Welcome to a New Academic Year!

Welcome to all new staff that have begun working at XJTLU at the start of this semester and also to all returning colleagues. By now you should all have settled into your roles and feel refreshed after last week's golden week holiday.

This is the Academic Enhancement Centre's (AEC) third edition of our newsletter and the first for this academic year. We attempt to publish twice over each semester and we do so to offer all colleagues insight into what we (AEC) have been up to, in this case before the summer holidays, and to provide insight into what we are currently doing or have done over the past few weeks, and even more importantly, what events and activities we have in the pipeline for the rest of this semester.

The scholarship of learning and teaching is always at the forefront of what we do, and engaging with the wider XJTLU community to reflect upon and consider their approaches towards their teaching practices is paramount. In collaboration with the AEC, it allows for the examination of ways in which we can improve it so that we are always focusing on the enhancement of our students' learning experiences here at XJTLU. 

In this edition we currently have 5 pages for you to read through by selecting the navigation tool at the top of this page. You can either go through each page systematically or choose a title that attracts your initial attention. We do hope that you will take time to read about all the activities and events we have been involved with. We try to keep the amount of information at a minimum so that it does not take up too much of your time. However, there is no need to read it all at once as the newsletter is available here on Connect all the time for you to check back and have a quick update.

On this page (page 1), you will find information about the current research projects AEC are involved with, as well as indicators about our upcoming events and activities for the remainder of this semester, and you will also find links to previous editions of the newsletter. Page 2 provides insight into the highly successful Student Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) and offers images and a video related to this year's SURF poster event. Page 3 provides information and updates around the CPS programme, and a big congratulation to our most recent CPS completers. Page 4 covers the work of our Educational Technologies Team and they have been doing a lot!!! A new ICE upgrade with new features, the development of online ICE training tutorials and the launch of XJTLU's first Digital Learning Resources Hub...if you want to read more go to page four. Last and definitely not least on page 5 is an update on the Postgraduate Skills Development Programme including Teaching Assistant training and staff induction, and there is coverage of the successful visit by PhD Alumni who came to talk about their experiences as PhD students here at XJTLU.

I am sure you will find something of interest.

Best wishes

James

• Jiangsu Department of Education (DoE) project:

"Assessing the Development and Standard of Fully English-taught Curriculums in Jiangsu Province."

• Conference presentation (eLearning Forum Asia 2016, East China Normal University, Shanghai)

"Using the Mahara ePortfolio system to encourage computer supported collaborative learning at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU)"

• Journal article

"Implementing a Communities of Practice model to enhance learning and teaching at a transnational university in China."

• Scholarship Project (Funded by Staff and Educational Development Association (SEDA), UK)

"Implementing and evaluating a Communities of Practice model to align diverse learning and teaching styles in a transnational university"

• Book Chapter:

"The role of educational developers in aligning diverse learning and teaching styles in a transnational university."

• Book Chapter:

"Inspiring learning through research and inquiry: the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU)."

IBSS student Jiayuan (third from the right in the picture) helped out at AEC over the summer as an intern, and we thank her for her contribution! Jiayuan will continue to help AEC a couple of days per week during the semester.