Seeds for Solutions: Innovation Projects from 2016/17

Project Title: Using corpora to enhance autonomous language learning unit in PGR students
Project Leader(s): Russell Clark, Suzanne Heaton and Alison Long

This project will develop a series of videos and activities to train international postgraduate research students in how to use published English language corpora, corpus programmes, and the information generated. It will then create specialised corpora, initially for students studying in Keele Management School and the School of Pharmacy, along with tasks designed to raise awareness of specialised language use. The students will then be trained in how to create and exploit their own corpus, and how to use the information generated not only to improve their writing, but also to develop a sense of autonomy and ownership.

Using corpora - Final Project Report


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Project Title: Project Ponder - Making students think using 'Posh Clickers'
Project Leader(s): Russell Pearson and Tejesh M.Pattni

Project Ponder encourages students to think using small, frequent interludes of a classroom response system based on “Clicker” handsets. Phase 1 of this project involved 140 students having a year-long loan of a clicker handset to answer MCQs. Our student feedback clearly shows that smart and thoughtful clicker usage has a powerful impact with 97% requesting their continuation next year and 81% asking for handsets with free text answering capabilities. Phase 2, therefore, introduces “Posh Clickers” and so this proposal describes (1) how just 35 devices would be required, and (2) why alternative mobile phone technology should be avoided.

Project Ponder - Final Project Report


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Project Title: Virtual laboratories as a complementary E-learning tool in Biomedical Science
Project Leader(s): Anne Loweth and Sheila Hope

Laboratory investigation lies at the heart of the biomedical sciences and acquisition of excellent laboratory skills is essential to our undergraduates’ employability. Delivering high quality, resource-intensive practical classes is economically challenging hence, despite extensive laboratory classes, students encounter some complex techniques in theory only. This project evaluates the merits of Labster laboratory simulations, integrating virtual laboratories with theory and molecular animations, in improving students’ learning, firstly, of a theoretically-encountered technique and, secondly, as a preparative adjunct to support laboratory classes. Test performance and questionnaire data analysis will assess our hypothesis that female students may especially benefit from this learning resource.

Virtual laboratories - Final Project Report


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Seeds for Solutions: Innovation Projects from 2016/17

Project Title: Video Resource Pack: Developing Academic Communication Skills for International Students
Project Leader(s): Ella Tennant

The need to adapt to Keele’s academic culture is one of many challenges faced by international students. This project will focus on the design, production and publication of a video resource pack aimed at helping students develop the communication skills necessary to succeed in their degree programmes.  The resource pack composed of short video films and an accompanying handbook will serve as a learning tool embedded in the KLE, concentrating on three areas: giving presentations, participating in tutorial/seminar discussions and communicating with a personal tutor, within the Keele academic context.

Video Resource Pack - Final Project Report

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Project Title: The Lecture as Performative Pantomime: (Back)channelling student conversations to maximise engagement and collaborative learning in lectures
Project Leader(s): Angela Rhead and Matthew Brannan

This project will explore the use of TodaysMeet to create temporary chatrooms unique to each lecture, which employs students’ personal electronic devices (smartphones / tablets / laptops) to stimulate and capture individual / small group dialogues. These dialogues create a feedback loop between lecturer and audience to facilitate a collectively produced learning event. 

The Lecture as Performative Pantomime - Final Project Report

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Project Title: Supporting the international student transition: The English-Mandarin 'talking glossary' for Environmental students
Project Leader(s): Katie Szkornik

Students from China coming to study in the UK face significant language and cultural barriers. Studies show that despite extensive support, English Language problems remain a major barrier to achievement within assessment from China (Mathias et al., 2013; Szkornik et al., 2015). This study develops a subject-specific, English-Mandarin 'talking glossary', which will be used as a learning tool in modules currently delivered in China by Keele-based academics (flying faculty; Smith, 2014), as part of our collaborative degree programme in Environment and Sustainability with Nanjing Xiaozhuang University. 

Supporting the International Student Transition - Final Project Report

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Seeds for Solutions: Innovation Projects from 2016/17

Project Title: 'Lets meet at basecamp': A mobile app designed to increase group cohesion and student satisfaction in collaborative learning projects
Project Leader(s): Grant Bosworth and Donna Berry

Many modules involve elements of group work aimed at enhancing certain employability skills. However, students often cite difficulties regarding communication with, and contributions made by, other group members. The aim of our teaching innovation project is to tailor a project management app to better engage students and facilitate collaborative learning. The app creatively combines the features students desire from social media (instant message, notifications on progress) with required components for academic work (transparent scheduling, equitable workload distribution and file sharing). Any improvements in the student learning experience will be evaluated from questionnaire responses, compared to responses from a control group.


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Project Title: Introducing undergraduate students to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles' theory and practice
Project Leader(s): Alex Nobajas

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, have become increasingly popular and feature regularly on the news, both for positive and negative reasons. However controversial, their use has proven to be successful in a myriad of applications which go from disaster management to agricultural surveying. Nonetheless, due to a lack of courses offering UAV training there is a current shortage of professionals capable of performing missions with UAVs satisfactorily, something this project aims to mitigate by introducing UAV training as part of the university offering. This will be achieved by developing new teaching materials and activities involving UAVs.

Introduction to UAVs - Final Project Report


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Project Title: The pedagogic potential of Turnitin's originality reports
Project Leader(s): Nicholas Seager and Ben Anderson

This project explores the educational potential of Turnitin’s originality reports, as used by students, guided by educators. The project’s foci are: (1) the implications of shifting from a detection-based to a prevention-based approach to academic misconduct with the aid of software; (2) using the instant and ongoing formative feedback that originality reports can provide to develop students’ academic skills (referencing, writing, finding and using sources). To these ends, the investigators will measure Humanities’ students’ take-up of access to the originality reports, the nature of how they use them (and how they might), and staff and student perceptions of the reports.

The Pedagogic Potential - Final Project Report



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Seeds for Solutions: Innovation Projects from 2015/16

Project Title: An e-Learning Platform to Promote Active Learning through Screencast Technology
Project Leader(s): Laura Hancock

The use of screencasts to supplement learning is becoming commonplace in higher education but there are concerns that their use may promote mostly passive learning. The aim of this project is to create an e-learning platform that provides the appropriate scaffolding to stimulate active learning in chemistry by combining screencast technology with interactive quizzes to deliver instant feedback. Users of this resource will be required to demonstrate recall and understanding of basic concepts before gaining access to higher level screencast material, allowing users to construct their own knowledge and discouraging a passive approach to learning.  

An e-Learning Platform to Promote Active Learning - Final Project Report

An e-Learning Platform to Promote Active Learning through Screencast Technology by Laura Hancock, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Project Title: Personalised Immersive Learning: Using Virtual Reality Headsets to Provide Engaging and Flexible Clinical Learning Opportunities
Project Leader(s): Mel Humphreys, Luke Bracegirdle, Pete Lonsdale, Tim Smale, Daryl Kerr and Ian Wood

New virtual reality headsets allow us to provide students with personal, immersive environments where they can take part in simulations of clinical episodes. Building on previous work between the Schools of Pharmacy and Nursing & Midwifery, we will be extending existing work on the Virtual Ward to allow access by a greater range of students from more diverse settings, and utilising a variety of scenarios. Students will be able to immerse themselves within clinical environments, interacting with patients and healthcare teams to explore the essential skills of teamwork, communication, and meaningful decision making in an authentic and safe setting.

Personalised Immersive Learning - Final Project Report

Personalised Immersive Learning: Using Virtual Reality Headsets to Provide Engaging and Flexible Clinical Learning Opportunities by Mel Humphreys, Luke Bracegirdle, Pete Lonsdale, Tim Smale, Daryl Kerr and Ian Wood, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Seeds for Solutions: Innovation Projects from 2015/16

Project Title: Technology inspired student-led interactive drug design
Project Leader(s): Mike Edwards & Tess Phillips

An interactive, technology inspired, group exercise to encapsulate the process of drug design in the teaching of Medicinal Chemistry is proposed. Students will collaborate in small groups to distil the important theoretical concepts studied into the design of new drug candidates based upon real-world examples. Built upon the intuitive visual interface of the iPad app Asteris, the exercise draws upon the benefits of student led group work to provide a fast yet innovative approach to the teaching of medicinal chemistry, and leverages communication technology to display the results. We envisage this process will have broader application to other disciplines.

Technology Inspired Student-led Interactive Drug Design - Final Project Report

Technology inspired student-led interactive drug design by Mike Edwards & Tess Phillips, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Project Title: eANT: Electronic Annotation to Enhance the Flexibility of Teaching, Assessment and Feedback
Project Leader(s): Elizabeth Symons & Reinhold Heinlein

This project will explore the use of the digital-pen facility on a Windows-based tablet to enhance student learning in two ways:

(i) Revisions to Blackboard grading allow electronically submitted assessment to be annotated as though ‘pen and paper’. This is most suitable for symbol-rich disciplines and will greatly enhance the value of feedback for students.

(ii) Presentation of course material (lectures and computer workshops) will be improved by digital pen annotation of statistical software output during sessions which will help student understanding during the demonstration. It will also assist student review of material it can be saved to the KLE.

eANT - Final Project Report

eAnt: Electronic Annotation to Enhance the Flexibility of Teaching, Assessment and Feedback by Elizabeth Symons & Reinhold Heinlein, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Project Title: Creating Active Student Learners through Team-Based Learning
Project Leader(s): Graeme Jones, Tess Phillips, Chloe Harold, Laura Hancock, Falko Drijfhout & Stuart McBain

We propose to introduce Team-Based Learning into problem sessions within Foundation Year, Chemistry and Forensic Science and into workshops that are part of the Keele MBChB programme. A comparative student performance data evaluation will be undertaken as part of the introduction of TBL into Foundation Year and questionnaire data will be gathered across all subjects. We will disseminate our experiences of TBL within the University and provide TBL resources so that colleagues can incorporate TBL into their own courses.  We will also present our findings at national teaching events in our own subject disciplines. Those interested in team based learning and in using the IF-AT cards are asked to contact Graeme Jones (g.r.jones@keele.ac.uk). 

Creating Active Student Learners through Team-Based Learning - Final Project Report

Creating Active Student Learners through Team-Based Learning by Graeme Jones, Tess Phillips, Chloe Harold, Laura Hancock, Falko Drijfhout & Stuart McBain, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Seeds for Solutions: Innovation Projects from 2015/16

Project Title: The Comorbidity Conundrum: an Integrated e-Learning Workspace and Mobile Application
Project Leader(s): Claire Rushton, Julie Green, Pete Lonsdale, Pauline Walsh & Umesh Kadam

Multimorbidity is an important challenge for current healthcare practice but has not yet been included in health education programmes. At SNAM a ‘6C comorbidity education framework’ has been developed to facilitate the inclusion of multimorbidity concepts into the current curricula. An integrated and interactive e-learning workspace and mobile application will activate this framework for student learning. In this workspace the framework will be applied to comorbidity patient cases with linked interactive activities and live communication opportunities for shared learning. The workspace will be fully integrated into current curricula and supported by a mobile application for transfer of skills into practice.

The Comorbidity Conundrum - Final Project Report

The Comorbidity Conundrum: an integrated e-learning workspace and mobile application by Claire Rushton, Julie Green, Pete Lonsdale, Pauline Walsh & Umesh Kadam is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Project Title: Factors for Consideration in Learning Analytics; Analysing Student Activity on the KLE to produce a more personalised and supportive system of education
Project Leader(s): Ed De Quincey & Theo Kyriacou

Traditionally a student's progress and level of engagement has been measured by assessment and physical attendance. However, in a student's day-to-day interactions with a University, other real-time measures are being generated e.g. VLE interaction. The analysis of this data has been termed Learning Analytics (LA). Following on from successful work at the University of Greenwich (de Quincey and Stoneham, 2014), this project aims to identify potential sources of data at Keele that are suitable for LA and how they can be used to produce a more personalised and supportive system of education, in the form of a Learner Dashboard.

Factors for Consideration in Learning Analytics - Final Project Report

Factors for Consideration in Learning Analytics; Analysing Student Activity on the KLE to produce a more personalised and supportive system of education by Ed De Quincey & Theo Kyriacou, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Project Title: The JADE Student Learning Conference 2016: The development of a University-wide undergraduate research conference
Project Leader(s): Chris Little

This project will deliver an undergraduate research conference in June 2016. This conference would be open to all UG students to deliver verbal and poster presentations. Furthermore, the JADE journal would guarantee publication for award-winning presentations and publish a special Student Learning edition detailing the conference proceedings.  The editorial board would be made up of staff and students, with the long-term aim that the conference becomes entirely student owned. The conference will give UG students the space to pursue and present research interests and learning complementary to and beyond summative assessment requirements.

The JADE Student Learning Conference 2016 - Final Project Report

The JADE Student Learning Conference 2016: The development of a university-wide undergraduate research conference by Chris Little, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Seeds for Solutions, How does the past inform the future? Innovation projects from 2014/15 #KATS2015

Project Title: Students' Psychophysical Responses to Feedback
Project Leader(s): Yvonne Skipper and Russ Crawford

Research examining the impact of feedback suggests that different forms can lead to different responses to failure. Some forms lead students to persist and succeed while others can lead students to give up (Dweck, 1999). However, the reasons for this have largely been discussed as being due to thoughts about intelligence.

By using physical measures and combining ideas from both psychology and medicine, results from this research will tell us more about how the body and mind respond to feedback together. Perhaps some forms of feedback create more of an adrenaline-mediated ‘fight or flight’ response which could hinder learning.

Students' Psychophysical Responses to Feedback - Final Project Report

Students' Psychophysical Responses to Feedback by Yvonne Skipper and Russ Crawford, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Project Title: Can Interactive Classroom Technologies Improve Student Engagement and Performance?
Project Leader(s): Jan Hoole and Tracy Lovatt

Increasing student engagement with learning materials during lectures and tutorials is a challenge for every lecturer. This project evaluates three freeware and one licensed programme, each offering ways of optimising student/teacher interaction. The student can offer free-text responses to lecturer questions and answer multiple-choice questions. In addition some of the software is suitable for real-time student feedback in the form of ‘confusion rating’ of individual slides and of teaching evaluation questionnaires. The research will enable tutors to quickly choose appropriate free software for the particular application they require, reducing preparation time and improving interaction between student and tutor.

Can Interactive Classroom Technologies Improve Student Engagement and Performance? - Final Project Report 

Can Interactive Classroom Technologies Improve Student Engagement and Performance? by Jan Hoole and Tracy Lovatt, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Project Title: Personalised Immersive Learning: Using Virtual Reality Headsets to Provide Engaging and Flexible Clinical Learning Opportunities
Project Leader(s): Mel Humphreys, Luke Bracegirdle, Pete Lonsdale, Tim Smale, Daryl Kerr and Ian Wood

New virtual reality headsets allow us to provide students with personal, immersive environments where they can take part in simulations of clinical episodes. Building on previous work between the Schools of Pharmacy and Nursing & Midwifery, we will be extending existing work on the Virtual Ward to allow access by a greater range of students from more diverse settings, and utilising a variety of scenarios. Students will be able to immerse themselves within clinical environments, interacting with patients and healthcare teams to explore the essential skills of teamwork, communication, and meaningful decision making in an authentic and safe setting.

Personalised Immersive Learning: Using Virtual Reality Headsets to Provide Engaging and Flexible Clinical Learning Opportunities by Mel Humphreys, Luke Bracegirdle, Pete Lonsdale, Tim Smale, Daryl Kerr and Ian Wood, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Seeds for Solutions, How does the past inform the future? Innovation projects from 2014/15 #KATS2015

Project Title: Welcome to the World of Research: an Undergraduate Research Conference for Biochemistry and Biomedical Science Finalists
Project Leader(s): David Watson, Sheila Hope and Trish Procter

Final year research projects are integral to most undergraduate programmes, usually assessed as a project report. Wider dissemination of research work in the context of professional practice is through conference attendance with delivery of an oral and/or poster presentation. Whilst many courses also include these additional assessments, often based on the final year research projects, few students are afforded the opportunity to attend professional conference. This project will establish a two-day undergraduate research conference for final year Biochemistry and Biomedical Science students, designed to give students real-life experience of conference presentation in an environment more akin to professional practice.

Welcome to the World of Research - Final Project Report

Welcome to the World of Research: an Undergraduate Research Conference for Biochemistry and Biomedical Science Finalists by David Watson, Sheila Hope and Trish Procter, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Project Title: An e-learning Platform to Promote Active Learning through Screencast Technology
Project Leader(s): Laura Hancock

The use of screencasts to supplement learning is becoming commonplace in higher education but there are concerns that their use may promote mostly passive learning. The aim of this project is to create an e-learning platform that provides the appropriate scaffolding to stimulate active learning in chemistry by combining screencast technology with interactive quizzes to deliver instant feedback. Users of this resource will be required to demonstrate recall and understanding of basic concepts before gaining access to higher level screencast material, allowing users to construct their own knowledge and discouraging a passive approach to learning.


An e-learning Platform to Promote Active Learning through Screencast Technology by Laura Hancock, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Seeds for Solutions, How does the past inform the future? Innovation projects from 2014/15 #KATS2015

Project Title: Using Twitter in Sociology Teaching and Learning
Project Leader(s): Ala Sirriyeh and Emma Head

The aim of this project is to assess the use of Twitter as a tool to promote enhanced student learning and engagement on a sociology module. The research will evaluate the use of Twitter as a learning tool in a new level seven module 'Race', Racism and Resistance, which will run in semester one, 2014-15. Twitter activities will be designed to connect the online and offline tasks that students are engaging in. This project will contribute to wider debates around the use of social media in higher education teaching and learning.

Using Twitter in Sociology Teaching and Learning - Final Project Report

Using Twitter in Sociology Teaching and Learning by Ala Sirriyeh and Emma Head, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Project Title: Intelligence' and Success at University
Project Leader(s): Yvonne Skipper

Students can think of intelligence as being fixed or malleable. Research suggests that those with a malleable view are more likely to choose challenging learning goals, cope well with setbacks and perform better. This is because they believe that intelligence can be changed with effort.

This project involves delivering an intervention to encourage students to feel that intelligence and success are due to their efforts more than their abilities. This will involve a lecture during Freshers week and reflective activities cross the year. Students will also complete questionnaires to examine how the intervention may have impacted their views and performance.

Intelligence' and Success at University - Final Project Report

Intelligence' and Success at University by Yvonne Skipper, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Seeds for Solutions, How does the past inform the future? Innovation projects from 2013/14 #KATS2015

Project Title: The Use of 3D Printing to Enhance Teaching in the Natural Sciences
Project Leader(s): David Thompson, Matthew O'Brien, Graeme Jones, Jane Essex and Dave McGarvey

The ability to visualise in three dimensions is key to understanding many concepts within the sciences. It is widely acknowledged that this can be difficult for students. This results in a barrier that can impact their ability to progress. To overcome this molecular models are used to help visualise the chemical entity in question. Traditional molecular models represent a reasonable investment for an individual but have significant limitations. This project aims to evaluate the use of 3D printer technology to develop inexpensive models that can overcome this barrier and enhance a student’s learning experience.

The Use of 3D Printing - Final Project Report

The Use of 3D Printing to Enhance Teaching in the Natural Sciences by David Thompson, Matthew O'Brien, Graeme Jones, Jane Essex and Dave McGarvey, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Project Title: Gamification of Information Retrieval from the British National Formulary: A Novel Approach to Student Skill Development
Project Leader(s): Katie Maddock and Jonathan Berry

The British National Formulary (BNF) is a comprehensive resource for information on all drugs available for prescription in the UK. Many drugs have more than one clinical indication and to become safe and efficient practitioners, pharmacy students need to be able to retrieve information from the BNF quickly and accurately. The legacy will be multiplatform, game-based training tool providing a safe, competitive and fun environment in which healthcare professional students can develop and practice these information retrieval skills. Instant, formative feedback will be given for all tasks, fostering and developing deeper learning based upon the information found.

Gamification of Information Retrieval from the British National Formulary: A Novel Approach to Student Skill Development by Katie Maddock and Jonathan Berry, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Seeds for Solutions, How does the past inform the future? Innovation projects from 2013/14 #KATS2015

Project Title: The Use of Muvizu Animation in Physiotherapy Education. A Focus on Professional Education and the Development Knowledge of Professional Responsibility
Project Leader(s): Ben Ambrose, Claire Stapleton, Cath Bucher, Jackie Waterfield, Carole Watkins and Tim Smale

Following the report into the incidents at Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, education providers are being asked to reinforce to students the importance of the professional regulations by which they are bound. This project aims to increase student engagement with this subject, by the use of Xtranormal animation. A range of animated scenarios in which students could find themselves and in which there is a risk of them acting outside of their professional codes of conduct were developed. Students are then able to discuss the ramifications of these scenarios with reference to their codes of professional conduct.

The Use of Muvizu Animation in Physiotherapy Education - Final Project Report

The Use of Muvizu Animation in Physiotherapy Education. A Focus on Professional Education and the Development Knowledge of Professional Responsibility by Ben Ambrose, Claire Stapleton, Cath Bucher, Jackie Waterfield, Carole Watkins and Tim Smale, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Project Title: Training Students to Train Each Other: Resources for Presentation Skills Development
Project Leader(s): Matthew Wyman, Georgina Spencer, Grant Mitchell and Tom Gray

This project – designed by staff and students from Keele’s Debating and Discussion Society collaboratively – aims to produce a series of training videos for presentation and public speaking development. It also aims to deliver a series of training workshops and public speaking master classes and produce a set of guidance notes and materials for academic staff and students interested in helping other students develop their communication skills.

Training Students to Train Each Other: Resources for Presentation Skills Development by Matthew Wyman, Georgina Spencer, Grant Mitchell and Tom Gray, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Seeds for Solutions, How does the past inform the future? Innovation projects from 2013/14 #KATS2015

Project Title: iPads as Collaborative Tools to Enhance Identification Skills in the Lab and Field
Project Leader(s): Sarah Taylor and Patricia Procter

iPads as collaborative tools will deal with the very real problem of declining species identification skills, which has serious implications for employability after graduation. Interactive species identification apps encourage active engagement with the process of identification and provide a means for students to (re)connect with nature. A group-orientated problem solving approach will encourage communication and development of skills based on all their senses (visual, verbal, etc.). The legacy of this project will be a collection of copyright free images of plant species and photo/video reflective diaries that will be a resource for staff and students.

iPads as Collaborative Tools - Final Project Report

iPads as Collaborative Tools to Enhance Identification Skills in the Lab and Field by Sarah Taylor and Patricia Procter, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Project Title: Job-Box: Using 'Virtual Visits' from Employers to Narrow the Gap in Employability Skills
Project Leader(s): Alix Cage and Joanna Wright

Enhancing employability is a high priority, at Keele and nationally, to ensure that we produce high-quality graduates who can immediately contribute to society and the economy. However, many students do not appreciate which employability skills the Environmental sector requires and how best they can develop these. The overall aim of this project is to narrow the disconnect between the skills Keele graduates develop, and the skills graduate employers desire, using increased employer engagement along with innovative multi-media approaches and eLearning platforms. In doing this, we create more confident students and better networking opportunities for all students, irrespective of socio-economic backgrounds.

Job-Box: Using 'Virtual Visits' from Employers to Narrow the Gap in Employability Skills by Alix Cage and Joanna Wright, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Seeds for Solutions, How does the past inform the future? Innovation projects from 2013/14 #KATS2015

Project Title: 'Forewarned is Forearmed': Enhancing the Employability of Keele University's Economic Geologists
Project Leader(s): Brian O'Driscoll, Alan Butcher and Ralf Gertisser

Interview skills are arguably one of the most practical and transferable skill-sets of all, and yet amazingly many students find themselves interviewing for the first time after graduating, when the stakes are high and when a lack of experience can mean that they pay a heavy price for being unprepared. The mineral resources industry is a rapidly expanding employment sector nationally and internationally, but is still ultra-competitive. This teaching innovation proposal aims to ‘arm’ Keele University Economic Geology graduates with an interview experience that will bridge the gap between university learning and securing their first position in the employment sector.

'Forewarned is Forearmed': Enhancing the Employability of Keele University's Economic Geologists by Brian O'Driscoll, Alan Butcher and Ralf Gertisser, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Project Title: Have Your Say: Keele in Two Ticks Video Wall
Project Leader(s): Beth Johnson

Videoing via mobile telephones (smart phones) or other recording devices is a facility with which a majority of students are familiar within a social context. This project intends to promote the use of videoing in order to reflect upon and suggest innovative ways of improving teaching and learning within a pedagogical context.

The Have Your Say: Keele in Two Ticks Video Wall project asks Film Studies and Media, Communications and Culture students to respond to specific pedagogical themes/issues/questions by recording and uploading on the KLE two minute videos. An example theme is ‘Your feedback on our feedback’. The themed video wall will be moderated by a member of staff and the topic/theme will change every 8 weeks to keep the wall fresh and progressive. Videos will be recorded on smartphones or other recording devices so no special equipment is required. The purpose of the video wall is to give students a voice and provide an arena where they have the opportunity to reflect upon their own learning and teaching.

Have Your Say: Keele in Two Ticks Video Wall by Beth Johnson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Seeds for Solutions, How does the past inform the future? Innovation projects from 2013/14 #KATS2015

Project Title: TechExplorer: Exploring the Ways in Which Students use Technology to Support Their Own Learning Activities
Project Leader(s): Pete Lonsdale

Many students use a range of technologies to support their learning. Others may wish to use them but are not sure how. We will explore student technology use and share those practices through an online community. Students will be recruited to focus groups and diary studies that will provide us with case studies and demonstrations of the effective use of technology for self-directed learning. We will use these to enhance our understanding of how Keele students use technology for learning so that we can improve the support we offer through existing online services, or offer new ones if needed.

TechExplorer: Exploring the Ways in Which Students use Technology to Support Their Own Learning Activities by Pete Lonsdale is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Project Title: Once Upon a Molecule
Project Leader(s): Katherine Haxton

Narrative tools in teaching make use of the idea that all humans are essentially storytellers who can construct stories to make greater sense of knowledge and experience. The use of narrative tools may allow us to overcome key issues in current Chemistry teaching, particularly where students fail to draw on prior learning to solve problems in class. The modular system, or strategic assessment driven learning styles may make this more problematic. This project will encourage students to investigate the complexity of chemistry and related multidisciplinary issues through narratives in polymer, environmental and industrial chemistry.

Once Upon a Molecule by Katherine Haxton, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Seeds for Solutions, How does the past inform the future? Innovation projects from 2012/13 #KATS2015

Project Title: Keele International Reflections: Developing an Online Blog on Internationalisation and Intercultural Learning
Project Leader(s): Emee Estacio and Pete Lonsdale

The growing international diversity in UK higher education has the potential to enhance intercultural learning but there is very little discussion within Keele University on how we can maximise its benefits. This project aims to develop an online blog to facilitate discussion on how internationalisation can foster intercultural learning. Students will be engaged in its development and pilot evaluation before being launched to a wider audience. It is hoped that this project can provide the foundations of an online discussion at Keele University to allow students and staff members to share their experiences and reflections on internationalisation and intercultural learning.

Keele International Reflections - Report

Keele International Reflections - Final Project Report

Keele International Reflections: Developing an Online Blog on Internationalisation and Intercultural Learning by Emee Estacio and Pete Lonsdale, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Project Title: Dramatizing Theory in Practice
Project Leader(s): Anita Mangan and Mihaela Kelemen

Dr Anita Mangan and Professor Mihaela Kelemen, Keele Management School, have teamed up with Sue Moffat, New Vic Borderlines, to create a series of drama workshops for the MA in Management and MA in International Business students. The project, called ‘Dramatizing Theory in Practice’, was devised in response to student feedback about internationalisation at Keele and it has two aims. The first to increase socialisation opportunities between international and home students and the second is to provide students with an opportunity to learn about key Critical Management Studies theories through a series of practical and experiential drama exercises.

Dramatizing Theory in Practice - Presentation Slides


Dramatizing Theory in Practice by Anita Mangan and Mihaela Kelemen, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Project Title: Get Animated! Student as Co-producer in the Development of Audio-visual Study Support Resources
Project Leader(s): Verity Aiken, Ian Ronald, Tim Hinchcliffe and Claire Slater-Mamlouk

‘Get Animated!’ is a competition for students to communicate their own understanding of how they develop as learners by using free open source software to create their own video animations to share their tips and experiences of learning to learn. Tapping into recent research that argues for a model of ‘co-production’ between student and University (McCulloch 2009), the project seeks to integrate the student perspective into study support resources in a way that captures a sense of doing ‘learning to learn’. Its legacy will be a pool of authentic student-led study support materials for both staff and student use.

Get Animated! Student as Co-producer in the Development of Audio-visual Study Support Resources by Verity Aiken, Ian Ronald, Tim Hinchcliffe and Claire Slater-Mamlouk, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Seeds for Solutions, How does the past inform the future? Innovation projects from 2012/13 #KATS2015

Project Title: Developing the Information Literacy Skills of New Students: Bridging the Gap Between School and University
Project Leader(s): Richard Waller, Peter Knight, Debbie Moss, Paul Reynolds and Georgina Spencer

Information literacy is central to the university learning experience, enabling students to locate, evaluate and synthesise information from a range of sources and thereby to appreciate the rapid and often disputed developments at the forefront of their disciplines. Previous research has demonstrated the existence of a skills gap, with students arriving at university lacking the information literacy skills required to locate and engage with advanced resources such as journals. This project will explore the information skills and strategies developed with secondary education, compare these with university expectations and develop a range of practical resources to help address the gaps identified.

Developing the Information Literacy Skills of New Students: Bridging the Gap Between School and University by Richard Waller, Peter Knight, Debbie Moss, Paul Reynolds and Georgina Spencer, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Project Title: A Year in the Life Of
Project Leader(s): Sheila Hope

“A year in the life of....” will be a collection of reflective blogs covering every aspect of University life produced by a group of students from all three years of the biochemistry programme. The blog collection will be used as a resource by the biochemistry students to help ease their progression through the programme. Followers of the blogs will be able to relate their own experiences to those of the bloggers and will benefit from seeing the different approaches to common issues. The bloggers will be able to evidence development of several of the graduate attributes.

Final Report - A Year in the Life Of

A Year in the Life Of by Sheila Hope, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Seeds for Solutions, How does the past inform the future? Innovation projects from 2012/13 #KATS2015

Project Title: Educational Egaming to Improve Student Engagement and Promote Inter-disciplinary Learning
Project Leader(s): Jamie Pringle, Luke Bracegirdle and Jackie Potter

This e-game will tap into current undergraduate so-called ‘Y’ generation interests in virtual gaming, providing a novel and complementary learning method. A multi-disciplinary approach for site investigations will be employed to deepen student’s understanding of real-world problems and their solutions. The immersive virtual egame will ensure student engagement, enhance subject knowledge and apply skills to a new situation. Project deliverables will have the e-game freely available on the internet for registered users, ability for the programmers to alter for other interested academics to utilise, disseminate results at appropriate conferences and publication of both educational and academic action research articles.

Educational Egaming - Final Project Report

Educational Egaming to Improve Student Engagement and Promote Inter-disciplinary Learning by Jamie Pringle, Luke Bracegirdle and Jackie Potter, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Project Title: Development, Application and Evaluation of Web 2.0 Technology to Enhance the Student Experience - Keele Student Bites
Project Leader(s): Russell Crawford, Andrew Morris, William Stockton and Steve Clipstone

This project will produce a series of student-generated video-based guided study resources dedicated to addressing issues impacting on student motivation in higher education. Students from Keele will help us design, create, shoot, edit and evaluate these novel resources, called Keele Student Bites, as part of an existing open-access Web 2.0 resource (Keele Basic Bites). These motivational resources will focus upon relevant issues of seeking help, keeping up with workloads, time management, organisation skills, homesickness and a host of other issues that impact on student learning, and in this way enhance the university experience for all students.

Keele Student Bites - Final Report

Development, Application and Evaluation of Web 2.0 Technology to Enhance the Student Experience - Keele Student Bites by Russell Crawford, Andrew Morris, William Stockton and Steve Clipstone, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Seeds for Solutions, How does the past inform the future? Innovation projects from 2012/13 #KATS2015

Project Title: Study Write - An Interactive Resource for Improving Academic Scholarship
Project Leader(s): Dan Harding, Scott McGowan, Emma Surman, Teresa Oultram and Alhajie Saidy-Khan

Study Write is a series of six online videos and interactive quizzes designed to improve students understanding of academic scholarship. It will:

• raise awareness of how the various aspects featured on the video underpin academic development,
• explain to students the importance of sound academic practice,
• provide examples of good practice and encourage the development of a range or related skills in writing and research
• provide an authoritative resource for students (and staff) at a distance, especially those on the KMS international programmes, and,
• enable students who are coming to the UK to study from overseas to familiarise themselves with scholarship issues at their own pace and prior to arriving at Keele.

It will enable students to:

• know the territory of academic scholarship,
• identify the different types of information source found there,
• read the “map” to find the best route from “reading and assessing” sources to “writing and referencing” (from Study to Write),
• equip themselves with the tools to enable them to plan and complete their journey (e.g. searching, reading, note taking, assessing and referencing skills), and, avoid some of the hazards and pitfalls along the way.

Study Write - Final Project Report

Study Write - An Interactive Resource for Improving Academic Scholarship by Dan Harding, Scott McGowan, Emma Surman, Teresa Oultram and Alhajie Saidy-Khan, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Project Title: Chemistry Laboratory Engagement and Assessment of Risk and Safety (CLEARS)
Project Leader(s): Katherine Haxton and Laura Hancock

The development of laboratory safety skills and good laboratory citizenship are key subject specific graduate attributes for a Chemistry degree programme. This project will design, implement and evaluate several innovative safety activities including risk awareness activities, safety focussed pre-laboratory exercises designed to test understanding as well as awareness of common safety procedures, student-led safety teams in laboratories and an ‘attitude to risk’ questionnaire to evaluate the change in attitude of students from the start of their degree through to their final year project.

CLEARS - Final Project Report

Chemistry Laboratory Engagement and Assessment of Risk and Safety (CLEARS) by Katherine Haxton and Laura Hancock, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Seeds for Solutions, How does the past inform the future? Innovation projects from 2011/12 #KATS2015

Project Title: Using Flip Cameras to Enhance Student Employability Whilst Strengthening Employer Engagement
Project Leader(s): Dan Harding, Krys Manifold, Pat Leadbeater and Colin Rigby

Postgraduate students studying MA and MSc programmes were given the opportunity to utilise ultraportable video equipment to enhance their reflective practice whilst on internship placements. The project addressed a student-led demand for specialised equipment, equipping 8 student volunteers with Flip video cameras to record weekly diary entries. They were then privately shared with academic supervisors via YouTube. Previous reflective exercises had been ineffective in capturing student enthusiasm and failed to provide a valuable communicative link between students and their tutors. The success of the pilot led to the equipment being used for other School and University activities. Plans to expand the project are already in place and will form part of future internship programmes. During the session, attendees will see the processes which led to the project’s introduction, view student testimonials and hear from staff who decided to use the equipment. The session is broadly aimed at academic and support staff and will demonstrate how intuitive technology can be utilised without the need for intensive I.T. support.

Using Flip Video Cameras to Enhance Student Employability - Poster

Prezi (delivered at both the Keele Teaching Symposium and ALT-C 2012)

Using Flip Cameras to Enhance Student Employability Whilst Strengthening Employer Engagement by Dan Harding, Krys Manifold, Pat Leadbeater and Colin Rigby, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Seeds for Solutions, How does the past inform the future? Innovation projects from 2010/11 #KATS2015

Project Title: PsyText: Using Mobile Text Messaging to Support Communication, Engagement and Interactive Activities in Psychology Teaching
Project Leader(s): Pete Lonsdale, Chris Stiff and Alex Lamont

We intend to use mobile text messaging (SMS) to support three areas of work, to address the issues identified above:

1. Communication with students: we have identified a need to expand the range of methods available to send information to students, especially information that is last minute or urgent (for example, notification of a workshop that has been rescheduled or has been organised due to demand). We propose to mobile text messaging to send information to students that requires their urgent attention. This can be achieved through the use of web-based tools for easily sending text messages to multiple participants. Students will be asked to submit their mobile contact number to a database which will then be used to setup specific groups that can contacted directly, i.e. without having to send out global messages. This kind of functionality is provided by web-based providers such as TextAnywhere.
2. Data collection in the field: students already collect field data for use in lab classes, but this collection process is carried out away from the lab and as such students do not receive any prompts or feedback on the data they collect until after it has been collected. We propose to design data collection activities that allow students to receive prompts and information via text messages that can guide and encourage their data collection. Feedback could also be provided about how much data has been collected and the nature of that data. The intention is to provide a more structured experience, giving feedback in situ and then easily building a shared pool of data to which all students have contributed. Prompts sent out to collect data at specific times or during specific situations could also enhance the research process itself, allowing experience sampling or time-based sampling to be easily coordinated. This would give students expanded experience of the range of data collection methods used in Psychology and potentially provide new avenues for them to pursue in their own individual dissertation projects. Mobile text messaging has previously been used in the behavioural sciences to enable data collection (for example Reimers and Stewart, 2009) and we propose to build on this work to produce something that is relevant and useful for teaching at Keele.

Interactive activities: a number of projects have demonstrated the potential for mobile technologies to engage students and provide a means to involve them in interactive learning activities that can take place beyond the classroom (key examples include Facer et al., 2004; Klopfer and Squire, 2008). Text messaging has also been shown as one way of creating these activities (for example Flintham et al., 2007). We propose use mobile text messages to facilitate an interactive activity that students take part by sending and receiving text messages on their own mobile phones. A number of psychological phenomena would lend themselves well to this approach, for example choosing a course of action or specifying a preference after receiving a number of specific cues would allow us to demonstrate the impact of bias and prejudice in decision making.

PsyText - Final Report

PsyText: Using Mobile Text Messaging to Support Communication, Engagement and Interactive Activities in Psychology Teaching by Pete Lonsdale, Chris Stiff and Alex Lamont, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Project Title: The Use of Video Games in Learning and Teaching
Project Leader(s): Mark Featherstone

The aim of this project is to integrate popular video games into the learning experience of students through:

(a) their inclusion in the academic content and assessment regime of particular modules on the Sociology and Media, Communications, and Culture programmes and

(b) the design of a new module appropriate for both Sociology and Media, Communications, and Culture that would consider the history, meaning, and importance of video games to contemporary society.

Funding is sought to employ a Research Assistant working in the field of video games to spend 90 hours in total investigating (a) the copyright issues and cost effectiveness of the use of commercial video games in learning and teaching, (b) the critical literature on the use of video games in module design, and (c) a review of key contemporary video games that should be employed on a module on the meaning of gaming. The Research Assistant will spend 30 hours on each section of project and provide a report at each stage of the project as explained in the timetable (point 9). On the basis of this evidence the principal investigator will complete the assessment and module design elements of the project and produce a final report.

The Use of Video Games in Learning and Teaching by Mark Featherstone, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Project Title: Deeper Understanding and Faster Feedback: A Question Bank for Computer Assisted Assessment in Physics

Project Leader(s): Boyd Duffee, Rob Jefferies and Coel Hellier

The National Student Survey (NSS) 2007 highlighted the need for better feedback to students on their work. By giving students regular formative evaluation early and often in the course, their engagement with the course improves. Student response to on-line learning activities is overwhelmingly positive and on-line learning systems can collect data that shows how much a student has engaged with the material. This data can identify students at risk of leaving or failing allowing early intervention.

This project aims to create a question bank of physics problems to pump-prime the use of on-line assessment in Physics in order to improve feedback, promote student engagement and raise retention by identifying at-risk students. We are targeting mathematical skills in physics because difficulties with maths are the primary academic reason for withdrawal from the Physics and Astrophysics courses. Mathematical skills are the bedrock of everything that follows in a linear course like Physics/Astrophysics. Strengthening those skills early in the program will reap benefits in the following years, allowing students to concentrate on the physical concepts being presented, rather than struggling with the mathematical representations.

Deeper Understanding and Faster Feedback: A Question Bank for Computer Assisted Assessment in Physics by Boyd Duffee, Rob Jefferies and Coel Hellier, Keele University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.