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].

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!"

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]