It’s been a strong start to 2026 for members of the IAHS Postgraduate Education Research Group (PERG) with two successful funding applications to the 2025/26 University’s Learning & Teaching Enhancement Programme (LTEP).
Congratulations to all involved.
Neurodiversity in HE - a critical discourse analysis
Toni Gibson and Kirsty Kiezebrink
This project looks at how neurodiversity is described in academic research on higher education. Although neurodiversity is sometimes presented in positive ways, research writing can still focus on difficulties and deficits, rather than recognising the strengths and contributions of neurodivergent students. By analysing published studies, the project explores how these ideas are created and challenged, and how they shape policy and practice. The work aligns with STEP’s theme of Supporting Diverse Learner Journeys, with STEP’s priority areas used to help guide the analysis. The findings aim to support more inclusive, strengths-based approaches to understanding and working with neurodivergent learners in higher education.
A Course feedback Evaluation 2: Staff perspectives of intended learning outcomes, assessment and grading processes in Work-Based Learning (ACE 2: WBL)
Emily Cleland, Heather Morgan, Toni Gibson & Alan Macpherson
Schools: Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition, Languages, Literature, Music and Visual Culture
Work-based learning (WBL) supports inclusive, practice-based education, strong external partnerships, and the development of graduates equipped with the skills, adaptability, and professional identity required for complex global workplaces.
Building on an LTEP-funded 2024–25 qualitative evaluation of student experiences of assessment in WBL courses, which highlighted recurring issues around assessment authenticity, grading transparency, feedback timeliness, and the integration of host input, this project responds to the need for complementary staff perspectives to understand how assessment practices are designed, implemented, and sustained.
ACE 2: WBL will undertake a qualitative evaluation of academic and Professional Services staff experiences across credit-bearing and non-credit-bearing WBL courses at undergraduate and postgraduate taught levels, focusing on intended learning outcomes, assessment design, grading processes, host assessment integration, rubrics, and feedback. By triangulating staff and student insights, the project will inform the ongoing enhancement and future design of WBL assessment practices that are academically robust, operationally sustainable, and authentically grounded in professional contexts across the institution and beyond.