contact me through the BEEC email address if you would like to submit an article or be a reviewer for this journal.  I very much hope you enjoy this first edition and I would love to hear your feedback.

Professor Fiona Denney, Director, Brunel Educational Excellence Centre

November 2018  

Articles