QAA Northern Ireland Conference will promote best practice in key challenges in UK higher education

Northern Ireland’s higher education sector will come together to discuss enhancement and current themes in higher education at the Contemporary Higher Education Practice Conference on 15 October.

QAA is joining forces with colleagues at South West College to run this event that will have a specific focus on sharing best practice and exploring topics of value to the sector such as blended/digital learning, student engagement, sustainability, apprenticeships and assessment. Furthermore, QAA will report on two key Northern Ireland projects undertaken with members in Northern Ireland in 2020-21 that focused on higher education providers’ current approaches to quality enhancement and developing QAA’s Membership offer for the benefit of Northern Ireland higher education providers and their students. 

The programme includes expert speakers from QAA and across UK higher education providers, including:

• Dr Ian Glen, Curriculum Specialist, University of Edinburgh
• Martin Weller, Professor of Educational Technology, The Open University
• Professor Zoe Robinson, Professor of Sustainability in Higher Education, Director of Education for Sustainability, Keele University

Representatives from the Northern Ireland Department for the Economy have also been invited to this sector-wide event.

Commenting on the conference, Elizabeth Shackels, Quality Assurance Manager at South West College, said:

The Contemporary HE Practice Conference is an exciting opportunity for all HE practitioners to explore current themes and topics such as digital education, sustainability and student engagement with some of the leading experts in the UK. It will also provide practitioners with the opportunity to reflect on current topics that promote quality enhancement. The conference illustrates the benefits of QAA Membership for both colleges and higher education institutions in Northern Ireland.

Alastair Delaney, Deputy Chief Executive of QAA, continued:

We’re delighted to lend our support to the conference. It’s an excellent opportunity for the sector in Northern Ireland to come together and share ideas for the way forward. There will also be an opportunity to learn from QAA Members’ experiences and good practice in other parts of the UK, including successful approaches to quality enhancement.

The conference will take place online using QAA’s virtual Events Platform, EventsAir, and is open to all higher education providers and their student representative bodies in Northern Ireland.