The Teaching and Scholarship Podcast

In epiosde 77 we talk to Cat Irving who is a human remains conservator at Surgeon's Hall, Edinburgh. After her postgraduate training in museum studies at Leicester, she became a licensed anatomist and has previously conserved the skeletal remains of the notorious nineteenth century serial killer William Burke, for display at National Museums of Scotland's exhibition Anatomy: A Matter of Death and Life. Cat regularly gives talks on anatomy and medical history for places such as National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh International Science Festival, London Month of the Dead, The Mütter Museum, Arnos Vale Cemetery, University of Minnesota, Romancing the Gothic, and many others. Get ready for a fascinating conversation!

One of our most popular episodes in recent times has been the first one we did with Rahaf, who is a orthodontist, originally from Syria. It has been a year since we chatted last and much has changed, both in her personal and professsional life. In this episode (76) we talk to her about her developing career, some issues on educational approaches for learning subjects like anatomy and dentistry, and of course her continued success as a content creator on Insta - plus much more. Don't forget to check out her first episode if you have not heard that yet! 

In this episode we speak to student Luca Papoff about why he chose to do an internship as opposed to a typical research project in his honours year. Traditionally, students get the choice to do either a lab based project or a dissertation in the final year of their degree, but many instititions are now also offering an internship as one of their options too. This option gives the student the chance to work with an external partner, to give them a real world experience of working for a company and delivering on an objective in the work place. In this episode we talk about Luca's experience - how is it different, why might you choose it and what are the benefits. Check it out!

It's time for episode 74 and in this one I chat with Steph Scholten who is the Director of The 'Hunterian Museums' and its collections at the Univeristy of Glasgow. This episode provides some insight into managing this side of The UofG's estate, and so we discuss some of the issues that arise for Steph and his team during their daily work. We chat about things like, interesting specimens, ethical considerations, repatriation of items, the media, and much much more!

In this episode (#73) we get Joe Gray back in for a catch up on what he has been doing since he was last a guest on the show. There is of course the usual random nonsense intertwined with discuissions on The Royal Society of Biology accreditation, NSS stuff and talk on assessment and feedback too.   

In this epiosde we have a festive round up of all the Univeristy of Glasgow's top news stories from 2024, along with some insights into how the communications team work and what they do. I am joined by Richard Warburton - Head of Commmunications and External Relations at UofG, and Charlotte Morris -  the Communications Manager for The College of Social Sciences for a light hearted chinwag. Ever wondered how media requests are managed and how our staff end up on TV or radio? How does the Principal get advised on political or financial news that could affect the HE sector? It's all fascinating stuff, so join us for what ended up being a very long but highly enjoyable chat!

In epiosde 71 we speak with some 2024-25 anatomy student society committee members on the importance of student societies within Higher Education Institutions. I'm joined by University of Glasgow final year students, Olivia Campbell, Hannah Clark and Fraser MacLean to discuss all of this, their ambitions as a team, the extra curricular wokload, staff/student partnerships and a whole lot more!  

In episode 70 we chat with Aileen bell, who is Deputy Head of School for Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing, Head of the Dental School and Professor of Oral Surgery & Dental Education at The Univeristy of Glasgow. In this one we chat about the NSS, where Aileen and her team have a sustained exemplary record, that has often led the way for further conversations on how things should be done, or could be improved in other disciplines. The conversation unpacks some of these aspects and we get some tips from Aileen about how to tackle areas that trouble many institutions, such as feedback and how it is acted upon.

In episode 69 we are joined by Ashley Lewis Cole, who is a curriculum support manager at Glasgow and has been involved in driving the COIL innitaitive. This stands for Collaborative Online International Learning and is a University wide project aimed at offering our student population opportunities for a more diverse cultural experience, especially when it is not possible to travel. Ashley has a wider role in policy and governance too, but here we mainly focus on the benefits of cultural diversity in undergraduate teaching at Glasgow, and how it can enrich the student experience.

In this one we get chatting to Hamish (a lectuer in biomedical Science at Glasgow) and Lauren,(a graduate teaching assisstent in Anatomy at Glasgow) to discuss the launch of a new MOOC on the considerations and applications of generative AI in educational settings. This has been a project led by Dr Ourania Varsou, who has been on the podcast prevsiously to discuss generative AI in higher education. We chat about why such a course is desirable, who it is for, and what it covers. Check it out!

In episode 67 we welcome Anton Muscatelli to the podcast to chat about the legacy he will leave at The Univeristy of Glasgow having served as its Principal and Vice Chancellor for 15 years. Sir Anton anounced his intentions to retire earlier this year, so we thought it would be a great idea to have him on the show and to have a reflective conversation about his time in office and to discuss some of the big changes/ challanges that he and the sector as a whole has experienced throughout that time. Since this is a teaching focused podcast, we take the opportunity to delve into Anton's approaches and attitudes to learning and scholarship and talk about aspects of the UofG education strategy. We even managed to squeeze in a brief chat about his favourite football team too, the mighty Inter Milan of course!

In episode 66 we chat to Dr Claire Fitton, who is the anatomy lead for the early years of the medical degree programme at Glasgow. She holds a BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Sciences (anatomy) from Cardiff University and an MSc in Forensic Anthropology from the University of Dundee. Claire's PhD focused on biomechanical properties of Thiel embalmed arteries to help validate this as an endovascular research model. Since then Claire has developed some innovative teaching approaches to overcome the challanges of increased student numbers and enagagement levels in large practical anatomy classes, so this is our chance to chat about all this stuff and more - enjoy!

In epiosde 65 we catch up with British entrepreneur and former ostetrics doctor Johann Malawana. This is his second visit to the podcast, but his first in person. The Healthcare Ladership Academy was running face to face sessions from The University of Glasgow so this was the perfect opportunity to catch up with him about leadership training, and digital education, as well as finding out what he has been up to and how his initatives have developed since our previous conversation a few years ago. Since we are old pals, we also engage in a bit of banter and go off topic a few times, sorry about this, very unprofessional behaviour (sorry not sorry).

In this episode we catch up with Claire Donald who works in The School of Infection and Immunity at The University of Glasgow. Her background is in virology but she is passionate about supporting early career researchers in becoming passionate about teaching and has been part of a project that seeks out opportunities for them. We have a great chat about her interest in public engagement and discuss issues around pressures on modern academics and if aspiring to be a well balanced researcher and teacher has now become a thing of the past.

In this episode we chat to Rahaf Omran who is an Orthodontist (a what now?) a researcher, and an educator. She undertook her undergraduate and postgraduate training in Tishreen University Syria. In 2019. After that she began teaching dental students how to study dentistry in English, since Syria is the only country in the world that teaches dentistry solely in Arabic. This program became super popular among students there, and it was eventually adopted by Tishreen University as an optional subject in the curriculum. We chat about all this, her amazing success, plus her move to Glasgow and what it is like to be an educational influencer on Instagram!

In episode 62 we chat with Sadie Ryan, who completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Glasgow, graduating in English Literature and Creative Writing with first class honours. After completing her PhD, she became a Research Associate on the Manchester Voices project at Manchester Metropolitan University, before returning to the University of Glasgow's School of Education as Lecturer in Languages and Intercultural Studies in 2022. Sadie also specialises in public engagement, and makes the award-winning linguistics podcast Accentricity [www.accentricity-podcast.com], which is aimed at a public, non-specialist audience, and aims to narrow the gap between academic knowledge about language and people's everyday linguistic experiences. She leads the University of Glasgow Podcasting Collective, and is a member of the Young Academy of Scotland.

In this month's episode we talk to Dr Ahmad Elmansouri, who is a medical doctor working in Belfast, and also a published author with extensive experience in various hospital and health care industries. He is skilled in medicine (obviously!) and medical education research and mentorship. In this conversation we focus on undergraduate medicine, medical training within the NHS and touch on some of the political issues that affect the future of our NHS.

In episode 61 Lauren returns to continue our conversation on her recovery from anorexia and to talk about her adult diagnosis of autism and ADHD. This certainly seemed to explain a few things for her and it is interesting to hear how she manages studying/working and social experiences - an inspirational listen, mostly because Lauren is so open and honest about how she has adjusted. Her original episode on struggling with an eating disorder while growing up is number 54, so be sure to check that out first if you want to hear her full story!

It's time for episode 60 and in this one we chat to Prof Sarah Richardson who is the newly appointed Dean of Learning, Teaching and Student Experience in The College of Arts and Humanities at The University of Glasgow. Sarah is formerly of Warwick University where she won many awards for teaching and achieved a prestigious National Teaching Fellowship. Her interests are in the area of gender, history and politics and you can often hear or see her on the tv or radio, especially if there is a Royal death, wedding or scandal! There will be a general election next year so things will get busy for her again at that time, so we are glad she could make time for the T&S podcast now. Enjoy!

Episode 59: Dr Ourania Varsou trained in Medicine before completing a PhD in neuroscience at Aberdeen. She is currently the anatomy subject lead for Dentistry and is leading on a number of innovations in anatomy education including ultrasound applications/ training and humanistic approaches to medicine. She was recently invited to give a seminar by the British Association of Clinical Anatomists on the subject of the rise of artificial intelligence in anatomy education. In this podcast we explore all those ideas in the context of higher education more broadly and deep dive into the whole topic and its history. This is interesting stuff - give it a listen.

In this episode we speak to Jo Gill who is our new Vice Principal and Head of College of Arts and Humanities at The University of Glasgow (and Professor of Twentieth-Century and American Literature). Jo was formerly the University of Exeter's Pro-Vice-Chancellor having previously served as the University's Associate Dean for Education and, prior to that, as Associate Dean for International & Development. We chat about all things educational leadership, innovation and being part of the senior leadership team at Glasgow. Check it out!  

Episode 57 is an Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI) special with Dr Michelle Welsh who is the Deputy Head of Anatomy (Learning and Teaching) at The University of Glasgow. Michelle has a depth of experience in curriculum development, coordination and delivery. She has successfully pioneered EDI initiatives in the anatomy curriculum at Glasgow, which carry principles that can easily translate to other disciplines. We discuss her journey in developing this aspect of the curriculum and she shares some insights in how to get started if you are looking to do the same.

In this episode we chat to Sarah Honeychurch who is a good practice advisor at The University of Glasgow, with an educational research background in participatory learning. Sarah talks about educational theory, the emergence of AI, how to get into scholarship of teaching and lots, lots more!

In episode 55 we chat to Dr Matthieu Poyade, who is a Research Fellow in the School of Simulation and Visualisation at The Glasgow School of Art. He is the pathway leader of the MSc Medical Visualisation and Human Anatomy jointly offered with the University of Glasgow. His teaching focuses on Volumetric Visualization and Human Computer Interaction and Virtual/Augmented Reality. So, we end up having a good old natter about teaching, The rise of AI and and the future of multimedia applications in Higher Education. 

In episode 54 we chat to Lauren -  a former student at The University of Glasgow who now works for the visitor experience team at The Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery operated by The University. Since childhood Lauren has struggled with anorexia. This conversation covers the deep struggle for her education and her family, as she tries to recover from the debilitating impact it has had on her life. Lauren advocates for mental health awareness and chats openly about her personal experiences and what Universities can do to support students in similar situations. it is a lovely heart warming chat, but have the tissues ready!

In this episode we have a great chat with Micaela who is the current VP Education at the University of Glasgow. Her role over the past year has been to provide effective student input into University decision making along with contributions to policy review processes on all matters pertaining to the student learning experience. We talk about the major challenges she has faced this year as well as her achievements. To add to the fun Prof Joe Gray pops up with a belated cheeky tribute to our 50th show via a poor quality recording (typical :)).

Episode 52 returns to a discussion on issues concerning senior educational leadership, as we catch up with Moira Fischbacher-Smith from The University of Glasgow. Moira is the Vice-Principal for Learning and Teaching and is responsible for driving the Universities educational strategy and so we get stuck into all that -  covering teaching, scholarship, promotions and more.... oh, and we might happen to mention her love of dogs a couple of times. Grab a cuppa for this one and enjoy!

In episode 51 we chat to Craig Daly who is a physiologist in The School of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Health at The University of Glasgow. We talk to Craig about his homegrown roots, starting as a technician (during the golden years!) right through to full Professor on the Learning, Teaching and Scholarship pathway. Craig has an interest in the design of 3D animations and developing virtual reality content for education -  so we talk about all that stuff and more!

The 50th episode! A real landmark for the Teaching and Scholarship Podcast. In this one we enter into a reflective mood -  casting our minds back to older shows and former guests from the last few years. We have even invited some of these guests to record us a little message and some updates on their academic practice. A little different to the usual stuff but hope you enjoy it.

It's time for episode 49 already and in this one, recorded in early December 2022, we were very much in the party spirit ahead of Christmas. We chat to students Gabriel and David about their time at Glasgow studying an anatomy degree during the Covid era, and then emerging from the other side. Another student was going to join us too, but she was rather hung over and overslept (we wouldn't want it any other way to e honest!) Enjoy the conversation. 

In episode 48 we talk to Dr Emma Reid who is a neuroscientist at the University of Glasgow. This one goes off in all sorts of places - we cover Emma's interest in stroke research, a bit on teaching, then talk a liitle about her love of Rangers FC! After that it swings back to careers and then finishes off with spring onions and wild animals. Enjoy, we had an absolute blast.

It's episode 47 and our guest on the show this month is Ian Colquhoun, a retired Cardiothoracxic Surgeon who works for The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow and who is also the Clinical Assessment Lead for The Undergraduate Medical Degree at The University of Glasgow. We chat to him at length about his personal journey to become a suregon, the lifestyle that comes with it, and how modern medical education has changed over the years.

In this episode we chat to assessment guru Joe Gray, who is a Professor of Bioscience Education at The University of Glasgow. Joe talks to us about assessment, grading and feedback, as well as what the recent online era of assessment has taught us.  Plus we have a little chuckle along the way, coz Joe is a right laugh - it's all good fun. Enjoy.

In episode 45 we chat with Deputy Director of Education and Senior Lecturer in Psychology (at The University of Glasgow), Emily Nordmann. We have an all round fun catch with Emily about her research into the relationship between technology and learning, especially related to the application of lecture capture and how it can be used as an effective study tool for students from widening participation backgrounds. She also has a cool blog which has a post on the psychology of swearing, so we f***king definitely had to talk about that (without swearing, which was actually really hard).      

In episode 44 we have a chat to JP Leach who is a Professor of Clinical Neurology and Honorary Professor within The School of Medicine Dentistry and Nursing at The University of Glasgow. JP is the head of undergraduate medical programmes at The University, so naturally we get stuck into conversations about about medical education, curriculum development, neuro anatomy and of course, the one thing everyone wants to talk to him about - his background in stand up comedy!

In episode 43 I have a great discussion with Mia Clarke who has been occupying the role of VP Education at The University of Glasgow for the last year. She has been at the heart of policy making -  respresenting the student learning experience and all academic issues on the Student's Representative Council. Here we have a wonderfully honest, open and refreshing chat about her background, passions, influences and achievements at Glasgow. We have a good laugh along the way as well - this one was an absolute joy. 

In Episode 42 we talk to Dr Nathalie Tasler, who is a Lectuer in Academic and Digital Development at The University of Glasgow. We chat to her about creative learning, The Scholarship of Learning and Teaching Network... where she even has her own (excellent) podcast with a similar name to this one (ouch!). Nathalie is very passionate about open access educational resources and so we touch on that too, as well as all the usual banter you get used to here. Enjoy!

Episode 41 continues the conversation with Dr Jason Organ from Indiana University, USA. Jason is an Associate Professor in anatomy, cell biology and physiology (as you know already!) contributing to much teaching, but also with a passion for scientific communication. We pick up the chat here with Jason explaining how his career has evolved. Then we move on to talk about his co-edited special issue of the Anatomical Record, which opens up a discussion around some sensitive issues regarding the history of anatomy and its associated resources.

For our 40th episode we have a chat with Dr Jason Organ from Indiana University over in the USA. Jason is an Associate Professor in anatomy, cell biology and physiology contributing to a lot of teaching, but also finding the time to pursue his research  interests in brittle bone disease. He is Co-Editor and Writer of the Public Library of Science (PLOS) Science Communication Blog. In 2018, Jason received the prestigious AAA Basmajian Award for excellence in teaching gross anatomy and outstanding accomplishments in biomedical research and scholarship in education. One of his main areas of interest is science communication and he has disseminated a fair bit on this topic. Jason and I are old pals, so this one takes a few diversions here and there. So much so in fact, we had to split the conversation in two parts! Enjoy part 1 for now.

In episode 39 we chat to Niamh Stack who is the Deputy Head and Director of Teaching and Learning of the School of Psychology at The University of Glasgow (although not for much longer as she is leaving

In Episode 38 we have a chat with senior medical student Charlie Taylor who, during his time studying medicine at Southampton, has entered into business with some friends to develop Sina Medical Technology. Sina enables patients to diagnose, monitor and rehabilitate their injury directly from their phone. We chat to Charlie about his story and how he manages to balance his degree alongside launching an innovative and exciting new business venture.     

In episode 37 we chat with Chris Finlay who is a Professor of Life Sciences Education within the School of Life Sciences at The University of Glasgow. His key role is Chief Advisor of Studies, so Chris has been at the heart of student related matters and welfare throughout the pandemic. We catch up with him about that, plus what it is like being on a learning, teaching and scholarship contract and of course his passion for widening access to Higher Education.

In episode 36 we chat to Simon Guild who is the Head of The School of Life Sciences within the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow where he has oversight of 20 undergraduate and 5 PGT Masters degrees.  We talk to to Simon about all manner of stuff, ranging from strategic planning, leadership, innovation and research-led teaching, right through to staff development and promotion on the Learning Teaching and Scholarship career pathway. Expect the usual drenching of imaginative analogies to enrich the flow of conversation. You will be sure to enjoy this one! 

Episode 35 of the podcast collects a number of reflections from Southampton students who have been involved in sustainable  staff/student partnership projects. We briefly hear from Neil Ford (once again - hurrah!) about his passion for this practice, and he introduces a few perspectives from some of the students he has worked with. We also listen to the thoughts of some undergraduate medical students in the Faculty of Medicine who have been involved in peer assisted teaching, leading on intra-curricular projects and become involved in the pedagogy of these approaches.

In episode 34 we ask sustainability big dog Simon Kemp back on to the podcast to chat about all things education during and beyond Covid-19. No script, no plan, just education chat and a weird man standing at the window trying to signal to us a couple of times! Stephan is back with his feature from The US, this time reflecting on Adam Procter's episode, plus he has a few literature recommendations.  

In episode 33 we make a return to a face to face conversation for the first time in 18 months. In this one we sit down with Charlotte and Emily who have been supporting the integration of Blackboard Ally across the University of Southampton via their internship with The Digital Learning Team. We had a great conversation about ways in which we can reduce barriers to learning, plus their top 5 tips on how to make information equally accessible to all learners online. Big thanks to Joe who helped us out with all the kit to make it happen!

Episode 32 sees us catching up with Adam Procter, who is the Programme Lead for Games Design and Art at The Winchester School of Art, at The University of Southampton. We have a fascinating discussion covering everything from retro gaming and innovative tech right through to open-source, free-software. Plus, I also give my Pocket Operator (PO12 Rhythm) a spin just to give it that old school 'Super Nintendo' vibe! Stephan is back too, keeping us posted on things over in the States including some academic book reviews - brace yourselves, it is a long one!

In episode 31 we have a nice chat with Chris Downey who is the Current Deputy Head Education in the Education School at The University of Southampton. His research interests are in the allied fields of educational improvement and effectiveness, especially in how the associated data can be utilised to both inform and evaluate educational improvement from Early Years through to Higher Education. We cover so much ground in this one, so get ready! We delve into educational research, programme level evaluations, leadership and building an education portfolio. Plus Stephan (in the US) is back talking all things tech once again with his new audio blog feature. 

Once again, we catch up with David Read for a bonus mini podcast to talk about the CHEP festival of teaching and learning. This year there is a fringe event taking place on Thursday 15th July 2021 (14:00-16:30)on MS Teams. This includes workshops and discussions focused on teaching practices over the last academic year. David talks to the T&S Podcast about how the idea of a fringe event came about, plus what to expect and how to get involved in the main event taking place in September.

In episode 29 we have a lovely chat with Kieron Broadhead, who is the Executive Director of The Student Experience at The University of Southampton. Kieron leads the professional services that deliver on student facing activity as well as driving the strategic leadership of the student experience across The University. Nearly every conversation about the future of higher education involves the topic of the student experience, whether that be operational aspects, the learning environment, or pastoral support. Either way, this topic has become a leading part of many University level educational strategies in recent years. Oh, and we have a new feature as well. We have invited Stephan back from last month to give us a tech update from the EdTech capital of the world, Pittsburgh, United States.

In episode 28 we chat to Stephan Caspar, who is an Assistant Teaching Professor of media creation and multi-cultural studies at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, USA. Stephan has a background in creative media and design, working initially as a filmmaker before moving into education. He continues to work as an artist practitioner, in VR creation, immersive design, and 360 documentary production. Stephan will be well known to many at the University of Southampton since he is a former member of the digital learning team. The T&S Podcast caught up with Stephan to get his view on the post covid shift towards blended learning. We chat about what life is like inside the big tech bubble and the future of technology enhanced learning.