Teaching Innovation Awards
Teaching Innovation Awards are one way the University recognises, celebrates and promotes excellence in learning and teaching. These awards are open to all of our learning and teaching community, and we actively welcome applications from students, academic and learning support staff.
Awards will open 9th December 2024
Deadline 5th March 2025
Within the Teaching Innovation Awards (TIAs) there are five sub-categories of awards:
Teaching Innovation Award (TIA)
Teaching Innovation Award (TIA) is our long-standing award for funding and recognition to support your innovative learning and teaching related project, this funding may be used to buy equipment or resources or attendance at an event or conference for example.
Student Education Research Placement TIA
Student Education Research Placement TIA are a sub-category to fund awards that would like a summer student placement to support their project.
Inclusivity in TIA
Inclusivity in TIA funds innovative applications in the area of inclusivity in learning and teaching.
STEMLab TIA
STEMLab TIA was introduced with the opening of the STEMLab facility. These should be practice-based projects aimed at facilitating new developments, grounded in innovative teaching practice, in the use of STEMLab to improve the student learning experience.
DigiLab TIA
The DigiLab TIA has been introduced to facilitate new developments, grounded in innovative teaching practice, in the use of the new DigiLab equipment to improve the student learning experience.
Information on how to apply
All subcategories require the same application form, guidance may differ between the categories so please consult this to inform your application. The STEMLab, DIGI Lab and Student Education Research Placement TIAs will have a process of recruitment for the student summer placements after projects have been awarded.
Tens of thousands of pounds have been awarded over the years to fund new initiatives and pedagogic research projects contributing directly to the quality of our teaching and learning at Loughborough. Each Teaching Innovation Award and Inclusivity in Teaching Innovation Award is up to a maximum of £2500. The Scheme is managed and administered by Organisational Development.
Applications are invited from students, academic staff and learning support staff.
Guidance and Forms
Previous Winners
Teaching Innovation Award Recipients 2024
Award | Recipient | Department | Project Title |
Teaching Innovation Award | Dr Firat Batmaz, Dr Sean Mitchell & Dr Gary Storey | School of Science & Sports Technology Institute | Enhancing Learning Through AI-Powered Feedback on Learn Quiz |
Teaching Innovation Award | Dr Nikki Clark | SDCA and ABCE | ‘Taking Design to the People’: A collaborative approach to empower students to become facilitators of vibrant and inclusive communities through localised public showcasing of their creative and practical talents. |
Teaching Innovation Award | Dr Elaine Conway | Loughborough Business School | Using games to support the teaching of business and organisational metrics |
Teaching Innovation Award | Dr. Marianna Joy Coulentianos | SDCA | Exploring the Climate Fresk model of sustainability education for and by students |
Teaching Innovation Award |
Dr Fred Dalmasso, Senior Lecturer in Creative Arts &
Karen Sung, Postdoctoral Research Associate (Digital Creativity Lab)
|
SDCA | Storytelling for the Digital Futures: innovative teaching of Digital Storytelling to Design and Creative Art students using Virtual Reality technology. |
Student Education Research |
James Fleming,
Peter Hubbard & Tim Harrison.
|
Wolfson School of MEME | Virtual laboratories for problem-based learning in control engineering |
Inclusivity in Teaching |
Emily Hansell & Dr Asya Barutcu
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SSEHS | The Track to Unlocking Potential: Enhancing the Transition of International Students on Vocational/Practitioner-Focused Sports Science Programmes |
STEMLab Teaching Innovation Award | Dr Imogen Heaton, Richard Harland & Dr Tom Claxton | School of Science | Concept, synthesis, analysis; linking chemistry students labs through the redesign of computation, synthetic and instrumentation labs. |
Student Education Research | Dr Laura Justham | Wolfson School of MEME | Developing tools to support Neurodivergent Students during group project work. |
DIGI Lab Teaching Innovation Award | Prof. Steven Kenny | AACME | 3D Visualization of Engineering and Scientific Structures |
Teaching Innovation Award | Dr Ola Krukowska-Burke and Dr Laura Jenkins | SSEHS | It’s not only what you say, but also how you say it – exploring the effectiveness of various modes of feedback for written assignments. |
Student Education Research | Dr Matt McCullock and Dr Laura Crawford | SSH | Demystifying the hidden curriculum at Loughborough University (LU) |
Teaching Innovation Award | Professor K. Morrison | School of Science | Embedding open-source patterning of microelectronics in teaching labs |
DIGI Lab Teaching Innovation Award |
Dr Andrea Paoli & Dr Pedro Ferreira
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Wolfson School of MEME | RERLab – Remote Educational Robotics Lab |
Teaching Innovation Award |
Dr Helena Pimlott-Wilson
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SSH | Bridging the Gap: Degree skills applied in the workplace |
DIGI Lab Teaching Innovation Award |
Prof Valerie Pinfield, Dr Dan Butcher & Dr Bjorn Cleton
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AACME | Digiflow: enhancing fluid mechanics learning by digital visualisation technologies |
DIGI Lab Teaching Innovation Award |
Dr Elizabeth Ratcliffe &
Professor Valerie Pinfield
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AACME/ Cross school | Developing Digilabs in the Bio-curriculum; SimBioLab |
DIGI Lab Teaching Innovation Award |
Mr John Warren
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SSEHS | DIGI Labs Virtual Anatomy |
DIGI Lab Teaching Innovation Award |
Mhairi Morris
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SSEHS | The Power of Play: Elevating Bioscience Education Through Gamification |
Teaching Innovation Award Recipients 2023
Award | Recipient | Department | Project Title |
Teaching Innovation Award | Paul Fleming, Scott Fernie, Matt Frost, Tom Dijkstra, Tim Marjoribanks | ABCE | Student Assessment Mapping |
Teaching Innovation Award | Dr Alessandro Palmeri, Dr Mariateresa Lombardo, Dr Mohamed Shaheen, Mr Benjamin Pearson | ABCE | Bridging Structural Forms, Computer Analyses, and Experimental Testing |
Teaching Innovation Award | Dr Chris Parker, Dr Ian Jones (Department of Mathematics Education, School of Science) Dr Matt Smith (School of Design and Creative Arts) | SDCA | IDEA: Improving Design students’ Empathy Application (IDEA) |
Teaching Innovation Award | Dr Roger Newport, Professor Sandie Dann, Dr Vivien Chow, Dr Sian Williams, Anna Leather | SSEHS | Cross-University Public & Community Engagement Postgraduate Short Course |
Teaching Innovation Award | Dr Hilary McDermott, Dr David Maidment, Team- Mr Jawad Bokhari, Part A Student Rep Mr James Cooper, Part A Student Rep Miss Jiya Neol, Part A Student Rep | SSEHS | ‘What to Know Before You Go: A digital information resource to support the transition to University and enhance belonging’’ |
Teaching Innovation Award | Dr Richard Hodgkins, Dr Allan Watson, Ms Sharon Walker | SSH | Lboro Low-Carbon Careers Forum |
Teaching Innovation Award | Dr Matt Long | SSH | The use of appropriate humour to trigger psychological reversals in students in order to enhance learning. |
Inclusivity in Teaching | Dr Amy Jones | SSEHS | A pilot investigating the use of real-time English subtitles and individual student first-language subtitles |
Student Education Research Placement | Dr. Sara Saravi, Dr. Parisa Derakhshan, Dr. Hossein Nevisi, Dr. Bjorn Cleton, Dr. Firat Batmaz | Science | Trial of AI-assistant for providing additional support to students |
Student Education Research Placement | Professor Karen Coopman, Dr Paul Cunningham, Dr Katryna Kalawsky | AACME | Embedding EDI considerations into research projects |
Student Education Research Placement | Dr Thomas Steffen, Dr Byron Mason, Dr Dan O'Boy, Dr Simon Tuplin | AACME | Teaching Sustainable Automotive Engineering using an Electric Vehicle |
STEMLab Innovation Award | Dr Peter Hubbard | Wolfson | STEM TIA – Digital Twins in Designing Automatic Systems |
STEMLab Innovation Award | Dr Daniel Butcher, Dr Duncan Walker, Dr Rebecca Grant, Dr Huayong Zhao, Mr Conor Crickmore | AACME | Student-led labs - Improving opportunity for experiential learning in STEM |
STEMLab Innovation Award | Dr Ian McPherson, Dr Imogen Heaton, Dr Simon Kondrat | Science | Bringing Energy Storage Research into Second Year Chemistry Labs |
Teaching Innovation Award Recipients 2022
Award |
Recipient |
Department |
Project Title |
Teaching Innovation Award |
Dr Matt Sinclair |
Design and Creative Arts |
3D Modelling in Virtual Reality |
Teaching Innovation Award |
John Warren |
School of Sport, Exercise, and Health Science |
Effective flipped learning for practical laboratory |
Teaching Innovation Award |
Dr George Torrens |
Design and Creative Arts |
Supporting Design Students with A.P.U.S. |
Inclusivity in Teaching |
Dr Anthony Papathomas |
School of Sport, Exercise, and Health Science |
iREAD: Creating an immersive core reading experience through pedagogically enhanced PDFs |
Inclusivity in Teaching |
Dr Christopher Wilson, Dr Allyson King, Dr Amanda Berry |
School of Business and Economics |
A Peer Match-Up Service to Boost Student Interaction, Inclusion and Well-Being |
Student Education Research Placement |
Dr Nicola Jennings |
School of Science |
A gamification approach to teaching referencing skills: “The Ref-Buddy” |
Student Education Research Placement |
Dr Stuart Cockbill |
Design and Creative Arts |
Developing a programme design ‘Playbook’ using a Service Design & Design Futures Approach |
Student Education Research Placement |
Dr Hossein Nevisi, Dr Sara Saravi, Dr Parisa Derakhshan |
School of Science |
Piloting AI approaches within the Learning and Teaching space |
Student Education Research Placement |
Dr Jonathan Wagner |
AACME / AAE and Materials departments |
Multi-criteria decision making for 21st century chemical engineering design |
Teaching Innovation Award Recipients 2021
Award |
Recipient |
Department |
Project Title |
Teaching Innovation Award |
Dr Jessica Noske-Turner, Professor Jo Tacchi, Graham Hitchen |
Loughborough University London, Institute for Media and Creative Industries |
Pedagogy of the Pod: Using student podcasts as creative assessment in media and communication graduate programmes |
Teaching Innovation Award |
Dr Christopher J. Parker, Dr Val Mitchell |
Design and Creative Arts |
IDEATE: Improvisation Design Education pedagogy |
Teaching Innovation Award |
Dr Catherine Rees, Andy Bayley, Alex Marlowe |
School of Design and Creative Arts/School of Business and Economics/LSU |
Developing Professional Presentation Skills for SBE undergraduates: Integrating Drama and Business. |
Teaching Innovation Award |
Dr Fran Azpitarte, Dr Adrian Leguina, Dr Laura Houldcroft, Harry Mistry |
School of Social Sciences and Humanities (Social Policy Studies) and School of Sport, Exercise, and Health Science |
We are not scared of numbers:Experiences of recent alumni developing a growth mindset towards quantitative methods in social and behavioural sciences |
Inclusivity in Teaching |
Dr Kerri Akiwowo; Mr Kit Neale; Dr Chetna Prajapati |
Design and Creative Design: Textiles |
Diverse Voices in Textiles |
Inclusivity in Teaching |
Dr. Saul Albert and Dr. Jessica Robles |
SSH |
EMCA4RJ (Ethnomethodology & Conversation Analysis for Racial Justice) Teaching Corpus |
STEMLab Innovation Award |
Professor Steve Christie |
Science/Chemistry |
Virtual Reality in Chemistry delivery within STEMLab |
STEMLab Innovation Award |
Dr Sheryl Williams, Dr Ben Clark and Dr Alford Chauraya |
Wolfson School |
Transforming existing ELVIS-II based laboratory equipment in STEMLab for use in blended learning activities. |
Student Education Research Placement |
Dr Fiona Hatton, Professor Lisa Jackson, Aisha Benachour |
AACME / AAE and Materials departments |
Inclusive problem-based flipped learning for Induction Days |
Student Education Research Placement |
Professor Adrian Spencer and Carl Eberlein |
AAE |
Compressible Flow Teaching Apps |
Teaching Innovation Award Recipients 2020
Recipient |
Department |
Project Title |
Marie Hanlon, Nicola Jennings, Nick Bostock, Surya Mahdi, James Moran, Lee Barnett |
Science, Academic Language Support Service, LUL, CAP |
Training students in assessment processes with a Personal Review Portfolio (PReP) |
Caroline Lowery, Lisa Brooks-Lewis, Veronica Moore |
IT Services, Student Wellbeing and Inclusion |
Student perspectives on Learning Analytics and its use to support their learning |
Paul Fleming, Chris Goodier, David Allinson, Matyas Gutai |
ABCE |
ABCE Part A Extended Induction for Engagement and Inclusivity |
Sarah Bugby, Glyn Spencer, James Moran |
Science/Physics, CAP |
STEMLab CSI |
Ian Jones, Rupal Mandania |
Science/MEC, SBE |
Sustainable Automated Assessment of Quantitative Modules Across the University |
Marco Discacciati |
Science/ Mathematics |
Computer Skills Builder: Enhancing Employability Through Digital Fluency |
Andrew Kingsnorth, Dale Esliger, Nicola Paine, Lauren Sherar |
SSEHS |
Embedding employability skills in the Exercise as Medicine curriculum through active experimentation: the Health Assessment Service |
Hilary McDermott, Emma Haycraft, Roger Newport, Owen Henderson (student) |
SSEHS |
Best practice for effective teaching; Development of new approaches and a model for enhanced programme delivery and management |
John Warren |
SSEHS |
Training students in assessment processes with a Personal Review Portfolio (PReP) |
Louise Nicholas, Sarah Bamforth |
Social Sciences and Humanities CAP |
Virtual(ly) Learning Environment: Integrating VR into teaching green issues |
Tendai Dube, Sheryl Williams |
Wolfson School |
Evaluation of the effective use of an e-portfolio builder for Apprenticeship Programme |
Teaching Innovation Awards Recipients 2019
Category |
Recipient |
Department |
Project Title |
TIA |
Roberta Bernabei, Matt Hope |
Arts and Centre for Academic Practice |
Levelling the playing field: using ReView personal capture for students' presentations |
TIA |
Dr Thomas Thurnell-Read |
Social Science |
Using Video to Bring Real World Applications into the Classroom to Enhance Student Learning |
TIA |
Dr Ksenija Kuzmina, James Moran, Adam Adesina, Dr Thor Roser |
Institute for Design Innovation and Centre for Academic Practice |
Embedding ‘Reflection’ into Student’s Learning Journey |
TIA |
Professor Chris Keylock, Dr Tim Marjoribanks, Dr Rob Schmidt III, Dr Sergio Cavalaro, Dr Andrew Timmis |
School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering |
The Sustainable Built Environment in the Context of the Catchment: A Platform for Multidisciplinary, Enquiry-Based Learning |
TIA |
Dr Christopher Kay, Jenny Ardley |
Social Science |
The “virtual client”: Technology Enhanced Learning and its role in improving the student learning experience and educating for success |
TIA |
Dr Garrath Wilson, Dr Martin Maguire, Dr Firat Batmaz, Samantha Chester, James Moran |
Design School, School of Science and Centre for Academic Practice |
New Realities in HE Curriculum: a model for interdisciplinary design and creation in VR |
Inclusivity TIA |
Dr Clive Trusson, Dr Cheryl Travers |
School of Business and Economics |
Employability skills, work placements and career preparation: the learning and development experience of undergraduate students with autism spectrum conditions throughout their degree courses. |
Inclusivity TIA |
Jackie Hatfield, Tina Horsman |
Student Services |
Mobile LEGO® Serious Play® Lab: To support critical thinking, creativity, innovation and reflection |
STEMLab TIA |
Dr Sweta Ladwa, Dr Simon Cox, Monika Pietrzak, Dr Paul Roach |
Chemistry and Chemical Engineering |
A Cross-Collaboration Development of Pre-Lab Online Resources for Biological Laboratory Teaching |
STEMLab TIA |
John Newton |
Aeronautical and Automotive Engineering |
Online Tutorials for STEMLab Laser and Foam CNC cutters |
Teaching Innovation Award Recipients 2018
Recipient |
Department |
Project Title |
Anje Conradie, Sandie Dann, Karligash Glass, Sarah Turner, Sian Williams |
Science |
Utilising tablets to enhance the lecture capture staff-student experience |
CReW – Rachel Sandford, Oliver Hooper |
SSEHS |
Extension of the Critical Reading and Writing CReW Project |
Amanda Harrington |
SBE |
Student engagement: Facilitating critical and criteria-based feedback in large cohorts to improve writing skills |
Martin Foster |
SSEHS |
Developing real-world collaborative project management for digital citizens |
Hilary McDermott, Julia Sargent (s), Emma Haycraft, Lee Barnett |
SSEHS |
Know what I mean? Enhancing student understanding of assessment standards and feedback |
Firat Batmaz, Sandie Dann, Helen Willcock, Mike Walsh, Sarah Turner, Lee Barnet, Samantha Chester, Aaron Grimley |
Science/AACME/CAP |
STEMLab Virtual Reality – taking STEM teaching to the next level |
Mark Everitt, Glyn Spencer, Shaun Atherton |
Science |
Revolutionising the Undergraduate Physics laboratory by realising the potential of STEM-Lab |
James Flint |
Wolfson |
Learn or OneNote – which offers the best learning experience |
Teaching Innovation Award Recipients 2017
Recipient |
Department |
Project Title |
Simon Hogg, Mary Brewer, Lewis Wood |
AACME/ AED/LSU |
Developing Excellence in Independent Learning |
Samantha Chester/ Sandie Dann, Firat Batmaz, Sean Slingsby, Lee Barnett |
Chemistry/ Computer Science/ Science IT/ CAP |
Virtual Reality in STEM Teaching |
Ian Jones |
MEC |
Improving Assessment and Feedback Across Quantitative Modules |
Jo Barnes, Victoria Haines |
LDS |
Development of guidelines and tools for peer review assessment in group coursework |
Vicky Lofthouse, Val Mitchel, Erik Bohemia, Carolina Escobar Tello |
LDS/LUL |
Building empathy and understanding to support the teaching of Chinese masters students TIA final report form vicky lofthouse |
Ksenia Chmutina, Lee Bosher, Rob Schmidt III, Jason Fricker (student) |
CBE, Architecture |
Disaster risk reduction is child’s play |
Richard Holdich |
Chemical Engineering |
Student Enhanced Visualisation of Engineering Processes through Virtual Reality |
Nicola Jennings, Ben Buckley, Mike Cropper |
Chemistry, Physics |
Application of Academic Guidance Wheel in the Practical Assessment of STEM Undergraduates and Foundation Year Students. |
Yvonne Cornejo |
Language Centre |
Creating student-led academic travel Vlogs to use as teaching material in Language classes |
Rachel Sandford, Oliver Hooper (PGR) |
SSEHS |
The Critical Reading and Writing (CReW) Project |
Jamie Kenyon |
SSEHS |
Integrating real-world practice in the Part A sport management curriculum |
Teaching Innovation Award Recipients 2016
Recipient | Department | Project Title |
Jo Bullard/ Shung Hua Yang | SPSGS/SCI | Using Augmented Reality to Improve Geomorphological Understanding |
Karisa Krcmar | CDS |
An exploration of the benefits of active learning strategies |
Ella-Mae Hubbard/ Joshua Goodman | WMME | Understanding and exploiting threshold concepts |
David Kerr/ Anthony Sutton | WMME | Remotely Accessed Laboratory Suite (RALS) using the Internet of Things |
Sweta Ladwa | SCI | A 'Blueprint' for Peer-Based and Collaborative Learning in a Teaching Laboratory |
Thomas Steffen | AAE | Gamification for Learning in Electrotechnology |
Lauren Sherar | SSEHS | Physical activity and health of children |
George Torrens/ Simon Downs | LDS/AED | Development of a multi-disciplinary, self-learning led resource for practice based students supporting training in research methods, design thinking & decision making |
Marco Bohr/ Alexandre Christoyannopoulos | AED/PHIR | Developing and promoting learning and employability through blogging |
Teaching Innovation Award Recipients 2015
Recipient | Department | Project Title |
Hilary McDermott, Ashley Casey, Lee Barnett and Said Ibeggazene | SSEHS |
Empowering students to develop a ‘user friendly’ framework for LEARN: |
Harry Lane, Emma Giles, Emma Haycraft and Hilary McDermott | SSEHS |
Developing a common language: Enhancing communication and feedback: |
Amanda Berry | SBE |
Video podcasts (Vodcasts) to support placement searching: |
Mark Snape, Kelly Morrison and Michael Walsh | EESE/SCI/LDS |
Developing a student-led video library for undergraduate experimental labs: |
Catherine Armstrong and Lauren Porter | PHIR |
Developing outreach and employability through innovative teaching: bringing together secondary school teachers and future teachers from the Loughborough undergraduate cohort: |
Ian Storer and Karl Hurn | LDS | Capturing and disseminating design expertise across large student cohorts |
Lara Stocchi, Alex Wilson and Chris Wilson | SBE |
Using a Community of Practice to Enhance Learning and Teaching: |
Lee Campbell | AED |
Skype’s the limit: Skype as a tool to enhance classroom engagement and build student enterprise opportunities: |
Simon Martin and Daniel O’Boy | AACME | Drop-in Labs: Exploring Engineering Concepts |
Teaching Innovation Award Recipients 2014
The 2014 Teaching Innovation Awards attracted applications from across the University.
Six staff projects were awarded nearly £19,000 to proactively enhance student learning not only in their departments, but across the University. Some projects will support students at both Loughborough and Loughborough University in London, whilst others have even wider impact within schools, other universities and in industry.
Announcing the award winners at a lunch in their honour, Professor Morag Bell, Pro-Vice Chancellor Teaching said innovation in teaching was important for individual academics, for student learning and in Loughborough University’s reputation for excellence.
The 2014 Teaching Innovation Award winners in alphabetical order are:
Dr Marcus Collins, Dr Catherine Armstrong, Dr Thoralf Klein and Dr Paul Maddrell (Department of Politics, History and International Relations) In writing their dissertation final year students often face their most challenging academic undertaking. At the same time, in preparing to become academics postgraduate researchers (PGRs) are increasingly recognising research alone is often not enough to progress. This project therefore brought together PGRs and final year History undergraduate students in an effort to facilitate both parties development. Current academics, Deena Ingham from CAP and Sammy Davis from the Students’ Union provided training in Peer Assisted Learning to nine PGRs from seven institutions. These PGRs then devised a one day workshop event attended by History undergraduates to aid them in the preparation and writing of their final year dissertation. Feedback from student attendees was extremely positive. In addition to the hands-on teaching experience the project afforded it has led to two paper proposals arising from the data produced. |
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Dr Mark Jepson, Dr Nicola Jennings and Dr Simon Hogg (Department of Materials/Department of Chemistry) Mark, Nicola and Simon’s work has demonstrated the centrality of peer instruction in the process of flipping. Flipping refers to the practice of students ‘pre-learning’ to enable contact time to be used more effectively whilst peer instruction involves students facilitating one another’s learning during lectures. In such a configuration lecturers move away from ‘conveyers of knowledge’ towards facilitators whose skills and higher level of understanding students can draw upon. Feedback from students has been overwhelmingly positive and attendance, despite the material being made available prior to the lecture, was found to be unaffected. |
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Dr Vicky Lofthouse (Loughborough Design School) In collaboration with Mark Shayler at Ape Vicky has a developed, implemented and evaluated a carbon footprinting tool for use by design students. Adapting an existing open-sourced Excel-based tool developed by Ape ‘Dirty Carbon’ has been designed to meet the specific needs of designers. When tested by students the tool was found to outperform 'Sustainable Minds' (one of the market leaders) with respect to the needs of design students. The tool has been made freely available on the Design school website and was recently promoted at the Learn X Design conference in Chicago. The tool also forms a central part of a full teaching package alongside a dedicated lecture and workshop. Conversations regarding the tools wider use are ongoing with other academics within the sector. |
Dr Jonathan Millett (Department of Geography) A key consideration for students undertaking their dissertation is their methodological approach. Failure to choose an appropriate approach can lead to later student difficulties. A vast quantity of information on research methodologies is already available to students – be it via textbooks, Google, journal papers or staff. Jonathan’s project looks to overcome this problem of information overload through the creation of a curated website where relevant information is collated and made easily accessible. Making such basic information available to students allows for contact time with tutors to become more focussed and supports students to work independently. Jonathan has thus far produced three guides and now intends to evaluate the material and investigate how best to deliver it to students. |
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Dr Abby Paterson, Prof. Richard Bibb and Mr James Lenard (Loughborough Design School) Abby, Richard and James looked to evaluate the different types of communication methods employed to help students understand Computer Aided Design (CAD). Four communication methods were evaluated: text only; text with images; video without dialogue; and video with dialogue. Through task-analysis and use of eye-tracking software it was possible to ascertain which method students engaged with the most. It was also possible to discern where exactly students made mistakes, which parts of the task they struggled with and how quickly they completed the task. Text alone was found to be the worst form of communication as judged by the student participants with analysis of eye-tracking showing that students often glanced at and skim-read the instructions leading to misinterpretation. The fewest number of errors were made in the task using video without dialogue whilst a majority of participants reported text with pictures to be the easiest to follow. |
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Dr Sheryl Williams and Dr Richard Blanchard (School of Electronic, Electrical and Systems Engineering) Sheryl and Richard have developed a remote access laboratory that allows students enrolled on Loughborough’s MSc in Renewable Energy by distance learning to perform experiments and download data remotely. Feedback has been positive, with students commenting on the value of using real equipment over simulation software. As the only remote lab of its kind in the world, Sheryl and Richard are currently seeking funding to develop two further new labs and encourage suggestions/enquiries about the labs possible applications in other disciplines. |
Teaching Innovation Award Recipients 2013
Dr Eugenie Hunsicker and Dr Irene Biza (Department of Mathematical Sciences/Maths Education Centre) Eugenie and Irene’s project arose from a challenge commonly faced by teachers of statistics; namely, the identification of suitable datasets for use in teaching statistical methodologies. Not only can this process by time-consuming but the data which is available is often not suitable. An expansion of an Excel tool originally developed by students EDGE allows for the random generation of datasets, producing raw data which can be used across a variety of statistical tests taught at undergraduate level. The tools along with support materials and YouTube videos outlining the process of data generation can be accessed on http://edgestats.lboro.ac.uk/. In addition, a conference paper arising from the project was presented at the CERME 9 conference (Congress of European Research in Mathematics Education) in February 2015. |
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Ms Charlotte Davison and Dr Marcus Collins (Department of Politics, History and International Relations) In 2013/14 Loughborough University admitted its first cohort of students onto its newly created single honours History programme. Led by Marcus, the programme team were keen to encourage students from the existing joint honours History provision to contribute in its design. Seven student researchers, ranging from first year students to alumni, were recruited to gauge student attitudes. Three types of data collection were deployed – questionnaires, surveys and focus groups – reaching over 250 students and generating 28 recommendations which were fed back to the programme team for their consideration. |
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Dr Karen Coopman (Department of Chemical Engineering) Each year 10 to 15 engineering and physical science students join the Centre for Doctoral Training in Regenerative Medicine. In order to work within the regenerative medicine field these students need a grounding in biology, an aspect of which is a practical training course in mammalian cell culture. Due to the difficulty in demonstrating such work and associated safety risks this requires 1-to-1 tuition with researchers working through the practical with a staff member or technician. Despite this, students report not feeling supported or fully understanding the material, having had little familiarity with it previously. To address this Karen has developed an online tutorial to facilitate students pre-learning before participation in the practical work. Consisting of a video demonstration, equipment glossary and a formative quiz the tutorial allows students to better understand the practical portion of the training as well targeting by tutors of areas where understanding may still be lacking. |
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Dr Mashhuda Glencross (Department of Computer Science) Through the development of a hybrid Massive Open Online Course (hMOOC) Mashhuda has combined traditional classroom-based teaching with an online platform. Adopting a flipped approach online resources are made available to students prior to the in-class session leaving contact time free to focus on coursework based tasks and the development of key skills. Google Groups allows for a discussion space for students and the use of Google Hangouts facilitates a range of guest lectures from international academics, partners in industry and employees of Google. |
Dr Ella-Mae Hubbard and Prof. Carys Siemieniuch (School of Electronic, Electrical and Systems Engineering) Ella-Mae and Carys’ project emerged in order to address a perceived shortcoming in student project work. Whilst projects are designed to cover the manufacturing process from inception to completion validation and verification procedures often get side-lined at the expense of designing, building and testing. In response to this, Ella-Mae and Carys looked to develop a framework that allowed for engagement with these important procedures without having to first design and build the initial product. The result was a mixture of pre-produced hardware, software, concepts and different questions through which students could engage with system validation and verification techniques directly. Student input, funded by the Teaching Innovation Award, led to the additional development of a virtual test bench where students could test output that they had previously produced.
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Lamplight Press (School of the Arts, English & Drama) Lamplight Press is a nonprofit, independent publisher based at Loughborough University. Student-led, it affords undergraduate students in Publishing, English, Creative Writing and Art & Illustration the opportunity to develop their skills in publishing, creative writing and graphic and web design. In 2013 Lamplight published two titles: The Maya: A Living Culture In The 21st Century by Ines Varela-Silva and You is for University, a collection of creative writing from students about university life compiled by Sophie-Louise Hyde. |
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Dr Andy Williams (Wolfson School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering) The first stage in a larger project Andy’s focus is three-fold; to better understand the characteristics of the feedback students receive, the way in which students respond to feedback and the ways in which it influences their learning. Andy has placed a mid-point in his Turbo Machinery module where students are provided with a range of different types of feedback (individual oral feedback; group oral feedback; individual written feedback; previous year’s group feedback and sectional grading, where grades are awarded for specific aspects of the project). Students are then asked to reflect on how these different methods of feedback may have influenced their project direction and final report. Preliminary data analysis has found a substantial amount of students do not appear to acknowledge the feedback they receive at all. Furthermore, where feedback was mentioned by students it concerned almost exclusively individual written feedback and to a much lesser extent individual oral feedback. |
Teaching Innovation Award Recipients 2012
Recipient | Department | Project Title |
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Kevin Badni | Design School | Augmented Reality to aid complicated machine setups |
Alexandre Christoyannopoulos | School of Social, Political and Geographical Sciences | Student Buddies: Developing a sustainable peer-mentoring scheme in Politics, History and International Relations Presentation: Mentoring poster |
Regina Frank | School of Business & Economics | Increasing student engagement and employability through use of online discussion groups |
Thomas Jun Tom Page |
Design School | Lego-based learning initiative for systems design and ergonomics teaching – efficiencies in teaching through the use of technology (Lego Mindstorms NXT: programmable robotics kit) Presentation: Lego-based learning presentation |
Robert Knight | School of Social, Political and Geographical Sciences | Linking the local to the international: Embedding oral history and eyewitness accounts into the curriculum Presentation: Robert Knight Cold War eyewitnesses |
Debra Lilley Val Mitchell Ian Storer |
Design School | Electronic group logbooks for Design students: Creating efficiencies in the assessment of visual coursework Presentation: TIA_Lilley et alpptx |
Hilary McDermott Fehmidah Munir |
School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences | E-qual: Developing a reusable e-learning object for efficient teaching of qualitative coding Presentation: Hilary McDERMOTT TIA E-Qual project |
Alistair Milne | School of Business and Economics | Using Learn Wikis for discussion and development of multifaceted topics by a large enrolment class Presentation: Using Learn Wikis for discussion and development of |
Teaching Innovation Award Recipients 2011
Final reports for these projects can be found on Learn here
Recipient | Department | Project Title |
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Kevin Badni | Design School | Workshop app |
Robert Harland Emma Dresser |
School of the Arts Student Voice (LSU) |
Feedback: facilitating reflection to promote learning |
Amanda Harrington | School of Business and Economics | Voluntary self-managed study groups (SMSG’s): helping students to develop skills in team working and research for both university and work environments |
Paul Hernandez-Martinez | Mathematics Education Centre | Engaging Materials Engineering students by teaching Mathematics in context |
Elaine Hobby | English and Drama | It’s as easy as that: teaching library skills and plagiarism avoidance to new undergraduate students |
Keith Pond | School of Business and Economics | Effective feedback for students in Web_pa – a systems upgrade to provide relevant feedback and development guidance relating to group working |
Brian Reed Sue Coates |
WEDC (School of Civil and Building Engineering) | Assessing the students’ experience of a pilot e-learning course |
Carl Silvester Dan Heath |
School of the Arts | CATS: Computer Aided Tutorial Support (Pilot) |
Chris Szejnmann | Politics, History and International Relations | Transferable technology and interactive and learner-centred activities in the History programmes Presentation: Learner-centred activities presentation |