About the TfLN

The project has generated and shared theoretical and practical knowledge about pedagogical practices and the institutional conditions that promote their use in support of students’ learning. The Teaching for Learning Network maximised opportunities for developing high quality, leading-edge professional know-how by forming a collaborative team of education researchers and subject specialists, working together in creative and dependable ways.

Toolkit

TfLN projects characteristically employed multiple methods, with a specially configured 'Toolkit' of research methods to support participating departments and groups within the Teaching for Learning Network. The Toolkit consists of resources to support data collection, interpretive frameworks and techniques, and is best thought of as supporting a reflective process of development and research. It was developed for use in different disciplinary and teaching and learning contexts and for researchers to carry out investigations into their own practice. This 'Toolkit' of research methods is publicly available through this website, and includes:

Student and staff questionnaires for enhanced feedback
Focus groups
Interviews
Video analysis of lectures and small group teaching activities
Threshold concepts

Each of the research methods is presented for download in the table below as a 'Resource Kit' which consists of guides and materials to support data collection and interpretation. The table also contains links to downloads of posters summarising the approaches taken.

Research Approach		Poster (summary)	Resource Kit
Method	Description	Poster (summary)	Resource Kit
About the Tools	TfLN projects characteristically employ multiple research methods to gather data and analyse the results.	What is the TfLN?	About the Tools
Focus Groups	Focus groups can provide better insights into perspectives on teaching and learning, and can also illuminate survey data.	See Resource Kit	Focus Groups
Practice-Value Questionnaire	A novel style of survey tool, which records both the conceptions of value and also the frequency of occurrence of specific practices in a community.	Research Approaches: P-V Questionnaire	P-V Questionnaire
Self-efficacy questionnaire	Self-efficacy refers to beliefs about one’s own capability to learn or perform behaviours at designated levels.	Guide to self- efficacy	Self-efficacy
Supervisor Interviews	Semi-structured interviews provide considerable opportunity to collect data flexibly and responsively.	See Resource Kit	Supervisor (Staff) Interviews
Threshold Concepts	This is a useful way of conducting small-scale dialogue between teachers and learners investigating areas of 'troublesome knowledge' in the disciplines.	Threshold Concepts	Threshold Concepts
Video Procedures	This method allows detailed observation and analysis of a series of tutorials which were recorded using high quality video.	Research Approaches: Video Observation	Video Procedures
Code of Practice	The principles we endeavour to adhere to in all aspects of our professional partnership and particularly in relation to the collection, analysis and reporting of data.	TfLN as a Participatory Research Community	TfLN Code of Practice

Use of these resources

We hope that the resources above are useful to you. If you do make use of them, then please acknowledge the Teaching for Learning Network as the originator, and provide a link back to this website (http://www.tfln.org/about/).

We would also be interested to know how these resources have been used in different contexts; please email: tfln@caret.cam.ac.uk with your use-case example.

Activities of the Teaching for Learning Network

Characteristics of TfLN projects:

Responsive: projects were developed in consultation with participants, who contributed to establishment of a research agenda and specific priorities.
Participatory: the distinction between 'researchers' and 'participants' is often blurred; TfLN provided 'critical support' to practitioner-researchers.
Developmental: research findings were used to inform interventions and innovations, which in turn were evaluated.
Warranted: approaches and models used are warranted in research literature and evidence. Emerging approaches and findings from TfLN activities have been subjected to critical scrutiny and peer review.

For examples of the types of projects which have made use of these resources, and the ways in which the research has informed practice, see the Summary posters and conference papers, available to download in the table below.

Summary posters	Conference papers
'What is the TfLN?'	The Teaching for Learning Network: A Research and Development Initiative in Higher Education
The Plant Sciences Pedagogy Project	Reshaping Academic Practice and Relationships within the Department Of Plant Sciences
Developing Integrated Coursework at the Department of Engineering	Supporting Staff and Students in Improving Practical Experiences in an Engineering Department
Developing Confident Readership at the Faculty of Classics	Archimedes’ Point: An Educational Research Body As Interface Of Engagement

TfLN and the wider community

The TfLN has engaged with national and international representatives of:

UK Higher Education Academy Subject Centres
Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Educational Researchers
Academic Staff Development
Society for Research in Higher Education Academic Practice Network
Practitioner Researchers
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Examples of engagement include:

Utilising TfLN output for practitioner development
Including TfLN processes in HE Institution practice
Catalysing the formation of a dynamic e-network

For a full list of the outputs and conference attandance of the Teaching for Learning Network, see the Dissemination page