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Students as partners (SaP) is becoming an increasingly common notion in higher education , but we continue to grapple with questions around how to best involve our students with the work we do as educators. Queries around responsibility, accountability and trust are raised when considering SaP. Participatory action research is presented from an introductory chemistry module in chemical engineering, whereby students were actively involved as partners at various stages of the research, design and development of the module. The action research spanned a 2-year period, accommodating 2 iterations of the module's development. The student partners actively participated in this process in 4 different ways: to set the research agenda (at the beginning), to create suitable formative assessment questions for their peers (ongoing), to manage other students in designing learning tools (as part of the second iteration), and to design and develop appropriate assessment. Some initial structuring was required to establish what the working relationship should look like, but the student partners engaged constructively with the process and added considerable value to reshaping the module. The end result was a more student-focused module, where the student partners had challenged the status quo, used their experiences constructively, and truly empathised with their peers.

COVID-19 has brought with it a tremendous sea-change in higher education globally. It has brought an opportunity to reconsider the way in which assessment is approached. The context for this paper is a chemical engineering department in a research-intensive university located in central London. Open book exams are used minimally in the degree programmes with retention and knowledge being tested mostly through closed-book exams. The COVID-19 outbreak meant there was now a pressing need to reconsider how students could effectively be assessed under extraordinary circumstances. In the UK [United Kingdom], students were effectively nearing the end of the academic year when ordered into lockdown. Students departed for home, both nationally and overseas and there were only a few options to address assessment. The authors turned to an examination provision that comprised open-book examinations which were taken in fixed, timed sessions. This raised several issues related to: (1) the use of open book exams which many students had not experienced as part of their university assessment; (2) the implication of staggered assessments, accommodating different time zones, given that a large proportion of students are international; (3) using appropriate platforms to deliver and mark exams; and (4) providing pastoral care and support to students during their examination and study periods. This paper outlines the authors' approach to these issues and the impact they have on future assessment provision.

In this paper, science lecturers' perspectives on how they authentically prepare to teach are explored, to establish how academic development practices can better support them. Science lecturers in higher education do not always feel comfortable engaging with pedagogical training initiatives, often finding the ideas presented confusing, non-transferable and of little benefit to them. Models of pedagogical training suit institutional requirements and the generic principles of teaching in higher education. However, it is more useful to establish science lecturers' authentic preparation techniques and build academic practice models around these. At a research-intensive higher education institution (HEI) in the UK, a total of 64 science lecturers completed a 28-item survey about the authentic values, beliefs, and the practices that inform and support their preparation as teachers. The collated survey responses were analysed through a statistical package for social sciences (SPSS), and a linear regression model was produced for self-reported confidence (used as a proxy for preparedness). Initial results pointed to the importance of enjoyment, being innovative and experimental, and demonstrating a good grasp of content for developing confidence. Receiving advice from education-based experts was a negative contributor to the confidence model as was pedagogical training unless it was part of a wider offering. However informal, supportive, peer-to-peer dialogue is deemed beneficial, highlighting the significant role communities of practice play in authentic preparation.

In this paper, we aim to explore students' experiences of support mechanisms that support their wellbeing on an engineering degree programme at a research-intensive higher education institution and understand how theory relates to practice. This study was conducted using a mixed-methods approach involving student survey responses (N = 173), interviews with 16 students and focus groups. Kahu and Nelson's conceptual framework was used as a lens through which to explore student support mechanisms. Preliminary data analysis indicates that the intense workload adversely affects students as do some of the interactions they have with personal tutors and their peers. Our findings suggest that workload needs to be reduced, personal tutors need to fill gaps in their skills set, especially associated with student support, and institutional and departmental protocols be continually updated to support student wellbeing. Additionally, student wellbeing officers and professional, dedicated wellbeing advisors could be part of a long-term solution.

Students are expected to have developed their engineering judgement throughout the course of their studies as part of their accreditation requirements (as stipulated by the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology for example), and yet conceptually it is often ill-defined and therefore difficult to teach. This work was carried out in an attempt to better conceptualise engineering judgement for use in higher education. As such, semi-structured interviews were conducted with established members of academic staff who additionally had extensive industrial experience – who were asked to define engineering judgement and which aspects students ought to develop in their studies. A pragmatic grounded theory approach was used, based on the assumption that a theoretical idea/framework could be developed, enabling us to refer to previous literature and the emerging categories from our data set to help clarify engineering judgement. Several terms help define engineering judgement, including accumulated experience, fundamental theoretical knowledge, and imagination/intuition. Essential criteria for developing judgement includes students' ability to identify and reduce complex problems, and embrace failure. A theoretical framework has been proposed accommodating a more enhanced definition and conceptualisation of engineering judgement which can be applied and adapted for use within engineering education for students' ultimate benefit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2004, Ray Land produced extensive literature on the 12 orientations of academic developers. These orientations provided academic developers with a useful tool through which they have been able to better articulate their roles and their place in academia. We have used the orientations model to establish, compare, and contrast the identity of sixteen academic developers from the UK and from Japan. The findings reveal that research is a key orientation recognised by both groups, although is expressed differently by academic developers from the two countries. The political strategist orientation was considered important amongst managers irrespective of their cultural backgrounds.

Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) and postgraduates in the UK are taking on greater responsibility for teaching, and therefore it has become increasingly necessary to explore the teacher training that supports them in this endeavour. This paper outlines an impact evaluation carried out on a graduate certificate programme primarily aimed at GTAs and support staff at a research-intensive institution. The concept of impact evaluation is explored. This qualitative research establishes impact on the approaches participants took and their understanding of teaching following on from the programme. Interviews with nine participants, analyses of their critical reflective portfolios, and analyses of their teaching observation commentary are reported on. Findings reveal participants felt they had gained particular skills of teaching, were more reflective, and adopted a more student-centred approach to their teaching. It is recommended that training on specific teaching skills be incorporated into the provision available for GTAs and that disciplinary differences accommodated.

Students as partners (SaP) is becoming an increasingly common notion in higher education , but we continue to grapple with questions around how to best involve our students with the work we do as educators. Queries around responsibility, accountability and trust are raised when considering SaP. Participatory action research is presented from an introductory chemistry module in chemical engineering, whereby students were actively involved as partners at various stages of the research, design and development of the module. The action research spanned a 2-year period, accommodating 2 iterations of the module's development. The student partners actively participated in this process in 4 different ways: to set the research agenda (at the beginning), to create suitable formative assessment questions for their peers (ongoing), to manage other students in designing learning tools (as part of the second iteration), and to design and develop appropriate assessment. Some initial structuring was required to establish what the working relationship should look like, but the student partners engaged constructively with the process and added considerable value to reshaping the module. The end result was a more student-focused module, where the student partners had challenged the status quo, used their experiences constructively, and truly empathised with their peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes an innovative curriculum design that has been created at a research-intensive university to prepare Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) for their role as teachers within higher education. The underlying concepts and frameworks for the design of the programme are discussed in depth in an attempt to unpack the assumptions that are routinely made about GTAs, their training needs and requirements as students. The finished product was a more effective curriculum that took account of a number of significant factors throughout the design process. These factors included flexibility in terms of GTAs making their own choices about the direction of their learning, and the importance of discipline-based teaching to inform practice. Preliminary indicators, for example student evaluations and student focus group data suggest that the revised curriculum better addresses and responds to the needs of the GTAs than the previous curriculum. (Contains 2 figures and 1 note.)

As university lecturers select and sequence materials for their teaching, a linear structure emerges by default. Such a structure is made explicit within PowerPoint presentations and may even be amplified as PowerPoint invites the lecturer to reduce content to a bulleted format. Such linear sequences have been related to passive, surface approaches to learning. The application of concept-mapping techniques can support the lecturer in making explicit the underlying expert structure of the information being presented to help the student to make the necessary transformations of knowledge structures that are required for meaningful learning. The authors suggest that PowerPoint provides a concrete arena in which lecturers can reflect upon the structure of knowledge that is being constructed within their classrooms. (Contains 1 table, 2 figures and 1 note.)

In this paper, we aim to explore students' experiences of support mechanisms that support their wellbeing on an engineering degree programme at a research-intensive higher education institution and understand how theory relates to practice. This study was conducted using a mixed-methods approach involving student survey responses (N = 173), interviews with 16 students and focus groups. Kahu and Nelson's conceptual framework was used as a lens through which to explore student support mechanisms. Preliminary data analysis indicates that the intense workload adversely affects students as do some of the interactions they have with personal tutors and their peers. Our findings suggest that workload needs to be reduced, personal tutors need to fill gaps in their skills set, especially associated with student support, and institutional and departmental protocols be continually updated to support student wellbeing. Additionally, student wellbeing officers and professional, dedicated wellbeing advisors could be part of a long-term solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) and postgraduates in the UK are taking on greater responsibility for teaching, and therefore it has become increasingly necessary to explore the teacher training that supports them in this endeavour. This paper outlines an impact evaluation carried out on a graduate certificate programme primarily aimed at GTAs and support staff at a research-intensive institution. The concept of impact evaluation is explored. This qualitative research establishes impact on the approaches participants took and their understanding of teaching following on from the programme. Interviews with nine participants, analyses of their critical reflective portfolios, and analyses of their teaching observation commentary are reported on. Findings reveal participants felt they had gained particular skills of teaching, were more reflective, and adopted a more student-centred approach to their teaching. It is recommended that training on specific teaching skills be incorporated into the provision available for GTAs and that disciplinary differences accommodated. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents the findings from a study of the development of transferable skills and considers the most effective approach to teaching transferable skills in four university departments of chemical engineering in the UK. Case study methods, incorporating mind maps, follow-up interviews, focus groups and questionnaires, were used to collect data. Although the literature suggests that skills development is best taught in engineering curricula through integrated teaching approaches, findings from this study suggest that embedded and bolt-an teaching approaches are also helpful in augmenting the development of transferable skills. All three approaches help build student awareness of transferable-skills education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]