Current Learning & Teaching Enhancement Programme

Toni Gibson and Professor Kirsty Kiezebrink

School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition 

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.

Tracey Innes, Cath Dennis, Dr Vasilis Louca, Professor Jason Bohan, Professor John Barrow, Regina Jaschke

Careers and Employability Service

With evidence suggesting that up to two-thirds of students work during their studies, this project aims to develop a current, evidence-based understanding of the impact of part-time work on University of Aberdeen students’ academic performance, wellbeing, and overall student experience. Through mapping current student working patterns, matching findings to academic performance where possible, and seeking to identify key challenges and opportunities faced by different student groups, this project will develop evidence-based recommendations. Recommendations will focus on developing actionable guidance for students, informing institutional policy on balancing work and study, and identifying actions to enhance support services.

Dr Morgiane Richard, Dr Jacqui Hutchison, Dr Ewan Bottomley

Centre for Academic Development

The initial data from the recently established Stats Support service of the University of Aberdeen show that students in Psychology and Social Sciences use it less than staff would expect them to. This situation is not unique to Aberdeen: in their review of the evolution of maths support, Lawson et al. (2020) report that many students who would benefit from maths support do not access it.  The authors summarise published results on the reasons for not accessing support in two categories: ‘shallow reasons’, i.e. students do not access support because they are unaware it exists and how to access it, and ‘deep reasons’, i.e. students feel overwhelmed by their problems and experience ‘embarrassment, intimidation and demoralization’ (Mac an Bhaird et al., 2013, Grehan et al., 2016). In other words, students know they have a problem, but they are also facing barriers that stop them from seeking help. Lawson et al. (2020) suggest, to address the ‘deep reasons’ for non-engagement, to embed maths and stats support: that is, include maths and stats support activities in the course and programme curriculum (Mehbali and Roberts, 2017).

In this project, we aim to gain more robust knowledge on why Psychology students at the University of Aberdeen are not engaging with stats support in our institution, by running a survey to the Level 2 cohort of Psychology students to examine: their perception of Statistics and its importance for Psychology, their perception of Stats Support and reasons for engaging or not engaging with it, and their sense of self-efficacy in Statistics. We will embed a stats support workshop in the level 2 statistics course programme and monitor and measure the change in access to stats support and perceptions of statistics and statistics support amongst the level 2 Psychology cohort pre- and post-workshop.

Alan Grieve and Faye Hendry

School of Education

Audio feedback has been trialled within the PGDE Secondary programme (starting in 2023-24 AY), being offered to students as an alternative option to written feedback summaries on Turnitin. Initial/informal feedback from students suggests satisfaction with both the option for, and use of, audio feedback in summative assessments. However, evidence of this is underdeveloped and it would be beneficial for both tutors and students to work together to understand best practice. Research in this area supports the use of audio as a meaningful tool for student feedback, leading to improved student engagement (Carruthers et al., 2015) and accessibility and inclusivity (Knauf, 2016). Whilst frameworks for its use have been created (Hennessy and Forrester, 2014) the evidence of a co-constructed approach, with the creation of practical materials for future use, is limited. This project is designed to understand best practice in relation to the use of audio feedback in assessments. Following a participatory action research model, student participants will be involved in the co-construction of guidelines for tutors and the creation of modelled examples of best practice.

Dr Heather Branigan, Dr Jacqui Hutchison & Ms Kaye Taylor

School of Psychology

This project aims to support student voice by exploring student perspectives about communication and engagement. In doing so, we aim to evaluate initiatives we have implemented in the past, including School-specific actions such as a feedback and assessment guide for students, as well as institution-wide initiatives such as communicating responses to student feedback through ‘you said’ we did’. This is an evaluation project that primarily seeks to explore student perceptions about communication and engagement with initiatives. Through student-led focus groups (directly supported by LTEP funding), we aim to understand (1) the challenges and opportunities regarding how we communicate with students, and (2) any underlying reasons for communication issues, such as student engagement and/or misalignment of priorities between students and staff. Ultimately, we seek to generate recommendations about how to improve communication between staff and students going forward.

Dr Jean-Baptiste Gramain

School of Natural and Computing Science

This enhancement project will be run with the student members of SMEG (Student Mathematics Education Group), all of which are undergraduate students on degrees involving Maths. One of the first themes that emerged from SMEG’s discussions is that of barriers between students. Some stem from phenomena such as social anxiety and maths anxiety, and lead to an apparent lack of cohesion and sense of community in undergraduate maths cohorts. Another issue identified by SMEG is the way our tutorials (exercise classes) are run, too often relying on passive learning, in stark contrast with how other disciplines appear to work. 

The aims of this project are on two different levels. One central objective is the development and testing of new methods that can be used more regularly in maths tutorials and will improve the student experience through more active learning, better understanding and increased sense of belonging. A completely separate objective is to demonstrate that initiatives such as SMEG are valuable and can be an effective way to engage students with their studies and with education issues. These two dimensions of the project, therefore, align with the first two Principles for the Delivery of Education: Active Learning and Community Building. 

Through this project, it is expected that SMEG will establish itself as a useful mechanism to engage students with curriculum co-creation and to produce actionable recommendations to improve the provision of maths courses and the student experience.

Dr Cameron Malcolm

School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition

This project aims to produce student-created live action “How to” style video resources to supplement the teaching of practical lab skills for both undergraduate and postgraduate students in the School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition (SMMSN). This project will build upon the learnings of a pilot project carried out Summer 2025 that produced a 3-part, short form, “How to Pipette” video which has been well received during the 2025/26 academic term.

1 to 2 demonstrational videos will be produced that will cover basic lab skills such as aseptic cell-culture technique, microscopy, general lab safety, etc. and transferable skills useful both in a lab environment and out with such as time management, calculations and effective communication. These resources will help students feel more prepared and confident in lab practical classes, authentic assessments and during wet lab honours projects thus students will be able to better take advantage of the opportunities they have in a lab environment and fully engage with course content.

Emily Cleland, Dr Heather Morgan, Toni Gibson and Alan Macpherson

School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition

School of 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.