CETLs were a HEFCE funded national initiative to ‘reward excellent teaching practice and to invest in that practice in order to increase and deepen its impact across a wider teaching and learning community.’
The Bridges CETL was one of 74 CETLs that were funded across the UK. It focused on Personal Development Planning (PDP) and employability and recognised the quality of the University of Bedfordshire’s provision, its concern for student development and the relevance of its curriculum.
You can access the initial bid document here (view PDF).
Over the five years of its existence, Bridges worked with many colleagues from across the University and the HE sector to bring innovative, student-centred and sustainable approaches and developments into the curriculum. It aimed to build bridges between the curriculum and student development and between student learning and the world beyond the university, thereby paving the way for brighter opportunities and smoother transitions into the global workplace, and life beyond undergraduate study.
Various strands of work emerged over the course of Bridges' life. These are summarised in the strands presented on this website as a legacy of Bridges' work:
These strands are inter-related at various levels, as they are all focused on implementing, assessing and researching PDP skills and processes. The result of this work fed into the development of CRe8 – a curriculum framework designed to support effective learner development.
This work was developed and implemented by CETL Fellows – experienced academic staff drawn from across the University. Their work was supported by CETL Associates who received Bridges funding for localised curriculum interventions that supported the CRe8 agenda. These projects introduced innovative, student-centred and sustainable teaching and learning approaches and you will find further details of these projects and their outcomes on this site.
Bridges supported the implementation of CRe8 across the University and evaluated its impact. The aim was to create an approach to personal, academic and career development for all students at the University integrated into their curriculum.
Bridges has disseminated these developments internally and externally across the HE sector through conferences, workshops and networks' meetings.
Bridges has:
The legacy website was developed to disseminate the outcomes, project reports, guides and evidenced examples of effective T&L practice in line with Bridges' aims. The site can be used as a reference point for the Bridges' work and for further research and development in the area of teaching and learning.
In this section you can read through Bridges outputs and outcomes, testimonials from staff working with Bridges and students involved in Bridges activities, all Bridges Newsletters, view a gallery of pictures from its core activities and events, and find out more about core staff who worked with Bridges and their contributions to Bridges work.
