ALDinHE Award 2025

Nomination 1: Tunde Varga-Atkins, University of Liverpool

Nominated by: Gita Sedghi, University of Liverpool

Nomination:

Tunde, a Senior Educational Developer in digital education, has significantly impacted the HE sector through various initiatives aligning with the award criteria. Treasure Island Pedagogies podcast series is a culmination of Tunde’s work to champion best practices to adapt, share and advocate effective learning development. The series led to launching an annual global conference, the Islands of Innovation Festival, connecting and collaborating with the wider community. The festival’s impact has lived on in the form of the resources and activities created by the global festival committee on Padlet (Islands Index) and the ripple effects of lasting collaborations between participants (2022, 2003 websites), contributing to the broader discourse on effective learning development, continuing in 2024.

Tunde’s contribution through strategic leadership and innovative practices was taking the lead in advocating for digital fluency to be included as a graduate attribute into the design and implementation of the university’s curriculum framework. Her work adopted a partnership approach with extensive consultations with stakeholders fostering a collaborative ethos, working alongside colleagues and students to tailor learning experiences that meet diverse needs. Tunde’s work has been highlighted nationally as an exemplar to inform practice across further and higher education. Tunde’s approach to learning development is underpinned by scholarship and research, as evidenced by her publications and academic outputs, enhancing both teaching and learning outcomes.

As committee member, then chair of Evaluating Learners’ Experiences of e-Learning Special Interest Group, she has advocated for the effective use of evaluation of the learner experience to inform enhancements in learning development, as well as building capacity of others to undertake their own evaluation through activities, resources, community of practice approach, and more recently via ELESIG’s Scholars mentor scheme. Tunde is committed to ongoing professional development and critical reflection, whether it is undertaking doctoral study or engaging in internal and external.

1a – The nomination reflects ALDinHE’s five values. *

1. Working in partnership with students and staff to make sense and get the most out of HE

2. Embracing and respecting diverse learners through critical pedagogy and practice

3. Adapting, sharing and advocating effective learning development practice to promote student learning

4. Commitment to a scholarly approach and research related to Learning Development

5. Critical self-reflection, on-going learning and a commitment to professional development

Nomination 2: Angela Newton, University of Leeds

Nominated by: Self-nominee

Nomination:

As a LITE (Leeds Institute for Learning Excellence) Fellow at the University of Leeds in 2023-2024, I explored object-based learning (OBL) pedagogies, running a research project with taught students and feeding the findings into a new UK network, an object strand for the Bauman Institute and a new UG module with an object focus.

Experimental workshops were conducted with taught students, who reported their experiences which included: the effectiveness of socially distributed learning in achieving learning goals, enjoyment of working with others, the role of objects as a proxy for expressing ideas, and the value of practicing academic literacies such as critical thinking.

Research findings fed directly into the design and delivery of a new third year UG module, The Sociology of Objects, which forefronts materiality in a post-COVID19 HE landscape of digital ubiquity. In utilising OBL in a primarily text-driven and didactic discipline, staff were able to increase student agency in their learning by, for example, leading object investigations with their own hypotheses.

Feedback for the module has been exceptional. Of the ten questions asked in the evaluation, six received a favourable rating of 100%. Student satisfaction was reflected in their comments:

“I absolutely enjoyed the subject matter and the information that was discussed in this module…it really made me ponder the sociological footprint of the objects that we use and that are all around us definitely a 10/10 module.”

The impact of this work is now widespread in the school with OBL being implemented in other modules and the creation of a new object strand for the work of the Bauman Institute. In June I will host the first national symposium for OBL HE practitioners in the UK. This is the first step towards creating a network to support our work in creating excellent and experiential student education.

2a – The nomination reflects ALDinHE’s five values. *

1. Working in partnership with students and staff to make sense and get the most out of HE

2. Embracing and respecting diverse learners through critical pedagogy and practice

3. Adapting, sharing and advocating effective learning development practice to promote student learning

4. Commitment to a scholarly approach and research related to Learning Development

5. Critical self-reflection, on-going learning and a commitment to professional development

Nomination 3: Rehan Shah, Queen Mary University of London

Nominated by: Self-nominee

Nomination:

Dr Rehan Shah is a fantastic champion of learning development, in many endeavours, most notably in his embedding of sustainability in his first-year undergraduate applied mathematics module and ethics in his second-year applied mathematics module (impacting over 800 students in these core modules), which has influenced the ongoing development of a new university-wide Sustainability-focused short course for staff and students at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). Recently, some of Rehan’s students were chosen out of over 100 applicants to represent QMUL at the London Student Sustainability Conference. His innovative for their innovative article “Embedding Sustainability in Mathematics?? You must be joking” was also published in the Institute of Mathematics’ flagship monthly magazine Mathematics Today and the Engineering Professors Council’s Sustainability toolkit.

Rehan does a fantastic job of working with students to co-create resources and toolkits for education, helping students to understand just how maths and sustainability can be linked. It’s this kind of forward thinking that is needed as we move towards more sustainability-focused teaching. These co-created toolkits are designed to raise ethical and sustainability awareness and imbibe transferable skills among undergraduate students in STEM disciplines as part of an ongoing scholarship research project. Not only is this incredible work within his own teaching, but these resources are available to others, helping facilitate embedding sustainability more widely as well.

As a STEM-focused academic, Rehan has also expanded his work on sustainability more broadly in higher education through his recently completed ALDinHE-funded research project on ‘Promoting equity in education for sustainable development through community-based learning and teaching’ in conjunction with learning developer Dr. Stephanie Fuller (QMUL) and humanities academic Dr. Anne Preston (UCL), which included research outputs comprising presentations at the ALDinHE Conference and development of LearnHigher and Love LD Magazine resources for the LD community.

3a – The nomination reflects ALDinHE’s five values. *

1. Working in partnership with students and staff to make sense and get the most out of HE

2. Embracing and respecting diverse learners through critical pedagogy and practice

3. Adapting, sharing and advocating effective learning development practice to promote student learning

4. Commitment to a scholarly approach and research related to Learning Development

5. Critical self-reflection, on-going learning and a commitment to professional development

Nomination 4: Tudor Arnaut, University of York

Nominated by: Louise Frith, University of York

Nomination:

Tudor was recruited to work in partnership with a member of staff in the Department of Politics at York on a new module, Let’s Talk about Politics (LTaP). From the start, he ensured the module was collaborative inviting students to suggest weekly news topics, which shaped the content of each session. One participant reflected, “It was fascinating to discuss topics of interest with students from various backgrounds.”

Tudor drew on the Council of Europe’s Manual for Human Rights Education with Young People and the literature on belonging (Thomas et al., 2018) to build an inclusive classroom culture. He introduced warm-up games at the start of each session, helping students connect and feel familiar with each other. This approach was highly appreciated and helped develop a welcoming, dynamic learning space.

The module reflected the diversity of the student cohort, with 30 students from 12 nationalities participating. Weekly discussions spanned themes such as media literacy, trade tariffs, and racial integration. One student remarked, “I feel a sense of belonging because we are all different by race, nation but we come together to share our point of view”.

LTaP is a successful example of learning development because it improved students’ confidence in English, encouraged active student participation, and amplified voices often unheard in class. As one participant noted, “Despite ongoing nervousness in English communication, mutual encouragement and understanding among international students was helpful in reducing this anxiety.” All students reported increased confidence in speaking English.

Throughout the module, Tudor demonstrated strong reflective practice and responsiveness to students’ needs, helping create an empowering and inclusive space for learning and dialogue.

4a – The nomination reflects ALDinHE’s five values. *

1. Working in partnership with students and staff to make sense and get the most out of HE

2. Embracing and respecting diverse learners through critical pedagogy and practice

3. Adapting, sharing and advocating effective learning development practice to promote student learning

4. Commitment to a scholarly approach and research related to Learning Development

5. Critical self-reflection, on-going learning and a commitment to professional development

Nomination 5: Jacqui Bartram, University of Hull

Nominated by: Lee Fallin, University of Hull

Nomination:

Jacqui Bartram has made a phenomenal contribution to Learning Development, ALDinHE and hundreds of students across her career at the University of Hull. Jacqui is the very embodiment of our profession. I know of no other colleague who has been so committed to personal development to enhance her practice. Although (in her words!) at the end of her career, Jacqui worked through numerous professional recognition programmes and an entire doctorate to develop her practice. Across these development opportunities, she became a rising star in ALDinHE for pushing the practices of visual literacy. Presenting at conferences, illustrating many articles for our JLDHE proceedings and sharing her visual musings via social media, Jacqui has pushed the boundaries of scholarly communication within LD.

At the University of Hull, Jacqui has revolutionised how visual literacy is taught and assessed. Her doctorate undertook a deep analysis of visual literacy teaching and assessment across every module we teach. From her findings, Jacqui has taken a leading role in the University of Hull to develop visual literacy support. In doing so, she has instilled all ALDinHE values – working in partnership with academics, supporting diverse learners and adapting resources to meet the needs of all. From embedding support in our nursing programmes to help our nurses undertake effective public health communication practices, to helping our Geographers embrace public communication to help them elicit change, inform and educate members of the public regarding contemporary social issues. Jacqui has made a real difference.

Jacqui has been a strong contributor to our LD community. Jacqui has attended most ALDcons since Plymouth and has served a member of the ALDinHE steering committee, taking leadership roles in communication until this was subsumed administratively. As part of her role, Jacqui also brought the ALDinHE Conference to Hull for 2017, our City of Culture.

5a – The nomination reflects ALDinHE’s five values. *

1. Working in partnership with students and staff to make sense and get the most out of HE

2. Embracing and respecting diverse learners through critical pedagogy and practice

3. Adapting, sharing and advocating effective learning development practice to promote student learning

4. Commitment to a scholarly approach and research related to Learning Development

5. Critical self-reflection, on-going learning and a commitment to professional development

Nomination 6: Rebecca Wilson, University of St Andrews

Nominated by: Catriona Wilson, University of St Andrews

Nomination:

I wish to nominate Dr Rebecca Wilson at the University of St Andrews. Over six years as a learning development professional she has innovated, re-envisioned and grown our offerings and embodies all five ALDinHE values:

Partnership working: Rebecca works in partnership with students and staff to develop transition resources for students including our award-winning transitions toolkits, increased engagement with mentoring schemes significantly (we now have over 1000 students taking part), and also worked to specifically support widening participation – working in partnership with our Admissions team. She has built new workshop programmes for our students (U-Skills, M-Skills and GRADSkills), bringing an innovative partnership approach to working with local charities into our programmes.

Embracing diverse learners: Rebecca upskilled to support ND students, gaining an ILM Level 3 Award coach to work as a Specialist Mentor with Clear Links, supporting neurodiverse students across the UK.

Sharing effective LD practice: Rebecca’s a committed member of sector networks, sharing knowledge and practice. She is on the ALDinHE conference committee organising team, as well as being active in ScotHERD/ScotHELD and the SEDA transitions working group. She’s also presenting at this summer’s Advance HE conference. She actively shares this learning with the internal team through organising skill share meetings.

Commitment to a scholarly approach: Rebecca has recently co-authored a book University and You, sharing all her learning and research in order to help students beginning University, and University staff who teach and support them. She collaborates with colleagues in the School of Psychology and Neuroscience to research the impact of our services on student wellbeing.

On-going learning: She is now actively developing her leadership skills alongside pedagogical practice in her new role of Head of Student Development. Rebecca is an proactive learner, seeking out opportunities to develop, including gaining a coaching qualification last year.

6a – The nomination reflects ALDinHE’s five values. *

1. Working in partnership with students and staff to make sense and get the most out of HE

2. Embracing and respecting diverse learners through critical pedagogy and practice

3. Adapting, sharing and advocating effective learning development practice to promote student learning

4. Commitment to a scholarly approach and research related to Learning Development

5. Critical self-reflection, on-going learning and a commitment to professional development

Nomination 7: Rebecca Wilson, University of St Andrews

Nominated by: Shruti Narayanswamy, University of St Andrews

Nomination:

Rebecca has nurtured Skills Development at the University of St Andrews, grown its visibility and built partnerships to ensure a harmonious approach between curricular offerings and skills-development.

Working in partnership with students and staff, such as Student Representatives and Student Services, Rebecca has created a suite of resources and workshops to support undergraduates, such as Transition Toolkits to navigate change at University.

She embraces and respects diverse learners, exemplified by her work on embedding the Graduate Attributes online portal into a Skills Builder Award open to all students. Thus, Rebecca created a way for students to explore a variety of Graduate Attributes at their own pace, reflect on their unique learning development journeys (in all contexts: curricular, volunteering, societies etc) and identify attributes they would like to further develop during their time at University.

Coming from an academic background herself, she’s used these insights to help other staff recognise the value of learning development and embed this in their own practice. Her commitment to a scholarly approach and Learning Development pedagogy is exemplified through her own co-authored book, ‘University and You’, which was published in 2025. Drawing on her own experience alongside student and staff perspectives, pedagogy and the broader UK university context, Rebecca’s book is an invaluable guide to help students take a

holistic approach to university. She is guided by self-reflection and a spirit of lifelong learning. For e.g. Rebecca recently organised a reflective session for our entire student development team, which helped 6 colleagues across divisions critically reflect on our strengths, identify our priorities for the year and collaborate on the values we wish to communicate to students. She’s very collaborative and always happy to speak to any students and colleagues who are curious about skills and brings an infectious enthusiasm and energy to all her interactions.

7a – The nomination reflects ALDinHE’s five values. *

1. Working in partnership with students and staff to make sense and get the most out of HE

2. Embracing and respecting diverse learners through critical pedagogy and practice

3. Adapting, sharing and advocating effective learning development practice to promote student learning

4. Commitment to a scholarly approach and research related to Learning Development

5. Critical self-reflection, on-going learning and a commitment to professional development

Nomination 8: Chad McDonald, Manchester Metropolitan University

Nominated by: Dena Bagi, Manchester Metropolitan University

Nomination:

Chad continues to develop innovative learning opportunities for our students, which are tailored to their course and individual needs. The needs of our students are unique (small creative yet academic course, with a high number of students with PLP’s), challenging Chad to create bespoke sessions each semester. Chad makes time to sit and have creative discussions with our team regularly, and re works/re designs sessions – in complete collaboration with our academic team. Even though he does not come from an arts background, Chad takes time to really understand the needs of the students, and tailor his sessions to their creative learning style. This often means that he transforms slide-content into group activities and integrates visual techniques and methods into sessions. The time Chad takes to come back into modules for assessment tutorials is really generous. Our numbers are not huge – and I realise he has targets. He takes time to ensure students have taken on his/our advice from earlier on in the module in these sessions, often spending a lot of time re visiting session-content with them during the tutorial. We have seen increased confidence in the run-up to assessments since Chad’s heavy-involvement with our Level 4 modules. We continue to be very grateful for his expertise and generosity.

8a – The nomination reflects ALDinHE’s five values. *

1. Working in partnership with students and staff to make sense and get the most out of HE

2. Embracing and respecting diverse learners through critical pedagogy and practice

3. Adapting, sharing and advocating effective learning development practice to promote student learning

4. Commitment to a scholarly approach and research related to Learning Development

5. Critical self-reflection, on-going learning and a commitment to professional development

Nomination 9: Sarune Savickaite, University of Exeter

Nominated by: Self-nominee

Nomination:

I am an early career educator and researcher dedicated to transforming higher education through inclusive, immersive, and evidence-based learning development. My work centres around XR technology and its applications in psychology, user experience, and human-computer interaction. I created “VR in Psychology” course at the University of Glasgow,now taught online and being adopted at the University of Exeter as a final-year module encouraging students to explore how their psychology degrees can align with technological and creative sectors. I actively promote inclusive and accessible XR education. As Accessibility and Inclusion Chair for the Immersive Learning Research Network (iLRN) since 2022, I’ve led international initiatives to make immersive learning more equitable. I also headed the Accessibility Work Package on the Meta-funded SEER project (£160K), authoring sections of a major policy white paper on inclusive immersive education. These roles reflect my commitment to adapting, sharing, and advocating effective practice that reaches all learners. My approach is shaped by critical pedagogy and personal experience. As a neurodivergent academic from a culturally diverse background, I openly share my mental health and identity journey, demonstrating to students that leadership in academia can be intersectional, unconventional, and human. I strive to be a visible role model – someone whose “unusual” name and lived experience challenge traditional academic norms. I also bring a strong scholarly foundation to all aspects of learning development. I served as a guest editor for the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, and I co-edited a special issue on VR in autism research for the Journal of Enabling Technologies. I founded and lead AVRA (Applications of Virtual Reality in Autism), an interdisciplinary symposium running since 2022. My publication record (H-index 6) and peer-review roles reflect a deep commitment to research-informed practice and professional development.

9a – The nomination reflects ALDinHE’s five values. *

1. Working in partnership with students and staff to make sense and get the most out of HE

2. Embracing and respecting diverse learners through critical pedagogy and practice

3. Adapting, sharing and advocating effective learning development practice to promote student learning

4. Commitment to a scholarly approach and research related to Learning Development

5. Critical self-reflection, on-going learning and a commitment to professional development

Nomination 10: Tracy Mathewson, University College London

Nominated by: Anne Preston, University College London

Nomination:

Tracy, a Lecturer in Fiction Film Production at UCL, has been an invaluable member of the BA Media team over the past year at UCL. In that short time, she has led a quiet but transformative shift in how we approach creative and practice-based assessment. Drawing on her extensive experience across several universities, Tracy identified common challenges faced by both staff and students when assessing creative portfolios—particularly the disconnect between creative output and academic assessment expectations.

Through staff development sessions, student-facing workshops, and a series of accessible assessment guidance videos, Tracy has demystified the portfolio process. Her work has helped students understand what practice-based assessment is for, giving them confidence in articulating the value of their creative work. Her approach has reduced student anxiety around assessment and created more consistent and student-friendly marking practices.

What sets Tracy apart is her commitment to partnership. She collaborates closely with staff, many of whom are new to higher education and come from professional backgrounds in film, games, and media. She shows deep respect for their expertise while gently challenging practices that might not serve students well. Her contributions exemplify the ALDinHE values—particularly in fostering critical pedagogical practice, advocating for inclusive and meaningful learning development, and engaging in thoughtful, reflective staff dialogue.

Tracy’s kindness, patience, and critical insight have made a lasting impact. She is never afraid to ask difficult questions where student learning is at stake but always does so with care and openness. Her work supports not only student development but also the learning and confidence of staff navigating assessment in creative disciplines. Tracy’s approach is a model of values-driven learning development, and her contributions make her a very deserving nominee for the ALDinHE Award.

10a – The nomination reflects ALDinHE’s five values. *

1. Working in partnership with students and staff to make sense and get the most out of HE

2. Embracing and respecting diverse learners through critical pedagogy and practice

3. Adapting, sharing and advocating effective learning development practice to promote student learning

4. Commitment to a scholarly approach and research related to Learning Development

5. Critical self-reflection, on-going learning and a commitment to professional development

Nomination 11: Emma Venables, University of Chester

Nominated by: Anthony Cliffe, University of Chester

Nomination:

Dr Emma Venables is an exceptional colleague, an Academic Skills Adviser as part of the Academic Skills team at the University of Chester. Emma joined the team in 2022 and since then has had a significant impact on our students, particularly our nursing cohort and specifically for her impact and leadership for our teams podcast The Skills Pod. The Skills Pod is a podcast created in 2019 by Liz Johnson in the team. When Emma joined, she recognised the value of podcasts for both International Students and for Home students, particularly those who have other commitments such as caring, placements (such as nursing and teachers), and commuting students. Emma became the key driver behind the rebrand of The Skills Pod focusing on a friendly and yet informative podcast series breaking down key skills such as Academic Writing, Critical Thinking, and Referencing, to the lesser known or talked about issues of Higher Education such as imposter syndrome and dealing with life pressures in Higher Education.

Emma has also ensured to collaborate with different academics on the podcast to give specific information to their students and to help them navigate their time in University. Emma has also collaborated with students on the podcast on their experiences of being an international student in the UK and home students on their experiences of reaching out for support.

The Skills Pod recently became an award-winning podcast as the Educate North 2025 Awards and this is solely down to the vision, creation and editing by Emma. The podcast since Emma enacted her vision has gone from just 1500 listeners from 2019 to 2021, to when Emma joined in 2022 we’re now at 13,700, over 49 podcast episodes produced and we’re listened to in over 119 countries and territories.

11a – The nomination reflects ALDinHE’s five values. *

1. Working in partnership with students and staff to make sense and get the most out of HE

2. Embracing and respecting diverse learners through critical pedagogy and practice

3. Adapting, sharing and advocating effective learning development practice to promote student learning

4. Commitment to a scholarly approach and research related to Learning Development

5. Critical self-reflection, on-going learning and a commitment to professional development

Nomination 12: Gill Smith, Lancaster University

Nominated by: Rebecca Beaumont, Lancaster University

Nomination:

Gill joined our Learning Development team at Lancaster University 18 months ago and in that time she has made the most significant impact we have ever had as a team when it comes to supporting students with disabilities and SpLDs through her truly accessible and inclusive teaching and support. She has been an asset in this area, taking on as much CPD opportunities as possible to develop her knowledge and pedagogy in this area as well as sharing her learning with the wider LD team through training and support workshops who have benefited massively from her knowledge but also her lived experience as a neurodiverse member of staff. She advocates the needs of students in an extremely authentic and passionate way, always putting student needs at the heart of her practice as a Learning Developer.

She has also secured ALDinHE research funding this year to explore the role of Learning Developers in supporting students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and I am confident that this research will lead the way in supporting our community of Learning Developers in providing the most effective and transformative support possible to this group of diverse learners. As Gill’s line manager, I am extremely proud of her practice as a Learning Developer and the impact and influence she has had within our team and the wider university as well as the influence she will no doubt develop within the Learning Development community nationally and I would like her to be recognised for her work.

12a – The nomination reflects ALDinHE’s five values. *

1. Working in partnership with students and staff to make sense and get the most out of HE

2. Embracing and respecting diverse learners through critical pedagogy and practice

3. Adapting, sharing and advocating effective learning development practice to promote student learning

4. Commitment to a scholarly approach and research related to Learning Development

5. Critical self-reflection, on-going learning and a commitment to professional development

Nomination 13: Helen Hargreaves, Lancaster University

Nominated by: Rebecca Beaumont, Lancaster University

Nomination:

Helen has dedicated her work to supporting international students develop the confidence in their written and spoken English and making a smooth transition to the language, culture and effective practices of HE study. Her commitment to scholarly practice has been exemplary with research around ‘Student perceptions of reading digital texts for university study’ which was published in the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education in 2022 and led to the development of an extremely useful ‘Reading for your Studies’ online resource designed to support Lancaster University students with reading approaches. More recently Helen has conducted research into how international students with English as an additional language experience interacting in English at University which Helen and her co-investigator will present at the ALDinHE conference this year.

What impresses me most about Helen’s work as an EAP Learning Developer is her innovation and her proactive response to student’s needs. Through her partnership approach with international students and a team of English Language Assistants we consistently see high levels of engagement and extremely positive feedback from students as well as academic colleagues. An example to highlight would be the development of the discussion groups designed to provide international students with a friendly and safe space to practise their spoken English. Students absolutely love them and what is most impressive is the community that they build for international students which can have a huge impact on this group of learners. Helen doesn’t always see how amazing she is and I wholeheartedly believe she deserves to be recognised for her outstanding development of EAP provision which she has led on at Lancaster University for the past eight years.

13a – The nomination reflects ALDinHE’s five values. *

1. Working in partnership with students and staff to make sense and get the most out of HE

2. Embracing and respecting diverse learners through critical pedagogy and practice

3. Adapting, sharing and advocating effective learning development practice to promote student learning

4. Commitment to a scholarly approach and research related to Learning Development

5. Critical self-reflection, on-going learning and a commitment to professional development

Nomination 14: Joanne Wood, Lancaster University

Nominated by: Rebecca Beaumont, Lancaster University

Nomination:

Joanne’s dedication to Learning Development is truly inspirational, with a career spanning nearly twenty years which needs to be celebrated in itself! Her work with students is always with purpose and always aims to make a difference to the lives of the students she supports. Joanne has strong pedagogic and professional principles which means that she strives for her teaching and support to be about ‘empowerment, liberation and transformation’ and I would argue as would many other colleagues that this is very often achieved.

An area I’d like Joanne to be recognised for is her work with her writing mentors within the ‘Academic Writing Space (AWS)’ in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences her at Lancaster University. The AWS supports students with writing practices however the support and development that Joanne has provided for her writing mentors is outstanding and has often resulted in many of the writing mentors becoming Learning Developers within our own team or teams at other HE institutions or supported them into academic careers. Joanne’s extensive experience in nurturing writing mentors and supporting their journey into learning developer roles is the basis of an ALDinHe funded research project she has been leading on which is exploring the experience of peer writing mentoring in HE, in particular the impact on writing, teaching and the emotional impact. I am confident the findings will articulate all the impressive work Joanne does in keeping the culture of learning development ‘alive’.

I’d really love Joanne to be recognised for her vast experience and the substantial knowledge which impacts her ability to lead and model ‘best practice’ when it comes to teaching and learning within HE and for this to be highlighted and commended within the wider Learning Development Community.

14a – The nomination reflects ALDinHE’s five values. *

1. Working in partnership with students and staff to make sense and get the most out of HE

2. Embracing and respecting diverse learners through critical pedagogy and practice

3. Adapting, sharing and advocating effective learning development practice to promote student learning

4. Commitment to a scholarly approach and research related to Learning Development

5. Critical self-reflection, on-going learning and a commitment to professional development

Nomination 15: Giorgio Chianello, Queen Mary University of London

Nominated by: Marina Resmini, Queen Mary University of London

Nomination:

Last year Dr Giorgio Chianello developed a ‘continuously updating interactive workshop’ on Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools for education, learning and research. The session has so far reached over 400 undergraduate and postgraduate students (from foundation to PhD level) and over 50 members of staff (postdocs, academics and professional services). The workshop includes interactive discussions on the ethical, societal, and environmental

impacts of AI, as well as hands-on exploration of AI-powered tools. The sessions delivered were very well received as proven by the numerous positive comments, discussions during each workshop, requests for the session to be incorporated in various settings, and evaluation data (over 85% of the participants found the session useful or very useful and interesting or very interesting). I have first-hand experience of the session Giorgio developed. As one of the principal investigators of the GreenX3 Doctoral network, I invited Giorgio to deliver his workshop as part of the 2024 training program. I was very impressed with the participants’ high level of interest, engagement and interactivity. This is certainly a hot topic at the moment which is likely to reshape significantly the education system. Giorgio is a great communicator and educator who focuses his efforts into enhancing diversity, inclusion and innovation. He has quickly realised the need to build AI literacy for students and staff. Therefore, he created this excellent resource to improve several key Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) attributes such us “Be AI and digitally literate”, “Engage critically”, “Innovate and problem solve” and “Act ethically”. However, his work is not limited to QMUL as he now delivers his session also externally. I strongly recommend Giorgio for an ALDinHE award as his work is clearly producing a positive impact on many which in my professional view deserves recognition

15a – The nomination reflects ALDinHE’s five values. *

1. Working in partnership with students and staff to make sense and get the most out of HE

2. Embracing and respecting diverse learners through critical pedagogy and practice

3. Adapting, sharing and advocating effective learning development practice to promote student learning

4. Commitment to a scholarly approach and research related to Learning Development

5. Critical self-reflection, on-going learning and a commitment to professional development