Teaching and Learning > DISCOURSE
Editorial: Building on Success
Author: David Mossley
Journal Title: PRS-LTSN Journal
ISSN:
ISSN-L:
Volume: 1
Number: 2
Start page: 83
End page: 83
Return to vol. 1 no. 2 index page
This is second issue of the PRS-LTSN Journal. Feedback to Volume 1, No. 1 has been very positive and I hope that this new issue will prove to be as popular and as well used.
In this issue I have tried to include many different perspectives on what a scholarship of learning and teaching in the PRS subject areas might be. There is a full article exploring the nature of curriculum design informed by philosophical and general ethical concerns in a course on the environment at Crichton Campus of the University of Glasgow; a reflective and resource-rich piece on the impact of the 11th September 2001 attacks in the USA on the teaching of Islamic Studies should stimulate interesting discussion; there is also a full article on the way students learn (or don’t learn) the philosophy and history of their subjects and the potential benefits of student-centred approaches in history and philosophy of science. The PRS subjects are replete with opportunities to reflect on not just the content, but the nature and assumptions of how the topics are learnt and taught—indeed it would be very odd if the way important and weighty concepts are shared were not something worthy of more than a passing thought.
Also included is a major piece that looks at some of the external pressures now facing departments in terms of developments in quality assurance, record keeping and profiling. It is also available on our website and is a useful summary to have to hand as HE shifts into a higher gear of paperwork with new QAA arrangements.
Towards the end there are two shorter pieces of discussion and reflection on practical teaching.
This issue will be the last with as much Leeds/Lampeter ‘in-house’ content as we have published to date. Over the last six months we have been providing major funding (up to £5000) and other minor grants (up to £3000) for a number of important projects exploring a wide range of themes in PRS learning and teaching—brief descriptions of the sort of projects underway are on page 89. Consequently, future issues of the PRS-LTSN Journal will carry full reports and feedback from these projects and we hope that there will be some exciting new resources “with something for everyone”. We continue to offer financial support for projects and you can find details of how to bid for funding on page 88.
The last six months have seen a real expansion of our activities and the ways in which we are able to facilitate and develop the sharing of genuinely effective practices. The LTSN is becoming an important part of the national higher education scene, and the PRS-LTSN is your subject centre within that bigger picture. With a remit to support diversity and innovation, we aim to serve the subject communities in the most effective ways possible, but we are always open to suggestions as to how we can do this better. Please do let us know what you do well and how your ideas might be shared and applied elsewhere, and what you think about what we do.
At a time of increasing external pressures on teaching and research, the PRS-LTSN exists to show just how much expertise there already is in teaching conceptually and personally demanding subjects, so that we can take back control of the agenda of higher education for our subjects. We are the experts in our fields; we have extensive combined knowledge of the best practices for encouraging student learning in PRS subjects. We should recognise that expertise for ourselves.
Return to vol. 1 no. 2 index page
This page was originally on the website of The Subject Centre for Philosophical and Religious Studies. It was transfered here following the closure of the Subject Centre at the end of 2011.
