Professional insight from the University of Exeter

Home to the UK’s five most influential climate scientists, the University of Exeter is a public research institution which combines teaching excellence with world-leading research. The university was awarded a Queen’s Anniversary prize in 2020 for work to combat the effects of marine plastic pollution.

University of Exeter

digital transformation concept

Why the ‘machine says no’: how asking for less can get you more…

Under-investment and lack of future proofing of core digital systems have left many universities with creaking legacy infrastructure that cannot support increasing demands. Here, three digital adopters suggest that incremental improvements could be a way forward

Craig Walker, Lisa Harris, Sarah Dyer

HEdway Group, The University of Exeter, The University of Manchester

Three designers discussing ideas at a table in an office

Use design thinking principles to create a human-centred digital strategy

Creating a user-focused digital strategy requires the use of various channels, the adoption of design thinking principles and the involvement of students and staff from the outset

Joe Holland

The University of Exeter

Group of smiling students

How to support individuals with hearing loss at your institution

Many people with hearing impairments do not think they need support. Here are some ways to provide it

Simon Hayhoe

The University of Exeter

A male lecturer talks to a class of students

The ‘third way’ academic: becoming an education-focused professor

Career development tips for higher education professionals who take an education-focused pathway

Rushana Khusainova, Wayne Holland, Sally Everett, David Boughey, Kathy Daniels

The University of Bristol, The University of Exeter, Aston University, King’s College London

Female doctor checks a woman's thyroid

A checklist for advancing equity, diversity and inclusion in medical sciences and education, part two

Three questions that medical sciences lecturers should ask when revising curricula to promote ethical considerations, an understanding of health inequities and diverse perspectives

Musarrat Maisha Reza, Mia-Rose Gillison

The University of Exeter

A diverse group of medics sitting through a seminar

A checklist for advancing equity, diversity and inclusion in medical sciences and education, part one

Three questions that lecturers in medical sciences should ask when revising their curricula to promote diverse representation and health equity

Musarrat Maisha Reza, Mia-Rose Gillison

The University of Exeter

Statue of Isaac Newton

Inclusivity versus devotion to the cult of STEM

Is an underlying global STEM culture of devotion getting in the way of a more inclusive academy, asks Andrew Pye

Andrew Pye

The University of Exeter

Life cycle assessment depicted by icons on wooden balls.

Circular impact: a call to action for research on grand societal challenges

How to enact a ‘circular’ approach to research and impact so outcomes feed back into the work to inform ongoing planning and improvement

Ryan Nolan

The University of Exeter, Universities Policy Engagement Network (UPEN)

Young women campaigning for more action on climate change

A practical approach to tackling eco-anxiety

We induce eco-anxiety by teaching students about climate change, so training them in practical and achievable solutions to it are needed, too, write Helen Hicks and Dawn Lees

Helen Hicks, Dawn Lees

The University of Exeter

A group of students discussing a project

Teamwork, support and structure: the core principles of rewarding student internships

Student internships are an effective way to facilitate student-staff collaboration but, to work well, they require teamwork, the right support and structure, and a focus on tangible outputs

Craig McEwan

The University of Exeter

A man and a woman expressing shock at something they have seen on their phones

The power of precaution: navigating content warnings in academia

Basic principles to guide the use of content warnings in higher education, based on a student-led day-long workshop which invited input from university staff and students

Andrea Namirembe , Ella Taviner

The University of Exeter

Two students walking down a corridor talking through some notes

Offer students a personal touch through peer support

As universities expand, they will need to take more of a personal approach to higher education – despite the huge cohorts – but how? Emma Norman suggests looking to the students themselves

Emma Norman

The University of Exeter

A row of students each concentrating on an individual assignment

Are ‘quick wins’ possible in assessment and feedback? Yes, and here’s how

It takes coordination, communication and credibility to implement quick improvements in assessment and feedback, as a team from the University of Exeter explains

Beverley Hawkins, Eleanor Hodgson , Oli Young

The University of Exeter

Young doctor talking to a Black patient

Medical teaching resources need to represent all skin colours to enable doctors to serve a diverse population

Medical education must diversify its learning resources away from a focus solely on white patients to prepare students to diagnose and treat patients of all ethnicities, write Musarrat Maisha Reza and Naabil Khan

Musarrat Maisha Reza, Naabil Khan

The University of Exeter

Two hands, one offering up a tree growing out of the earth, the other offering up a high-rise city

Decolonisation as a driver for the Sustainable Development Goals

How decolonial approaches can underpin and drive work to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals across higher education

Eleanor Cook

The University of Exeter

An old map of Africa showing countries as former British and French colonies

Bring staff and students together to decolonise in seven steps

Seven stages to decolonising a curriculum, drawing lessons from a staff-student collaboration to decolonise the teaching of geography

Caitlin Kight, Eleanor Cook

The University of Exeter

A young Black female engineer looks up in a satellite manufacturing facility

What are the barriers to success for under-represented early career researchers in maths, physics, computer science and engineering?

Recommendations for improving equity, diversity and inclusion in maths, physics, computer science and engineering, based on research into the barriers faced by ECRs from under-represented groups in these disciplines

Lucy Yeomans, Daniela Fernandez, Lauren Stentiford

The University of Exeter

A team of colleagues celebrating a work success

How to find passion in your work – and sustain it

A simple strategy to sustain passion and enthusiasm for your work by keeping big dreams in view while celebrating each small step

Eleanor Cook

The University of Exeter

Two female students working together

Power to the people through automation of peer support programmes

The management of large institution-wide programmes such as peer support can be improved and scaled with the help of automation, as Amanda Pocklington explains

Amanda Pocklington

The University of Exeter

Robot standing in front of a chalk board

An evaluation of ChatGPT in action

When set a task, how does ChatGPT really perform and what does this tell educators about how to craft their questions and assignments to avoid students relying entirely on this AI tool to generate answers?

Karen Kenny

The University of Exeter

Person wearing an LGBTQ+ rainbow badge

Small steps that make a big difference to LGBTQ+ inclusivity

A guide to boosting LGBTQ+ inclusivity in higher education, by Eleanor M. Townsend

Eleanor M. Townsend

The University of Exeter

Woman's hands holding a fan colour palette

A simple way to improve navigation in online learning

Five simple steps to use colour to design an engaging menu and navigation system that enhances digital learning environments and platforms

Joskaudė Pakalkaitė

The University of Exeter

Image of paper balls with one emerging as an origami swan

The F-word: how to use failure as a learning tool

Fear of failure impacts student well-being and academic outcomes so educators need to help reframe ‘failure’ as a useful learning tool. Claire Davy-Potts explains how

Claire Davey-Potts

The University of Exeter

Young woman pondering some notes

Failure as a career development tool

How to encourage students to actively examine their ‘failures’ to provide useful direction and inform improvements when considering their future career options

Dawn Lees, Rachel Sloan

The University of Exeter

Individual writing in a notepad with phone and ipad set aside

Silence is golden when you ‘shut up and write’ together

How to build a supportive community of practice and peer learning through the simple practice of meeting online to ‘shut up and write’

Kelly Louise Preece, Jo Sutherst

The University of Exeter

A set of tools

What should be inside a teaching toolkit?

Teaching practices and student support are highly contextual so how can academic developers create institutional ‘toolkits’ that meet the needs of staff across different schools and departments?

Eleanor Cook, Rachel Griffiths , Caitlin Kight

The University of Exeter

Bingo balls

Bingo! Try bringing games into your staff training

To engage professional service staff with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, a team at the University of Exeter took a novel approach, creating SDG Bingo. Here’s how they did it

Eleanor Cook

The University of Exeter

Illustration of a classroom in 1870

A 100-year-old principle for teaching students digital study skills

A guide to helping students improve their digital study skills through experiential learning

Jennie Fox

The University of Exeter

A lecturer sitting on a desk speaking to students in an informal manner

The hows and whys of improved interactions with international students

Strategies for overcoming potential cultural differences and supporting better academic-international student relationships

Lenka Janik Blaskova

The University of Exeter

Adults playing a game using cards

A play manual for academic development and skills

A three-pronged guide to introducing play into university teaching, based on its successful use in staff training at the University of Exeter

Eleanor Cook, Emma Norman, Tian Yan

The University of Exeter

Group of women working together online via teleconferencing

Virtually writing together: creating community while supporting individual endeavour

Lessons in setting up and running a virtual writing group that facilitates individual and collaborative work through a supportive community of practice

Karen Kenny

The University of Exeter

Colleagues laughing and having a chat over coffee

Good daily work habits for early career researchers

A collection of good daily work habits that will help early career researchers flourish, based on insight from a number of academics

Kelly Louise Preece

The University of Exeter

Two women sitting talk to one another

Supervising neurodiverse postgraduate researchers

Advice for supervisors to tailor their support and guidance for neurodiverse postgraduate researchers, based on conversations with two autistic PGRs

Kelly Louise Preece

The University of Exeter

Podcast discussing building resilience and protecting well-being among university staff and students

Campus Talks: How can universities tackle misinformation?

Just providing a degree isn’t enough. Through their research, community engagement and teaching, universities can do much more to tackle misinformation.

Phil Napoli, Simge Andi

Duke University, The University of Exeter

Image representing the building of a career

Five strategies to generate a sense of satisfaction in your academic work

Academia is challenging so developing coping mechanisms and boosting satisfaction in your work can be instrumental in building a successful career. Houry Melkonian shares five approaches she has found useful

Houry Melkonian

The University of Exeter

Image of old books packed up

Decolonising your learning resources: representation matters

Find out what steps can be taken to review your learning resources from an anti-racism lens and why this is important for both ethnic minority and white students

Musarrat Maisha Reza, Amy McEwan, Emily Calvo-Hobbs

The University of Exeter

Image of an elderly men receiving a vaccine

Decolonising medicine, part three: uncovering silenced voices and histories

Lecturers should ensure they present the full picture when teaching medicine, detailing exploitation and marginalisation of certain groups in the advancement of medical science, as Musarrat Maisha Reza and Emily Calvo-Hobbs explain

Musarrat Maisha Reza, Emily Calvo-Hobbs

The University of Exeter

Image showing an inclusive diverse and happy group of students

It is about ‘people knowing who I am’: reflections on how to guide inclusion work in universities

Advice on using a framework called ‘the Inclusion Compass’ to guide inclusion work within universities, based on a pan-European research project carried out to explore how this could work across higher education

George Koutsouris, Lauren Stentiford , Tricia Nash

The University of Exeter

We should create an army of university student volunteers to help with levelling up and social mobility

We need to create a tutoring army to level up education

Getting student volunteers to tutor less-privileged children would boost fundamental education for those who need it most and provide a national social mobility service, says Lee Elliot Major

Lee Elliot Major

The University of Exeter

Medical students discuss issues of decolonisation relating to medicine

Decolonising medicine, part two: empowering students

The decolonisation of medicine involves making students active agents of their learning and designing assessments relevant to the skills gained through the process, as Musarrat Maisha Reza explains in her second advice resource on the topic

Musarrat Maisha Reza

The University of Exeter

Medical students learning about decolonisation in the context of healthcare

Decolonising medicine, part one: taking the first steps

Decolonisation should not be limited to arts and social sciences, but many struggle with how to apply it across STEM disciplines. In her first resource, Musarrat Maisha Reza shares advice on effective approaches to decolonising medicine

Musarrat Maisha Reza

The University of Exeter

remote ed-tech assistance, students helping educators, graduate employment programme

Students supporting educators: are you harnessing the talent of your own graduates?

Employing students to support educators not only boosts overall digital expertise but elevates graduate employability, course design and the student voice

Lisa Harris, Caitlin Kight

The University of Exeter

Advice on how to use different styles of assessment to enhance learning outcomes

Constructive use of varied assessment methods

Layal Hakim explains when and how to implement different types of assessment throughout a course in order to support learning

Layal Hakim

The University of Exeter

Advice on ways to improve the teaching of higher education mathematics

Top tips to improve the teaching of mathematics in universities

Layal Hakim shares advice for improving higher education mathematics teaching, from preparation to delivery styles

Layal Hakim

The University of Exeter

Advice on using unique datasets in online exams to deter cheating among students

Online exams are growing in popularity: how can they be fair and robust?

Nicholas Harmer and Alison Hill share advice on using unique datasets to deter student collusion in online exams

Nicholas Harmer, Alison Hill

The University of Exeter

Making university campuses and courses more compassionate will lead to better student outcomes

How to make campuses and courses more compassionate

Telling students that you’ve considered their well-being in organisational culture and curriculum design can in itself bolster confidence, says Louise Lawrence

Louise Lawrence

The University of Exeter

Advice on supporting innovation in teaching practices among faculty

How can we support innovation in teaching practices within universities?

As the inaugural director of her university’s ‘education incubator’, Sarah Dyer shares insight on supporting teaching innovation among your faculty

Sarah Dyer

The University of Exeter

Lighthouse illustrating thought leadership

How thought leadership can build your institution’s reputation online

Will Harvey explains how institutions can use research proactively to enhance the perception of their capabilities and character

Will Harvey

The University of Exeter

Advice on how LEGO can facilitate learning across many disciplines in higher education

Serious play: building knowledge with Lego bricks

Using Lego blocks to aid brainstorming has migrated from boardrooms into university classrooms. This guide explores how to get the most out of it in your teaching – whether virtual or on campus

Caitlin Kight, Holly Henderson

The University of Exeter

Webinar discussion how to reduce student drop out rates in the context of the pandemic and online learning

Campus webinar: Innovative teaching

As we emerge from the pandemic, what innovations in online teaching have come about in the last year? Four experts in digital and teaching innovation from the UK and US discuss effective ways of teaching that harness new technological tools

Sarah Dyer, Dale Johnson, Agnes Kukulska-Hulme, Ian Turner

The University of Exeter, Arizona State University, The Open University, University of Derby