Dr Luke Dawson

National Teaching Fellow 2012 Dr Luke Dawson has been a teacher in Oral Surgery since 1996. He is interested in how early stage clinicians develop expertise and how this can be enhanced through the development of innovative technology-supported 'assessment for learning' designs. Luke has organised and driven the modernisation of the Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) programme at Liverpool to bring it in line with best practices in assessment, leading to the recent comment by an external examiner: "The detail to which the school ensure quality is exceptional." Furthermore, these changes have not only been noted by the academics involved but also by the learners themselves. There has been a big improvement in the school's National Student Survey scores. A key factor to improving the student experience has been innovation, an example of which is in the development of diagnostic expertise. The creative learning designs involved in this have been incorporated as examples of best practice in the University of Liverpools professional online doctorate in higher education - making them available worldwide. Luke is also the chief external examiner for the General Dental Council's Overseas Registration Examination and in that capacity has been pivotal in evolving this national examination. However, he believes that his greatest contribution to dental education is his work on the Longitudinal Integrated Foundation Training Undergraduate to Postgraduate Pathway (LIFTUPP) project. LIFTUPP is a technology-supported learning design that operationalises the development of professional competence. The impact of LIFTUPP in dentistry is unprecedented and is in the process of improving assessment strategies, behaviour, and attitudes for approximately 2,450 dental students annually, as well as for around 350 dental educators, at five universities. The overall result of LIFTUPP is: learners taking charge of their own development in multiple domains. This is through changes to self-regulation afforded by the external feedback enabled by the longitudinal continuous assessment strategies upon which LIFTUPP is grounded; teacher development through external feedback of their performance from learners; development of the profession as a whole through the use of transferable skills portfolios.