A reflective account on my academic practice

This is my final output of a formative assessment (that becomes a summative) for my Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (PGCLTHE).  Following my research poster in December, Academic Professional Practice Assessment in November, video tour of a NOW learning room in September, inclusive practice in July, review of 2 research papers (book chapters in my case) in May, teaching observation in April and teaching philosophy in January.

This was originally submitted via a different course document template, but I wrote it out in the format of my previous written work as it presents and reads better this way.  I felt like it could have been even more reflective on my actions and challenges with teaching, but as I state, I semi-teach and not that often, so this might not have been as rich on that area.  And that was not the primary objective of me undertaking this qualification.  RoSE within the text refers to the Record of Supported Evidence I submitted in a table alongside the reflection. This is the final piece after addressing feedback.

I received the following overall feedback (formative).

Strengths

• I appreciate your honest reflection on your own role and responsibilities and how these contribute to student success in your School. 
• It is evident that you have engaged in reflective practice throughout your APA/PGCert learning journey, drawing upon ideas from your readings to inform your reflection. This demonstrates a deep level of critical thinking and a desire to continually improve your teaching practice. 
• It’s also good to see that you used some of the formative assessments as a piece of evidence. 
• Well done on your publication on AI in Mental Health Nursing Practice.
  

Areas for development

• [Numerous edits to improve my narrative and reflection].

Summative feedback (March 2026):

I was strong in telling my narrative and lived experience rather than adhering to a fellowship type format, which is not a natural fit for non-academic contract roles like mine.  I feel the feedback and grading on this confirms that the format was valued more than the contents, despite receiving strong comments for.

Provisional grading, subject to exam board ratification: Pass (Mid).

Strengths

Thank you for sharing your written portfolio with me. This is a well-crafted and engaging piece of work that demonstrates a strong commitment to reflective practice and professional growth in higher education.

• You offer a detailed and personal introduction that helps to foreground the content of your reflections.
• It is evident that you have benefitted from opportunities to reflect on your practice throughout your APA/PGCert learning journey, learning more about yourself as an educator as part of this process. The honesty you share is a real privilege and speaks to the authenticity of your approach.
• A good variety of good quality evidence has been provided.
• Evident that you strive to develop your practice as part of an ongoing process.
• Great that you have incorporated and made links to NTU's policy/ strategy. 
• Some good activities identified to share and develop your practice going forward.

Areas for development

• This narrative still lacks a thread to bring the evidence and this submission as a whole together – it currently feels disjointed not allowing for strong, clear evidence of the KSVBs. 
• You made great use of the CARR model however, in the sections on scholarship and pedagogical value were a bit brief. You only shared that you wanted to improve your approach and not what was driving it. I would have loved to hear what motivates you in this area of your work and further what you’re going to do next.
• I often struggled to follow the narrative because there were so many elements being discussed. A more of a specific focus on an action/ or linked actions around a specific theme/ activity would have been useful as it would allow for clearer outcomes and evidence of impact. 
• The quotations are great evidence of impact however the selection of quotes are so broad that it is unclear what impact you're evidencing. The quotes should be supported by a narrative to provided context and clarity.

Academic Professional Practice Assessment

As mentioned in my written piece, my formative Academic Professional Practice Assessment (November 2025) submission highlights many more strengths of my teaching abilities.  Below is the feedback I received.

"Hello Daniel, 

Thank you for your submission.  The videos really reveal what an adaptive teacher you are! 

There is work to be done on your session plan, I've made in text comments to help guide you through the process.  This along with your overall feedback is attached. 

If you need any support or would like to discuss this further, please get in touch.

Strengths

• Lesson plan:
• The session plan is a clear indication of what is going to take place in the different environments.
• You offer distinct and active session outcomes that are appropriate to the colleagues and context you work with.
• The main principles have been covered but some of the content would be better in the different sections – please see comments in feedback.
• The reference list indicates a comprehensive engagement with the literature.
• The teaching plan is an accurate representation of what is viewed in the videos.
• Thank you for supplying the additional assets to the session plan – this really helps to understand your strategies and techniques.
• Strengths in all videos:
• Effective use of visual resources to support delivery throughout the video offering.
• In all videos you set the scene and make effective use of session outcomes.
• It’s great to see such a variety of teaching approaches in this submission.
• You’re consistently enthusiastic and honest with colleagues that you work with.
• Video 1:
• It’s great that you contextualise the session and explain how to make best use of the online environment – this is something we see you enact during the video both in terms of pausing to check the chat and inviting colleagues to put their mics on and speak.
• It’s really good to hear you try something new through the interactive poll – it doesn’t appear on screen so it’s even better than you read out the statistics as an inclusive strategy!
• It’s good to hear you remind colleagues that the resources will be shared and therefore the live links will be available demonstrating effective use of teaching technologies. 
• Video 2:
• It’s great to see you introduce yourself and from the very beginning of the session invite people to share their insights into your role at NTU.
• It’s good to see you make use of YouTube in your session as a way of contextualising digital literacy, this is great for showcasing sustainability, there are issues with the recording, please see below. 
• You field the Q&A really confidently demonstrating your confidence in the space and your knowledge of the content. 
• There is a real buzz in the air as colleagues work with the content you have provided – it’s great to see you circulate around the space offering 1:1 support. 
• Video 3: 
• It’s lovely to see you navigate the workshop by consulting what colleagues want from the session.  This dialogic approach is upheld throughout the session and it’s great to see you clarify your understanding so as to best support those on the call.  
• You offer praise and encouragement throughout which is a supportive approach for colleagues accessing this training. 
• I really laughed when colleagues tried to talk about the disadvantages and you guided them back to the positives!
• What a philosophical question that you’re faced with! You handle this sensitively and quickly refocus the group.
• Reflective video: 
• It’s great that you offer scholarship to explain your choice of learning videos – this level of referencing needs to be within your session plans.
• I LOVE that you mention your introverted character and how you’re sensitive to this to be an authentic trainer and teacher. 
• It’s great that you mention your mentoring approach to help colleagues, I was particularly impressed with how you navigated significant workload challenges and what you’re intending to do to support colleagues moving forward.
  
  

Areas for development

[I have omitted detailed comments on minor document formatting, refinement of textual content and an audio issue in my main video.]

• Lesson plan:
• It’s great that you make use of scholarship, some of your statements are quite sweeping and need to be strengthened through direct, in text citations.  There are moments you’re quite glib about some key concepts i.e. Flipped Learning which you clearly know really well as you discuss this in video 3! (CVB4)
• Video:
• For ongoing development:
• You speed through content really quickly and say, “I won’t read this from the screen” on a couple of occasions – I can’t help but wonder if it’s not integral to the session, could you remove it so that you don’t have to rush through it?  Why is it there, what does it achieve?  Feel free to talk back to this in your reflective video!"

Summative feedback (March 2026):

Provisional grading, subject to exam board ratification: Pass (High Commendation).

Strengths

• Session Plans
• Overall, your sessions plans have been completed to a high standard. A good level of detail has been included and you provide a clear indication of what is going to take place in the different environments.
• You demonstrate how you are effectively able to adapt your approaches based on the topic and student cohort. Great that you have referred to success for all here also.
• Your session outcomes are clear, concise and appropriate.
• You have done well to support these plans with a breadth of supporting literature.
• The teaching plans are representative of what is viewed in the videos.
• Great that you have clearly outlined that consent has been gained - strengthening the ethical element of this submission. You have also done well to recognise the sustainable element of creating well-structured/ detailed session plans with links to resources.
• Video Recording
• As expected, you make effective use of digital technology throughout these recordings. Great use of interactive poll/ YouTube video.
• You do well to introduce the sessions and make effective use of session outcomes. I particularly like your session 3 and how you spend time to understand what your learner’s expectations of the session are.
• You have done brilliantly to showcase a range of different teaching environments/approaches.
• You actively encourage learner dialogue and promote positive engagement within all your sessions. You also clearly listen to your learners and check your understanding of what is being said, to ensure you can provide the appropriate support. This is great evidence of mentoring/ supervising.
• Overall, you do well to create positive and inclusive learning environments.
• Your responsiveness to learner circumstances/ queries/ questions demonstrates your expertise and knowledge of the topic.
• Great to hear you refer to platforms/resources where learners can access learning materials.
• Reflective video:
• Some excellent reflections made with evidence of impact provided also.
• Great that you have highlighted some ongoing challenges whilst demonstrating a commitment to the development of your practice going forward. 

Areas for development

• It would have been useful to have completed the word count section within the session plan to confirm your compliance with the word count requirement.
• The “Who and Why” section could have been enhanced by having a better understanding of who your students are by providing a breakdown of their demographics. It is appreciated however that it is sometimes challenging to access this information, especially given the learners you are working with.
• Although it's great that you mention sustainability – This was also a good opportunity to link to NTU or wider policy/ strategy around this.
• Sometimes you skim past slides, and I wonder if you can avoid doing this by ether highlighting the key information being provided or getting rid of them completely, (depending upon their importance).
• There were some formatting issues with this recording which did impact the quality of video 2.
• Having yourself on the video rather than just providing audio would have made for a more personal reflective piece.

Summative feedback on professional conversation (May 2026):

Provisional grading, subject to exam board ratification: Pass (Commendation).

Strengths

• In response to question 1, you gave a clear and well-articulated overview of your approach to teaching and learning, grounded strongly in your role as a Digital Curriculum Manager within Health. It was particularly valuable to hear how you position yourself as a bridge between pedagogy and learning technology, supporting colleagues to make meaningful and confident use of digital tools. Your dialogic approach, beginning with baseline conversations and needs analysis with new and existing academics, demonstrates a thoughtful, personalised, and learner-centred model of staff development. Your emphasis on active and interactive learning, immersive experiences, and the use of feedback and engagement measures highlights a strong alignment between intention, design, and evaluation.
• In question 2, you spoke effectively about your approach to assessment and feedback within workshops. Your focus on informal, constructive feedback “in the moment,” alongside the use of practical outputs such as prototypes, provided clear evidence of how participants are supported to demonstrate learning authentically. Your reflections on the value of in-person delivery, particularly in adopting a “guide on the side” role, showed strong awareness of how presence and responsiveness enhance feedback and participant confidence.
• In question 3, you discussed evaluating the effectiveness of your courses through the use of questionnaires and reflective evaluation. It was encouraging to hear how feedback serves a dual purpose—capturing participant learning and evaluating the session itself—and how this directly informs the redesign of future sessions.
• In response to question 4, you clearly articulated how you disseminate your practice and ideas. Your use of photographs, screenshots, recordings, and follow-up communications to extend the impact of sessions was particularly effective. Your engagement with departmental newsletters, mailing lists, and professional development cafés, alongside collaborative sharing within your team, highlights a strong commitment to building a culture of shared practice and professional learning.
• In questions 5 and 6, you demonstrated an excellent awareness of the importance of staying up to date with both digital pedagogy and the wider HE and health education contexts. Your engagement with professional networks, national bodies, NHS developments, and sector-specific forums showed both depth and breadth.
• In question 7, you reflected thoughtfully on your plans post-PGCert. Your ambition to move into leadership roles, your aspiration towards SFHEA, and your intention to align CPD with both NTU priorities and NHS practice demonstrated a strategic and future-focused approach to professional development.
• In response to question 8, you discussed how you determine areas for research. Your desire to work collaboratively through working groups, scale up effective tools, and explore opportunities for publication reflected a commitment to impact, sustainability, and wider dissemination of practice.
• In question 9, you outlined the administrative elements of your role clearly, particularly in relation to gathering feedback, building communication frameworks, and supporting asynchronous provision. Your responsiveness to feedback around communication methods demonstrated a reflective and improvement-focused mindset.
• In question 10, you spoke honestly about protecting yourself from burnout. Your growing confidence in setting boundaries, saying no when appropriate, and making use of digital tools and organisational strategies showed strong self-awareness and professional maturity. Your reflections on delegation and empowerment were particularly positive.
• Finally, in question 11, you shared an example of perseverance in practice. Your account of thinking on your feet when faced with technical issues during a teaching session demonstrated calm problem-solving, adaptability, and learner-focused decision making under pressure.

Areas for development

• While your reflections were rich and clearly rooted in experience, drawing more explicitly on evidence-based pedagogical literature or named frameworks would further strengthen your professional conversation. In particular, referencing reflective models or scholarship related to staff development, digital pedagogy, or evaluation would enhance the academic rigour of your responses.
• At times, you touched on reflection implicitly; making this reflection more explicit—by clearly articulating what has changed, why, and how this informs future practice—would support even deeper critical engagement with your professional learning and support your ongoing CPD and career development aspirations.

Online asynchronous learning framework

Further to this area of development which derives from my strategic H5P work and continued online asynchronous learning.  For this year I centered one of my appraisal objectives on the following:

• Develop an IHAP-specific online asynchronous learning standards and requirements framework and guidelines.  To ensure quality, pedagogical requirements and compliance of the digital learning design of online asynchronous learning experiences, with a specific focus on addressing the design quality of H5P objects, and ensuring that all online asynchronous learning content is fully established in and across modules and are consistent and coherent in their design.
• Leading and working with bioscience lecturers and the standards and requirements framework and guidelines, establish expectations and what a complete module looks like with online asynchronous learning material and activities.  Addressing; what does an hour’s worth of online asynchronous content look like that is not overwhelming.

Below is the final document I produced and there are two projects underway that will test this process.  Also below is feedback back that I received during it's development.  Which I appreciated to make it as clear and effective as it can be.  I often find with things like this that I have to do the broader thinking and detail first which is the main challenge, and next is to present it in a palatable and accessible way.  So I appreciated the feedback to help balance detail and readability through a bit of fine tuning.

Digital Curriculum Support and Developer - "This reads really well and has been thoughtfully put together. I have added a couple of recommendations and noted one or two minor typos, but overall, thank you for developing this Dan, as it helps to lend structure and more credibility to the asynchronous work."

Head of Department - "Thank you for the work on this and for sending it through...It would be good to have a chat through. I think the detail is really valuable, particularly for the team to refer to when they are starting asynchronous learning but a short 1 -2 page summary of key points would be helpful for people to get things started. We can look at which aspects might be included in this."

Deputy Head of Department - "Firstly, thank you for putting this together. Asynchronous learning is a valuable educational tool, and we are eager to further develop it within the Department due to its many benefits. I’ve provided some commentary on the document itself for your consideration, and also attached a checklist for staff, which may be a more ‘busy academic-friendly’ way to present your written text."

Head of Department - "The plan for this guidance was for it to be as light touch and user friendly as possible to act as a key reference point for asynchronous learning.  As such I have suggested deleting much of the content that provides an introduction, rationale etc to keep it as brief and simple as possible."  In this version below I kept some of my original aspects as I felt they were still important.

A related and insightful webinar 'The power of Asynchronous learning' was delivered on 15 January 2026 by the Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE).

Research poster - Evaluating the Use and Functionality of a Digital Capabilities Tool in a Cohort of Student Nursing Associates

This is my output of a formative assessment for my Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (PGCLTHE).  Following Academic Professional Practice Assessment in November, video tour of a NOW learning room in September, inclusive practice in July, review of 2 research papers (book chapters in my case) in May, teaching observation in April and teaching philosophy in January.

This poster derives from work of the IHAP Digital Capabilities Working Group that I co-lead; 'Developing digital capabilities in healthcare higher education'.  It was efficient of my time to use an active current project rather than create a new one to satisfy the needs of the course.  This is a joint, currently ongoing, project with other senior lecturers, however for the purposes of the assessment it has to be only me, hence the reflection at the bottom.  Once assessed and when the group presents and showcases this work, I can reinstate their names and update and use this poster collectively.  I/we can also use the audio presentation of this work that I had to submit alongside it.

I received the following overall feedback.

"Thank you for this submission, Daniel. It was great to read your research poster.

Strengths

• The poster has a good flow to it, particularly the Aims and Methodology section, making it clear and easy to read.
• You incorporated and built on research well in this poster. The inclusion of research shows how you are able to use subject and pedagogic research which support the development of advanced practice and integrate subject and pedagogic research to enhance teaching and support changes of practice.
• Within the ‘Reflection’ section you make clear how you are going to manage your own CPD and share your ideas with peers.

Areas for development

• Although you have identified a problem, highlighted in the ‘Project’ section, you have not made explicit why neglecting current and transferable digital practices is a problem or how this relates to higher education. The research needs to be contextualised in an HE setting more obviously.  [I argue that the importance in 'Introduction/background' clarifies this at the required summary poster-level, and is clearly situated in healthcare Higher Education]
• It would have been great to see a multimodality approach to this poster. The key themes you have included could have some small images attached to them instead of being further text.
• It would have been great if you included a specific research question to evidence that you are able to develop research questions and hypotheses prior to undertaking research. It would also have anchored your poster and made explicit what you were setting out to do."  [The collaborative group did not decide on a question/s but aims, but I'll take this feedback if I am individually required to for future research]