Welcome

10.30

Coventry University AEPD Team

1

10.35

Students as digital content creators – A partnership for driving student digital capabilities.

As part of the University of Hertfordshire’s digital strategy, the role of Student Technology Mentors (STMs) has been instrumental in supporting both staff and students with their digital capabilities over the past few years. Throughout this time, the STMs have worked in partnership to help lead and inform digital strategy as well as supporting academic staff with their curriculum design.

To continue our partnership culture, a partnership project was evolved to give the STMs (9 in total) the opportunity to lead, author and develop online digital skills content for their fellow students. This idea originated from the students themselves. The partnership has opened a new innovative pathway of enhancing digital capabilities across our student body with the benefit of challenging staff perceptions of students as content creators.

Lucy Bamwo (photo to follow)

Lucy is Digital Education & Development Manager at Barking, Havering & Redbridge University NHS Trust, People & Organisational Culture Department. Lucy has worked in further and higher education for over 20 years. She currently overseas the digital education and development for all staff at BHRUT NHS Trust. Most of Lucy’s career has been working in the field of educational technology and digital capabilities with a strong focus on student/staff partnership.

Joanna Szpunar, University of Hertfordshire, Hertfordshire Business School, Educational Technologist (photo to follow)

Joanna has developed her career in higher education from working as a Student Technology Mentor at the University of Hertfordshire, to then working as a Digital Skills Facilitator to then most recently becoming an Educational Technologist for Hertfordshire Business School. Joanna has a strong interest in technology and education, building upon her experiences to create innovative solutions to support staff and students.

2

10.50

Towards holistic and multivoiced pedagogies in online learning contexts

This talk will present findings from a research project that explored the pedagogical decisions and rationales of educators and digital learning professionals in deliberately designed online learning contexts. It will focus on three key themes: (1) embracing a multi-level view of student learning journeys, (2) embedding multiple and diverse ‘voices’, and (3) creating a web of social learning opportunities and ‘spaces.’ The study suggests holistic and multivoiced approaches to pedagogy and highlights the need for narrative-based online learning design, purposeful hybrid learning spaces and an expansive view of educators’ roles. These insights can be enlightening for educators, teaching teams, digital learning teams, academic developers, researchers, and university leadership, opening up dialogue and new directions for online learning practices and research.

Dr Vily Papageorgiou (photo attached)

Lecturer in Higher Education (Curriculum Design) at the Surrey Institute of Education, University of Surrey.

Vily Papageorgiou is a Lecturer in Higher Education at the University of Surrey. Vily teaches on the PGCert in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education and the MA in Higher Education. She acted as the pedagogy lead for the institution-wide curriculum design review programme (2022-2024). Vily's research interests include learning design, online learning, education futures, educational sustainability and sociocultural studies. Learn more about Vily at her profile page or @VilyPapag

3

11.05

Exploring the Role and Impact of Generative AI in Academic Writing: A Pilot Study on MSc Molecular Biology Students

This pilot study explores the use of AI in supporting MSc Molecular Biology students to write a lay summary to aid in their 2000-word Critical Review assessment. Students underwent a training session on the ethical use of generative AI in academia, then used generative AI to produce a 500-word summary of their assigned topic. A follow-up session was conducted to guide the development of their Critical Analysis from the AI-generated summaries. Both pre-training and post follow-up, students were asked to complete a questionnaire on their knowledge of AI, and its uses in university assessments and critical academic writing.

The results showed that students had a good initial understanding of the limitations of generative AI. Post-exercise, 40% learned about the potential for AI to provide misinformation and produce biased outputs, while 20% learned about the possibility of AI generating irrelevant citations. Interestingly, 60% failed to learn that the use of AI should be acknowledged and referenced, though all understood that misuse could lead to academic misconduct.

On average, students rated the usefulness of AI in creating their summaries as 4 out of 5. 60% stated that the exercise provided a solid foundation for writing their critical review, while acknowledging the limitations of AI in critical thinking and accurate referencing. All students agreed that while AI can be used to gain basic knowledge and create summaries, it cannot replace human critical thinking in critique-based assessments.

Dr Jess Rollason (photo attached)

Jess is Associate Head of School for the School of Life Sciences at Coventry University. Her PhD awarded by Aston University focussed on Molecular Epidemiology of Meticillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus and was previously Research Fellow and Lecturer at Aston University. Jess’ research interests lie mainly in Clinical Microbiology and publications can be found on themes of genetic mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance; effect of antimicrobials upon bacterial biofilm formation and virulence gene expression; virulence and pathogenesis of Propionibacterium acnes in association with back pain and discitis; epidemiology of Meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Break

11.20

4

11.30

A Student Perspective

Listen to former student, Kenechukwu Agudosy, sharing his experiences and reflections about the role of digital tools in teaching and learning.

Kenechukwu Agudosy

Kenechukwu Agudosy is a former student of Coventry Law School and currently works as Inclusivity and Success Evaluation Officer with the Office for Teaching and Learning.

5

11.45

The Future of Learning in Education

Simulation in teaching and learning fosters experiential, immersive learning environments. It enhances understanding of complex concepts, encourages problem-solving, and promotes engagement. Online activities include interactive simulations, gamified quizzes, and virtual reality experiences. The Simulation Design Guide showcased in this presentation will aid in creating effective, learner-centric simulation experiences, ensuring educational objectives are met while maintaining a high level of user engagement.

Dr Safaa Sindi, Future Transport and Cities (photo attached)

Safaa is an Assistant Professor of supply chain and operation with an interest in gamification in teaching and learning. She has worked on several projects, such as inclusion of immersive technology Virtual and Augmented reality in teaching and training. Safaa is interested in designing learning board, particularly in the field of supply chain and operation.

Closing

12.00

Coventry University AEPD Team