Past Events
Watch previous seminars held by the Centre for Higher Education Studies.
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19 February 2025
How to measure students' critical thinking skills with generative AI in Higher Education? An Edulai case study.
Dr Lucilla Crosta (University of Liverpool)
This lecture is aimed at defining the meaning of critical thinking skills in HE, especially at post-graduate level. It will then explain the characteristics of generative AI and how it could eventually be able to detect critical thinking skills in students’ writing. The talk will provide examples of tools available with this purpose and it will present the case of the Edulai platform while briefly explaining the research project behind it, together with its features and characteristics.
21 January 2025
The promise and peril of interdisciplinarity in higher education: What we know about issues of academic engagement and what questions remain
Dr Karri Holley (University of Alabama)
Interdisciplinary work is frequently heralded as a necessary element to higher education practice. Across academic institutions and global contexts, the importance of interdisciplinarity in teaching, research, and service motivates institutional behavior. This presentation focuses on the promise and peril of interdisciplinary work for higher education institutions with a focus on three questions:
- How is space negotiated among scholars who engage in interdisciplinary work?
- How is interdisciplinarity part of the strategic planning process?
- How do universities structure academic staff employment, tenure, and promotion based on interdisciplinary commitments?
25 September 2024
Exploring student and faculty gender perspectives at a medical school in Rwanda
Dr Kara Neil (King Faisal Hospital, Rwanda)
Despite only containing 3.5% of the global health care workforce, while having 12% of the world’s population, sub-Saharan Africa has 27% of the global burden of disease. Furthermore, there are significant gender disparities seen in a lack of female representation globally both in medical practice and in medical education. However, to propose relevant interventions both to increase gender inclusivity and increase the health workforce, the gender disparities seen globally in medical education need to be explored and addressed. This study explores the gender perspectives of UGHE faculty and students, with the aim to use the findings to recommend ways to increase gender inclusion in medical school environments.
30 October 2024
Practitioner research: creating a story with critical and contextual knowledge
Dr Paula McIver Nottingham (Middlesex University)
Dr Paula McIver Nottingham will talk about the nature of practitioner research and offer advice about creating a thesis that closes the loop between peer review and the key evidence examiners look for in an effective practitioner doctoral research project.
Completing your thesis or project report is often a significant hurdle for post-graduate research. The thesis needs to communicate theories and practical ideas as well as specifying your distinctive contribution to knowledge. This interactive session will focus on how you can make your thesis a better ‘story’ that presents your research project as a piece of writing that will convince others that you have done the job you need to do, making it ‘a success story’.
12 June 2024
Coaching mentoring - a change agent to supporting women and global majority educators to progress into leadership within Higher Education
Dr Lizana Oberholzer (University of Wolverhampton)
In this keynote, Dr Oberholzer aims to explore the following question: How can mentoring and coaching, as interventions, act as a change agent to enable women to unlock their potential in HE? This discussion is inspired by the work outlined in Oberholzer and Boyle (2023), exploring how Women and BME colleagues can be supported through mentoring and coaching strategies in education.
Thursday 21 March 2024
Tales of the unexpected: the lives and experiences of working-class academics
Dr. Iona Burnell Reilly presented a lecture titled "Tales of the Unexpected: The Lives and Experiences of Working-Class Academics." This event, hosted by the Centre for Higher Education Studies, explored the journeys and challenges of working-class academics through powerful autoethnographic accounts.