Take5

This blog is brought to you by Phil O’Brien, an Academic and Study Skills Tutor at Manchester Metropolitan University, who discusses and reflects on a collaboration between Learner Developers and Widening Participation colleagues on a programme of events to support first generation students manage the transition to university. Introduction Going to university as an undergraduate can be both exhilarating and overwhelming. For those who are the first in their families to do so, there are also a range of more pronounced challenges and perceptions to overcome. These often relate to not knowing what to expect from a university life and […]

Welcome Zubeida Lowton is a Lecturer in Urban Studies in the Division of Urban Studies and Social Policy at the University of Glasgow. Her teaching contributions focus on the discipline of City Planning, an interdisciplinary field that emphasises sustainable development and the policy-making required to shape the growth of cities.  In this post, Zubeida, considers the impact of role play as pedagogy – using a case study that demonstrates its application in City Planning (often called Urban Planning or Urban and Regional Planning). As the profession requires future planners to address major challenges affecting urban development—such as climate change, housing […]

This blog is brought to you from Dr Natalie Mack, an academic in Biotechnology, based in the School of Biosciences at the University of Nottingham, UK. She is writing on the topic of student mental health, drawing upon her own experience of navigating mental health challenges, to develop a self-reflection exercise that helps students bring balance to their lives and boost resilience and general wellbeing. The Problem Over recent years, the number of students in higher education experiencing mental health challenges appears to be increasing, as academics report observing increased mental health challenges among their students [1]. Between 2017 and […]

In this opinion piece, Angela Newton shares a perspective on responding to GenAI by equipping university students with confidence and skills in academic reading.   As the nature of knowledge, work and access to information are fundamentally changed by GenAI technologies, Learning Developers – and all who facilitate learning – in higher education can and should work with students to ensure that they can productively interact with texts, not as an act of nostalgia, but because we understand that fragmentary, instrumental reading is an incomplete educational ‘meal’. Introduction Almost every workplace discussion I’ve been involved with over the last two […]

This short and sweet #Take5 is brought to you by Joanne Craven who held an engaging session provocatively entitled ‘Pointless Play’ as part of the University of Liverpool’s Islands of Innovation 2025 and please do follow the link and have a look at the glory and joy of that playful event! Joanne draws on her experience as an educational games designer to argue for the power of the playful state in learning. In this post she shares how kindness opened space for her and others to learn playfully. Please enjoy reading this post – and we would love it if […]

Representing Polyvocality in Research – a case study on Augmented Reality approaches to British colonial history Introduction In this post Daisy Abbott explores Polyvocality – the practice of representing and foregrounding multiple voices, perspectives, or interpretations within research (and by implication within our teaching), particularly those that have been marginalised or excluded from dominant narratives. This matters not least because of education’s role in including or systemically excluding people. We feel that Daisy’s work helps us all think about how to make our practice authentically inclusive – welcoming all our students – and the whole of them – into the […]

In this blog, Dustin Hosseini reflects on some minor changes that he made to a research module, which is a part of a paramedic science degree apprenticeship, designed to increase student success. Whilst some may believe that Apprenticeship students are ‘special and different’, the changes implemented were small and could work in any course for any students: moving some sessions around and helping students brainstorm and articulate their ideas. They both significantly improved first-time pass rates and are already having a positive ripple effect to other instances of the module and the wider programme. As an experienced Learning Developer, the […]

This blog is brought to you from Dr Natalie Mack, an academic in Biotechnology, based in the School of Biosciences at the University of Nottingham, UK. She is writing on the topic of student academic integrity training, drawing upon her experience as an academic misconduct officer to develop an effective quiz-based approach to raise awareness and reduce incidences of accidental misconduct. The Problem The COVID-19 pandemic forced a rise in our open-book/remote access assessments, and alongside this, the availability of artificial intelligence (AI) software has increased. These factors created an upsurge in our academic misconduct cases; a common problem in […]

This #Take5 is brought to you from David Baldwin, Head of Special Collections at London Metropolitan University. David is sharing how he uses the Special Collections at his university – to inspire us – to make us think: What is a Special Collection? Do we have any here? How can I get involved? How might I use some aspect of the Special Collections in my Learning Development work, in my teaching, support of learning, or my research? [A Library is More Than a Library] In Learning Development, students are often encouraged to think critically, evaluate sources, challenge assumptions, and reflect […]

Human-Centred Approaches to Understanding Student Partnerships’ Impact Setting the Scene: Who the Changemakers Are This #Take5 blog is brought to you from a team of Changemakers at the London College of Communication (LCC), part of the University of the Arts London (UAL). Guided by their lead, Kevin J. Brazant – Senior Educational Developer at the college – they work on projects in collaboration with staff, students and external partners, to advance social and racial justice within the university, with a focus on curricula and pedagogies. Their programme has been developed through the students-as-partners model from Advance HE. This blog explores […]