Genome Consortium for Active Teaching: meeting the goals of BIO2010

The Genome Consortium for Active Teaching (GCAT) facilitates the use of modern genomics methods in undergraduate education. Initially focused on microarray technology, but with an eye toward diversification, GCAT is a community working to improve the education of tomorrow's life science professionals. GCAT participants have access to affordable microarrays, microarray scanners, free software for data analysis, and faculty workshops. Microarrays provided by GCAT have been used by 141 faculty on 134 campuses, including 21 faculty that serve large numbers of underrepresented minority students. An estimated 9480 undergraduates a year will have access to microarrays by 2009 as a direct result of GCAT faculty workshops. Gains for students include significantly improved comprehension of topics in functional genomics and increased interest in research. Faculty reported improved access to new technology and gains in understanding thanks to their involvement with GCAT. GCAT's network of supportive colleagues encourages faculty to explore genomics through student research and to learn a new and complex method with their undergraduates. GCAT is meeting important goals of BIO2010 by making research methods accessible to undergraduates, training faculty in genomics and bioinformatics, integrating mathematics into the biology curriculum, and increasing participation by underrepresented minority students.     

Do League Tables Contribute to the Development of a Quality Culture? Football and Higher Education Compared

The increasing use of league tables to summarise the relative performance of universities suggests an explicit analogy with association football. The extent to which this analogy is useful is explored through a comparison between the operation of the Premier and Nationwide Football Leagues and Universities and Colleges in England and Wales. This comparison considers issues such as what the league tables actually measure, how performance is linked to rewards or penalties, what mechanisms are available for improving performance, and what similarities there are between the locations of more or less successful football clubs and universities.     

It's installed ... now get on with it! Looking beyond the software to the cultural change

This case study looks at the lessons learned from the ultimately successful implementation of the Blackboard Managed Learning Environment at Northumbria University and explores how these are now being applied to the matching implementation at a local further education college, which we are supporting. The study identifies key aspects that emerged from Northumbria's experience—the application of models of innovation from both educational and business worlds, the need to take account of the impact of cultural change, the need for effective staff development for all stakeholders, the need for a ‘road map’ for the development, and the need for ongoing dialogue with clients (staff) and customers (students). It reflects upon how Northumbria's approach has led to the emergence of a learning organisation that is adaptive and responsive and how a business approach can be applied to higher and further education innovations.