Cate Cropper, Lis Rushworth & Helen Vaughan, Central Teaching Laboratory @LivUniCTL Exploration of the development and support for the Central Teaching Laboratories at the University of Liverpool

1. Facilitating Innovation
Through Collaboration:
Central Teaching Laboratories’
Education Brokers
Cate Cropper, Lis Rushworth & Helen Vaughan, Central
Teaching Laboratory
@LivUniCTL

2. CTL
Physics
Chemistry
Archaeology
Environmental
Sciences
CTL: The Building
Conceived in 2006, due to a need to
refurbish existing laboratories.
Main drivers for collaboration:
• More Space
• Higher occupancy
• New equipment
• Facilities for new teaching
activities

6. Main barriers to sharing space, equipment
and pedagogy
Funding
Operation
Discipline
pedagogy

7. Main benefits to sharing space equipment and
pedagogy
University
•Modern,
professional
teaching hub
& conference
venue
ExistingDisciplines •Modern,
accessible
specialised
environments
& equipment
Students
•Access to
research &
industry
standard
equipment
Other
•Focal point
for
scholarship

8. Benefit to University
• Modern and professional venue for
learning and teaching
• Capacity for increased student
numbers
• Hub of technical skills development
in support staff
• Focal point for teaching innovation in
sciences
• Professional and flexible venue for
international conferences
Benefits to the University
Outward statement of University’s
belief in teaching and learning

9. Benefits to Existing Disciplines
Benefits to Existing Disciplines
• Modern, accessible laboratories
and social space
• Access to specialised laboratory
environments & equipment for all
disciplines
• Flexible availability for non-
timetabled access to support
project work
• Promoting new and improved
pedagogies e.g. comfortable
environment for group work,
spiral lab curriculum
Curriculum Expansion

10. Benefits to Students
• Access to research and industry
standard equipment
• Access to internships
• Expansion of project opportunities
• Cross-disciplinary skills
• Improved opportunities to develop
communication skills
Benefits to Students
Resulting in improved
employability skills

11. Other benefits
• Focal point for scholarship
• Venue for Outreach
• Employers
Benefits to Students
Relationship with the
community

12. How do we do it?
Education Broker Model

13. Education Broker
Broker noun
a person who acts as an agent
for other people in buying and
selling goods or
property [usually for
commission]
a negotiator or middleman
[ref.]John Murray Learning. (2017) Chambers –
search chambers. Available at:
http://chambers.co.uk/search/?query=broker&ti
tle=21st (Accessed: 11 January 2017).
Education Broker noun
a scholar who acts as an
agent for other academics in
developing new or using
existing resources and
educational literature for
scholarly commission
a negotiator and implementer
of change in educational
practices
Our definition is still in development

14. Faculty of Science and
Engineering
Advisors Implementers Researchers
School of Physical
Sciences
Faculty of Humanities and
Social Sciences
Department of Archaeology,
Classics and Egyptology
School of
Environmental Sciences
Education Brokers
CTL L&T
Education Broker team: where do we fit in?
A group of co-located satellite academics who orchestrate collaboration between disciplines

15. Traits of an Education Broker Team
Core aim: to improve teaching in
the Physical and Environmental
Sciences
Discipline specific lecturers with
cross-discipline pedagogical
interests and different
administrative roles
Co-located
Other’s promotion
Freedom to be selfless
Education Brokers: Traits
Discipline &
Public
Engagement
Skills
Operation
& Admin
Pedagogical
Interests

16. Education Broker team activities:
A richer student experience at all scales
Module developers /
leaders
Programme developers /
leaders
Collaboration with other
departments & industry to
facilitate projects and
modules
Direct supervision of
BSc/Masters/PhD projects
Summer intern projects
• Physics with Education
• Geology and Physical Geography
• Chemistry and Engineering(AEG)
• MAST collaboration
• Geoarchaeology
• Physics and archaeology
• Electronic laboratory note books
• Planetarium
• Curriculum development

17. Education Broker driven activities for Outreach and Public
Engagement: Supporting students to communicate with
the wider community
Facilitating cross-
university outreach &
public engagement
activities
Supporting students &
colleagues to deliver
outreach
Personal delivery of
outreach activities
• Science Jamboree
• HiPy
• “In house” science days for
schools
• Science communication
modules
• Ness Science Fair / VG&M
events
• SIAS
• Café Sci

18. Abilities of an Education Broker at CTL
• Network across University and with external parties
• Coordinate
• Negotiate
• Investigate potential resources
• Identify & act on opportunities
• Implement and then hand over
• Ability to collaborate
Education Brokers: Traits
Discipline &
Public
Engagement
Skills
Operation
& Admin
Pedagogical
Interests

19. Idea from Dr Rob Treharne
(DTC manager) for PG students to learn
Python.
Visited CTL academics who expanded
the vision to include UG & Schools for
HEAR statement.
Found initial space & equipment and
helped promotion of the venture through
our networks.
Led to departments rethinking current
programming provision
Now attended by UG, PG, staff from
across the university and externals.
Potential pedagogical research project…
Winner of a Faculty Teaching and
Learning Award 2017
HiPy - Hive Learning of Python
An example success story

20. Collaborative Working

21. Model for collaborative working
Walsh & Kahn (2009) – Page 16
Walsh, L. and Kahn, P., 2009. Collaborative working in higher education: The social academy. Routledge.
Social Vehicles
Context Professional
Dialogues
Engagement
Practice

22. Model for collaborative working
Walsh & Kahn (2009) – Page 16
Walsh, L. and Kahn, P., 2009. Collaborative working in higher education: The social academy. Routledge.
Social Vehicles
Context Professional
Dialogues
Engagement
Practice
Social structure, relationships,
medium for communicating
How much you want or
can participate in a
project.
Knowledge
development &
transfer
Approaches taken
by individuals,
groups or
institutions

23. How much you want or
can participate in a
project.
Social structure, relationships,
medium for communicating
Model applied to CTL
Walsh, L. and Kahn, P., 2009. Collaborative working in higher education: The social academy. Routledge.
Social Vehicles
Context Professional
Dialogues
Engagement
Practice
Knowledge
development &
transfer
Approaches taken
by individuals,
groups or
institutions
Beaded cobweb by Myriams-Fotos /CC0
New ways of
working…. Enthusiasm and common
goal

24. • Twitter
• Google Docs
• Slack
• Shared network
• Good old email!
Working together in digital space

25. What would we have done differently?
• More open spaces
• Different AV
• Breakout rooms
• Power / charging points
• Another floor (at least!)
• Social areas – e-notice boards (more)
• Outreach lab
• An outreach broker
• Café
• Virtual lab
• More storage
• Glove boxes

26. Cultural Change @ UoL
• A building that encourages people to
• Collaborate
• Interact
• Be curious
• Be creative
• Be messy

27. Sharing has made us stronger
In January 2017 the team was awarded the
Higher Education Academy’s (HEA)
Collaborative Awards for Teaching
Excellence (CATE).
Please contact us for further details about supporting your department or university to learn about our model
Looking for hosts for Practitioner Workshops for academic teams to
develop education brokers at different institutions
Case Study being written.
Focussing on how Education Broker
Model has influenced institutional
practice.

28. Central Teaching Lab is a vehicle for pedagogy
across disciplines
Sharing is facilitated by education brokers who
have autonomy, discipline specific skills &
institutional support