Project Title: Advanced Spectroscopy and Forensic Analysis: Enhancing Student Engagement, Skills and Practical Experience through Project-based Learning
Project Leader(s): Falko Drijfhout, Mark Ormerod and Vladimir Zholobenko
The first aim is to explicitly develop the use of project-based learning to enhance student engagement and hence improve student understanding and appreciation of some of the complex analytical methods and the underlying theory taught within the Advanced Analysis and Spectroscopy module. This will ensure that our Forensic Science students become much more confident in and familiar with applying the theory to problems relating to the analysis of unknown (forensic) samples.
This leads on to the second aim. Problem solving in exam and class test questions is a crucial part of the Forensic Science degree at Keele, as well as being a key employability skill, and is a weakness of many students, despite their apparent enjoyment of context, problem-based material. The project aims to enhance students' ability to solve problems, as well as their practical skills, both of which are key employability skills.
The third aim is to make extensive changes to the existing module in order to significantly enhance student practical skills and hands-on experience. Through increased exposure to an interaction with modern state of the art analytical instrumentation housed in our Analytical Laboratory within the Lennard-Jones Laboratories, we want to alter the notion that these instruments are just 'black boxes' which generate data. We want the students to be much more involved in method development, as well as problem solving, to ensure that they are fully trained in the principles applications and capabilities of (modern) instrumentation.
Advanced Spectroscopy and Forensic Analysis: Enhancing Student Engagement, Skills and Practical Experience through Project-based Learning by Falko Drijfhout, Mark Ormerod and Vladimir Zholobenko, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Project Title: SPELLBOUND: Skills Package for English Language Learners
Project Leader(s): Russell Clark, Jody Harlowe, Robin Bell and Dan Harding
- Pre-arrival contact including language self-assessments
- Diagnostic profiling on arrival
- Delivery of blended learning packages
- ‘Wish You Were Here’ Virtual Writing Clinics to support students throughout the entire year
To achieve this, the ELU is asking for funds to employ part-time tutors to reduce the number of hours staff will have to teach in the first semester.
SPELLBOUND: Skills Package for English Language Learners by Russell Clark, Jody Harlowe, Robin Bell and Dan Harding, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
