51福利

42 members, 15 events, 250+ participants, 18 articles, 35 contributors, 12,000 journal views, 9 projects, and 193 LinkedIn followers! Plus, thousands of hours dedicated by our committed scholarship community, so we are ready for a break.

Our first year has been a blast working towards the development of a scholarship community of practice and scholarship culture that lifts staff and student experience.

“For a research centre to deliver in this way after just one year is truly a miracle and credit to outstanding leadership! The creation of SIME is a pioneering act in a research-centred management school.”

The Centre for Scholarship and Innovation in Management Education (SIME) was launched on 23rd September 2023 with the main objective of developing a collaborative and interdisciplinary space through which members can explore the future of teaching and scholarship in management education.

SIME has played a significant role in the LUMS development of scholarship culture and community. The inclusive nature of the centre brought together colleagues from a variety of departments who are now embarking on joint scholarship projects. The first year has seen multiple success stories including promotions of colleagues on teaching and scholarship tracks.

“There is a lot of value for all lecturers, whether on teaching or research contracts, to be involved with SIME. There are many learning opportunities for everyone involved. LUMS is recognised internationally for its research activity and with SIME, LUMS profile can be expanded to include teaching innovation practices too.”

Our University partnership with the Curriculum and Education Development Academy (CEDA) led to SIME’s contribution to Prof Healy’s publication, which has now been released with SIME members acknowledged as key contributors ()

The external endorsement and invitation to Business Education Scholarship and Teaching (BEST) network led by Warwick Business School has meant a significant endorsement by the wider business and management community.

In order to maintain an objective evaluation of SIME, we have secured two Widening Participation (WP) student research internships for the duration of July 2024. Mlendo Green and Simone Kaur, both LUMS undergraduate students, carried out a survey (23 responses) and interview (8 semi-structured interviews) analysis tracking the stories of change in the mindset and practice of the SIME community. The evaluation methodology was supported by Talia Sharkawi, Evaluation and Impact Officer.

The evaluation process identified four themes arising from members’ feedback:

1.Improvement in knowledge and practice in SoTL

“Overall the centre has been a super initiative that is really positively harnessing the enthusiasm and knowledgeability of our educator expertise.”

2. Chance to reflect on teaching practice

?“SIME has helped me see how important actually researching teaching and teaching practices is. I have been more involved in projects that contribute to how we teach, how we engage with students and how we assess students. It’s been really important to me because nobody really trains you for that.”

3. Increased confidence, expertise and support

“SIME has empowered me to write a journal article and get it published, attend conferences, and be more creative in my teaching practice.”

4. Community and space to network and discuss teaching-related matters

“It was a perfect fit in my eyes for me to join a community of more like-minded people.”

The interns delivered an annual evaluation presentation attended by over twenty colleagues, internal as well as external critical friends from Warwick Business School, Adam Smith Business School and Manchester Alliance Business School. The presentation has been recorded and can be viewed in this 11-minute video.

In addition to the evaluation, the WP interns have provided added value to student voice, participated in and helped organise education events and contributed to SIME members’ development in mentoring and project management.

Student internships are essential for SIME to engage students in the scholarship as well as inform students in the teaching and learning activities. The biggest highlight was the feedback from the interns about the LU Education conference when the pointed out the value to students to attend such outlets and learn about pedagogy. Involving students in SIME is a direction we ought to explore more systematically.

Let’s finish this year with some wonderful messages of encouragement for the future:

“Keep up the good work! Continue being awesome! Honestly, SIME has been an absolute revelation in LUMS. It is by far the most active Centre that I am aware of in the Faculty, and it has such a nice group of people who all contribute and share in their passion for teaching and scholarship.”

“Thank you for being so inclusive and supportive - I have taken great inspiration from this so thank you.”

“Keep going - you are beacon of excellence for us all! Engage students more in your governance and projects!”

“Thank you and keep sharing the joy of learning.”

Disclaimer

This reflection piece has been enhanced with our members’ quotes from the annual evaluation survey and interviews that have been anonymised.