View slides from keynote presentations

Keynote: University learning in an age of AI

Presenter: ​Helen Beetham, consultant researcher in digital education

Slides: View Helen's slides from her keynote presentation.

Abstract: A critic of what she calls ‘AI fantasy and fatalism’, Helen invites us to step out of the hype cycle and focus on student learning. What value does university learning have when so much knowledge is available online? What use is expertise, when statistical models can produce (apparently) credible opinions and solutions? Rather than accelerating our productivity to the pace of the new ‘learning’ machines, Helen suggests that educators look again at what we know about student learning and its value. Finding AI fantasies improbable, but steering away from a narrative of decline, Helen invites teachers to see our own disciplinary knowledges and practices as adequate resources for supporting students through ‘disruptive’ times.

Keynote: Fostering student agency and engagement in assessment and feedback: taking a programme approach

Presenter: Professor Tansy Jessop, PVC Education and Students, University of Bristol

Slides: View Tansy's slides from her keynote presentation.

Tansy Jessop presenting her keynote address

Abstract: In TESTA data, students routinely describe being overwhelmed by summative assessment. In rushing to complete assessments, they often fail to see their wider purpose and relevance, or to find space and time to shape or take pride in their work. Students say that they struggle to see connections between assessment tasks across the programme, and to trust feedback enough to act on it. Drawing on theories of alienation and engagement, this talk will explore how we might design assessment and feedback across programmes to enable students to exercise their agency, play to their strengths, become more curious, deepen their understanding, and surprisingly, have more fun.