Education in Practice Network

On 28 January 2026, we had the pleasure of hosting a forum for project leaders. The forum brought together leaders of institutionally-funded enhancement projects through our Education Enhancement Fund, and many practitioners who were keen to engage in dialogue around the themes and topics discussed.  

The programme for the day included:

Dylan Williams (School of Chemistry) Lab Escape – The Development and Evaluation of a Novel Escape-Room Based Laboratory Induction Activity

The aim of this project was to design, develop, deliver and evaluate a laboratory-based escape room that could be used as a laboratory induction activity in future academic years.

Matt Keith (School of Chemical Engineering) Understanding Attendance Reduction in Chemical Engineering Courses. 

This project sought to understand why student attendance of taught components of the chemical engineering course were generally good at the start of semester one, but  decreased rapidly towards the end. It also investigated the influence of this attendance on grades obtained. 

Helen Hook, Eleanor Cull and Matt Edwards (Careers Network) Two projects as follows:

Ad Alta: Evaluation Framework: Careers Network in collaboration with The School of Biosciences and The Academic Registrar’s Office). 

Launching a university-wide curricular initiative presents an opportunity to capture valuable data. Taking a data informed approach prior to institution-wide roll out, will provide a benchmark for the development of an evaluation framework for all Ad Alta pathway modules.  

‘Enhancing Graduate Attributes in a GAI enabled world’ (CP. Ph1 &2) (in conjunction with colleagues Sarah Montano, Simone Clewes, Natalie Partridge, Sarah Percy, Labib Islam. 

This commissioned project aimed to develop our understanding of the evolving impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the employability landscape. The project explored how students navigate both the challenges and opportunities presented by AI, particularly in recruitment contexts, and how they might make skilled, ethical use of Generative AI (GAI) tools. The project also mapped AI/GAI-related skills to the University’s Graduate Attributes, helping to ensure that students are equipped with the skills and attributes needed to thrive in a rapidly changing world. .

Hannah Ryan and Sarah Parry (Birmingham International Academy) ‘Strong roots, strong wings’: understanding the ‘foundation’ in foundation level through the student learning journey’  

This new project aims to support students to develop essential academic, employability and transferable skills for progression into their undergraduate degree programme, with a particular focus on oracy as a core skill for language learning, student confidence, inclusive learning and integration into degree programmes and beyond. 

Joseph Welch (Sportex, CN and LES) The Ad Alta Discovery Game Sprint: A Summer Term Activity in Playful Design

This project will fund a student-led, one-week summer design sprint to co-create Ad Alta Discovery Games. 

Event gallery