I currently fulfil a role covering teaching and learning within the School of Applied Sciences. I have extensive experience of course development, quality assurance and teaching over the last 20 odd years. I have a particular interest in widening participation and the challenges facing students from various backgrounds. I am currently working with colleagues from across a range of Yorkshire institutions as part of Yorkshire Universities’ project tackling “hard to reach students”. The fundamental aim is to encourage more students from under-represented groups (specifically BME and white working class males) into Higher Education.

The successful transition of students into Higher Education is a multifaceted process and we are currently working on initiatives to enhance this. A successful transition has clear benefits in terms of the student experience, specifically impact on enjoyment, retention and ultimately attainment. Education is a process not a commodity and as such it requires engagement with the learning activities. I have been working with students from our Science Extended Degree (Year 0) on measures to enhance engagement. This partly focuses on enhancing the students’ understanding of what is expected of them at university but also identifies strategies to help them match these expectations. Our approach also involves changing mindsets! I am an advocate of Carol Dweck’s work on growth mindsets and we aim to foster a belief that every activity, including setbacks, is an opportunity for growth and development. Linked to this are developments to improve students’ understanding of how they as individuals learn. This is an empowering process and allows the students to take charge of their own development. This drive to develop independence is a core aspect of my teaching activities. In my current role I have focused on enhancing the learning environment through adoption of technological responses to address engagement. I use the flipped class-room and combine it with the use of response software (voting pads/apps) to solicit a response to questions in class. This process means that I can deal with knowledge deficit in class-time rather than impart content. Results indicate that this does foster greater engagement which is reflected in outcomes.