CEBE - Projects & Initiatives

The Centre is establishing a number of Special Interest Groups (SIGs) to conduct research into specific learning and teaching issues facing Built Environment educators. Each group will be led by an expert in that particular field who will work in association with a number of interested academics to discuss and identify different forms of good practice. The groups will run for the duration of one year, at the end of which the findings will form a report which will be made available to the Built Environment community as a whole. The outcome of the CEBE SIG Groups will be an active network of people who are interested in sharing information and supporting others. Each SIG group will run a one day seminar or workshop to discuss and disseminate findings.

Innovation in Learning & Teaching Projects

One of CEBE�s key roles is to support innovation and enhancements in learning and teaching practice across the Built Environment disciplines. The Centre is making available a series of grants of up to �6,000 each in the 2010/11 academic year. Bids are sought for innovative projects which demonstrate a clear benefit to the built environment student learning experience.

Departmental Research Grants

CEBE is making available £40K to support innovative research projects which will lead to an improved learning experience for built environment students. The fund provides a unique opportunity for departmental staff to explore innovative ways of enhancing learning and teaching and to pilot/explore new ideas in situ. It is anticipated that two projects will be funded for the academic year 2008/09, with the maximum award being £20,000 per project. Although this call refers to single departments/schools, collaborative projects across departments/schools within an HEI are welcome. It is intended that the grant funding will be used to effect change across an entire department (or across departments) rather than within a single module or in an individual's teaching practice.

Further Information

Educational Development Grants

Applications are invited for CEBE's Educational Development Grants programme which has been initiated to encourage the development and sharing of innovative resources and materials. The funding available for successful applications will be £2000 per project. Projects should typically aim to bring into wider use, innovative practices and materials already developed for local use within departments, although in some cases, funding will be given for the creation of new materials and experimentation with new approaches. It is expected that project outputs will be in the form of teaching and learning resources, such as a teaching pack or an exemplar module. It is a condition of funding that these will need to be designed to facilitate adoption more widely within the built environment community

Case Studies

CEBE has a dedicated fund for the commission of short case studies of good practice in learning and teaching in the Built Environment area. Selected case studies will be funded up to £300 each and will be published initially on the CEBE Web site with a view to later dissemination in paper form.

Book Reviews

The Centre receives many new books and CD ROMs from publishers and would like to offer Built Environment academics the opportunity to review these.

A selection of titles are currently available together with review guidelines. Reviewers get the opportunity to keep and evaluate the book and publish their review on the CEBE website.

Accelerating Change in Built Environment Education (ACBEE)

This website provides a focal point for those interested in Accelerating Change in Built Environment Education (ACBEE). Here you will find information on the ACBEE programme and a range of case studies of high quality from which you can learn how industry and education are collaborating to deliver the type of advanced higher education courses that we need for the future.

ACBEE was established to encourage the built environment industry, universities and professional bodies to work together to improve dialogue and provide more relevant training and education for the future.

FDTL Projects

This page lists projects which were funded by HEFCE and DELNI in Autumn 2000 under Phase 3 of the FDTL Initiative. The projects were in the assessment areas of Building and Surveying, Town and Country Planning and Landscape, Land and Property Management and Civil Engineering.

Student Essay Competition

The Higher Education Academy - Centre for Education in the Built Environment is offering students the chance to submit their thoughts in an essay of around 1,000 words with the following title:

"Designing a liveable world - what should the priorities be for built environment education?"

The winner will receive an iPOD touch and their essay will be published on the Centre’s nationally recognised website. They will also be invited to attend (all expenses paid) the Higher Education Academy’s 3-day Annual Conference which will be held in Manchester from 30 June to 2 July 2009.

TECH TRANSFER

Model of professional qualification structure and quality standards of innovation adaptation and technology transfer in the built environment sector

The main aim of TECHTRANSFER project is to compare strengths and weaknesses of output standards in higher education on a European level in the scope of new technology and innovation adaptation. This project is going to propose a model of education curriculum for the built environment and construction engineers focused on innovation and technology transfer knowledge.

CONSTRUCTION KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE (CKE)

The Government has established a network of 22 Centres of Knowledge Exchange Activity to support higher education institutions working with business and the wider community. The Construction Knowledge Exchange (CKE) is funded to support knowledge transfer between universities and the construction-related industries. It is a national project, led by CEBE, where a number of regional universities around the country are working with business and education to build the capability and infrastructure to transfer knowledge.

E-Portfolios Project

CEBE has recently received funding from JISC to investigate the use of E-portfolios for recording achievements during periods of workplace experience. There is evidence to suggest that certain aspects of the development of professionals are best learned in the workplace, rather than through more formal academic situations. Research suggests that learning in the workplace can be enhanced through the use of techniques that encourage reflection.