University of Warwick Press: Journals
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Working Towards an Inclusive Research Culture Through EDI Education, Engagement and Empowerment of the Research Community
No full textThis paper provides critical reflection on work and progress to embed EDI in our research and innovation workforce, practice and culture at the University of Manchester. Our university aim is to take an intersectional and holistic approach to educate, engage, empower and support our staff and student community at all levels to prioritise EDI. To embed EDI in research and promote collective responsibility to help shape a fairer, inclusive research culture the University launched the ‘Inclusive Research Transformation Programme’. This programme included developing inclusive research mindsets and building inclusive leadership capacity (from UG to senior research leader); a University EDI award scheme which catalysed innovative local and national researcher led EDI initiatives; and targeted funding schemes to help address gender, ethnicity, and disability inequities within our research career pipeline. Three schemes were developed, an UG EDI summer placement scheme, an early career research staff EDI fellowship underpinned by inclusive advocacy and an established academic returners scheme.
Funding AcknowledgementThis work was funded by University of Manchester and Wellcome Institutional Strategic Support Fund (204796/Z/16/Z ISSF - Wellcome ISSF 3 – EDI).
Critical Reflections on Universities, Publishing, and the Early Career Experience
No full textThis paper is a critical reflection on the changing relationship between university institutions, academic publishing, and young researchers. It emerges from a current project in assessing the role and development of Warwick University’s research journals (and their editors), but also takes into account two recent Warwick Institute of Advanced Study seminars discussing the practical and strategic challenge of publishing for early career scholars and PhD students. While these seminars concerned publishing in general, and the question of career trajectories, this reflection paper takes into account the current shifts in publishing and our understanding of research as knowledge production more broadly. This reflection maintains that, in part provoked by digital media, the status of research knowledge vis-à-vis its traditional presentation in the discrete products of the ‘article’, and the book, has become unstable, and this instability has opened up a range of economic and systemic conditions of knowledge production that have long since been concealed. Current shifts thus offer younger scholars and early career researchers significant opportunities: this short paper sets out the initial framework for a current research project focussing on university publishing, then it refers to the two above seminars in order to conclude with some critical issues for academic practice, research and for early career scholars.
Exchanges Discourse Podcast
Being an Effective Academic Citizen in the Republic of Knowledge: In Conversation with Jonathan Vickery [59:58
Five Minutes to Midnight: Editorial, Volume 11, Part 2
No full textThis is the editorial for the 27th issue of Exchanges. The editorial offers an update to journal activities, along with an introduction to the issue’s content, alongside highlighting ways in which people can interact and contribute to future issues. The major focus of the editorial is an overview of the various special issue projects currently underway for future publication consideration. The article also includes information on the Editorial Board and ways to contact the Editor-in-Chief
Interdisciplinary Labor: Researchers\u27 bodies at work
No full textThis reflection explores the anxiety and physical sensations felt by some scholars when navigating interdisciplinary research. The author describes personally experienced physical and emotional challenges faced during collaborative research, emphasizing the lack of common language and knowledge, and arguing for greater acknowledgment of these embodied experiences. The aim is to foster more honest and productive interdisciplinary dialogues, highlighting the importance of addressing emotional and physical responses to being able to succeed in collaborative research settings.
Funding AcknowledgementThis work was supported by Riksbankens jubileumsfond (grant #MXM19-1161:1), to whom thanks are noted.
Exchanges Discourse Podcast
Researcher Vulnerability and Physical Impacts: In Conversation with Mia-Marie Hammarlin [39:30
Women\u27s Struggles in Afganistan: Past and Present
No full textThis article begins with the current situation of women in Afghanistan and their resistance against the complete takeover of power by the Taliban in August 2021. It reviews the ways in which prior Afghan governments, various imperialist occupations, wars between religious fundamentalist forces, sexism and prejudices within the Afghan Left and progressives have made it impossible to develop a coherent and persistent women\u27s movement
How can digital media enhance students\u27 mastery of threshold concepts?
Get PDFMastery of threshold concepts is driven by students’ expanding knowledge and experience. Threshold concepts cannot be taught via the simple transfer of knowledge, but instead ‘emerge’ for students via experience, conceptualisation and self-development (Meyer and Land, 2005). This can happen at different stages via different means and students may enter a liminal state whereby they oscillate between states of understanding and being (Cousin, 2006; Meyer and Land 2005). Teaching and re-teaching threshold concepts at set points adds to the teaching load and may not be an effective way to support students’ mastery on what is a messy, unpredictable and personal journey.
The persistence of learning resources in the online space means that students can drive their own learning and development by visiting and revisiting interactive digital resources that demonstrate conceptually difficult or contradictory knowledge. Such troublesome knowledge is a feature of many fields of engineering. The transformative power of digital media can take students outside of the classroom and immerse them in other worlds.
By taking a focussed approach in this project, we will explore what transformative and troublesome knowledge means in the literature, and to a select group of students and staff at WMG. Using the findings, we will then propose digital media solutions informed by multiple perspectives
Implementation of Enquiry-Based Activity Modules for Authentic Learning in Engineering
Get PDFEngineering education in the UK is evolving, moving away from traditional lecture-based teaching towards more engaging and practical methods. The purpose of this is to develop problem-solving and teamworking skills in a practical, authentic environment. Activity-based learning is gaining popularity as a way to better prepare students for real-world challenges. Northumbria University\u27s Mechanical and Automotive Engineering programmes have embraced this approach by introducing dedicated activity-based learning modules in 2021. Activity-based learning emphasises practical skills, integrating labs and hands-on experiences. This bridges the gap between theory and practice, helping students apply their knowledge effectively. It fosters collaboration and teamwork, encouraging students to work together to solve problems and share ideas. The engineering programmes at Northumbria University include two 20-credit activity-based learning modules in foundation year and each of the first and second years of the main programmes. These modules become more complex and interdisciplinary as students’ progress. Assessment methods include technical reports, presentations, posters, and practical demonstrations. Despite its advantages, activity-based learning presents challenges, primarily around resourcing of space, equipment and materials. To overcome this, student interns helped review and develop a student-led maker space, a central hub for practical activities. This approach ensures that activities are engaging, relevant, and academically rigorous while creating a collaborative and creative environment. In summary, activity-based learning is a promising approach to engineering education in the UK. By emphasising practical skills, teamwork, and diverse assessment techniques, it better equips students to address complex issues and drive innovation in the field. This shift in pedagogy prepares students more effectively for the demands of the modern workplace
Foreword
No full textNever has there been a more dynamic period in higher education. The wide variety of demands and influences at personal, institutional and societal levels necessitate creativity in the development of pedagogy and scholarship. Engineering Education is no exception; the Engineering Education Research Network (EERN), a community of teachers, researchers, and practitioners seeks to critique, reflect, evaluate, and disseminate the innovative practices that enable Engineering Education to thrive whilst navigating the challenges of the current environment.
These proceedings from the 2023 UK and Ireland EERN Annual Symposium illustrate a diversity of activities explored in and by the EERN community. The papers draw attention to the changing landscape of learning and teaching, emphasising the responsibility of Engineering Education to prepare our graduates to become professionals who innovate in industry, benefit society, and promote the planet. Hence this publication includes research and practice in the areas of Learning Approaches, Technology for Learning, Embedding Sustainability and Employability in Education, Learning in the Context of Degree Apprenticeships, and Enhancing the Student Experience. Working together, the community represented in this publication is enabling our students, tomorrow’s engineering talent, to flourish, thrive, and succeed.
In exploring important areas that have evolved within Engineering Education this publication presents the ideal opportunity for a much-needed call to revolutionise Engineering Education so that what we are offering is fit for a new era; Engineering Education 5.0. It is time to challenge what is ‘usual’ and break from the safety of gradual progress by revisiting and problematising established engineering education research and practice to imagine and begin to shape what could be. As a community of engineering educators, we must welcome the possibilities that ‘change’ will inevitably bring; accepting new challenges and opportunities as they arise and providing our students with increasingly flexible problem-finding-and-solving skills and capabilities. Therefore, there is no better time for our community to be a Community; to work as a single, synergetic body of professionals through sharing ideas, collaborating across institutions, borders and disciplines to investigate and disseminate new ideas, leading the future rather than being led by it!
Professor Robin Clark
Dean, WMG
University of Warwick, U
Book Review: Mariya P. Ivancheva, The Alternative University: Lessons from Bolivarian Venezuela, Stanford University Press, 2023, 216pp.
Get PDFAmong the pantheon of left-wing Latin American governments that swept the continent in the early 21st century, arguably the most radical, most beguiling, most contradictory, and most tragic, is the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela. Given its unique (though not necessarily ‘special’) place within this political conjuncture, no shortage of ink has been spilled on the deep-seated transformations carried out in the name of the Venezuelan people, as well as the domestic and international conflicts that followed in their wake (see, most recently, Marino 2018; Samet 2019; Cooper 2019; Wilde 2023; Lubbock 2024). Among the many themes examined by scholars, activists and other observers is the role of higher education reform within the Bolivarian Republic, and the ways in which Hugo Chávez Frias, the charismatic leader of the ‘Bolivarian turn’, sought to build a new society by cultivating new knowledge among the people
Key Features of a Positive Research Culture: A qualitative analysis of award nominations
No full textThe Research Culture Awards were introduced as a way of celebrating people and groups who positively contribute towards enhancing the research environment at the University of Stirling. Colleagues can be nominated anonymously across multiple categories (including leadership, collaboration, mentoring), with nominees receiving their full nomination feedback: both this aspect, and the celebratory awards ceremony, seek to recognise the often-hidden contributions and efforts and create a shared understanding of what good research culture looks like for Stirling. First introduced in 2020, the awards have been held annually and have grown in popularity year on year. Exploring these nominations has allowed for an analysis of the key features of a positive research culture from a person-centric perspective, as felt at local level. The analysis was carried out using a manual frequency analysis of related words and phrases. The overarching results showed that teamwork/collegiality; sharing expertise; good role modelling and good listening skills were the attributes which were most appreciated in colleagues