Blog Archives

Building the STEM Ambassador Network for students and staff

Haruko Okamoto is an Education and Scholarship academic in the School of Life Sciences in the Faculty of Science Engineering & Medicine. She has a doctoral degree in Biology (Plant Physiology & Genetics) from Tokyo Metropolitan University and has worked

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Posted in Case Studies

Join us on the 26th November to explore the role of oracy in higher education

By turning our attention in a serious way to how we use and think about our voices and ears, we can help students develop their communicative resources as thinkers, listeners, and speaking citizens.  (Holmes-Henderson and Wright (2025) Sussex colleagues, join

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Designing with purpose: Building a postgraduate course that puts employability first

Dave Smalley is an Associate Professor in the School of Psychology with a focus on educational scholarship. His current teaching portfolio includes coordinating and contributing to a new MSc course in Applied Child Psychology, alongside leading a large final-year undergraduate

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Posted in Case Studies

Episode 6: Embedding Employability into the Curriculum

The Learning Matters Podcast captures insights into, experiences of, and conversations around education at the University of Sussex. The podcast is hosted by Prof Wendy Garnham and Dr Heather Taylor. It is recorded monthly, and each month is centred around a particular theme.

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Integrating experiential and theoretical learning into final-year outreach projects

In this Case Study, Doran explains how he combined his interests in neuroscience, contemplative practices, and science communication to design and run a final-year outreach project for Life Science students, and what he learnt from the process. A fuller account

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Insights from the Annual Course Reviews

The University of Sussex’s Annual Course Review (ACR) process provides an opportunity for review, reflection and evaluation of the delivery of our teaching and is a key part of the University’s quality assurance and enhancement framework. However, the ACR isn’t

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Introducing optionality in assessment modes

In this case study, Dr Jo Wilson, Senior Lecturer in Commercial Law, talks about how she introduced optionality in assessment modes in her final year module, Advanced Contract Law in Practice, to create more inclusive and accessible assessment practices.  What I

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“It equals the playing field” : Student reflections on introducing optionality as an accessible and inclusive assessment practice

Dr Jo Wilson Introduction Optionality in assessment has recently come under the spotlight, with the QAA highlighting the need for Higher Education to develop more inclusive, accessible, and flexible assessment choices. In response to this, the University of Manchester recently

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Posted in Articles

Mapping the circular economy: A flexible mapping project for Product Design students

Claire Potter is a Senior Lecturer and the course convenor of the BSc / BA Product Design degrees, teaching on and leading on a variety of modules. In this case study, Claire describes how module and course design help develop

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Building learning communities through formative group work

Dr Zahid Pranjol, Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences and Deputy Head of School for Life Sciences, explains how a formative project-based learning (PBL) group work assessment helps develop his Foundation, first and second year students’ belonging and team work skills.  

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About this blog

Learning Matters provides a space for multiple and diverse forms of writing about teaching and learning at Sussex. We welcome contributions from staff as well as external collaborators. All submissions are assigned to a reviewer who will get in touch to discuss next steps. Find out more on our About page.

Please note that blog posts reflect the information and perspectives at the time of publication.