InForm: a journal for international foundation programme professionals
InForm is the journal of teaching and learning related practice for members of the academic community associated with International Foundation Programmes (IFPs). It is produced under the auspices of the International Foundation Programme at the University of Reading with the aim of publishing articles from the wider IFP sector.
InForm Journal
We are pleased to announce that InForm Issue 22 is now available!
Past Issues are available on the Download InForm page.
InForm Conference 2023
Theme: The changing nature and expectations of students in a changing world: transforming and being transformed.
Date: Saturday 3 June
Host: University of Bristol
We are pleased to announce that the InForm 2023 Conference will be held at the University of Bristol.
The aim of this conference is to bring together a collection of research and ideas related to the international foundation and pathway programmes (IFP) as well as providing an opportunity for interacting and sharing practice with colleagues from the wider IFP community.
Plenary speaker: Pro Vice-Chancellor Education, Tansy Jessop, University of Bristol
Fee: £70 in person, £35 online
Register for the InForm Conference
With this year’s theme, the InForm Conference provides a great platform for reflection on how international foundation programmes have changed in recent years. It also provides an opportunity to review the latest developments that continue to shape this dynamic sector.
Download the InForm Conference 2023 Schedule
| 8.50–9.15 | Registration – refreshments | |||
| 9.15 |
Welcome |
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| 9.30–10.20 Plenary by Tansy Jessop PVC Education and Students University of Bristol |
Changing assessment and feedback for good: developing the virtues of student agency and engagementExogenous shocks to higher education keep coming. The global pandemic brought new modes of assessment and fresh approaches to feedback to the fore. New developments in generative AI challenge our ideas of assessment and feedback. Drawing on student data from ‘Transforming the Experience of Students through Assessment’ (TESTA), this talk invites participants to explore how these shocks can be transformed into practices which engage students, build their confidence, nurture their agency, and develop their capacity to evaluate what ‘good’ looks like. It will provide insights into aspects of assessment and feedback which students find alienating, and strategies for making assessment more engaging and fun for students – and for you! |
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| 10.20–10.30 |
Coffee and biscuits |
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| 10.30–11.10 |
Plenary room B.H05 |
Seminar 1 G.H03 |
Seminar 2 G.H04 |
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| Completing the transformation: fostering learner autonomy through assessment literacy with International Foundation Students. – Sara Tempra |
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CHAT'S the way I like it- or Integrating AI into teaching and learning routines. Aida Sahutoglu and Michael Weedy |
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| 11.15–11.55 | Assessment Through Portfolio and Reflective Writing as an EAP Learner Empowering Tool – Dina Strong |
Rethinking IFP Economics – Michael Elliott |
AI machine translation - Students’ thoughts and how we can begin to engage – Philip Davies and Alan Kean |
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| 12.00–13.00 |
Lunch and posters: |
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| Trust and psychological contract between academics and students as a factor of academic integrity – Lucy Williams | Addressing the Elephant in the Room: departmental approaches to reduce academic misconduct in a Foundation Course – Chris Massell |
The impact of prior learning experiences on the academic performance of Foundation Business Management students – Judith Gorham and Diana Adjei Nyarko |
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| 13.00–13.40 |
Plenary room B.H05 |
Seminar 1 G.H03 |
Seminar 2 G.H04 |
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| Scaffolding learning through multi-layered formative feedback – Samantha Grierson | Coping with content: an integrated approach on an EAP foundation year (med) Louise Pullen and Dagmara Grabas |
Student and staff perceptions of Digital Competencies for IFY students – Paul Robertson |
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| 13.45–14.25 | "Yes, but does it count?" Understanding and fostering greater engagement with non-credit formative tasks – Sophia Vanttinen-Newton |
Decolonialising pedagogy – Incorporating non-verbal seminar engagement - Martina Klett-Davis |
Digital dialogue pedagogy on academic skills - Xiangyu Zeng |
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| 14.25–14.40 |
Coffee and biscuits |
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| 14.40–15.20 | T is for Transformer: Let’s not talk about ChatGPT – Michael Marcinkowski and Kathleen Burrows | Investigating STEM pathway students’ perceptions of reflective practice: views and attitudes in a case study – Maggie Boswell |
Offering a blended IFP: Opportunities and challenges – Nick Pearce, Saul Jones and Sora Zushi | |
| 15.25–16.00 | ROUND UP | |||
InForm discussion list
Join the InForm discussion list. The list is hosted by JISCmail and is open to all members of the academic community associated with IFPs.
In order to subscribe to this list, please visit the JiscMail website and choose the subscribe option.