Outputs from projects
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The ability to communicate mathematical and scientific ideas to a range of audiences and through a variety of media is a very important key skill for students in STEM subjects. So also is the ability to reflect on challenging experiences such as volunteering and STEM ambassador activities and make sense of their implications for future personal development.
A number of files produced by this project are included withn this zip folder.
A presentation delivered by Student Ambassador to a local school in Reading.
The aim of the project was to create video resources to be used by the department of forensic and crime science at Staffordshire University. Due to the practical nature of the course, key objectives were to introduce the department to creating video resources, the creation of these resources were aimed at supporting ‘traditional’ methods of delivery.
This investigation has been conducted on behalf of the Engineering Council in order to better understand the Critical Success Factors from the provider university's point of view for the Engineering Gateways Framework.
This folder contains the periodic reports from the duration of this project along with the final report.
This project created training resources to support HE STEM practitioners to develop their evaluation work in particular, of STEM outreach activities. By developing their understanding and skills in evaluation, practitioners would be able to improve the effectiveness of their projects, and demonstrate this to others. This was prompted by a range of drivers: the access agreements universities provided need to have evidence of effective outreach practice; a need to justify the funding spent on outreach in terms of effective outcomes from the work and a desire by many in the sector to evidence the impact of their work.
The project team was successfully formed in March, with a project worker employed from March 7th. Since then, we have undertaken a review of STEM Outreach and WP activities across South West higher and further education institutions and had a good response rate
As this project is student-led, there is potential for the students to build employability skills as part of the project (e.g. project management, communication skills).
The Sheffield Hallam University Career Mentoring Scheme aimed to enhance the employability of engineering students by introducing mentoring partnerships between a student and an employer (i.e. a professional from industry in a job role/organisation that was of interest to the student).
All stakeholders in Higher Education are increasingly aware of the importance attached to the additional skills students should be gaining at University, over and above their course-specific skills. Students are concerned, particularly with the large rises in tuition fees imminent, that courses will provide them with the full range of skills necessary to successfully gain graduate level employment.
This project investigated the potential for engineering employers to accommodate short-term (summer) placements as an alternative approach to year-long sandwich placements. 112 companies were approached for their opinion on short-term placements and the range and extent of professional skills that students could develop during a summer in industry. Feedback from 37 employers indicated an overall positive perception and short-term placements were considered largely beneficial to both company and student. Employers agreed that good communication was the key skill that they were looking for and that students would develop their project and time management skills, as well as improving commercial awareness, during their summer experience.
To give HE STEM disciplines and the broader HE community the means to access and create easily high quality diagnostic or practice tests in mathematics, statistics and numeracy which can be distributed electronically or in text form.
In Yorkshire, Humber and the Northeast, learning from the London Engineering Project (specifically with regard to good practice in the use of undergraduate students as ambassadors for STEM) has been shared and embedded into nine higher education institutions (HEIs) in this region. The training has been delivered by the project team to undergraduates and staff at each institution with the acknowledgement that the staff would be able to re-deliver this training to their students (and other staff) in future years. The overall aim of this project was to ensure that the information and skills delivered during this training remain within the participating HEI to be used for their own needs in the future.
As student perceptions and approaches to learning are fundamental to both outcome and experience it is important to understand how they are influenced by learning context. This research has begun to develop an understanding of these aspects of two mechanical engineering programmes through the use of a questionnaire at levels 4 and 5. Although there was much agreement between the cohorts, some significant differences were identified which could be considered by programme teams during the design of teaching innovations.
Keywords: student perceptions, learning contexts, approaches to learning, mechanical engineering
A press release written for the Student Union newspaper promoting value of the Employability Event that took place on 14th December 2011 at the University of Leicester.
The Satellite and Space Industry contributes significantly to the UK’s Gross Domestic Product and represents a sector where the UK has an important world role both technologically and scientifically. The UK Space Industry’s Space Innovation and Growth Strategy for 2010 to 2030 identifies education and training in STEM subjects as a key factor to support the growth predicted in this sector. Key employees generally have qualifications in the physical sciences, and like other employers of these graduates the broader Space Industry does not always find it easy to source suitably qualified personnel.
We have reviewed the current skill levels of graduates and apprentices entering the sector, and the destinations of graduates from key courses. These have been compared with the skills requirements that employers report, and deficits fed back to universities and professional development course providers. We will recommend how HEIs may contribute to improve the provision of the skilled workforce needed by employers, and also how those employers may engage proactively with HEI STEM departments in order to raise awareness of their own requirements and improve recruitment.
A copy of the Employer Engagement in STEM Curriclumn audit within the Midlands and East Anglia region. The aim of the audit is to inform curriculum development initiatives in Employer Engagement, forming the basis of all future activity to increase Employer input into the support and delivery of STEM subjects across regional HEIs.
For the purposes of this audit, Employer Engagement is limited to initiatives where employers support the student learning experience through direct input into teaching and/or course material. This also includes work placements and work experience and employer presence on programme steering committees.
The project team has continued to focus on employer engagement and understanding the viability of foundation degrees in the current climate. An outline of modules have been selected via a working group involving employers and Leeds College of Building academic staff.
Responses from employers taken from Engineering Gateways reports
The aim of this project was to encourage and support women from the BME population in East Lancashire to undertake higher education programmes in engineering disciplines and be aware of the career opportunities which may be open to them within this sector. In Lancashire there are currently skills gaps and shortages within the engineering profession, with many companies reporting hard-to-fill vacancies. Whilst there are many BME females undertaking education within the region there are very few who are studying engineering courses and going into engineering-related careers. The main achievements were the development of an Introduction to Engineering module targeted at this group, the development of a targeted marketing campaign and resources and the establishment of a mentoring system for this group of students with local engineering companies. We reviewed our learning environment/teaching practices and identified best practice and gender inclusion tools and provided training to our academic and admissions staff to ensure that they have an understanding of cultural awareness and the influences which are barriers to this group engaging in engineering subjects.
This project was designed to enhance the capability of teachers to provide relevant and accurate advice about engineering careers in collaboration with National Grid. A newly developed continuing professional development session was delivered to 52 science and technology teachers to enhance their knowledge and confidence with regard to offering advice and guidance to pupils and fellow colleagues. The approach, facilitated with input from higher education institution academics, Science Learning Centre South East staff and National Grid engineers, has been shown to be effective in enhancing teachers’ knowledge of careers in engineering and in enabling them to subsequently provide advice and information to students. Reported impact includes enrichment of lesson plans and schemes of work within delegates’ schools, including engineering career-specific advice resulting in more effective communication about engineering careers. Teachers now have the confidence to offer specific advice to under-represented groups such as females and pupils from Black and Minority Ethnic communities in order to widen participation within engineering.
This video discusses the impact of engineering, its history and its function in the modern world. Produced by Jon Chase (Science Raps) filmed on location at the University of Birmingham as a part of the National HE STEM Programme, the video was launched at the 4th European Convention for Engineering Deans on 29th March 2012.
Go back to when civilisation started
Most of the world had yet to be charted
I bet you’re glad that the wheel was invented
Part of the earliest in engineering
Add pivots and gears and levers
Then ancient weaponry built by Archimedes
The military has changed through the centuries
Giving engineers a major role in the armies,
Technology provides an advantage
So a lot of the time new discoveries are guarded
But as people started sharing knowledge with each other,
The industrial revolution came from steam power
Electricity took away some limitations
As the world became smaller through new communications
Now cooperation is the best way forward
With the work of engineers the future’s all good
Imagine if we didn’t have engineers, If
One day we woke up and they’d all disappeared, what then?
Well our troubles would multiply,
The modern world would be struggling to survive,
No vehicles, no roads, heating or lights,
No computer systems or Internet sites, Oh no!
You’d be using a pen to write,
With a book reading under the candle light,
Verse 2
Engineers have made transportation,
Through networks, vehicles and mass automation,
From the streets to the railway stations,
The depths of the sea and even the space station,
Everything man made starts in a mind, But
Research and Development can take a bit of time,
So engineers are needed who can do good designs,
And help bring new ideas to the production lines,
Engineers learn how to see things differently,
Cos solving a problem is a daily activity,
Fusing Innovation and true creativity,
To improve and maintain our public utilities,
High visibility jackets and hard hats,
And engineering works on the roads and the train tracks,
It’s easy to think they only work with their hands,
But a lot of engineers are busy working with their minds.
Imagine if we didn’t have engineers, If
One day we woke up and they’d all disappeared, what then?
Well our troubles would multiply,
The modern world would be struggling to survive,
No vehicles, no roads, heating or lights,
No computer systems or Internet sites, Oh no!
You’d be using a pen to write,
With a book reading under the candle light,
Verse 3
The ability to design can go pretty far,
It’s the reason that humanity can reach for the stars,
Putting satellites in space and sending robots to mars,
You can get a job at NASA if you’re up for the task.
Engineers improve lives the whole world over,
By providing better sources of energy and water,
And we also know inventions can make them famous,
Like the clockwork radio by Trevor Baylis.
These days it’s amazing to recognise,
All the many ways engineers are identified,
Their work’s specified as being specialised,
But overall it’s the roles we can emphasise,
It’s an enterprise where people persevere,
To produce new technologies by using their flare,
So looking for a challenge and an exciting career?,
Consider becoming one of tomorrow’s engineers.
Imagine if we didn’t have engineers, If
One day we woke up and they’d all disappeared, what then?
Well our troubles would multiply,
The modern world would be struggling to survive,
No vehicles, no roads, heating or lights,
No computer systems or Internet sites, Oh no!
You’d be using a pen to write,
With a book reading under the candle light,
Our main objectives in this project were to characterise the work-based mentoring support received by part-time engineering foundation degree students and to facilitate more effective understanding of the learning objectives and assessment requirements of work-based learning (WBL) modules supported by in-company mentors. We targeted the communication mechanism between mentors and academic tutors as an area in need of enhancement and sought a robust yet flexible solution for provision of module information, developmental discussion, student performance feedback and assessment schedules.
Two new compulsory level one modules have been developed and delivered (ongoing) to introduce presentation skills, with training in good techniques and a number of opportunities for students to give small presentations and to write reports (which was previously lacking in the early years of the programme).
This project has developed web-based open access training resources to improve STEM students’ awareness of the industrial-commercial environment and thereby to ease transitions to industrial placements and graduate employment to the benefit of both students and their employers.
