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Steve Rutherford

@cardiffrutherford

Professor of Bioscience Education, Cardiff University. National Teaching Fellow. PFHEA.

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10.06.2025
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Latest posts by Steve Rutherford @cardiffrutherford

Reducing the interest paid on the loans would be a start!

26.02.2026 13:17 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Integrated Programme Assessment in practice Join HE practitioners to explore integrated programme assessment through workshops, shared learning and sector-wide good practice.

We would like to invite you to this meeting around Integrated Programme Assessment.

The conference intends to bring together HE practitioners to participate in workshops/discussions about the benefits & practical ways of implementing IPA in HEIs.

To book:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/integrated...

26.02.2026 13:16 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

#LTHEchat A6 I love this analogy!! You're awesome, Sally!!

04.02.2026 21:08 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

#LTHEchat Thanks everyone!! I really enjoyed the chat, and thank you @suebecks.bsky.social for the kind invitation to submit a blog. Love everyone's responses!! Thank you. Thanks also to Claire for her support before hand and manning the LTHEchat during this!!!

04.02.2026 21:04 ๐Ÿ‘ 2 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

#LTHEchat Thank you everyone for the wonderful replies and insights to the questions! Really inspiring to see people's underpinning thoughts that inclusion and partnershp are so important!

04.02.2026 21:02 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

A6 #LTHEchat That's a really good example of a practice that can help this. Thanks!!

04.02.2026 21:00 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

A6 #LTHEchat Love this. The importance of Reflection is fundamental!!

04.02.2026 21:00 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

A6 #LTHEchat YEah that element of trust from above is a key, I agree. Often the lack of apparent trust is linked to a fear response of losing control, I think. But good communities are based on trust and the undestanding that life can be scary! :-)

04.02.2026 20:59 ๐Ÿ‘ 2 ๐Ÿ” 1 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

#LTHEchat A6 That element of 'we are all learning here' is fundamental, I agree. It's not just about setting something up for 'other people' to engage with. Everyone needs to be a co-creator

04.02.2026 20:58 ๐Ÿ‘ 3 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

A^ #LTHEchat Thanks for this insight, Danielle (and I LOVE the cake analogy!). Yeah, there needs to be buy-in and energy, as well as resources (time and support) from the top. But also enthusiasm/buy-in from the bottom.Without that bottom-up engagement, the LC just becomes another imposed structure

04.02.2026 20:56 ๐Ÿ‘ 3 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

A6 #LTHEchat Succinct and clear, thanks @nigelfrancis.bsky.social It needs to be from both directions, and the two sides of the interaction need to actively encourage engagement from the other side

04.02.2026 20:54 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

#LTHEchat A5 Absolutely!! There needs to be openness to innovation, and also a certain amount of courage to allow staff to take risks and be supported for those risks. Knowing someone will have your back if things don't quite work out is essential! (and often lacking, sadly)

04.02.2026 20:53 ๐Ÿ‘ 2 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

#LTHEchat This is great. Authentic environments for the learning and/or assessment help build that sense of community within the discipline. :-)

04.02.2026 20:52 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

#LTHEchat Excited to hear people's thought's here. Thanks for the chat so far!!

04.02.2026 20:51 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

A5 #LTHEchat SOme great ideas, thanks. In research I have done, the academic environment is a key factor. If the learning activities encourage discussion, peer interaction, and openness then LCs thrive. Where there is no interactive activities in a pedagogy, LCs struggle, as they don't always form

04.02.2026 20:50 ๐Ÿ‘ 3 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

A5 #LTHEchat This is an interesting idea. Slowly building the envirnment where students (and staff) perceive it as normal to engage in these kinds of interactions and dialogues. Once it becomes the norm, it is much more likely to be sustained

04.02.2026 20:48 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

A5 #LTHEchat LOVE these so much!! Making them actually meaningful, and promoting discussion and thinking about the discipline as well as the person. Banal icebreakers can often have a negative effect!

04.02.2026 20:47 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

#LTHEchat YEah, relinquishing that 'control' that we, as academics have (and often cling to), is a very important factor, but also quite a scary one. Especially in an environment of metrics and student satisfaction. How do we encourage and support this 'letting go' to provide the courage to do so

04.02.2026 20:46 ๐Ÿ‘ 2 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

#LTHEchat A3 Love this perspective. The plurality of LCs in their forms and the people who are found within them is very important to maintain

04.02.2026 20:44 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

#LTHEchat A5 This is a very challenging question. Any community or partnership lives or dies by the environment in which it is embedded. So how do we develop learning environments that support the idea of a LC, but also retain the learning gain that we, as experts, hopefully provide

04.02.2026 20:42 ๐Ÿ‘ 2 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

#LTHEchat A4 Really loving the ideas of 'ownership' of the LC by the very participants in the LC that are coming out from these posts. Awesome.

04.02.2026 20:41 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

#LTHEchat Creating that open 'safe space' is important. Encouraging all participants to share their ideas and perspectives without fear of judgement or ridicule. "No such thing as a stupid question" is an important rule to embed and a culture to encourage

04.02.2026 20:40 ๐Ÿ‘ 2 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

#LTHEchat Lovely point. LCs can have subcommunities within them. Provided that these are not exclusive or divisive. But helping people to find their own 'tribe' within that community is very useful

04.02.2026 20:38 ๐Ÿ‘ 3 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

A4 #LTHEchat LOVE this. Building the community according to the needs of the users and what THEY want. Especially with the students' side of the LC. What would most benefit them from this relationship? To know this we need to actually ASK THEM :-)

04.02.2026 20:37 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

A4 #LTHEchat A key element of this has to be the language used. For example, I try to encourage people not to address emails/posts to students with "Dear Students", as this automaticall sets us a 'them-and-us' ambiance to the message.

04.02.2026 20:35 ๐Ÿ‘ 4 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

A4 #LTHEchat Co-design is essential, yeah. Thanks for flagging that. Unforunately the co-design doesn't always happen, and what people brand as 'student engagement' is just "we did it then asked the students what they thought". Proper co-design, as you say, is MASSIVELY powerful for all involved!

04.02.2026 20:34 ๐Ÿ‘ 2 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

#LTHEchat Having top-down 'buy-in' that this is a worthy activity has a lot of impact

04.02.2026 20:31 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

#LTHEchat Yeah, the 'Workload' issue is the killer! :-(

04.02.2026 20:31 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

A3 #LTHEchat Love this idea. Reaching out to engage informally. Perfect!

04.02.2026 20:30 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

A3 #LTHEchat Yeah, the "water-cooler conversations" are a sad loss post-Covid. Much less of this casual interaction happening. I think it's also a problem for a lot of courses reducing the amount of small-group teaching, and therefore making the learning more impersonal for the students :-(

04.02.2026 20:29 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0